Spring Again!

Hi, everyone!
I think it’s finally going to stay spring here! The leaves are out on all the trees except the oaks, and it’s sunny and green today.
I’ve been helping Grandpa finish the new kitchen floor at Sodus. When it was part way done, I helped him unfasten the ladder to the loft, so we could put the new flooring under it. Now it’s done!Doesn’t it look nice? Moose-san really likes it, too!

Last Saturday was Jazz Night at Grandma and Grandpa’s church. I helped Grandma make black bean and goat cheese puffs to take as an appetizer. Grandma let me take my new book, so my friends could see it before we sent it to Bill-kun and Karin-chan. Moose-san and I got to sit right up front, where we could see the Jazz-sans really well! We met Olivia-chan’s pig, and I showed Moose-san how to play drums and piano. Then we both got a lesson on playing bass from Jeff Jazz-san. Of course, we said hello to our friend Rod Jazz-san, too!

There are flowers in bloom everywhere I go! Grandma took me to her office so I could see the dogwood Professor Tree in bloom. That’s the tree that Grandma and five of her friends had planted the year they all got promoted at work. It’s really pretty right now! Some of my dandlion friends have turned into puffballs. At Sodus, the wild strawberries and deciduous azaleas are starting to bloom, and the euonymous leaves are as bright as flower petals!

Grandma likes to play a puzzle challenge on Sunday mornings on National Public Radio. Each week, one person who gets the answer right is picked to be on the radio, playing a puzzle with the Puzzlemaster. This week, they picked Grandma! Her part of the show was taped on Friday afternoon. Grandma thought the on-air puzzle might be about national capitols, so she printed out a list of them from the internet. I was a good helper while she was on the telephone for the taping, keeping track of the list. When the puzzle turned out to be about categories of things starting with R O B I and N, I kept track of the letters for her. Grandma says having me there helped her not get nervous!

Later on Friday, Joe-san and Nancy-san brought Moose-san out to Sodus overnight. It was too cloudy to see the sun set, but we had fun going to the beach. Joe-san and I reminded Moose-san not to jump in the water. Moose-san was curious about the container for used fishing line at the pier. He thought it was a giant telephone!

On Saturday it was too cold and windy to go out in the kayaks, so Nancy-san and Grandma took Moose-san and me for a walk to see the wildflowers in the woods. We saw honeysuckle and Jack-in-the-pulpits and forget-me-nots and white trillium. The May apples are just the right size for Moose-san to sit under! Moose-san really likes the wildflower meadow and the apple trees in the orchard. Right now, there is a big migration of Red Admiral butterflies moving through the area, too!

Grandma said that, since Moose-san was visiting, we would make a chocolate mousse cake for dinner. Moose-san and I helped a lot! We greased the cake pans, then we emptied the cake mix into the mixer and made sure the batter got mixed. After the cake layers were baked, we poked them with a toothpick to make sure they were done. Just before dinner, we helped mix the mousse to put on top, then we helped put the cake and mousse together. I had to be very careful not to get mousse on my paws, but I don’t think anybody would notice if Moose-san got some on his! After dinner, we served the mousse cake. Everybody thought it was yummy, but Moose-san liked it best of all!

After dessert, we went to the beach again to watch sunset. This time, the clouds didn’t get in our way! Grandpa said he saw a green flash, just as the sun went down.

This morning, before church, we listened to Grandma on the radio. This afternoon, Grandma’s friends in Florida and Colorado sent messages saying they were listening, too!
Love,
Lion-san