• Free Stuff

    Something for you…

    I have wanted to create a desktop background for some time now and finally got around to it this past weekend ~ yep a little bit late this month but I may try to do one each month from this point on. Enjoy this desktop background for free.  Click here to open the 1800 x 1200 sized copy.  Right click on the image and select “set as background”.    I’m trying something new so if you have any problems, please let me know. Also, still have plenty of Google + invites if anyone is interested.  I decided to post the link here to make it easier for everyone to use.  Click here if you…

  • Outside My Window

    Outside My Window ~ 9.05.2011

    Outside my window…are the waning hours of the 2011 Labor Day weekend.  The last hurrah of summer…the official end of tourist season.  The end.  The beaches and the roads belong to the locals once again.  It is currently 77°F with storms approaching.  We have a forecast for thunderstorms this evening….scattered possibility for tomorrow.  We are expecting some rain from Tropical Storm Lee, which I’m sure has been downgraded by this point and Katia is forecast to take a hard right into the Atlantic.  It appears as if her greatest threat to our area will be rip currents and large swells….serious concerns in their own right of course.  People who live in a coastal region know that when rip current warnings…

  • Miscellaneous

    I want an invitation!

     Google Plus…Google’s answer to social media sites like Facebook.  Brand new…there are circles to join….chats to experience…and you can hang out with others while using your web cam.  Except there is a catch…Google Plus is currently invitation only.  I have been reading about it since the debut in June…and I wanted to play.  Several blogs I follow had invites to give away ~ but alas I was always too late.  The reviews I had read were good…a great photo sharing site…but the gates to the playground remained closed…no invite, no play. Guess who now has 150 invitations to share?  Anybody else want to play?   If so, leave me a comment or drop me a…

  • Outside My Window

    Outside My Window ~ 8.29.11

    I had actually completed this post last night however prior to publishing, I saved it as a draft…and all but this paragraph was gone afterward.  😐  Beyond frustrated because of what happened, I wasn’t up to recreating the entire post so I went to bed.   I’m leaving the first paragraph as it was….and will begin it again today. Outside my window ~ 8.28.11…is the close to our first day with no worries over an approaching hurricane.  It was a beautiful albeit hot day….blue skies, sunshine and plenty of wind left over.  Our forecast high was 91°F and it was still a bit humid since the storm passed.  There are leaves, branches and limbs everywhere but surprisingly the trees still look pretty full.  The…

  • Life In General

    Storm of a lifetime?

    We experienced a thunderstorm last night…a nice saturating rain.  This was not from Hurricane Irene…this was because of a front that was moving east but stalled west of us.  This is the front that is going to steer Hurricane Irene right up the coast to New England…giving us all an extremely soggy and windy hug all the way up.  Trust me, no one is particularly excited at the thought…nervous is a better word…a little anxious.  I’m not looking forward to long hours of howling winds and rain.  We are now under a hurricane warning and a flood watch….a warning means hurricane conditions are imminent in the next 36 hours.  I have been accumulating ice and will buy a bag or two on…

  • Life In General

    A Weird Week

    It has been a weird week…and it isn’t over yet. On Sunday, I found out a dear friend had passed away the night before… On Tuesday, we had an earthquake ~ 5.9 magnitude ~ the strongest quake to hit Virginia in the last 100 years.  Yes, Virginia has earthquakes ~ however you normally don’t even notice them.  I felt this one yesterday…it was the second time I have experienced an earthquake.  I didn’t particularly enjoy it either time. We were in one of the “strong” blobs near near Newport News. And coming attractions ~ Hurricane Irene….closing in on where?  Hurricanes are interesting I think…you watch them form and then march across the ocean…

  • Photography

    I have been pinned

     I discovered today that my image of the Crim Dell Bridge was “pinned” on Pinterest. Sweet.  😉 Crim Dell Lore…. It is rumored that if two lovers cross the bridge together and kiss at the crest, they will be together forever.  If that couple separates at any point thereafter, however, the lady must throw her ex-lover off the bridge and into the pond to break the curse of being single forever. It is also rumored that if someone crosses Crim Dell alone, they will be alone forever.  

  • Life In General,  Miscellaneous

    Patricia

    She was PJ to her friends…. …a beautiful soul… …I have no words to express… …how much I will miss talking with you… …how much I will miss laughing with you…sometimes until we cried. There are no words…only tears for now. They will be replaced with laughter and smiles…memories of things we said…things we did…memories. I will miss you forever my friend. Patricia Jean Floyd November 9, 1952 – August 20, 2011 Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep, I am a thousand winds that blow I am the Diamond glints on snow I am the sunlight on ripened grain I am the…

  • Road Trips

    Charlotte, North Carolina

    Yesterday you learned about a train…. …that would take us to the center of the city. The wish to see downtown Charlotte was still a wish as I sat at the kitchen table with Nina our first morning in South Carolina…until she mentioned the train to the city.  I knew the wish could become a reality, so we made a plan.  We would travel to the city on Sunday to explore…and to photograph.  We knew there was a possibility places could be closed, but there would fewer people and cars on Sunday. While their highways are still crowded with cars during peak times, Charlotte is also building a brilliant transit system using a combination of light rail and bus service.  We were able to park…

  • Road Trips

    The Train That Made Wishes Come True

    Each time we have visited my parents in South Carolina, my youngest has asked if we could go into downtown Charlotte, North Carolina ~ right over the border from my parents house.  Traffic in an extra large city can be crazy if you know where you are going…but in a strange city, not a adventure I was anxious to take.  Enter the Blue Line for the Lynx light rail system…and a girl’s wish can come true.  🙂