February is typically my least favorite month, but this one has flown by! Just when I thought I couldn’t take another gray-skied snowy day, the weather warmed up, the sky has been blue for a couple of days, and it’s almost March!
In addition to more snow days than we have had in many years, February was mostly full of ordinary school days along with one special birthday. I’m very determined to wrap up our school year before our baby arrives in mid-July. We often school through the summer, but I’d like a break this year so I’m being disciplined about getting school done each day. Keats turned 18 earlier in the month and I managed to bake him a very good chocolate cake! Last year’s cake was a disaster. Many of my recent cakes have been. I think that birthdays are harder as kids get older. There’s not much to surprise them with, and they have specific wants anyway. Keats is interested in bowling right now, so I paid for his new bowling ball to be drilled and gave him money for bowling games. Not very exciting!
I have started my first seeds in flats indoors and also have some broccoli on the broccoli plants I planted last fall and grew under row covers all winter. I tasted a bite and wasn’t impressed, but I’m still happy about it. The annual plant sale in Richmond is on for this year! It’s an annual tradition for us and we were so disappointed last year when it was canceled. I’ll be looking forward to it in April. My goal is to add to my small hellebore collection.
I knit Jonny a new hat in some dark blue yarn earlier in the month because he lost the one I knit him last year. Now I’m working on a baby cardigan, my first baby knit for the new baby, along with a hat for Keats as a belated birthday gift. Keats still wears the hat that I knit him in 2013 so I decided it was time for a new one. He requested the same pattern and same color as his old one. The baby sweater is a fun little knit full of eyelets which I love. I don’t think I’ve ever knit a sweater in fingering weight yarn before. I really love it despite the fact that it isn’t knitting up super quickly. My favorite way to knit is sitting in the bed at night while watching a show of some sort (My kids call them “old lady shows.”) However, sitting on soft surfaces is proving bad for my pelvis again this pregnancy, so I get most of my knitting done while homeschooling at the kitchen table. We seem to have a “big kid” party in our bedroom every night anyway, so there’s not much time for watching my old lady shows anyway. (I watched and loved Miss Scarlet and the Duke recently and think my older kids would too if they gave it a chance.) I’m maybe not getting enough sleep because of our late nights with the teenagers but it’s worth it.
Just before Lent began, I read a lovely book called A Buzz in the Meadow. I’m not sure where I bought this book and why, but came across it on my bookshelves and started reading it on a whim. Funny, somehow this book that is about insects read like a page-turner for me. I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in a few days and was brought back to my college entomology course. I found a used copy of A Sting in the Tale, the first book by the same author and will read it soon. I’m feeling a little pre-occupied with insects. I wonder how long that will last? I’m planning an in-depth study of our milkweed patch as a homeschool project this spring and summer using this book and I’m very excited. Hopefully, I will remain excited at least until the milkweed comes up and blooms. I never know with these special interests of mine. Some are quite short-lived. They do keep me going while they last!
I dyed up a bunch of playsilks recently and I listed them in my shop today along with a few new batches of goat’s milk soap. I am quite pleased with the pastel rainbow sets. It’s challenging to achieve those pastel shades all with a similar intensity using natural dyes and I was nervous I would fail. Thankfully, they are just what I was hoping for! I think they are perfect for spring and would be great tucked into Easter baskets! I’m not sure what to expect as far as the rest of the year goes and me being able to keep dyeing, so I would say it’s not too early to think ahead to Christmas gifts if you think you might want playsilks then! I dyed several of my very popular regular rainbow sets with that in mind.
p.s. I bought Mabel’s alphabet cards here. I printed them with my color printer in the smaller size and then laminated them. I ordered the Tasha Tudor seeds here. And here’s a link to the puzzle pictured above.
p.p.s. Let me know if you want a tutorial on making birthday banners like the one pictured above. So fancy! Ha!
Knitting Kits says
The way you have written down the part when you found your interest in the insects again has touched me. I got that if we become still sometime then we can really look into the things that we are curious about. Thanks for sharing.
Dacia says
Have you read, Miss Benson’s Beetle? I loved that book and also have a thing for entomology (not really for bugs in person, but I am fascinated with the study of them).
Michelle says
A Buzz in the Meadow is out of print. Just making the note for others. I immediately wanted to purchase it and found this out.
Karen says
happy birthday!!! I don’t mind February however I am looking forward to the weather that allows me to take daily walks. This past month it was either a snowstorm, too cold or wet. I am ready for spring jacket weather!
Amy says
I saw those Tasha Tudor seeds on IG and the packaging is SO pretty. I want one of her illustrations that they made into stickers for my laptop. Ha. We aren’t QUITE ready to start most of our seeds here in WI. Still SO cold. But there are hints of spring. We’ve seen more critters on the move and that’s exciting and I know a few warmer days made the sap run. I’m intrigued by that book and your baby knitting is just darling.
Karrie says
Can you link the frame the puzzle is in?
Ginny says
Hi Karrie! This is the puzzle table we have: https://amzn.to/2ZYqnf2
Elizabeth says
it can be hard to get cakes right! God bless you all! I am so glad you are able to do so many things! Great plan to have school done before the baby! God be with you all!
Rosie says
Did you plant your hellebores when they were already mature? I planted very young ones a few years ago and I don’t think that was a good move, they keep dying off and I see no evidence of any surviving plants at this point…
Also, this reminded me that I got that Around the World in 80 Trees book you recommended and we’ve been enjoying it! I’m using it with the girls for school, and my oldest just picked it up and read half of it in one sitting today, field guide in hand for cross referencing. Now he’s asking me to look up planting zones for his favorite trees, it’s very sweet.
Marion says
The weather in New York has been snowy but the last few days have melted a lot of the snow. Tomorrow we will have rain. Good Luck to Keats bowling. Marilyn and Marion bowled many years ago. We belonged to a mix league and a woman;s one. Marilyn received a trophy for second place in the mixed league. Marilyn has many trophies for bowling 200 or more. Marion’s highest score was 190.
HAPPY WEEK- END
Marilyn,Joan and Marion
Michelle says
~Would love to know where you found Tasha Tudor seed packets~She is one of my favorite artist and gardener~
Many Blessings,
michelle
Ginny says
Hi Michelle! I ordered the seeds here: https://www.tashatudorandfamily.com The packets are so pretty!
Leanne says
Your birthday banner reminds me of the old days of Print Shop on the computer with the paper that had the little holes on the edges that had to fit just right in the printer. I was obsessed with making them! And then you had to hope the pages stayed together and didn’t come apart where it was perforated. Did you have that program!? Ah good ol days. Hope you’re feeling well. God bless you!
Ginny says
Oh, yes! I’d forgotten about that program! I did have it! Jonny prints these banners in pieces and tapes them together LOL.