Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery

What a beautiful last day of September we're having!  I've just come in from walking Himself, Mr. Duncan, and he was feeling his oats.  :)  The sky is so blue and the sunlight is clear and warm...and thank goodness for retractable leashes.  ;)  Duncan was able to dash all about, and I could walk at a (mostly) sensible pace without having to run to keep up with him.

Back on the very first day of this month, we visited a local winery called Raffaldini.  It was a gorgeous day, just like today, and we had a great time walking around snapping pictures and enjoying the amazing views there.  It was crowded that day, so obviously, a lot of other people had the same idea we did.  :)

Hal and I first visited this winery back in 2003 or 2004, and I thought it was pretty then.  I was even more impressed on this visit.  The building and surrounding gardens and walkways are beautiful, and the views are spectacular.

Classic Blue and White

Hi folks!  Back in August, I wrote a post about summer touches around our house.  In that post, I showed some images of our den, our front porch, and the blue and white dishes on our kitchen shelves.  Most of the comments I received said that the blue and white collection was a favorite.

I love blue and white, too.  I wanted to show you a little more detail of the dishes on our display shelves in the kitchen.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Scones

Last week, I celebrated another birthday.  What a fast year this has been!  I went to dinner at a favorite restaurant with my husband and son and had a wonderful meal.  The next day, I had lunch with my parents in their sun room and afterwards made scones with my mom.

Summer Into Fall

Summer is transitioning into Fall.  According to my calendar, tonight is the Autumnal Equinox, and tomorrow is officially the first day of Fall.  I love the season changes, especially when summer changes to fall.  The roadsides are lined with yellow and golden wildflowers, and the leaves are just beginning their floating, dancing descent towards the ground.  The grass is extra green, the sky is a deep blue, and the air outside will soon be feeling crisp and slightly cool.  One of my favorite things about fall is the subtle way the quality of the sunlight changes; have you noticed that?

"Church of the Fresco"

Of Thistles and Scots

Happy Tuesday!  I hope your week got off to a good start.  Yesterday, I posted a picture mosaic of some wildflowers that Hal and I saw Sunday on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.  One weed flower that I was so pleased to get pictures of was this --

 Field Thistle

A Wildflower Mosaic

Hi everyone!  Wow, I feel like I haven't talked to you in ages!  I never intended to disappear from my blog for two weeks straight.  A lot has been happening here (not all good), and it just hit me one day that I was tired.  I never seem to lack for ideas for blog posts; it's making time for all of them that is a problem.  But this time, my mind was even too tired to put thoughts and images together, and without meaning to, I just checked out for a little while.

Today I did a quick post (relatively speaking) -- those of you who blog know it takes awhile to make picture mosaics.