Thursday Thirteen

Around the Courthouse

I can't travel far or fast these days, but I did manage a little stroll around the area of the county courthouse recently. Here is what I saw.

The Douglas Building sits across from the county courthouse. It has served as a motel, tavern, law office, and
who knows what else. Someone told me it was haunted.

A sign commemorating the fire that gutted the 1848 courthouse. Note that this fire impacted the entire state: because of it, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act requiring permanent storage of vital records in the Library of Richmond.

This beautiful old car was in the parking lot. The man who eventually drove it off told me it was a 1964 vehicle that he
bought himself the year he'd graduated high school.
 

The county courthouse. I don't know when someone painted the letters gold. They used to be black.

The Civil War monument with the former "old post office" building in the background. The building currently houses
the voter registrar's office.

The remains of the old Hayth Hotel, now private housing.

Cattycorner to the courthouse sits this vacant building. It once was the Fincastle Drug Store - a title it held for
nearly 100 years, I think. I wish someone could find a use for it.

This marker marks the fact that the Lewis and Clark expedition sort of began in Fincastle.

This marker, which is on a big rock on the courthouse grounds, is dedicated to those who served in WWII.

The old Fincastle jail. It once was the Fincastle Library. Now it is the Chamber of Commerce office.

These two buildings once were part of a hotel complex. Now they serve as offices for the Virginia
Cooperate Extension Agency and county services.

The county seal sits high on the courthouse.

I've always loved the wrought iron fence around the courthouse. Isn't it grand?

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 556th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

My Young Helpers

Because of health issues, a few household chores are difficult for me now, even ones that I used to tackle with ease.

The worst are mopping and using the vacuum, both of which utilize the abdominal muscles. My abdominal muscles are all messed up thanks to multiple surgeries and simply don't want to work properly anymore. While I'm much better than I was even six months ago, I still have trouble when something requires those muscles.

Coming to my rescue are these lovely young ladies:

Haylee and Megan.

These two young entrepreneurs started their own cleaning business about two years ago. They call themselves Peace, Love, and Cleaning. Isn't that a great name? Click here for their Facebook page.

I have used them for a number of chores. They help me with general cleaning as well as those pesky sometimes-tasks, like clearing out the garden after the season is over, or putting mulch around the roses.

They are cheerful, always willing, and seem to enjoy doing the unconventional - like helping me rehang curtains or clearing out a room that needs it (you should have seen my office before they started helping me tackle that! Yikes.). They even do windows.

My brother uses their services, too, and they are very good with his dogs. Yes, they will pet-sit or walk the dog or whatever you need.

They aren't fond of spiders and I think I grossed them out once when I had them clean dead stink bugs out of the fireplace, but they were troopers and worked through it. (Where did these stink bugs come from?)

I like that they are respectful and don't spend their time texting or otherwise gazing at their phones while they are working. When they are here to work, they work. They've become fairly speedy at doing things - I once watched in total amazement as they reorganized some cabinets for me. Zip, snap, and they were done.

They genuinely like people, I think. While I am technically old enough to be their mother, I told them to think of me as the crazy aunt. They liked that. We also have some common interests - Haylee plays guitar, as I do, and Megan loves Lord of the Rings. (We all know how much I love Lord of the Rings.)

Megan and Haylee are my go-to girls when something comes up that I can't tackle on my own. I recommend them to everyone I can, and they tell me they have a fairly full schedule now. I'm glad they are doing so well.
 

Megan helping out with dusting. I love it when they get the whole house looking great.

Haylee with the vacuum. Go Haylee! Go!

My Lovely Rose

Come live by me, my lovely rose

whilst I bad poetry must compose.

Your smell so sweet, your petals so dear

fill me with longing when you are near.

 

Your beauty bids a sunflower blush

and makes an evil wind fall hush.

For none compares to your fragrant kiss

To love a rose is to live in bliss.

Newborn Calf

This little one was born in the field in front of the house recently. The baby had a drink, took a nap, and then mama moved him to someplace safe.

Cows usually "hide" their young for three days, taking them to the shelter of cedar trees or sometimes  a brush pile (though I am not sure a brush pile - which has to be full of snakes and bees and other critters, is a safe place).

Afterwards, mother and calf join the herd. If there are other mamas with calves close to the same age, sometimes they babysit for one another. It is very cool to watch.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What brand & flavor of toothpaste do you use?

A. I use a prescription toothpaste.

2. What is your earliest memory?

A. My mother passing out and my father calling an ambulance.

3. Hot dogs or hamburgers?

A. Hot dogs.

4. If you could bring any one famous person back to life, who would it be?

A. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

5. What is one thing we would always find in your fridge? What one thing would we never find?

A. You would always find mayo in the fridge, but you would never find freshly caught fish.

6. Did you have to go and look for the answer of #1?

A. No.

7. Why don't watermelons grow on trees?

A. Because they weigh too much for the tree branches to hold them.

8. What is something that you own that you should probably just throw in the trash, but you never will?

A. My journals.

9. I push you into a room and lock the door. I leave you there for 6 hours. The walls are chalkboards and in the middle of the room there is a box of colored chalk. What will be written/drawn on the walls when I let you out?

A. Words.

10. When was the last time you changed the oil on your car?

A. The service station changed it in October.

11. In your extended family, who has been married the longest?

A. One of my uncles, I suppose.

12. Name one thing that is so normal to you now that someone who was your age 50 years ago would think was abnormal.

A. Having a back-up camera in the car.

13. Have you ever wanted someone or something so bad that it hurt?

A. Yes.

14. What do you dip your french fries in?

A. Ketchup.

15. What was the last picture that you took?

A. Flowers.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: No Gettin' Over Me

Saturday 9: (There's) No Gettin' Over Me (1981)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Ronnie Milsap sings about how worrisome it can be when you realize you forgot to pay a bill. It's happened to all of us, hasn't it? Tell about a time you accidentally missed a payment.

A. We missed an insurance payment back in January. My husband and I both had some kind of virus thing and the bill was overlooked.

2) He also references a dream that keeps him awake. Do you have any recurring dreams?

A. I haven't in a while, but for a long time I used to dream about a bathtub full of blood.

3) He sings about the face you see in the crowd. Tell us about someone you see regularly, but don't really know.

A. The grocery clerks - several of them - all talk to me like I'm a friend (I think because I am always nice to them). I don't know them at all though I know one of them is 38 years old and had a bad car accident and another spent 3 weeks in the Philippines this spring.

4) He mentions the book that you just can't put down. What's the last book that you finished?

A. The Girls of August, by Ann River Siddons

5) Ronnie Milsap is a big fan of new technology, and believes the advancements make both his professional and personal lives easier. What about you? Do you embrace new technology? Or do you long for the good old days, when we weren't so connected to personal devices?

A. I'm conflicted. I like technology and love my gadgets and doodads. But I think the social media aspect of it has created a vacuum that is being filled with garbage.

6) As a child, Ronnie used to surreptitiously listen to late night radio, especially gospel broadcasts. When you were a kid, what rule did you break again and again?

A. We used to slip down to the river when I was at my grandmother's, even though we had been told many times to stay away from it.

7) Country star Blake Shelton says Ronnie Milsap was a big influence on his music. Do you watch Blake on The Voice?

A. I don't watch that show.

8) In May, Ronnie appeared at the Choctaw Casino in Grant, OK. Do you enjoy games of chance?

A. I've never played one for real but I would like to give it a try. Well, we play the lottery sometimes. I suppose that is a game of chance.

9) Random question -- When did you last "do it yourself" and repair something around the house or yard?

A. Does painting count? If so, then just a few weeks ago.
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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Double Nickel Day

They say it's my birthday!
Happy birthday to me!

This is one of those years that ends in "5" - as in, 55. I am firmly middle-aged and heading towards old.

Young me

 

Old me.





Thursday Thirteen

1. Real estate tax

2. Personal property tax (vehicles)

3. Machinery & tools tax (equipment)

4. Mobile home tax

5. Prepared food tax (restaurants)

6. Transient occupancy tax (motels)

7. Cellphone use tax

8. Utilities tax

9. State individual income tax

10. Federal individual income tax

11. Fuel tax

12. Inheritance tax

13. State sales tax

Aside from the inheritance tax, because most of us will not inherit fortunes high enough to qualify for that tax, these are taxes many people pay in Virginia.

Next week, maybe - 13 different ways to die, because nothing is sure but death and taxes.

Also, I don't mind paying taxes. I consider it a privilege to live here and I should pay for that opportunity. Without taxes we would be even more of a third-world militaristic oddity than we are now. We'd have no roads, no emergency services, no police officers. I do think, though, that if I'm going to pay all these taxes I wish I had a better say in where the money is used. I would do the complete opposite of what we're doing - I'd spend more on the "entitlement programs" and less on the military. We already have a military big enough to defeat the rest of the world. It doesn't need to be any larger.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 555th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Dance Recital

Every year my niece participates in a dance recital through Floyd Ward's School of Dance. It is a two-day affair with three shows.

My brother in recent years has participated in what they call the "Dads Dance" which ends with a father-daughter dance.

Here are some rather blurry photos of the event. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember which of my cameras worked best in the terrible lighting in the auditorium (you're not supposed to take pictures anyway but of course people do).  I was also sitting a little further back than I have in the past, and that didn't help with the photography. No flash, so I needed a better low-light camera than the one I took.

Ah well. At least I was there.

Twins!

Saturday morning my husband came home and saw a doe resting beneath the spruce tree. This is not unusual.

When he came in, he saw she'd had a fawn. He called me into the room (I was sitting like 20 feet from her in my office but couldn't see her) and I told him I thought she was having twins.

Sure enough, a little later I saw two feet sticking out of her and plop! Out came another.

I shot 438 photos and took some video of the event. Some of the photos are just too darned cute.

Here is the video. It is completely unedited because I don't have editing software anymore. It's a little over 2 minutes long.




And here are some photos:

Mom with first born.

Poor little thing looked like a wet dog.

Mom does a lot with her tongue.

Yep, this is the second one on it's way out while the first one is getting a drink. Poor mom!

Now there are two to lick clean.

Lick, lick.

A little motherly kiss.

And another.

Trying to get them on their feet.

Didn't quite make it. Needed a rest.

Bottoms up!

Second born took a while to gather strength.

The first born became a little rambunctious after a while.

Lots of kisses from mom.

I'm . . . I'm . .. In-dep-endent!

Resting. Being born is hard work.

Off to hide the babies.

This is the second time I've had fawns born in the front yard, but the first time I actually witnessed a birth. It was TOTALLY AWESOME.