Autumn Red

The RED hues of autumn are especially bright right now among the dogwoods,

 and there are many in Old Live Oak Cemetery.

Linking to ABC Wednesday (the Letter R)

and City Daily Photo Blogs

Our World, The Last Bounty

The season's first hard freeze is expected tonight, so I gathered the last

 of our garden bounty on Monday. We are not looking forward

 to 28 degrees F with a much lower wind chill! We are thankful that

cold snaps like this only last a couple of days!

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs  

Welcome to the Bridge Tender's House

The pale yellow Bridge Tender's House adorned with a few bright flowers

 is a welcoming presence in Lafayette Park. Situated right on the river bank,

 the historic abode once served as home for the bridge tender whose job

 was to open and close the original swing bridge for boats.

That bridge was demolished to make way

 for the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1940.

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

Skywatch, November Sunrise

The sunrises are earlier now that we are no longer on Daylight Savings Time,

 and oh my, what a spectacular one we had earlier this week!

Linking to Skywatch Friday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Q is for QUILTS

Q is for QUILTS, and I love the colorful QUILTS made by TwoJean Designs.

 She makes all kinds...for the bed, the couch, the wall, the kids,

 the table and even inexpensive mini token quilts. 

The Selma quilter often sells her creations at crafts shows

 and has an Etsy shop online.

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Our World, Pick a Piece of Pottery

It's that time of year when arts and crafts shows abound in our area,

 and Allen Ham is among the most well-known masters of clay.

 The next big event is the West Dallas Tractor Show 

this Saturday, Nov. 9 in Orrville. 

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Heights, Replacing the Valley Creek Bridge

It's Theme Day for City Daily Photo Blogs, and we're featuring HEIGHTS.

Construction cranes have dominated the West Selma skyline since early summer

 as the bridge over Valley Creek on Dallas Avenue is replaced.

 The new crossing should be in place by spring. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday and City Daily Photo Blogs Theme Day

Hands Across the Black Belt, Painting a Gourd

Pick a gourd, and pick your paints, then design 

a birdhouse and take it home!

This is just part of the fun at the Kenan's Mill Fall Festival

 on Saturday, Nov. 2. Gates open at 9 a.m.

 Check the Kenan's Mill Festival website for details!

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Pink

P is for PINK as in a PRETTY, PINK zinnia!

It's P Week over at ABC Wednesday, and these zinnias are still blooming

 in my backyard but won't be for long. I am PLANTING PANSIES for the winter. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

 

Great Day for Boaters

It was a great day for boaters recently when we watched from the porch

 of The Sand Bar Restaurant. Several boaters left the city marina

 for a smooth ride on a calm Alabama River. 

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

The Cotton Stalk Bouquet

The cotton harvest is under way,

 and this is the time to pick those stalks for cotton bouquets. 

 For the record, one bale of cotton (about 500 lbs.)

can produce 

8,000 men's woven handkerchiefs,

 850 ladies blouses and shirts,

 3,000 diapers,

 and 1,200 pillowcases.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Dark Night

It was a dark night on the river as viewed from the Carneal ArtsRevive terrace.

 In the distance, you can see the lights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday, Friday Fences and City Daily Photo Blogs

Hands Across the Black Belt, Holding On

Little hands hold on to the handles of Old Mac's Farm train

 at Riverfront Market Day.

The train will also run at the Kenan's Mill Fall Festival on Nov. 2. 

Introducing HANDS ACROSS THE BLACK BELT photo series

and linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

O is for OCTOBER

O is for OCTOBER, ABC Wednesday's Letter of the Week, and OTHER

 than blue skies, the month is full of spider webs all OVER everywhere! 

This huge web was in the middle of my backyard, 

and before nightfall, it caught several leaves. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Get Your Grits Right Here!

The Kenan's Mill Fall Festival is coming up Nov. 2, and this is the place

 to get your stone-ground cornmeal and grits! 

A recent renovation has the wheels turning again, and visitors 

can take a mill tour,

 listen to live bluegrass music,

 learn how to grow food organically,

 paint a gourd birdhouse,

 ride a wagon full of hay down a country lane, 

dine on catfish filets prepared by local Boy Scouts,

 eat Hoppin' John and barbecue,

 take a park tour on Old Mac's Farm train, 

walk across Valley Creek on a swinging bridge 

and jump up and down in the fire safety house.

 Arts and crafts vendors are also invited!

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Making Lemonade

So who can resist freshly made lemonade or a twist of lemon in sweet tea

 on a warm October day in Alabama?  This food venue had the perfect

 thirst quencher at Riverfront Market Day!

Linking to Monday Yellow Mellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

Foliage by the Bridge

I was pleasantly surprised to find so much greenery at the base

 of the Pettus Bridge in Songs of Selma Park! I believe the flowers

 may be four- o'clocks, but since it wasn't 4 p.m. yet,

 they weren't quite open!

Linking to Friday Fences, Skywatch Friday 

 and City Daily Photo Blogs

Tagged!

No doubt about it! From Alabama to Illinois, this turkey

 has been tagged for Thanksgiving decor!

Cedar House Crafts in Northport, Ala., uses old car tags,

 barnwood and wire to create some really unique art. This was one

 of their pieces at Riverfront Market Day.

Linking to Signs, Signs and City Daily Photo Blogs 
and Thursday Favorite Things

Night Roses

We're depicting the letter N at ABC Wednesday,

 so here are the Confederate Roses by NIGHT.

They just keep on blooming!

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Patiently Waiting

Good Dog!

She's enjoying the sights and sounds of Riverfront Market Day

 as her master shops.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Buddy the Clown

He made his first balloon dog at age six.

 Now he twists some 300 creations

 to wow both children and adults!

 He's Buddy the Clown, and the Vermont native is down South 

for the winter, stopping in Selma last Saturday 

for Riverfront Market Day.

He also offers balloon making classes, school shows and church ministries.

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

Comb Concert

Have you ever played the comb?

 Ever attended a comb concert?

We have one in Selma every year at the Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival. 

The evenings of storytelling and music end with an "I'll Fly Away" comb concert

 led by The Dill Pickers. Make plans to attend this family-friendly event

 next October, and you don't even have to play your own comb! 

Tale-Tellin' supplies the comb and the tissue paper! 

Comb concerts in Selma were the creation of Selma storyteller/author

 Kathryn Tucker Windham, who also founded the festival.

 Ever since she went to Heaven a few years ago, we continue to honor

 her memory with her favorite gospel song played and hummed on combs!

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Playing the Tambourine

The night was filled with music and laughter Friday at the

 Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival, and there is more tonight!

Here, one of The Dill Pickers plays the tambourine

 in that unique Dill Picker fashion.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Supper on the Terrace

Supper and snacks will be served on the terrace by the river

 at the Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival this weekend. 

While this picture is from last year's festival, skies will be clear again

 with perfectly pleasant temperatures for outside dining and visiting. 

The Tale-Tellin' stage is inside, but doors will be open

 to let in the cool evening air. 

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for supper and the Swappin' Ground 

(where you can tell YOUR stories), and the main event with music and comedy

 by The Dill Pickers and tales by Donald Davis and Bobby Norfolk

 begins at 7. Tickets are available at the gate.

Linking to Friday Fences, Skywatch Friday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Signs of Autumn

The signs of autumn are everywhere, including at this Saturday's

 Riverfront Market Day. 

This picture was taken at last year's event, and again the weather will be perfect.

 There will be lots of arts, crafts, food, music and fun for children. 

Linking to Signs, Signs and City Daily Photo Blogs

ABC Wednesday, M is for MUSIC

We're blogging the letter M over at ABC Wednesday this week,

 and M is for all the MUSIC that will be filling Water Avenue

 in Selma this weekend.

 From The Dill Pickers Stringband (pictured) and comedy troupe 

at the Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival to Vintage Gray, The Fabulous Shades,

 Lower Society of Upper Water Avenue, The Ramblers and others

 at Riverfront Market Day, there will be lots of MUSIC!

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Swappin' Ground Tales

This lady knew how to use facial expressions and hand motions to tell her story

 at last year's Alabama Tale-Tellin' Swappin' Ground. The tales begin again

 for the 35th annual festival this Friday and Saturday.

 Swappin' Ground, where folks like you can tell a tale,

  starts at 5:30, and the main event featuring nationally known storytellers

 and The Dill Pickers String Band/comedy troupe, begins at 7.

 Meanwhile, storytelling tips can be found all over the Web.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Black-Eyed Susans

The roadsides through Dallas County are vibrant with Black-Eyed Susans

 and a smattering of blue wildflowers. Thank you, God, for colorful October! 

Guest Photographer is Kathy Prince who stopped to  snap this field

 of flowers on Summerfield Road. 

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

Fair Friends

The petting zoo at the Central Alabama Fair is a popular spot for little ones.

 They can hold baby chicks, ducks and rabbits or pet horses, calves

 and even goats!

Linking to Camera Critters and City Daily Photo Blogs

The Confederate Rose

It's a native of China but is called the Confederate Rose in the southern U.S.

 The large, double blossoms open white but gradually change to pink 

and almost blood red before dying. They were grown in English gardens

 in the 1600s and planted in the South during Reconstruction because 

they were easy to root and grow during hard economic times. 

They bloom in early autumn.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs 

Central Alabama Fair Sing-Off

Madison Shea of Woodstock, Ga., was among 20 finalists in Thursday's

 Central Alabama Fair Sing-Off. Contestants ranged from the very young

 to the very elderly, and they hailed from Selma to Mississippi to Georgia.

 Country and gospel were the most popular genre, and one older gentleman

 drew applause by singing "I Just Love Old People."

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Signs, Signs, The Vineyard is OPEN

If the umbrella is open, then so is The Vineyard restaurant on Water Avenue.

Linking to SIGNS, SIGNS and City Daily Photo Blogs

ABC Wednesday, L is for LEATHER

It's ABC Wednesday, and L is for LEATHER.

 This leathermaker was a vendor at last year's Riverfront Market Day 

 on Water Avenue. This year's event is Saturday, Oct. 12 

from 9 a.m. til 5 p.m. There will be quality arts and crafts vendors,

 music, food, clowns, games and more! 

Y'all come!

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

 

October Theme Day, DETAILS

It takes a close encounter via a telephoto lens to really absorb

 the detail in one of God's littlest creatures. 

Thanks to my son, Tyler, for catching the beauty 

of one of my frequent patio guests!

Linking to October Theme Day at City Daily Photo Blogs

Social Season

Selma's fall social season begins with Sturdivant Hall's Barbecue on the Green.

 Tables decorated with autumn foliage spread across the courtyard

 for an evening of musical entertainment and barbecue.

 The event benefits the museum. 

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows and City Daily Photo Blogs

Thursday Lunch

If  you are in town on Thursdays, have lunch at Carter Drug's sidewalk cafe!

Linking to Weekend Reflections and City Daily Photo Blogs

Skywatch, September Sky

Selma's September sky is moving on and making way

 for October's bright blue weather.

Linking to Skywatch Friday and City Daily Photo Blogs

Central Alabama Dry Goods (Signs, Signs)

Central Alabama Dry Goods Co. was here.

How neat that so many of Selma's old buildings still bear

 the signs of yesteryear's businesses! 

Linking to Signs, Signs and City Daily Photo Blogs

Empty Bowls for KENYA

If you craft a bowl and fill it with soup, people will come

 and eat and help feed hungry school children in KENYA.

That formula earned Selma's version of the Empty Bowls Project

 a large crowd Tuesday night. Sponsored by the Selma Art Guild

 and held at Carneal ArtsRevive, local potters made the bowls,

and a lot of good cooks made the soup and cornbread. Donations go

 to Integrity Worldwide's school lunch program at the 

Meto, Kenya Primary School. The Selma-based charity

 makes frequent trips to Kenya and focuses on developing

 "these rural Maasai communities through health,

 education and ministry programs."

Linking to ABC Wednesday where the letter of the week is K

and City Daily Photo Blogs 

Now the Day is Over

Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.

We've had some really remarkable sunsets lately!

(The verse is from the prayer hymn, Now the Day is Over, the words of which 

are comforting any time but especially during the week that we remember

 the evil events of Sept. 11, 2001.)  

Linking to Skywatch Friday and City Daily Photo Blogs 

Ye Olde Phone Booth

I'm not sure what the story is here, but there was no phone connected

 when I attempted to use it! :)

However, it sure makes an interesting attraction along Broad Street,

 and I appreciate that it was wheelchair accessible. 

Linking to Signs, Signs and City Daily Photo Blogs

Harvest

H is for HARVEST as in muscadines!

Muscadines are ripening every day, and most are free for the finding.

 The vines are prolific, and this summer's rains brought an abundance. 

We boiled the juice out of these tasty fruits and got several jars of jelly.

 There were more, but we have shared!

Linking to ABC Wednesday where the letter is H and City Daily Photo Blogs

Hummingbird

A hummingbird pauses atop a garden cage just waiting

 for his turn at the feeder nearby.

Catching these hyper little birds in a posed position for even a moment

 is a challenge, but my son had the patience to wait!

Linking to Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs  

The Labor Day Buck

What a beautiful sight this Labor Day morning!

Our son spotted this whitetail buck across the fence from our backyard,

 and our daughter-in-law grabbed her camera. If you look closely, you can see

 how tall the deer's antlers are and see that they are still in velvet.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

In the Pink

It's September Theme Day, PINK, over at City Daily Photo Blogs, and pink boots

 seem to be all the rage these days. Have you noticed how many boots are pink?

 Would you like or do you have a pair of pink boots? Selma certainly has a good supply!

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs September Theme Day

Cat's Day Out

From the porch to the bushes to the sidewalk and grass, this pretty white cat

 followed a bug on a beautiful day in Old Town Selma. 

Linking to Camera Critters and City Daily Photo Blogs

Down Under

At the corner of Water and Broad, take the Songs of Selma Park steps

 down under the bridge. There is a beautiful terrace overlooking the river,

 and you will be standing beneath crepe myrtle branches,  an assortment of vines

 and even a few clumps of four-o-clocks. 

Linking to Friday Fences and City Daily Photo Blogs

Your Speed

School has started all across Selma, and among the new additions for school zones

 are electronic speed limit signs. This one stands near Byrd Elementary, 

and what a help it is for drivers! The sign flashes your vehicle's speed 

as you approach the zone, reminding you to slow down and watch for children.

Linking to Signs, Signs and City Daily Photo Blogs

Grumbles Alley

Selma is a friendly little city. It really is! 

But visitors might not realize that if they read this sign!

We're featuring the letter G over at ABC Wednesday!

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs