A Few Zoo Pictures

So I mentioned we stopped at the Memphis zoo taking mom home. I thought I would show a few of the animals. Hopefully, you won't get too bored.I've never seen a white tiger before. He/she posed so perfectly that he/she reminded me of a stuffed animal.They had two pandas on exhibit. I think these little guys are the cutest. They were both munching on bamboo. They must have some really strong teeth and jaws. Now I didn't say they were the neatest eaters. This one looks like he's saying, "Do I have the life or what?" Sorry for the dimness of the picture, they were enclosed behind glass.They had a nice area for the polar bears. I was hoping they would get in the water where you could see them up close. But instead they opted to play. They had a small but nice aquarium. I enjoyed watching this polka-dotted fish as well as the lion fish(I think that's what it was called.).I think this is the lion fish. So interesting to look at.They also had a new bird exhibit this weekend. It was like we were walking around inside a cage full of parakeets. They were everywhere.You could purchase these little feeders and the birds would hope down on the sticks while you were holding the feeder. This little birdie was about 2 inches from hubbies face and could have cared less.They also had two beautiful bald eagles. One can certainly see why they are our national bird.

Hope you enjoyed the zoo. I haven't been to this zoo since the 60's. Needless to say, it's changed a good bit.

On the Road Again

Well we just returned home this afternoon from taking mom back to AR. I miss her already. We had a great visit and now my house is quiet.On the way home yesterday we took a detour to the Memphis zoo. This was a horticulture exhibit they had that was so pretty.As we traveled thru the delta you can see the mighty Mississippi is still out of her banks a little. Luckily some of the farmers have been able to plant unlike a couple of weeks ago. This is a very young rice field. Sorry for the blurriness, it was raining and the picture was taken out of the window. See the levees in the field, that helps control water on the rice.This is a field of winter wheat that is about ready for harvesting. I loved looking across the field at all the colors.As we were driving along we came across a big touring bus pulling this small trailer. We're big Jimmy Buffet fans. It looked like a trailer full of merchandise. We weren't sure what was up with it but would like to have followed it wherever it went. Unfortunately we had to come on home. Oh well maybe next time.

A Day in the Life of a Runner

5:15 a.m. - Alarm clock ringing, drag myself out of bed, turn on coffee(even tho I won't be partaking), 1st trip to the bathroom.

5:25 - Eat one piece of toast with butter and jelly. Would like another but stomach forbids it.
Legs start their nervous shaking(cut it out legs, it's only a run).

5:40 - Second trip to the bathroom. Nervous stomach. Every race day starts this way.

5:45 - Sit ups. I've discovered this helps get air out of stomach that I got from eating my toast.

5:55 - Dress in new running shorts. This could be a big mistake. Never wear something to run in
you haven't tried before.

6:10 - We're on our way. The beautiful morning sky didn't do much to calm the nerves.Rain was predicted today but luckily not until the afternoon.

6:45 - Arrival at Mississippi College who was hosting The Senior Olympics where I am running my
5K. Get registered

6:55 - Nervous stomach is needing another bathroom break. A couple of more times should be
sufficient.

7:25 - Walk to the other side of the track to begin race. Heart is racing, I feel like I am going to
"lose my cookies" any minute.

7:30 - "Runners ready!" Gun goes off. 1 1/2 laps inside the track. At the first curve breathing is
already labored and I'm ready to quit. It's going to be a tough run.

7:32 - Out of the track and onto the neighboring roads.Time to leave the track onto uncharted territory.7:45 - Heavy, heavy labored breathing. I probably sounded like a fog horn on a boat running down the road. Lungs are begging to stop, legs ain't letting it happen.7:52 - Oh so glad to be headed back into the stadium. I'm smelling the finish line.7:54 - Finish line. Yippee!!! Did I say yippee!!! Labored breathing finally stops. Stomach instantly settles down. And the winner is!!!! So is it worth it?!??!?! See that smile!!!!!

I always feel like, somebody's watching me!

You just never know what you are going to find in the garden. The other day I was checking out my Rudbeckia maximas to see if they were budding. It took a minute but I discovered two sets of eyes looking back at me.Aren't these little guys cute? There had been 3 but one jumped before I snapped his pic.Remember these guys? I think they knew I was checking them out. This picture is now about 5 days ago so they have probably changed a lot more now.No, I know they don't have eyes but I was definitely checking them out. This is the first time I have grown amaryllis. I'm very happy with the results.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I'm off for another race Saturday morning.

A Fast Trip

This Saturday we took a quick trip to Arkansas to pick up my mom for Mother's day and bring her home with us.
Due to much rain in this area the mighty Mississippi was out of her banks.I think it's going to be a while before the farmers are able to work these fields. Small lakes dotted the terrain all the way.Needless to say we don't travel lightly. We carry everything with us except the kitchen sink. Mom didn't say she was crowded in the back but as you can see she didn't have much wiggle room.

Saturday before we left I got to run in another race. It was hot and soooo humid. When the race started I think I got just a little too excited and ran my first mile waaayyy toooo fast. I was almost ready to quit before I even got started. Halfway thru my lungs were begging to stop but my legs wouldn't let me. I'm glad they didn't because I got to take another Grand Masters trophy home with me. Yippee!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Check this out!

Now I don't know how many of you folks shop here but I don't. But the other day we were passing thru this favorite shopping area and I noticed this neat store front. At first glance one might see nothing special. Come on, let's take a closer look.What have we here? I heard two girls say, "Hey mom, it has weeds growing out of it". Nah, take another look.I believe you would call this sedum and lots of it. I placed my camera right against the wall and shot upward. Is this not beautiful?I thought it was just gorgeous. How cool would it be if more stores did this?!?!? I don't know if you noticed or not but the outer metal part with the name on it is stamped with birds. This is definitely a cool store!

Saturday Scenes

Evening everyone! I hope y'all had a great Saturday. Today we had lots of hot sunshine and high 80's. Glad I had applied sunblock. This is what went on in my world today.Off to Mississippi college(Clinton, MS) we went for the State Track meet. Sorry for the blurb but I took this pic thru the windshield. You can use your imagination to figure out what that is! Luckily we didn't have to be there until 11:30 but was it ever hot already. We only had a few girls to qualify for this meet. One of them brought home 3 medals. Not too bad, huh?!?!?Before we left this a.m. I managed to check out the beds/garden. Here's the three little pots I showed a couple posts back. As you can see they are filling in nicely. I'm enjoying this red beauty. This morning she had several blooms.These snapdragons are still putting on a show.These two guys were waiting on breakfast. They were both in the corner section of the fence and had built their webs on top of each other. I love organic pest control!I knew there had been lots of excitement around the blue bird house yesterday morning so I decided to take a peak. Are these little fuzz balls the funniest looking little things. I think they were definitely born yesterday. I'm curious if that one egg you see hatched. I may have to take another peak in a day or two.And lastly, we gardeners take lots of risks when we are out working in our beds. We can get bit by spiders, bugs, wasps, bees, or cut our fingers/hands or possibly step on ends of hoes and whop ourselves in the head. So see that lovely red spot on my neck, it's a dad-gum wasp sting. But guess what? It didn't happen gardening. It happened while I was riding my bike. Darn old wasp flew right into my neck while I was enjoying my ride and just to be mean he stung the pooh out of me. Let me tell you it didn't feel none too good either. No wonder I can't stand those sorry boogers!!!

Oh well, I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday. I did.