Iris

A House for Rent in Prince William County

We drove to Dale City today to take care of a couple of details on getting a house ready to rent. Frank has owned this house for a long time, and his tenants of 10 years moved out a few days ago. They left the house in decent shape although there are a few things he needs to do to it. 

See the listing on Realtor.com for this 3 BR rental

at $1325 a month. It's a split-foyer detached home. There's a fireplace in the family room.

Old Rag

View of Old Rag Mountain

I hiked it once when I was a teenager. It took the better part of a day. This is a popular hike with some scrambling over rocks at the top.

Link: LocalHikes: Old Rag Mountain

Deer Beside the Road

We saw this fellow today in Shenandoah National Park. Frank took these pictures from the car. The deer did not seem concerned even when we rolled down the window to take photos.

Osteopenia

I didn't know the definition of osteopenia until I looked it up after a nurse practitioner told me I have it. I had a bone scan for osteoporosis recently and it showed that the mineral density of my bones is lower than it should be. Since this puts me at future risk for osteoporosis, I'm supposed to increase my intake of calcium and vitamin D.

Yeah, I keep hearing that I need to increase them - also magnesium. I drink two cups of goat milk daily and I take supplements of calcium-magnesium and vitamin D3, sometimes D2 also. I have for a long time. But I need to take more. Not looking forward to it ... I take a lot of supplements already. My blood work always shows deficiencies. Sigh! I eat healthier than most people. It's not fair!

I read online that soft drinks can contribute to osteoporosis. I gave them up several months ago because I don't think the preservatives agree with me. Haven't seen any benefits though, just a drawback: more frequent heartburn.

Yesterday in the Park

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We took a picnic lunch to the little park behind the Community Store. Ben came along for the ride.

Sulfur is in Our Water

While the plumber was here hooking up our new appliances, I asked him about an odor that I notice only when the hot water is running. He explained that the water here is high in sulfur, which builds up in the water heater. He said that when we get around to replacing the water heater, we can buy a model that has an aluminum anode rod instead of the more common magnesium/ steel anode rod. Apparently the latter interacts with the sulfur and causes the smell.

I was able to confirm his explanation on websites like PlumbingProducts. Sulfur in the water is harmless, and considering that we are near mineral springs, it's not surprising that we have it. I imagine it's what Frank noticed in the water as an off-taste when we first moved to Basye.

More Spring Flowers

Above: Bleeding Hearts

Below: Redbud and Dogwood in our Yard

Flowering Dogwoods

Above: The View from our Dining Room

(I have to admit that I love this view!)

Below: Pileated woodpecker visits the feeder in a dogwood tree

See also last year's post: Pileated Woodpecker Speaks

I wondered how Blogs got "Noted" ...

Ever wonder how to nominate a Blog of Note? Go to
http://help.blogger.com/?page=contact, click "Suggest a feature," , then Submit. Recommending a Blog of Note is the last option on that page.

I found that tip posted in Blogger Help Group by Roberto in Australia who writes a lot of blogs.

Frustration on the Remodeling Front

The kitchen is coming along. None too soon - it's been out of commission for over a month. It's going to look good but a lot has gone wrong. 

That single wall cabinet will be replaced by two cabinets slightly smaller because our contractor misunderstood the dimensions on the window and made it a bit wide and set it a few inches to the left, so the 30" cabinets that arrived did not fit in the space between the windows. We are now awaiting 27" cabinets, but it takes about a month to get them.

The wall cabinet on the far right was 12" deep and blocked the window. Frank had the contractor cut it down to 8" deep and it looks much better.  Not seen in this picture are three more cabinets with problems. All were too tall so various adjustments were made. Considering we had an experienced kitchen designer, I was surprised at the number of errors.

The cabinet makers failed to drill holes for the handles so that had to be done by our team today. Also one of the cabinets got cracked during shipment.

Note that the sink touches the backsplash. Actually it overlapped so we had carpenter Helmut cut into the backsplash just enough to fit.  And the pretty faucet from Lowe's turned out to have a diverter missing so the water did not get hooked up today, although we paid plumber Hirsch a lot of money for his time spent doing what he could, struggling to hook up the sink through a rather small cabinet door. 

Out of the picture to the right is a closet. Our contractor did not built it as high as Nancy specified so he had to build up the wall. We did not insist that he tear out the closet ceiling so now the door is shorter than we desired. Not a big problem, just not ideal.

But what upset me was the flooring. A guy from C&S Floors in Mt. Jackson measured the space and somehow underestimated by 20 square feet. Now we have to wait for another box of laminate to come to the store so the floor is not finished.

So we had more big errors than we had on the last kitchen which we did ourselves. This one will be prettier though.

Orchard in Spring

Bushong Farm, New Market Battlefield Park

Maryland Music Makers

While coding the Spiritual Singles Calendar, I noticed that their upcoming house concert features Maryland-based musicians who sound really interesting:

• Jesse Palidofsky - www.jessepal.net - guitarist, pianist, songwriter - plays and sings folk, blues and jazz
• Len and Wendy Seligman (who met through Spiritual Singles) - www.lenandwendy.com - guitar, mandolin, songwriters - play and sing deeply moving to hysterically funny songs
• Stream Ohrstrom and Nancy Fitzgerald - onecircle.net/onecircle/pages/art-poetry-and-music/cd-born-on-wind-and-fire.php - flutes, percussion, singing bowls - meditative music.

A Hot Pink Tree

A Weight Watchers Success

My brother's wife is featured in a Weight Watchers success story. She lost 36 pounds using their online program. Her cholesterol dropped 30 points. Impressive!

I was surprised that an online program could work so well. Of course, she has plenty of determination which probably helped a lot.

Old Stone Feature, Shrine Mont

This baptismal font is said to be an artifact, long ago carved out by native people and used to grind corn.

The outdoor church at Shrine Mont appears to be open for the season. (During the winter, access was blocked by downed trees, perhaps to keep motor bikes off the trails.)

The church can be reached from St. George Camp Lane, Orkney Springs.

Previous Post: Autumn at Shrine Mont

How Ben Helps Me Hike

I took Ben up to Orkney Springs for a walk today. We parked by the playground which is on the hill across from the rectory. Behind the basketball pavilion we spied a little pond with a trail going down to it.

Of course, walking down the hill means you have to walk back up. Fortunately, Ben likes to pull me up hills.

Thanks, Ben!

Tulips are blooming

It's almost a surprise that our bulbs and plants actually survived the winter. I planted the tulips a bit late but they did well. And the Japanese maple that Frank bought is looking very red and healthy.

Our Dogwood is Blooming

Today at 2:45 PM

Redbud

The redbud trees are brightening our forests with their purply-pink blossoms. Along with the white dogwood, they sparkle in the woods.