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.

Lanterns to Liberty Part Two

Yesterday I shared some portraits of participants in the Lanterns to Liberty celebration in Front Royal. Here are some event pictures starting with a mural by Eliza Dorsey.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

A band was playing and there was more going on than I expected. I got tired walking around on a hot afternoon, but it was an enjoyable event.

Portrait Mode at Lanterns to Liberty

Front Royal, VA

As part of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, a living history event was held yesterday. I did not stay for the evening events which included a ride by “Paul Revere,” but I took plenty of photos during the afternoon. These are pictures that I took using my iPhone’s “Portrait” mode. You need to be fairly close to the subject to use that mode, but people wearing costumes are usually willing to pose. 

I dialed in the solid background because the real background was distracting and clearly not 18th century.

I plan to share regular snapshots of the event later.

Charlie’s Report on a Sunny Week

Hi! I thought I’d start my report with a picture of some boys playing in the river. We’ve had some really hot days already and the river is cool.

Here I am at the State Park looking at my mom. She’s always taking pictures of me, and I think she has enough already

I visited Sadie several times this week. I like staying there a lot more than going to the kennel at the veterinary.

One afternoon, I went to Timberville with my mom. We went to the dog park and after a while, another dog came to play. His name was Tater.

Mom says I should show you something besides dogs and so here are some geese. They are bigger than the birds in my yard.

Well, I am tired from playing with Sadie today so I will say goodbye for now.

From Stark to Soft

Images for Weekend Linkups

Black and White Weekend 

Skywatch

Reflection 

Floral Friday and Garden Affair

Iris have begun to bloom. My bleeding heart have been blooming for several weeks. 

Oh! Historic Garden Week begins tomorrow.

Another History Truck

This year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, so special events and exhibits are taking place. In late March, I posted pictures of the Freedom Truck that visited Middletown. It turns out that Virginia has its own traveling exhibit, and it was in Woodstock on Saturday. 

Since I grew up in Virginia, I’ve studied Virginia history, yet the exhibits here told many stories that I had not heard before. I was impressed with how interesting it was.

For those who did not grow up here, I should explain that the first permanent English settlement was Jamestown in Virginia, established in 1607. There were already people here, of course, Native Americans. The Jamestown settlers would not have survived without the early cooperation of the Powhatan tribe. 

The exhibit tells stories of Native Americans and enslaved people, along with the expected stories of our founding fathers like George Washington. 

Other events are planned in Virginia in the coming months, and I’ll probably attend a few of them. 

Backyard Birds, Mid-April

American robins have been hopping all over my neighborhood. They don’t visit the feeders because they prefer hunting for food on the ground. 

There hasn’t been anything new at the feeders. A female cardinal and a grackle have been monopolizing the food. 

A Pause in Forestville

Forestville is a village in Shenandoah County that dates to around 1760. I have shared pictures of Forestville before, but not recently.

The Old Forestville School.

The reason I passed through there today was that I drove to my accountant’s office to sign my income tax forms that he prepared. It was a relief to get that done, even though I had to part with thousands of dollars. Fortunately, my taxes were not quite as high as I had feared.

This may have been my most complex tax return ever, at least in my eyes. I spent many hours organizing my records before I even took it to Mr. Yoder to complete. I have often done my own taxes, but I wanted to be sure every detail was correct. Not only did I sell the condo in 2025, but this represented the final sale in a series of tax-deferred exchanges. They started with an investment property in Prince William County, which I eventually sold after moving two hours away. That was too far to keep an eye on the property, so I bought a townhouse in Woodstock. Years later I sold it and bought an investment condo in Edinburg. This past year, I grew tired of being a landlord. I sold it after the tenants moved out. 

Tax-deferred exchange properties can be a great investment, but when you finally sell them, there are taxes to pay, and profit is based on an adjusted basis, not just the price you paid for it. There is also past depreciation to add in, and that’s the part that I don’t feel comfortable with computing.

I complicated my return by deciding to itemize deductions. I haven’t done this in years, and since I was originally not planning to, I didn’t keep those records in my tax folder. I had large medical expenses to calculate, mostly because I had a lot of dental work plus expensive prescriptions. I won’t start ranting right now about how limited the Medicare schedule is for prescriptions, but I have certainly complained to my family about this. 

Anyway, taxes are done. I will put all my file folders away tomorrow.Tonight I rest!