Frozen

View from the warm interior of my home December 17, 2020

An icey foggy strange and wonderfully different day in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are always a viewing pleasure, but today they are a distant and magical kingdom right out of a Disney film.

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Little Things Mean Alot

A little sun, some grass seed and a cover of straw and look what we have created! Or rather, the earth has given forth and I am once again amazed at just what goodness the world can wrought.

Oh, I know growing grass is a little thing.

But that is what this story is about – the green green grass growing in our front garden!

And sometimes pictures speak louder than words.

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Seems Like Yesterday

Dor and Bill Wed

 

Today is our Anniversary!

Would you believe 61 years?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hugs for Sleep

Elsa’s Soothing Dog Bed

Elsa-our-little-rescue dog has been with us for over a year now.  She is much calmer and follows us even without a leash.  She has discovered the safety of “home-sweet-home” too and runs for it at the sound of a gunshot (hunting season just over here in rural Virginia), or thunder.

I have been searching for a safe place inside home-sweet-home, where Elsa can go to snuggle up and deal with her anxieties.  Voila!  We now have a “soothing dog bed” which is a soft fluffy thing that even I would like to cuddle in.

I think it must feel like a great big hug!

Elsa still runs for home when she’s scared, but now she has a Soothing Bed to hug her to sleep.

 

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Butterfly on Wicker

Another country view of summer in Virginia.  Here’s a butterfly the color of the sun, in for a rest and willing to pose for a picture.  This fella makes photography easy.

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Before and After Kitchen

New Kitchen

Old Kitchen

We did it.

We took the plunge.

After 30 years, we decided to update our out-of-date kitchen.

We started with the countertop which was a fake wood grained formica and slightly chipped.  We opted for a soft gray quartz which appealed because quartz is billed as non-porous, heat and scratch resistant, and “antimicrobial.”  And besides, one of my good friends has it and loves it.  I am also particularly drawn to antimicrobial.  In other words, I am a germ freak.

That kitchen counter update took weeks and weeks on order and then more weeks to installation.  And that was after they said my selection was not in stock after all and we had to choose another.  I am not a particularly patient person you know.

The kitchen counter was finally installed, was still a soft gray and antimicrobial – I am a happy germ free person now.  And Elsa-the-dog was delighted because the constant flow of workers in and out of the house had ceased.

But then we found a wonderful expert kitchen “restorer” who replaced all our fronts.  My own front could stand replacing about now too since it is even older than 30 years!  But the kitchen cabinet front overhaul looked like it would only take two days but wound up taking two weeks.  The problem was with the old lazy susans which would not balance.  I guess they did not like strangers handling them after 30 years!

Anyway, it has been an agonizing process but the new kitchen is installed and is operable and is actually a delight.  I sometimes just stand and admire it.

But am I inspired to cook more?

Ha!

Show me to the nearest restaurant!

 

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Daffy in Spring

It rained all day today.

It rained yesterday.

And there was snow and sleet the day before.

But when the sun came out for a second

there was another sign of Spring!

 

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Oh, Virginia

 

In a moment like this

I think there is no finer place to be

than in my own back yard

viewing

the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

 

 

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Mud Running for Fun

My Friend, Amy

“Huh?”

That’s was my reaction when Amy, said she is going on a mud run tomorrow.

Mud Run?  What is a mud run?

Amy gets into the most interesting things like trampoline jumpology parties, escape rooms, getting a trucker’s license, playing the violin and taking cello lessons, etc!  And she never fails to provide varying subjects for blog posts.

But have you ever heard of the Marine Mud Run in Salem, Virginia?

That is her latest?

23rd ANNUAL

Marine 5k Mud Run/Devil Dog Dare

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Greenhill Park

Roanoke County, VA

The Marine Mud Run will be entering their 23rd year and has become an historical community event. Over the past twenty-two years, more than 30,000 “runners” have participated, generating over $300,000.00 to benefit the Roanoke Toys for Tots Foundation and Camp Roanoke. Both of these organizations benefit underprivileged children in the Roanoke Valley.

 

If you have yet to take the Marine Mud Run Challenge, you’re missing out on the cleanest fun you’ll ever have with a 5K race! As you will see from the pictures on our web site, it’s a pretty muddy affair.

Many folks ask, just how tough is the course? We reply, it’s as hard or easy as you want it to be! We have semi-pro runners down to the neighbor next door that has never entered a 5k race. Devil Dog Dare, Individual and 5 Person Team races and the Devil Pup Dare, a shorter version for kids 12 years and under.

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Moonlight Musing

I have never been able to take a credible photo of the moon.  This little cell phone camera doesn’t have the capacity (or maybe I don’t know what I’m doing?).

But one silvery night when the fog lay in low Virginia hollows and there was a shimmer on surfaces left wet from a creeping mist, I had to try again.

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