Little Red Bird

The first photo is a cell phone shot that I took in a hurry. Other birds had flown away as I approached, so I feared that this one was about to take off too. 

It was perched on Deborah‘s bird feeder, and I think it’s a male house finch. For comparison, here is an older shot of a house finch on my deck. He appeared to have an attitude. He probably saw me; I was indoors looking out.

Bubbles in a Pan

City Daily Photo Theme: Bubbles / Wordless 

Greetings from Wichester

...and Patsy!

When I read that artist Sarah Gallahan had painted a new mural in Winchester, I made a mental note to see it. Last week I had a medical appointment there, so I went to find the mural. Unfortunately, a car was blocking part of it so I can’t show the entire painting at once. 

On the left is a postcard view with the word “Greetings from Winchester.” On the right is a painting of music legend, Patsy Cline.

Patsy Cline, who died in a plane crash in 1963, was from Winchester and became a recording star in both country music and pop music. Her biggest hit was the song "Crazy," written by Willie Nelson.

I think it’s appropriate that the painting is on a wall of the Workingman’s Store / Blue Collar Mercantile. Patsy was from a working class family, and was initially looked down on by Winchester society. Her parents were divorced, and Patsy left high school in order to go to work and help support her mother and siblings. Her mother was a talented seamstress, and made many of Patsy’s stage costumes. 

The apple blossoms that you see in the paintings are references to local apple otchards and the annual Apple Blossom Parade. Blossoms are painted on the pavement here and through the town to direct visitors to the parade route

Mosaic Monday / Murals

Another Tough Week Completed

One accomplishment this week was getting my car inspected. Most inspection stations in my town require an appointment, and I was reluctant to make one because I was unsure how I would feel the next day. Fortunately, I found a garage that had availability the same day. My car passed easily, but the tires are starting to show road damage and should be replaced before winter.

Recovering from a fall has been painfully slow, but I am feeling progress. This afternoon, I was able to take Charlie for an abbreviated version of an adventure. We went to Seven Bends State Park and walked to a bench near the river. It was only about 40 feet from our parking spot. Charlie enjoyed watching people go by and they were even two dogs: a slim white dog who was proud, and a big German Shepherd, who was loud. 

Charlie was happy to get outside. We left just as a rain storm was approaching.

In other news, my condo in Edinburg is now vacant. The tenant left it in good shape and turned over the keys yesterday. I need to replace some lightbulbs and decide whether I’m going to rent it back out or sell it. I’m very tempted to sell it because I’m tired of maintaining it. It doesn’t seem to have gone up in value very much though. It’s only a one bedroom unit, and most buyers in this semi-rural area want something bigger. 

I expect that this week will be better for me, at least as far as how my back is feeling. Soon I’ll look back and say that I was lucky that I didn’t break any bones and was able to recover in only a few weeks. 

Charlie, Some Helpers, and Some Bugs

Filtered Picture of Charlie

It’s been a challenging week because I’m still in pain from the fall I took, Plus I’m still unable to lift very much or even walk Charlie. Fortunately, my sister-in-law has walked him a number of times, and Lynn came yesterday and took care of Charlie and also did some chores that I could not do. 

Lynn cut some nuisance plants, including some small trees that had come up in my backyard garden. She saw some insects that she thought were spotted lantern flies, an invasive pest that is fairly new to our area. I did not recognize them because I’m only familiar with the adult ones. It turns out that these are in stages three and four of their lifecycle.

She removed the plants that attracted them. Hopefully they’ll leave, but I probably should alert my neighbors. 

I’ll with a picture of Charlie looking out the door as Deborah arrives to take him for a morning walk. He’s always excited to see her.

Looking Up from Under

Lynn spent the afternoon helping me today. She took care of Charlie, removed some large invasive plants from my garden, and put up the patio umbrella. I had gotten it a while back, but found it was too heavy for me to lift over the table to put it down through the center. 

Return of the Ponds

Maurertown, VA

Last summer, the ponds in Shenandoah County Park dried up due to the drought. Recent rains have brought them back.

We are officially out of drought stage, but ground levels of water are still low. As I write this, a thunderstorm has brought showers once again, and relief from a very hot spell. The heat will be back, of course. Some parts of the country are getting it worse than we are in Virginia.

Red Flyers

Bird Cam Photos 

Although I am no longer putting out seed for the birds, this male house finch stopped by just in case. Sorry, buddy!

There is plenty of natural food for the birds at this time, and it’s better for them than crowding around a feeder where they might catch an illness from another bird. I do put water in the birdbath though.

The Birdfy camera is motion-activated. It captured video of this little red creature and I don’t know what it is. Since the camera is set to focus on close objects, the subject is not clear.

I’m going with “fairy.”

And finally, it captured a red bird diving downward. I think it’s a cardinal, but the bird did not fly closer so other images of it are not clear.

Black Fence, Yellow Flowers

Today in Winchester

Utility Box Mural, North and Main

Woodstock, VA

Monday Murals

Happy Birthday to Dawn!

Shenandoah Blogger Dawn M. Miller

Dawn is one of the few bloggers in the Northern Shenandoah Valley,  and the only one besides me who has been posting regularly for well over a decade. She uses the WordPress platform for her blog, The Day After. I think of it as “Lingering Visions” because that is in the URL.

I knew Dawn from her blog before I met her one day in the grocery store. Later, she organized some shows for local photographers, but that was before the pandemic interrupted things.

Check out her blog when you get a chance.

The Case of the Guilty Dog

Poor Charlie! he did not mean to hurt me. But now I'm in pain and he has to spend the weekend in boarding.

It happened Tuesday morning before 7 AM. He had awakened me while it was still dark, and we went out for a morning walk as soon as the sky lightened. Uh oh! There was his nemesis. The little dog that raises his hackles was out for a walk with his mom. I thought we could get far ahead of them so I started walking briskly with Charlie behind me on the leash. 

He started to follow me, but suddenly turned to run back toward the other dog, twisting me around and pulling me down on the damp sidewalk. My landing was painful. I struggled to get up, but pain shot through my body. Fearing that I had broken something, I called out to the other woman that I needed help. She put her dog in her house and came to help me.

I gave her Charlie’s leash and tried to get up, but I couldn’t. She said her sister would be there in just a minute. (They meet for a walk every morning.) Her sister hurried to me and helped me get to my feet, and we walked back to my door. By then I knew that I hadn’t broken any bones, but I wasn’t sure what damage might’ve been done.

As soon as my doctor’s office opened,  I called them and left a message. They called back and did not have any openings that day. I already had an appointment with them for the next morning, which was a follow-up to discuss lab results. 

As the day wore on, I didn’t feel better and decided to go to the hospital. I called Deborah and she was not able to take me, but she said that Frank could. The hospital is not very far, and I didn’t have to wait very long either. The doctor there felt that the CT scan was in order so I was taken to radiology. The scan showed no broken or fractured bones, just a compressed disc, which may have happened previously. I had soft tissue injuries. He instructed me to rest, not lift anything over ten pounds, and not walk the dog for two weeks.

Fortunately, my sister was due to arrive the next day, so I left Charlie in boarding overnight. Peggy arrived and helped with Charlie for the few days that she was here. Before she left on Friday, we took him back to the kennel.

I’ve been treating my lower back pain with an ice pack and painkillers, mostly mild ones. The pain is at its worst when I try to get out of bed, but after I loosen up, it’s bearable and I’m able to get around in the afternoon. Then I get really tired and achy and have to rest.

I’m not sure how I’m going to handle the rest of the required 10 days off from walking the dog. Deborah offered to walk him some of the time, and Kayla from the kennel can sometimes do it. But he likes to go out five times a day and I have never been able to get him on a convenient schedule. In the long-term, I can find a house with a fenced yard, And I’ll try to find effective training for him. Our previous visits to trainers were not very successful because Charlie was frightened, Plus, he is not motivated by treats or toys so did not respond to the usual methods. 

Then there’s my age to consider. I am too old to just bounce back from an injury. I hate to think about that, but I don’t want to wind up in a nursing home anytime soon.

I feel guilty that I don’t have a great yard for him, and I have not been very successful at training him. The idea of giving him up his heartbreaking. 

Here’s a picture from the day that Lynn and I picked him up from his foster home in Charlottesville. He’s a sweet little dog.

I’m With My Boys, I’m With My Troops

"I am walking down the street
I'm feeling all right
I'm with my boys
I'm with my troops.”

— Paul Simon

Do song lyrics just pop into your head sometimes? I’m sure I’m not the only person who experience this.

Cloudy in the West and it Looks Like Rain

My sister is visiting for just two days. It turned out to be helpful timing to me because I hurt my back on Tuesday and was instructed by a doctor to not walk the dog or pick up anything over 20 pounds. 

She drove me to Front Royal today so I could buy some items and return a package. We also drove into Shenandoah National Park because it’s right there at the edge of town and Peggy misses the mountains.

We arrived at the Visitors Center as a ranger was giving a talk about black bears. He stressed the importance of keeping food and garbage where bears cannot get them.

My phone sent alerts that a thunderstorm was coming. It was sunny then, but soon we saw the storm over the Massanutten Range to the west.

The storm moved closer and finally reached us. The rain was heavy but did not last long.

Red-winged Blackbird at Franklin Park

Loudoun County

It was sitting on a sign. I didn’t have a real camera with me; these are cell phone pictures. It flew to tall grasses and perched for a minute.

It flew almost out of the frame.

So that you can see what a red-winged blackbird looks like, here’s a picture I took a few years ago.

Country Lane, Vineyard, and Mountain

Star of the Valley Vineyard

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

New Bookstore Opens in Woodstock

Bonfire Bookstore and Yarnery

As you can see from the reflection, the bookstore is across the street from the old courthouse. A small yarn shop is incorporated into the bookstore.

 

I had heard that there was a mural in the store, but at first I didn’t see it. Then I noticed this huge cabinet with the doors open.

Of course! This is the entrance to the children’s section. The wardrobe is a literary reference to a children’s classic.

And there’s Aslan!

Monday Murals / Mosaics

I did not read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was a child. It existed, but I don’t think it became popular in the States until a little later. My daughters read it so I heard about it. 

Another clever touch is wallpaper made of actual pages from books. Overall, it’s a pleasant place to shop.