Web Hero Hosting

Catalog.com has morphed into Webhero, offering Free and low-cost Web Hosting. I filled out a Web Hero Profile in the hope of getting a referral fee sometime.

I have two sites hosted on Catalog.com: Civil War Field Trip Photos and Virginia Photo. So far I have been happy with their service.

Squirrel in the bird feeder

"Nice Picnic Shelter"

A pleasant Easter Sunday

There's cute photos of Ryley and Josie at the RySuDoJo blog.

Meanwhile back in Virginia, we met Lynn for lunch at Ryan's Buffet in Staunton and then enjoyed a leisurely ride through the countryside on our way home.

Pet photo contest disallows nudity

I entered my cocker spaniel in a pet photo contest at 1800petmeds.com.

The actual rules for "Cutest Pet" Photo Contest state "No nudity." Fortunately, Ben was wearing his fur coat.

Photos: A Farm in the Spring

Evidence that whiny people are conservative?

News Article: Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.

At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.

See Jack and Jeanne Block's scholarly report as a PDF here.

We've been looking at farms

We love our chalet but it's a little bit small so we've been looking at other homes in Bryce and also at farmhouses in the Shenandoah Valley. On Tuesday we looked at a farmette near Quicksburg and soon found these neighbors staring at us.

I'll share some more farm pictures as soon as I get them resized - my original files are huge.

If you prefer cartoon cows, visit Marie's Wall of Cows as drawn by comic book artists. Just click on the artist's name to see the pictures.

Birds of Virginia's Mountains

I found the book Birds of Shenandoah National Park: A Naturalist's View at the library. This book by Terry and Patressa Lindsay features photos by Rob Simpson who teaches wildlife photography at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia. (The actual book cover is in color, as are the many photos inside.)

I took one of Professor Simpson's courses last year and found it challenging, even though I have taken numerous photography courses at Northern Virginia Community College. Simpson's classes require some sophisticated equipment and extensive field work. But they are worthwhile if you have the time and energy and want to take better pictures of wildlife.

Benny embarrasses us (again)

Our grumpy little cocker spaniel got kicked out of the grooming salon today. We had left him there for a shampoo and haircut but before too long they called us and said to come get him! He tried to bite the groomer (or at least pretended to try in a convincing manner) so they didn't even bathe him.

He hates being bathed. He doesn't like the electric grooming shears either.

The photo shows him in the car a week ago. I was so pleased because he was able to ride peacefully without his crate. He used to be terrified of riding without the security of the plastic-walled crate so I thought he was making progress. He's been a very slow learner!

Marie is home

Marie is back from her travels. I am always relieved when I hear that she is safely home.

I guess she will put the finishing touches on her book on her solo travels in Africa and prepare for her next adventure.

Don't tell her I told you this, but one of her coworkers in Kuwait wrote a complimentary piece about her.

Update on Vacation Property

The waterfront house that our friends in Glebe Harbor are selling has been reduced to $410K. It's listed through a Northern Neck Realtor. The Northern Neck is the Virginia peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.

Stone House on Senedo Road

Near Hudson's Crossroads stands the old stone Hudson House, built in the 1700's and designed to withstand an Indian attack. This is in the Shenandoah Valley southwest of Woodstock along Route 42, called Senedo Road. Senedo is from the same Native American name as Shenandoah, said to mean "daughter of the stars."

Local author Andrea Sutcliffe wrote a guidebook to places like this called Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads. I've found it useful and we spend a lot of time driving through the Shenandoah Valley and it's surrounding mountains.

Critters outside our door

The squirrel is standing on his front paws.

Lovely butterflies

If you haven't already seen the photos of butterflies with transparent wings, click and look.

Goodbye Kuwait, Hello Spain.

Marie Javins has made it to Barcelona. See her blog for her fond farewell to Kuwait.

She'll return to the USA soon.

Cute Dog Picture

Benny

Vampires at Work

I liked the book Emotional Vampires: Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry enough to review it on Amazon. Psychologist Albert Bernstein writes that The following activities may have little to do with doing a good job but they WILL lead to advancement:

1. Bringing in new business.


2. Cutting costs.


3. Doing anything with people of higher rank.


4. Taking management's side on controversial issues.


5. Generating paper with your name on it (other than memos criticizing management)


6. Socializing.

Well, it's a bit cynical but it makes sense.

Fire on the Mountain

On the way back from Greenville yesterday we saw this forest fire to the east of Port Republic. It was in Shenandoah National Park and we saw helicopters flying back and forth to fight the fire.
See the WHSV story about the fire.

Ranch Hand

Yours Truly at the Deer Roundup

The Deer Roundup

We helped with the deer roundup at Deauville Farm. Here Gail Rose raises fallow deer for venison and also as a tourist attraction.
Our first duty was to line up with the other "ranch hands" and herd the deer into a raceway which took them to the barn. This took a while because the herd charges off into whatever direction they feel is safe, galloping and gliding through the woods. Once in the barn they are tested by a veterinarian to make sure no serious diseases are present.

They are released one at a time through a small door which Frank had the job of opening and closing. Sometimes they hesitate to come out but as soon as they know freedom they leap and run off. Quickly they found their companions and reformed the herd.

The deer farm will reopen to the public this weekend. It is on Crooked Run Road near Basye. The deer are wild creatures but they will approach people who offer corn.