Solenberger's Hardware Mural

This hardware store in Winchester is having a large mural painted in celebration of their 130th anniversary. It's not quite finished yet, but we were in town so I couldn't resist going by.

Sharing with Monday Murals.

Barns and Shadows, Fort Valley.

I dug into my archives from a year ago for these shadow shots of barns. I'm hesitant to download new photos from my camera right now because my laptop is acting up. I've tried a couple of possible solutions that I found on the web but they didn't work. I won't have time to take it to a repair place for a few days.

Now I need to make sure my backup drive is working. I have a lot of pictures that I don't want to lose.

Kid Stuff.

At the Valley Star Farm Pumpkin Patch near Luray.

The goats are real. The rest of today's critters are fun or educational.

The carved bear is in front of a store in Front Royal that sells hiking gear.

We were in that town today for the annual Festival of Leaves. Frank is posing with a giant insect that was bringing eyes to a pest control company's display.

The big teddy bear is named Marshmallow. She helps the ranger explain bear behavior to tourists in Shenandoah National Park. I caught the end of their presentation at Elkwallow Wayside.

Saturday's Critters.

Five Snapshots from this Week.

Willy Nilly Friday

1. Beahm's Gap is the site for this black and white image that I took today on Skyline Drive. It was a pretty day for a drive.

See Beahm's Gap in 2015.

2. Two days ago I stopped at a drive-through to pick up a cheeseburger for Frank. Since there was a line of cars, I had time to snap a Skywatch picture.

3. The trees are still green along Skyline Drive. The only way I could get some orange in a photo was to include these cones!  I think the foliage should start changing soon. The rain and wind yesterday brought us some cooler temperatures, finally.

4. On Sunday, Lynn's friend Debbe drove her to my house. I got them to pose in the back yard. Then I drove Lynn to Baltimore where her surgery was scheduled for the following morning. Since she could not drive afterward, I brought her back here and another friend picked her up and transported her the remaining 90 minutes to her home.

5.  Lynn and I stopped at Roy Rogers for lunch. I persuaded her to pose with a cutout and sign that celebrates the restaurant chain's 50th anniversary. Aside from Lynn liking their roast beef sandwiches, the significance of this chain is that both Lynn and her sister worked in one of their stores while in high school. 

Four Rural Scenes.

We've had our share of clouds and rain lately, but I am grateful that the hurricanes have missed us so far. I hope that all those folks experiencing Hurricane Michael can manage to stay safe.

We had rain this afternoon and tonight the wind is blowing. The first three photos are from recent day trips.

The final photo was taken today using a cell phone. It was raining and I took this from a window in Millwood.

Sharing with Fences Around the World and Thankful Thursday.

More Pics from Peggy's Visit Last Week.

Hickory Hill Farm Near Moorefield

Built in 1809 in Hardy County, WV. 

Rear View.

About Hickory Hill Farm.

Sharing with Barns and Tuesday Treasures

and Image-in-ing.

A Few Snaps of Mercy

I spent today at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore while Lynn had a final round of reconstructive surgery. Basically the talented Dr. Chang corrected the messed-up procedure that was done at UVA a year ago. 

She is home now and recovering. It was a stressful day but I got a few snapshots for Sami’s Murals linkup.

To add to the concerns of waiting to hear that whether a family member had successful surgery plus the headache of Baltimore traffic, I had technical problems with my computer. The screen on my laptop went on the blink, so I tried to blog on my iPad. I rarely do so because it just can’t seem to post photos to Blogger, and the only work-around seems to be to email the post to my “secret” Blogger address. Of course, I got it wrong the first time but finally got these two images posted.

Sent from AOL Mobile Mail

The Church at Mt. Clifton

Mt. Clifton United Methodist Church sits on a hill overlooking Orkney Grade Road in Shenandoah County.  According to the county library archives, the church was built in 1884.

The last two photos show views from the church.

InSpired Sunday

Roxie the Camping Dog.

This is Roxie. She loves to go camping with Lynn. She also likes to go to outdoor bluegrass concerts.

Lynn invited Peggy and me to visit her at the place where she was camping. When we showed up, she had set up her tent and gone back to the entrance to finish registering.  Roxie was waiting in the car.

This campground happens to be in George Washington National Forest, not far from my home. It's surrounded by the Massanutten Mountains. Lynn does not remember coming here as a child but I remember taking her and Marie for a hike here while her father fished in Passage Creek. I also remember that I forgot to bring a can opener in spite of all my list-making and packing! We drove out to the Waterlick Store and bought one.

A poster about bears is on the bulletin board by the entrance. Black bears rarely attack humans but they have been known to attack dogs, and they will destroy property in order to get your food. Fortunately they did not bother Roxie, nor did they try to get the food that Lynn stored in her car.

Lynn's current tent is teepee-style and is easy to set up. We were surprised to see how much room is inside.

We enjoyed having a picnic with Lynn and Roxie. There were mosquitos so we had to apply some repellent. "Skeeters" have been abundant this year because we've had so much rainfall.

Somewhere I have a very old photo of Lynn with a lantern on a camping trip. She posed for an updated version.