One Day of a 3-Day Weekend

Sometimes holiday weekends are barely noticeable to me because I'm retired. I was delighted that Marie was able to come for a brief visit, making this Labor Day Weekend special. She stayed two nights, so we only had one real day together, and a busy one it was.

We took Charlie with us and drove to the condo on Rose Bud Court to see the progress that had been made. On the way we passed a crowd of protesters on each side of the interstate overpass. They are no longer permitted to stand on the overpass due to a state law that prohibits loitering on bridges if it is determined to present a safety hazard.

 

(Picture Taken at Stoplight through the Windshield.)

The condo looks bright and contemporary, now that my other daughter has almost finished working on it. 

We also stopped at Seven Bends State Park and Marie took Charlie for a walk.

Sharing with H2O, Mosaics, Gardens

I drove to Front Royal, where we bought lunch to eat along Skyline Drive, which was crowded with holiday tourists. Then we went to Petco because Marie wanted to get Charlie a harness to replace the one that he had destroyed. The one that he’s wearing in these pictures does not fit him properly.

After returning home and resting, we had dinner. Marie left before 7 AM this morning to return by train to Jersey City. She wanted to check on some repairs made in front of her house there. Tomorrow she flies back to California where she works as an editor. (She used to work in New York City, but the company moved to Burbank.)

It was wonderful to see her and catch up. Charlie enjoyed the extra attention and walks.

Shades of Charlie and Friends

Hi, it’s Charlie. I got in a little trouble right after the first picture was taken. Mom got out of the car to put cardboard in the recycling bin and I wanted to go see what she was doing, so I took off my harness by chewing the straps. Before I could figure out how to get out of the car, she came back and she was not happy that I chewed the harness. My other one was at home so I had to ride home without a seatbelt. I like it that way, but Mom says it’s dangerous

That picture is black and white so I’ll show you some other colors. Here I am on the tan deck.

Marie spent the day with us today and she took me for a walk in the woods where it was very green.

We also stopped at the state park. Mom used a blue filter for this picture.

I have a full-color picture of Sadie to show you. She’s my friend and sometimes her mom lets me stay with her when my mom has to go somewhere.

Jukebox Not Available

New Market, VA

(Weekend Reflection: A neon sign on the right side.)

I remember when the jukebox still worked at the Southern Kitchen. The wall-mounted boxes are still there beside each table. For many years, you could choose the song you wanted to hear from the flip cards, insert a quarter, and punch in the number. The music would play from the jukebox at the end of the room. 

The restaurant kept theses boxes as part of a nostalgic look. They still serve home-cooked food. 

Sad News from the Sunflower Maze

They were robbed. Twice. Someone stole cash from their donation box. After the first time, they secured the box better and installed a security camera.

This picture is from last year, showing the donation box before it was made more secure. Recent video showed a young woman trying to take the box, but finding that it was locked and bolted to the boards, she returned to their truck, and a man emerged and tore out the box and the board, damaging the surrounding enclosure. He threw the board with the box in the back of the truck and drove off.

The video was posted to the Internet, and local people recognized the couple. My understanding is that they were arrested. 

The owners of the sunflower farm were devastated by the crime and decided to close for the season ahead of schedule. They are accepting donations.

It’s not unusual for people in this area to rely on an honor system for small purchases. It was startling to me when I first moved here to see how many roadside stands were unattended with cash boxes for produce, flowers, or eggs. I think this system worked fairly well until drug addiction became widespread in rural areas..

The final picture is one that Lynn took of me and Charlie in front of the scarecrow at the maze. I’m glad she got to see it when she did. I’ve been in previous years and I enjoyed going back. I hope that the owners can recover their losses and their faith in humanity.

Hummingbird, Male and Female

These are my first hummingbird pictures of the summer. For a while, I stopped feeding them because the weather was so hot that the sugar water spoiled quickly, and the last thing I want to do is make birds ill. Finally, the temperatures cooled down, and I put some hummingbird food out in a small feeder that I could just place in the tray of the Birdfy feeder with camera. It usually holds seeds so I improvised and it worked. It is possible to buy a hummingbird feeder with a camera, but I didn't want to invest money in something that I could only use a few weeks out of the year. The hummingbirds came here late in the spring and they'll be leaving soon.

These are ruby-throated hummingbirds. Only the male has the red throat. The female has a white throat.

I especially like the first picture because a kitty is stalking on the left side. He did not catch any birds.

The camera takes short videos. I clipped these pictures from the videos. I noticed that the male never held his wings still. The feeder cam is not fast enough to stop the action of the fast wings.

I imported the pictures into the SKRWT app to crop them to a uniform size. I can crop using the photos app on my iPhone, but it does not give me the option of specifying a particular size.

To clip pictures from the video, I paused it with my finger and told Siri to make  a screen print. She obliged for a while, and then started pretending she did not understand. She started giving me search engine results.

Another Hot Air Balloon

Above the Rooftops

Links: Valley Ballooning / Wordless 

Mural at Vibrissa’s Patio

Front Royal

Monday Murals

This painting is partly obscured by plants. Perhaps I can go back when the leaves are off the trees and get a better picture.

Happy Birthday to the NPS

Today marks the 109th anniversary of the founding of our National Park Service. Here are some pictures of National Park Rangers that I’ve taken over the years. The first batch is from Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. It’s fairly local to me and I’ve attended many tours and lectures there over the years. 

Actually, I toured parts of it with college history classes before the park was established. It’s fairly new to a national park, first designated in 2002. Before that, Belle Grove existed as a historical site and part of the surrounding Cedar Creek Battlefield was preserved by a battlefield foundation. 

Related: Photos I took at Cedar Creek in 1993.

2006 Post: 100th Birthday of National Park Service.

Also, Shenandoah National Park is local to me. It was built before I was born, and I’ve been going there all my life. I grew up in Northern Virginia, so even then, it was only a few hours away. 

Collage of SNP Rangers for Mosaic Monday

Currently our National Parks are underfunded. They are a treasure and a wonderful resource and deserve the support of the American people and the government.

Seeking Freedom

A Presentation at Belle Grove

Last weekend I went to a talk in Middletown. NPS Ranger Anthony told stories of enslaved people at Belle Grove Plantation who escaped from slavery or earned their freedom. There were a couple of men who apparently had help from someone who forged papers for them so that they were able to make their way out of the state.

Brief versions of their stories are available online, at least for now. 

Belle Grove in Middletown (not to be confused with another plantation of the same name that is in King George County) is a beautiful farm that is part of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. A Civil War battle was fought here in 1864.

Charlie’s Report for August 21-23

Look what I saw when Mom opened the front door this morning! The grey cat was on our steps! It's not even a friendly cat and runs away when I try to say hello.

(Filtered in Picsart)  

It ran away before Deborah came to take me for a morning walk. She’s been coming here most days since Mom hurt her back. Mom still walks with me in the afternoon, but we don’t go far.

A funny thing happened yesterday. We went to the vet’s office because I had a tummy ache and needed some medicine. Well, we were in the doctor room, and I heard Deborah‘s voice. She was out front with Sadie, who had gotten a nail trim. I squeaked a lot and the receptionist let them come back to see me.

I visited with them the day before when Mom went to the doctor. Here we are walking

What else happened this week? Well, I saw Allison, and I haven’t seen her in a long time. I went to Lowe’s with Mom. I saw Lynn and her friend Barb. Here I am with Lynn. She thinks my mom is her mom

The last picture is one that Mom took this afternoon. See the little butterfly? She was trying to get a picture of a big one, but it flew away.

View from Medical Office

Chandelier Reflected on Glass Door 

This image may look confusing, but that's approprate. Life is confusing.

Yesterday I went for a follow-up appointment with my primary care practitioner, except that I didn’t see her. I saw a new nurse practitioner. These days there is a shortage of medical personnel, which has been the case since Covid hit in 2020. 

We talked about my lab test results and the lightheadedness that sent me to urgent care last week. The test had shown extremely low sodium, so she wants me to start taking a sodium tablet every morning. She also recommended compression stockings. I have my doubts about those because I can’t stand anything binding around my legs, but I have ordered a pair. She wrote an order for more lab tests. 

My blood pressure was low, so she measured it with me reclining, sitting up, and standing up. She said I have postural hypotension, which causes my blood pressure to drop when I stand up. That’s why I get dizzy and sometimes feel like I might fall over. 

We also discussed my earlier test results, which indicated that my vitamin D level is still low and my protein level is low. This is in spite of my trying to bring those up. I complained that it’s very difficult getting more nutrition when I’m trying to keep my weight down.

My knee has been hurting more, sometimes waking me up at night. Supposedly losing weight can help your joints, so I’d like to have less weight impacting my knees. I’ve never had luck at losing weight, but I certainly don’t want to gain any. Exercise is not an option right now due to the knee pain and my slowly healing back.

A Glimpse of an Outdoor Meeting

Seven Bends State Park

I’m still on a committee that supports our local state park, which is still under development. Our group is part of the Friends of the North Fork. Esther (in yellow) is our chairperson.

On Monday, I attended a planning meeting for an event that’s taking place next month. We met on the Lupton Road side of the park because that’s where the concert will take place.

It was a 6 PM meeting, and by the time I left, the sun was ready to set.

Deer under Trees, Birds in a Tree

Yesterday's post with pictures from Skyline Drive did not include any deer photos. I did see some deer, but I was driving with another car right behind me so I couldn't stop. However, I did photograph some deer in the town of Front Royal earlier that afternoon. They were in someone's backyard.

Front Royal has plenty of wildlife because it shares a border with Shenandoah National Park. It’s not unusual for bears to wander through town looking for food, and they can become a nuisance.

I haven’t had much luck getting pictures of birds lately. I don’t feed them in the summertime, and if I’m walking outdoors, I usually have Charlie with me. Here I tried to take a picture of birds in a tree, and one of them flew up. I don’t think it’s recognizable, but I do like seeing them fly.

A Foggy Day along Skyline Drive

 Shenandoah National Park 

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday 

Repainted Mural

Front Royal

It’s been years since I published the previous version of this mural. The colors were the same, somewhat faded, but it did not include the buildings. This is the back of a martial arts school.

I found an artist’s signature that simply says Lisa.

Here’s a look at some of the flowers that were in front of the mural. 

Mosaic /  Monday Mural