Week 2 at oil painting class. A slow progress but I’m happy with it.

It was so cold this morning that my license plate iced over. I’ve never known that to happen before. 

Looking out of my kitchen window. The light is fading and thankfully I’ve cleared and salted my drive and walkway so hopefully the expected freeze won’t create an ice rink. Looks so pretty though.

Came across this wonderful mural in Front Royal. There’s an acknowledgement underneath, some of which is worn off but I’m pretty sure it says, ‘The Not So National Zoo. Painted in 1993 by Patricia Woodrow for the amusement of the children in Front Royal.’ How delightful!

27 Jan 2019

This is the first time I’ve seen them this close to each other. It looks like they may eventually be friends.

A fabulous evening at The Beer Museum here in town, celebrating Robbie Burns. 

Just living this town I’ve moved to. Dinner with a friend at The Mill and then the Beer Museum had a large group of folks who were extremely friendly. I didn’t want to leave but to ensure I could still walk home I had to leave at 9:30pm. Looking forward to tomorrow night!

Starting my first lesson in oil painting. There’s only 8 of us in the class and we’re all beginners. Looking forward to creating a picture!

Rosie Lee and Tricksie Treat now have an additional cat tower with plenty of nap places and scratching posts. I’m hoping they’ll check it out while I’m at work tomorrow. I got it really cheap but hope it will be used.

The snow is still clinging to the mountains. We’ve had freezing temperatures here and now so hoping it will warm up a little for the weekend.

I took a quick photo of the cemetery as I hopped into Stanley to go to work. I realized later that I’d captured an orb. I’ll try to get more photos once the temperatures have risen some.

It’s still Christmas in some rural parts of Front Royal.

Passing what used to be farm worker’s cottages as I rush to get home before the ice storm starts.

One of my neighbors has this navy memorial outside their house.

I went and visited Natty and her puppies today. 7 of them! Natty was a proud mom and Cora did an excellent job of assisting the births.

16 Jan 2019

A rather witty sign made me chuckle this afternoon.

The roads are clear now but I had to knock down this huge overhang of snow and ice from my roof. I need to install some ‘snow birds’ to stop this happening. I thought this icicle looked like an angry elephant hanging down.

Beautiful colors from the last rays as the sun sets on the snow in Marshall.

I had to risk driving in the snow today to get Natty to Cora. Her puppies are coming any time now, so expert experience is required. 

NTty got in one last walk before the snow started coming down heavily. Only a couple of weeks ago this whole area was underwater from flooding.

This beautiful Thunderbird showed up outside work today. Sure hope it will be tilucked away in a garage tonight before we get out 6” or more of snow tomorrow.

The local Shop & Save is closing down with all groceries now 60% off. I found a few bargains, the only time I’ve shopped here.

I went to visit Natty at Cora’s house today and she was so happy to see me we thought it would be a good idea if she came home with me for a few days. Cora thinks we may have a week until the pups arrive. Natty was happy to have her spot down by the sofa again.

Olga came back to work from her vacation in Mexico and brought back some hot sauce. I’d rather enjoy looking at it than tasting it.

An incredibly stressful 24 hours with Natty missing but now found. A full update will appear on http://lucentmoments.blogspot.com on Thursday. But for now, she is safe. Thank God.

6 Jan 2019

Finally managed to walk down and investigate the small book store near my house. A black cat was sleeping in the window and with little books for reading the shop was very inviting. I came away with 2 secondhand books.

I’m fostering a sweet woofer called Natty who needed a home ASAP as she was an emotional mess and had shut down, hiding and hunkering in her cage. Hopefully she’ll learn to trust again.

4 Jan 2019

Had to buy this today. All will be revealed later.

Tricksie Treat is now feeling more comfortable in her new home.

As many folks start taking down their Christmas decorations I was really happy to this tractor lit up as I drove to collect my eggs after work. 

Went for a hike with Barb to hopefully see a few hundred tundra swans at their breeding ground in a park by The Potomac. We saw about 12. But it was good to be outdoors and traipsing through mud.