Hi, everyone!
Since I last wrote, Grandma and Grandpa and all my other friends have been staying away from each other. That’s helping stop the bad virus from infecting others, but it means I haven’t been having as many adventures! Mostly, I’ve been staying in the house and watching springtime come! The last week of March, we had freezing weather again and a little bit of snow.
When it warmed up a little bit, Grandma took me outside to see how all my flower friends were doing. The snowdrops perked up and the tulip leaves appeared. I saw the first of my crocus friends blooming. One of the crocus came up in a place we never planted it! The crab apple tree with the see-through trunk got even more holes over the winter!
Our travel dinner party was supposed to happen on the last Saturday in March, but it had to be postponed until people can get together again safely. Instead, on Friday Grandma and Grandpa and I went out to the bay. I made friends with the new kitchen table while Grandma and Grandpa raked most of the yard. Saturday started with a very pretty sunrise and there were lots of birds singing while Grandma and Grandpa finished raking the front yard. Then it started to rain, so we went back to Fairport. The Christmas cactus decided to bloom again!
That Sunday, we had a big rainstorm! On Monday, Grandma and I had cooking adventures. First, we made a coffee cheesecake. I got to marble the two kinds of batters together. Guess what? Grandma forgot to put the egg in the chocolate batter, but the cheesecake tasted OK anyway! After we made the cheesecake, we made a new batch of sauce bearnaise. We cook that in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, and Grandma says the trick is knowing when to quit! The town truck came to pick up the leaves we raked out of the daffodil bed when the leaves were just starting to appear. I liked watching the crew vacuum up the leaf pile!
The first of April is April Fool’s Day, but nobody was feeling like doing pranks this year! Grandma and I did another trial of making burek, the cheese and filo bread that our guide’s mother made for us in Croatia last summer. Grandma thinks she’s ready to make it for the travel dinner, whenever that finally happens! It was warmer and sunny, so I went out in the yard to visit my flower friends. We’ve been putting coffee grounds around my tulip friends, and so far nothing is eating them! The daffodils on the south side of the house were just starting to bloom. There were green buds on the lilac and yellow buds on the forsythia. After I went back inside, I sat in an afternoon sunbeam. My tummy and nose got warm in the sun!
I want to go see all my friends in Highland Park, but Grandma says we need to set a good example by staying home. So my adventures right now are seeing what came in the mail and visiting my flower friends in our own yard.
Last Saturday, I did get to go out. Grandma and I went over to church to pick up palms for our Palm Sunday worship. Usually, the palms are handed out by the children of the congregation when everybody gets together to worship. Since the middle of March, church services have been streamed on-line, with only the pastors and a few support people actually at church. We got enough palms for our church friend neighbors and Uncle Steven’s family. Then I got to visit Tilly and Moose-san to bring them their palms! On Sunday morning, I made sure to watch the service on Grandma’s laptop computer with my palms!
Sunday afternoon, we went back to the bay to finish raking the area behind the road. Parts of it were still soggy and muddy, but Grandma and Grandpa got most of the winter twigs and debris cleared. Then we went to the Point to watch sunset. It was windy and waves were splashing over the pier, so we watched from the beach. It was a pretty sunset to mark the start of Holy Week!
Now more and more of the daffodils are blooming. We had a couple of warmer, sunny days when I could enjoy being out with my daffodil and other flower friends.
Yesterday, Grandma and I spent the morning writing notes to friends who aren’t getting much personal mail. Then we spent the afternoon making fabric masks for Uncle Steven’s family and Grandma and Grandpa. Just last week, the national health advisors said that wearing masks when out in public was a good idea for everybody. Grandma said Jellycat lions like me didn’t need them, even though a tiger at the Bronx zoo caught the bad virus. I tried on Thomas’ mask anyway, just to make sure it was the right size!
Love,
Lion-san
Yes, spring is springing and I am delighted. We drove to a friend’s house today to give her a couple masks but did not stop to visit because of social distancing requirements. So good to be out and to see the forsythia, magnolias, daffodils, a few azaleas, some other flowering trees. We enjoyed our ride around the area. Now the sun is coming out. Glad you are finding spring blossoms too, Lion-san. This is a special time of year.
Yes, it is a special time of year with all the spring flowers blooming. We have daffodils blooming and crocus but we haven’t looked for tulips and hyacinths are starting to open. It is good to see the sun! It was nice of you and Grandma to bring us palms on Palm Sunday.