31 August 2018

With no sleep obtained I headed straight for Kent to explore on my own, visiting a few old haunts. This cottage in Wateringbury, the village where I spent some of my childhood, hasn’t changed a bit. Still a picture postcard scene.

30 August 2018

Boarding Golden Girl for an overnight flight back home. Bumpy and no sleep but the red wine helped.

It looks like a torture chamber but this is where bliss happens, with my chiropractor cracking away my pains and finishing with a neck massage. I’m walking on air when I leave.

Very excited as I bought these jeans 2 years ago and couldn’t fit in them but wanted them regardless. Tonight they fit snugly but looked fabulous on, so at our London Tavern Reunion on Saturday night I will be wearing the sharpest pair of jeans!

Last minutes tasks before the vacation included sewing up a hole in one of my favorite t-shirts and then having to heat seal these flowers down on my jeans, the petals were lifting. Still more chores to complete but slowly getting there.

26 August 2018

I walked around the corner in Warrenton and saw this. It made me jump a little as the water tower immediately reminded me of a Martian from War of the Worlds. 

25 August 2018

Driving through Marriott Ranch property near Hume, on my way to check out an abandonment.

24 August 2018

Emily’s bees took no notice of us having a party. They just did their ‘bearding’ thing while we did our ‘drinking’ thing.

An oil painting I did many, many moons ago. I really need to get back into this art again.

I received a belated Birthday card from an old friend today. The stamp was as funny as the card inside. Never thought I’d see the day when Dad’s Army featured on a stamp!

I was very excited to see this on Main St and rushed to take a photo as huge rain drops began to thump down. This is going to be a bustaurant which was planning on opening a year ago but then nothing happened. It looks like it’s all systems go so I’ll be watching on a daily basis now until I can grab a meal. 

This dude was fast asleep outside the 7/11 when I stopped for coffee on the way to work. Despite the word in the background, I don’t think he was ‘Reddy’ for his day to begin...

Emily, Margie and I spent a long afternoon on the water at Pohick Bay, taking relaxation to the extreme. A blue heron flew in front of me as I moved very slowly through the water.

For the past few years Steve has been trying to get me and his work colleague and friend to meet because we are both called Debby Taylor, although she is a ‘Debbie’. We kept missing each other but tonight we finally met!

17 August 2018

It took 2 hours to get to Emily’s from work, a distance of 34 miles. Traffic approaching DC was at a standstill. 

16 August 2018

Honest to God there were 2 deers there! I snapped the shot quickly as I returned home from picking up my eggs. A mother and baby hesitated and then dashed across the road as I came to a stop. I waited and sure enough another little one broke out of the trees and hurtled across the road after his family.  I think I can see that one in the leaves on the left of the road.

15 August 2018

Rosie Lee pulls some wonderful faces. This is her ‘selfie photo’ face.

Having had so much rain in the past weeks has played havoc with my patio plants, but my avocado plant has relished the constant moisture, sprouting lots of new leaves. It’s now over 3ft tall.

13 August 2018

I had to hire a guy to do my job while I’m in England. So hard to find someone who understands the screen print world but at least he has some knowledge. Today was his first day of training where he had to get his head around some basic color separations.

As I stepped out the front door this morning a flash of blue caught my eye. The forget-me-not seeds I’d planted for Kota Have finally bloomed. Precious blue flowers that would have matched his eyes, and brought a tear to mine.

Great day kayaking with friends today. We managed to beat the bad weather and no blazing sun. This photo was taken by Bob.

Mike, the maintenance guy at work, spent over an hour repainting the speed bumps as vehicles kept driving over the new paint, so then he’d repaint it. He was still at it when I left to go home...

It’s not often this happens, no work. I’ve answered all emails and completed all art requests. Lovely way to end the day!

A quick yet violent storm passed over the hill, with a vivid light show and deep crashes of thunder.

I had a lovely Birthday evening at a local English style pub with an English friend where we played Pub Trivial Pursuit. Nancy and I were only a team of 2 against other teams of 3 or more. We came 6th out of 8 but were elated we didn’t come bottom. We missed 2 complete categories as we had no clue about US sports so felt good about doing this again, maybe with a couple more members on our team. 

Tricksie Treat is losing her fearful expression and looking more comfortable. We’re getting there, slow but sure.

Dennis and Rob unfurling the sail on Dennis’ boat as Emily and I keep out of the way. 

It’s been a peachy afternoon. Went to the local farm where I picked up a bag of peaches, indulged in a peach slurpee and took a piece of peach pie home. These peaches are currently hard, having just been picked from the trees, but will be ready to eat tomorrow. Can’t wait!

The CEO of one of our largest clients has zero respect from me. His assistant brings in these t-shirts to have the left chest embroidered. They are worn only once then discarded, not even donated to a charity or shelter. There were 18 shirts, costing over $7000. This is a repulsive example of selfish ostentatiousness that we regularly have thrust under our noses. 

Driving through Front Royal to meet friends at a photography class. The rain pummeled down all evening and I found roads were blocked on the way home. I needed up taking back roads, driving slowly to let 2 opossums and a toad cross the road while waves of bats swooped in front of the car. It took me about 90 minutes to get home but the wildlife journey through the black wet night was wonderful.

Met this crew on the way down the hill this morning. We all stopped and looked at each other, then continued on our way.

31 July 2018

I found this poor demised swallowtail by my mailbox, likely hit by a passing vehicle. So sad to see such a beautiful creature bereft of life.