Ah, back to school time! Of course, that should mean the end of the summer, but that’s not quite how it works any more. For me, a school librarian, back to school is August 13th, which I’m pretty sure is still summer. At least it feels like summer.
Every year, I try to take something new back to school. Last year, I took a new book shelf, made to look like the Magic Tree House (it even has a little rope ladder), and a small harp. This year I am going back with a new rocking chair, decorated with pictures from classic children’s stories, and a millipede, which will be our new library pet.
I started work on the chair last year, but got busy during the school year and didn’t get back to it until this summer. I stripped the old finish off a chair I bought at a garage sale, sprayed it white, drew on it, then painted the drawings with acrylic paint and sprayed the finished chair with clear sealer. The greatest challenge was trying to reproduce watercolor paintings with acrylics. Or maybe it was getting in all those awkward positions to draw.
The millipede will need a name and lots of research to learn about its natural habitat and preferred food. It might even go home with some students over the weekend or for holidays. I am going to have to get over my creepy crawly feeling about it. (My friend, Nancy, who gave it to me – she said for my birthday! – called it Thing 1. That sums up how she felt about it.) Worms don’t bother me so much, but this thing is big and I can just imagine how those little feet will feel on my hand when I pick it up. I’m sure the kids will want to hold it, so I really have to get over this aversion.
Gardening Notes
Remember the worms I have been hunting? I have a firm commitment from the owner of Grand Prairie’s Worm Farm for worms and a box to raise them in sometime at the beginning of September. This week I planted beans and winter squash seeds that I got from Gurney’s. When it gets a little cooler, I have some lettuce seeds ready to plant. The little plants I put out back in July are all doing well and blooming. I had to keep them under shade cloth for two weeks, longer than I had anticipated, because of the extreme heat we had, but they survived.
