3-15-12

I think this is Siberian bugloss. It's in the shaded garden next to the studio on the west side.

A couple wood poppy plants are blooming in the west side shade garden too. I had lots last year... let's hope more pop up.

This grape hyacinth bloomed over night in the lily garden, it seems. It wasn't there earlier this week and now it's in full form.

The primroses are just starting to bloom. I moved a few so they would be in better places this year. I love love love primroses!

This is Bloodroot in the front garden by the sidewalk near the swamp cypress tree.

Spirea! I have a couple bushes that have bloomed in the yard, out front and in back.

 

 The Ides of March. Julius Caesar was warned to beware this day (Ides means middle) but it looks beautiful to me!

So the thought for the day is "maintenance." The word is derived from the Latin "manu" which means "hand" and "tenere" which means "to hold." Hand hold. I've been spending time in my gardens each day this week (spring break) and find it very therapeutic to hand-hold, to pull weeds and move plants from an unfortunate location to a better one. Each year I think I will keep this up, and maintain my gardens, and then suddenly they get out of control. They get "out of hand." At that point, maintenance is out of the question, and the work required is so significant that I just give up. The hands no longer hold, they "drop the ball."

This makes me think of many facets of life that need maintenance. Friendships need it. When years go by without catching up, it gets harder and harder to make that phone call. Marriages need it. Kitchen floors need it, bathtubs need it, gardens need it, and so do wardrobes. I spent a large portion of last weekend going through my closet and washing sweaters, making piles of clothes to give away, and organizing my dresser drawers. It was an overwhelming task (but I did it) and it wouldn't have been necessary with some maintenance. The fridge needs it. Hair needs it. My weight needs it. Even the skin on my face needs it. But relationships are the most precious things we have, and they indeed are difficult to maintain. Facebook helps, or at least it gives the perception of maintenance. Why should I call my friend M or my sister C when I am keeping up with their comings and goings on Facebook? False maintenance.

We live in a throw-away culture and maintenance is not encouraged. Why paint that out-dated ceiling fan when you can toss it by the curb and buy an brand new one?

Well, that's the thought for the day. Let's hope this year I can put forth more efforts on a daily basis to maintain the things and relationships that mean the most to me.

3-13-12

My son undertook a large task this week and finished today. He took off all the hardware on all the cabinets in the kitchen, mudroom, laundry room, and bathroom, and polished them all with Brasso. They gleam as new! This probably hasn't been done since the cabinets were installed nearly 20 years ago.

3-10-12

My brilliant husband modified the motor mounts we had been using to a much simpler design. And cheaper! I can't wait to get this curriculum in classrooms and see how kids and teachers take to it. My clever son built the car below...

Worked in the yard for a couple hours today and burned dinner because I forgot it was on the stove. Stunk up the house with the smell of "singed chicken."

3-8-12

 

 

Tonight I taught my solar car curriculum to my students. They did great! It was very successful and I was pleased.

3-7-12

The full moon was rising tonight and I looked out my office window toward my neighbor's house and this is what I saw- the moon rising out of her chimney. Way cool... I set up the f-stop and shutter speed and positioned my camera against the window for stability and got this amazing shot. That's Mars up and to the left of the moon. It's reddish to see with the naked eye, but turns out white with extended exposure.

Mmmmm... concrete sea birds!!!! Later, I went to Home Depot for some concrete mix to try and make concrete sea birds (aka ducks). Not sure it will work. Ice penguins were much simpler!

3-6-12

Today I made a snowchild. The snow was perfect for molding and I really wanted to just play in it, but I had work to do. However, I did decide to harvest some snow from the top of the boxwood bush and mix it into my kombucha, which made a lovely slushy drink. Then I harvested a Tupperware full of it for future drink concoctions. This afternoon it was lovely, warm, and sunny.

I am doing a really interesting research project and I have appointments through the day interviewing former students. I really like talking with them and finding out what they think about my topic. It's really great to re-connect. I think it's important to maintain these connections and my research is helping me do that.

3-5-12

It really snowed last night. I had no idea I'd wake up to this. Four inches of heavy white stuff all over the trees- it looked magical. White trees everywhere, like white spring blossoms. Below, a photo of the studio behind our house and the bird bath we saw a robin bathing in just a few days ago.

Looking east up our street...

Looking west down our street...

I had meetings all day and managed through them until around 2pm when a fierce migraine struck me. I went to my office and got in my Ikea chair with the lights off and after an hour or so I was well enough to drive home (barely... I don't remember the drive) and crawl in bed for the rest of the evening. Around 9pm I was able to get up and walk around the house. Oh boy, what a day. Oh, I found out today that an article I wrote for a journal about two years ago was selected for a chapter in a book. Pretty nice! I get a free copy of the book!

3-4-12

Sunday. I spent some time this afternoon out pulling weeds and thought it was becoming a nice spring day... and then this evening a cold front moved in and it started to snow. We watched a very strange movie tonight that we rented from Netflix called Departures. Oh my, it was strange, but very moving and it made me cry and really think deeply about the value of life and the sadness of death. It's the second Japanese movie we have watched this week and I think I'm developing a respect for the culture and language.

3-3-12

Saturday after the storms. My sweet husband worked all day on my solar car kits. He put together 28 car kits for me... while I decided to really get serious about developing and distributing more engineering design-based science curricular ideas in preparation for the new state and national standards.

3-2-12

March.
In like a lion.

Today we had tornado warnings all afternoon. Hail, winds, horizontal rain- and I stocked the basement with water, food, towels, medicines, first aid supplies, and a rain coat. Random things to help alleviate the anxiety of the impending storms.

The storms, they passed. The blue sky came out and the clouds blew away as the attic creaked from the wind.

2-29-12

Daffodills bloomed on Leap Day in 2012. First bloom... after a night of heavy rain, tornado watches, and a very frightened Frisbee whom Aza took into her room for his comfort.

Bowing its head under the weight of the rain, I had a busy day of meetings at school, then some grocery shopping, dinner preparation, and an evening of answering emails. I am SO glad spring is right around the corner.

2-28-12

Today I worked on lots of things... got a lot accomplished... and then took a break at 4pm to work in the garden for an hour and a half. Meanwhile, Dan finished refinishing the 20 year old patio furniture. He re-painted it all with a color called Oil Rubbed Bronze and it's just beautiful. Looks brand new!

2-27-12

We had a warm day for once, and I got to spend an hour in the yard weeding. My lily garden is almost weed free. I do hope I can keep it under control this year. It has a horseshoe shaped path of limestone pavers, as you can see and during the summer is usually gets so overgrown I can't even walk through it.

We have crocuses and a yellow flowering tree, can't think of what it's called.

2-25-12

Video production this morning, a nice walk in the arboretum this afternoon with Dan. Curry stir fry for dinner!

2-24-12

Today is my writing day but I'm waiting on a few projects to get approved before I can start writing. Soooo I worked on creating a video for the summit next week in DC where our new NSF funded grant project is presented. Also, I worked on copying a design I saw on Pinterest... and did a pretty good job of imitating the design. I think I'll turn some of these squares into a pillow. Not enough wool for a blanket.

2-23-12

My neighbor is having a baby soon, so I decided to make some booties and a bonnet. I like the braided ties on each- and the little pull tabs on the back of the booties.

Tonight it stormed really hard during my class I was teaching online and our connection was a bit bad. After a long day I enjoyed crocheting and watching TV with Aza and Dan.

2-20-12

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy birthday Mom! I met with my grad student and worked on taking some photos for the solar car curriculum. Also loaned a teaching kit to a student. Aza was home today with the Presidents' Day holiday

2-18-12

I worked in the garden for about 5-6 hours today pulling weeds, moving plants from one location to another, and clearing out dead foliage. This is my lily garden, devoid of any lillies... and still containing weeds on the right hand side.

2-17-12

Friday evening, Dan and I went to the local downtown art open houses. We went from one location to another looking at art on display and snacking on provided food and beverages.

2-15-12

I think one of my problems is that I really miss teaching my methods classes this semester. A course release is really nice for research but I miss teaching undergrads! Crazy, hu?

2-14-12

My crafty handy husband just turned our white outdated ceiling fan in the sunroom into this! One down, four to go!
Beef stew for dinner, just the four of us. Right now my son is playing Pachabel's Canon on the piano, my daughter is writing lesson plans in her room, my husband is scheming his next fixit up project and I am crocheting and thinking about the research I will be conducting on Friday.
It feels magical.

2-13-12

Happy Birthday Squirt! We celebrated your 21st birthday with a steak dinner, a gingerbread cake, and gifts from the heart.

2-11-12

We had Dr. and Mrs. Phred over for dinner this evening. Aza and Squirt played Monopoly and Scattergories on the couch afterwards by the fire. I love those kids! But why is Aza holding a big spoon, and why is Squirt holding a cooking pot?

2-10-12

Still working on my second afghan. I've made about 16 squares (9" each) and would like to have a total of 24 before I stitch it all together.

2-9-12

My office door messages. Makes me happy.

2-8-12

It snowed! Just a bit, but it was beautiful. Today was my "reading day" during which I had to review a bunch of submissions for workshops, conference proceedings, and awards. It was a good day to stay home and read.

And take pictures.

Of snow bells in the snow.

2-6-12

Bulbs are coming up all over the yard. I really need a warm day and a good mood to go out there and clean up some of the dead foliage from last fall. These will be naked lilies late in the summer well after the greenery comes up, soaks up energy from the sun, dies back, and produces beautiful pink flowers.

2-5-12

Someone is doing an egg experiment in my house and it's not me. It's the OTHER science teacher who lives here. Aza! She is student teaching in 7th grade science and preparing to do some of the same inquiry activities I used to do with middle school kids. See here and here.

2-3-12

Today was the symposium that our department sponsored. I took photos all morning but really can't post them here becuase it just doesn't seem right. However, I know that my colleague Mags won't mind if I post this lovely picture of her with baby Lex at the symposium!

And these folks... carefully examining the posters at the poster session... you can't tell who they are. My presentation was in the last session so I had to hang around all day- which wouldn't be so bad except I got a migraine around lunchtime and had to endure the side effects of the medicine.