Blog Post 7690

A few more pictures from yesterday.

This arboretum is on the campus of James Madison University. You can reach it from University Boulevard in Harrisonburg.

Links:

Yesterday's Post

Garden Affair Linkup

Signs, Signs.

And one for the road...

Today at the Arboretum in Harrisonburg

This morning I had some time to kill between appointments so I spent it at the Edith Carrier Arboretum. I started to stroll around the duck pond but I saw some people carrying boxes of plants and realized there was a plant sale so I headed over there.  I bought two ferns and a very small shrub.

Cabins at Lost River State Park

Mathias, WV

Lost River State Park was the site of Camp Hardy from 1935 to 1940. It was a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp, providing jobs and training to young men while also facilitating the building of parks and rural infrastructure. 

Photo #4 shows a spring house. Although maintained and restored over the years, this looks just like it did in the Camp Hardy days.

Echinacea

Coneflowers for Wordless on Tuesday

Collages, Colorful and Sepia

Flowers Seen Yesterday, Rappahannock County

Mosaic Monday

Cabin, Sky Meadows State Park

Gator and Doggy Mural

In Montross, VA.

Monday Murals

 Note the large toothbrush. The dentist reminds you to take care of your teeth! 

LDS Church, Browntown Road

Near Front Royal, VA

Sharing with Inspired Sunday.

 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Open House at Crooked Creek Farm

Last weekend we visited a small farm in Waterlick that has a petting zoo. It's an outdoor activity that's not crowded unless you count the chickens.

I enjoyed seeing the goats and piggies. We saw some fancy fowl too.

Their next open house is in late October. I found out about them on Facebook, where they are listed as Boggs Crooked Creek Estate.

The spotted piglet is Miss Ginger, a Kunekune pig. 

 

Quick Snapshot from the Car

This photo was a surprise when I saw it on the computer. Usually pictures quickly taken through the windshield turn out to be disappointing, but I like this one. It looks a bit surreal, with a figure on the roof and the edge of the windshield cutting through at a diagonal.

Black and White Weekend

What was this about? Well, we had just filled up the gas tank and as we were pulling away, I saw that the adjacent fast food place was closed for remodeling. A man was working on the roof. I stopped and snapped a picture with my phone because I wanted to remember to tell my neighbors that McDonald's was temporarily closed. (This drive-through restaurant is very popular because many people still believe it is cheap and fast.) 

Shenandoah County Again

Massanutten Mountains Seen from Hawkins Road.

Flowers after a Shower.

And here is the duplex where the flowers are.

Woodstock, Virginia. 
 

Three Markers at Swift Run Gap

 Blog Post #7680

Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains that has long been used as a route from eastern Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley. Here U.S. Highway 33 crosses Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail.

In 1716, the first major colonial expedition crossed the mountains here. These markers commemorate the occasion.

On 5 Sept. 1716, in this region, it is believed, Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood and his party of government officials, gentry, Native Americans, soldiers, and servants crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley. Their adventure into Virginia’s western lands began at Germanna late in Aug. and ended when they returned there on 10 Sept. According to legend, Spotswood gave his companions small golden horseshoes on their return and the group became known as the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. The journey has been fictionalized and mythologized in literature since the 19th century.

The marker on the pyramid begins “Sic Juvat Transcendere Montes," which means "thus it is a pleasure to cross the mountains." This phrase was inscribed on the golden horseshoes. The marker goes on to name some of the explorers and can be read on Historical Marker Database.

The marker on the boulder is inscribed with a lovely poem by Gertrude Claytor titled Alexander Spotswood Discovers the Valley of the Shenandoah.

It is the First Day of Autumn

Summer went by too quickly. I did not get outdoors as much as I planned, partly because many days were uncomfortably hot. 

These are September scenes, although not all are from this current year. A duck is swimming in the first picture, and the second picture is from Monday. There is a bird perched high in that tree. 

The insect is a stinkbug seen through a window.  Below that we see a crow on a dead tree. 

 The hummingbird picture is one I took in September 2019. This year I stopped feeding hummingbirds early when there was an avian infection going around that some experts thought could be spread by feeders, although since then they have announced that it probably was not and might be related to the large number of cicadas that hatched. 

Yesterday in Hawkinstown

Shenandoah County, VA

Wordless / Ruby Tuesday

 

A Sailor's Dream and Patriots' Pride

Monday Murals: This pair of murals is in Montross. They are named The Siren and The Sailor.

Mosaic Monday: These people were part of Patriots' Pride Day in Middletown. They presented programs in costume of the Revolutionary War era as part of an event to honor veterans.  
 

The young man in the center photo is Middletown's mayor, Charles Harbaugh. 
 

Technical note: I used the Portrait mode on my iPhone and later combined them using PhotoCollage. My first attempt at downloading the collage confused me because it had the extension clg instead of jpg.  What the heck is that? It turns out to be a collage format, not widely used. Fortunately I was able to try again and save a jpeg to post here. 

A Red Barn and a Brick Church

On the Northeast Side of Winchester

Barn Collective / Inspired Sunday

Heritage Baptist Church