Murals and Military

Sunday was a beautiful day so I hopped in Stuart and headed for the countryside to explore some local towns which I'd not visited before. I also decided to check out Warrenton, a town I used to love but had stopped going to because the old town area had lost it's small antique and craft shops. But I'd not been for a few years and hoped time had made it better.

The court buildings make a grand impression as you visit the old town area but as I walked around I became disappointed at the lack of interesting shops. There were a few antique stores still remaining but none that were open or looked inviting. The one shop I was hoping to see which used to stock interesting gifts had gone and I didn't step across one threshold as I passed shop doorways.

But I was pleasantly surprised as I walked back to the car to stumble across these murals and trompe l'oeil of the Civil War. They weren't here last time and made the trip here worthwhile. I got back in the car and continued driving.

In Marshall I stopped at this abandoned building, my eye caught by the wonderfully warped wood on the doors.

There was also a builders yard by the railway line and I grabbed a couple of shots here too. I'd forgotten my marble and piece of mirror which annoyed me a bit, I could've got some interesting photos here with them.

As I left Marshall, I came across these military vehicles parked in an industrial yard. After some research I found that these are vehicles used for movie rentals which was very exciting and may warrant a future return trip.

Heading towards The Plains which is horse country I saw this photo and had to do a U turn to go back to take it.

I stopped at The Plains and walked around. It was very pretty and very small. After looking through two craft shops and walking up and down the street I was back at Stuart withing an hour. I drove back home happy to have been out and got some fresh air with temperatures above 50 degrees. Spring is nearly here and I'm looking forward to being outdoors more. But this afternoon I was glad to get home and relax on the sofa with the doors and windows open while watching TV with a glass of red, nicely prepared for another week of work after another enjoyable weekend.

21 Clever Examples of English Language

I came across this on the web and thought they were wonderful examples of our language. And now you can see why they say English is so hard to learn. In 5) the second 'lead' means 'leash' for Americans.

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.

2. The farm was used to produce produce.

3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.

4. We must polish the Polish furniture.

5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7. Since there was no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10. I did not object to the object.

11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12. There was a row among the oarsmen on how to row.

13. They were too close to the door to close it.

14. The buck does funny things when does are present.

15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Brownies at Emblemax

On Saturday Oscar and I joined Mike at work to give a demonstration to Mike's daughter Isabelle's Brownie troop on how t-shirts are printed. We went through the whole procedure from a brief explanation on how the art is produced right through to them printing their own shirt.

Mike explaining how the design is burned onto the screens. The girls were very attentive and understood all the steps.

They helped collect some shirts as they came through the dryer after being printed. Saved us completing an order on Monday! Loved their expressions!

Mike's son Addison came along too and took a great interest in one of the tape guns. He is such a cute little guy.

The troop also saw how garments are embroidered and had flags sewn onto their shirts too. Judging by the hand art they were looking forward to their pizza lunch.

They all took part in manually printing, using three screens and pulling the ink across to coat their shirts.I was very impressed how they all handled the task, determined to make a great job of it and succeeding. Those squeegees can be hard work to pull across the mesh.

They all wore their shirts as soon as they came through the dryer.

And a group shot afterwards. We were really pleased with how the session went. Everyone worked hard yet had fun at the same time and even managed to answer Mike's questions at the end. This may be the start of some future weekend sessions so people can come and print their own shirts while learning the processes involved. Here is a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnHP1W3dqgohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnHP1W3dqgo

Checking out the Shooters in Fairfax

For the whole time I've lived in NOVA I've been aware of t he NRA Headquarters in Fairfax. I've driven countless times past their building next to Rte 66 and seen the signs on Rte 50, always saying to myself that one day I would drop in and have a look. So with Sunday being a miserable grey and rainy day I decided it was time to go.

The website boasts of the museum housing the finest collection of firearms in the world but I wasn't expecting to see that much and was assuming I'd be in and out within 30 minutes. Well I was wrong. This was in fact a large area and it was quite impressive to see so many guns in one area. I didn't know where to look first.

I decided to check out the pistols first as I've always loved them. I really liked the clean lines and simplicity of this Swiss gun.

But this Smith & Wesson was my favorite and if I had been able to hold it, I wouldn't have given it back. I had a hard time pulling myself away from this gun to look at the rest of the museum.

These Colt pistols were quite pretty but I'd determined as I walked around that I wasn't really into all the 'pretty' guns.

I loved these displays of ammunition.

There were also a few 'back then' displays which were very well done.

Of course there had to be a statue of Charlton Heston, a very good likeness, in his favorite role of Will Penny.

There was also a movie room with posters and weapons used in many famous films. It was an impressive collection. There was also a NRA store and here I bought my first ever shot glass.  I found that I'd spent about an hour and a half walking around but I'm going to go back at some point and read more about some of the guns. And to see that Smith & Wesson again...

Mike's Mustangs, MD

Emily and I met up on Saturday morning and after breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts we drove to Mike's Mustangs, a salvage yard full of around 1400 old Mustangs. It's owned by a firefighter who took over the yard from his father. We walked into the workshop and after I politely asked if it would be OK to photograph the cars he almost bowed us through to the yard.
Here's a sweeping view of the place. Another short video to add to my YouTube collection.

Some of the cars had been there so long that trees were growing between them. 

We found a few other old cars amongst the Mustangs and this wonderfully rusted old truck, but we couldn't find a badge to identify it.

OK, so where'd the accelerator go?
This Mustang graveyard was awesome but wouldn't be so in a couple of weeks time when the weather warmed up and the ticks started appearing. We'd timed our visit well.
We took stacks of photos then afterwards visited Andrew at his house and met Parker the Hamster who was gorgeously sweet but I didn't photograph her as hamsters apparently stress out very easily. We strolled around some old buildings in Indian Head and then headed back home. Andrew suggested we check out an old water plant on the way back so we headed there and had a strange experience. As we drove by the plant and looked for somewhere unobtrusive to park Stuart, we noticed a guy up on the bank at the side of the road hiding. He was crouched down and trying to avoid us by scuttling sideways out of sight. We turned around further down the road and drove back to see him flattened down on the ground. He knew we'd seen him. We parked up and walked back to the plant looking out for him but he was nowhere to be seen. Strolling down a side lane, Emily and I peered into the woods and scouted the perimeter of the plant. He was nowhere to be seen but I felt he was watching. I was getting a bit creeped out and when we found deer carcasses with the legs scattered about, I was pretty much done but reluctant to admit it. Luckily for me the sun was setting so we decided to drive back and head home. Since when did I start becoming a wuss? Not the best end to the day but it was great to get home to the puddy tat and share the sofa.