We finally got some snow.

Wordless

Cat and Mouse

Waynesboro, VA

Monday Murals

I don't know why the artist decided to paint cartoon characters, but they do liven up the building.

Honoring Dr. King

Today is a holiday in the USA honoring Martin Luther King. I generated a picture of him using StarryAi. 

There are so many good quotations from Dr. King. Here is one more.

Background by Meta

Golden Hour Farmscapes

Yesterday the sunlight was pretty, even though the wind was cold. I took these pictures on the way home from the dog park. The first one is the scene from the church on Fairview Road. I stopped there to put a few items in the blessing box. I’ve taken pictures from here before. It’s a lovely spot.

Tom’s Barn Collective / Shadow Shot Sunday (now hosted by Lisa)

Charlie’s Complaint

I heard that my mom complained about me getting her up early. I am the one who should be complaining. She needs to take naps during the day like I do so that she can get up before the sun comes up. 

There are noises that wake me up, like birds singing and a truck rumbling. At first I move around quietly, but I want to go outside, so I make little sounds. If mom doesn’t get up, I scratch her door and ring the little bell that’s on the back door. Sometimes she says, “Wait until the sun comes up,“ but it’s time to go out. The birds told me.

 Finally, we go out. I’ll tell you about our day today. It started with a morning walk.

The sidewalks were wet. We didn’t meet anybody. 

There were some birds in the trees. Sometimes I see birds on the grass, but they don’t stay to play with me.

There was a really big bird high up in a tall tree. We walked closer, and mom told it to fly away because she thought it was scaring the birds that come to our feeders. It stayed there a long time though. 

I took a long nap after our walk. I didn’t like the new dog food so I didn’t eat it. 

Mom says I have fans, so thank you for being a fan!

It got really windy outside. I could hear the wind whistling at the door. When we went out to the mailbox, it was windy and cold.

Finally, we rode to the dog park. My friends Taffy and Jubal were there with their dad. We got to run around. Taffy likes to run fast like I do.

 

We didn’t stay too long because it was so windy and my friends went home. Mom drives carefully when I am in the car so she pulled into a parking lot to let a truck go by. She took a picture with her phone. She does that a lot.

Here is one more thing that I saw. Then I took a nap.

Chimney, Middleburg

National Sporting Library

Skywatch Photo from Monday

This shows an early morning sky from early this week. Skywatch Friday is one of the more popular blog hops, or linkups. Many other ones have suffered for lack of participation. I think that admiring the magic of changing skies is a universal human trait.

 

Fifty Thousand Comments

My Blogger stats say that I have 50,002 comments. That sounds like a lot but I suspect some of you have even more comments on your blogs. Anyway, I appreciate everyone who comments, except for the few spammers who are just posting ads. I don't do a thorough job at returning all the comments because I don't want to stay up past midnight typing on the computer. My eyes get tired. I imagine that those of you who blog regularly know that it can take up a lot of time, even though it is enjoyable. I thank everybody who takes the time to read and comment.

I’m going to change the subject and talk about the weather again. It looks like our drought is finally over. That wintry mix we had the other morning was followed by a long, hard rain. A number of roads flooded and our river spilled over its banks. 

Yesterday I took Charlie to the dog park in Strasburg even though there is one closer to us. That one gets really strong winds blowing down from the mountain and across the fields, so I try to avoid it on cold windy days like yesterday. I still got really cold and did not stay very long. Charlie enjoyed it though.

Back in the warmth of the car, I drove down to the riverfront. The North Fork has flooded, covering the boat landing and part of the parking lot. The signs and posts in this picture are usually on dry land.

The large sign gives the rules for the River Walk, a mile-long trail that is near the river, but not normally under it like it is right now.

 

Sharing with Roentere’s Water H2O Thursday

Brave Little Titmouse

Blog Post #8570, Bird Post #1143

The unpleasant weather we had on Saturday kept me indoors except for walking the dog. "Wintry mix" is common in Virginia because temperatures go up and down around the freezing mark, so snow turns to sleet or rain, resulting in wet, icy surfaces. Sleet is pelting down in the first photo, which I took from the back door. 

I only got one bird photo that day. Most feathered friends were sheltering to avoid the worst of the weather. A tufted titmouse visited my feeder and surprised me by picking up a peanut and flying away with it.  

Perhaps it was the same one I saw today, lurking behind the feeder while another bird took a turn.

Wild Bird Wednesday / Garden Affair

 

Sculptures Honoring Horses

National Sporting Museum, Middleburg

Tuesday Treasure / Wordless 

Art in the Funkhouser Women’s Center

Harrisonburg, VA

Two weeks ago I had a test done for osteoporosis and I spotted this mural while I was waiting. I should have placed something in the picture for scale. I did think to take a picture of the sign company credits.

Monday Murals

On another wall, I saw a charming painting.

By the way, the test results were not too bad. I have some thinning of bones but not to the point where they call it osteoporosis.

Saturday Snowday, Sunday Meltday

Sleet mixed with snow started yesterday around 8 AM and continued most of the day. The temperature went above freezing in the afternoon so we didn’t get much accumulation. It was slippery though, and I had to be very cautious when walking the dog so that I didn’t fall. During the night, it got very cold and more ice formed.

This morning my driveway and sidewalk were still white, but soon the temperature rose and paved surfaces became just wet. Charlie needed exercise so we went to Seven Bends State Park and walked on the farm road, which is closed to traffic. The highlight of Charlie’s day was meeting a friendly dog in the parking lot who was walking with her family.

Mosaic Monday

By the time we drove home, most snow was gone from sunny areas. I could see there was still some on the mountains.