November 30, 2020

The shadow from this cute little owl caught my eye this afternoon.

November 29, 2020 - Part 2

Jed's favorite part of the visit with the grandbabies.  :)

 

November 29, 2020 - Part 1

We left Mom & Dad's early this morning 

so we would have time to swing by and see the grandbabies on the way home.

 It was mostly sunny when we left Portsmouth,

but along the way we hit a huge patch of fog that lasted 10-15 minutes.

We could actually see it ahead so clearly we thought it was smoke. 

Jed took this picture on his phone at 10:43 am...

...and then at 10:44 am, we were out of it as abruptly as when we entered.
 

November 28, 2020 - Part 8

Last stop was City Park.  

This is the bridge I crossed over when I moved up from Brownies to Girl Scouts.  

Only back then, it was a much nicer bridge...wood and rounded.  

And no fencing...apparently they trusted us not to fall in. :)

We were driving the path along the river when a super bright light caught my eye...

I knew it was the sun reflecting off the windows of the house across the river,

but everyone else in my family thought I was crazy...

they said it was the house's lights.

I was so happy to show prove to them it was the setting sun!  :)

We came across a huge flock of geese...

Jed thought he would make them fly off...

silly boy....

they weren't the least bit afraid of him.

 

November 28, 2020 - Part 7

Next up was the Shea Terrace neighborhood, where my favorite childhood restaurant used to be.  

Back then, going out to dinner was a real treat, 

and this place was especially so, as it actually looked like a ship...

right on the water, dark interior, old wood, even a porthole in the bathroom!

Terrible picture, but cute sign. :)
 

November 28, 2020 - Part 6

Swimming Point is in Olde Towne, a historic downtown neighborhood.

It was a mild Saturday afternoon and it was nice to see so many people out and about,

walking and playing in the parks.

A memorial to veterans of the Spanish Wars

1898-1902

This tank is on the grounds of the Portsmouth Naval Hospital.
 

November 28, 2020 - Part 5

The water was beautiful today.

The cormorant found his dinner while we watched.
 

November 28, 2020 - Part 4

I'm so glad I got some better shots of the cormorant - he was gorgeous!

 

November 28, 2020 - Part 3

I was taking pics of these two bufflehead ducks when out of nowhere, 

up pops this thing that moved and looked exactly like a periscope,

looking every which way.

I was using my zoom lens

(through my windshield, which is why the pics are fuzzy)

and just kept snapping pics, 

though I didn't know what in the world I was looking at for a moment.

I wish these pictures captured the hilarity of the moment.

Guess you had to be there.  :)

Looks like a double-crested cormorant.

November 28, 2020 - Part 2

We always include a drive around downtown.  

The tree was a nice surprise.

One of the ferries that runs from downtown Portsmouth to downtown Norfolk.

An absolute must (for me) is a visit to the tiny neighborhood of Swimming Point.

That's Norfolk on the other side of the Elizabeth River.

Waterside is the Norfolk version of Portsmouth's Portside.

 

November 28, 2020 - Part 1

We've created a tradition the last few years of driving around my hometown every time I visit, 

and I love it.

I don't remember knowing in my childhood about most of the places we see...

my mom and dad's first apartments, 

the little neighborhood village they used to walk around,

their first house,

the house where my great-aunt and great-uncle lived before I knew them,

 the Norfolk Naval Shipyard entrance my dad walked through every morning for 34 years.

 

November 27, 2020

My dad being silly.  :)

November 26, 2020

My Mom and Dad keep their house a wee bit warmer than we do ours.  :)

(that's a reflection of something on his back, not some weird rash)  :D

November 25, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

(a day early)

We're heading to my Mom & Dad's this afternoon!!

(after isolating the last week and a half)

 

November 24, 2020

Found this on the sidewalk down the street...

looks like a bear print filled with moss.

November 23, 2020

The creek water is still rushing from all the rain we've had this year.

November 22, 2020 - Our Country Diary

This is going to be a different sort of post than what I've been doing this year with Project 365.

 

For years now a postcard has arrived at my house every October from Ferris Wheels & Carousels.

They sell a line of products created by Michel Design Works,

which includes the annual Our Country Diary.

I've been using this diary for close to 30 years, and have loved it.

Starting a brand new book every year has held the same excitement 

as beginning brand new notebooks every school year when I was a child...

a clean slate, a fresh start, a brand new year.

I have filled them with my daily activities, favorite photos, ticket stubs, fortunes, cards and notes, 

and any other meaningful memorabilia small enough to fit on their pages. 

I realized with a bit of a start late in the month that I hadn't received a postcard,

which was odd since I've never missed one, even through all our many moves over the years.

 I went to their website to order, and was horrified - 

horrified, I tell you! - 

to learn that this year's was the company's last publication.

And I had thought 2020 couldn't get any worse!

I know it probably sounds silly, but it felt like I was losing a friend.

 

I googled Our Country Diary to see what came up, 

and found a post written by an author named Kate Fellowes.

You can read it here if you're interested.

She was grieving the loss as much as I was, and it was comforting to know I wasn't the only one.

I left a comment and asked if she had any recommendations for replacements.

She did have a couple of books in mind, and I ordered them both,

as it didn't seem possible to evaluate them properly without seeing them in person.

Here they are, along with my comments:

French Country Diary, by Linda Dannenberg.

 This book is beautiful, as you can see from the following two photos of the inside spreads,

and it has a similar lay-out to Our Country Diary.

The problems are:

1.  I'm not drawn enough to French life to want it to be part of my diary.

2.  While the photographs are beautiful, 

they wouldn't make for a good background for my own photos and other memorabilia.

click on photos to enlarge for detail

Days from the Heart of the Home, by Susan Branch.

This book is similar to Our Country Diary in the artwork, 

and it's spiral bound, which is good for laying open well.

The problems are:

1. It is not yearly, so the dates in each spread are not going to reflect a calendar week,

which I know I'm used to, but which I'm sure I would prefer even if I wasn't.

2.  The number of days per spread are not consistent, 

and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the inconsistency.

3.  Each side of the spread has dates written on it, so there is no room for memorabilia

except on the also-inconsistent pages with art/writing sprinkled throughout.

As with the French Country Diary, these would not make for ideal backgrounds either.

Eccolo World Traveler Desk Size

This is what I've decided to go with, for now.

It's certainly not colorful and pretty like the Our Country Diary,

or either of the other options I've looked at,

but I don't mind that terribly.

The OCD covers are bright and colorful, but I'm not a huge fan of flowers.

The art in OCD is vintage, which I like, but sometimes it is in the way...

I end up writing over it (if I can; if not, I lose the writing space)

and covering it up with photos, etc., most of the time.

This blank notebook is lined, which is helpful not just for writing but for lining up photos as well

so they're not all slanting to the right as I'm prone to do. :)

The only thing missing is the Month and Date headings,

which will be easy enough to add.

The paper is a decent weight, 

and it's comparable in size to OCD, except a little larger, which can't hurt.

The end papers are similar to what would be inside an Our Country Diary,

which makes a nice background for cards.

Purchased at Amazon.

 

 We'll see how this goes...I'm a little nervous but also a little excited...

excited because I think I might actually end up preferring the plain pages.

Here's to 2021!

If you have any questions about any of these diaries or would like to see more photographs,

please leave a comment and I would be happy to help!