28 February. Dandelion Clock.

Do you remember as a child laying in the grass and blowing these to tell the time? One o"clock... two o'clock... three o'clock...

27 February. Another Harakeke Bush

Another harakeke bush down the walk way.

26 February. Patterns In Nature

Although I continue to be very busy every day, my one small treat is my "me" time when I take my daily walk. Today, before the rain set in these are just a few of the sights my eyes feasted on as I walked along. Isn't nature wonderful?

25 February. Memorial

The Rotary Memorial at our local Richmond Cemetery.

24 February. Reading Planning.

It is 7..00am and I am packing my bag to head off to work. I brought all these books home last night to begin planning for next week. Alas I could not get get in the mood. Due to the earthquake devastation in Christchurch, all I could thinki of was friends and family who can not go to school next week due to no power, no water, no sanitation etc. (Thinking of you all!)

23 February. Gardens again.

Although we are still very much in need of rain the gardens in our local park remain beautiful.

22 February. Letter Of The Day.

In my class the letter and sound of the day was.... f.

21 February. Grasshopper.

I went into my bathroom this morning and had to ask this little fellow to remove himself from my shower wall. It had been hot during the night and the window was open.

20 February. Softball.

We have just sat in the comfort of our lounge and watched our son play softball on TV. He is in the Auckland team and was playing in the National FastpitchTournament against Wellington.

19 February. High Tea

I went out in the country with four close friends to celebrate the significant birthday of one of our group. A real treat and fun for all.

18 February. Rocky Finish To The Week.

This photo was an accident and not supposed to be taken, but when I looked at it I liked all the lines and colours and decided to post for today's effort.

17 February. Sundial.

This is the sundial in "Sundial Square", a lovely area situated near the centre of our main streeet in Richmond.

16 February. Cool Night Air.

The air temperature was still in the 2o's when we were sitting outside having a drink just before bed time. The sky was perfectly clear and the cicadas were still clicking away.

15 February. Bubbles.

When I saw Allanah's beautiful bubble photo it reminded me I had some bubble mixture in my classroom cupboard. We had so much fun outside yesterday and it was very motivational for oral language and a great topic for written language. Thanks again AK.

14 February. Ducks Crossing.

This season's baby ducklings at our local park have now grown up, but this sign that I pass each day always makes me smile, slow down and look to see if they are going for a walk to explore the world away from their pond.

13 February. Acorns

On our walk this morning I noticed how a couple of near by oak trees ( introduced to New Zealand by the early settlers in the late 19th century) were loaded with acorns. It made me think about a story I read to my year 1/2 class last week. Pity we don't have squirrels in New Zealand.

12 February. Scarecrow.

We had a little bit of rain over night and this morning when my dog and I were out walking we saw this lovely scarecrow in a garden. Due to the weather the photo is slightly dark, but I wanted to capture her while I was passing. At 7.15am it was 18 deg C, warm and muggy.

11 February. From Our walkway.

Yet another one of the trees I enjoy looking at when we go for our daily walk.

10 February. Peeping Out.

Just another of the collected items in my garden.

9 February. Swimming.

It is so good to see how many of my five year olds are confident in the water. Daily swims are really necessary at the moment in the heat we have been experiencing.

8 February. Rain.

After quite a period of very hot days, the rain started falling not long after we had sent all the children home yesterday. It was so refreshing I just had to reach out the window and take a photo.

7 February. Ducks In The Pond.

These ducks were not at all bothered by the hot temperatures yesterday at the local park, as they swam around waiting for all the kids to come and feed them with the spare bread. (Not as cute as your duck AK!)

6 February. Sunflower.

When I was our walking with the dog early this morning, we saw this beautiful big sunflower smiling down at us over a nearby fence.

5 February. Home Grown Salad.

It is very satisfying to be able to go into our own garden to get some of the ingredients for the salad for lunch today.

4 February. Seagull

This seagull gave me a piece of his mind when I parked my car too close to where he was eatiing some roadkill.

3 February. The First Day.

Don't you just love 5 year old's paintings. It was a great first day at school for 2011.

2 February. Ready and Waiting.

Today is Teacher Only day , but tomorrow is the first day of the 2011 school year for the children at our school. This playground will be buzzing with the laughter of reunited friends.

1 February. Crayfish.

Just one more photo taken at the Aquarium.