Posted on

Bucking the Trend

I’ve come to the conclusion that not many people do Blog posts on the weekends. Not the bloggers on my “most read” list anyway.

I guess they have lives.

I usually do, too. Most weekends are spent at the WV place. But this weekend is different. Hubby is off to a business convention in Long Beach, California for a few days. And here I am, in Maryland, with not much to do…

So I am bucking the trend of no weekend blog posting and telling you, and showing you, how I spent my last summer Friday.

I did not pick apples. But isn’t this a neat shot?

Um, I didn’t pick a bunch of tiny little pumpkins to line up on a fence either. I just couldn’t resist the lure of a roadside produce market.

I didn’t buy a goat. Or even pet a goat. I just took pictures of a goat. Mainly because he was kind enough to pose for me.

Tired of trying to guess?

I drove to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the day. I did a little shopping, but mostly I stalked Amish people who don’t like to get their pictures taken, and took some pictures. Rude, I know. But I enjoyed it. And that’s what matters in my world.

I did it from sort of far away, which is why you don’t see crisp, clear focus. But with a little tweaking, I think some of the images are sort of cool.

Here’s one of the shots I got of a family working the field. I used “plow” in the picture title, but I don’t think they are plowing.

If I knew anything at all about farming, I might be able to guess. But I don’t. So I can’t explain why they need this big-ass wagon of hay. They didn’t appear to be baling the hay…

This is just a barn shot. I liked the contrast of the green grass, brown corn and white barn. Too bad the sky was so overcast.

This is the last shot I’ll post here. It was getting dark, so I had to boost the light a bit. To me, it is obviously Photoshopped. But I still like the effect. If you want the see the other images, go to my Flickr page for the day.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Posted on

Goodbye "Summer Fridays"

All good things must come to an end, as the old cliche goes. Today is my last Summer Friday. The company I work for has this program where, during the summer, we get every other Friday off. As long as we work four ten-hour days during that week, or an extra hour (roughly) every day for the nine previous days. (I usually do both anyway, but that’s beside the point!)

For various reasons, they extended it through the end of October. Which is cool. But today is the last day.

Anyway, knowing that I didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn this morning, I stayed up until the wee hours getting the rest of my New England pictures ready for a Flickr upload. CLICK HERE if you want to see them.

Posted on

I Missed WHAT!?!

I am totally bummed. I went to Maine a couple of weeks ago. One of the reasons I thought it would be cool to see Maine is the fact that so many Stephen King novels are based there. He’s been one of my favorite authors since I was a kid. (The image at left came from HERE.)

This is probably nerdy, but what I didn’t say during my trip log is that when I got to Ogunquit, I said to myself, “Hey, this is where Fran Goldsmith lived before her parents died and she hooked up with creepy Harold to start the trek to meet Mother Abigail.” That’s from The Stand, my ultimate favorite King novel. Ogunquit, like Kennebunkport (a close neighbor) did not look anything like I’d expected.

Why it never dawned on me to look up Stephen King, I’ll never know.

I mean, I could have visited his HOUSE. I was so close, too! I was in the same town for goodness sake. Granted, it was dark. But I could have driven back the next day.

What’s the big deal, you ask? Would you visit Memphis and not at least drive past Graceland?

Oh well. Hubby and I may go back to New England next year. If we do, we’ll just have to stop in Bangor…

Posted on

A Riot of Color

Can you guess what I love most about Fall? Aside from the cool, crisp air that is? The colors of course!

Not just in the leaves either. Check out this cool sunset photo I took while en route to WV on Friday.


I risked life and limb to get that shot by the way. I had to pull off onto the shoulder of the road–Route 32–at a place near Fort Meade, Maryland where there are signs posted about every ten feet saying, “Do Not Stop Here. Ever. We will shoot you. No questions asked.”

The signs don’t say that exactly. But that’s what they mean. I had to stop though. The colors were amazing.


I shot the above picture at our WV place. The foliage there is much closer to peak than at our house in Maryland. Which means I get to experience three autumns this year (New England, West Virginia and Maryland).

Here’s another neat shot. I love how blue the sky looks. I did not bump-up the saturation with Photoshop either. It’s all about the angle of the sun.

This is one of my artsy, grass shots.

If you want to see a few more images from this past weekend, go to my Flickr site. I’ll post more one day, when I am rid of this cold I seem to have picked up somewhere, which is making me feel like I am walking through a mental fog…

Posted on

My Food-Obsessed Dog

My dog Meg will eat ANYTHING.

Trust me when I say, you don’t want the details on that one.

It never ceases to amaze me what lengths she will go to for what she considers to be a tasty treat.

Take this series of photos as an example…

She’s licking a grill brush.

You know, one of those brushes with sharp, wire bristles.
Can you imagine touching your tongue with that?
How about licking it? I know I can’t.

It was actually pretty funny watching her.
The thing was moving. It was almost as if she was
trying play that bite-an-apple-on-a-string game.

She was quite determined.

I was almost convinced she wasn’t going to full-out lick the thing.

I thought maybe she’d get frustrated and give up.

I was wrong.
Apparently she was just trying to get the angle right.
(That white blob in the shot is my other dog, C.)

Then I started wondering when her tongue would start bleeding.
I mean, tongues are sort of tender, right?

I just knew bloodshed was inevitable.

I was wrong again.
That doesn’t happen often.
Me being wrong, that is.
Just ask Hubby.

Wait. What’s this!?!

For a minute, actually a very quick second,
I thought C, more mentally unstable than Meg
but way, WAY pickier about what she puts
in her mouth, was going to join in.

She didn’t.

Right about then, I got tired of watching.

I made the dumb-ass stop licking the grill brush.

And that’s where today’s post ends.

Posted on

Fun With Images

I actually had another post planned for this evening. But after sitting around, playing with some Photoshop effects, I created this very cute image I just had to share.

Aren’t they just the cutest kids? They’re my grand kids. From left to right are Brianna (age 7 3/4), Gaige (just turned 5) and Joey (15 months).

Coincidentally, these images were taken a month ago on September’s Thirsty Third Thursday. That’s a holiday of sorts my daughters and I created. A girls night out, if you will. It happens once a month. On the third Thursday.


It just so happens that TODAY is Thirsty Third Thursday. Woo hoo!

By the way, that’s me on the left, Amy in the middle, and Shannon on the right.

We’ll just be hanging out at Amy’s place because Amy’s hubby is off learning how to be a better soldier, and we can’t leave those darling grandchildren of mine home alone.

It’s not about where we go though. It’s about who we are with. And talking girl talk. To catch up on happenings from the previous month. Things we can’t always discuss openly or even over the phone in case any of the males or children in our lives are eavesdropping.

So happy Thirsty Third Thursday!