Some time in the yard yesterday... and a few surprises...

I'm going to start this post with a pretty picture... you'll thank me for it later!

Today I got to spend some time in my yard... which is unusual. I got out of work several hours early. Got home and did the "lovely chores", took a nice nap and then moved to the back yard with a book and my camera.

Our yard is currently under construction (and it's been that way for about 6 months). The grass is in (although it already has some brown spots - so we're working on that). Some herbs and a Medallion Tea Rose are in the ground. The inherited calla lilies from my Gramma's back yard are finally thriving. However the larger flower bed still isn't completed - we need to fix the sprinklers first. Then we'll put in 3 types of cannas, salvia leucantha, african iris, euphorbia, agapanthus, and some other pretty things whose names I've currently blanked on. These items are all currently in a safe spot of the yard awaiting their "new home".

If you've ever seen our yard in any one of it's renditions (there have been many over the past 10 years) or even in it's most REPEATED and COMMON rendition (4-foot high weeds) then you'll be as happy as I am when I say it's FINALLY getting done right!

Oh how happy it makes me to go outside and spend time in our little piece of GREEN (instead of brown, dying weeds) ... except when I round the corner and see this!





And yes, it scared the liver out of me!


Then I remembered I brought my camera outside with me (but I didn't want to turn my back on this thing). Man, it was ugly! He was moving slowly, hadn't bared his teeth at me yet and wasn't playing dead from fear of me scaring him. So we were ok, for now...

I snapped off a few pics and he started moving out of the yard... he crawled behind the shed, up a 3 foot wall (HOW do that do that?!) and sat down under my car.

And I got a few more shots... and while I was looking through the lens I noticed... is that ? Really? This thing only has one eye?!



Then I was literally grossed out... and happy he/she was leaving the yard.

If you were wondering, NOW is when you thank me for that beautiful rose picture! Here, let's look at it again!





OK - so back to the beauty of my half-done yard! (Oh, by the way - you're welcome!)



Once I was convinced he/she was long gone, I was finally able to relax. I kicked up my feet and read for awhile. This IS the life...





I loved looking at my freshly planted pot of herbs: flat-leaf italian parsley, greek oregano, lemon thyme and cilantro. Mmm... makes me think of dinner cooking in the crockpot!





While we're at it, let's get another good look at that beautiful rose bud! Like I said earlier this is a Medallion Tea Rose. I fell in love with the variegated apricot colors and the mellow scent. And to my surprise, this hybrid rose was officially registered in the year I was born! It was meant to be...

Then I heard a familiar sound... the wild parrots that come back to the Old Escondido area every summer! I hadn't yet caught a picture of these guys... but not for lack of trying! Every summer since I moved here (in 1999) they come for a visit. Almost every night (during the warm months) I hear them squaking as they fly over. I'm not sure where they go for the day (or night) - but it is rumored they take up residence in a tree just a few blocks away.

Ahh.... I caught them... well, on film at least. They were quick though - I almost didn't get them!

And now for their close-up...



It was a nice day... started off with 12 miles on the bike, followed by a short day at work, I enjoyed the best breakfast burrito in town (thank you, Nicos!), soaked up a much-needed nap, and enjoyed God's beauty in the yard-that-may-never-be-finished!

I'm one lucky girl!


Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.