Happy Birthday, Grandma! Ben, Connor, Emily, Jenni, Lily, Aiden, Jake and Ani all came by Saturday morning to help clean up and fix up around the house. Rufus and Abel came to play with Daxter. When they were done, great transformations had taken place.

In the west sideyard, Ben and Jake accomplished what Grandpa has not been able to do:  They removed the last vestige of the clothesline that had been there perhaps since the house was built, more than 50 years ago. Like some lone, forgotten goal post, the rusted standard had stood, broken and forlorn in the yard since we bought the house from the family of the original owners.

Preparations for the birthday work party started a few days earlier, with a list of projects that had been piling up around the house – inside and out. Then Grandpa began gathering tools and materials Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning. The birthday well-wishers reported for duty at 8 a.m. Grandpa mowed and edged the front yards and spread a biological agent throughout designed to fend off grubs and other crawly things. Lily swept up the walks. Jenni mowed the back yard. Ben and Jake built a raised bed for the east sideyard.

Grandma directed traffic, and with Aiden did some watering and spring clean-up. There was lots of clean-up to go around. Ani tackled the chaos of limbs and branches that were all askew and akimbo in the west sideyard. Before long, she had help from most of the rest of the crew. Grandma went and rounded up some lunch material. Grandpa left for an 11 o’clock temple session where Josh Alberts was getting ready to go out on a mission to upstate New York.

The day it happened was actually Will Shakespeare’s birthday, but it was a nice present for Nancy – and for Grandpa. Thank you, beautiful family.