Welcoming Visitors

In addition to yesterday being my day to post my Where I Live Day photos, it was my “welcoming friends to my house” day. audioboy and bex77 have been on a road trip from Mass to Ind and stopped at my place on their way back. So I spent the days beforehand cleaning the place (still only a lick & a promise – that’s all I ever seem to do).

They arrived around 11am as they projected and were looking forward to meeting the kitties. However, my kitties are not used to visitors and decided to hide rather than greet the guests. Silly kitties! Still, Lucy was the braver of the two (her weakness is loud noises, not strangers) and at least allowed N & B to look at her and take her photo. They even got to do a small amount of scritching before she hopped away again.

I had suggested lunch at the new pizza place in town and they thought that would be nice. So we walked to the other end of town for lunch. I tried the turkey sub, they shared pizza and a steak sub. They seemed to like the food. I know I did. 🙂 I told Jeff, the owner, that he’s now passed the Massachusetts test. The next big test will be the Chicago test when I bring judiang there later this week.

We got ice cream for the walk back and returned to Chez trinalin. Lucy was pottering about in the bedroom and Linus was sleeping under the comforter on the bed. I showed the lump to N & B and we decided that was the most we’d see of Linus during their visit.

They returned to their car and figured out the easiest way to get back on their way East. I waved goodbye as they headed off then returned to the house to scold the ungrateful kitties. Sure enough, they poked their heads out soon enough as if to say “OK, we’re ready for visitors now!” Silly kitties!

Thanks for coming, N & B! It was lovely having you!

In other news, tomorrow I shall post the answer to my rather abject riddle. So far, one person’s guessed it correctly and two were impressively close. 🙂

Small Town, OH

elsaf introduced me to the group wild_photos last year, but I never got around to publishing photos of my hometown in the Where I Live Day (WILD) community. But this year I was prepared. Two weeks ago, armed only with my trusty digital camera and a beautiful day, I took loads of photos of my town. So, come with me and take a walk around town.


Home
Home

Here’s my house & garage. Linus, my cat, can just barely be seen in the picture window looking out at me. I had hoped my lawn boy would have gotten to the shrubs by now, but he’s been too busy at his real job.

Gas Station
Gas Station

Here’s the local gas station, which is also the closest thing we have to a grocery now. The day I took the photo (2 weeks ago), gas was $2.75 a gallon. Today it’s 10 cents less.

The View into Town
The View into Town

Anyone driving up from the south will have this view of town. If you look carefully, you can see the monument. It’s the triangular gray thing in the center of the road.

Still in Town
Still in Town

Yes, this is another view from in the town. Although the barn itself is technically not in town, where I’m standing to take the photo is.

Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren

There are 5 churches in our very small town (3 on Church Street, oddly enough). I must not have gotten around to taking the photo of the one that’s on the National Registry of Buildings.

School!
School!

Here’s my alma mater and current employer. The windows in the bottom right are from my science lab.

Klopfer Building
Klopfer Building

This building used to house Klopfer’s Grocery, long since out of business. (Well, they were open when I was a kid.) Around the back right of the building is where the new pizza place is. It’s good food too – had lunch there today.

Sunflowers
Sunflowers

I’m still in town as I’m heading for the river. Beyond this corn field is the cemetery.

Bridge
Bridge

This bridge is outside of town and crosses the Stillwater River. When my sister and I were little (and the bridge was an old steel bridge) we’d ride our bikes here and play Pooh Sticks.

Stillwater River
Stillwater River

The Stillwater River – looking a bit low these days thanks to the drought-like conditions.

Cemetery
Cemetery

Back in town again to visit the cemetery.

Corn
Corn

Up close & personal with some corn. This is what you see if you’re looking away from the gravestones in the cemetery.

Grain Elevator
Grain Elevator

What town is complete without a grain elevator?

Graffiti
Graffiti

We even have our own graffiti in town (on the previously mentioned grain elevator). The “90” is from the class after mine in high school. Not sure if the graffiti is as well or not.

Sign
Sign

Now you know the name of the town… But I took this photo for the sign. How many places do you know of who advertise the medications they sell in their vending machines? I know of one!

The Beery School
The Beery School

This building used to house the Beery School of Horsemanship (The Only School Of Its Kind In The World). It was a correspondence school of horsemanship. Was very famous in the right circles. (I guess the circles that horses went around in.)

Monument
Monument

Ah, the town monument. It’s a Civil War soldier looking south to alert us if the South ever rises up again. Or something. Still, folks in the area might not know my town, but if you say “It’s the one with the monument in the center” folks go “Oh! I drove through there once!”


Riddle

I thought of this riddle the other day. I’ll post the answer later, but feel free to guess in the comments (they’ll be screened for your protection – heh). Oh, it’s not a good riddle or anything… 😉

Q: How is a fallen angel like my little girl kitty’s fluffy coat?

GIP (with HP7 Spoilers)

I thought of this icon the other night and have now made it. However, if you have not read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and intend to, you should wait until afterward to check out the LJ cut.

From my favorite bit in the whole book (for now):

I know that if anyone’s gonna like this icon, it’ll be my sister. But Amy, be warned: don’t look until you finish the book. 🙂