This is an early summer shot . . . before the Turks Caps took over the yard! 

More of the Oriental Lilies . .  

Here's a shot of the mother cardinal and you can see the red of the father right behind her . . . 

One of my nesting cardinals . . . right before the babies left the nest and they took off for the rest of the summer! 

A closeup of the Oriental Lily that I posted earlier . . such a beautiful flower! 

More from my backyard garden . . . a beautiful white Daylily 

More from my backyard garden . . . a Calla Lily 

The Sunday comics this morning included this "accordion" oriented strip from "Mother Goose and Grimm" . . . Grimm is the accordion playing dog. I hope my neighbors don't think I'm "aggravating" when I practice. 

Just in case you were wondering if I really have an accordion . . . since I do occasionally mention that I'm studying the accordion along with dancing (and travelling for dancing, hahaha) . . . I figure when I can no longer get my feet to move then I can sit and play the accordion! Well, long range plans include getting one that is quarter-toned so I can play Middle Eastern music . . . at this point it seems very long range because I feel like I'm dancing more than ever these days since I'm feeling better and my feet are really feeling better! Note that this accordion is RED! My favorite color . . .well, it is pre-dominately white with some red keys and buttons. I have a RED doumbek (tabla) too . . . along with a RED car! Some people try to tell me that red is an "angry" color and you get more speeding tickets with a red car. I've only had one speeding ticket in my life (with two red cars) and when I "see" red, it makes me smile . . . so what do people know anyway! 

This is Natasha, my accordion teacher, in her shop (Accordions Unlimited) at Vikon Village. This is where I go to take lessons with her and torture the unsuspecting ears of the weekend shoppers. 

Here's the front view of my townhouse . . . all rather bland looking, I know, but it is a nice area and I try to put out colorful and blooming plants in my small garden space. At least someone else mows the lawn of the common areas (which does include the area in front of my house).

Closeup of my front entrance . . . elephant ears and caladiums do well in the heat and humidity . . . and so do the mosquitoes!

One of my backyard inhabitants . . . lots of these little lizards hang around in my yard because I give them reasons . . . compost bin along with lots of shady plants and water . . . of course, the mosquitoes do serve as a food source too! 

June 2004 . . . the Oriental lilies were just starting to bloom when I left for Cairo . . . alas, they were finished when I returned two weeks later! 

Here's one on my Maine Coons . . . RUFUS! I'm sure you've just been dying to see more of my cats. He is now just a year old and indications are that he is going to be the biggest and furriest of them all! He's a lovable walking furball that still insists on biting my toes while I'm in bed . . . it is too hot in the summer to keep my feet covered so I get nipped on a regular basis! Not a bad bite, just unexpected. Of course, it could be much worse. Horatio, the oldest of the bunch, bit my nose twice after I first got him and that really hurt. I had to sleep with my face covered for awhile, because he also liked to sleep on the pillow next to my head. And he still does, but he doesn't bite my nose . . . but the licking of my hair is a bit disconcerting! OK, it is the grooming thing that cats always do, which indicates they really like you . . . but still weird for humans to experience. 

Last item from my trip to Cairo . . . until the next time that is . . . this is the analysis of my name in hieroglyphics that I had done while at the Cairo Tower (pix from that day of wandering in Cairo are earlier in this blog). I'm thinking about February 2005 for my next trip to Cairo (need to go to Luxor, Aswan, more Cairo), but I have a couple of job interviews coming up so that might change my life for awhile . . . but then again, the predictions of huge layoffs for my company (that nameless big international corporation that provides computer/consulting/offshoring/BPO support), in the United States, is bound to impact me by leaving me unemployed sooner or later. Yes, my area of expertise is targeted for offshoring to India. In fact, a friend of mine recently moved home to India and she said they are hiring PeopleSoft consultants there. She jokingly said that she'd hire me if I moved to India!! Well, I'm not certain she actually could, but I told her I'd love to visit . . . and I'd be happy to work remotely from the U.S.!! Why do we have all these high speed connections if not for leveraging our resources globally?? OK, way too much corporate-speak for one day. Off to other topics!