The new washer and dryer arrived and I got caught up on 2 weeks worth of laundry. At first the girls were all excited to help with the laundry, for the excitement of pressing buttons on the new machines, and hearing the little sing-song signal when a cycle was completed, but after a day the novelty wore off and laundry fell back to me. That's OK -- I prefer to do all the decision making about what gets washed with what (so whites don't come out pink) and what goes in the dryer (so bras don't end up melted). I actually hang 80% of our clothes to dry naturally, to prolong the fiber life and prevent shrinkage. Once dry, the girls are in charge of folding and putting away.
Little K grew tired of caring for her long hair. Puberty is upon us, and that means oily hair, and the need for a minimum of every other day bathing. She wanted a more wash-n-go hair style, and didn't want to fuss with braiding it or combing out the knots every morning. She showed me a doll of hers and said "cut my hair like this," so I picked up the scissors and did the deed.
Just after cutting off her braids, but before I'd evened out the ends. She's already ecstatic.
Out in the garden it was time for spring clean-up. I leave a layer of maple leaves on my perennial border to protect the plants from frost over the winter. By March the new growth is peeking through, so I rake it away, transferring the dry leaves to a holding bin for use in my worm composter.
Hiding under the leaves was this stunning specimen of Ambystoma Gracile, commonly known as Northwestern Salamander. In the photo above you can see it emitting sticky white poison, because it is frightened.
I printed out a fact sheet from the internet, then contacted one of my park ranger friends to see if I could relocate it to a nearby wetland. I dropped it off at the ranger station with the fact sheet, the ranger spent the day showing it to park visitors, then found an appropriate place to release it. It would not have survived in my front yard, next to the street, and there aren't any wetlands close enough for it to survive the upcoming summer.
The girls attended two different STEM (science technology engineering, and math) conferences at local colleges. For an entire Saturday they rotate through classes in various fields, taught by university professors and industry professionals. Thousands of girls come from all over the state to attend, and there are about 60 different classes to choose from.
March passed in a blur of lengthening days, lots of rain, a few dramatic sunrises and sunsets, and more time spent outdoors, which is always welcome.
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