DEAR QUINTON

Papa and I hope you have a wonderful birthday today.

Clover can hide rocks, squeeze out all other plants and reseed by the billions

Among my flowers I have the stepping stones my grandchildren made for me. As I care for the flower bed and weed around each stone I think of each child. Sometimes that takes hours. Today I weeded around your stepping stone - it took hours. I thought a lot about you. I prayed for good things and happiness for you and your family.

If I do nothing but wait for flowers, weeds take the sunshine and water and choke out the flowers.  To enjoy pretty flowers I have to constantly pull the weeds and grasses, roots and all. I also have to loosen the soil and water. Clover seemed bent on taking over the section your stone is in.

A seed (green cluster center left) forms from each yellow dot on the clover
flower (right). One clover plant makes thousands of seeds each time it blooms. 

Raising flowers is like reading a good book. I must learn how and then do it. To read, first we have to work to learn the alphabet and sounds. We have to do more than wish we could read. And after we learn to read we have to actually choose a book and get it and pick it up - not just leave it lost in a pile somewhere and then we have to read each word, paragraph and page.

Where is Quinton?

Tedious weeding on the front right corner begun - just starting yesterday - I quit!

I have to do more than wish I had flowers. I have to plant bulbs and seeds or seedlings. I have to pick the right kind for the right places and plant them at the right season and be sure they have enough light and water - but not too much. Then I have to wait patiently for them to grow before I get to enjoy the nice smells and pretty colors. 

Can I stop when clover is cleared from beside the rose? 

Even after the flowers grow I have to still watch over them. Sometimes bugs eat them or kill them and sometimes people trample them.  Sometimes I can fix that but sometimes I can't and I have to start again and even sometimes AGAIN. 

What about when the stone is uncovered? Can I stop weeding now?

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I don't mind weeding and planting. I am glad I can see how plants and things grow. Did you ever wonder where all the stuff a tree is made out of comes from? or a piece of fruit? -

Although lots of clover grew no other seeds did. After the clover was gone I added 

a few new flower seedlings from other places where too many flower seeds grew.

Look at the little footprint on your stepping stone. How did your foot get so big? What is it made out of? Where did those things that make your feet come from?

Footprint from a long time ago. 

You like to read books. We do too.
 We like to read all kinds of books.

I have many 'favorite' books.

There is one that I think you might, in particular, enjoy. It is called 'The Fox That Wanted Nine Golden Tails' by Mary Knight. It is a fun little square book.

You can borrow it from us, get it from a library, download it from the internet, or even buy it - it is worth owning. BUT you may want to read it - that way you know how much you like it and if you want to read it over and over again! 

Here on my blog I have a list of some of my favorite books. I recommend reading them all. You can borrow any of them from us if you want to. Papa could drop them off to you on his way to or from work and trade a new one to you when you finish each one.

Oh - and by the way - be sure to tell us the names of any good books you read.  It would be fun to read a book you like!
Love Grandma and Papa