Peggy Came to Visit

And we met Lynn for Lunch.

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Mural Over a Cafe

Charlottesville 

Monday Murals

The other Wegmans stores that I shopped in have a mural on the back wall behind the model railroad. This one has a mural in the front of the store. 

Does this picture depict one of their original stores? I don’t know. It isn’t one of their big modern supermarkets.

September Sunday Collages

Let's start with a couple of photos of the Shenandoah River on a mosaic background.

Summer is ending soon, so I’ll share some flowers while they’re still blooming.

 

Mosaics / Floral Linkup

Dogs, Cows, Cat

A Report from Charlie

Hi! I had fun at the dog park because another dog was there. He liked to run, so we raced around! 

Then he had to leave, but before I even had a chance to miss him, Sadie showed up. Miss Deborah threw a ball and we chased it. Then we rested on the bench.

On another day, Mom drove past a farm. Do you like farms? This one had cows.

At the top of the hill, there was a view.

I saw some other friends this week. Today I saw Chuck, a friendly white dog. I get so excited when I see him, so Mom doesn’t have a chance to take a picture. She said I’m going to make her fall down if I keep running in circles.

I saw Tripod a couple times this week. I was beginning to wonder about him because he didn’t come out much during the really hot weather. I was glad to see him again.

Sharing with Caturday and Saturday Critters

My Vision is Odd

I went back to the retina specialist, and my vision has only improved slightly since getting a steroid injection in my left eye. It is now 20/60 instead of 20/70, indicating I can read one more line on the eye chart. 

It has been four months since cataract surgery in my left eye, and I still have not recovered. Straight lines appear to have wavy bumps in the center. If I close the other eye, I see a spot in the center of my vision. I’m scheduled for another injection in a month. It is not painful to get one, although it sounds traumatic.

I wrote about this situation previously. At that time, I was having difficulty driving and reading, but that has improved, although my eyes still get tired rather quickly, so I don’t drive very far. Also, light appears extra bright, so I wear dark sunglasses when I go outdoors, and even then, sunlight is often painful.

While I was waiting for the dilating drops to take effect, I took a couple of pictures. There wasn’t much to look at so I aimed for abstract designs. 

Do you recognize what the first picture shows? Those are chair legs on the carpet, and I shot it on a diagonal to give it a little interest.

The second image was right in front of me, metal supports for the optical equipment. The bright blue is a reflection of my blue shirt.

I did not bother traveling this summer. It would’ve been hard on my eyes and very tiring. In a way, I feel like I have lost an entire summer. Fortunately, I was still able to take pictures and use my iPad, which allows me to enlarge pages. It also let me dictate, but the results can be ridiculous or embarrassing, so I have to proofread carefully.

Dark Clouds, Construction Crane

Woodstock, VA

I believe these belong to a construction company and they are stored on this lot because they have been there for a long time.

Happy Anniversary to Charlie

It has been two years since I adopted Charlie. On this day in 2022, Lynn and I went to Charlottesville to meet him. He was living with a foster family who had a dog. Charlie seemed to regard us with suspicion and would not come to us.. I was worried that he did not like me, so Lynn and I went to lunch to talk about it.

I phoned the person at the animal shelter who had told me about Charlie. He was one of 4000 beagles who was rescued from a large breeding facility that did not treat the dogs well. The rescued dogs had gone to various facilities around the country that were handling the adoptions. 

The woman felt that he would be fine and urged me to give him a chance. We went back to the foster family and got him. I took a picture of him saying goodbye to his foster mom.  

Once he was in the car, he wanted to come up front with me. No, not safe! We secured him in the backseat using a doggy seatbelt that Lynn had brought. He chewed through it by the time we reached Waynesboro. I had also brought a seatbelt for him so I put that on his harness. I quickly learned that he likes to chew on things when he is riding in the car. The moving car makes him very anxious, and we are still working on that, but he has come a long way

Once home, he appeared to enjoy his new life. Now he seems to be happy, although he does not like being alone. As I write this, he is sleeping on the couch beside me.

Happy Gotcha Day, Charlie!

Hummingbirds are Starting to Migrate

Hummingbirds are beginning their journey to southern climes, and I saw one on Monday. I still haven't gotten any clear pictures of them this year. I did not have my camera ready this time because I was eating lunch on the deck. It spotted Charlie and flew away.

Well, I made an AI pictures of hummingbirds. It looks like they’re having quite a gathering! At least it didn’t give them four wings this time, which it sometimes does when I tell it to draw a bird. AI is notorious for being unable to count, and gives people extra fingers so often that it  has become a joke.

Wild Bird Wednesday

I feel like I owe you a real photo, so here’s a picture of the shirt that I bought this spring at Garden fest. I finally wore it today because the weather was cool enough for long sleeves this morning. This afternoon was warm, though.

Coexist

Walking in the Rain with Sadie

Lion’s Tale Trail
George Washington National Forest

Wordless / Travel Tuesday / 2007 Post about this Trail

Second Mural at the Edinburg Pool

Edinburg Town Park

In mid-June, I posted a picture of a mural in progress at the public swimming pool in Edinburg. I later saw the artist at ArtFest and learned that she was painting another mural on a different side of the same building. Charlie and I went by there the other day, and I got pictures of the fun duck paintings on the changing room doors.

Monday Murals

I also took a picture of the first mural, which unfortunately was in deep shade.

The artist calls her business “Studio Sasquatch,” but her real name is Ennedi Shtanko. She says that she spent many childhood hours at this swimming pool. She relates to Sasquatch as an independent spirit living deep in nature.

Collages of Blossoms

These collages are actually screen prints of pictures I posted on Facebook. Most of the individual pictures have appeared on this blog at one time or another.

When you post a group of pictures on Facebook, you have the option of choosing a layout. I usually select Frame, and it automatically adds a border color selected from a picture, typically a predominant color in the first image.

The final collage is made up of four different ones. I think they were all made with PhotoCollage.

Mosaic Monday / Garden Affait

Former Bridge, Current Bridge

City Daily Photo Theme: Bridges

Here we see what remains of a bridge that crossed the South Fodk of the Shenandoah at Front Royal. The old support piers have transformed into little islands covered with trees. 

A Civil War trails marker stands at the viewpoint, which is where the old road now ends. It tells of efforts by Union soldiers to burn the bridge as they left Front Royal, pursued by Confederate forces (May 1862). They were only partly successful here, but did manage to burn a second bridge, which crossed the North Fork. Unfortunately for them, their pursuers were able to swim across the North Fork and continue the chase.

 I have visited this site before, and I see that I posted the sign in 2012, but it has been replaced since then with a slightly different version. The newer bridge that’s to the left of this one has also been replaced since then. Routes 340, 522, and 55 all come together to cross on a single bridge. 

This site is slightly upriver from where the North Fork comes in and joins the South Fork. From there, the Shenandoah flows down to Harpers Ferry, where it joins the Potomac.

The last time I was here, a VFW (veterans’ club) facility was next door, but it has been replaced by a river adventure outfitter that offers tubing and boating. Colorful buses transport tourists to a boat launch.

Charlie’s End of August Report

Hi, I'm back with another short report from a dog's point of view. Right now it's raining so we can't go for an adventure. We were outside earlier, but then Mom had to go to the store to buy me more dog food. I don’t like dry kibble so I want the good stuff.

Yesterday we went out the front door to take a walk and there was something hiding in the garden. Look, it’s a cat! It’s not a friendly cat so it didn’t come to play with me.
 

Mom took a couple of pictures because it was hard to see the cat crouching down in the shadows. She lightened one and filtered it in Picsart.

Do you like horses? They are bigger than dogs.

Even though I don’t like riding in the car, I like going different places to explore. I guess Mom already told you about the sunflower maze. It’s a good thing I was there to help her find her way.

I like going to the dog park. I don’t know why we don’t go there every day. It’s a good place to run, or just sit on the bench. 

Sometimes no one else is there, but here’s a dog who came on Sunday. 

Keep on smiling! And be nice to dogs!

Community Bulletin Board

Woodstock, VA

Here we see a man tacking up a notice. I had just posted one myself for a musical event sponsored by Friends of Seven Bends State Park.

Beats on the Bend, September 22, 2 P.M. 

I paused to take a picture of flowers in a planter. The lavender blue flowers are salvia.