Before our Spring break, Peabody’s nest of ladybug eggs hatched in the bottle he was keeping them in. We released most of the larvae into the rose bush in front of our house. Ladybugs are quite ugly in the larval stage. Hopefully we’ll see them as aphid eating adults in a few weeks.
This week a pipe broke down the street and we were without water for most of the day. Annabel and the kids survived on bottles of Calistoga. But we’re prepared for something bigger. We have 80 gallons of water stored in case of emergency. According to FEMA, that’s enough for about 10 days for a family of four.
Several days of rain sogged our backyard and eventually caused our Italian Stone Pine to fall. They’re usually found sticking out of mountain sides. It was here when we moved in, planted by the previous owner, providing shade to the back. It fell slowly, so there was not much damage. But there is a big hole in the skyline and our hearts.
Annabel is being driven crazy by the sound of squirrels munching Indian corn. Peabody had the idea of taking what is left of his gift and hiding it around the yard “to see how smart the squirrels are.” Annabel will be happy.
For the past couple weeks, I would arrive home to see Peabody digging near our back patio. He was using the large shovel and had removed a couple cubic feet of soil. He brought me out to see his work and told me he was building a sandbox. My instinct was to help him by moving the project to a shadier spot and building a proper structure. But Annabel suggested asking Peabody what he wanted to do. He said that we needed sand of course. So this weekend we framed the hole with paving stones and filled it with 150 pounds of play sand. Peabody (and Nettie) couldn’t be happier with it.