Twenty Years of Blogging!

My first blog post was on June 13, 2005. Even I am amazed that I've been blogging for 20 years.

Post #1

When I started, we were spending a lot of time in our Glebe Harbor home and the Internet connection was painfully slow. They didn’t have high-speed Internet in our corner of Westmoreland County so I had to use the phone line, and it was a very old phone line. I would actually click on a link, go to the kitchen and get coffee, and return to see that pictures on my screen were still opening. And pictures back then were much smaller because many people still had dial-up connections!

When I wanted to post a page with photos, I would compose it on my laptop and shrink the pictures to 3 x 5“ size (at 72 dpi), and drive to the library which was about 5 miles away. There I would connect to their DSL Internet and upload my text and pictures. I did not post every day until after we moved back to Bryce Resort and got a high-speed connection at home. 

I’ve selected a few pictures from my early months of blogging. There were other favorites that are too small to look good on today’s devices. 

Our view at Glebe Harbor

Even then I enhanced pictures in Photoshop.

Assateague Sunset

Marie

Blogging with Birds

Since I have a major blog anniversary coming up on Friday, I've been digging around in my old posts. I found I've been posting pictures of birds since my first year of blogging.  We were staying in Glebe Harbor at that time, and our deck had a long view of a creek that led to the Potomac.

I posted these pictures of great blue herons on September 8, 2005.

Over the years I continued to occasionally post photos of birds. I found a link to Wild Bird Wednesday in January 2014. I don’t know if it was my first time joining that linkup because I did not look at all my posts with birds. That particular post included this photo of a goldfinch.

One More Montross Mural

Blog Post #7750

In the "Northern Neck" of Virginia, there is a mural studio in the town of Montross. When we went to that town on business some months ago, I sought out a number of them along the main street. I've been sharing them from time to time and here is the last one. It is on a coffeehouse that is also an art gallery. 

When I first started blogging in 2005, we were living near Montross but that was before murals burst forth there. Perhaps someday I'll go back and find the ones in the nearby towns. 

The area is between the Potomac River and the Rappahannock River, with Nomini Creek and its large bay near town. Waterways figure in many of the murals, and even mermaids! Let's look at the ones I already posted. 
 

For a better look at these murals, view the previous posts by searching for Montross on this blog.

Waterway Collages

Let's start with two views of the North Fork of the Shenandoah at Lupton Road Bridge.

Our second grouping shows paintings I saw on the exterior of a building in Montross, a town in Westmoreland County. 

Also in Montross is a mural welcoming visitors to town and introducing some local attractions.

Gator and Doggy Mural

In Montross, VA.

Monday Murals

 Note the large toothbrush. The dentist reminds you to take care of your teeth! 

Somewhat Artsy.

Mosaic Monday: I thought I could create a mosaic look with Pixlr but I got a different effect. Oh well, I'll put a collage at the end of the post.

For Monday Murals, I'm sharing two from Montross. It's a small town but it's a good place to see murals. 

The mermaid painting says Northern Neck Oysters. The other one says Angelo's Restaurant.

Below that are a few buildings that caught my eye in Montross.

 

Greetings from Warsaw.

These are pictures I took last month.  Warsaw is a town near the Rappahannock River in Eastern Virginia. It is the county seat of Richmond County which was created in 1692. (The City of Richmond is not in Richmond County, however.) 

Monday Murals

Mosaic Monday

 

Florist Mural, Flower Collages.

I've already shared several murals from the town of Montross and I still have a few left in my files. There is actually a mural studio in Montross. If I lived there I might take one of their classes. 

Let's take a closer look at this mural, titled Bridget's Bouquets Inc., Florist.

Monday Murals

Speaking of flowers, this is the season for them. 
 

Mosaic Monday

Enjoy and stay cool!

Mural on a Bottling Plant

This painting still decorates the Northern Neck Bottling Company in Montross. I read that the plant is no longer in operation. At one time it was famous for its tasty ginger ale.

"Sprite Boy" appeared in ads between 1942-1953.

Monday Murals / Mosaic Monday

Over the years I posted quite a few pictures from the Montross area. Here is a collection of some of my waterfront photos. 

Letters of Love in Montross

"Virginia is for Lovers."

The LOVE letters in Montross represent local features: A waterman's boot, an oyster, a shark's tooth, and a wine bottle. It seems there is an Oyster Trail in the Northern Neck for folks who want to dine on seafood. After all, the region lies between two rivers and is just above the Chesapeake Bay. 

The area is not plagued by sharks, so don't worry. Fossilized shark's teeth are often found by beach combers, and ancient sharks were huge. As for wine, there are multiple vineyards and wineries. I remember when very little wine was made in Virginia, but grafting techniques have greatly improved the quality and yield of grape vines.

Here's another view of the sign.

Signs, Signs./ Little Things Thursday.

Here's another view of the courthouse that I showed last week. There's a plaque in front.

"Evergreen trees planted by citizens of Montross
Dedicated to those of Westmoreland County
Who served their country in World Wars I, II, and Korea."

Montross Town Hall and Post Office

Town Established 1852.

• Tuesday Treasures
• Wordless on Tuesday

A Mural and More Pics from Marie's Visit

Last week I said I would post another Montross mural for Monday Murals, so here is a nice one. This is on the side of a shop called "Carrot Cottage." 

Here we see some carrot logos on the store.

Mosaic Monday

Changing the topic to Marie's short visit, she went into the back yard to record the sound of the cicadas. One landed on her shirt! She also saw the mean geese which still acted threatening to me. 

 After we met Lynn for lunch and visited Skyline Drive, we stopped at Massanutten Country Corner to see the animals and do a little shopping. 

It was so good seeing my daughters together again! We were unable to get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas due to the pandemic. I'm so thankful that we all made it through and were able to spend a little time together. 

I realize that some of my internet friends are still under Covid restrictions, and I hope things will improve for you soon. Stay healthy!

An Episcopal Church in Montross

St. James Episcopal Church was established in 1850. The church website states that it was then a wooden frame church. It was later bricked in and additions were built.

Inspired Sunday

Westmoreland Courthouse

Montross is a small town but it is the county seat of Westmoreland County, Virginia. Nearby is George Washington's birthplace and Stratford Hall, once home to the Lee family.  Let's view the courthouse and a historical marker in front of it. 

A courthouse was first built in the town in 1667. The town was simply called Westmoreland Courthouse until 1752. An Irish merchant had opened a store near the courthouse and the town got the name Montross after his native town in Ireland.

"At a public meeting here, on June 22, 1774, resolutions of Richard Henry Lee offering aid to Boston, whose port had been closed by the British government, were adopted. Here, on May 23, 1775, the Westmoreland Committee on Safety passed resolutions denouncing the Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, for seizing the colony’s powder supply at Williamsburg."

Tuesday Treasures / Our World Tuesday

Mount Holly Post Office

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

And not far from there...