MORNING ROLL CALL 2023.

Yes I am a little late as it was a long holiday weekend so I'm posting now.

@DaveMcK , good for you for sleeping in.  Nothing wrong with that. 😉 I'm a master at that art. 😁

@catwoman500 , glad your holidays worked out merry and happy for everyone.  I, too, hate driving at night.  I hate driving...period!  It's just not fun anymore, constantly on high alert for everyone around you. 😬

Greeted the new year with a First Day Hike at Mason Neck SP here in VA.  (Not like I missed a great Sunday football game or anything. 🙄)  Foggy morning (makes for an ethereal and eerie hike), but it quickly burned off.  Temps climbed (probably the warmest 1st Day Hike I've done in a looooong time) and more peeps came out, but, of course, you can usually find a trail less traveled.  Met a couple with a little boy and girl and they said it was their kids' very first hike ever.  Kids had their little backpacks and looked like they were having a ball discovering Mother Nature.  One of the happiest things I saw. 😄

@Anonymous , you asked me about my username last year.  When I was younger, I was 6' tall and it was a nickname that stuck.  (Of course, shrinkage has occurred over the years and I'd really have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h to reach that height now.)  But 'Stretch' is usually a masculine nickname, hence the Ms.  Old friends still call me Stretch.

Hoping to see the rest of the gang soon.  Hope everything is OK, @Frozenoem , been while since we heard from you.

@catwoman500 , maybe Eagles taking a 'break' before the really serious play gets underway.  I see all the teams in the NFC East clinched a playoff spot except for you-know-who. 😞 They lost to a team who had already been eliminated and now the Commanders join them when the Packers' win sealed that deal. 🙄

Shame what happened during tonight's game. 😟 That is scary.  Hoping for a good outcome for Damar Hamlin.

@Frozenoem , ain't modern meds and side effects grand?  Being a little bit facetious, because I found out in the last year just how beneficial they can be. 

@Anonymous , that old post from several years ago is a blast from the past.  It was a pic of my indoor cat watching her favorite team (Pouncy Panthers, I believe) on Kitten Bowl.  I'd forgotten about that.  I still have Delilah, she's an old lady now.  Will post pics of the shed kitties soon, I promise.

Going on another adventure tomorrow.  Looking for an old abandoned logging camp not far from here.  Have to hone my bushwhacking skills since last winter was a bust for me.  So many old homesites and cemeteries to find... so little time.

1 comment (1/3/23) Hey @Frozenoem , just so you know, @LeeS4949 does NOT always get an "email" like he is suppose for this thread 🙄 so I had sent him an AARP PRIVATE MESSAGE with a "copy" of your post to him about Maine. Hopefully he will LOG INTO his computer at some point and see it. Well I have a Wellness Checkup with my doctor tomorrow at 9am. Luv seeing him but HATE that 6am alarm. 😭 And we are expecting a storm. 😭 Wish me and my Old Lady (2006 Hyundai Elantra) luck with making it down our hill in one piece./lol 🤣😂 That is my favorite thing to do, slide on down when there is ice in the morning. 😱 Have not had our 1st snow here in Cave Spring, Virginia. Party Time! 🥳 Sweet Dreams ALL Community Board Members & Porchers. This old lady is heading get some zzz's around my Neighbors & Trains From Hell. Would wear "ear plugs" but I need to HEAR/lol 😂🤣 Nite 😴 Nicole

2 comments (1/4/23) Okay, since no-one asked how my Wellness Check went this morning, I will presume you all still luv me!/lol 😂🤣 Passed and will see him again in April. I did get a "kudo" from @LaDolceVita for a thread called "Feral Cats" = so she is alive and now I have stopped worrying for now. 🙄 Thank you for that "kudo" 🤎🤗 Still got "jet lag" from my 6am alarm this morning for my 9am doctor's appointment. Grateful my next one is not until Monday for Walmart. Party Time. 🥳 Okay, Everyone - sweet Dreams 😴  Nicole

Speaking of being tall and shrinking, I still wear a 36" inseam (and oh yes, they are very hard to find except for online), so my legs are not the culprit. 

Coffee doesn't keep me awake, but I do get a caffeine headache without it. ☕

@Anonymous , happy news your check-up went well.  And just for that, a few photos of the shed kitties.

-- Family pile in a chair. That's Willie Mae scrunched on the right under her 'designer' sons, Giorgio on left and Stellar on top.

-- Newcomer (at the time) Armani

👆These are pictures from several years ago (cats don't generally change looks too much over time) before Willie Mae and Armani were fixed.  They don't have their tipped ears yet.

-- Stellar lounging in their shelter flanked by huts with heated beds This was taken a couple of months before he disappeared. It's been over 2 year and I still miss him.

-- Giorgio making air biscuits.

-- "Whatcha looking at?"

-- "Can I borrow the truck to take Mom on a quick jaunt?"

1 comment (1/6/23) Happy Friday Other OLD People and have an AWESOME weekend! Nicole 🙃

No big weekend plans except for a CT scan tomorrow.

Did not find the logging camp last Tuesday, but did happen upon an abandoned house that was interesting to explore.  Driveway was chained but didn't see any 'No Trespassing' signs.  I have a white truck with orange cones in back (just for occasions like this 😁) and threw on a hi-vis vest that I just happened to have behind seat. Just trying to look "official".  However, we never... NEVER... disturb or take anything (other than photos).  

-----House on a hill. What stories are hidden here?

----- Looks like a nice couch in its hey day. Note the lathe work on the wall. Don't see that in construction anymore. This was a flaky house with walls, ceilings, and floors falling in. Not recommended to enter old buildings like this *wink! wink!* unless you are very careful where you step at ALL times.

----- Shed on back of property. There was also an old camper, boat, dog houses.

----- Dead doll. oooooEEEEEEooooo

Abandoned property and history fascinate me.  Can you tell? 😉

@Anonymous , @LeeS4949 , if this had been spring or summer, no way I would have explored that property because of snakes (VA has copperheads and rattlers) and other critters.  Plus it would have been way too overgrown.  Already had to fight through some greenbriar.  Not to mention those pesky ticks and chiggers.  In fact, may not have even been able see the house from the road. 

Not that I like hiking in freezing cold weather, but winter is bushwhacking season -- the best time to explore off-trail.  When vegetation is dead, you would be amazed at how much "hidden" stuff you can see. 🥾

@catwoman500 , too bad the Commanders' win didn't matter in the scheme of things, not even to the Eagles since they won their game, too.  Congratulations to Philadelphia for clinching top seed in the NFC!