Hyacinth (hyacinthus orientalis)

I'm pretty sure this is a hyacinth. There are more and more plants in the yard deciding it's spring. One of the trees (I don't know its name yet) has real leaves, not just buds. The redbuds up the hill are really blooming, but ours are just budding so far. The azalea under the deck has a few flowers. There's a circle of grass in the front yard. From a distance the trees still look bare, but looking closer will reveal tiny leaves or buds, and even flowers.

Here's my list now:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil
16. Hyacinth

Spring Weather

Spring weather sure is changeable. On March 11, the weather was like this:





Then on March 13, the weather was in the 30s and rainy for Mary's Girl Scout Camp-out:



We had to make sure she had enough clothes to keep her warm and dry. She's got 5 layers on top (shirt, sweater, fleece jacket, raincoat, coat) and two on bottom (fleece pants, rain pants) plus wool socks and rain boots. Doesn't she look ready for adventure? She loved the hike, the food, the stories in the tent, and helping the Juniors. The leaders said she had a hard time sleeping, because of some problems with her sleeping bag, but when I picked her up, she was cheerfully sipping Adventure Hot Chocolate and excited about her first real camp out.

Thankfully, it's warmed up a bit this week. Here they are exploring the creek. All that rain really added up. The frogs like it, too. They keep singing, "Creeeeeek, creeeeek, we live in the creeeeeeek."

What's this plant?

Wacky weather

Monday it snowed, and today it was warm enough to wear shorts. Mary and Audrey really enjoy playing in the snow, but they enjoy wearing their sundresses even more.

Burwell School

Mary's Time Travel class visited Burwell School, one of the earliest female academies in North Carolina. The Burwells opened their school in 1837. The house, school building, and Necessary still stand on the property.

The kids took a tour of the house and school room. While they were mixing up some home remedies from household items, Audrey and I explored around in the garden and found the Necessary. Apparently, brick ones were rare.



After the home remedy workshop, there was a choice of an architectural scavenger hunt or a demonstration of getting dressed. Audrey and Mary both went to the clothing demonstration. The docents talked about the different items of clothing women from different stations in life would wear, and then the girls got to find out how many layers a lady would have to put on each morning.

Daffodil (Narcissus)

I didn't know that the daffodil was a narcissus. Mary and I read the story of Narcissus earlier this winter when she was working on the Mythology Try-It for Brownies. This picture is of the first daffodils to bloom in our yard. I took this picture on February 20. Spring had already sprung higher up in the neighborhood, but it took a while for it to get downhill into the bowl where our house is. These daffodils are at the highest point of our yard near the driveway. Now, two weeks later, we have a crowd, a host of golden daffodils down in our garden.





So here's my plant list:
1. Poison ivy
2. Virginia creeper
3. Wild blackberry
4. Lamb's Ear
5. Great laurel
6. Fireworks Goldenrod
7. Orange Jewelweed
8. Blue Anise Sage
9. Sage
10. Greek oregano
11. Rosemary
12. Azalea
13. Stilt grass
14. Crocus
15. Daffodil

Bennett Place

Mary has been taking a history class called "Time Travel into America's Past" with the homeschool Friday Enrichment group. We've gone on some field trips to nearby historical sites. This one is Bennett Place, a Civil War-era farm. The largest troop surrender of the Civil War was negotiated there, but our visit focused on farm life during the mid-1800s. The tour guide showed the kids the house, separate kitchen, smokehouse, and a film about what farm life was like for children.