These make me happy...

Melody over at Slurping Life hosts SOOC Saturday every week! SOOC stands for Straight Out Of The Camera image. It's simple, just post a picture you took(without editing it) and tell us a little bit about it! This week's theme is what makes us happy.

This is the time of year that the daylilies bloom in our yard. My husband cares for these throughout the year and knows all the varieties and names. I just think they're pretty.

Company picnic

Last weekend, we drove out of state to my hubby's company picnic. It was a really nice event and we all enjoyed the food, entertainment and activities they provided. As soon as we arrived, we immediately went paddle boating (and were the first ones to do it.) This is a pic as we got started.


My toddler didn't quite know what to think of it at first. Of course, I didn't even notice his dirty fingernails until I looked at the pics the next day, lol!


Yep, I enjoyed it too.


Hubby readjusting his sunglasses.


My preschooler's favorite activity was sliding down this slide. It was so hot that they added the water hose to it and it was very slippery (and lots of fun!)


My toddler preferred to walk around the trees in a circle, over and over. ??? It was really hot that day! However, my toddler insists on wearing long sleeved shirts. Since he is very pale and hasn't been exposed to a lot of sun, I figured it was a good thing on this day.


This event was held at a private function facility so it was well shaded in many places and had a pool, inside rooms with a/c, miniature golf, basketball hoop games, horseshoes, volleyball, sack races, bingo, jumping inflatable thing for kids and lots of food and slushies. My kiddos LOVED the free slushies and drank lots of them!!


Later on, everyone else rode the boats again and I stayed and took pics while they floated around. I realized at some point while waiting that my hubby was allowing my toddler to enjoy a short nap.


Even after parking the boat, my toddler still didn't wake up. He was totally out and was tired! It was an awesome day! Good thing we had lots of sunscreen on. I had to get just one more pic.....and then I picked him up.

My yard....

...is beautiful this time of year.

This is like a secret garden. We made this arbor about 7 years ago and the jasmine has really overtaken it making the whole area smell awesome.


A closer look.


A bird landing on one of our birdhouses.


A plum tree.


A ripe plum (this pic was taken by my brother.)

Coyote Sighting

I live in the city limits but there is a wooded area near where I live too. A few years ago, we noticed a pair of coyotes a couple of times...then a few years ago, there was only one. It travels on a little wildlife trail (made by whatever animals go back and forth on the back of our property to the adjoining drainage ditch where there is water.) The last time I saw it was right after my last son was born a couple of years ago. I recently saw it again. I was able to run out onto the porch and take a picture of it from afar. It trots fast only at the back of the yard and goes to wherever it lives in the woods, never into our yard or around us.

We used to visit a relative who lived in a rural county hours away from us. The coyotes there ate the livestock and were a menace. When one was killed, whoever killed it would hang it upside down on their wooden fence so that everyone else could see (as I assume it was their common practice to show that there is one less coyote out there.)

I don't normally see much wildlife like deer or coyotes where I live, but when I do, it's wonderful...



edit to add:
Check out Melody at SOOC (Straight Out of the Camera)
http://slurpinglife.typepad.com/

Robert Frost and home

I have always loved the poetry of Robert Frost...probably because I remember my mother reciting poems by him when I was young. I used to listen to some of his poetry on cassette tapes (back when I had a car with a cassette deck.) Since the one I liked doesn't come in CD version, I recently bought a CD of his poetry that is actually read by him. In both versions, one poem always stays close to my heart, "The Death of the Hired Man."

In this particular poem, a hired hand who has worked for a couple for many years during harvest time (and had eventually become old and not very dependable) returns one last time (looking very poorly.) Even though the man had a brother who lived close (but had not spoken to him in years), he returned to this place. The poem is like a conversation between the man and woman and the woman described why the hired man returned there, instead of his brother's house. She says...

“Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die:
You needn’t be afraid he’ll leave you this time.” 115

“Home,” he mocked gently.

“Yes, what else but home?
It all depends on what you mean by home.
Of course he’s nothing to us, any more
Than was the hound that came a stranger to us 120
Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.”

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.”

“I should have called it
Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”

I've thought about this poem over the years...when relatives/adult children/etc come around and want to stay or when those close to me have similar things happening around them, I think of the circumstances and relate back to this poem.

It'd be nice if everyone in the world had some place they could call 'home' to return to in times of need or confusion.

SOOC: Pigeon up high...

While sightseeing at the top of the Empire State Building last weekend, I was quite surprised to see one pigeon! (this is my daughter in front of it as she's sending a pic via her cellphone)


I couldn't believe it was able to get up so high (we were on the 102nd floor observatory where you could stand there and feel the wind.) While I'm definitely afraid of heights, being up there didn't really scare me...until I reached out a little to use my camera/cellphone to take a picture and then it dawned on me just how high it felt...my stomach got all tied up in knots and decided I didn't need any more pictures.


What a brave bird!


See more SOOC Saturday posts here.