Crazy time. And more gnomes.

Before I get into the real topic of the day, above and below are some more gnomes. Don't you just love the details? Earrings, baskets of flowers, braids, aprons, glasses, and shawls for the girls, and bows and arrows, gardening tools (not pictured), and even a banjo for the boys. The boys all were thrilled that I allowed the archery stuff, since all other weaponry was not permitted.


About the crazy time: I had an unexpected day off today. There's been a stomach bug going around our school and the poor daytime custodian has been cleaning up one hallway disaster after another. It spread through the elementary, and then into the high school, and by midday Thursday a significant number of kids had been sent home, and there were freshly emergency-washed spots up and down the the halls, and the superintendent made the decision to use our one unused snow day for Friday, today, to break the cycle of infection. Some people were thrilled with the unexpected day off, especially since the weather reports were good, but I was not. With just a week till we set up our art show, I could not afford a day less to get everything done.

Meanwhile, after school on yesterday, some kids in the aftercare program came up to my room looking for something to do, and I set them to work getting messy. We needed a sky for the art show garden, and I had a large sample roll of Smart-Fab to try out (more about that in another post when I've completed testing the Smart-Fab with various materials). Messy is an understatement. We newspapered the tables, but the paint soaked right through the Smart-Fab and then through the newspaper, so in the end we actually had 3 tables that were solid blue with acrylic paint. Luckily, the kids were happy "scrubbing bubbles" and did a great job cleaning up. Thanks, Mario, Manon, Grant, and Sarah! I'm going to put your names in the "bucket fillers" bucket, since you really filled my bucket by scrubbing those tables so willingly!
Here's the sky drying, over 4 yards long!

So, anyhow, being relatively healthy, (I guess I have an iron stomach) I went into the empty school today thinking I'd name-tag everything and make all the necessary signs, work on the Chihuly tower, etc. I didn't rush in though, sleeping in a little bit to help get rid of the cold I've been fighting. So when the custodians came around and told me that they were locking up and setting the alarms early (2pm) I was upset. I'd driven 30 miles to get there and then got barely 4 hours in the classroom. I didn't even get to add a single bottle to the Chihuly Rainbow Tower.
But it was beautiful outside, and our lakeside cottage is only about 3miles from my school, so I took a spin over there and relaxed in the sunshine for a bit before I headed home. Not a typical Friday! Here's a few photos of fresh spring growth.

And the crazy old phone booth that I'm so fond of.

Have a good weekend!