Dorothy In The “Flower Room”

From the time we started stripping the wallpaper in Dorothy’s room she moved the lion’s share of the things that had been in her room into what was going to be our guest room across the hall. For about two years that was her dressing room, play room, and basically everything except sleeping room. Much of the time it looked as though a tornado had come through, since she had more clothes than dresser drawers.

On a few occasions she cleaned the room and got things reasonably organized but there was simply too much stuff for the space and entropy inevitably won the day. This week Dorothy began what can only be described as “the great purge.” She went through everything and decided what she wanted to keep and what she was willing to give away. To her great credit, she was fairly ruthless and I would say that about half her clothes and more than half her things were put in the “get rid of” pile.

So, here is “the flower room” in a state that it hasn’t seen since, well, it seems like forever.

Harold The Classy Scotsman

I’m not sure what to say about this post. It’s a photograph of a drawing and while I took the photograph (which earns it the dubious right to be posted here), the drawing was done by Dorothy. We were at a friend’s house and Dorothy started drawing on their whiteboard. This is how it ended up. Interesting.

Note that Harold is wearing argyle socks and wing-tip shoes. Also, I’m informed that he is wearing tails but you can’t see them from the front. He thinks that bow-ties are cool.

In yesterday’s post about the Craigs visiting I mentioned that the visit wasn’t completely without incident. This post explains that a little. Do not adjust your set. There is nothing wrong with your picture. Because some folks will not want to see the pictures, I have hidden even the smaller versions so that you must click on the links to the right to see them (the images should open in new windows/tabs). If you are bothered by a little blood, don’t. They are not really all that bad, but you have been warned.

I was trying to cut the rind off a piece of Parmesan cheese. It was narrow piece and about half rind. I should have laid it on the rind, chopped through that and then cut the rind off the smaller pieces. But, no. I like to claim that I was distracted by the arrival of the entire Craig entourage and their presence in our smallish kitchen but the fact of the matter is that I was being careless. I was also using a large and quite sharp knife. In general, a sharp knife is safer than a dull one, because you don’t have to use so much force with a sharp knife. In this case, there was a lot of force being used and when the cheese fell over and the knife came down on my thumb, naturally it did some damage.

I don’t know if the cut went to the bone or not. It certainly felt like it did, but then, this isn’t a feeling with which I have a lot of experience. Nor do I want to gain such experience. I stopped the bleeding (mostly), washed it a bit, and kept my hand elevated for the evening, which helps explain why I only have a few photos from the evening. Before they left, Kristine helped me change the dressing. The bleeding had stopped by then. The next morning (today, 08/07) I stopped by my doctor’s office and got three stitches, which is when these pictures were taken.

Enjoy, or not, as you see fit.

Fredericksburg Silhouette

Leaf Shadow

On the way home from the beach we stopped in northeastern North Carolina for a mini family reunion. It was wonderful to see so many folks and we are very thankful to those who planned it as well as everyone who could be there. If you were not, we were sorry to miss you.

We drove a bit further north after that and spent the night in Chesapeake before driving the rest of the way home today. Rather than take interstate 64, which had very heavy traffic, we decided to take US 17 as far as Fredericksburg, getting on interstate 95 at that point. That route is a bit longer, distance-wise, than I-64, but I nevertheless recommend it highly. Traffic varied from light to practically non-existent. Definitely a more pleasant drive.

We stopped for a bathroom break in Fredericksburg, Virginia and I took these two pictures near the visitor center. The first is the side of a building, obviously, and I like the simple pattern of bricks against the sky.

The second is a picture of a line painted on the parking lot pavement, marking the space I parked in. As you can see, there was a leaf on the pavement when the paint was put down. The leaf is gone now but it took the paint with it, leaving another silhouette.

Pier Patterns

I already posted the family picture from today but thought I’d also post this one, which I like. It’s just a pier out into the Intracoastal Waterway near where we were at the beach. Actually, it’s the next door neighbors of one of my mom’s second cousins. Mom and her brother had visited earlier this week but we drove out there on our way out, so that the rest of us could see her house and where she lives.

I like the pattern of the crossed boards and the way it’s reflecting in the water.