Lakeside Home For Rent at $1450

We didn't get a response on the listing for the lake house so Frank has lowered the monthly rent to $1450. This should make it visible to those who are searching online for a rental home under $1500.

Southern Drive in Warren Co., VA

3-4 bedroom Single Family Home

2 full/1 partial baths

2,800 sq. ft.

P.S. The home has been rented! See all our real estate ads on Postlets. Most are homes for sale in Bryce Resort. 

Belle Grove Exhibit

We went to Belle Grove yesterday. It was the last day to view an exhibit of Strasburg* pottery, which turned out to be displayed like furnishings, lined up on shelves in a few of the restored rooms. Interpretive signs were lacking, but we were given brochures which gave a history of Strasburg pottery plus a list showing the size and maker of each piece. The majority of pieces were made by Eberly or Bell.

Belle Grove will be closed for the winter now, except for holiday-theme tours on December 4-6 and December 21-23, 2009.

*Strasburg is only a few miles from Belle Grove, which has a Middletown address. The brochure tells us that the earliest potters in the area were "Native American Indians," followed by European immigrants and their descendants including:

• Brother Theoney
• Peter Grim
• Adam Keister
• Samuel and Solomon Bell
• J. Eberly & Sons

See C. Sonner's site for more on Strasburg history.

Views at Belle Grove

Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown has lovely views.

The bank barn shown above was built in 1918. Inside the white fence is a garden.

See earlier post "In the Garden."

Outside the Cracker Barrel

Before we took Marie back to catch the train on Friday, we took a few pictures in the parking lot of the restaurant where we had lunch. I elected to use the car as a reflector again.

Above: Lynn and Me

Below: Marie and Lynn

My Daughters, November 2009

Marie and Lynn

It's hard to get good photo of them together. Usually one is rolling her eyes or one has her eyes closed. Here Lynn was squinting from the bright sun. Still, this isn't bad for a shot grabbed in the parking lot after lunch.

The Monsters of White Post

Yesterday we had lunch at the Butcher Block Buffet in Stephen's City and drove from there to the lake house so that Marie could see it. When we reached Route 340, there was Dinosaur Land! Marie asked to stop to take some pictures, even though the attraction was closed for Thanksgiving.

A couple of dinosaur models are outside the fence, keeping vigil over the parking lot and the traffic speeding past.

Dinosaur Land, White Post, Virginia

Signs at Dinosaur Land

No Park & Ride

Dinosaur Land is near Front Royal. (Click for directions.)

Staunton's Station

Amtrak Station, Staunton, Virginia

Yesterday Lynn and I picked up her sister at the train station. Here's the train coming from New York.

Tonight at the Wayside Inn

Here I am with Peggy and Marie at the Wayside Inn in Middletown. It was the night before Thanksgiving and we were the only party dining there.

What's the Name of Our Lake?

I'm calling it "our" lake because we now own property on it, one of only two houses beside the lake. But I cannot find a name for the lake on a map.

The subdivision is Shenandoah River Lakes. There are several lakes there plus part of the development lies along the North Fork of the Shenandoah River just about the point where Passage Creek joins it.

Below: Children fishing.

See our House for Rent on Craigslist

Blog Post #2200

Here we are at my two thousand and two hundredth post! I feel I should tell you a little more about myself, so I decided to list volunteer jobs that I've done, at least the ones that I spent more than a couple of hours doing. The first four took place in Alexandria, Virginia over a decade ago. The last three are current activities.

• Classroom assistant at my children's elementary school
• Laboratory & field volunteer, Alexandria Archaeology
• Newsletter Editor, Alexandria Archaeology
• Board Member, Friends of Alexandria Archaeology
• Webmaster and Board Member, CSDA
• Librarian, Basye-Orkney Springs Community Library
• Contributor, The Historical Marker Database

Have I forgotten anything? I'm not counting school projects (like the time I was picture editor for the newspaper at NVCC) or extra projects related to employment (like serving on the audit committee for UWA's credit union).

Volunteering has been fun and a great way to meet people. It also helped me get my first job plus I have used volunteer experience in portfolios when getting college credit for life experiences.

Added 2023: Volunteer, Virginia State Parks

Home 

Another Look at the Lake

Shenandoah River Lakes,
Waterlick, Virginia

Civil War in Woodstock, VA

Here we see a marker in Woodstock entitled Execution and “the Burning.” It starts out:

In the midst of the 1864 Valley Campaign, Woodstock bore witness to the horrors of war. Plagued by raiding parties of Confederate partisan rangers, guerrillas and bushwhackers, Union General Philip H. Sheridan issued orders by mid-August to execute anyone captured wearing civilian clothes and carrying a weapon.

It goes on to tell the story of Davy Getz, who was captured and executed for carrying a rifle. This is (of course) blamed on General Custer, who is still abhorred in the Shenandoah Valley for his actions against the Confederacy and his role in "The Burning." In Woodstock, Federal Cavalry "destroyed the railroad depot, warehouses, a locomotive and three boxcars on the siding."

Read this Woodstock marker on HMDB.org.

Bonus snapshot: Below we see the old school that is across the parking lot from the marker.

The Fort Valley Museum

Fort Valley has its own little museum, a former church on Rte 678 (Fort Valley Road). It's open on weekends during the warmer months.

When I visited it, I learned that "the Fort" (a local name for Fort Valley) was once home to a manganese mine. When you see the valley today, there is little to indicate that the area suffered environmental insults in the past, both from the manganese mine and from iron smelting operations. The latter required huge supplies of charcoal for fuel, and so miles of woodland were cut down.

Today Fort Valley is a charming place, sheltered from the outside world by the Massanutten Mountains. It is best known for Elizabeth Furnace Recreation Area in the national forest but it also has lovely farmland that's a joy to drive through.

Fort Valley Museum Website

Evening near Waterlick

Some say sunsets make trite photographs. But most of us like them because the colors are pretty.

I took another picture of the north end of the Massanutten Mountains (seen above) from near Reliance in the springtime.

See all my Massanutten posts.

Sunset at the Lake

Twilight at Shenandoah River Lakes
Waterlick, Virginia

Yesterday we were working at the lake house all day. I had stirred up a storm of dust while brushing off the ceiling fans and since I am dust-allergic, I craved some fresh air. I picked up a camera and walked outside, thinking maybe there was enough light left to take a few photos. There was.

The mountain is at the north end of Massanutten Range. I'm sure whoever rents the house will enjoy this view.

More Fall Foliage

Although we still have some autumnal color here in Basye, it's not as prevalent as it was last month. These are October scenes.

Above: A mountain road

Right: View of townhomes and ski slopes at Bryce.

Changes in Blogger's "Next Blog" Button

Ever use the Next Blog>> button at the top of this blog? It takes you to another blog, and Blogger has changed the way it works.

For years it took me to a random blog. Yesterday I noticed it took me to a blog similar to the one I just left, that is, with something similar in the subject matter. I looked on Blogger Buzz and found this explanation. "The new and improved Next Blog link will now take you to a blog with similar content, in a language that you understand."

I didn't find a place to comment though. It's not totally a good thing. You might find yourself in a subject that does not interest you, and then find another and another on the same subject. This just happened to me; I kept getting aviation blogs, and they appeared to be computer-generated.

On the other hand, I like reading blogs in my native language, so I'm happy to see more of those. When the button brought up random blogs, I kept getting foreign blogs, and they often appeared to be about teen culture (clothing, jewelry, celebrities, high school clubs). So I stopped using the button for a while.

Not Quite Feral, Not Quite Tame

I saw some cats on the other side of the lake across from our new property. This one was very friendly; his buddy seemed afraid of me.

I asked one of the neighbors if the cats were feral. "No, but they aren't pets either." The cats live in the park by the lake and some neighbors bring them food. In order to satisfy concerns voiced by the homeowners association, volunteers had the cats neutered and immunized.

This one looks pretty healthy.

Rescue Helicopter

On on way home from the post office Monday I saw a helicopter at the Bryce Resort airstrip. A person in a stretcher was being transferred from an ambulance to the chopper. Today I heard that the person had been injured in a fall from a horse.

We Still Have Roses!

We've had a frost but we still have a few flowers blooming in the garden. The mums and pansies are not surprising for mid-November, but roses?

I brought in a few and put them in water. I don't imagine they'd survive in the garden much longer.

Water Images from Waterlick

I walked around the lake while Frank worked in the yard at his newly-acquired property. It was a nice day and warm for mid-November.

I added a poster-edge filter to the photo of ducks (using Photoshop).

Kitchen Before and After

When we purchased the house in Waterlick, the kitchen was decorated in black and white and the range and fridge were missing. We still have a black and white color scheme, but got rid of the busy diamond and checkerboard patterns. (Actually, I didn't mind the floor but my husband didn't care for it. The pattern was painted on.) Frank installed black vinyl floor tiles, and we purchased a range and fridge with silver and black finishes.

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