AROUND AND ABOUT DAILY HAPPENINGS - STARTED 10-7-24

My latest Halloween Jigsaw Puzzle done on my iPad. I thought I would share a few between now and the 31st.

I have been letting my relatives and friends know about these posts, as it is a good way of keeping them in touch with our goings on, and they are letting me know how much they are enjoying them, even the more mundane things. I can’t say for sure if they will be a weekly journal, but thank you for letting me know you enjoy them. I very much appreciate the affirmation. I don’t expect everyone to be interested, so by all means feel free to stop here. It has turned into a missive but won’t always be as long.

This week’s weather:

Monday, 10-7-24: I forgot to write anything down and it must have been a quiet day. After a few days when I go back, I have a hard time remembering what we did. It certainly wasn't too exciting! I usually try to jot something down at the end of the day, and later fill in the blanks.

Tuesday, 10-8-24: instead of waiting for Wednesday we went to a different fast-food restaurant today instead. It is one we only go to once in a while. Our usual place wasn’t open at 11.30 a.m., and there were signs on the door saying they were experiencing technical issues. I am assuming their wi-fi was down, maybe. We drove to the other fastfood restaurant and even though there weren't a lot of cars in the parking lot, we always use the drive-thru. The food was very disappointing. I won't mention their name as I realize everyone has their bad day. We will try again but it won’t be for a while. We prefer our regular place.

On our way home we passed the mural I mentioned last week. We always seem to be driving by, and I have said many times I would like to take a closer look. I had been telling Gregg about Linda's post, and he said this would be a good time to stop to take photos. It was a lovely sunny day. We walked up and down looking at each painting. The photo above shows the other end of the mural away from the the gothic dog couple (below). That's the one we can see quite clearly passing by on our way home.  The Gothic Dogs are my favorite...

but Gregg says this is his, and it's a close one as I really do like both. You can just about see the shape of the bricks that have been painted over.

I thought the next one was very clever how he had continued the mural to include the back door of the building. 

I would love to know the story of the cow on top of the roof in this painting. There was an old barn we occasionally passed several miles away. It's another place we drove by if we are on a mini road trip. On the side is a cow and a dancing pig. It is the Free/Hawkins Barn in Nokesville, on Rt. 28. This is an old photo I took of the original barn many years ago. We were very used to seeing it and as you can see it was falling into a state of disrepair even back then. One day we were shocked to find that it had been completely demolished. But it has a happy ending.

You can see its story on Facebook at this link. It has its own page.  The story of the original barn is this:

Free/Hawkins Barn - Route 28 - Nokesville, Virginia

Also known as the "Pig/Cow Barn," the Free/Hawkins Barn was built in 1922 by William R. Free. His son-in-law, Thomas M. Hawkins, Sr., had the barn painted green and yellow to resemble John Deere equipment. In 1985 several students from Brentville District High School painted the pig and cow mural on the barn when they entered a contest for outdoor paintings sponsored by a Maryland radio station. The mural won second place in the contest and has become an iconic symbol of the area's agricultural heritage. The Nokesville Barn Restoration Project seeks to restore the barn."

Years passed and the mural, like the barn, fell into further decline. The Nokesville Barn Restoration Committee had hoped to restore it. However, when we drove by one day we were sad to see that it had gone. We had become so used to seeing it. At the time we didn't realize that plans were under way to rebuild the barn. One day we were once again driving along the road and were greeted with a brightly painted barn and an equally brightly painted mural with the same design. The owner had contacted the original artist and asked if she would be willing to repaint the mural. She agreed and the whole story is in the article here. So, does this cow on top of the barn have anything to do with this story? I have no clue as I could find no connection online, but I had a very enjoyable time looking everything up, and another thank you to Linda for starting me on my discovery journey. Always fun to find these things out.

On her blog post Linda identified the artist as Mark Paul Derek, popularly known as Madsteez, and his name can also be seen on the first painting of the Gothic Dogs. I looked up his website and the first paragraph reads, “Mark Paul Derek, aka MADSTEEZ, is known for his vivid, large-scale, multi-layered paintings, where strange figures are integrated into abstract landscapes. His artistic approach is influenced by being almost blind in one eye, where he sees only abstractions and lines of colors, mostly reds, purples and oranges, which appear frequently in his work.” You can read all about this talented artist here.

Here is the 29 Diner above which I mentioned last week, and no idea about the critter driving the corn cob car. Below are two dinosaurs. I just put them together for reference as they are not actually placed together. There have been dinosaur fossils found all over Virginia and you can read all about that at this link. 

Millions of years ago, the Piedmont area in Virginia (we live in that area) was similar to a beach, as it was situated near the shoreline of a shallow sea, with sediments deposited over time creating the current landscape of the Piedmont region; this occurred during the periods when the sea levels were significantly higher than today, with the coastline extending further inland than it does now. There is a kitschy dinosaur park about an hour away. We have never been to it but it has large dinosaur figures with information boards next to them, a nod to what has been discovered over many years. I have read that their dinosaurs don't exactly match a real dinosaur but people with kids seem to enjoy it. There is an interesting link here that shows the different regions of Virginia.

And that's the end of this artists wonderful mural. Gregg took the above photo as he was practicing the panoramic feature on his iPhone. He says he needs a lot of practice as it shows a curve in the wall when it is actually straight, but I like it.

Wednesday, 10-9-24: a stay-at-home day for me while Gregg meets up with son for a trip into Maryland. He has some business out there and asked if his Dad would like to go along for the ride. While son is busy, he enjoys looking around the area and he gets his exercise. (I am always invited but I am having my peace and quiet right now, and I always think it's great for them to have father/son time.) They meet up later, have lunch somewhere and enjoy chatting on the way home. We always say the fun is in the journey. 

As for me, I have had a breakfast of 2 Weetabix - an old childhood favorite from the UK that we can get at one of the local supermarkets. We looked at the pasty shop last week, but they didn't have any. I usually top my breakfast with almond milk, a cup of blueberries and several raw almonds. I will potter around until the man gets home and will enjoy hearing about his day.

It looks like I will be adding my meals in here if and when I think about it. It is a good record.

For lunch I fixed myself another favorite, a cup of sweet potato mash with nothing added when mashing. I put it in a bowl and over the top, 1/2 cup Bushes baked beans and a poached egg. It didn't feel like I was eating just healthy, it tasted great and once again, not everyone's cup of tea I know.

Dinner was the last of our homemade soup in a cup.

I enjoyed my day that consisted of tidying up a bit, reading a bit, blogging a bit, more tidying up, doing some laundry, blogging another bit and that was my day.

Gregg arrived home and we chatted for about an hour, and then off to bed.

Thursday, 10/10/24: Not much going on today. The dear man went to the dentist and was told he had to have a crown. The dentist said it could wait until his next appointment in January. My appointment is next Tuesday, hopefully just a cleaning. 

Friday, 10-11-24: We left the house early in the morning. About 40 minutes from home in a very busy area with several lanes and lots of traffic, we noticed smoke some distance up the road. At first we thought it was a vehicle that had a blown head gasket. By the time we caught up, we saw it was a work truck that had pulled off onto a parallel side road, one we had also taken to avoid him but he obviously needed to get off the main drag quickly and got there first. The smoke was billowing black and thick. We watched two young men ahead of us, riding a motorized scooter only designed for one. They decided to pass through the sooty cloud and we watched them disappear momentarily.  We slowly edged our way passed the truck, keeping a wary eye, and we soon caught up with them. Their clothes seemed to have swallowed some of the smoke, as plumes floated around them in a swirl, and drifted upward for several feet. One had pulled his lapel over to cover his face. It was a strange sight.  I couldn't see any flames from the truck. We had slowed down and were prepared to stop to make sure the man had gotten out of his cab okay, but sirens were loud. We saw flashing lights and two firetrucks and an ambulance approaching. This side road was narrow and we got out of the way. We knew the driver was about to get all the help he needed. We returned 30 to 40 minutes later on our way back home. No smoke and the truck had been removed with no signs of a fire. Glad that it was taken care of so quickly, and always thankful to our first responders. The driver would have a story to tell when he got home that night.

I took a couple of photos coming home. I was just saying that there weren't a lot of Halloween Decorations when we came across this huge thing. It was at least 15 feet tall! We had already passed by and Gregg, bless him, turned around, did a loop and pulled up alongside.

This would be a bit scary for smaller kids walking by. It would be startling for an adult if they weren’t expecting it. Gregg says he has seen them being sold at the Home Depot. Our house is and will be unadorned at Halloween. Just not into it but I appreciate the work people do when decorating their front yards, thinking in particular of the one around the corner and up the road. I have shared those photos already.

Saturday, 10-12-24: It's already mid-afternoon. Gregg is watching a baseball game, The Detroit Tigers and The Cleveland Guardians. He just stopped mid-sentence so it must be an interesting game. I am enjoying having it in the background as I hear him say, "Look at this?" and I dutifully looked. After 49 years of marriage he's still instructing me on all the moves, and we watch the replays together. I actually do enjoy this and find myself slowing down as I type. It's just not in my DNA. I had a Dad who used to say, "Young ladies do not discuss or play sports!" What can I say? Dad was a wonderful, loving father but was brought up with Victoriana in his blood, and this is going back over 55+ years. When my sister came home and told him she had joined her work place’s women’s football team (that would be soccer over here), he raised an eyebrow but the dye was cast and he knew times were changing. My sister was a girlie girl and it surprised us all, but she had a lot of fun with her friends. I will have to mention that to my brother-in-law and get his take on it as they met at the same firm. It reminds me of the movie ‘League of Our Own’, when the Tom Hanks character said to the young woman, "There's no crying in baseball!" as she was sobbing. At least the girls were playing baseball! Different times then too. Funny what pops into your head. I haven’t thought about this in years.

Sunday, 10/13/24: son came over as he usually does on a Sunday morning. He drops our daughter-in-law off first, the time he stays depending on when she finishes. It is a win-win and we get his company for two or three hours. It wasn’t long after he left that he gave us a quick jingle to let us know he had seen the tall Halloween figure we mentioned in passing. He had also seen other decorations that must have been put up that morning. He said, “You know, your neighborhood has way too many scary figures for little kids.” We had to agree. The figures have become larger than life, and there are more of them. They seem to tower over us and some reach the second floor windows. They certainly would cast strange shadows at night.  Maybe it is time for me to say Bah humbug but hide your eyes kiddos! 👀 

A couple of hours after he left, we drove over to one of the ice cream places for a Sunday treat. We reminded ourselves we have had a pretty healthy week food wise. Well, except for the trip to the fast food restaurant. Yes I am justifying and yes it’s a long journey! My order was my old standby, a hot fudge sundae, and Gregg gets a marshmallow cream sundae.  

I can hear the sounds of people mowing their lawns in the distance.  The weather was gorgeous today.  Sunny and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.667 degrees Celsius.

I need to write birthday cards for friends later. I should have mailed them yesterday as it is Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day.  No mail until Tuesday. 

All for now. As I started off with a Halloween picture, I will end with one.