More radio silence, explained...

We were in Sacramento last night and have family staying with us, so that explains this bout of silence on the blog. Also, we are a little behind on my homeschool schedule, which is fine, because we are still outlandishly ahead, but I intend to stay that way, because Amalia thrives on that. She is technically going to be in second grade next September, but will be doing third grade material. It makes this homeschooling adventure fun, but also pretty fast-paced.

When I visit Sacramento in any season but winter I really love it. Spring is, besides the annoying airborn pollen, absolutely lovely. All those trees have a bright green hue, which will gradually darken as summer progresses. The mock oranges are in bloom, sending off their perfume. I missed seeing my parents' irises, which is a pity, since we planted them for them, and they were apparently quite spectacular this year. But the other blooms made up for it.

Here in Vallejo we are seeing our irises and gladiolas pop out of the ground. They won't be in bloom for a little bit, but the promise of all those flowers lures me into the garden every day, just to see what is opening up.

And that brings me to weeds. The disadvantage to great gardening conditions is that all sorts of unwanted stuff grows fast, too. And some of those weeds look like they might be promising as wildflowers. "Oh, let that one go for a little bit more, it could produce some nice blossoms." Followed by, "why didn;t we pull that out when it was just a little shoot and hadn't sent runners all over the place.

And, of course, I remain plagued by ivy. The ivy I had cleared out of my parents' backyard is back with a vengeance, and our own yard is constantly threatened by the neighbors' ivy. Who plants this stuff? Can they be prosecuted?

Anyway, I could rant on about ivy for hours and pages. I will resist. Don't plant it.