Visiting All the Grandparents

We spent two weeks in Idaho and Washington last month, visiting all the grandparents. Malcolm was, apart from some sleep difficulties, a great traveler, and the grandparents were all thrilled to have him. The weather was mostly good - cooler than Arkansas, and rainy at times, but not depressingly so. I got some very good flower pictures, since everything was blooming profusely. Here are some pictures of Malcolm with the grandparents; I'll save the flowers for another day.

Malcolm reached 10 months while we were there, so he let Grandpa Rider help him with his month card picture.

Three generations of Benjamin Riders at Lake Coeur d'Alene. In this picture Malcolm is starting to look a little more like Benjamin now, although a lot of his expressions are still very much like mine.

Malcolm got to meet his Oma Jennie for the first time ever, and despite the look on his face in this picture, he did get along well with her.

There, that is a happier look. Jennie was, of course, in love.

Malcolm does love to chew on rocks...

Grandpa Mikey and Malcolm in a quiet moment. Usually, they were winding each other up instead.

Malcolm and Grandma Candi, reading the same book. You'd never know it by these pictures, but my mother does have a large collection of children's books - she was a children's librarian after all. But Malcolm really liked that one - it was one of my favorites as a baby too.

The drive from Bellevue to Idaho and back can get rather long, especially if you are strapped in a car seat facing the wrong direction, so it was lovely to be able to stop and visit with our good friend Ellen along the way. As a bonus, she gave Malcolm his first piano lesson on a real piano!

Hard Rock

For your Friday, here is a short video of Malcolm and a rock.

The State of the Garden

Garden, April 1st

I have been a little slow getting the garden going this year - normally, we have everything in the ground by the end of March, since we do most of the work during Benjamin's spring break. For one reason and another, we just didn't get around to buying tomatoes and so forth, apart from planting a few of the seeds that prefer cold weather to germinate. In the top photo you can see the sorrel that has been growing for about 3 years (the hardiest plant I have ever grown!), and the pea shoots and lettuce seedlings.

 

Garden, April 29th

Our delay didn't turn out to be much of an issue, since this year has been a lot cooler than last year, and if we had put tomatoes out, we might have regretted it later. The lilac bush bloomed about 2 weeks later this year than last, and everything else is similarly behind.

Tomato, pepper, cucumber and basil 4/29

The last week or so I have been working in the yard for an hour each morning while Malcolm takes his long nap. This morning I finished up planting the various herbs and flowers that go in pots in the deck. I also had to repot the new lime tree I bought last week to replace the one that died in the Christmas Day snow storm.

Lettuce and mesclun mix 4/29

We have seven assorted tomatoes - four in the garden, three in pots, two peppers - one jalapeno and one sweet cherry variety that we have never tried before, a cucumber - also new to me this year, two kinds of basil, collards (well, we will if the seeds ever sprout), sugar snap peas, two kinds of lettuce (in the garden and in a flat on the deck), carrots, mesclun, two kinds of eggplant and blueberries. In addition, we have bee balm, anise hyssop, oregano, peppermint, lemon balm, two kinds of sage, the lime (which doesn't look like it will have fruit this year) and a fig tree (also no fruit - too small still, I think).

 

The rhododendron and azaleas are blooming now, also later than last year, but full of blooms and beautiful.

And the red rose is loaded with blooms. I just love the scent, the color, and the feel of roses.

This has got to be the best time of year in Arkansas. The sun isn't scorching yet, the humidity might be a bit high, but since the heat isn't up, it is bearable, most of the nastiest bugs aren't out much yet, and everything is fresh and green.

Bloody sorrel, up close

And of course, this year I get to start sharing it with Malcolm. I think we have the makings of a fine gardener on our hands, as long as I can convince him not to eat the dirt!