Catbird on Board

A gray catbird has been visiting my deck. Sometimes it even stops by for a moment when I am sitting out there.  

Catbirds can make a variety of sounds, including a mewing sound.

Flowers in My Backyard

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday / Treasures / Garden Affair

Long Murals in Roanoke

Dixie Products

 My older daughter spotted these great murals and went back and took pictures for me. Thank you, Lynn!

My eyes are feeling strained, so this will be a short post. There are more murals on Sami’s blog hop.

Mother’s Day 2024

My daughters each gave me some nice gifts and I also received flowers from both of them plus Charlie. At least that's with the card said.

I looked through a 1984 photo album to find a picture of my mom that I haven’t posted here before.

The collage is made up of photos from my parents’ first photo album. The child in the last picture is my older brother.

Repose

This is Annie, taking it easy in my opthalmologist’s office when I went there yesterday. She’s been coming to work with him since she was a puppy. Sometimes she visits other offices in the medical building to comfort an anxious patient. 

Tripod was taking it easy on the back steps until Charlie came along looking for a playmate. That didn’t last long because cats do not appreciate Charlie’s enthusiasm.

Speaking of cats, I generated one using StarryAI in Klimt style. 

I saw these peaceful sheep near Edinburg. 

I saw the little dog wearing a bandanna in Hillsboro.

And here’s Charlie on the couch. The brightly-patterned fabric is a beach towel.

Cyclist in Monochrome

Herndon, VA

Knowing that I was going to have cataract surgery on May 3rd, I drove to Northern Virginia in late April to stock up on grocery items that I can’t find around here. Herndon has two natural food stores, and if they are out of something I want, I can stop at Whole Foods or Wegman's before heading home. 

I took a snapshot of a young man riding a bicycle on the W&OD bike path in case I needed it for the theme day on May 1. As it turned out, I easily found the old photos that I wanted to use. 

By the way, I’m glad that I don’t have to drive that far right now because the vision in my life die is still a little bit blurry from the surgery. It is also very sensitive to light. 

Small Talk

Chatting about the weather is considered small talk. I guess it's a good thing when our weather is fairly inconsequential. Other places are having tornadoes and such, but the worst we've had this week is wind and a brief thunder storm.

Here’s a nearby field that got sculpted by the wind. That was the day we had thunder that made the floor shake. Charlie started howling and did not stop until it was over.

Rain was in the forecast today, but we didn’t get much. I took Charlie to the state park this afternoon, crossing this low water bridge.

Water H2O Thursday / Skywatch

Looking up the river from this bridge, we see the swinging bridge that pedestrians can use when this bridge is underwater. There are still quite a few of these low bridges crossing the Shenandoah River.

This evening I snapped a picture of the clouds when I was walking Charlie near our home.

Where Every Walk’s a Nature Walk

Seven Bends State Park

Nature changes with the seasons. This redbud along the Gokotta Trail is starting to leaf out. 

Some mallard ducks were floating in the river.

Dames Rocket was blooming. It has various other names, and is often mistaken for phlox. 

Charlie enjoys walking in the park because there’s always something interesting to sniff. I’m sure he can tell what other animals have passed through here. Beagles are known for their discerning noses. Perhaps you’ve seen them working in airports, finding hidden contraband by traces of smells.

A Walk Through Crimson Clover

Lost Bottoms, Edinburg, VA

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Blog Post #8700

Farewell to Blog2Print

A change has come to the way that I preserve my blog posts. I have an album or two for every year of blogging, but the company that prints them is going out of business. Blog2Print is having a final sale so I ordered a book for the first four months of this year. I will look for another publisher because I use these books as a combination of photo album and journal.

I began blogging in June 2005 so it's been almost 19 years.  At first, I did not post every day, but once I started doing that the books became bigger. In 2015 I had to split the year’s posts into two books because there was a limit on the number of photos they would print in a single volume.

The books are expensive, especially since I order hardcover ones. But I watched for sales and took advantage of 30%-off deals. An old-fashioned photo album wasn’t cheap either; the cost was just spread out more because we would get our rolls of film printed one or two at a time and then buy an album to put them in. Most of those old albums eventually deteriorated and pictures started falling out or fading. The color photos faded more than black-and-white, and sometimes I copy them and use software to turn them into black-and-white images, sharpening and increasing the contrast so they look fresher. 

Here’s a glimpse of my 2006 album. My dogs then were Guppy and Benny. 

Do you print your blog? Do you keep a backup somewhere? Do you print your photos and keep them in envelopes? 

I have boxes of envelopes of photos, and shelves full  of these boxes. For a long time I had most of my pictures printed, but I stopped pasting them in albums long ago. I only print a fraction of them now. I keep telling myself that I’m going to go through the old ones and throw out half of them, but it isn’t a high priority.

Young George Washington Tames a Monster

Winchester, VA

I saw this mural online so I sought it out. The monster is either a man-eating vine or a strange dragon, The hero is young George Washington, who had an office in Winchester before he became nationally famous.  He is feeding pizza to the creature because this is a pizza parlor.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

Oh, before someone asks me how is the pizza, let me say I don’t know. My food allergies make it impossible to eat anything resembling a real pizza. 

Flowers and Farms

Rockingham County

On the day of the Harrisonburg Garden WeekTour, I took dozens of photos because it was a beautiful day and the scenery was great. These are some that I did not include in my previous posts.

 

Geese, Beagle, Sheep

Saturday Critters

Yesterday I had cataract surgery, and my daughter Lynn was my driver and general helper.  This morning she took me to the follow-up appointment in Winchester, and as we were leaving, we had to stop for a family of Canada geese that was crossing the road to the pond.

My surgery went okay but the left side of my face looks bruised. Vision in my left eye is still very blurry, but that will clear up.

Last week I took Charlie to Tractor Supply. He was not sure what to think of the beagle statue. 
 

Here is a picture of Charlie with a pastel filter from the Becasso app.

And Happy Birthday to Athena!

And here are some sheep. I saw lambs too, practically hidden by tall grass.

Stone Arch and a Vase

Black and White Weekend 

 

Views from the James Morgan

North of Harrisonburg

The James Morgan is an event center that was once a buffalo ranch. If you want a wedding venue with a beautiful view, this is one to consider.

It was in included on the Garden Week Tours. Their policy is to not allow indoor pictures, but the building is modern and the great room is very impressive.

On a personal note, I have cataract surgery scheduled for tomorrow so I may not be online much for a few days. I plan to have a post ready ahead of time for tomorrow.