Hi there! I went for a walk this morning with a couple of friends, Nancy and Lisa.  They remain unseen in the pictures at this time.  Shy.

We walked in the direction against the river flow.  Around here, we either walk “up river” or “down river” or “up the road” or “down the road.”    We walked “up river” this morning.

It’s a nice flat walk, and we encountered a number of pals along the way.

Our first friend is a bit dead.    It used to be a possum.  We have lots of vultures living along the river that take care of roadkill matters,  but with the number of groundhogs, skunks, and possums meeting an early demise this summer, one squished possum is not worth picking up.  RIP possum!

Up a little farther in the picture is Annalee.  Annalee is our neighbor’s Great Pyrenees dog.  These dogs are common in our area because small farmers cannot afford to lose livestock to coyotes.  There are three on Swinging Bridge Road–there’s Molly, Annalee and Snowball.  Annalee is very protective of her place, so she’s not happy when we walk by with Mack on the leash.  Mack is a Golden Retriever.  He could care less about Annalee and her glaring, barks, growls and other issues she has with him.  While he does wonder about what’s underneath that dirty white fur, he really only loves his Mommy, Miss Nancy.  If asked, Mack says, “Annalee, well…she is a bitch.”

Going a little further…some pretty horses.   These horses are ridden to church every Sunday in nice weather.

Nice horsey!

Here’s a turtle!!  Not my best friend, but I’m respectful of her place in the river and hope she doesn’t get run over.  Must be laying eggs, as I normally don’t see these turtles unless they are sunning on a log in the river.  A loud noise, and they all go SPLASH!  Maybe we’ll try and capture this on video for a future post.

Here’s Betty Butterbutt.   Don’t bother the turtle Betty Butterbutt!  You will be very sorry! 

Everyone in Mendota has two or three dogs.  She belongs to the Hammond family who also owns Annalee.  She used to be Betty Butternut because some of her fur is the color of butternut squash.  Somehow her name changed to Betty Butterbutt.

Finally, we’re passed the dogs, and here’s some pretty flowers along the road.  One of the good things that has occurred due to the economic downturn is that VDOT uses less herbicide resulting in more flowers!      Every cloud has a silver lining (something my mother used to say.)

This walk ends, and I’m home.  Since I’m sweaty, I decide to water the raised beds.   We need rain badly in southwest Virginia.

Oh no….I have a visitor that I really do like but she doesn’t really know when to leave.

Mrs. Summer Squash!  And there are babies hiding under the umbrella of leaves!    We will be up to our elbows in this stuff over the next month!  I see a squash recipe in a future post.

Tomorrow we are continuing with our project work around the house.    Mike and a friend will begin installing hardwood in the guest house bedroom,  and I’ll be working in the main house guest bedroom making new window treatments.