Backyard 2010

Here is a collage of people, animals, and other things that are in my backyard. I used Picassa to create the collage. I will try to insert the album on this blog...not sure if it's possible.

I'm Back!

Wow...it's been months since I posted...that's what teaching first grade does to me. I spent most of my waking hours planning and gathering, grading and recording. I made more work for myself because I wanted to have the children experience more than the standard curriculum mandates.

We observed the lifecycle of frogs and butterflies, experimented with magnets and made a compass from a pin and some cork. We tested it with a real compass...ours worked fine! And thanks to Mr. Auclair for lending the class a microscope...we were able to observe many interesting things.

What ever happened to the old adage, “don’t like the weather, wait a minute. This is New England, It’ll change.” ????
I’m surprised that our tomatoes are doing so well. Some of the potted plants are suffering though. The soil is growing mold. I don’t know if I should cover them…or just wait for Mother Nature to have a change of heart.
The only thing that is really doing well is the mosquito population, especially now that my neighbor shut down the pump in her pond. It is now a 100 gallon breeding pool for the little disease carriers.

School is out (for me) for the summer. I didn’t get the job that I had last year and never heard from the director about subbing for summer school. There isn’t much out there for jobs. I’ve got to update my resume and get copies of my transcripts so that I can renew my certification. It’s hard to believe almost five years has passed since I graduated.

Here is a little bit of sunshine from the pond. Steve bought this yellow lily last year. The blooms are quite large compared to the white and pink lilies.

Adios for now...

Global Warming???

I just read an article titled "Global warming hastens arrival of springtime," (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23709253/ ). The author, Seth Borenstein, cites some signs of Spring that are happening months ahead of time. For example, a butterfly that typically emerges in April/May has been spotted recently "fluttering" in California. He mentions that various trees are budding much earlier than usual. This reminds me of a situation that happened last year. Steve and I noticed that the Wisteria was loaded with blooms in early Spring. I never thought anything of the timing though. I just couldn’t wait to see the pergola covered in beautiful orchid tendrils. A week or two later we had a heavy frost….that was the end of all those buds. The Wisteria bloomed later…but it wasn’t the spectacle we originally anticipated.

With the calendar announcing Spring approaching, in less than 24 hours, I wonder how the plants and creatures will fare. On my morning walkabout, I noticed a sure sign of Spring, but now I worry that it’s way too early for the Bullfrogs to emerge. I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so no photo today of the very healthy looking frog. However, I thought my nature loving friends would like to hear the sound of the backyard babbling pond. Steve just jump started the filters yesterday. The fish are quite active now that the water is moving.