Traveling Or My Own Backyard.

Traveling is always a joy to my husband and I. We love walking through European towns, basking in the quaint scenes, enjoying the tantalizing fragrances of their native cuisine or unfamiliar perfume. We enjoy seeing famous places we've read about: Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Heidelberg, Geneva, Athens, Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Frankfort, Salzburg, Innsbruck, or Istanbul, the subject of this photo as our cruise ship rolled in at dusk.

Amazing places and experiences, but all in all, there's nothing like home, and one thing I love at home is to look outside and see the landscape. Though it's lots of work, it provides hours of joy and appreciation too as we watch the wildlife skitter across the lawn and up the trees. Birds, rabbits, squirrels, possum, raccoons, chipmunks, ground hogs (which I could easily do without along with the skunks) and an occasional deer.

One thing I love in my front yard is the island of annuals and the bed of roses. This is the place a tree stood that we lost, so seeing the flowers is wonderful. My next favorite is the tree on the left side of the house. It's a magnolia and the window looking into it on the second floor is my office. I see the most magnificent sight for a few weeks as the tree buds and flowers.  Then the yard is covered with raining pinkish petals that drift off to become   leaves.

My backyard is another place I enjoy, especially for family parties. We have the flagstone and a wooden deck adjacent to it. We've planted a lot of perennials that blossom throughout the year, so we see changing colors. Right now the hydrangeas are in bloom - white and some in bright pink.

I never want to stop traveling. I love it, and the adventures beguile me with story ideas that I tuck into my head and use later, but I also know that when the trip is over, I'm heading home to my own house, my own garden and my own bed. What could be better?