Sensation-al!

Hi, everyone!
On Thomas’ and James’ birthday week, Grandma and I decided to host an after-school snack in their tree house. I helped Grandma make goat cheese biscuits! Uncle Steven told us Thomas was all out of his last supply, so we made a double batch!

There was rain in the morning, but it stopped by the time James and Thomas got off the school bus.  Thomas came up the ladder right away, and James came a little later.  There were lots of goat cheese biscuits for Thomas to keep after everybody had their snack!

The next day was sunny, so Grandma took me back to Highland Park to see the lilacs in full bloom.  I really wanted to see my Sensation lilac friends!  We did our usual circuit of the park, starting at the northeast corner of the park.  We saw lots of blooming lilacs from the path behind the main lilac planting, including a Sensation!

The magnolia trees had all dropped their blossoms, but the buckeyes were starting to bloom!  So were the peonies across the path from the buckeyes!

We took our usual route back through the lilacs on the slope.  I made lots of lilac friends, including two more Sensation lilacs!

On our way out, we always go through the azalea and rhododendron gully.  I saw a honeysuckle in bloom, and some of the early azaleas and rhododendrons were in bloom, too.  Grandma said she’d bring me back later when more of my rhododendron friends were blooming!

The minister at Grandma and Grandpa’s church is retiring.  He and his wife really like Grandma’s flourless chocolate cake, so we’re making some for his retirement party.  We have five done and in the freezer already!  I  have to be very careful not to get chocolate on my paws when I help with the stirring!

This week, we’ve been back and forth to the bay three times!  Grampa is working on the boathouse floor, and Grandma and I are helping.  We scrubbed all the floor boards so they’ll be ready to be reinstalled!

I was happy to be at the bay, because all my azalea and rhododendron friends there are blooming!  The deciduous azaleas greeted us with their fragrance!  It was too cold to eat on the porch the first day we were out.

When we went back into town the first time, Grandma took me back to Highland Park to see my azalea and rhododendron friends.  Some of my lilac friends were still blooming!  The colors on the Sensation lilacs were starting to fade, so they were harder to spot.  We found two of them!

There were pretty azaleas in bloom across Pinetum Drive, and I made friends with a golden chain tree on our usual path.  More of the buckeyes were blooming, and some of the early peonies were already dropping their petals!

We stopped at the Poets Garden and I was surprised that the white trillium and heleborus were still blooming!

Some of my rhododendron friends still weren’t blooming, but I liked the colors of the azaleas and rhododendron that were in bloom!

On our second trip to the bay this week, it was time to plant the herb garden!  I helped Grandma hoe the tree seedlings out of the garden bed and plant four kinds of basil.  The rosemary plant that spent the winter inside in Fairport went back in, too!

Grandma bought her plants for Fairport at the same time as the basil!  When we got back into town, I helped her plant there, too!  Our white azalea in the back yard didn’t leaf out this spring, so we put in a replacement.  Then we planted impatiens in the window box.  Last year, the New Guinea impatiens Grandma planted under the maple tree in the side yard suffered from shade and critter munching.  We’re trying regular impatiens there this year.  I hope they grow better!  I’m looking forward to watching them!

Love,

Lion-san