What We Didn't See On Our Daily Walk

Since we caught such incredible deer shots on our walk on Thursday, we now watch for the deer every time we're out there. (You won't believe it, but we've walked 6 days in a row now.)

On Friday, we had gone past the point where we saw the deer but we still kept looking back to see if we could spot one. Sure enough, when we got to the opposite side of the pond, I spotted the telltale bright brown color down by the water. Of course I felt I had to get a picture but it was SO far away. I said to Mr. Right, "Now we'll see how good this zoom really is". He suggested we walk just a bit farther where there was a solid surface on which to steady the camera so I took one quick shot and headed for that spot. By the time I got there though, the deer had moved into tall grass and was no longer visible.

Like always, as soon as I got home I downloaded my pictures to see what I had gotten and was I ever surprised. Not only had I gotten a passable picture of the deer, but a bonus as well. Can you believe it???!!

Don't P--- Off The Swan

We went to our favorite walking place last evening and did a mile again. That's four in a row!!!! It's starting to seem like there's always something interesting going on there and last night was no exception.

Right from the getgo, there seemed to be a lot of commotion around some geese and a large swan. We saw the rest of the swan family about 100 yards away watching the big daddy do his thing. And his thing seemed to be to pursue one particular goose. And he pursued him VERY aggressively.

And at times it almost seemed like the other geese were either taunting the swan or trying to distract him. But the swan was undaunted in his pursuit.

We completed our one mile look which I'm chagrined to admit took us about twenty minutes, what with picture taking and not walking very fast and all, and the swan was still at it!

And the goose didn't seem to be having much fun at all.

The swan would chase the goose away and then the goose would do everything possible to get back with his flock. While the goose was away, the swan seemed relaxed and content but as soon as that silly goose got back, there was trouble again.




It was really interesting to watch and photograph. One point that surprised me was how fast that swan could churn through the water. He was beautiful, magnificent, grouchy and left a big wake.


And there was never any doubt about who was large and in charge.

We Found The Greatest Place To Walk!

I've started physical therapy for my poor back. I sure hope it helps. So far....I'm not real optimistic but I will stick with the program.

Tonight, for the third night in a row, Mr. Right and I walked a mile together. One of my favorite places to walk or jog was about 10 minutes away but in a beautiful state park with fabulous walking trails. Another place is about 10 minutes away. It has a paved uphill/downhill trail that's about a third of a mile long. But the place where we're walking now is proving to be the best of all for us at this stage in our lives. It's flat, it's paved, it's exactly 1 mile around, and it's only about 2 minutes away.

And here are some of the things we get to enjoy while we walk:



Does anybody know what kind of bird this is?


And most exciting of all:



Aren't we the luckiest?!

You Capture - Patriotism

My choice for this weeks You Capture was easy to make. Although I love all food I don't usually photograph it (which is probably why I should have practiced it). BUT, I love my sons and I have practice photographing them so I'll share some of those pictures.

The first ones were taken at our local 4th of July ceremony conducted by our Mayor. On this day he bestowed Hometown Patriot Medals to 5 servicemen, two of whom happened to be our sons. Here they are:


And here they are with the Mayor:

And here they are with my cousin's husband who works installing the armor on the Humvees that are used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Believe me, their smiles are genuine:


And here they are with their families. Do Army wives know how to dress their families for the 4th or what!

And I'm including this last one for three reasons. It's patriotic, it's kind of age oriented like my blog is supposed to be, and there's a pretty good chance I won't be competing with Beth with this shot.


For lots more patriotic (or food) pictures, visit Beth at ishouldbefoldinglaundry or post some pictures of your own. It's quite fun!

They're Still Swimming

On the 30th I announced the hatching of lots of baby koi. I'm happy to report that we still have lots of baby koi, that they're swimming more than ever, and that they seem to respond when I put the powdered koi food in the aquarium.

Here they are:

Aren't they adorable!?

The overriding question we're getting is, "What are you going to do with them?". And the answer is we don't know. If they're really beautiful, we may be able to sell them. If they're not so pretty, we might have to give them away.

But right now, I'm still not confident that we can get them past the baby stage. Once we get to the toddler stage (maybe about 4 weeks) I'll breathe a little easier.

In the meantime, share our joy and start thinking of names!!!!

North South East and West

They've all left now. The wonderful, joyful feeling that I had on my last post is history now. No happy anticipation, no wonder that they're coming, and no looking forward to the next get together.

Granddaughter and her family are headed to the Detroit area. Little Baby Daughter and her family are headed to Louisville Kentucky. Firstborn Army son and his family are headed West to Colorado and Secondborn Army son and his family are headed East to DC. The house is empty and quiet. All that's left is tracking each one's progress home.

But there's something else. There are memories and pictures of brief, precious moments to reconnect with those wonderful, perfect grandchildren that we don't see often enough. And time spent with the children that we raised and loved and now miss everyday.

What a wonderful weekend it was.

It Really Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

Some of the family is here now. There are children around and grandchildren and a great grandchild. And there are more on the way. And my heart just swells with happiness that so many of us will be together for a couple of days. (Unfortunately not everybody could make it but I can't let that little bit of negativity take away from my happiness.)

So I'm puttering around trying to clear away every bit of clutter because we'll need all the room we can get. I'm planning lunch, cutting a canteloupe, looking forward to Beth, Ariel, and Racecar's arrival and thinking about where Second Born Army Guy and his family is right now. I'm thinking they have about 8 hours to go.

Then my wonderful grandson-in-law was dealing with a fussy baby who was really, really tired but only wanted his daddy to entertain him. He refused his paci, shut his eyes tight, and yelled. So I got a cup of water to dip the paci in and it worked! And my grandson-in-law, after putting Superbaby down for his nap said, "That water idea was brilliant".

Right after that, one of my Colorado Springs grandsons had trouble playing a game on Mr. Right's computer so we rebooted it, downloaded some updates, and it worked. I asked him how the game was working and my sweet grandson said, "Great!".

Then one of my 3-year-old namesakes came up and said, "Grandma, my hair!" I put her barrette back in place and she literally jumped with appreciation and said, "Yeah!".

Back to back to back I got to feel useful and helpful to people I love. And, I wonder if, when we reach a certain age, maybe somewhere in our sixties, we stop feeling quite as useful. And maybe that's what's wrong with getting old.

But a little while ago, I got to feel very useful and helpful. And my family is coming and my heart is light. If someone could bottle this feeling, they'd be the richest person in the world because it's pure happiness. In fact, if someone could bottle this feeling, everyone could feel like I feel right now.

And it really couldn't possibly get any better than that!