Virginia Trip Pics

Pictures from our most recent trip to visit our friend in the Lexington, VA, area. Captions below the pictures!

Fresh home-grown eggs! Done with Julia Child's recipe, along with bacon, strawberries, coffee, bread, and Pigwa jam....oh, I mean Quince. The cap says 'pigwa' because the woman that made it is Polish.We went to the yarn store again. We were worried about the dog on the porch. Last time we were there he was possessed by demons. Barbara and I actually stopped when we saw the massive beast. You could feel the tension. He stared at us. We stared at him, expecting him at any minute to charge, the vile creature. But no. It was a different dog.We went mushroom hunting (didn't find anything, WAY too dry). We asked permission at this house. The woman was telling us about her peach trees and the bushels and bushels of peaches she got from the trees, pictured above. They can't be more than 4-5' tall! I'd really love to know what variety it is...
Some of the plants I got at a nursery we visited (l-r) Rosy maiden hair fern, Strep. concord blue (I've been looking for this for a while), a caladium that I fell in love with, and a flower that I can't remember the name of right now (better picture below, can you blame me for getting it?)
A gorgeous honeysuckle Barb bought at WalMart. She said they were working hard at killing it until she came along.
Barb's Khaki Campbell ducklings.
Barb keeping Grace the doberman away from the Khaki Campbell ducklings.Safe Khaki Campbell duckling silhouettes.
Grace trying on my crocs.
Bo the corgi at the front door.
The oxalis that we found carpeting the woods. I dug some mini bulbs up and potted them, then promptly forgot them at Barbara's. She's keeping them for me until I get there next.
The Russian Orloff rooster. He is very aggressive, and may soon be coq au vin.
We helped Barb put up higher deer fencing to keep the chickens out of the fenced in garden, and Bo got tangled. If you click on the picture you can see it better.
I've always loved this candle.
No wonder I bought this, huh? Looks great with the caladium behind it, too.

General Things

I never know what to name these 'update' posts. 'Update' just seem so boring. 'Exciting Happenings' just isn't true, usually.

So, we leave for Virginia this afternoon. I'll be non communicato until at least Sunday.

In regards to dad and mom and the hospital and the conversation over lunch, nothing new. Dad has an appointment with the EarNoseThroat(knees and toes, knees and toes) doctor today, here's hoping all's well. Also, I found a Yahoo Group for only children of aging parents. I joined. At least I can go there and vent even if I can't do anything about the situation.

Max is having more trouble with his vision. He's taken to walking around the bed at night after we turn off the light, even if he had been laying down and asleep when the light gets turned off. It is very strange. We're not sure why he's doing it. I think that his vision is bad enough that he is totally blind when he goes from light to dark that suddenly, and I think his eyes (well, eye) adjusts more slowly. But, if you can't see anything why wander around? He hasn't fallen, and I don't think he will, but we really can't figure it out. Also, his arthritis is starting to be more apparent. I'm making a vet appointment for him next week.

I have been soooo incredibly stressed lately, and I can't seem to find a way to dissapate it. It just keeps building, layer upon layer. Something explodes at work....then dad goes in the hospital....then someone else has a work explosion....then possible layoffs at Matt's job....then something else, something else, something else. Even good things, like jewelry commisions and gardening just add to the pressure. And it's a full moon so I'm not sleeping as well. I feel like someone shoved grapefruits in my shoulder muscles, everything is so tense.

Max's Trip to the Beach, part 3

We walked down the beach a whole bunch. My people wanted to look for pretty rocks and sea glass. I got bored with that and started sniffing around this thing when we got close to it:
There was something really interesting in here!

I got really excited and spent almost half an hour worrying about the thing, trying to find it and get at it:
And then I ran this way trying to figure out a way to get at the thing:
And then I had an idea! Opposable thumbs! I needed someone with opposable thumbs! I know people with opposable thumbs!!
So I went and yapped at them, and got one of them to follow me:
Here's dad with his butt sticking out, trying to find what I'm looking for:
And here's BOTH of us with our butts sticking out trying to find what I'm sniffing for! Oh Boy! I LOVE SNIFFING THINGS!!
And you know what it was? It was one of those plastic things you can fling into the water for your dog to chase! It was orange, you can see a bit of it here! Unfortunately it was really stuck and opposable thumbs wouldn't help.
I had a long day, but it was great! I met a girl dog who was visiting the beach for the first time, too! She was a rotty, and she could walk right over me! Oh Boy!

I slept almost the whole way home....

Max's Trip to the Beach, part 2

Then, mom wanted me to come with her. Away from the water! Why do we have to go away from the water!?! I like the water!I followed dad a bit helping look for rocks, shells, and beach glass.There were a LOT of dead horseshoe crabs all over! I didn't like how they smelled, so I stayed away from them. My people were really surprised at this!

Can you see the side-crawling crab? I couldn't! It is really well camouflaged.
We found a crab shell that looked like a cheetah!
And I walked out on some wave breaks. Mom kept my leash on this whole time, can you believe it!

I've still got my leash on! Why won't she take the leash off? Was she scared I was going to jump in? I wouldn't think of jumping in! Hmm....I wonder what would happen if I jumped in?AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!


Look what we found!!! Mum called it serendipity, but I thought it was just a pail.
Wait until part 3, where I find something stuck in a wave break!!!! OH BOY!!!!

Max's Trip to the Beach, part 1

(as dictated by Max, with notes * from his mum)

For the past couple weeks, my people have been talking about a beach. This is a word I’ve never heard before, so I didn’t know what a beach was, but they kept saying I was going there, and it would be in the car with my collar. Oh Boy! A Ride! In the CAR! With my Collar!! I LOVE MY COLLAR! It means I’m going on a Ride!! IN THE CAR!!!

So, early Sunday morning we got up and it was cold! So I got to wear my sweater, too! I LOVE MY SWEATER!!! When we got in the car I got to ride on mom’s lap almost the whole way there!! Mom took a picture of me from her point of view.

This was the longest car ride I’ve ever been on! I usually only go for rides in the car when we go on hunting trips as a Pack to kill a pizza and bring it back to the den.

I think she got tired of me on her lap, though, and she made me go lay down in the back seat after we crossed a big, long bridge.

(*this is the Bay Bridge at Annapolis. It is very high and very long, and it is really the only way over to the shore, unless you want to drive about 4hrs out of the way. I know some people who WILL NOT drive over the Bay Bridge)

I got my first sniff of salt water. It smelled weird!

After mum pushed me into the back seat, I tried to take a nap but I couldn’t, so I just stared at her for the next hour trying to will her to let me back on her lap. She eventually did.

After we stopped for some food (I LOVE FOOD!), we drove through a place with a lot of water and water plants and birds, but no buildings. And we parked right on a sand dune!

They put my leash on me. I don’t like my leash, but I learned to tolerate it and I walk on a leash really well. I wanted to sniff and wee on everything!! I LOVE WEEING ON EVERYTHING!! But they kept pulling me along towards something over the small hill.

It was a really big bath tub without soap!! It moved! And it smelled weird! And the ground was all sand!!!!

It came at me!!!And it got me!!! And my paws got wet. And then it went away….and came back again!!!
And the foam moved and twirled and ran away, so I chased it. I LOVE CHASING THINGS!! And then it got me again!!!!!

And there were other things, but I’m going to take a nap now. Blogging is hard!

Voyage of the (Euro)Dammed, Part 2 (days 3 and 4)

Day three of the trip was spent wandering around again and seeing what we'd missed. I also had a scalp massage scheduled in the Greenhouse Spa, which was heavenly. The women's locker room was directly above our stateroom, as it so happened. The outer walls of the locker room were floor-to-ceiling windows, which gave a stunning view of the sun coming up over the ocean. It also would give a stunning view to someone who just so happened to be in the right place at the right time if you were in port, so be sure to close the curtains in that case.


One thing that Holland America is known for is their HUGE, real flower arrangements. I took pictures of several, here is one example.

There is a sports bar onboard, they have some great chairs that look like baseball gloves. Believe it or not, they are incredibly comfortable.

We spent some time in the Crow's Nest but it was FREEZING up there, I don't know why. They were having a game show where you had to guess someone's weird job using only yes or no questions. They had an opera singer, a traffic reporter (helicopter), and an Aussie guy who collected toys for Santa to give to needy kids. It was a lot of fun.


That night, mom and I had reservations for the Italian restaurant on board....staffed with Italians. Young Itallians. Young, buff, good looking Italians. In tight black pants and black and white striped shirts. Very nice. The food was good, too, I was impressed. And after your main course and before your dessert they bring you a big plate of pink cotton candy. I'm not sure why, anybody know?


The next morning we were up ultra early because mom was worrying all night about catching our train and she woke me up. We were getting off the ship later in the morning, so we decided to order room service because we didn't know what the game plan was for leaving and didn't want to get stuck in one of the eateries and miss our train.

Mom had fallen in love with their tomato juice, which she said was the best she's ever had, and I already knew their chocolate croissants were to die for, as well as the bagels with lox and cream cheese. We had a wonderful breakfast while coming into NY Harbor.

I got this great shot of the Emperor of the Kingdom of Fools try to outrun us as we were turning into our berth. We are a BIG SHIP. This is a DINKY BOAT. But no, he just had to speed up on us on that side and try to beat us. He did beat us, but god it was close.

I'm not sure what buildings these are, but I really liked this picture because it is a straight shot up the street. I just thought it was cool.

We sat in Penn Station for an hour waiting for our train. The station wasn't crowded at all, but the train from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was sold out. We got off in Harrisburg, dad met us and was really happy to see us. He'd been there an hour, I think he said.

All in all, a great trip. I'd do the train again in a heart beat. I'd go on the Eurodam again, too, without question. Just a beautiful ship. Mom is hooked, she's already sent away for Holland America's New England/Canada itinerary book. She won't be going with me, but I think she will go in the next few years. If dad lets her, of course.