Hi, everyone!
Habitat means a place to live. Right now, Uncle Steven’s family and Uncle David’s Corvette are living with Grandma and Grandpa and me! We did get a big rainstorm the same day Grandma washed the Corvette! James and Thomas got new sneakers in the afternoon before it rained. They light up when James and Thomas walk or run! Aunt Kara said the clerk at Dick’s Sporting Goods was extra nice and found James a pair in his size when she couldn’t. James and Thomas really like their new shoes and celebrated with frozen juice bars just before the rain started! The next day Uncle David sent a cover for his car, so now it won’t get dirty when it rains!
Grandma made Uncle Steven’s favorite snack, party mix. Guess what? Thomas likes party mix just as much as his daddy does! After they shared a snack, Uncle Steven let Thomas choose a Lego set to build. Thomas chose the last one his daddy bought with his own money when he was growing up, the pirate ship! James and Thomas and Uncle Steven all worked to put it together. After it was assembled, Thomas watched videos on the iPad and James and his daddy started building a new world in Minecraft on the computer.
Yesterday, Grandma and Aunt Kara took me on a special tour of habitats! We visited places where people planted gardens that are friendly to wildlife. The first garden we visited had lots of native plants that attract bees and butterflies! The hosts gave us a list of all the plants in each of the garden beds, and it was very long!
The next garden we visited was my favorite! I think it would be a good habitat for little lions! There were lots of daylilies in bloom in the sunny front yard. The last time I saw so many different colors of lily was at Meadowlark Gardens in Virginia, right after James was born! I think I’d fit right in with the smoke bush!
This garden was habitat for some funny creatures! I made friends with the pot person, the purple garden tool bird, the plumbing fixture person and the knights and dragon on the rain barrel. There were tractor seats all around the patio for me to sit on, too!
There was a pretty pond by the patio! Aunt Kara liked the plantings in the shady part of the yard and said they gave her ideas for the back yard of the new house. There was a zen garden that reminded me of the temples in Japan. The blooming lotus reminded me of Thailand!
I was surprised to see another set of pools in the shady part of the garden! There was a tree house at the very edge of the yard. Do you think James and Thomas would like one in the back yard of their new house? The gardener told me that there was a secret children’s garden, and I found it!
One of the gardens on the tour was a long drive away from the others, and it was really big! There were 100 acres of fields and a very big pond! A bluebird posed for Grandma on its bird house. The gardener planted whole fields of plants that butterflies like! I made a falcon friend, but he turned out to be a statue!
On our way back from the big wildlife habitat, we stopped at a garden in Henrietta. I liked the shoes used as planters and the garden chair that was just my size! There were more pretty lilies here!
The Henrietta garden had a rock bed that channels water when there’s rain. I liked the painted candy stones, but I knew I couldn’t eat them!
The last part of the tour was two gardens in the town Aunt Kara used to live in! One of the gardens took up every bit of the front and back yards except for the walks! There wasn’t any grass left to mow at all! Even the strip between the town sidewalk and the street had plants on it!
When I got back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, I thought about the wildlife in our habitat! We see squirrels and chipmunks and birds all the time! There’s a groundhog that lives under the back deck. Our only “garden” is the window box in front. The impatiens plants have filled it in completely, but in between the plants the chipmunks are still digging holes! I guess that’s a wildlife habitat too, just like on the tour!
Somebody from the town brought Grandma a begonia plant to thank her for collecting veterans’ names for Memorial Day. There was no room in our planter for it, so Grandma asked me to help her plant it at James’ and Thomas’ new house. I hope the begonia likes where we placed it! I wonder what wildlife is in that habitat– other than a little lion ?
Love,
Lion-san
Hello Lion-san, I love all the colorful gardens you visited with so many pretty flowers and even a chair for you. I like the pot person and the pipe man. I think you would like my collection of teddy bears and six all different teddy bear sized chairs. You would fit right in with them. I think you’d even enjoy our gardens complete with a purple pig! Here is a picture of the teddy bears in teddy-bear sized chairs.
Great Aunt Betsy
When Grandma and Grandpa brought me to visit you five years ago, you were getting ready for a garden tour of your gardens. I was thinking about that on Saturday when I took the habitat tour! Love, Lion-san
Was it the long ago? Five years? Time flies when you are having fun, when I am having fun. Seems like it is time for another visit from you Lion-san!
Great Aunt Betsy.
The garden tour looked like fun. There are a lot of clever ideas to think about. We are back up in Maine now and have had a few adventures ourselves. There was no water so Joe -san had to go to the lake to get some. But it has been sunny and warm and Nancy-san has been swimming every day. We have a wild life friendly garden but it has a variety of ferns and trees that the squirrels like. Almost time for a swim with our fishy friends.