Cinnamon

Cinnamon Jigsaw Puzzle

Isn't Cinnamon a cutie?
Just for fun, here is the mermaid's self-portrait:

Short Pump

Short Pump Jigsaw Puzzle
I've driven by Short Pump hundreds of times and even ran out of gas there once. But this was something I had never before seen there.

A Day in the Homeland

Sunset Ride Jigsaw Puzzle
Home at last! As much as I love my mountain home now, the Chesapeake Bay will always be home to me. These are the beaches that spawned and nourished my love affair with the sea. This was shot at Seashore State Park tonight (in spite of the state renaming the park "First Landing," it will always be Seashore State Park in my book!) where I did an impromptu portrait session with Cindy and her son, Chris. Chris surprised his mom for her 60th birthday this morning while we were having brunch at the Virginia Beach Conference Center. Don't get me started on the legendary brunch they serve . . . did I mention the seared Ahi Tuna cooked to order? Or how about the doughnut maker: it's Krispie Kreme on a personal scale. Or the Bananas Foster (of course, made to order) with homemade ice cream? Shrimp amd oysters on the half shell, and the omelet station, and waffle station, and carving station, and the chocolate fountain, oh, and that tuna!!! OH, help! I'm talking about food and I can't stop!!

Goodness! Back to Cindy and Chris now. Cindy asked if I would mind doing a portrait of her and Chris since she hasn't had one made since he was a teen, and I was happy to oblige her on the condition that we do it on the beach at sunset. Thanks, you two, for stepping out of your comfort zone to share a little family love, and for holding the cameras for the mermaid so I could wet my gills!

McPherson Road

ALRRRRRIGHT!!! Cool, geeky brother in law solved my internet woes for me this morning, so here is the picture I wanted to share. I found McPherson Road in Elizabeth City, NC yesterday, and I have to wonder, is it a "sign?"
We are at a crossroads for making a decision about what to do with Grandmommy's beloved farm in Elizabeth City. Her deceased brother's family want to sell and get their money; David's family is (true to nature) undecided. None of us want to actually spend money to buy them out. One of us has emotional attachments to the memories there; and one of us thinks that we can make an investment of it by developing it.
We will be gathering at the farm on August 31 to place mother's ashes on her parents grave, so a decision will be wrenched from the herd by then (I would think!)

Travels . . . Travails

Happy Birthday Jigsaw Puzzle

Since I have been a part of two birthday celebrations this week,you get a birthday gift puzzle; but I'm afraid not much more since it is really late, and I'm really, really tired, and really, really, really frustrated with computer technical difficulties tonight. (This is the third computer I have tried tonight!) Perhaps, with better luck tomorrow, there will be more pictures.

Any Report of My Demise is False

Borg Jigsaw Puzzle
I'll bet you all thought that I had succumbed! Despite sweating to within a degree of a molten state, I was, instead, assimilated. Yes! I rode that Borg! Lying on my back, upside down, head-first, but not until after the sun had gone down.
Tonight I am alive and well in air-conditioned comfort at Monika's (in stark contrast to the homeplace where it was 86 degrees inside when I left) where I will have to bid adieu to Corey and Jakob tomorrow morning and head to my sister's little celebration she is having in honor of her sister-in-law's retirement.

Reporting Live from Charlotte, NC

coneflowers Jigsaw Puzzle
I am melting in Charlotte tonight. It's still 89 degrees at midnight!! We celebrated Corey's upcoming Sweet Sixteeth birthday at the Bucca di Beppo, AKA, the Birthday Party Restaurant and are sleeping at the Birthday Party Hotel, as well. These places will forever be memorialized as the Birthday places in Agape's world because I had my birthday party there and now Corey has, too. But what a contrast to the night of my birthday party when it was sleeting and snowing!
Tomorrow, we fry!! Anybody want to take wagers on who will be the first to drop in the 102 degree heat at Carowinds??