A Second Look, 5-20-11

A Second Look  around the yard this week found these things.

  

Bearded iris

Honeysuckle--The smell is so sweet. Now if it just wouldn't engulf everything around it.

Sage

Bearded iris

Ground Hog Hole--Front door and back door that is always hidden.

An early blackberry bloom. Or is it black raspberry. I always get them mixed up.

Passports

We had front row seats to see Old Faithful.

Our family applied for passports this weekend. It all started in third grade when one of my friends brought a View-Master to school with pictures from around the United States. Two of the most impressive ones for me were the Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park and Niagara Falls in New York. I marveled at these unbelievable acts of nature, and they became icons for me of the amazing things to see in this country. However, I never got to see them in person--that was until last summer when Ward and I saw Old Faithful. It erupted  faithfully, as it has done for countless years, and the experience was all that I imagined it would be. After that satisfying event, we started planning a visit to Niagara Falls.

It was decided that to have the complete experience, we needed to see both the New York and Canadian sides of the Falls, which these days means you need a passport. No one in the family had an up-to-date one, so we had to start the application procedure from the beginning. Soon the excitement of the trip was forgotten as the annoyances of bureaucracy took over.

A dark cloud seemed to be hanging over the process. We couldn't find Theodore's birth certificate. We couldn't find the safe deposit box key to look for his birth certificate. Wally's work schedule didn't fit with the times the post office was open to submit applications. Ward and Wally's work schedules didn't mesh with the schedule of where we could get inexpensive pictures taken.

However, the sun started to emerge Saturday morning. We found the safe deposit box key (under a seat in Ward's car). This enabled us to get the right documents, work around Wally’s work schedule, and make it to the inexpensive place for our pictures. We got our applications submitted, yeah! Now, we hope for clear skies for the people who will be processing them.

Niagara Falls here we come!

Discoveries this week 5-12-11

A Second Look around the yard this week found these new flowers blooming along with a few other things.

Pink azaleas

White azaleas

Siberian Iris

Star of Bethlehem--Some consider this a weed and some consider it a flower.  It spreads easily by both seeds and bulbs, so you have to be careful where you plant it.

Rhododendron

The blossoms are off of the peach tree and peaches are starting to form.

The cows are grazing in the field behind us. They get rotated among the different fields on the neighbor's farm, but usually spend the summer behind us.

A Day in the Life of Lucy

A Day in the Life of Lucy

  

Lucy started her day with a little breakfast.

Then she decided to join Wally who was still in bed.

After her nap with Wally, she joined the family in 
a game of Scrabble.

She soon became bored with Scrabble and decided 
to play cards instead.

All the game playing tired her out, so she took another 
nap with the rest of the cats.

After her rest, she tried her paws at some arts and crafts.

The tedium of the arts and crafts made her nervous, so she chewed on a box to calm herself before her next nap.

When she woke up, she was hungry and demanded to be fed.

After eating, she decided that she would watch some TV with me and Annie, but soon fell asleep.

With her last burst of energy for the day, she caught a "mouse."

And she fell asleep for the night beside Ward.

The end.

Happy Mother's Day

I come from hearty stock. Thank goodness, because raising babies in my family is not for the faint of heart. Just ask my mother.

She gave birth to my oldest sister, Daughter Number One, as young woman one year after she married my father. She said at that point she knew as much about taking care of a baby as she did about being a plumber (not much). My sister did all of the fun things babies do like cry a lot for no apparent reason and never sleep. But soon my sister learned to talk. And talk. My mothered yearned for quiet.

Two and a half years later, Daughter Number Two was born. She followed in the footsteps of Number One and cried a lot for no apparent reason and never slept. Then she learned to walk. And run. And climb. And to never be afraid. She climbed the banisters, moved the furniture, scared the neighbors, and had the fire department rescue her from a drain. She didn't talk much, but that didn't matter, because Number One talked enough for both of them.

Three years after Number Two, I was born. I just didn't cry for no apparent reason, I cried ALL of the time. I cried so much that I burst my tear ducts. I cried so much that the neighbors took me with them when they delivered groceries. They hoped to provide some relief for all involved. I consumed every minute of my mother's time. Meanwhile, Number One talked and Number Two was “busy.”

My mother was tired, but the kids were happy.

Then the miracle happened. Daughter Number Four was born four years after me. She only cried when she needed something. She slept regularly. My mother was afraid that something was wrong with her. She didn't understand this kind of baby. Meanwhile, Number One talked, Number Two was busy, and I cried easily, but we were manageable now—at least compared to before. For a little while, my mother could breathe and just be very busy raising four young girls. That was until my ailing grandmother moved in. But that's another story.

My husband has a theory that the number of kids in a family is equal to the number of easy babies plus one difficult one. Thank goodness my parents didn't subscribe to that formula or I wouldn't be here. I want to thank my mother, on this Mother's Day, for not giving up when I'm sure she wanted to and giving me a great start to life.