Charlie’s Adventure Report

Hi! I am ready to drive as soon as Mom will let me. I would drive to Sadie‘s house to play, and maybe I would go get a pup cup or a hamburger! I’d go to the dog park if I could remember how to get there. There’s a map thing, but I don’t know how to make it work.

I did go to Sadie‘s house a couple of times this week. We like to chase a ball and go for a walk. I play with her toys and she barks at me. We have a snack.

Here’s a Caturday picture for those who celebrate.

One day I noticed something different on the deck. I went to investigate.

It looked suspicious. Mom said it was the bird camera and she had put it on the floor because of the storm the night before.

We had some good adventures this week. One day we went for a walk behind the old mill.

A boy was feeding the ducks, but I was not allowed to go down there because ducks are scared of dogs.

Yesterday we went to Seven Bends State Park down at the river.

We watched some people bring kayaks to shore. It turned out to be Ranger Tom and his family. I got to meet his children and his sister-in-law.

Today Mom took me to Camp Roosevelt to walk in the woods.

On the way home, we drove by a place that has horses.

This was a good week for me. I hope you had a good week too.

Another Deer Picture and Charlie’s Report

A week ago we shared a cell phone picture of the deer that visits our backyard. I also took a few shots with my Nikon. This is one that I took as I stepped out on the deck. She saw me and ran off seconds later.

I know some of you are waiting for Charlie’s report so here it is!

Hello, friends! I had some fun this week, but the weather did not cooperate. It got very hot every afternoon, and then yesterday the air was smoky. It was still that way today until a thunderstorm came. There wasn’t much rain, but the wind blew some of the smoke away. 

I went to the state park a couple of times. I like to get a good view. 

Mom takes a lot of pictures. She tried to get a picture of both of us, but I don’t really like to pose. She gets enough handsome pictures of me when I’m not paying attention.

Some days it was too hot to go to a park so we stayed home. I take walks early in the morning, first with my mom and later with Miss Deborah, unless she has to go somewhere. We usually go out on the deck at lunchtime so I can watch for critters. I saw a groundhog today but it ran off, as critters often do.

The place where I sometimes go to daycare was closed this week, which was fine with me. I like to stay with my mom or go play with Sadie. On Wednesday, Mom had to go to Harrisonburg and I got to go with her. We met my sister Lynn for lunch, and the I stayed in the car with her while Mom went in a building. We took a walk, but it was hot. I climbed on the seats and tore my harness. We had a good time.

The next day Mom took me to the state park. It’s a little cooler by the river but we didn’t stay long. I got to lie in the grass.

Yesterday and today the air was smoky so we didn’t spend time outside except for walks in the neighborhood. I saw a rabbit.

That’s all the news I can think of. Oh, we found a picture of a horse to show you.

And that’s all for now!

More Scenes at the River

Today started out hazy and quickly got worse as the smoke from Canada's wildfires reached us. First I noticed the acrid smell, then the irritation in my eyes. By late morning, the haze was thick and air quality was rated as unhealthy, so we didn’t go to a park today. These photos are from yesterday‘s visit to Seven Bends State Park. 

The person in the blue shirt was fishing in the Shenandoah. Just a half hour later, I crossed back over the bridge and shadows had gotten darker.  A photo of the water looked almost black and white, so I went ahead and desaturated the trace of green that still showed in the grass and dark trees.

Fishing by the Lupton Road Bridge

North Fork of the Shenandoah

With the temperature at 93°F, the most desirable outdoor activities this afternoon involved water. These young men were fishing next to the low-water bridge at Seven Bends State Park.

Skywatch / Water H2O Thursday

The View from Sheetz Mill Road

Near Woodstock

This rural road is not very long but it crosses Narrow Passage Creek twice. The creek curves around, following the path of least resistance, as water tends to do. 

More Views of Stony Creek

Near the Edinburg Mill 

Wordless Wednesday

Mallards Near the Mill

Edinburg, VA

This afternoon, I wound up in Edinburg after Charlie got restless and campaigned to go out. I wanted to stop at the recycling center because I had a bunch of glass bottles. (Our town’s recycling contractor does not take glass. I’m just happy that they pick up our other recycling because until last week, we did not have any recycling pickup at all here. This will decrease my trips to the recycling center a great deal.)  I also took some large boxes because I don’t want to fill up my recycling container with cardboard. 

A rainstorm was in the forecast, so I felt it was best not to drive very far. I decided to go to nearby Stony Creek by Edinburg Mill. I snapped a few pictures of mallard ducks before I got Charlie out of the car, and then took him a short distance upstream to walk where he would not scare the ducks. We found a narrow trail down to the water.

I was pleased to find a new spot for viewing the water.

The final picture shows the old railroad bridge in the distance. Trains no longer run through here, and there are hopes that the right-of-way will become a trail for walking and biking.

Cool, Clear Water

The City Daily Photo theme for July 1 is "Water."

I set up a shot for the theme while I was watering roses. We’re looking at airborne drops of water that I sprayed from the hose. The evergreen trees in the background produced a Christmas tree look. I was hoping to form a rainbow, but I guess the sun was not at the right angle, although it was behind me as needed. I have created a small rainbow with a hose a few times in the past. It appears that some of the individual drops in this picture formed spots of color.

So far, our county is not under mandatory water restrictions. We’ve had a drought, but we received some rain over the past few days. Temperatures are going up very high tomorrow and are expected to stay that way until the weekend, when we may get some rain.

Dan, can you see that big, green tree?
Where the water's runnin' free
And it's waitin' there for you and me?
Water, cool, clear water?

(Lyrics by Bob Nolan, Recorded by Various Artists.)

I’ll close with a shot of the North Fork of the Shenandoah. 

Late June with Charlie

Hi! Someone commented that I don’t smile much, but actually I do. Here is my sly smile.

Here is a cat design for Caturday. 

We had a couple days of rain this week. This picture was taken by the door camera, which is not on the doorframe because it fell down, so Mom put it on a shelf. Anyway, she took me out for the morning walk, and she started down the steps, but I saw it was raining so I stopped. I don't like getting wet. I refused to go out until the rain let up.

On another day, we had a different problem. We were going to go to the state park, but the roads were jammed with cars and trucks. There was a problem on the interstate, so the Valley Pike was full of vehicles and the side roads were very busy too. We went to Lowe’s instead, and I smelled the flowers and things in the garden center.

Yesterday we finally went to Seven Bends State Park after the rain let up. You might notice that I have a new vest. It’s just like my other summer vest, but it is purple like my new leash.

This week we saw rabbits in the neighborhood. I want to chase them, but Mom won’t let me.

Today I went to Sadie’s house. Here you see I’m talking to her, but she jumped up and tried to kiss me. I don’t want to be mean to her, but I wish she would stop.

People say I’m good looking, but that’s not always a good thing.