Plaids and stripes and lots of sprouts...

I finally found a little more time yesterday to go through some old photos, and this one takes the prize today.I don't know where it was taken—maybe the chicken coop on the Heights or the upstairs of the barn at 413—and of course there are a few short people who are missing, but how often do you get four cousins all lined up just shining with happiness? Something awfully good was either about to happen or already had. I like the missing teeth, the plaids and the stripes, and that very stylish pink plaid cape on Mary.

On a more contemporary note, Tom had a meeting, so Cullen and I managed to find our way to Dulles Airport yesterday afternoon (and even more amazingly, I found my way home). He may travel light in most ways, but on this trip—for almost 10 days in sunny California—the bike goes too. That's about 60 pounds in a hard case, fortunately with wheels.

And about those seeds that went into little pods last Sunday? The news is almost too good.Those leggy stalks are pumpkins and squash. The slender little shoots are the tomatoes, marigolds, and cosmos. Tom spent a fair amount of time this afternoon doing the first transplant and planting MORE seeds. This time petunias and zinnias. Where we had one flat in the basement under a grow lamp, we now have this. That's three shelves, with every pot we had in the house filled with a seedling. Can we turn Bridget's room into a greenhouse?