A ceiling panorama of a closed Catholic Church in Johnstown that we were allowed in.

The Inclne in Johnstown, PA looking festive with lights and snow.

Loved the artwork at a gas station on the way to my Thanksgiving lunch, which I don't have a photo of because I forgot to take any photos due to having such a good time. The food was diabolical but the company terrific. My tummy hurts and my face feels stretched from laughing so much. 

The first snow of the season was fluttering down as I drove home through Middleburg.

It's officially winter in my book. Freezing cold and raining all the way home where the patio was a frozen slush. Glad to be safe indoors in front of a blazing fire.

Was amazed to see this when I got home and even more amazed to find it came from my best friend in England. Makes me chuckle that america has such beautiful card shops but never buys them, well my friends don't, ha ha! I know very few folks that want to make this effort when a text or Facebook posting will do. It has made me chuckle that the two events of the year that Americans celebrate a lot more than the English has been noted only by cards from my English friends. 

Saturday, November 23rd, 2013

Forgot to post this yesterday. I bought these Beech mushrooms to try and had them for breakfast with local sausages and eggs. I'd never seen these before. They were nice, a little sweeter than regular mushrooms.

Autumnal decorations in my window.

I found another item to bust open today. We had one of these Galileo barometers that had been sitting around for years and had lost its water. But the little glass ball things inside still held their water and I wanted them so out came the hammer again, and da da! I got them!

Yay! Got my last voucher so now I have a free $20 at Food Lion. Free wine! Woo hoo!

The Fosters Grille racing car in Marshall lit up with Christmas lights.

How about these leg warmers then? They're the bees knees!

Spent the evening at the Czech Embassy in DC with Margie listening to Shin Dong-Hyuk, the only known person to have been born in Camp 14 in North Korea and to have escaped to tell his tale. He autographed his book for us.

Found a cute Christmas store run by an elderly couple in Winchester, and spent a happy hour or so rummaging around.

Went with explorer friends to visit the Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery in Maryland.

After listening for over 51 hours to the superb book, A Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, I eagerly sat down to watch the movie with my all time favorite female screen star, Bette Davis. But alas, it skipped the first third of the book, leaving out his childhood, and then skimmed over the rest. It was probably a good movie in 1934 when it was made but really fell short of my expectations. Oh well. 

Thursday, November14, 2013

Production finished for the day and only Johny left, cleaning screens.

Kota and Rosie Lee have the best seats in the house. I think they're spoiled...

I've rarely been one to blow my own horn but just for laughs today I googled myself and was amazed at what came up. Loads of references and then I googled images and had fun looking at what people would view me if they ran a search.
Click here for the image link.
There's definitely a 'Debbykaralee Footprint' on the internet!

All tuckered out after a hard day spent snoozing. Cats can spend more than 20 hours a day checking the backs of their eyelids and Kota is always willing to set an example.

The stick insects are prowling over my wood piles and my windows, going to have to be careful putting wood on the fire.

A return trip to the Truck Farm, thankfully sans ticks!

Winding down at the end of the week.

I liked this guy immensely, just reading the back of his vehicle.

What a ghastly cake. Would somebody actually look at it and think it was so lovely it had to be purchased? Maybe if they were color blind...

I photographed this Maltese Falcon statuette, used in the Humphrey Bogart movie, in March 2011 at the NRA Museum in Fairfax, and now it is being auctioned off this month. Only two of these props were ever made and the other is in a private collection. What a shame if this one disappears from the public view too. We weren't really supposed to take photos, I'm assuming for flash reasons, but I just used my phone with no flash, and am glad now that I have this souvenir.
 Full article is here.

Red neck nut crackers, exclusively at Tractor Supply.

A beautiful autumn day by the water.

Saturday, November 13, 2013

I souped up one of Hugette's photos from last night of Urbexia hanging out in my kitchen. I was well pleased that they came over for chili, I haven't seen them for ages.

Cooking up 2 large pots of chili for tomorrow night. The house smells luvverly.