Finishing February

The last week of February included 2 snow days, one on Monday and one on Wednesday.   Phil went to work both days but he took the children with him so I could get some work done.  I spent all of Monday setting up our independent projects which entail history, literature, sometimes science or art.  Basically, whatever we are learning in History, I check out books on the library that go with the era or subject.  We are learning about the Revolutionary War for the next couple of weeks and this took me a long time to plan because I had to skim through the books to make worksheets or a list of questions to help guide their reading.  "The constitution" is a much more complicated subject than reading dragon folklore for instance (which we did last week).   Tuesday was school and Wednesday afternoon the children went to work with Phil and I deep cleaned a small section of the school room (literally spent hours dusting and organizing and going through paperwork just on or near the school table and my teacher bookshelf, sheesh).  Thursday and Friday were school.  




See that little blip on the hillside?  Sawyer trudged all the way across the fields and up the big hill (probably a good mile and a half round trip) in hopes that he could slide down the hill.  Unfortunately, there was just too little snow and it was too wet for sledding.


This big dog loved being a lap dog (and shedding all over everything). 



I am not sure what possessed Phil to bring home this ginormous bag of carrots.  Sawyer told me they were a jumbo snowman making kit LOL.

I know it might be a bit weird but I got more tarantulas LOL.  I ordered some from a company and we had to pay for overnight shipping so they could get to us quickly and not get too cold.  We found out after they sent the package that the live warranty is voided if the temperature drops below 40.  ACK, and it was cold.  Then the Fed Ex truck broke down and they had to deliver the following day.  Luckily, everyone arrived alive! 

My set up includes a couple of 10 gallon tanks, a couple of tall tanks for the arboreal spiders, deli cups for the smaller ones, and clear plastic food containers for the medium sized ones.  I do have quite a collection going, 12 in all (I have had 2 die), most of which are small ones.  I am looking forward to seeing them reach their adult sizes. 


This is Sawyer's hand for a size comparison. 

This species is the largest species of tarantula in the world.  She could potentially reach the size of a dinner plate, about 12 inches!

It snowed again Wednesday night and it was very powdery but the ground was so wet that it just absorbed most of it.  

After gray, and fog, and low lying snow clouds, we had a beautiful start to March.  The following pictures were all taken March 1st. 






Technically, Spring doesn't begin until March 21st but I always think of Spring starting the first day of March and Summer starting the first day of June.  We had several bright (but cold) sunny days following the rain and snowy weather and I was amazed to see how light it is!  The long days are returning, the redwing blackbirds are singing in the creek bottoms, the frogs are croaking, the minor's lettuce is popping up under the fir trees, the witch hazels are blooming, the bulbs are starting to push up, my earliest blooming camellia managed a couple of weak blossoms (cold snap right as they started blooming), the grass is a bit more vibrant and just about ready for a mow, the wind is blowing from the North (rather than the West/Southwest).  It is a little too cold/too dark for the vigor of Spring growth but we are right on the cusp!

And, only 3 more weeks until Phil has Spring Break!  And, we did not take our February week off because it was too cold and wet and I want to use our week off for working in my vegetable garden so I have an extra week to look forward to.  I also need to plan 2 family field trips (on a Saturday) to make up for our 2 snow days.  I am looking forward to watching the season of Spring burst forth!

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