June 30, 2020

Outdoor Photo Exhibit: Give Me Shelter


When I left the gardens of Glen Burnie, I was surprised to find an outdoor show of photos. The photos are by Sarah Jones Decker and she has a new book, The Appalachian Trail: Backcountry Shelters, Lean-tos, and Huts.

Tuesday Treasures.
The pictures blended in nicely with the foliage and rock walls. An outdoor exhibit ensures extra space for social distancing and fresh air too.

On Friday I showed the gardens here with the large insect sculptures. We visit the Glen Burnie gardens several times a year. 



Our Trail Cam Captured a Fawn!

Wordless. 


June 29, 2020

Parking Lot Paintings

Strasburg High School

In May, I saw that a section of the high school parking lot had painted spaces. I think these were done by graduating seniors to celebrate the completion of their high school years.

Their final year was interrupted in March by the Coronavirus lockdown and they completed their studies at home.

I'm sure that not having a senior prom was a big disappointment for some students. Others probably didn't care. (I know I wouldn't have, nor would my daughters. None of us bothered to go to the prom. Even now I dislike dressing up!)

I put some of the artwork into collages to show it off. I'm glad I photographed it because recently it was painted over or repaved.
Mosaic Monday and Monday Murals.
The school is home to a nice mural on the back of the bleachers, which I shared here before but am showing again. The team is "The Rams." 




June 28, 2020

Luray: Collins Avenue and Sunnyview Drive

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church is in the town of Luray. It was built in the 1950s with a parish hall added in 1960.

Apparently there were not many Catholics in Page County before the railroad came through. Services were held in private homes, and by 1912 residents were traveling to Front Royal for weekly mass. This was over 20 miles away so many took the train. In 1951, services were held in the Mimslyn Inn in Luray, and land was procured for the church in 1953.


Now let's head north of town on US Route 340. We pass this older home at the corner of Sunnyview Drive, and if we turn right we find ourselves on a pleasant road through the country.

The Barn Collective: This is a farm on Sunnyview Drive. Eventually that road meets Vaughn Summit Road which takes you north to Rileyville where you can rejoin 340.


June 27, 2020

Beauty and Mishaps

Yesterday I shared pictures from the gardens of Glen Burnie with sculptures of insects. Here's one more sculpture from there but this one is a hummingbird.

Some things went well this week but there were also some mishaps. The other night I heard a "clunk" outside but did not see anything wrong when I peered out the window. In the morning I found a birdhouse had fallen down. Feathers from the nesting material were all over but I'm not too worried because little house finches had already fledged from there a few weeks ago.

Then there's this empty finch feeder that I found on the ground about 30 feet from where it had been hanging. I held it up to take a picture of the big holes in the plastic. Perhaps a raccoon had taken it. I don't think a squirrel would have made such large holes.

It's also possible that a raccoon pulled down that bird house.

I'm not going to put up another finch feeder right away. I don't want to encourage any predator to come around. If you feed them, they will come!

Here's a picture of the feeder before it was destroyed. Goldfinches really liked the nyjer (black thistle) seed.


Next we see a cat that came around here for years. He walked through my yard almost every day. Sadly, I found him curled up on my deck a few days ago, dead. He had on a red collar so I knew he was not a stray, although he had been some years ago.

I knew that a woman across the street had tried to tame one of the stray cats. I found her number and called her. She had been looking for him for five days! He had not been on my deck that long because I had lunch out there the day before and he was not there then. She came over and tearfully claimed him. She put him in a blanket and Frank carried him over to her yard so her spouse could bury him when he came home. There were no signs of trauma so I think he got ill and came on our deck to get a drink of water and then lay down. Rest in peace, kitty!

A less tragic mishap was our well pump going out. The water pressure fell and Frank tried changing our filters but that did not help. He called the plumber and he showed up early the next day. He and his helper installed a new pump. That wasn't cheap but it solved the problem.

Let's switch to some pretty scenes, starting with Canada geese leading their goslings on a swim. That fountain helps aerate the water and discourage overgrowth of algae.
Weekend Reflections.

Sometimes birds perch on our bench, like the catbird and blue jay.
Saturday Critters, I'd Rather Be Birdin'
This small deer visited our yard. Frank saw him and called me to the window. This is a cell phone picture taken through two panes of glass so it isn't the sharpest image.

I got this meme from the internet to remind everyone that many pets are scared by fireworks. 


June 26, 2020

Glen Burnie Bugs

Willy Nilly Friday, Winchester, Virginia.

This afternoon I returned to the gardens at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley to see a special exhibit of sculptured insects! They were beautifully crafted of wood by artist David Rogers.

I decided to show this silhouette of a bee against the sky in black and white.




The gardens looked lovely today. In order to encourage social distancing, a new exit has been created so that people leaving don't need to pass people coming in.

Sharing with Fences.

June 25, 2020

Signs, Masks, and Bumper Stickers

Schools are saying "We miss you!"
In Winchester.
In Strasburg.
That elementary school in Strasburg has a great view of Signal Knob. 

Signs 2: Bumper Stickers.

"I Saw That." ~Karma.  

Mask Rules.

Face Coverings are required...
The blue banner is at Walmart. Some people ignore it. I refuse to go in there, but Frank has braved it a few times.

You don't have a choice!

A local store reminds customers that there is a directive from the governor that you need to wear a mask inside public places. Yet many people want to argue about this. (Shaking my head.)

A friend from Walla Walla made a meme...

I got a couple of face shields and sported one today. I wore it to pick up an order at the hardware store and then wore it through the grocery store. I hope to reach some of the people who find a cloth mask too hot or too hard to breathe through and show them an alternative. A clerk at the store asked me where I got it. (Amazon.)

This final shot shows a gate in our community that restricts access to an area by the river. There's a little story behind this.

Someone lost the padlock. Since Frank is on a committee, the president of the Property Owners Association asked him to get a new padlock. That would normally mean getting a hundred new keys made so each family would have one. I had the idea of getting a re-keyable padlock and keying it to our existing key. Yesterday we went to Ramsey Hardware and did this. They re-keyed it for us, and we brought it back and Frank put it on. So 100 new keys are not needed. Yay!