Happy European Starlings on BWW

 

 European Starlings  have been visiting our backyard for the past year or so. We first noticed them stopping by the fountain last year and then saw them again hanging out at the birdy circus this Spring. TC captured them earlier this week having fun splashing around in the fountain:

They sure look cute with their bright yellow beaks!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop this week!

Italy Adventures-Arriving in Rome

Disclaimer: These Italy entries will most likely be long and "rambly".  I am trying to record all memories, mostly so I remember them. 

I am trying to limit the posts themselves to only 10 pictures, but the accompanying video in most posts will have all the pictures and video taken during the day's adventure. Do NOT feel you have to wade through everything or to comment on these posts, they are mostly for my benefit. Thanks so much to all of you, and to the girls,  for giving up their Tuesdays (and a couple of Nature Fridays) for a bit.

Out ime in Italy went by in a blur and has taken me a week just to put the 87 million pictures in some kind of order. What I can say without a doubt is this was definitely a trip worth the wait. As some of you know, I spent a lot of my life in a part of New Jersey surrounded with heavy Italian influences. Italy is always a place I dreamed of visiting and I am so happy to report it was everything I thought it would be and more!

Our trip started with an early airport arrival. Amazingly enough we kept our luggage under weight and, with the exception of a small boarding pass issue the day before, were lucky to have a very smooth travel day.

Travel was smooth, but also long. An hour flight to Denver,  a four hour flight to Montreal where we were lucky enough to board a flight with "lay flat" seats for the eight hour flight to Rome. We left Albuquerque at 7:30am on Saturday, and arrived in Rome on Sunday at around 9:30am (Rome is ahead of us here in MST by 8 hours).  We breezed through customs. Did you know they don't stamp passports anymore?  It's all pictures and fingerprints now, very different from the last time we traveled out of the country.

After a little wait at the Rome airport, we were picked up by our tour bus. 

No time to think about jet lag. We dropped our suitcases off at the hotel then met the rest of our tour group and left to explore Rome.

As you can imagine, the ancient architecture is just beautiful! This is the Temple of Portunus, originally built in the 3rd or 4th century BC and rebuilt somewhere between 120 and 80 BC. How amazing to be standing in the same space as something over 2000 years old. Especially when your own country is only 250 years old. Needless to say, from that point on, I was in awe of all the architecture I had the pleasure of seeing.

Our first stop of the trip was hyped as visiting the Mouth of Truth, an ancient Roman mask rumored to bite the hand, placed in its mouth,  of anyone who tells a lie. This mask was made famous in the movie, Roman Holiday.

Ed and I found the Basilica a bunch more interesting than the silly mask though.

A beautiful structure, originally finished in 795 AD, it has been renovated as late at 1899.

It was the first of many churches to "Wow" us with its ornate decor. 

St. Valentine's bones are said to be scattered around Europe. According to the Basilica (and I confirmed with Nat'l Geographic records) this is supposed to be his skull.

Gorgeous incense burners...

As tired as we were, the Basilica really impressed upon us just how historical Italy was going to be. 

 

Day one was impressive and the sights only got better! 

Stay tuned for Vatican City next week!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

Remembering on Memorial Day

 

Today we remember and honor all those, human and canine,  who lost their lives serving our country.

We're also joining Comedy Plus for the 

Awww Monday Blog Hop!

May Flower Nature Friday

 

Welcome to Nature Friday where we get to meet new friends and share a picture or two of what nature looks like around Blogville. Today, we are going back to the ABQ Botanical gardens to enjoy some May flowers

The fountain always looks freshest at the beginning of the Summer season, so fresh and clean. 

The Columbines are popping up in the underbrush all over the gardens.

The roses are starting to grow over the trellis so Mama can take pictures over her head...silly Mama.

Believe it or not, this flower is the begininning of what will be a pomegranite. 

Crazy, huh??

Mama took this picture of some Weigela flowers especially for me, 

she knows this is my favorite shade of pink!

My little flower friends look a little like Weigela blooms, don't you think??

The Kousa Dogwood trees are looking good this year.

 Mama even found some Iris that were still blooming.

Mama was surprised to see, when she googled this picture,  this is a Red Osier Dogwood bloom.

Here is a nice Columbine profile picture, I hope Mama got its good side BOL!

We'll wrap up today's May flower post with this pretty yellow 

St. John's Wort bloom!

 This is our favorite time of year in New Mexico, we have lots of flowers to enjoy and the temperatures aren't too hot yet, so we can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. 

We sure hope the weather is just as nice in your corner of Blogville, and all our friends get out and enjoy some nature this weekend!!

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.

Another Nanny K Thankful

Today, we are so thankful we had Nanny K stay with us while Mama and Daddy went away.....

Can you

guess what

Mama and 

 Daddy were

so very 

thankful for???

If you guessed it was that Nanny K sent them pictures of us almost every day, you guessed right!

Rosy and I were more thankful for all of the pets and treats she gave us!

Thanks so much for taking such good care of us, Nanny K, we are so very thankful to have found you!!!

Thank you to Maxwell and Angel Brian for hosting the

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

 

A Hummer Kinda Morning on BWW

We are very happy to see our pretty black-chinned hummingbirds are back this year. They always look so happy flitting and buzzing away on the back porch. TC captured a few of them enjoying a morning at the feeder:

We hope everyone has a happy hummer kinda day!!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop this week!

Feeling Ducky

A whirlwind tour of Italy including, Rome, Pompeii, Positano, Sorrento, Capri, Assisi, Verona, Venice, Milan, Lake Maggiore, Lake Como, Pisa, Florence and San Gimingnano. 13 days of walking around taking everything in and looking a lot like this duck.  Next Tuesday, I'll start off a Travel Tuesday series with our time in Rome following every week with more Italian adventures (interrupted by the occasional ArCee camping trip, of course).  

For now though, I leave you with with a happy, ducky picture of Rosy!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!