A sign of spring?

Today is the last day of January, and I see I have not blogged for the family this week. This last week of the month was fairly uneventful here in Virginia. The weather has been mild, and though we had a few nights with temperatures that were approaching freezing, we have enjoyed being able to go outside with only a light jacket. Some of the bulbs we planted are in bloom and the pansies are really putting out blosoms.

Friday I went swimming with the grandkids and Rebecca. I took them to "Nana's pool" (the clubhouse) and they really seemed to enjoy the water. I think that this will be something they will like doing. They do have swimming at the club where their family belongs, but I don't think they swim often this time of the year. The nice thing about the pool here is that we were there with only two other people, so the water was pretty calm and the kids had plenty of freedom to move about without worrying about being splashed by someone else.

Meadow Farm which is part of the Henrico County Public Park system had a meeting and orientation for new volunteers on Saturday. I had been thinking that I would like to do some volunteer work there as they have a variety of activities that they offer to the community. SInce it is the closest neighborhood part and one we visit often I thought it would be interesting. Their Sewing Guild meets once a month at the museum and they work on clothing for the costumes the farm provides for the volunteers who "interpret" the farm activities for the public. At the moment there are no activities on schedule that the guild itself participates in, but in the fall one of the weekends is centered on quilting. Coming up in April is the "Sheep to Shawl" weekend and they will be shearing sheep all the Saturdays in April. A group of spinners from another guild will come for the "Sheep to Shawl" Sunday to demonstrate spinning and other activities involved in getting the fiber into a finished article. Sounds interesting to me! Oh yes, there are new baby lambs at Meadow Farm now, is spring coming?

This morning we had additional insulation blown into the attic. We decided the added layer would help with the heating costs, and the payback period was short. Hopefully this next week when the temperatures go down we will see a small difference.

Finally, today marks four months in our home. From now on, I will only post in the house blog occasionally, and will provide a link from here so you will know something new has been added.