Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, I went to my grandma and grandpa's house. This photo shows my grandma and my little sister doing an activity involving putting O's in empty holes. The book in the picture is where the empty holes (and the instructions) are. At the time when the picture was taken, they were doing a page where you had to put O's in to make car wheels.

Reed Grass

This reed grass was a clump about five inches high when we planted it by the side of our house  five years ago. Every Autumn we cut it down to the ground. Sometimes we use it for Halloween decorations. It looks like a massive corn stalk with feathers at the top.

Every Spring the grass grows anew. This year it reached at least twenty feet into the air. It is higher than my second story bedroom window.

Last year we delivered some stalks to a church to put inside the narthex. Grampa John tied the long stalks to the top of our van and off we went. We made it halfway to the church and then the stalks started sliding ... S..L..I..D..I..N..G ... across the car roof and down by the window on my passenger side of the car.

We stopped the car, secured the stalks and then crept the remaining miles to the church.

The stalks looked beautiful inside the church. But we're not going to make that journey again this year!

Grandma Elva

Tree-Walking

This morning, Kenna was walking with my mom, Robin, and I to take pictures of trees. We walked around the neighborhood and took pictures of trees. Kenna and I brought our umbrellas, and we all wore rain jackets since it was a bit wet. It was fun, and when we came back, I was hungry and the battery on Robin's camera was running low. So we all walked to Solano and had a nice lunch.

The Plum Tree Mystery

For my tree project, it really is a mystery what kind of plum tree the tree that I've chosen is, and still a mystery whether or not it even is a plum tree. If you have any help, please post a comment as soon as you can. My tree project is due next Monday.

Still Birds - But Pumpkins, Too

My neighbors are growing two pumpkins. The plants are in the ground but the pumpkins sit atop a three and a half foot fence beside their garden. Every day I look at them (the pumpkins ... not the neighbors :-) to see whether or not this is the day they will fall off the fence. So far they're staying put.

When Grampa John and I lived at our farm in Red Lion, PA our neighbor across the hollow grew pumpkins by the side of his house. He trained the vines to climb up the side of the house. It was exciting to watch the pumpkins get bigger and bigger as they sat atop the roof of the house. They were Orange Royalty, or seemed so to me. They reminded me of Cinderella's coach.

The birds that perched in a line along the water spouting at the edge of the roof were like coachmen awaiting their assignment to drive the coach off into the land of fairy tales. 

Lake Temiscal Birds

When we went to Lake Temiscal (Monday, August 25), we were looking up at the telephone wire. And guess what
we saw? We saw a lot of birds sitting on there! I watched them for a while and when we were getting ready to leave, I said they were one of my favorite parts of the day.

Who's sitting on the hill with Jack?

JILL.

Of course, Jill is the white bird sitting on the hill with Jack :-) !

The next two lines of the verse are:

Fly away, Jack. Fly away, Jill.

Come back, Jack. Come back, Jill.

Grampa John plays this "finger trick" game with little children the same way he used to play it with the college students he taught.  I wonder how many of you readers know the game.

Nory and Kenna visit

Two little white birds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and the other named......?