Early Springtime with Charlie

Hi, it’s your favorite beagle, Charlie! Or maybe I’m your second favorite. I don’t know. My mom says I’m  her favorite.

I’ll show you a few pictures of me and my friend Sadie but first, here are two other animals. Mom did something to a picture of a cat, and it isn’t even the friendly cat. This is the cat that won’t talk to me.

We saw a sign with a picture of a rabbit. It doesn’t look quite like the rabbits that are in my neighborhood. I’ve seen several now that it’s spring, but I’m not allowed to play with them. There’s a toy rabbit at Sadie‘s house, but I can only look at it. It makes noise and I’d like to get the noisemaker out if they’d let me.

Sometimes we go to a dog park with Sadie. Her mom throws the ball for us. We have visited a number of different dog parks. This one is in Timberville.

Last week we went to one in Stanley. I like going with Sadie because that way I have someone to play with. Sometime Mom takes me to a park and no dogs are there, and that isn’t fun for very long. I like having someone to run with, and we both like catching the ball.

This afternoon, I went to school for the second time. I wasn’t quite as scared, but it was still very hard to know what to do. My teacher, Miss Sydney, gave me some nice snacks. She said it can take a long time to train a beagle. 

After that, Mom bought me a hamburger to eat in the car. Then I took a nap.

A Stop at the MSV

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is on Amherst Street in Winchester. There are a number of medical offices in that neighborhood because the hospital is nearby, and sometimes I combine a doctor  visit with a trip to the museum. Yesterday I did that because I wanted to pick up a copy of the Virginia Garden tour book. 

Although I did look at some artwork, I did not tour the gardens to see the temporary display of dinosaur sculptures because I simply can’t walk that far. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that in the near future.

 There were some lovely flower arrangements along the hallway on the first floor.

In a Mirror, Staring.

It's only been a week since I wrote a little rant, but I'm going to complain again anyway. But before I do, here's a picture of Charlie in the side mirror. I've noticed that I've used a mirror as a framing technique several times.  Ha, I’ll probably do it again!

Poor Charlie. He likes to take walks more often than I’m able to. I don’t understand why he needs to go out six times a day. He should have a fenced yard and a buddy to play with, but my yard is so small that I don’t think it would be a sufficient space for him to play. I’m worried that I’m not going to be able to give him enough walks much longer.

I went to the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday. He gave me an injection in my left knee. It’s been in pain for over three months, and now the other leg is giving me trouble. The injection helped a lot, but I’m concerned about the way my other leg sometimes feels unsteady, like it’s giving out. I’ve almost lost my balance a number of times. 

The doctor give me a form for a temporary handicapped tag for my car. I don’t need it all the time because I can walk short distances, but if I arrive at the grocery store and the parking lot is very busy, I may need a handicapped spot. I hate needing special treatment, and I don’t like feeling old, yet here I am. 

As I drove home today, I listened to a radio program on the economy. Usually I enjoy it and learn something. Today it was really depressing. If you are reading this in April 2025, you know what I’m talking about. It’s almost surreal.

I’m retired. My savings are at risk. My Social Security is at risk. The cost of living is going up. I did prepare for a small downturn, but not a catastrophe, and it looks like there’s a strong chance we’re facing one. 

Also on the news are more weather-related disasters. No doubt many of the disasters are the result of human-caused climate change. And environmental changes can cause social changes, as people try to move to a more livable place. They’re not always welcome. (Deliberate understatement.) 

I am not a pessimist by nature, but I am not an optimist either. I try not to let cynicism make me bitter. But sometimes I just want to scream, “Stop it! You’re ruining everything!”

Well, Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” I see they’re out there. I just hope they can rally enough of the complacent folks and the scared folks, so they can join the strong and the caring people and put us back on track. God help us!

Friendly Finches

House finches often come to my feeders in pairs. The more colorful one is the male.

Goldfinches sometimes feed together too, and also tolerate other small birds at the feeders

This week I ran out of nyjer seed and I’m not buying more because I stop feeding birds in the spring. They’ll be able to find their own food, and bird feeders carry a risk of spreading illness among birds. The seed can also attract other animals, including rodents and bears. I haven’t heard of any bears in my neighborhood, but the last two places that I lived had them visit now and then. They don’t just snack on bird food; they pull the feeders down and destroy them.

I still have some wild bird seed that contains a mixture of seed, corn, and nuts. I added some to the feeder that has the camera, and of course squirrels came to visit. This one got close to the camera so it looks like a giant.

Today I Looked for Stripes for Theme Day

CDP Theme Day / Wordless

New Mural at the Ice Cream Depot

 Strasburg, VA

This ice cream shop has opened for the season in a new building with a brand new mural. When I stopped by there last week, the artist was still at work, painting the flower planters. Her name is Ennedi, and her business name is Studio Sasquatch.

She also painted the murals at the Edinburg pool. This new one features a train because the shop is, after all, named the Ice Cream Depot. It is only a short block away from the former train depot, which is now the Strasburg Museum.

The nearby Strasburg Museum celebrates its history as a railroad station, Civil War site, and pottery.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

End of March Blossoms

The number of pictures I take with my cell phone is ridiculous. Many will be forgotten or deleted. But now it’s spring, and flowers come and go quickly, so I want to share some that are blooming before they become irrelevant.

I’ve been noticing blossoms wherever I go. The first three photos are from Woodstock, Aldie, and Maurertown. Next are two from my own neighborhood.

The final picture is from Strasburg, and the flowering tree is only a minor part of it, but I decided to include it because it’s different.

Saturday Critters, Late March

A bird keeps tapping on the glass of my back door. At first, I thought that it did not know that there was glass there so I placed window clings on the panes. Not only did that fail to help, but the bird was perching on the wooden dividers and deliberately tapping with its beak. Was it telling me to come out and fill the feeders? That’s possible! I’ve seen birds peer in the windows before when the feeders were empty, although typically they just sit on the railing and stare at the door, as if watching for me to appear with some food. Squirrel sometimes do this too.

The bird was a Carolina wren. They are pretty easy to identify.  This one is perched on the feeder cam.

I have a few horse pictures to show you. I took these a few months ago and then didn’t get around to sharing them. I know my fellow photobloggers will understand that sometimes we go out of our way to get pictures for the blog. In this case, I spotted the horses from the car and had to turn around and find a place to pull off so that I could take pictures. 

I imagine Charlie’s fans want to know how he’s doing. He’s fine! He had a decent week in spite of me having knee problems. We took our daily walks, but without any extra steps. We went to the dog park in Strasburg twice. I chose that one because it’s not far from the parking lot so I don’t have to limp very far. Yesterday we went to see his friend Sadie and they played in her house. He also spent two afternoons in daycare. 

I used software to imagine an ideal girlfriend for him.

Unrelated Pictures for Friday

Both pictures show something with a reflective surface, but their subjects are not from the same place or day. I’m just grouping them together because I have two miscellaneous pictures that happen to fit two weekend blog hops. The artificial flowers in front of a mirror are for Weekend Reflections.

The second picture is for Black and White Weekend. Did you recognize it as a lightbulb in a box?

It’s helpful to me to have topics for today because I’m feeling distracted. The pain in my knees feels like burning, and the events in my country have my mind spinning.

This Morning at 7

Sunrise

Charlie woke me up early this morning. He wanted to go outside for his morning walk, and I got him to wait for a short time so it wouldn’t be dark outside. We went out when I could see light in the sky, and I was rewarded with a pretty sunrise.

I’ve been trying to train him to wait until daybreak before waking me. Sometimes he does but not today. Not yesterday either, but that was probably because the garbage truck came down the street before dawn, rumbling and thumping.

Late this morning, I dropped him off at day boarding so that I could make a long shopping trip. I do this about once a month, driving almost 90 minutes to get groceries that I can’t find around here. I went to Sprouts and Mom’s in Herndon. The drive back is tedious because there’s always traffic and I’m tired. I don’t know how much longer I can do that much driving. There was a while when I couldn’t because my eyesight was impaired after the cataract surgery. It’s still not back to normal for comfortable reading, but at least I can drive again.

And don’t let me get started on the problems I’m having with my knees. I’ll finally get to see the orthopedic doctor next week. That reminds me, I’m supposed to have an ice pack on my left knee. I keep forgetting, probably because I really hate being cold. 

That left knee has been painful since before Christmas. Now the right leg is hurting too. I still have to walk the dog multiple times a day. That makes it hard to rest enough to know if it makes a difference. I’m starting to feel like a little old lady, and I guess that makes sense at my age. I just thought that somehow (magically?) it wouldn’t happen to me.

Wild Bird Wednesday, from the Birdfy Camera

One of the birds that the automatic camera recorded was a song sparrow. I’m always glad to see it because it doesn’t visit very often.

The tufted titmouse came back, and once again his peaceful meal was interrupted by another bird. There was no victor this time, for they both flew off.

Also, I have some pictures of a grackle from a week ago. I enjoy seeing them, although they can be greedy, eating much more than smaller birds eat.

Salvation Army Chapel

 Cloud Street, Front Royal

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday