Tennis, Anyone?

When I took Charlie to the W. O. Riley Park on Monday, the parking lot was full and the tennis courts were busy. Students were playing, apparently in a tournament. Families were there watching.

It was a nice day for tennis: Not too hot. I still remember taking tennis lessons as a young teen, and it was summer and very hot. I walked home with my brother with sweat pouring into my eyes. I finished the series of lessons, but decided not to pursue the sport because I didn’t like getting sweaty. 

A Flash of Red

It rained all afternoon. My dog let me know that it was time for his 3 o’clock adventure, but the rain was coming down hard. I opened the back door to show him that it was raining, and a pileated woodpecker surprised me by flying up into a tree. Before I could take a picture, it disappeared. Here’s an old picture of one from my files.

While I was trying to photograph the woodpecker today, I saw a male cardinal. This picture of him isn’t the sharpest because it was raining. 

By the way, I did take Charlie out in the car for a quick trip to Tractor Supply, which welcome dogs. We did get rained on, but he got a dog biscuit from the clerk. 

Here is a feeder cam picture of a cardinal. His head is close to the lens, so it looks extra big.

This female seems to have spotted the lens, but it must not bother her because she keeps coming back.

White Azalea Blossoms

Azaleas are blooming in spite of our up and down temperatures. Many of our other blossoms suffered from frosts that followed early hot days. I hear that the apple blossoms were hard-hit, and orchard owners will take a loss this year.

My childhood home was surrounded by azaleas and dogwoods, as well as tall oaks. 

A Jungle Scene

Basye, VA

Monday Murals

Earlier this month I stopped in Bryce Resort. I used to volunteer there. I noticed that a jungle mural has been added in the children’s section.

The library shares a building with the airport, which actually has just one room to serve staff and pilots. This is a small airport, basically a landing strip in a narrow valley. 

There’s a dog park next to the library, and Charlie enjoyed running there. It was a hot day so he grew tired after a while and walked to the gate, so I knew it was time to leave.

Art at the Mill, 2026

Millwood, VA

The art display and sale at the Burwell-Morgan Mill is a fundraiser for the Clarke County Historical Association. Artwork is exhibited on walls, specials partitions, tables, and easels. 

Mosaic Monday

I took pictures of some favorites, including work by Terri Roy, Linda Lopez, Trisha Adams, Marie Botsford, and Robert De May.

It was pouring rain, so I did not take a picture of the outside of the mill this time.

Beagle Drama

Before I turn the blog over to Charlie for his brief report, I feel compelled to say something about the Ridglan Farms beagles. They are confined in a breeding facility in Wisconsin which is similar to the place in Virginia where Charlie was born and spent his puppyhood. Both facilities got in trouble for not treating the dogs humanely. The one where Charlie was born was closed after repeatedly failing to keep their promises to bring the conditions up to acceptable levels. Ridglan Farms has denied the charges against them, but agreed to give up its breeding license on July 1st as part of a deal to avoid prosecution for animal cruelty.

The beagles are bred to be sold to laboratories or veterinary schools, where some of them will suffer painful experiments. This is sad enough, but made worse by knowing that the breeders are not meeting government standards for animal care. (I try not to think about the awful details because it’s painful to picture my own dog being hungry and dirty and traumatized, with his life and health in danger. There were undercover videos made at Envigo in Virginia, but I decided not to watch them.)

Activists are concerned about the health and safety of the dogs at Ridglan Farms. There are no guarantees as to what will happen to the beagles, and a couple of attempts have been made to rescue them. Last weekend, a protest turned violent when some animal lovers attempted to breach the fence around the facility. They were met with rubber bullets and tear gas from law enforcement, and  some of the activists suffered injuries requiring emergency room visits. Photos from the scene showed law enforcement officers  brutalizing civilians. 

I have no answers for questions of when do wrongs make a right. Personally, I would probably not trespass or try to steal puppies, but I understand the motivation of the people who did. The animal welfare system is not working fast enough in this case. And once again, we saw policemen acting like sadistic bullies. Ugh!

They are political leaders in Wisconsin who are trying to get the beagles free before they suffer any more. There are questions about conflict of interest in the Dane County sheriff’s department. I hope the beagles are released soon, and placed with animal rescue organizations that can get them adopted.

I’ll turn this over to Charlie now. I didn’t tell him about Ridglan Farms. I think he still has bad memories of his own.

🐶 Hi! Here I am coming back from one of my walks with Deborah and Sadie. Good times!

I have a couple of animals to show you, a cat and a horse.

Let me tell you about my afternoon yesterday. Mom took me to Seven Bends State Park again. It was warm so we went down to the river for a while.

We watched some birds, but they didn’t come very close. 

After that, we went to the car wash. Usually I keep my head down and try to nap, but I decided to watch this time.

It was noisy, but I was brave. Mom says I am growing up.

Bright Walkway, Dark Trees

 Lindale Mennonite Cemetery 

Linville, VA

This cemetery on a hill "began in 1788 when pioneer Abraham Brenneman was bereaved of his wife Marie and newborn daughter. For their burial he set aside a small plot of his large farm. It became the oldest Mennonite cemetery of the area." It is next to Lindale Mennonite Church.

North Fork at South Hollingsworth Road

Woodstock, VA

This view changes with the seasons. Here we are in April, and the water level should be a little higher, but we are in a severe drought. 

By a Pond Beside a Road

Rockingham County

I didn’t take very many pictures on yesterday‘s Garden Week tour because interior photography is not allowed, and we were asked to not take pictures of the exterior of private residences. The building that you see here is an inn, originally built as a residence in 1789 and enlarged in 1840.

It’s the 22nd of April

Today is Earth Day! I am grateful for the beauty and bounty of this earth.

Today is also the birthday of my younger daughter, Marie. She continues to surprise me with her accomplishments. Since she stated clearly that she did not want any gifts, I made a donation to Heifer International in her honor, specifically to provide chickens and bees to a family to raise and make their lives better.

It’s Wild Bird Wednesday, so here are a couple of goldfinch pictures. The first one Is from three weeks ago, and I think the finch was just coming out of moulting. 

The next picture is an earlier one.

It’s Historic Garden Week in Virginia so today I went on a house and garden tour. It was lovely but involved a lot of walking and I have to say, I am getting too old for this! I was exhausted by the end of the day.

Thunderbird at Valley Overlook

Skyline Drive

When I was in Front Royal on Saturday, I drove into Shenandoah National Park because it is so close. I only drove about 15 miles south and then came back. Most of the views were quite hazy. Although I saw a deer and a wild turkey, they both disappeared into the woods in a matter of seconds. Consequently, I didn’t take any pictures until I pulled into the last overlook and spotted an old T-bird convertible. 

I didn’t want to stare at the people, but I assume that they were taking pictures after a wedding. Behind the men on the right is a woman in a white gown, probably the bride. There was another antique car off to their right, but it was not elegant like the Thunderbird.