Little Miss Revlon

 

At The Bargain Loft yesterday this 1950's Ideal doll with her suitcase of outfits was put out for sale - at half its marked price.

I included it in a post on Facebook - The Bargain Loft page and shared it to 'Talking Antiques' - a large worldwide Facebook group.

Lots of interest, comments from people who had these dolls when they were young, and expressions of interest.

This morning, long before the shop opened, it sold - to one of our own volunteers!

Visitors large and small

 

Yesterday we had an overnight visitor to the outside decking who left a substantial 'calling card'.  We didn't capture the culprit on our night camera -only the usual raccoons - and there has been much speculation about who are visitor might have been!

 

Today, however, a more welcome visitor.  We have not seen a chipmunk here before although they used to visit regularly at the other house.

 

They are very cute and very quick.  Also very interested in the bird seed - although so far this one has not managed to reach the seed feeders.

 

No doubt he will keep trying...

 

New Flavours

 

The manufacturers of Oreo biscuits seem to put a great deal of effort into creating new, limited edition flavours.  This one - presumably with Independence Day in mind - features popping candy to create 'Fireworks'.

 

This is a flavor which Lauren identified online - sounds good but we have yet to find it in the shops.

 

This product, which I found in Giant this week, was a bit of a surprise..  popcorn with the flavours of cookies and cream..

What next?  Maybe popcorn flavored Oreos??

Evening Walk

 

After dinner this evening we walked along the creek (which is mostly dry) to look at what was in flower and what was visiting the flowers.   There is a large patch of sweet smelling milkweed - the bees are busy visiting the flowers but no sign of any Monarch caterpillars or butterflies.

Plenty of life on this plant - appeared to be a reddish brown aphid.

 

A very dark winged damsel fly was fluttering around by the stream.

 

Under the bridge there is a sheltered patch of water which contained some enormous tadpoles - 2-3 inches long.

 

Judging by the loud noises that we heard under the bridge and along the stream bed, these may be the offspring of American Bull Frogs which are huge.  We will return with a better lens to try to photograph them.

The final photo capture on our walk was this beautiful flowering tree..

 

Close up the flowers are delicate but spectacular..

 

Further along the road we found a bush that was illuminated by the setting sun and the colours were quite different.

 

 

On to another tree in the shade - the bees were visiting enthusiastically but seemed to be having some difficulty scrambling over the delicate petals..

 

 

The tree seems to grow quite freely at the roadside and is a type of mimosa, known as Silktree Mimosa - presumably because of the silky fronds of the flowers.

 

Watchful Hawk

 

At dusk this handsome hawk (possibly a Red-Shouldered Hawk?) was sitting in one of the trees at the edge of the grass below the house (apologies for blurry photo - he was at the far extent of the zoom).

 

We knew that he was there before we saw him as the smaller birds in the surrounding trees had set up a cacophony of alarm calls to try to scare him away.

His focus, though, was firmly on the ground below, watching for movement in the grass.

Antique Car Show

 

Yesterday we visited the 44th Annual Fathers Day Antique (Classic) Car Show at Sully Historic Site a few miles from here.

 

Hundreds of classic cars from the very early ones to these iconic sporty ones, familiar from so many American movies, were displayed in the bright sunshine.

 

In some cases the interiors were even more spectacular than the exterior and many were beautifully restored.

 

Many of the cars had stories to tell of rallies attended and prizes won over many years.

 

This one had presumably spent some time in the UK..

 

We liked these 'Woodies'..

 

 

Some of the older vehicles had beautiful mascots..

 

This one looked as if it may be Lalique.  Certainly glass..

 

This one was splendidly polished chrome..

 

So much to see but as it got hotter the cars under the trees became the most attractive..such as this handsome MG..

 

Here route 28 - the major road to Dulles airport is in the background.  A different era of motoring, although fairly quiet on a Sunday morning.

Melting Pot

 

This evening - David's Father's Day treat - we went to the local 'Melting Pot' fondue restaurant.

We had visions - from fondues long ago - of pots of boiling oil precariously balanced above the table - but this was a very neat hot plate arrangement set into the granite table-top and no naked flames at all.

 

The first part of the meal was an alpine Swiss cheese fondue with bread, vegetables and fruit to dip into the melted 

cheese.

 

The second, main, course consisted of a selection of chopped raw meat and vegetables to be cooked in a boiling pot of stock, wine, oil and spices, with various sauces and dips.  Most items cooked in about two minutes.

 

Finally, dessert - a little rum flambed over melted chocolate - and fruit, marshmallows and sweet bites to dip.

 

An interesting experience!