A FEW AROUND AND ABOUT PHOTOS.

I thought I would share a few of these. As you know I am an avid taker of photos, which include those from the passenger side of our car. I love to record just about everything. Last week we had amazing skies. Below was from the week before when it was rainier. I was taking our usual photo on the progress of the building when the police officer came into view. 

We have been very interested in seeing this large building go up, having driven by the old house for many years. The land was finally sold, the old house leveled (was a bit sad about that - someone's dream way back when) and this structure slowly took shape. They always start with the elevator shafts first don't they? We knew it was going to be a big place noticing how far apart they were.  

Monday June 22nd, 2026 - drove to Arlington to our favorite Bahn Mi go-to. We visit about once a month and have a car picnic. We try to curb our eating out to once a week and usually it's fast food. No seating inside here and that’s okay with us. We can watch the world go by. It’s fun to watch people come and go. There is a fire station across the parking lot to the left, and we have watched firefighters trek in every now and again. Nothing fancy but this is Gregg's all-time favorite sandwich, and I have to admit it is excellent. Mentioned before on here many times.

On the way out of the parking lot we spotted this. I believe it's the same vehicle I shared a few weeks ago. It is a Slingshot Grand Touring Le Fairway Green with Bronze Accents - thank you Google!

Our lunch last week took us to our Cornish Pasty shop, also mentioned many times before. We usually pick up British bangers and bacon. Made over here but a UK-style recipe that gives us a touch of nostalgia when we have them on the weekend with a full breakfast. Another place we visit, this time maybe once every three months, try to anyhow. You can just about make out the Union Jack on the left-hand side towards the end of the alleyway. 

Another car picnic. Over here Cornish Pasties are like a Michigan Meat Pie. Cornish tin and copper miners emigrated to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan when there was a massive copper and iron boom in that area in the 1840's and 1850's. That's how the Michigan meat pie came about, from the Cornish Pasty. I am repeating myself but the man who owns The Pure Pasty Co. is British and located in Vienna, Virginia. He also owns the Hawk and Griffin which opened several years later. This is where we went for Gregg's birthday earlier in the year. We like both places very much but come here more. The restaurant/pub is our special occasion place. I'm sure with the World Cup going on, the place is packed out.

On our way home we passed by the old mill building I mentioned a little while ago. I was delighted that the paddle wheel was working. We could see the water splashing on the wheel. There was also safety fences built since the last photo. I can only hope that we will see the building itself brought back to life, and I am eager to come back this way to see if there is any progress in a couple of weeks or so.

Here is also another view of the horses but in the nearby field this time. We really should bring a proper camera to get a closer photo. All these were taken with my cell phone.

Coming back into the neighborhood Gregg spotted a crow on the top of a mailbox post. He stopped, backed up without me even asking. 

I took several photos before he flew off. These were the best two.

It was a coincidence but that very morning I had found these on Pinterest. I rather like benches as you might guess, from all the ones I sit on when we go to the gardens. My imagination put these on our deck and in the back yard.

Tuesday June 23rd 2026 - I had my hair done today. I go to the Hair Cuttery at our local shopping center. The lady who has been cutting my hair for years did another great job and I always feel much better with it shorter and tidier. It was raining heavily, but the sun is out surprisingly and it looks like we will have a very pretty sunset.  

Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 - father and son got  together this morning. I stayed home and enjoyed my quiet time. I caught up on things. I did laundry, a chore that I actually enjoy. The day went fast!

That's all for now. 

Thank you for reading my ramblings, and 

I hope your day is a great one.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - SHORTER JOURNAL THIS WEEK

Weather forecast from yesterday February 28th to Sunday, March 8th, 2026. The weather is getting warmer.

From Sunday to Thursday I didn't write anything down. The weather was dreadful, icy wet snow overnight that fortunately didn't stick and rainy the other days. Our favorite walkabout places would have been a soggy mess. 

And talking about soggy messes...

someone put the yogurt right on the edge of the top shelf, and someone else opened the fridge door and let's just say, I won't do that again. What a mess! Gregg was a really good sport about it and insisted on cleaning up. I offered advice from afar, no, not really. 

Ah well, these things happen.

This old photo popped up yesterday and it caused a blast to the past conversation with hubby, chatting about each of them. We were all good friends. This is before he and I met and was taken 53 years ago. (They are the ones I went off to Austria for skiing holidays. We saved all year for those vacations and they were cheap back in those days. The hotel was great and had its own all night dance floor with a live band, and a coffee bar. So, we used to dance all night and then roll into the coffee bar without even having to go outside, from après-ski to expresso, a couple of hours sleep and then it was off to the slopes for skiing lessons. Gosh, I wish I had that energy now.)

 I'm the girl top right at the back in the red and blue flowered shirt. I can't remember who took it. They chopped it off a bit at the top, but I was very happy to find this photo again. My hair always looked like I had ironed it flat but I hadn’t. I envied my friends with curlier hair. The giant hair rollers I used to endure as I slept in them, good grief they were painful. I eventually gave up on those and wore it long, flat as a poker and almost to my waist. Hippy days says I with a smile. Back then Gregg used to think yogurt was hippy food so there was already a connection, ha! We had a few laughs at our younger selves, and the stories we told each other later especially. He enjoys eating yogurt now.

Getting on about the week, we ate out a couple of times, always can remember going out to eat, nothing fancy but once to our Bahn Mi favorite for a meatball sub, which is a 40-minute drive away (good job it's not around the corner or we would be in trouble). We have one about every three months. I have mentioned them before on here. 

Friday, 2-27-26 at 7:45 p.m: the other to McDonalds today, a little closer to home and that's a once-a-week thing, unless it is to another fast-food stop, like the chicken place.

Son came over last Wednesday night as he had dropped our dear d-in-l off at work. The weather was iffy so he drove her. That was a nice surprise and an extra treat one evening. He had already been over for his usual morning the previous Sunday. 

Driving out of the neighborhood, we had paused a little longer at the stop sign as we thought one of these ladies was going to walk across. They didn't and continued shouting across to each other, so of course I got a photo op. They were walking their dogs and probably wanted to keep them apart.

Someone arrived this evening. I had fed the birds earlier and apart from a couple of doves that turned up in the early part of the evening, there has been silence at the bird feeder. Then about half an hour ago I heard a noise and lo and behold I looked outside and there was our little raccoon. They don't usually show up until late night time and haven't been around for a few months. This was my first sighting. The temperatures have risen and I guess this one was hungry. They, as everyone probably knows, are opportunists. 

Saturday, February 28th, 2026: we got a call from our son and d-in-l. After a busy morning in Annapolis (Maryland), they had brunch at a restaurant called Miss Shirley's Cafe and sent these photos of their meal. They enjoy sharing photos too, happy to say. If you are on Facebook, you can see photos from their menu at this link. Those drinks are Bloody Marys and look like a meal. I can see from back to front, an okra, orange slice followed by a section of lime, celery stick, a green olive, a wedge of a green tomato with two slices of bacon hanging over the rim! Heck, you could just order your cocktail and that would be your meal! However, bottom left is son’s Shrimp and Grits, and bottom right is our sweet d-in-l’s Coconut Crème Stuffed French Toast with strawberries. I have just decided where my birthday meal is going to be in a few months. My conversation with waiter, “Excuse me dear, all I need is a Bloody Mary, could you throw in a slice of sweet potato?” 

Gregg and I had chats with family overseas and here this week also.

That's about it for now. I'm looking forward to some sunny, warm-ish days soon.

Hope you've all had a great week out there, and I'll wish you a great one ahead. 

MORE TO SEE IN THE WAY OF CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

This…

and this...

I put the final ornament on the tree last night. This is my “wings” tree and I started this tradition last December. It includes birds, angels, butterflies, Santas and snowmen holding birds, a few honorary ones like the homemade-looking squirrel, and others that have that honor too. Several are gifted from loved ones, family and friends, some picked up on travels, and others that caught my eye just because. I have added an ornament here and there, some you have seen before because I have been sharing them at this time of year throughout the lifetime of this blog. I have been looking at your trees and their treasures too and loving them. 

In our other news, not only did hubby arrive home on Saturday after being away for a few days, but on Sunday morning we had a lovely visit from family who dropped in on their way home many miles south of us. Our son was here also, and we had such a lovely time catching up as it had been a while. I am grateful most of the tree was dressed for their little one to enjoy and even in daytime, her eyes twinkled along with the colorful lights. 

Today was not as exciting but we enjoyed ourselves, having our monthly Bahn Mi sandwich with a car picnic. Shopping for groceries came next and a coffee on the way home. A good start to a new week.

Thanks for looking and 

I hope your day and week are great.

WEEKLY HAPPENINGS - 9-25-24

 These are a few photos I took when running around this past week. The first one is when I noticed these wispy clouds and pointed them out to dear other half. He said that there was bad weather on the way. Sure enough the next few days held a lot of dark clouds and a lot of rain. These are cirrus clouds, I am giving myself a refresher.

Doggy fix for the day was seeing this sweet pooch waiting for his cup of coffee in the drive-thru.

Such a good dog, he didn't make a peep.

When we got home and I went to open the patio door, this little fella greeted me.  By the time I got back from the kitchen to take another look, he was gone. 

Added note 9:59 am., 9-25-24: Ginny asked in her comment about this insect. I thought it was a grasshopper but thought I ought to check on that. This is the information I found at this link. It is a grasshopper. 

"The main difference between a grasshopper and a cricket is that crickets tend to have long antennae, grasshoppers have short antennae. Crickets stridulate ("sing") by rubbing their wings together, while grasshoppers stridulate by rubbing their long hind legs against their wings. Grasshoppers detect sound by means of little 'ears' at the base of their abdomen; in crickets these are on the front legs. 

Most crickets are crepuscular (which means they come out at dusk) whereas grasshoppers tend to be out and about during the day." Thanks for another great question Ginny.

Gregg introduced me to this place (in my next photo) years ago, when he was still working in Washington DC. With the heavy traffic at rush hour, it was not much shy of a two-hour commute one way. More often than not, having such a busy work schedule, he often had no time for lunch. He was always hungry and when he saw the sign for the first time, he stopped off for a Bahn Mi sandwich half way into his journey home. Another story I have mentioned before, but he moved here first and I stayed behind while our son finished the school year in San Diego. A new colleague introduced him to Vietnamese and Thai Cuisine, which was and still is very popular in our area.  When we joined him several months later, he introduced it to us. It was fun to try something different, and he took us to all his favorite restaurants, and they became ours too. Those places have unfortunately closed but there are other places we can go to. We just don't eat out a lot any more, though we get a Meatball Bahn Mi about once a month. It isn't like an Italian meatball sandwich. It is made with pork and the seasonings are very different, and delicious. I wrote about it before, and other things, in this post. There is no seating inside and we usually have a car picnic in the parking lot. Still fun to do. You'll read in the old post about a time I had another knee problem, more steps I should have stayed away from. I had forgotten all about it until I found the post again.  C'est la vie! Obviously still learning!

We got our latest Covid booster last week at our local supermarket's pharmacy. The young man who gave me the injection was very gentle. I actually asked if he was done as I saw him putting things away and was a bit surprised. He joked by saying yes he had and that he was that good. He laughed, I laughed and I told him you are way better than good, thanked him and got out of there.

We had a nice treat yesterday. Our son had had car issues, and we loaned him ours for a couple of days. As a treat he took us out to lunch, and we ended up going to the Hawk and Griffin, which is a British pub/restaurant in Vienna, about ten miles from home. The boys fancied Fish and Chips and there was no complaint from me. I can honestly say it was the best Fish and Chips I have had in a very long time. We all enjoyed our meal. I will share the photos soon, but in the meantime you can go to this post from our last time if you would like to take a peek. There is also a story on there about Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill, which I had also forgotten I had shared. It has been about a year since we were last at the Hawk and Griffin.

Thanks for taking a look and I hope your day is a great one.

HAPPY 1ST DAY OF MAY - OUT AND ABOUT WITH THE DUCKIES

On Sunday, we drove over to our favorite Vietnamese place where we both ordered a bahn mi. My dear other half was first introduced to Vietnamese food by a colleague when he first moved to Virginia to start his new job in 1990 (navy career first, then this civilian job here and now retired from his last job for many years). Pho soup was the first dish. Our son and I arrived several months later. We delayed our arrival so that he could finish his school year. These little snippets of information are probably repeats, so apologies if you remember them from before. When we arrived, dear other half introduced us to Pho Soup soon after. Years later while commuting back and forth from Washington DC every day, he got super hungry half-way home. He saw this place and we have been going to it off and on ever since. 

It is the best one we have ever had and even though we don't get it that often, as it's quite a trek to get there, we don't go anywhere else for this particular sandwich. Below you will see an old photo just to show you what it looks like. (We had a chuckle later on the same day of our latest trip. This same bahn mi photo popped up on his computer. It said 'here is where you were exactly one year ago', and just by coincidence, here we were again.)

It is a meatball sandwich made out of pork, nothing fancy to look at but take my word for it, it is a taste sensation. Nothing like the Italian meatball because of the seasonings. Those strips of veggies, carrots, cucumber, daikon radish and cilantro (maybe not the cilantro) are slightly pickled. There are also slices of hot pepper, sometimes mild, sometimes not so much. We also always enjoy our car picnic in the shop’s parking lot. It is our special treat. Moving on! 

We have the loan of a truck for a little while thanks to family, and they told us we could use it as much as we liked. Very grateful as we are downsizing and have so many things to take to places where they might make good use of what we no longer use or need. Things that are beyond use, we will be taking to our local refuse center. (We started this process quite a while ago but are now able to gather momentum thanks to the truck.)

In the meantime, I thought I would introduce you to the ducky family. Not real duckies of course, just the ones on the dashboard. I didn't know this before and those of you who have jeeps probably do, but when you are out and about, you might come back and find a yellow rubber duck resting on the hood. The family has accumulated quite a collection, as you will see in these photos, and no doubt they have given their fair share.

Shells also but those are a separate collection.

So, for the next week plus, we have adopted 11 rubber duckies!

Welcome to our family duckies. We will take good care of you!

This is the day we went to the garden center so I will share more of those photos soon.

I have my eye on a Dogwood tree, but we are still trying to figure out what would thrive in the spot we want to put it in. It remains to be seen what type of tree will end up there.

That's all for today! Thanks for sticking with me to the end of my ramble. Happy First Day of May to you all, and have a wonderful month!