Where Have I Been

Where have I been? Travelling down memory lane--watching life fly past, remembering all the years gone by, listening to the rain on the window panes, watching these blackberries put on a show, as they bloom and prepare to provide us with lots of berries. I guess this is what my Mom would have called "blackberry winter", as the temperatures have dropped into the 40's at night.

I think the blooms of the blackberry are so pretty, as they almost glow in the shade of the large trees.

Our baby red-shouldered hawks flapping their wings, trying to get strong enough to fly when they have all their feathers. We will miss these little guys, as we have been watching them for days now.

• Since my last posting, so much has happened and several days have past. Now to decide what to include in this post is the next task at hand. The day after my last posting my Aunt died, and it was an emotional time. We went to her funeral on Friday, and it was the day of the big storm in southern Illinois. While we were not in the tornado area, the town the funeral was in had hail, high winds, and LOTS of rain. There was a vehicle floating and the driver out on top of the car, just one block from the funeral home. When it was time for the funeral to begin, the electricity went off, and we were in the dark for about 10 minutes. I did get to talk with some of my relatives which I had not seen in a long time, and then we went on to my home town and visited the cemetery where my family is buried. I put flowers on my parent's and grandparent's graves and could not believe that they are gone, and time has flown by. So many memories that make up a lifetime.
  

This week my sister-in-law has been very sick and in the hospital in KY, so we have been over see her and spend some time with Leon's family. Just today we got a good report that she is doing better. We have been having rains every day for weeks. For the last 3 days it has been dry, so we have been trying to mow, through the water puddles, and tall grass , before it gets even higher. We have been watching two baby hawks that were hatched in a nest in a tall oak tree in our front yard. They now are getting their feathers, so soon they will fly away. Momma hawk is very busy catching them food, as they are very big eaters, since they have grown.

I have been taking pictures of the birds and flowers. And of course, my cat, Fluffy, who still enjoys posing for a photo session occasionally. He followed me to the flower garden and laid on the arm of the bench and waited to have his picture taken. I think he knows how cute he is!

The iris are beautiful this year. I guess they like all the moisture. These around the old stump are from Leon's Grandma's home place. They have really multiplied and are lovely in our rose garden. Spring in our "rain forest" has brought lots of pretty flowers in between the showers.