Despite a long and particularly snow laden winter for many parts of the country, warm weather is just around the corner. In many places, spring daffodils and crocuses have popped up out of the soil as the ground thaws and the sunshine warms the earth. It’s time to start thinking about that vegetable garden.
Continue reading here for suggestions on how to introduce your child to gardening and why it’s important, as well as a list of our favorite gardening books for kids. Have a lovely Thursday!
I’ve found myself inexplicably drawn to classic black and white lately — it’s easy and looks polished and pulled together and lord knows I have plenty of black and white clothing in my closet! So if these outfit posts are making you yawn, sorry! It’s the way I’ve been dressing and I guess we’ll just see where that goes.
Also, I’ve not had much interest in accessorizing other than a few rings and/or a bracelet. Simple is good right now.
Have a wonderful day… oh, and Happy April Fool’s Day! Are you playing any good tricks on anyone?
Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
When you love an author’s writing, really love it, it’s worth the gamble to go ahead and buy another of her books. A while back my friend Kim lent me her copy of Atkinson’s Life After Life and it has stuck with me ever since I finished it months and months ago. I love her writing style, her witty style and deep character development. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, one whom I know will satisfy my mental state no matter what it is. I’m always in the mood to read Atkinson.
Case Histories is no disappointment. I am 75 or so pages in and completely hooked. I’m not even sure where this book is going (there is a fascinating mystery), but so far, it has me wondering and turning pages and sitting in the carpool line at my boys’ school oblivious to everything else while I try to catch one more glimpse of what’s going on. It’s dark and surprising, two of my favorite things in a novel. I’m trying to savor this one, as I know that I will be sad when I finish it, much like I was with Life after Life, but it’s hard to savor something you’re so excited to devour!
The Iridescence of Birds, by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Hadley Hooper
We recently read a great book about Henri Matisse to the boys. Such an inspiring book! Read my full review here.
What are you reading?
This past weekend was a good one, albeit chilly. These ups and downs have us on our toes awaiting spring! One day it’s 70, the next 40. On Friday morning we awoke to a thin dusting of snow covering everything. But the small warm spell from last week meant a whole lot of laying at the boys’ school! One of my favorite things about Wednesdays is checking to see if we have won the “egg lottery,” and finally this past week, we did! Such beautiful eggs — chocolate, creamy brown, and pastel green… it’s easy to imagine one would have no need for egg dies this Easter with hens that lay a rainbow of eggs like these! Oliver was particularly proud to show off part of his school’s bounty this week.
Though chilly, this past Saturday was sunny enough to enjoy the zoo. Emil and Andrew are missing from these photos because they were attending a birthday party for our next-door neighbor in a different part of the zoo. We wanted Emil to attend without his big brothers because it seems they are always flitting off to play dates, circus class, and birthday parties without him — it’s easy for him to feel left out. He had a blast and came out of the party marching with his head held high! 
Cheeky in more ways than one
And finally, my personal favorites at the zoo — the hippos are back out! They head indoors during the coldest winter months, so we were so happy to just sit and watch then swim around and around for awhile. There is something completely mesmerizing about them, I can’t explain it! 
This week we watched the light change, growing brighter and hanging around longer into the evenings. We listened to new songbirds outside our windows and observed daffodils blooming in our garden, tiny buds appearing on our apple and peach trees. Next week we will remove the leaves and till our vegetable garden, add organic matter and chicken manure, and plan out our garden space for the upcoming growing season. We’ll gather seeds and clear out dead debris and keep dreaming of the warmer days of spring.
Hope you have a wonderful Monday!
Hozier: “Work Song”
Crash: “Mad at the Clouds”
Carl Broemel: “Carried Away”