You Are My Sunshine

“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”
– Helen Keller

There are times when I forget I am dragging around a foot with an injured bone – moments when I despair of lurking dark places.

But not today.

Today BigFoot-Dor is smiling.

Cindy of Mama’s Empty Nest nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

This special award is as inspirational as a warm sun-shiny day.

Thank You Cindy for the reminder to keep my face in the sun to avoid seeing shadows.

And the Sunshine Blogger rules include:

• Thank the blogger(s) that nominated you in the post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
• Nominate 8-11 bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award Logo on your post and/or in your blog.

Now here are Cindy’s questions for me with my answers in italics:

1. Honestly now, could you live without your cell phone?  Why or why not?  I could live without it but must admit it would be sorely missed.  A few times I have driven away, forgetting the little darling and as soon as I think about it, I panic.  What if something happened?  Where would I go to call for help?
2. If someone were to name your greatest achievement in life, what would you want to be remembered for? My kindness and contagious laughter.
3. When you smell your favorite aroma, what does it make you think of? Hearty bread like the kind you get in Europe (or Whole Foods).
4. What is the most vivid dream you can remember? It was a nightmare of my whole family drowning.
5. Have you made a bucket list and if so, what is the #1 item you want to cross off? I have not made a list but I know I would include a month at a beautiful beach.
6. What is your best personality trait and your worst? My best personality trait is my eagerness to help when anyone is in distress.  My worst trait is a tendency to worry too much.
7. What would be your ultimate dream career? I already had that dream career travelling overseas as a kind of tour guide.
8. You just won $10 million, what will you do with the money? I would begin to give it away to family and friends to help them fulfill their wishes and I would fulfill a few of my own
9. Where is your favorite vacation spot and why?   I love it here for the mountain views, the wildlife and forests. It is where I am the happiest and most relaxed.
10. Which do you prefer, reading on an e-reader or reading a book with paper pages?   A book with paper pages, but I am getting used to the e-reader too now.  I am an ambidextrous reader.
11. Country life or urban dweller? What’s your preference and why? Country life!  I love it.  I love the quiet, the simplicity, the friendly people, the lack of traffic, the creatures, and more.

Now – Nominating cyberspace friends to be Sunshine Bloggers is the challenge of this award.

Over the years I have come to know and love more and more of you and to appreciate your wisdom, humor and talent. Also, I know many of you hate these award things and if you are one of those, consider this simply a nod of admiration and recognition from an awed and avid reader.

If you are not on the list and would like to be, please feel free to join the “team.”

But here are the fellow bloggers I think might respond – those who never fail to shed  sunlight on my days.  There are more of course – lots more.

Age Before Beauty

Andrew’s View of the Week

Dianna

Emjay and Them’s Blog

I choose how I will spend the rest of my life

Living and Lovin

Mehrling Muse

Musings of a Horse Mom

The Mountain Kitchen

Views and Mews by Coffee Kat

And here are your questions:

1. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?  Do you wish you were the other and why?
2. Are you an animal lover?  What pets do you have and love?
3. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
4. Have you ever had a bad habit you  broke?  What was it and how did you change it?
5. What is your favorite place to relax?  Explain where it is and why it helps.
6. What is your favorite movie of all time?
7. Do you love to travel or do you hate it?  Why?
8. Are you an organized or a disorganized person?
9. Are you always late, early, or right on time?  Are there any advantages or disadvantages to your timing?
10. Do you create lots of blog posts in advance of publishing or do you do one at a time?
11. What inspires you to create a blog post?

If you did participate in this rather insightful exercise, I thank you.  If not, I thank you anyway for shedding sunlight on my days!

 

 

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High Definition Darkness

RANDOM RANTS – AGAIN

It’s Friday and the sane people in my life are recording normal weeks.

How I envy you all y’all.

Well, my own week started off nicely with a dog visitor who earned a place in our hearts in about five minutes.

Then a friend and I went exploring around Clifton Forge way in Virginia.  And that was fun too.

BUT MIDWEEK WAS A DIFFERENT STORY!

 Mid-week was UPGRADE-TO-HDTV-TIME and my excitement knew no bounds.  That’s “High Definition Television” in case you do not deal in initials.  Anyway, I was looking forward to a clearer, brighter, more magnificent television picture.

Isn’t technology grand?

A nice Direct TV man named Joe arrived and trotted around from room to room, messing with the the grandgirls’ little sets in the back, then messing with the big television in Bill’s secret lair, and finally getting to my just-the-right-size set.   When Joe was done, all sets were in brilliant High Definition.  Could life’s little upgrades be this simple?  Ha!

A Dark Television

Joe was gone about an hour when Bill’s big television went dark.  Blank.  Totally unresponsive.  Did we do something wrong?  No.  Bill simply left the set on, was away for a few minutes and when he returned there was no television access.

No DVD Access

In that same hour, I lost all DVD capability on my just-the-right-size set.  Never mind watching a Netflix disc.

And unbelievably, more casualties were vying for attention:

The radio in the car went dead.  Huh?

Bill’s Krazy Kindle lost its internet connection,

and our smart stupid home phones went into answering machine mode

while we were saying “Hello.”

TECHNOLOGY = COMPLICATIONS = STRESS

Back to the HDTV problem – We spent hours looking at wires, talking, analyzing, comparing, arguing, studying, and finally calling for help.  In other words we were sagging with nervous exhaustion.

You can guess that we called the company to COME BACK – PLEASE COME BACK!

THIS IS ALL TOO COMPLICATED!

WE GIVE UP!

HELLLLLLLP!

This morning a very nice HDTV man named Jody arrived.

• He took one look at the back of Bill’s big set and said, “Your power cord is not attached.”  He attached it and everything works fine.  Brilliant picture!  Hurrah!
• Then Jody took one look at the back of my set and said, “Your DVD player is not attached.”  He attached it and everything works fine.
• And the High Definition stuff is perfectly beautiful too!  Hurrah!

Jody was here five minutes, solved the major issues with two plug-ins and deserves “my hero accolades.”

I am sorry to say he could not help with stupid home phones, car radios, or Kindle connections, but I have a feeling something somewhere is not attached.  Restrain your comments please!

Here’s hoping y’all have had a satisfyingly calm and collected week of fun and frolic, minus the stresses and strains of modern technology.

And if you decide to call me and I don’t answer, leave a message because even if I am here, something is not attached.

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Country Living for Beginners

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “All About Me.”

Explain why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you.

There was another blog first.  It was a memoir for family and close friends and became the beginning of my growing love for the blogging process.  Technicolor Daydreams has now been converted to a self published hard copy book created as a gift for the special people in my life.

I thought I was through blogging, but there was more to come.

Since the old self seemed to be adequately recorded in that first blog, I began to stretch and strike different poses (much like clicking around for the perfect selfie).

And a new blog was born!

Virginia Views is the second-story canvas now used to portray a city girl’s transference to country living.  High heels on a gravel driveway, a horse in the pool, and finding puff balls  and paw paws  in the wild, are the types of stories that still make me chuckle and I hope will bring smiles to anyone interested in the vagaries of country living.

Being mostly mixed up, I originally planned this new blog enterprise to be named Country Living for Beginners.  But I misread the form and a great title became the URL address instead – https://countryliving4beginners.wordpress.com .

VIRGINIA VIEWS turned out to be the all encompassing title of the new blog and I still love it.

My friend Cindy of Photos from the Loony Bin, helped with that title, and the “views” part allows me to wander from poetry to photography to worded essays and stories, however the mood shall strike.

Of course there are always lurking recollections of  hilarious adjustments to the surprises of living “out in the county” but like an emerging butterfly, Virginia Views morphed into an eclectic introspective interpretation of life in general.

The birth and growth of a blog is a terrifically exciting process with grandiose dreams of endless material to share.

Virginia Views now features over 600 posts and even when I think there is no more to say and “nothing new under the sun”, a new story emerges. Just telling you about it is the inspiration to begin again.

Uh oh!  Watch out WordPress!  There may be more to come.

~ Dor

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The Never Ending Shawl Story

In case you were hoping for an end to Dor’s Shawl Saga, this is it folks.  This is it!

The first real shawl ever made with these two hands and nimble fingers is complete!  Hurrah!

The shawl pin has been added too.  Look closely and I promise you will see it.

And at the risk of scaring anyone who expected to see a star-like beauty, here is the poster child sporting her new shawl creation.  Don’t run off yet!  There is just a little bit more……….

The pin does  get lost in all that glowing prideful beauty and in the middle of all those holy holes though doesn’t it?

I therefore took the liberty of pinning it to another handmade item at The Stitchin’ Post, so you can see how lovely the pin really is.  I am calling this photo of the pin an “off-body experience.”  If you are interested, Shawl Pins and other magnificent silver jewelry can be found at Jen Letter, Silversmith.

Then I added the pin to another completed shawl (not mine), done by Pat Egan, an obvious knitting expert.  That shawl (not including the pin of course) is for sale at The Stitchin’ Post for $130.  There are often amazing things offered at this exciting little shop at 117 South Main Street in Downtown Lexington, Virginia.  There are one of a kind cerations that get genuine oooohs and aaaahs and disappear fast.   If you are interested in purchasing the shawl below, call Erin at 540 462-2931. 

Handmade Shawl by Pat Egan – $130 – Not Including pin

But I hope you like the rather primitive (holey) first shawl “made by Dor” – the one in the scary selfie.

I am inordinately proud of creating something pretty and usable out of a little bitty string.  And who knows, you may be seeing future “Dor Shawls” on the cover of Vogue!  And as I promised this is truly the place where everyone will live happily ever after.

~THE  END ~

 

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Pete and Babe Get a Bath

Babe is “in the pink” halter. Pete’s is green.

 

This morning I went strolling around the little town of Lexington, Virginia and was pleasantly surprised to meet up with Pete and Babe.

They were getting a bath!

Normally I would not wish to intrude upon such a private activity, but horses are always irresistible and they did not seem to mind.

These two are part of The Lexington Carriage Company who carry tourists around town and offer their services for weddings and other splendid events.

Hay Pete – Are you o.k. with this Bath thing?

From their website:

 The Lexington Carriage Company offers an intriguing way to explore the rich history of this 19th century college town, slowed to the pace and rhythm of hoof-beats.   During this fully narrated tour, your horse-drawn carriage will take you past many historic places of interest including:

• The Stonewall Jackson House
• Lee Chapel
• Washington and Lee University
• Virginia Military Institute
• The Lee house 
• Historic residential district dating from the 1820’s to the 1880’s
• Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery and Jackson’s Tomb 

Next time you are in my “neck o the woods” be sure to pay a visit to Pete and Babe, and let them take you for a ride!

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How Many Shades of Grey?

Winter Leftovers Waiting for Shades of Green

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Shadowy Selfie

FEBRUARY PERSPECTIVES

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In the Shadow of a Rainbow

The Daily Post  – Weekly Photo Challenge

YELLOW

Away with the colors of Hannukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.

Show us what “yellow” means to you.

See the yellow center of a rainbow

and its cast upon the land

 shedding promises in a golden glow

  painted by a master hand.

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Time Talking, Time Flying

Autumn in the Shenandoah Valley

I have been away.  No, not really travelling but far away and seemingly for a very long time.

My friend Noche, the German Shepherd, was here for over a week and then she traded us for her own loving family.  The day after she went home, our son arrived and we spent days talking – and talking – and talking.  There was so much to catch up on that missing a minute was out of the question.

And then our oldest grandgirl arrived and guess what?  More talking!

The blog got put on a back burner.

And while we talked, the leaves flew and covered the deck.   The weather came and went and changed from very cool to  cold. And finally, surprisingly today was almost balmy.

The deer have returned now that Noche is no longer barking.

And the house is oddly quiet minus the sounds of all those human voices

talking and talking and talking.

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Announcing a Dog on the Bed

Noche and My Beautiful Niece

Noche doesn’t sleep in the bed, but stays on top of the bed to watch everything I do at my combo corner “office-nightstand.”

She is as clever and as smart as she looks too.

Noche viewed the pictures I took but as you can see, she is relatively unimpressed.

I will have to try harder and strive for more candid-camera shots to meet her expectations.

Bill and I are dog sitting but there is some question as to who is really in charge.

We almost forgot how much laughter comes with a pup in the house.

Like when Noche claims the doggy toy box is hers and brings each squeaky critter to the middle of the living room.

Or when she rolls over on her back to let us know she’s happy.

Or I love the “Lets play!” stance – tail up, paws down.  

So THAT’S where the Downward Dog yoga pose came from!   

Anyway, I am happy to announce there is a dog on my bed, and a lot of smiles in the house.

 

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