Japanese Cherry Blossoms

Doeville (also called Deauville)

A film is being made about our friend Gail Rose and her efforts to keep her farm running. Until recently she raised fallow deer along with a wide variety of chickens and some organic vegetables.

See the trailer for the film Doeville here.

Read my 2006 post about the deer roundup.

Iris by a Stone Wall

Stone walls are common in the Shenandoah Valley, where limestone outcroppings have hampered farmers for centuries. They dug out the smaller stones and made them useful as building materials.

Iris are common too. These are in a garden but you see them growing wild where they were planted long ago and have continued to bloom for years afterward.

Trees, Sky, Contrails

I don't participate in many theme link-ups but I am trying to keep up with Skywatch Friday because I like photos of skies. I also participate in City Daily Photo.

Here we see another fine afternoon sky as seen from our yard. Jet planes have left their contrails to be erased by the breezes.

Folks Fishing

I took these pictures from our deck. I hope the people didn't think I was documenting them for any sort of negative reason. I just thought they looked great in the afternoon light.

Rhapsody in Blue

When we walked past this window box, I just had to stop and snap a picture. I like pansies and this shade of blue is so pretty!

Suiter Association is on Facebook

I've posted some genealogy on this blog from time to time, both on my father's side of the family (the Suiters) and my mother's side (the Hammers). It's been rewarding because I've gotten comments and emails from distant relatives who saw the posts and wrote to me.  (How awesome is that!)

There is now a Facebook group for the Suiter Family Association, so if you are a Suiter or Suter, check it out!

Squirrel's at it again

It's almost time to stop feeding the birds and squirrels. This guy is eating the last seed bell of the season.

Garden Scene with Japanese Maple

Berkeley Springs, WV

A Treat for Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day because I got to see my daughters and my sister. Marie came down from New Jersey on the bus and Lynn and I picked her up in Fairfax. We got together with my sister Peggy for lunch.

Peggy, Lynn, & Marie at Whole Foods

Purple Iris

I believe this bearded iris is a "German Iris" or iris germanica.

Return to the Charcoal Trail

My 2009 post showing a collier's hut still gets a surprising number of visitors, so I couldn't resist posing at the hut when we returned to Elizabeth Furnace recently. We took a short hike on one of the trails. I didn't see a sign explaining which trail this was but it goes off to the right from the Pig Iron Trail.

Link, National Forest site: Elizabeth Furnace

Since the trail is an interpretative trail, there are signs telling a story. In this case there's a main character, Paddy the Collier. Paddy's job is making charcoal out of trees that he cuts down.

Paddy builds his own shelters out of wood. He tells us via a sign that "We build these cone-shaped huts while we're coaling this part of the woods. Inside we put a wood stove and a small log bunk. It don't look too grand but it ain't so bad."

My guess is that a real collier's hut was a little larger than the one I saw, or a log bunk and wood stove would not fit inside.

The term "hut" often refers to a temporary structure but not always. A hut is made from local materials. Some Native American structures from olden days would qualify under this definition, as would some cottages.

Back to the interpretative signs, there was one telling how charcoal was made. (Click on it to see a large version.) Apparently the secret to making charcoal from wood is to limit the amount of oxygen that reaches the logs as you "char" them. Large amounts of charcoal were needed for the iron-making furnace nearby, which functioned in the 19th century.

Old Wagon in the Woods

At Elizabeth Furnace, GWNF

In the Massanutten Mountains, VA

Almost a Cloudless Sky

A lone cloud floats behind the Confederate Monument in Front Royal, Virginia. This granite memorial was "Unveiled July 4, 1911... to commemorate the courage and patriotism of the men from Warren County, who served honorably, in the Confederate Army."

A Skywatch Post

Heart of Stone

Frank spotted this heart-shaped rock in the forest near Elizabeth Furnace, which is near the north end of  the Massanutten Range.