Sunday, June 25, 2017

Where Did Those 6 Months Go?

Our grandson, Stanton, passed the half-year point this month!  He can sit up well on his own, and has started enjoying solid food and moving around by rolling.

Here are a few of our favorite recent photos:

Michigan grandparents visited in late May
What is this stuff?  Stanton on the beach.
A little music box that plays Greensleeves is a favorite
He loves "baby buzzing"
Fascinated by grown-ups' food containers
We think he might have a few Polish genes
Helping mom and dad celebrate their 10th anniversary
Just back from child care
Apple sauce is a favorite

Over Memorial Day weekend, we traveled to Mountain View in the South Bay to visit the Computer History Museum.  The displays run all the way from the abacus to today's computers. Here are a few photos from that trip.

Erick and I revisited "ancient history" from our
student days at UM using punch cards to run programs
at the computing center.
We entered our names on punch cards and came away
with a souvenir print out.
What a cable for those huge, tape driven computers looked like
And now our alma mater has produced the
world's smallest computer
At the driverless car exhibit
The obligatory souvenir for baby - He'll grow into it in no time.

Stanton isn't the only growing thing we've been keeping an eye on.  A couple of years ago, we got a gift of a Bird of Paradise plant for the main deck. After a rough start, it's been growing well.  We read that the plant must have at least 7 leaves before it will send up flower spikes.  We reached that magic number this year, and the flower spikes followed.

Leaves and 2 buds visible
First bloom
Two bloom stage
Just this week a third flower bloomed and
first bud produced a second flower
Note the extension bloom in the center
Elsewhere on the balconies and decks this month:

Main deck - mostly Verbena
Main deck - small Hibiscus
Main deck - geraniums
Main deck - lettuce
The only veggies we've been successful with in planters.
West / bay side of the house
where the balconies are
Container arrangement
Geranium varieties
(also a carnation and a small jade plant)

Our indoor hobby, jigsaw puzzles, continues to provide a chance to play together.

The puzzle table in action
Puzzle #14
Puzzle #15
Puzzle #16

We've had some unusual weather in the last month.  A bit of rain - not typical - and a run of record temperatures.  It got as high as 90 degrees F here in the hills.

Clouds over Moraga
June rainbow
Sunset reflections over the ridge
Smoke from a grass fire - fire season in the hills
 A few experimental photos:

Jupiter in the abstract - maximum zoom with my Olympus SH-1
A NASA Juno mission photo of Jupiter's south pole
Full moon through the trees