Everything Grows...

There's a new greenhouse on the grounds!  A long awaited one I should add.  It is under cover now and already housing many of the plants which by now would have been crammed into cold-frames near the old tiny one.

It is well situated across the road from the school.  My luck!    


I walked over this afternoon to see what was happening and took pictures of those flowers starting to bloom.  I am not that into annuals, but who can resist the beautiful colours of these beauties.

A selection of shade-loving variegated coleus is stowed away from the sun under the shelves.

Not only the flowers are maturing, but a trailer full of vegetables are hardening off outside waiting to be planted tomorrow.  

This particular tractor, 'A' as we call it, happens to be a favourite with the kids.  They were disappointed this year when the John Deere was used to pull the trailer for their annual colony clean-up excursion.  I guess it makes for a more authentic experience!

Showing its' colours

 A Blessed Sunday to you!

Budding Daffodil

I just had to drop by at school today.  The daffodil buds were beckoning. I had to see if they opened and get pics to show they kids in case the miss this stage.

A most brilliant yellow was beaming from the opening bud!

This morning we woke up to this scene.  The snow came silently during the night without warning.  I went for a long walk last evening and there was not a hint of snow or rain!  The children greatly enjoyed the wet snow and mild weather.  Needless to say, by 3:00 it had all but disappeared.

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."
-  Henry Van Dyke, Fisherman's Luck, 1899

When I saw this chunk of daffodils peeking through the soil in my flower garden I was pleasantly surprised.  How often do we get flowers in March in this part of Manitoba?  When a winter storm threatened them I decided to  transplant the bulbs.   Most years they do not survive to the blooming stage so I tried my luck by bringing them indoors.

I potted them and lugged them to school to a sunny spot on a book-shelf.  We were all pleasantly surprised to find them not only a lot taller but with buds when we came back to school the following Monday.

Most of my students have never seen a daffodil and were awing over one we saw in a book this week.  I can't wait for them to see a real one!


 'for behold, the winter is past;
     the rain is over and gone.
 The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing has come,'


Song of Solomon 2:11-12

The pictures were re-sized and edited with picmonkey - a new photo editing program online.  Already a favourite of mine, if you used picnik;  picmonkey is a great alternative.

Dusk

If you glance up in the evening sky lately you will notice a few brighter stars than normally.  These happen to be a planetary show of Venus and Jupiter in the west and Mars in the east.  Though they appear as nothing more than brighter stars, I still find it interesting that we get to see planets unaided by a magnifying device.  Also this is a rather uncommon occurance that you get both planets together like this.  Read more about the event here. 

This is my attempt to capture Venus and Jupiter.

March

Okay, so March is NEVER green in Manitoba, hardly ever brown, and this year, the white colour has only been dominant the last week.  Whatever snow we've been getting managed to blow away or melt.  However, this last snowfall, though not much, has been sticking around.

I was going through last summer's photos when I found these pics.  It's amazing how beautiful everything is.  Pictures that were deemed not much are stunningly beautiful if your life has been void of  fresh new colours.

 Had to post the ferns in honour of the green month!

... and the nest, just because I like the colour too.

February Fun

The weather has been just gorgeous.  This winter has been storybook perfect.  Sometimes I admit I miss the snow and cold, but that aside, the weather has been perfect for outdoors activities.  I have never seen kids get so much out of sledding, their main hill -- a ditch by the school.  Normally the snow is too deep for sledding around here. This year, the children have been using their sleds and toboggans since the first snowfall.  They have been using the hills not just for sledding, but also as a skiing outlet.

We went sledding as part of our Valentine's Day fun.  The sledding hill at Spruce Woods Park is closed this year due to absence of snow.  Another in Brandon that was contacted is also not open.  That was good news to me (I don't like any field trips!) though the kids absolutely love spending time at the sledding hill in Spruce Woods Park for a day.  

We have a decent hill going down one of our larger sloughs.  Valentine's Day was balmy so the snow was almost too sticky at first, but after a few runs, the going was good!

Of course, I spent my time refereeing the gang.  Kids see no qualms in coming back in the same path as the others are zooming down.  How they manage without adult supervision in their own time is beyond me.

After a half hour of sliding fun, we came back to school, ready for games and snack. 

 In the morning for math time, I had a few games ready to play.  The 'Ten More'  was a great one as my Grades 1- 3 are learning about math strategies now.  It was simply throwing a die and adding ten more.  I  had the younger students use a bead frame until they got the pattern.

You can find the game here.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Add-10-More-Bingo

 I tried to have a variety of activities for the day.  This was an easy craft I found which everyone, kindergartens included enjoyed making.

http://family.go.com/crafts/craft-837271-sweetheart-songbirds--t/