Boids!

I went to visit my sister Nancy and her husband, Arnold today in South Carolina. They live out in a rural area in a nice neighborhood with a small lake. We ate a very tasty lunch and then went out in the yard to observe any small critters that might happen by. A few did. Notably hummingbirds, what I think was a Northern flicker, and a great blue heron that showed his skill and nabbed a nice fish while I watched (but was on the far side of the lake, so the photo of him with his catch is a tad blurry).

I love watching hummingbirds. But they are tough to photograph.

ZOOM!

Don't blink!

I was surprised at the size of the fish this heron caught. Keep in mind that this is one of the biggest Great blue herons I have ever seen. This particular bird is HUGE!

This is a really ingenious bird feeder made to confound squirrels. This flicker was also having trouble trying to figure out how to negotiate its mysteries.

The front of the house with Arnold.

There were scores of these baby toadlings around the lake. They were oh-so tiny!

Andy, Nancy, Arnold, and Carole relax beside the lake.

We pause so that Arnold can take a family photo.

The back of the house. Andy went swimming, but Carole and I did not.

Rivals at the nectar source!

My Sister's Christmas House

My sister Nancy and her husband Arnold live in a storybook kind of house. Nice beyond my own wildest dreams, I always get a kick out of seeing the place and exploring how she has decorated it. Nancy does Christmas major league. I lost count of the Christmas trees in the house. Many.

At any rate, here are photographs of her house, still decorated for Christmas as of her son's 40th birthday party which I attended there last night:

The house as I saw it on arrival.

I tried to get a good photo of this, but couldn't quite find a happy medium for the lighting. The cool part about it was that the gift box at the foot of the giant nutcracker soldier is filled with stars. It was a really nice touch.

Christmas tree in one of the front rooms.

If I had to choose, this was my favorite tree. It was in the formal dining room.

I reckon this was the main tree. In the den.

This was another cool tree. It's on a kind of landing over the front door. I don't even know how to gain access to that part of the house. But there are doors leading to that spot.


The snow-baby Christmas tree. This was also a really cool tree. Decorated entirely with ornaments known as "snow babies".

A mantle piece decoration. Very impressive.

A display of nutcrackers on the landing of the loft.

Another display that was hard to photograph. One of the coolest of the decorations, to my way of thinking. I got a kick out of just looking at it.

Looking down on the den from the upstairs loft.

There were lots of other Christmas decoration touches to the house which I didn't photograph. One of the thoughts that kept running through my mind last night was: "Man, I am so happy that I don't have to take this stuff down and pack it away."

But it sure was fun to see.

Arnold's Birthday

We attended my brother-in-law's 70th birthday party tonight. I'm sure he expected a party, but not of the scope that my sister put on for him. There was a HUGE crowd present, with tons o' food, live entertainment, booze, the works.

It was a great bash, for sure. Here are some photos for those of you who couldn't attend.

Dis mus' be da place. (Arnold's & Nancy's house.)

Son-in-law Erin kept Arnold occupied while the party was assembled. Arnold arrives! (It really was a surprise!)

The crowd begins to assemble (there were many dozens of us).

Later that evening, the band plays poolside.

My sisters Ruthie, and Nancy (Arnold's wife).
The cutouts of Elvis and Marilyn were part of a funny-photo shoot.

Get out o' here! Fireworks?! For a birthday party? You bet! They kicked ass!