FTT news roundup

from a longer-than-usual February

photo by Harriet Allen

Hi there Frog Troublers! This morning started foggy and sunny, very springlike, but gray-blue clouds have moved in. Still, the daffodils are blooming, and we had some foraged purple dead-nettle toasts with our dinner last night. Purple dead-nettle grows everywhere this time of year and has a delicious, earthy, almost mushroomy taste—you should try it! We like it very lightly sauteed in garlic butter and sprinkled on toast with honey goat cheese.

But it’s been a week! And a month? Mostly good, but very busy. In place of your normal one-or-two subject post, we thought we’d offer some things we’ve been doing and enjoying lately.

First up, did we tell you that Bea came in fifth place in the Chatham County District Spelling Bee? One of the words she got was “ficus,” and when she asked for a definition and was told that it was often grown as a houseplant, she said “Oh, wow!” in such a cute way that everyone laughed. We hope to do an interview with Spellin’ Helen Moose, the fifth grader who is representing Chatham County at the state championships!

Richard had a Saturday crossword in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago. “Great work,” Richard! :)

Harriet has been getting a lot of “happy mail” from her teachers, which recognizes kids for great behavior.

Harriet and Belle have also read all of the Too Small Tola books from our library and highly recommend them. Great windows into life in Lagos, Nigeria—including during pandemic lockdown. Plus, the whole series is just a beautiful, funny, unsentimental portrait of a family and neighborhood. If Belle had a second or third grade classroom these would definitely be choice read-alouds.

We made our first batch of sourdough bread, after getting a starter from one of Belle’s students. Here is Harriet doing the “float test” with the ripe starter:

And here is the first finished loaf:

In other news:

Coco tucks Harriet into bed every night, and doesn’t come out of her room until she’s fallen asleep.

Julius caught a couple of mice this week.

We liked reading about a frog that grew a mushroom on its side.

Belle and Richard voted early in the NC Democratic primary.

Belle was interviewed, along with reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Steven Young, on NPR’s Here and Now on Monday. They talked about the terrible, stupid, very bad embryonic personhood ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court.

Belle also was named a University Faculty Scholar at NC State this week, a great and surprising honor! The award recognizes achievements in research and leadership.

The Wolfpack Women’s Basketball team won a hard-fought game against Syracuse on Wednesday. In overtime! We’ve had season tickets this year, which has been awesome, and have come to know each of the amazing players by name and strength. Belle decided to write Coach Wes Moore a fan email, telling him how much the whole family admires the team and what great role models they are. And guess what? He wrote back, the same day, and said he hopes the team gets to meet Bea and Harriet at Reynolds Coliseum. How awesome is that? It made us think that we should try sending more fan mail. Go Pack!

And, drumroll please… we wrote all the names down from last week’s Plant Pets contest, and Bea drew two this morning. Congratulations, Georgann and Cat! We’ll be in touch once we get our hands on early copies.

If you’d like a digital proof and belong to Net Galley (or know someone who reviews for them?), you can request a copy here. It’s been fun to see the early enthusiasm from readers of all ages!

How about you, Frog Troublers? How was your February? Are you getting excited for spring? Growing any mushrooms (hopefully not on your body)?

Love, the staff of the FTT.