River Walk

How lucky we are to live so close to the Boise River.  When I ride or walk along the greenbelt, I always think I should make the effort to get there every day.  This was our first trip over to the river with the grandkids.  There was a lot of rock throwing, some rock skipping, tree climbing, stick collecting, a little nature observing, and the greeting of joggers and fishermen.  We remembered sunscreen, but next time we need a picnic.

 

To the Rescue

We had a loud 2 alarm spider today.  The kids spotted a big black spider on the living room wall and called Grampy in to rescue us all.  The alarm was loud, the spider was scary, and the action was exciting.  You probably had to be there.

2 Alarm Fire

The 2 alarm fire that burned a garage and damaged a house was just around the corner from us.  It was pretty exciting to see six big fire trucks, two ladder trucks, two fire vehicles, the paramedics, two police cars, and the channel 2 news fly down our street.  Hudson and Hadley were treated to a loud parade.  Thankfully people and pets were okay.  It provided plenty of excitement, but the thing that stood out to Hudson was a girl that rode her bike into a pole while she was looking at all the action.  That's something that he can relate to.  He was also impressed (as was everyone) with the car in the garage with a melted bumper.

Dining Ambiance

Hudson is still trying to win Nedee over.  Today he drew a picture for her.  It's sitting right by her dish so that she can enjoy it each time she eats.  It was a nice gesture, but his loud voice and chasing around outweigh the gifts he's been offering.  She's not warming up to him yet.

A Little Bit of Church

After the big wedding day, we were all in need of a day off with rest and relaxation.  It was Sunday so the day of rest worked out.  I had to give a short talk in sacrament meeting at the Marqui Care Center.  Since I was speaking on family, it just worked out to bring the family along.  Terry was at a bishopric meeting, but Mike, Stacey, and the kids came along with me.  There were two men taking care of the sacrament, two women doing the music, and two ladies from the care center in attendance.  They needed Stacey and Mike's singing.  Our two little ones could barely make it through the 30 minutes, but they were much appreciated at the end.  Sister Ana and Sister Irene really liked visiting with the little kids.  Hadley gave Ana a pretty forceful high five which was scary.  Sister Ana is a quite frail.  In the end they both gave hugs, smiles, waves, and Sunday greetings.  It was a short little meeting.  Afterward we went home for a day of rest. 

Hard to See the Cute Little Face

My new grandson is Tanner, age four.  We're all excited to have him join the fam, especially his two new cousins.  He was excited for the wedding, but it a little overwhelmed.  He definitely didn't want to be in the middle of pictures.  When Terry and I were married, Ty was almost six.  We have pictures with Ty that look a lot like this.  I think I'll frame them together.

Harvest

We've  had some lettuce in a salad, but this is the first time Hudson did the harvesting.  These are hot, hot, radishes.  There's much more to come.  Huds and I are waiting patiently for the cucumbers to come on.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage

 

Saturday, June 25th was a beautiful summer day.  The formal garden at the MK Nature Center was shady, green, and full of flowers.  Amee and her dress were beautiful.  Bry was handsome and confident.  Everyone was happy.  It was simple elegance.  It was a beautiful, happy wedding day.

Summer Swim Lessons

Hudson had eight swim lessons over at Ivywild Park.  We went to check out his progress and watch Hads splash around.  We missed the grand finale of a trip down the big curvy slide, but we did see some impressive bobbing, floating, and kicking.

A Stitch in Time

I've been sewing again.  I got a jump start hemming table squares for a wedding.  Then I made a dress for myself.  I'm half way through my second dress and have a dress cut out for Haddie.  I have a stack of material and want to complete 12 projects this summer, one a week. 

I love to sew and I'm thankful to my mom for teaching me how.  I'm thankful for my high school graduation gift of a sewing machine that still works like a dream.  I love fabric stores and pattern books.  It feels good to work for several hours and create something lasting and beautiful.  When I clean house or cook for several hours it's beautiful, but it doesn't last. 

Wedding Bliss

I picked my pansies for a friend to float in pretty bowls, on the tables of her son's wedding luncheon.  When I delivered them I was able to sit and visit with good friends that were helping with the food.  I also sampled all the luncheon food - heavy wheat and cranberry rolls, orange chicken salad, and banana raspberry trifle.  That evening at the reception I had a ginger cupcake with cream cheese frosting.  (They also had red velvet and poppy seed.)  I love wedding food!

I don't have a good track record for attending receptions, but I really like them.  I'm usually just too lazy to get dressed up and go.  Terry is a bad influence on me, but on this day he came along.  We talked to friends, saw the decorations, the beautiful dress, and the blissful couple.  Happy day!

Running Through the Sprinklers

Our back yard isn't big enough to run in, but even in the day of Roaring Springs, Seven Peaks, and Wild Waters, little kids still enjoy a sprinkler and a wading pool.  If you don't have a wading pool, a storage big will do.

 

Road Trip

Needs a helmet, and maybe some bike shorts instead of pajamas.

Hudson has just learned how to ride his little garage sale bike.  He can't be trusted.  He pedals with his heels, is always looking down or around (not where he's going), puts on the brake or doesn't put on the brake at the wrong times, and generally loses focus.  But he does have plenty of confidence.  We took him on a short walk with his bike for the first time and he was yelling through the neighborhood,  "Look at me ride my bike.  I can ride it around the world......when I'm older."  We'll keep practicing.  By the end of the summer we hope to have him ride it around the block.

Feliz Cumpleanos

Terry turned 60 on June 16th.  He didn't want to, but it happened anyway.  We had family over for fiesta burgers and a little fiesta.  Besides the burgers we had birthday pie, blueberry and lemon cream.  We also broke out the Fizz cups for root beer floats which were a big hit with kids and Terry's dad.  Bry, Amee, and Tanner came.  They're on the final countdown before their wedding - nine days to go.  It was a nice summer evening so we used the patio.  There were presents, candles (one for each decade), laughs, and a good visit.  I think he's   in fine shape.  I'll keep him around for another 40 years or so.  I'd actually like to make it to our fiftieth wedding anniversary.  We started late so he'll have to hang in there with me until 96.

Hudson jumping for joy, or the balloon.

Celebrate the countdown with a Fizz.

His best friend didn't forget.

Birthday Boy!

Flag Day - 60s Style

Flag Day is on the 14th of June, and it's also my friend Mary's birthday.  It was her sixtieth.  We had a party of six for a 60s themed lunch party.  Mary graduated from high school in '69.  She's artsy and a bit of a hippie.  Our hostess, Lydia, has an amazing house, amazing yard, and an amazing view.  She had 60s music playing, peace sign necklaces, and tie dye headbands for us to wear.  Thanks to research on the Internet the menu was all the favorites of the 60s, Swedish meatballs, seven layer salad, jello, and rolls.  For dessert we had the 1951 Best of the Pillsbury Bake-off Winner, double delight chocolate cake.  It has a touch of peppermint flavor in the frosting, and frosting added to the cake batter to make it moist.  We filled a 60s basket of gifts - Carole King and Bob Dylan CDs, candy from the decade like Boston Baked Beans, wax soda bottles, candy cigarettes, peace sign earrings, Pokey and Gumbo action figures and more. Yummy lunch, great atmosphere, old friends, and a trip down Memory Lane.

I put my flag out too.  It looked so pretty that I decided to keep it out all summer.

I'm a fan...

of pretzels, any kind - soft, crunchy, twists, or logs.  My favorite is the stick.  Now, after my trip to World Market this week, I have a new favorite, Schltz Salty Stix, Ultra Thin.  They come in a resealable 3 pound bag.  Since I'm sharing with grandkids, I might need a new bag every two weeks.  On my own, I think once a month.  It's the perfect snack.  Sometimes I like dipping them in barbeque sauce, sometimes melted chocolate, but most of the time just plain is just fine.

They're so crunchy, salty, and thin - ultra thin!

The Sand Turtle

We finally got sand in the backyard turtle.  We also got sand in our hair, in a pair of boots, in a diaper, on the patio, on the kitchen floor, on the bathroom rug, and in the tub.  Now the summer will feel like a day at the beach.

It's Going to Be An Annual Event

My dad has been wanting Nan and I to go down to Sanpete County, Utah on Memorial Day so that we know where all the family grave sites are.  So this year we took Dad along with us, and picked up my other sister, Fredee, in Brigham City, and went on what will become an annual event.  I told a few people at work what I was doing and they found it interesting, but were quite puzzled by it.  Maybe it's more of a Mormon/Utah thing.  We needed Dad along because he financed everything, and he's full of information and entertainment.  We needed Fredee because she loves to drive and she knows the ancestors.  Nan was the driver from Boise to Brigham and back.  I'm not really sure what my job was, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

On the way down, Dad introduced us to the malts and onion rings at The Pit Stop, just off the exit after Burley.  We'll definitely make a Pit Stop again.  When we arrived in Brigham we went to the cemetery which is surrounded by lilac bushes.  It's beautiful on Memorial Day.  We took care of a baby nephew's grave, Ethan.  We also did a drive-by of the construction of the new Brigham temple.  You really can't help but do a drive-by because it is located right in the middle of town, on Main Street.  The other drive-by we always do is pass our old house on Cherry Drive.  Someday we'll go to the door and see if we can go inside.

The last order of business in Brigham was a 3 o'clock lunch at Maddox.  It's my favorite place to eat in the world.  You'd think it wouldn't be busy at that time, but it was packed.  Dad had invited his sisters to meet us, so we had a great visit with Aunt Carol, Uncle Frank, and Aunt Marc.  They were all doing well and we had a great time catching up.  Carol and Frank had forgotten their hearing aids though, and it was quite a comedy.  Maddox is noisy anyway, and the seven of us sitting at a table in the middle of everything were yelling at each other.  I think most of the customers there were just concentrating on their rolls with raspberry butter, steaks, and pie.  They probably didn't even notice.

Spring City Celebration

Spring City Public School - 1899

The church we should have toured - 1896

Neils Alder Home

Relief Society Granary

Spring City is a pioneer town and Memorial Day is the highlight of the year.  The little town is bustling with visitors and cars, but not so busy that the horse drawn wagons rides get in the way.  People don't picnic in the cemetery these days.  The town hosts a turkey BBQ dinner at the high school.  Funds go to a renovation fund for the old rock school building.  We went through the old school because they had an art show and auction going on.  It was also a stop for the wagon rides, and the place to buy your home show tickets.  Spring City is becoming a flourishing artist community.  It's not so far from Provo, and there are professors that retire or have summer homes there.  Many have bought the original pioneer homes and renovated them.  Each year they have about 15 homes that are open to the public.  Along the way you can view a lot of art, buy pottery, woven rugs, or fresh rhubarb punch.  It was a beautiful day and the town is so small you can walk everywhere.  We checked out root cellars, workshops, gardens, studios, the cinema, and the rhubarb pie.  It was all great!

Decoration Day - Saturday, May 28, 2011

First stop, Mt. Pleasant, Utah
I still need to see a map, but south of Provo, we drove up Spanish Fork Canyon and veered south again.  We're close to central Utah.  The loop we took today was a beautiful drive.  This is sheep and turkey country, some ranching, some farming, and small towns with well preserved pioneer homesteads, churches, and civic buildings.  I'd only been here one other time in the early 1980s, and I had forgotten about the horseshoe.  There's a small mountain range and at the top there is a natural formation that looks like half of a hollowed out crater.  It's called the Horseshoe, and a lot of businesses from the area use it in their names.  Today it was covered with snow and quite breathtaking.  We toured a renovated pioneer farmhouse that sits just a few miles from the base of the Horseshoe.  There's nothing between them and the mountain, except deer, elk, and pines.  Beautiful.

Horseshoe - Sanpete County, Utah

This area was settled mostly by Danish and Swedish Mormon immigrants.  We found graves from my mother's side here.  They had about a hundred big American flags surrounding the square of military graves.  There was a small group of senior citizens who had set up a bake sale.  The proceeds would go to their community center.  I wish I would have bought something.  We also saw a local pageant queen with her gown, sash, and tiara, as she stopped in at the cemetery restroom.  I don't think there was a parade, but there must have been an official appearance that she had to make.

Second Stop - Spring City, Utah
We have ancestors from both sides of my family in this cemetery.  Years ago when I came here, I was amazed by everyone who came to clean up the weeds and celebrate the day with a graveyard picnic.  Everyone brought lawn chairs and visited with friends and family members who stopped by.  Now they have grass planted, so we didn't have to do any clean-up, but the place was still hopping with people.  As Dad found one of his aunt's grave sites, he also found a second cousin, and then a couple more cousins.  They swapped stories for a while and had a good visit.

Third Stop - Moroni, UtahWe decorated the grave of Soren Christian Christensen who is my great grandfather on my mother's side.  This is the only great grandparent that I knew.  I've been told that he use to say insufferably long prayers before meals.  I just remember visiting him in a nursing home.  He was funny and kind and always had a bowl of lemon drops that he would share with us kids.

Last Stop - Fountain Green, Utah
This is where James Campbell Livingston, my great, great grandpa, is buried.  The church has a DVD, Mountain to the Lord, about the building of the Salt Lake Temple, and much of it is the story of James Livingston who was the superintendent of the quarry where they got all the granite.  There's a monument to him up Little Cottonwood Canyon where the quarry is.  The church now uses it as vaults where they keep records buried.  He had an accident with some dynamite and eventually had to have his arm amputated.  He kept it with him in a box for the rest of his life because he wanted all of his parts buried with him so that he could be put back together quickly.  Part of this cemetery was flooded out years ago.  His is one of the graves that had to be moved.  I hope his arm made that last move with him.

We made four cemetery stops today.  We did a drive through in Nephi, but we don't have any of our people there.  Every one of them were full of flowers and flags.  They were interesting and beautiful.

Sunday Cemeteries - May 29, 2011

Leaving Nephi on Sunday morning, we took old roads and highways through towns I'd never heard of, south and west of Utah Lake.  Of course Dad was navigating.  He can remember roads and find his way around even though it's probably been 50 years since he was there.  He was telling stories and pointing out site all along the way.  Utah Lake has been a mismanaged, undeveloped treasure for the state.  Now they are cleaning it up and developing some nice communities on the northwest end.  It was an interesting drive. 

We stopped at the Murray Cemetery to put flower on (my favorite) grandparents' grave.  Grandpa's dad was buried there too.  I had a picture of Fred and Fredee by Fred and Fredrick's graves.  We also found a half buried marker of a baby.  Dad had to dig with his pocket knife cut away the sod that had grown over it.  Her name was Alta and she must have died at birth.  She might be my grandpa's half-sister.  I've come away from this whole weekend with the realization of how important the information on a gravestone is.  I've decided I'm not to worried about funeral services or caskets, but I'm going to have good information on my headstone.

Our last stop was the Salt Lake Cemetery up in the Avenues.  It's a big cemetery and we all thought we could find it if we went in the general direction.  When we were just about to give up, we asked a man on the street if he knew where it was.  We noticed that he was shutting the trunk to a car with North Carolina plates.  He told us, in a southern drawl, that he wasn't from around these parts, and the only cemetery that he knew of was the one right over there (1/2 a block away).  We found it.

Fredee went into the office for help finding Great, Great Grandma Lucy Sear Cowley, who crossed the plains after crossing the Atlantic.  I think she is my grandma who pulled her husband across the plains in a handcart because he had injured his leg.  I need to find out for sure.  I also need to identify the other Cowley's who are her cemetery neighbors.

John Taylor's Grave - SLC

While Fredee was in the office getting directions, she also got a couple other maps of interesting people that are buried there, and church authorities and prophets.  We went on an amazing driving tour through church history.  We didn't make it to church today, but I felt the spirit.

It Wasn't Fast Sunday, But It Was Utah

We had eaten the complimentary breakfast at the motel in Nephi, Utah.  Half way through the day we were in Salt Lake and started thinking about where we would go for a late lunch.  Members of my family have lived a good portion of our lives in Utah, from Cedar City in the south, to Logan in the north.  We have a lot of favorite spots.  We talked about a couple my cousin's restaurants in Salt Lake, then decided to go to Robintino's in Bountiful (closed), then decided on halibut and scones which are only sold at an Arctic Circle in Kaysville (closed), then Tony's Pizza is Ogden (closed), then the old Utah Noodle (closed), before settling on a new place which seemed to be the only restaurant besides McDonalds opened.  The food was good, and I'm really glad that so many places close on the sabbath.

May 9, 1869

On this date, the golden spike was driven, which connected the the entire width of the country by rail.  It took place just 23 miles west of where I grew up.  I was in the sixth grade when we celebrated the centennial of the transcontinental railroad.  I wrote an award winning poem about it, and the narration for our school program about it.  We had a replica of the golden spike sitting on our bookshelf all the years I lived in Brigham City.  I dusted it every week.  But, I had never been out to see the place.

My dad is a big fan of side trips.  He never wants to go straight home, so Nan and I and Dad added an hour or so onto our trip to Boise so that we could visit the Golden Spike State Park and Museum.  Our timing was perfect!  We arrived five minutes before the second steam engine pulled around the corner and met the Jupiter head to head.  Then we found good seats in a standing room only auditorium for a reenactment of the day.  It was very well done.  I learned a lot.  For example, I always thought the two railroads just met at Promentory, a random spot in the middle of nowhere, but the two companies actually laid track side by side for over two hundred miles before the unlikely spot of Promentory was chosen as the meeting point.

I want to learn more.  My great, great grandpa, James Livingston, worked quarrying rock and blowing dynamite, and helped blast some of the rock out of Weber Canyon for the railroad.  He lost an arm doing it.  I'm connected to this place.  I'd highly recommend this detour on your next trip to Utah.  

Family History - I'm Doing It!

I've had so many things this year that have directed me to family history work - a DVD, a book club selection, a couple talks, family discussions, discussions with friends, and more.  I started this blog as a way begin keeping some kind of record.  This Memorial Day trip has been inspiring, motivating and solidified my desire.  I'm going to need to spend time this summer figuring things out.  I know several people and places that I can go to for help.  I also want to spend some time (a week or so) with my sister and all her files.

Throughout this weekend we've listened to my dad tell stories.  Starting when he was three learning to swim in the canal, and including the years building the cabin, times in the Air Force, working at the Defense Depot and canoe trips in Yellowstone.  He pointed out little lakes, mines, old buildings, railroad right of ways, and happy trails he had been on and in all over Utah.  My dad puts Huck Finn to shame.  If only someone in the family could write like Mark Twain.  How are we going to record all of these memories!

Oh no! Say it isn't so!

I lost my camera!  It was full of pictures from our action packed weekend with my dad and sisters.  It was full of family history, gravestone pictures.  It was only a couple months old.  It was on our last stop before we arrived back at my sister's house.  I know I took it into the Chinese restaurant on Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah.  I sat it on the seat of the third booth by the window.  I called 25 minutes after we left.  I called two more times and my sister went back in four days later and they took out the seat.  I just want someone to post my pictures for me.  Not only is my blog colorless and boring, losing the camera made me lose some of my enthusiasm for blogging and genealogy. 

It's been a week and a half and although I'm still mourning the lose of my pictures, I am on the road to recovery.  I'm watching for the next sale and I'll replace the camera.  I'm also planning a return trip next year to retrace our steps.  Next year we might let my brother come too.  Next year I'll have wonderful pictures to post.

Action Packed Days

The last two weeks of school are nine action packed days where students are excited, teachers are stressed, and there's no way around it, you just have to go through it.  Some probably thought I wasn't blogging because nothing was going on, life was dull, nothing to blog about.  In reality, it felt like I'd been picked-up by some unseen force and was being hurled toward the last day of school.  I had no time for blogging.  I was busy putting out one fire after another, meeting the next deadline, and trying not to crash and burn.  Here are the highlights in brief:

• Two awards assemblies- one for the end of the year, and the other for the 6th grade Presidential Awards.  I needed to have awards made and ready, put photos on the L-drive for the end of the year slide show, and review the two sixth grade dance numbers.
• Field Day and the tug-of-war competition -  This is the fourth year in a row that my class has taken the championship in tug-of-war.  Throughout the year we never win the spirit awards, academic best, marvelous manners in the lunch room, best participants in music, PE, or library, but I always have a good crew for tug-of-war.
• Hawaiian Days - Learn your Hawaiian name and how to pronounce it, make leis, enjoy Hawaiian punch otter pops, and practice the Hawaiian roller coaster dance.
• Yearbook signing - We got rained out of the outdoor classroom, so the sixth graders spent an hour in the gym signing their books and tie-dye shirts.
• Math meeting - I had to take half a day off to meet about the 7th grade math that I've been teaching this year.  It's a little late, but now I know what to do next year.  
• Stacey, Mike and the grandkids arrived from Georgia.  Ready or not - and we were not.  We just didn't worry about it.  There will be plenty of time this summer to get settled.
• Tate graduated.  I went to Eagle High's graduation on June 1st.  I wrote down a quote from the ceremony that I can't find at the moment, but it was fun.  Tate is moving on to BYU with a scholarship.
• We had a farewell party for staff that is leaving.  I will miss my good friend Sarah who is moving to North Carolina with her darling husband and a baby on the way, and Connie the counselor who is off to Alice Springs, Australia for adventures down under.

I had to take one more day off to travel for Memorial Day.  That means I had to get plans ready for a sub and get all the above done in eight days.

ABCs of Writing

You'd think I'd learn.  I've been teaching since 1979!  I ordered hardbound, blank books for all of the sixth graders, and assigned them a project of writing an alphabet book about their life or sixth grade.  That would be 95 students times 26 pages of poetry, journals, essays, and creative stories, plus the cover, title page, dedication, table of contents, and a page about the author, that I would read and grade at the end of the year.  Many of them created beautiful, fun, keepsakes.  I know they had to think and it gave them practice writing.  Although I was grading as they went along to give them feedback and lessen the load later, there were way too many of them and the last two weeks I was beyond crazy busy.  Next year, same project, except we'll start 1st quarter. 

The End

Students will never know, unless they grow up and become teachers, how much more excited we are, than them, that the school year is over.  I had a nice day, received some nice gifts, thank yous, hugs, visits from former students, and then we had lunch.  The sixth graders went out for their last recess ever, and five minutes later went home.  It took me a couple hours to clean things up well enough to check out.  The principal and I were the last to leave.  It was only 3:15, but we both were fried - mush for brains - done.  The recovery process will be sweet.

Garage Sale Season

I love a good garage sale.  I wish the season would last longer.  When I go, I think that I never want to buy anything new again.  There are amazing finds for about 10% of the original cost, or less!  The best ones are when whole subdivisions get involved on the same day.  We have several nice subdivisions in our area that do this at the beginning of summer. 

On Saturday, Terry, Stace, and I ventured out in our mid-sized car.  We only had an hour and a half, which was disappointing, but we did well.  I got a new bike and a couple books for my classroom, and a few for the grandkids.  Terry only bought a Dr. Oz book on CD about staying young.  Stacey hit the jackpot.  She paid $10 for a bike for Huds, and $2 for a cradle and changing table for Hads.  Then between a selection of free items and a big box of 25 cent toys, she came home with tub toys, fake plastic food, dollies, trucks, workbooks, and games.  We had a hard time loading everything in the car, but I made it to my 10 o'clock appointment, the kids are going to have a new toy surprises all summer.

Dim the Lights

Actually, the lights went out.  They were passing the sacrament at church and we lost power.  There aren't any windows in the chapel, but there were 3 or 4 emergency lights that came on.  There wasn't a mic or air conditioning.  We started testimony meeting thinking that they would flicker back on soon.  Many people came forward and talked loud as they bore their testimonies.  It was more comfortable for some because people couldn't see very well in the dim light.  The lighting did set a quiet, reverent mood.  In the end, the organist moved to the piano and used her cell phone for light to play the closing hymn.  We all went home early and didn't finish our block of meetings.  It made for a perfect Sabbath.

I've never sat through a church meeting in the dark before, but there have been 2 or 3 times when our microphone picks-up a ham radio operator in the area.  That's pretty funny.  You never know how long the conversation will be, or what might be said over the mic, so they've just turned it off and had speakers speak- up.  We also smelled something burning once and the fire department came.  We didn't evacuate, but there were jokes about God striking someone, or sending a sign.

Almost Cousins

When Bry and Amee get married in 18 days, Huds will have a new cuz that's only 2 weeks younger him.  We had a family gathering for no reason last night and it was the first time I saw them together.  They're  both cute blonds with lots of eyelashes, but that's where the similarities end.  Huds is wild and loud, Tanner is more serious and cares about people closing the door so the bugs don't come in.  They had a grand time together.  In the beginning Huds was jumping and yelling around, and Tanner just watched wide-eyed, with a big grin on his face.  He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing, but it looked fun.  After about an hour Tanner was doing some jumping around too.  I think they're going to be best buddy cuzzies.  They'll be good for one another.

What a Nice Surprise

One of my students gave me a sweet and yummy fruit selection in a green plastic basket which my grandson has recycled into a home for drowned worms.  He added leaves, dirt, and a lot of water.  Then he gave it to my cat Nedee as a present.  He left it by her food dish as a surprise.  I don't know if she was surprised, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't won over by the gesture.

I think this may be the first of a whole summer of blog entries about crazy kids.