Greenhill Vineyards

It’s been a long time since we went to a vineyard. When we first moved the Capitol Hill seventeen years ago we drove to a Maryland vineyard and ended up sending six bottles to our friends in the Midwest - twice - because the first batch never arrived, but eventually did. Our next door neighbors asked us to join them on a drive to Middleburg this past weekend. We used to drive to Middleburg for the dog shows to see Borzoi. We also drove there several times because it’s just very pretty. There are many horse farms - and vineyards. Apparently our neighbors are members of Greenhill Vineyards and frequent the place a lot. It was the first time in a long time that we were being driven somewhere. It’s quite the luxury these days! When we arrived we met some friends of theirs from a different part of the state, and we all went to the tasting room for a two hour time period of conversation, sipping wine, and tasting cheese and small plate treats. Unfortunately it was very loud indoors and somewhat difficult to hear. The surrounding area is indeed very lovely - rolling hills and all. We ended up buying two bottles of “Susperstition” - the wine we were drinking. It was a nice getaway on a Sunday afternoon. We haven’t done anything like that since before the pandemic. 

Too Many Health Care Visits

This is not been a good year so far mentally and physically. Mentally taxing because of the several medical visits we have had to make, and physically taxing because my husband is having some inconvenient and annoying health issues. Unfortunately these issues are not clear cut, and he is not used to being sick or ill or uncomfortable. Since January we have been seeing health care professionals for annual checks, acute care checks, lab work, video calls, prescription fills, etc. It is giving me a taste of what the future will hold. And of course I also had routine visits and more are planned for next month, adding to the fatigue. We have never had to deal with so much at one time - without a resolution. And since my husband is a retired surgeon, he isn’t happy until there is a definitive answer - which may never happen. So there was blood work on Monday, and a test yesterday in the outpatient department that was very uncomfortable. With that comes all the inevitable discussions and nightmares about getting old and dying. Neither one of us has had a decent nights sleep for quite a while. It is difficult to think about. It makes both of us irritable and cranky - even though everything so far has been negative. You know you are seeing the doctor too often when you know the password to your patient portal by heart. Next week there is another appointment. Since the pandemic out lives just haven’t snapped back to the way they used to be. I miss the old days. 

The Orchid Has Bloomed

We got an orchid plant from my brother and SIL as a housewarming gift when we moved to northern Virginia from Capitol Hill five years ago. The flowers lasted the usual life span. Bur ever since that first flowering, it never bloomed again - until Valentine’s Day. What I thought was just another root turned out to be a spike in October. We watched it mature from nothing to a large branch that eventually had five flowers. It’s amazing how long it took for the spike to grow - and then in such a short time, each bud opened just a couple of days apart. So I took photos of each of the five flowers  - comparing them to see if they were identical or a little different. They all look pretty much the same, but there are subtle changes in the design shapes on the petals. I hope the flowers last for a long time - and I am almost afraid to cut the spike again once they fall. Orchids are tricky to keep going. If nothing else we were fortunate to see another showcase. 

52Frames Complementary Colors Weekly Photo Challenge

The subject for the weekly 52Frames photo challenge was “complementary colors.” That meant red/green; yellow/purple; or orange/blue. Since I have never done oil and water macro photography before, I thought this might be a good time to try it. So I read up about what I needed to do. It would start out with either photos I have taken in my photo stream or creating a digital artwork using complementary colors. The background images would be seen on my iPad on the highest light, and then a clear glass casserole dish was placed on top of it - after first putting the iPad in a clear freezer bag. Then about an inch or two of water was added to the dish along with drops of oil. Then some dish washing detergent was added so the bubbles would be accentuated. This process went on for a few days - because each time I did it I learned something new, and it was just a lot of fun. The end result was a lot of different abstract bubble art. Of course my husband and I couldn’t agree on what image should be submitted. I liked the obvious bright two color combinations. He liked the image that was visually appealing - whether it met the criteria or not. So I ended up uploading the green/red bubble combination that looked like it was moving, that had a neighborhood park bench as the background. But because some of the bubbles were salmon in color I touched them up a bit to match the other red bubbles in the image. It was a fascinating process, but in the end there were just too many choices! 

Takelot.com Selling My Books Without My Permission

I wrote and illustrated three children’s books and published them on Amazon. One was about a Tiny Fish, another was about Four Promises, and the last was about a Trip to DC. All of them were inspired by my two grandsons. Every once in a while I google the books to see what is what. I have found outlets selling my books without my consent - and have notified Amazon on several occasions by reporting copyright infringement. Sometimes the situation is resolved; sometimes it is not. I have also found a lot of my digital art being sold without permission and have contacted the specific websites. That usually goes nowhere. Last week I found all three of my books being sold on a site called Takealot.com. I sent them an email stating that I had not given them permission to sell my books and to take them down. They actually responded - and the end result was that two of the items were removed. The third item still remains. So I contacted them again with a photo of the book on their website again requesting that it be removed. So now I am waiting to hear. It’s not that I have made any money on any of these books. It’s just the principle of the thing. It took a lot of effort to go through the exercise of not only writing but also illustrating these books. It just doesn’t seem right that someone could collect a dime off of any sale!

Deserted DC Streets

Last week I was on the hunt for photos that had something to do with “unexplored.” The idea was to see something that we had never visited. We started out at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum. Then the next day we went to River Farm in Alexandria. The next day we went to the Department of the Interior. And the last day we drove over to the. National Mall and walked to the Portrait Gallery that wasn’t yet open. There was an orchid show there but it was unlikely we would see it because we were on a timed meter and it would be too late by the time we could finally get in. So we meandered around the portrait gallery area and found that it was no longer the way we remembered it. There was hardly a soul in sight. The streets were empty, there weren’t a lot of pedestrians, and there wasn’t much traffic. Chinatown was deserted. We stumbled upon City Center - a place I have been wanting to see since we moved away from Capitol Hill five years ago. We watched it getting built - with all of the “fine shops” and condos galore. The pink and red lanterns strung about were nice enough, but the stores were empty and there was a security presence on every block. It actually was quite sad. Perhaps it gets busier in the evenings and weekends. I don’t think I care to visit again. 

Bubbles Macro photography on Redbubble, Pixels, and TeePublic

Since I started making custom digital art pet portraits over ten years ago using my iPad, many of the designs and portraits were also used to populate my storefront websites. Those websites include Redbubble, Pixels, and TeePublic. For the last three years or so I started to participate in the weekly 52Frames photo challenge. I have learned a lot since I am not really a photographer. I just love to take pictures. And each week the challenge is different. This week is complementary colors. Usually I just try to find objects or scenes that meet the requirement. But this time I thought I would try something different. I learned about taking macro photos of oil and water. But I would paint the complementary colors first on my iPad and use those designs as the backdrop to create the bubble images. And also photos that were taken that have those colors could also be used as backdrops. The end result was really interesting - to me. There are so many lovely abstract images that emerged - too many to even figure out which one I want to use this week for the challenge. And because I like them so much I am also starting to upload them on to the websites. You can create so many different products using these colors - red/green, purple/yellow, and orange/blue. It can be very time consuming but fun at the same time. I don’t expect a whole lot of response, but it makes me feel good to know that I learned something new and the outcome is pretty. 

Daughters of the American Revolution Museum Visit

We had been to the Daughters of the American Revolution theater twice. As a Library of Congress employee I got free lottery tickets to see Gershwin prize winners Willie Nelson and Billy Joel  - they needed people to “fill the seats” and we were very happy to oblige. We have never been to the museum so we went last week to visit to get an image for the 52Frames photo challenge. We walked over from the Tidal Basin and the building is situated close to the White House. It was built in the early 1900’s. We were lucky to have a docent who was free to take my husband and I on a whirlwind tour. Unfortunately half of the building was under renovation, but we were happy with what we saw. That included the huge genealogy library, a lovely gallery space used for weddings, and several historical rooms. The views from the gallery were lovely - including one of the Washington Monument. There were dining rooms, bedrooms and sitting rooms - all decorated in period pieces designed by the represented states. I ended up creating a composite image of the mirror in the gallery and the wallpaper from an early 1800’s Virginia dining room. Afterwards we walked around the building on our way back to the car. It was nice to see the inside of the building we have walked by so many times. Maybe when the renovation is done we will visit again.