House Sparrows on a Railing

Links:

• Wild Bird Wednesday
• Wordless Wednesday 
• House Sparrows on Audobon.
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A Collector's Garages

 Mount Olive, VA

Tuesday Treasures / Wordless

Florist Mural, Flower Collages.

I've already shared several murals from the town of Montross and I still have a few left in my files. There is actually a mural studio in Montross. If I lived there I might take one of their classes. 

Let's take a closer look at this mural, titled Bridget's Bouquets Inc., Florist.

Monday Murals

Speaking of flowers, this is the season for them. 
 

Mosaic Monday

Enjoy and stay cool!

Centenary United Church of Christ, Winchester

Winchester, Virginia

Inspired Sunday

The first church built in Winchester was the original Centenary Church, built in 1753 and served by Missionary Ministers. That building has been replaced twice.

This is on South Cameron Street.

Centenary Reformed Church of The Reformed Church in the United States

 

"A congregation was organized in Winchester following a visit in 1748 from the Eminent Dr. Michael Schlatter, missionary from the Classis of Amsterdam, Holland, to the Reformed congregations in America.

The erection of the first house of worship was begun in 1753 upon two city lots conveyed by Lord Fairfax to the trustees of the congregation; Daniel Bush, Philp Bush, Henry Brinker, Jacob Sowers and Frederick Conrad.

The congregation was reorganized and a new church built by the Classis of Virginia in 1841.

This church was used during the latter part of the Civil War by the Federal forces for hospital purposes. The present building was erected in 1905 and remodeled and enlarged in 1920."

Blog Post #7575, Saturday Critters.

At this time we don't have a dog, but I enjoy seeing other people's dogs. This one was with a family that was having a picnic by the river. Behind him are some people wading in the water. 

The rest of today's pictures were taken in my yard. The blue jay was posing nicely. He appears to be healthy. Some blue jays and certain other birds have been in the news recently due to a disease that seems to afflict them. Wildlife biologists are trying to find out what causes it, but in the meantime they ask that we not feed birds. I don't normally feed them in the summer anyway.

While I was photographing this one, he turned and flew away. 

Saturday's Critters / I'd Rather Be Birdin' 

The gray geese continue to harass me. When I arrived home a few days ago, two of them were on our front stoop. One was drinking from the bird bath but stopped to glare at me when I got out of the car. Frank told them to go away and they ambled off.

This evening they were there again but with their buddy. Usually they travel as a trio, which concerns me because I don't want to be surrounded. One of them attacked me and bit me last month.

I should point out that they do not belong to anyone although they are a domesticated breed. They are "geese gone wild."

Yesterday I was sitting on the back deck and the three of them came along. One started eating an iris leaf and I raised my camera to take a picture. Suddenly this one hopped up the steps onto the deck. I stood up and ordered him to get down. He pooped on the deck and then hopped back down the steps.

This is the most aggressive of the trio. Note the hackles, or raised feathers on his neck. I have no idea why he hates me.

For today's final picture, here's a cute squirrel. I don't see as many squirrels as I did during winter when I was keeping bird feeders filled. Squirrels think bird feeders are for them. 

A Trip to France in the Year 2000.

My prints from 21 years ago have faded but I had the negatives scanned at time of processing. This was before I had a digital camera; they were pretty expensive and not as good as they are now. 

Scanned files back then were lower in resolution than you would get today, but some of mine are decent. I brightened these up a bit. 

The giant clock is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. I converted the image to black and white because it had almost no color anyway. 

That museum is in a former railway station and has wonderful art. See it if you get a chance!

The other three photos are from Monet's garden in Giverny.

Friday Bliss / Weekend Reflections / Garden Affair / Friday Flowers

Frank asked another tourist to take the picture of us in the garden. I saturated this one today because I wanted an impressionist look, and it was already soft-focus. 

Festivals are Back!

Last summer there were no in-person events or festivals here because of Covid-19. This month they came back, typically modified to limit risk. We aren't "out of the woods" but at least we see a path.

On Saturday we visited ArtFest in Woodstock, VA. Bagpipe music opened the event, which is held outdoors.

We looked at the art displays and even purchased a painting. I was happy and thankful to see some familiar faces! I stopped at Ann Heap's booth and chatted with her.

There was a table with a mosaic in progress. People were invited to add pieces to it. 

My friends Ranger Tom and Ranger Megan of Seven Bends State Park were there. 

The mosaic is a panel of a three-part mural showing people enjoying the nearby Shenandoah River.

Speaking of the river, it was the location of an event on Sunday. The Fish Fry and Float is sponsored by Friends of the North Fork. It was at the Strasburg Town Park.

Signs, Signs./ Thankful Thursday

Play Equipment with Signal Knob in the distance.

Cardinals and a Cicada

Sharing with:

• Wild Bird Wednesday
• Wordless Wednesday
• Image-in-ing.

 

Berlin 2001

When Marie went around the world 20 years ago, we met up with her in Berlin. This was before I had a blog but I did have a website and posted a summary of that trip to Europe. I linked to a photo hosting site that has since been bought out so most of my pictures are now unseen. Here is one of the Reichstag.

Tuesday Treasures

I don't know these folks standing in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The church was badly damaged in World War II and they kept some of the bombed-out section as a memorial. It is a moving reminder of the tragedy of war.

A friend of Marie's paid a visit while we were there, and we all went on a tour by boat. 

See Marie's World Tour 2001.

 

Mural on a Bottling Plant

This painting still decorates the Northern Neck Bottling Company in Montross. I read that the plant is no longer in operation. At one time it was famous for its tasty ginger ale.

"Sprite Boy" appeared in ads between 1942-1953.

Monday Murals / Mosaic Monday

Over the years I posted quite a few pictures from the Montross area. Here is a collection of some of my waterfront photos. 

The View from Lone Pine Drive

Timberville, Virginia

Sometimes I drive down a country road just to see what's there. I spotted some antique cars across from a storefront church. Faith Lutheran Church of the Valley was founded in 2010. 

Inspired Sunday.

As I drove farther from Route 211, I passed several farms.

I took the last picture through a car window. The glass has an aqua tint which I did not completely eliminate using "Pixlr." Right now I am avoiding Photoshop because it uses so much memory on my laptop. 

For me barns, see Tom's blog.

Juneteenth.

Today was the first national celebration of Juneteenth, a new holiday celebrating the 1865 end of slavery in the United States. The holiday was approved by the Senate and House earlier this week and was signed into law just two days ago. Many of us were surprised by how quickly this moved through Congress.

Well, hooray for freedom! We don't always live up to our ideals but it is important to appreciate them. 

The Bird D'Pot

Do you see the little birds on the porch roof? They have a nest nearby. 

Here's another picture you may have to peer into or enlarge. There are turtles on both ends of the log. The river was high and muddy after two days of rain. 

Do you think it looks better in black and white? 

Weekend Reflection / Saturday Critters

The American Robin visits my yard frequently. It is a delightful bird, in my opinion.

Today's final photo shows decorative fish in a pond. I believe they are goldfish, but they could be koi, which are quite similar. Both are a variety of carp.

 

Consider the Lilies

Skywatch / Friday Bliss / Garden Affair / Floral Friday

"They neither toil nor spin."

Lilies are blooming in Virginia. Orange daylilies decorate our yards and even line country roads long after the people who planted them are gone. I read that daylilies are not "true" lilies but they are certainly decorative.

Also sharing with Black and White Weekend. 

Yellow "Stella d'oro" daylilies are popular garden plants.

 Our Asiatic lilies have started blooming. In the final image, a daylily is on the left and an Asiatic lily is on the right. The foliage is different.