Tag Archives: Grandma

A few months back, we somehow got it in our heads that it’d be fun to plant a tree at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Grandma and Grandpa have a lush, beautifully gardened back yard that’s full of flowers and trees, but they were happy to make room for another tree. Nyan wanted to plant an apple tree, and because of the need for pollination and whatnot, you can’t just plant one apple tree; gotta be two.

So not long after we arrived in Iowa, it was off to the garden store where Nyan picked out a pair of apple trees. And not long after that, he was out in the garden, digging holes and filling them up with apples.

The trees actually already have a few small apples on them, and they should bear full-sized apples within just a few years, if all goes well. But Daddy’s hope is that in a few decades, Nyan can make a trip back to Iowa City and can stop by his Grandma and Grandpa’s old house (assuming it’s not still in the family, of course) and sneak into the backyard to take a look at the trees he planted.

Maybe it’s his Iowa farming roots, or maybe it’s his West Country of England farming roots. Or maybe it’s just that he always wants to help. Whatever the reason, Nyan loves helping out when Grandma is out in the garden. (Same here in Singapore: we have but one solitary houseplant so far, out on the balcony, awaiting transplanting into a bigger pot. Daddy can’t go out there to give it some water without a little helper tagging along and ‘helping.’)

Here are some shots from some cool early spring days in Iowa, Nyan doing his best to make sure Grandma’s garden looks great.