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valinreallife.bsky.social
Val in Real Life
@valinreallife.bsky.social
87 followers 99 following 120 posts
💻 Writer | 📸 Photographer | 🏍️ Motorcyclist | 🌼 Native plant gardener | 🏚️ Home renovator | 👀 Observer of life | 🤬 Cussy alter ego of @ValWestonNM

Fumbling my way through life, one #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure moment at a time. 🔗 https://valinreallife.com/
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Reposted by Val in Real Life
jhuntertenbroeck.bsky.social
Our garden in Albuquerque 11/22/2025 #albuquerque
#newmexico
#pollinatorgarden
#wisteria
#salvia
#solidago
#dwarfplumbago
#bluegrama
#waterwiselandscapes
November 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
americawalks.bsky.social
🚸 How we design roads dictates the speeds that drivers adopt, regardless of the posted speed limit.

👟 🚲 🚌 Research shows that narrowing vehicle travel lanes can reduce speeds and create #saferstreets in communities.

Read more in our latest blog ➡️ buff.ly/xxKOAxu
graphic of a street with pedestrians
November 20, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Here's where I admit I've been working on this piece off-and-on for years. But with the SCAA Fearlessly Independent show coming up fast, I had to get 'er done. So here it is—Abandoned Homestead.

#ValWestonNM #PhotographicArt #SilverCityArtist #VisitSilverCity #SilverCityArtAssociation
Selective color photographic artwork of an old truck parked in front of abandoned cabins with grass growing through the grill on a stormy day.
November 13, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow.

Today's reflection is on #Bright light after a storm.

📸 Usury Mountain Regional Park, Arizona (2019)

valinreallife.com/postcards-fr...
Backlit cactus holding rain drops in its spines in black and white
November 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
churchstreetimages.com
When there's nothing else to photograph, look down.
#photography #shoegazing #reflections #water #trees
A puddle in a parking lot reflecting the trees at the edge of a wood
November 12, 2025 at 4:58 PM
valinreallife.bsky.social
📰The November newsletter is out.

🤩And yes, we've officially added another website to the Val in Real Life family.

🤯Our biggest one ever, in fact.

Check it out👇
🔗https://mailchi.mp/valinreallife/2025-november

#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Newsletter #LaborOfLove
November 12, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow!

@jcbrandon.bsky.social and I like to spend the #evening having happy hour and decompressing from the day. And sometimes those evenings are extra pretty.

📸 Indian Pass Wilderness, California (2021)

🔗https://valinreallife.com/postcards-from-real-life-evening/
Digital watercolor of an ocotillo standing tall in front of a distant mountain range at sunset.
November 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
valinreallife.bsky.social
I *finally* hit 40K on the Adventure Beast. But it took a 💩ton of time to get there. Saddle time has not been abundant.

More on the blog.
🔗 valinreallife.com/maintenance-...

#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #R1200GS #MakeLifeARide #WomenWhoRide
Woman kneeling next to a BMW R1200GS motorcycle on a sunny day. A motorcycle on a rural desert road with mountains in the distance on a sunny day.
November 4, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
rbreich.bsky.social
Know your rights when voting today.
November 4, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
newmexicodot.bsky.social
Happy Halloween and keep your eyes on the road, lots of ghosts and goblins will be out and about today.
New Mexico has the highest per-capita pedestrian fatality rate in the nation, a record we do not want to keep.

#Halloween #TargetZeroNM #NewMexico #ENDWI #NMDOT
October 31, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow!

This is one of my favorite #Autumn images I've captured in my time in the Smokies.

📸 Great Smoky Mountains National Park (2012)

It wasn't fun and games getting it though. 😬
🔗https://valinreallife.com/postcards-from-real-life-autumn/
Full frame maple tree branches with glowing yellow and orange leaves
November 1, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
sammanicom.bsky.social
This is the 2nd book from the series of 4 books. Each taking the reader riding a different section of the 8 year round the world journey.

This book takes you from Australia, through SE Asia, Asia, parts of the Middle East & into Eastern Europe.

#motosky #motorcycle #travel #book #motorcycles #RTW
November 2, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
motomd.bsky.social
The Oaks overlook on Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, 22 Oct 2025.
#stunday #blueskyartshow #eastcoastkin #photography
Autumn crepuscular rays over the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. In the foreground trees are turning orange, in the background the sun through the clouds creates a peach colored haze over several mountain peaks, including the truncated Massanutten on the right.
October 26, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow!

Here's a katydid hiding #Inside a Gerbera Daisy.

📸 Suwanee, Georgia (2011)

🤩 And some more about the joy of exploring the intricate details of our world.
🔗 valinreallife.com/postcards-fr...
Close up of katydid peering out from the inside of an orange Gerbera Daisy.
October 25, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
sammanicom.bsky.social
The Carmel Valley Road in CA. Starts off with vineyards, then rolling golden hills that are dotted with clusters of oak trees, & then as it drops down in altitude, the road twists through woodlands like this. The twists can be tight!
It's a 'pay full attention' type of road...
#motosky #motorcycle
October 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
southwestarttowns.bsky.social
Hi, friends! In case we haven't met you yet in our travels talking about this project, we're Val & J.—founders of Southwest Art Towns. We're based in Silver City, NM and we're looking forward to getting to know all of the great art communities and creators in the southwest through this adventure.
Man and woman wearing baseball caps and motorcycling gear with desert and mountains in the background.
October 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow! Here's a ladybug friend in a sea of #vertical plants.

📸 Great Smoky Mountains National Park (2016)

I'm still going strong blogging about the images I've been sharing. (We'll see how long that lasts. 😅)
🔗https://valinreallife.com/postcards-from-real-life-vertical/
A dew-covered ladybug perches near the top of a tall plant stalk surrounded by blades of grass and fog.
October 18, 2025 at 1:06 PM
valinreallife.bsky.social
The October newsletter is live. I love me some #GreatSandDunes and I finally made it back after a looooong absence.

Read more and tell me about your favorite places!

mailchi.mp/valinreallif...

PS – I hope you have a faboo weekend. 🥰
October 17, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow!

I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to capture the #Glow on this gnarly old tree. 😅 #PhotographerProblems

📸 Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado (2014)

valinreallife.com/postcards-fr...
A gnarled dead tree in a desert valley in front of a vivid sunset and sand dunes in the background.
October 11, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
nationaldaycalendar.com
Because four wheels move the body, but two move the soul 💨 #NationalMotorcycleRideDay

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-motorcycle-ride-day-second-saturday-in-october #celebrateeveryday #nationaldaycalendar
October 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
carolinemyoachim.bsky.social
Photos from today's walk at the Seattle Japanese Garden (thread). I was quite taken with these red leaves, dangling by a bit of spiderweb in a way that made them look like they were falling.

#photography #PNW #autumn #FallColors #nature #red #31DaysOfHalloween #SeattleJapaneseGarden
Closeup of half a dozen red maple leaves, suspended mid-air by (near-invisible) spider web threads in a vertical line such that it looks almost like a composite image of a leaf tumbling down from the tree, twirling as it falls. Dark greenery blurry in the background.
October 9, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
southwestarttowns.bsky.social
A few weeks ago we swung by the #EspañolaValleyFiberArtsCenter. What a tremendous resource for fiber artists. And the mural is simply gorgeous!

Be sure to check out everything they have to offer–supplies, tools, classes, and more.

#SouthwestArtTowns #ConnectionCommunityCollaboration #EspanolaNM
Mural on the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center in Española, New Mexico depicting women spinning yarn and decorated with butterflies and flowers. Looms and spinning wheels at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center in Española, New Mexico. Val Weston and J. Brandon in front of Española Valley Fiber Arts Center in Española, New Mexico.
October 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
jcbrandon.bsky.social
This place is a community gem, in remote, rural, southwestern New Mexico.

www.lascrucesbulletin.com/stories/the-...
The making of a community center    - Las Cruces Bulletin
A hand-built sanctuary sits just outside of Silver City. Melanie Zipin, along with her family, renovated the Whiskey Creek Zócalo from an abandoned school house to one of the hearts of the Silver City...
www.lascrucesbulletin.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
valwestonnm.bsky.social
New month, fresh art!

My display at the Grant County Art Guild gallery is refreshed for October with moody pieces to fit the season. Plus I'm featured on the screen at the checkout desk with three fan-favorite pieces.

#ValWestonNM #GrantCountyArtGuild #SilverCityArtist #VisitSilverCity
October 6, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Val in Real Life
sierrapasses.bsky.social
🤯 It's October already?!?

☕️ Time to stock up on our exclusive mugs for your hot autumn beverages and coasters to match. Shop today!

🔗 sierramountainpasses.com/shop/
Graphic showing a Carson Pass (CA 88) mug and coaster set available in the SierraMountainPasses.com store. Graphic showing a Daggett Pass (NV 207)) mug and coaster set available in the SierraMountainPasses.com store. Graphic showing a Donner Pass mug and coaster set available in the SierraMountainPasses.com store. Graphic showing a Ebbetts Pass (CA 4) mug and coaster set available in the SierraMountainPasses.com store.
October 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM