Eunice and the Moon Landing

Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!

It was a beastly hot day here on earth in Virginia too.

And The Pink Cadillac Diner was so full of people it would be a 25 minute wait for lunch.

And that’s where fellow blogger Eunice of Nutsfortreasure landed for an in-person meeting with me, Dor!

She came way out of her way for this meeting too, making a side trip from Virginia Beach en route to her home in New Hampshire!

It is a beautiful thing to meet a fellow blogger.

Eunice and I have been blogger pals for years and years.  She probably knows more about my ups, downs and happinesses and tragedies than even close in-person friends.

And now Eunice is my revered in-person friend too.  We wound up having lunch at my house where she met Bill and the little dog, Elsa.  And we took a short tour of the surrounding wilderness.

Eunice is a nature lover, a master gardener, and a retired truck driver. 

She actually drove a big semi truck for over 30 years!

She is also a fabulous artist!

 

We both agreed there will be a next time visit, and perhaps Eunice will bring her paints to give me a lesson in water coloring!  She is an awsome artist.  Above is a picture of the painting she sent to me.  I love the dog-walking couple on a snowy day, especially when it’s sweltering in Virginia!

Thank you Eunice for coming all this way to visit.  It feels like we have been friends for a very long time.

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The Heart of the Matter

They say there is always the heart of a tree and so I believe this one conveys a secret message.  Can you see the carefully inscribed letters?  

Nature was the artist here and Nature provided the carved heart inscription and the mysterious code.

IF ONLY TREES COULD TALK!

Or can they?

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Fading Fotos

Years ago I created a collage

of favorite photographs.

I glued them in a haphazard way on top of a big old ugly $15 dime store print that once hung over our couch.

Even now I think it was a great idea and I remember pasting away and thinking, “How artistic if I do say so myself!”

I loved it so much that I eventually had the collage framed and was assured the priceless photographs were safely under protective glass.

“This collage of family and friends will live on through generations,” I thought.

And yes, that inventive impressive self indulgent collage is over the desk in Bill’s “office.”

And every now and then I look once again at a dimming past.

Literally!

Some of the photos are not only dimming,

they are disappearing!  

Many of those faded fotos in my collage were taken with an early Polaroid camera in the 1960’s or maybe even earlier.  The miracle was that the camera itself would process a picture and spit it out for at you.  Then you waved it in the air and blew on it to “set” things – or at least I did.

I suppose being under glass and exposed to sunlight would “unset” or affect images.  Or maybe I shouldn’t have shaken the photo to hurry things along.

Is there a Polaroid camera now with a re-set button?

I want to hit RE-SET!

The fading fotos from yesteryear are following my life cycle and we will all fade away together.

Are you watching your life fade away too?

If you are wondering if they even make Polaroid cameras anymore, the answer is Yes!  Instant film is coming back into popularity!

From Polaroid’s Comeback, by Mark Rogers, Photographer: “Polaroid cameras have recently been coming out of storage. …With instant film so popular, there are now once again hundreds of these small, square-shaped photographs around — and your favorites should be preserved and displayed the right way. Just like standard photographs and prints, instant film can suffer the same damage as standard film. However, a little more care should be taken when handling the still-developing film — according to Polaroid, the more closely the photographer followed the instructions, the longer the photo will last. Tip: Shaking the photo does not help a Polaroid develop faster. In fact, it could actually damage the developing photograph!…Standard photography preservation practices apply: keep the photos away from light, heat and moisture; most organizations maintain that Polaroids will fade in as just as much time as conventional photographs…”  

 

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Nature’s Paint By Number

I am experimenting taking pictures with my brand new cell phone.

What do you think of these beauties?

Don’t they look like “fake fotos?”

I mean, they remind me of the old paint-by-number kits I used to love when I was a little girl.

Staying in the lines and making the colors pop were my goals.

Oh, the hours and the plans I made for framing and display.

I thought they were truly magnificent “originals.”

But then, here are my latest creations.

They were generated by nature and enhanced by “edit,” which can be just as much fun

as painting-by-numbers!

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Memories by Design

 A watercolor painting by a first-grader Grandgirl.

A child-painted bird house too sweet to expose to the elements.

And a trio of little ones painted this watering can to celebrate Spring!

Handcrafted gifts from young-uns are memories by design.

A nostaligic art form that makes our house a home.

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Halloween Texting

Was the Wicked Witch Texting?

This is my annual Halloween post.

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More October Smiling

Someone is very artistic at Herman’s Produce right here in Lexington, Virginia!

These pumpkins made me smile until I came down with Sciatica!

Time out from blogging until further notice.

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Happiness Is

Receiving flowers from a friend’s garden.

Thank you Amy!

Entertaining the perfect guest.

Pichu stayed with us for four whole days!

Finding a pony at Herman’s Produce.

Was he in a parade?

 

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Small Town Virginia Adventures

Downtown Bikers at Lexington, VA Sidewalk Sale April 30, 2016

This weekend was chock full of fun opportunities in and around little old/ historic Lexington (Virginia that is).   It was a great place to escape reality, see, meet and watch people, and participate in exciting adventures.

Three of my pals and I decided to participate in the 83rd Historic Garden Week, a “County Roads and Vines” Lexington House and Garden Tour.  Wow!  That sounded so interesting because it covered homes from the 1800’s and gardens that would surely inspire us to get busy on our own properties this spring.  And finally we would enjoy a fitting ending to the day at the Rockbridge Vineyard for wine tasting!

But, morning brought clouds and drizzle with a 60% chance of heavy rain.  Adding Dor’s bad foot to the foreboding weather with the danger of slipping on wet grass in a historic garden’s uneven terrain, we cancelled original plans in favor of lunch.  Then maybe we would take a walk around town, weather permitting.

Did I mention that some small towns offer more than the mundane?

There was a sidewalk sale in Lexington!  And after a chatty lunch at the Sheridan Livery Inn we four wandered around with umbrellas in tow and began to catch some local excitement.  I was trying to ignore my stupid foot (with “plantar fasciitis”) which would not be ignored.

My friends in the lead checking out sidewalk sale.

Finally there was an art show at Hopkins’ Green where two of us sat down and gazed upon artful displays while the other two retrieved the car.  My foot was grateful for the respite.

Today was for luxuriating at home, enjoying icing the complaining foot, stretching, and resting.

But yesterday was a grand day with great friends experiencing wonderful events all in one small American town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

 

 

 

 

 

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Patterns

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