Field Trip Around The 'Hood

I LOVE driving through our neighborhood. And I especially love walking through our neighborhood. Seems like there are always treasures to be found. One very nice thing about where we live is the freedom to express in your yard. There is no HOA. No one cares if your laundry is hanging out - and at the same time, most of our neighbors have very very nice yards.

I have been walking through the neighborhood with the SWB and the big kids pretty often. All of these pictures were taken this week by #3. I hope by enjoying these small things with our kids when they are young, they will have the ability to see and appreciate the simple things when they grow old.

I LOVE when folks decorate the cactus in their yard. This is a pretty common site here in South Austin. And this is easily considered a year 'round piece of art. This is the home of one of #1's BFFs. They also have GREAT metal art in the their backyard. Maybe I'll hafta sneak over and get a shot of it for you.


This next yard is one of my favorites! It has these three whirly-gigs in the front and then there are a few in the backyard that we can see over the fence. This isn't the best angle for whirly-gig viewing, but I think that you can probably tell that they are pretty darn cool.

And if you look to the right of the whirly-gigs, you will find this really cool mailbox. It looks like a plaster mold of a real persons face, hands and even feet. I might hafta get a closer picture of this guy so that you can see the detail put into this fun mailbox.

And up the street from the saintly mailbox, you will find our neighborhood pigs. We LOVE the pigs. They are often in different positions in the yard. And during most holidays they are sportin' some sort of holiday decor like a Santa hat during Christmas and bunny ears during Easter.

Then around the corner from the pigs is a fun blue glass tree. This is another thing that is not uncommon to see in our part of town. Those crazy South Austinites just gotta get a little bit nutty in the yard!

And last but not least is my current VERY favorite display of creativity. This yard has all different sized balls in the yard. All over the yard. Some big. Some little. Mostly orange, blue and green. Some are on the ground. Some are balanced on a rock. Every time I walk by, I spot a ball that I hadn't noticed before.

Some day I am going to walk by and there is going to be someone outside. I am going to stop and ask them about their yard art. Where did the balls come from? What are they made out of? Are they heavy? How do you keep them from rolling off of the rocks? Who thought of this idea?

And then I am going to make sure and say thank you for giving us such a cool display to walk past everyday. We always talk about this yard. And I want them to know that I appreciate it.