Bluebells in Virginia
April 27, 2026
dogs, flowers, hiking bluebells, dogs, maybe, maybelline, moonshine, shenandoah river Leave a comment
Iulie in Spring
April 27, 2026
cute, dogs, farm, flowers, hiking bluebells, iulianna, iulie, moonshine, shenandoah river Leave a comment
First, a visit to the sycamore. It is more than twice her height now.
Then a walk by the river with moonshine.
Grandpa loves this.
Bluebells peaking.
Bluebells Bloom 2026
April 5, 2026
dogs, flowers, hiking, nature, photography bloom timeline, bluebells, dogs, photography, shenandoah, shenandoah river, trail, video, virginia bluebell, walking, wildflowers Leave a comment
First sign. March 8.
Three days later. March 11 buds.
Very first lonesome bluebell March 11.
March 14 more coming in.
And the first swamp marigold of the year. March 14.
March 24. Starting to go.
Looking hearty 3.25
Star of Bethlehem 3.25
Yellow starting to pop 3.25
The bloom is spreading 3.25
3.29 getting into full swing
Sharing with romey 3.29
3.31 Tiptoe through the bluebells.
3.31 coming in strong but not the peak
3.31
Moonshine loves to walk 3.31
And some yellow 3.31
April 1st. Maybeline is not fooled.
The beginning of the peak 4.1
4.3 walking and talking
4.3 The peak
4.3 anomaly
fin
Tree Down on the Trail
April 5, 2026
farm, hiking, nature, trees hiking, shenadoah river, trail, tree, tree down Leave a comment
It’s great to have a trail on the monastery. The only problem is monks don’t have chainsaws. So, time to get ours out!
Walking around in Lorsch
January 16, 2026
hiking, nature, photography, who knows abbey, einhousen, germany, JS Bach Street, lorsch, unesco heritage site, walking 1 Comment
Walk on the Wild Side
December 23, 2025
dogs, farm, hiking dogs, fall, maybeline, moonshine, shenadoah river, shenandoah, walking Leave a comment
A Wild Adventure
January 25, 2025
animals, hiking, nature, river falling throuigh the ice, ice emergency, maybelline, river 1 Comment
Posted to Mastadon 1/20 4:47pm
About a mile from home. Maybelline went about 50 feet out on the Shenandoah river ice after some geese and fell through.
She was floundering and unable to get up on the ice. So I called Romey and alerted her and then went out after maybe.
About 20 feet in, flat on my tummy I broke all the way through into four feet of water. I kind of expected it, but it was cold and I was all the way under. I pushed to maybe, breaking the ice out toward her. When I reached her she swam back in my wake.
I lifted her up on the thick ice then climbed out of the water myself. Then began the extremely tough jog home soaking wet in 17 degrees. All is well thanks to romey who came out and met me on the trail. I am now dry and sitting by the fire after warning my extremities in cold water. Maybe is here with me.
The river water was not that cold. (In fact it is 41.72 https://freshwatertemps.com/sites/shenandoah-river-at-millville-wv/). I was wearing layers including my ski pants over nylon/silk sweats, a sweatshirt over a nylon tee and my oilskin Australian hunting coat which is insulated. Only my fingers which were in modern tech gloves got way too cold. I also had on wool socks and hiking boots.
The water soaked through all my layers but once I was out they kept my core warm.
All that said, my jog/slog back was real work and very challenging. I would not do it on purpose. I have WSI training too for water emergencies, so I knew what I was in for.
The next day, I revisited the “scene of the crime” in the Shenandoah river. The area is completely iced over already, but you can see where the ice shelf broke and how far away from the other edge of the resulting big hole is exactly. Wild!
https://infosec.exchange/@noplasticshower/113868648816427913
The dog seems glad to be alive.
Iulie’s Flowers
November 20, 2024
animals, dogs, farm, flowers, hiking, river, who knows flowers, iulianna, iulie, JC, maybe, moonshine, odessa, tree, walking Leave a comment
Iulie has grown, and so have her zinias. Last time we checked, they were about two inches tall.
The tree has grown too.
Of course we walked. Twice, in fact.
The dogs were hosed off and toweled “dry.”
Bubbie had some fun things to do.
There were fresh eggs (and lots of them). 18!
And, as always, there was the rope for swinging.
Up high.
Here they come.
Mama!
Maybe always wants in on the action.
An Autumn Walk by the Shenandoah
October 31, 2024
animals, dogs, hiking, river dogs, maybeline, moonshine, river, shenadoah river, shenandoah, walk Leave a comment
With the animals.
Hyde Park on a Rainy Day
October 6, 2024
hiking, travel, trees hiking, hyde park, london, portobello market, swans, walking 1 Comment
We decided to walk from Marylebone to see the Market at Portabello Road. It was a long walk, but filled with real London sights. The market itself seems more suited to Hollywoood movie watchers than to us. But we’re glad we went.
Iceberg?
Or swan?
Headless at the end.
