You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right. ~ Maya Angelou

Good grief. I went looking for a graphic yesterday that I knew I'd stored in my Photobucket account. I found it, no problem. But it'd been so long since I'd been there I'd forgotten what other graphics I have stored. Like this one. My house. My home. It'll be 100 years old in 2012. It's in constant need of TLC, probably a lot like I'll be if I live to be 96 like it is. This photo was taken a couple of years ago on a beautiful Summer morning. I did an entry on my old blog showcasing my yard mostly. It was back when I had time to go out and putz around for hours in my flowerbeds. BG. Before Grandchildren! Now I manage to find a Saturday in the Spring, maybe one in the Summer, to cut back the old growth from the year before and to do some weeding. I miss it a lot, too. It's my Zen time, yanking out weeds and feeling my hands dig down into the warm, fertile earth. I don't find much time to sit on the glider, either, or the rocking chairs out on the back porch. But I do spend plenty of time at the big front windows here, gazing out into the Japanese privet and watching all the bird traffic at the feeders. A couple of days ago as I sat rocking and feeding Cooper, a Cooper's Hawk swooped down into the tree from nowhere, scattering chickadees and house sparrows in a million directions. My brother the birder spotted a Cooper's Hawk here in our neighborhood a few years ago on one of his visits and was so excited about it -- Cooper's Hawks are not urban birds at all so it was a rare sighting. I don't know if the one that showed up in my tree is the same one he spotted back then, but this bird of prey was determined to get lunch. They eat other smaller species of birds. His attack happened so fast and he blew out of there in such a flutter of feathers with wings spread wide I'm not sure if he had lunch or not grasped in his talons. But it was quite the sight, regardless. The privet is about twice the size now that it was when this picture was taken. The man at the gardening center told me it wouldn't grow taller than about 10' -12' in height. It's now 15' - 20' tall. So much for his knowledge.

My grandson Dylan is on his way home from his visit with his other Grandma in Texas. They took off Friday afternoon and, as of last nite, were somewhere in Utah. My d-i-l's mother said they'd probably be arriving home sometime late today. Since she has about 800 miles to drive, I think it'll be late late. But I can't wait to see him again! Even tho I've enjoyed this time alone with Cooper, getting well-acquainted with him on a one-on-one level, it's felt all along like a piece of the puzzle is missing. I'm not sure if my d-i-l will take the day off tomorrow or if both boys will be arriving early in the morning. But I can't wait to get that rascal into my arms and welcome him back! This month with just the baby has been exactly what I've needed to fully recuperate from my two operations, tho. I haven't felt this rested and this well in such a long time, I'd forgotten what it felt like to feel "normal" again.

I went to a new blog I've been reading the past day or so and I'm inspired! Talk about a great meme to do!