Of course, there's the other side of the month, too.

Like today. Today it was rainy, and about 45 degrees. Gray, gray, gray. The warmth teases you; the gray drags you down. It feels almost like time to start planting, but there are mounds of snow everywhere, turning to puddles.

I put the pot out on the pond today (we've been putting a pot of boiling water out on the ice every day to melt it, to oxygenate the water for the fish), and discovered that we had a "false bottom" in our hole. The top skin of ice gave way to melted area, and then there was another layer of ice below the water. To get through that, I had to put a brick in the pot (it couldn't hold enough water to displace itself deeply enough otherwise) and put a lid on it, because cold raindrops falling into steaming hot water seem to cool it much more than being surrounded by very cold air . . . one of those things you could figure, if you bothered to figure.

At any rate, when I got a hole through the second layer of ice, one of the fish floated up . . . I guess we didn't keep enough air down there. I'm guessing that the other fish is trapped beneath the ice, and when it melts, we'll find his body, too. A sad moment . . .

And then one of the succulents in our new centerpiece doesn't like its new home very well. So I went out and got some cactus soil, and repotted it in a new place. I hope that'll do the trick. While I was at it, I got a seed-starting tray (a bunch of peat cubes, really) and some tomato seeds. Too early to start tomatoes, I guess - but I'm sure I've got some broccoli seeds somewhere, and maybe some cauliflower, too. It's nice having a sunroom where I can start seeds! Sure beats staring at the rain, wishing it were really spring . . .

I had a mellow day today; I was home sick, as were Emil and Emilie. I'm just sick enough not to be at work, but not sick enough to forget about working. I got a lot of grading done. Never enough, of course; we've hit the part of the semester where it'll never be enough until the final grades are turned in in May . . . but still, it's a start.

Less than four weeks until England. Woohooo!! Boy, that was a good idea for a midwinter pick-me-up . . . I'm really looking forward to it.

They're hollering for more rain, some snow, and more fog for the balance of the week. Yeesh. Think I'll go look for the broccoli seeds now . . .