This school served the families of Cullers Run from 1898 to 1956. On Hardy County Heritage Weekend, it was open to visitors. Some friendly volunteers shared the history of the school and offered us juice and cookies.
We saw this custom-made wood stove in West Virginia. An expert welder made it to look like a face.
...straight ahead to a lane (R), 1.5 m., that leads 0.7 m. through woods to BIRD HAVEN. The Shenandoah Community Workers were organized here 'to develop and demonstrate practical methods of applied forestry . . . to give its members education in craftsmanship . . . all income of which shall be used for Community purposes.' Here local craftsmen fashion furniture, toys, fireplace equipment, hooked rugs, and quilts, from patterns evolved by their ancestors.I'm grateful to UVA for posting the WPA Guide to the Old Dominion, even though it appears to have been scanned in so there are some errors. The WPA Guide was a New Deal project designed to provide work to writers and others who had lost employment during the Great Depression.
This mill is on U.S. 11, the Valley Pike, at the south end of Mount Jackson, VA.
Hardy County Heritage Weekend will be celebrated Sept. 27-29, 2008. We attended last year and did not have time to see everything. 
I attended a meeting yesterday of the Mt. Jackson Garden Club. We had a guest speaker who presented the principles of flower arranging. Then we were given our pick of flowers and greenery and a mug to arrange them in.
This is a 3-bedroom chalet listed at $197,900. It has 2 bathrooms and almost a half-acre of wooded land. The lot is sloping and a lower-level is visible from the rear.
William E. Carson (1870-1942), the first chairman of Virginia State Commission on Conservation and Development, a local resident, spearheaded the development of the recreational center for use by the people and visitors of Front Royal and Warren County. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began designing and developing the center's facilities, including the golf course and a rustic clubhouse that once stood nearby. The park opened to the public in 1938. Carson and his wife, Agnes H. Carson, donated the land for the park and dedicated it to the memory of their only son, William E. Carson, Jr. who died in 1925.
roving slowly but steadily. But I get frustrated with the limitations imposed by pain, and the pain itself can be sudden and sharp, brought on by simple things like reaching to pull a blanket over me, or even by just being jostled. And I wake up at night whenever I start to roll onto my right side. It hurts and I have to roll back. Which has turned out to have a positive side-effect: my lower back is bothering me less.
We took Scamp and Ben to Orkney Springs for a walk around the pond. We were pleased to see that they old springhouse has been repaired and painted. The pump is working and there's even a new sign: Great Bear Wallow Spring.
We went through the old Shenstone Mansion at the southern end of Mt. Jackson, VA. It's on the market right now and the current owner has done a lot of work on it, including replacing the front porch.For more on Civil War hospitals in Mt. Jackson, see Confederate Hospital Marker on HMDB.org and The Union Church, on MountJackson.com.
Today Frank had to work at the real estate office and I spent the morning working at our library. But it was too nice a day to spend indoors, so this afternoon I went to the Edinburg Old Time Festival. | Those who love mountain views but welcome amenities like having restaurants nearby will find Bryce Mountain a great location for a vacation home or retirement. First, the 5-bedroom home that I mentioned before. It's $399,000 and has plenty of space and a circular driveway. It's not far from what we call the Core of the resort, where you'll find golf, skiing, dining, and even a small airport. |  |
| Secondly, there's a brand-new 3-BR house for just $270,000. It's in what I call the "Confederate General Section" where the roads are named after Confederate Officers like Lee, Jackson, and Beauregard. If you haven't seen Bryce Resort, it's in Basye, Virginia about 10 miles west of Mt. Jackson. |  |
Marie created a multi-media video about some horrible neighbors we had long ago when we lived in a townhouse. She includes sound from a cassette tape that I made from my window. You can hear these people yelling and cursing. They did that regularly. Which leads to why I made the tape.
We enjoy watching the little hummingbirds that come to their feeder all summer. They move so fast you can't see their legs and feet.
As Seen from the Food Lion Parking Lot
And here's a restored brick "necessary" or outhouse. There's one on each side of the house although some distance away. Under a staircase that led downstairs from his bedroom, Jefferson had an indoor toilet, a convenience that was rare in this country at the time but fashionable in Paris, where he had spent some years as our Minister to France.
I wasn't familiar with the term curtilage. It means the enclosed land around a house or other building. I've copied the text from this part of the sign for you:"A portion of the curtilage fence has been recreated along the front entrance drive. This traditional "Virginia" or "snake" fence is built of hand-split Black Locust rails stacked loosely in a zig-zag pattern. As in Jefferson's day, the bottom rails rest on fieldstones to prevent rotting from contact with the ground."
I've mentioned before that this blog gets visitors who are looking for information on split rail fences. I've always loved the look of those rustic wooden fences and have taken many pictures of them over the years. The one on the left is at New Market, Virginia.
This weedy-looking plant is tobacco. It's been grown in Virginia for centuries even though it's known to deplete the soil. 
"Appomattox Court House" refers both to the county court building and to the historic town itself. This building is a reconstruction of the 1846 court house and is used as a visitors center.
This fellow is a historical re-enactor at Appomattox. He told us how he joined the Confederate Army, was wounded, went back after healing, only to be with the Army of Northern Virginia when they were defeated.  |  |
| General Lee | General Grant |
At midday on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee rode into this yard, dismounted, and disappeared into the McLean House. Grant, surrounded by generals and staff officers, soon followed. Dozens of officers, horses, and onlookers waited outside. After 90 minutes, Lee and Grant emerged. To the silent salutes of Union officers, Lee rode back through the village – to his defeated army.
The home that hosted the surrender meeting was one of the best in Appomattox. Built in 1848, it had since 1862 been owned by businessman Wilmer McLean. The house became a sensation after the surrender. Union officers took some mementos; and in 1893 it was dismantled for display in Washington, D.C. But that display never happened, and the National Park Service reconstructed the building on its original site in the 1940s.
. (Click the text link for audiotape version on click the picture of the book to read reviews of the hardcover version.)
Entrance to Appomattox Courthouse National Historical ParkAll should unite in honest efforts to obliterate the effects of war, and to restore the blessings of peace. They should remain if possible in the Country; promote harmony and good feeling; qualify themselves to vote; and elect to the State and General Legislatures wise and patriotic men, who will devote their abilities to the interests of the country, and the healing of all dissensions.
We just got back from a brief trip, spending one night in Appomattox. We stayed in a lovely B&B named Longacre which I found on the web. It's in the "new" town of Appomattox which is a couple of miles from the historic town of Appomattox Courthouse, famous for Lee's surrender.
Finally Frank came out of the house. He found a baseball bat and used it as a lever to stretch the wire just a little bit. He helped the goat twist his neck the right way until he got loose. I did not get a photo of that because I was trying to help.
 | I walked into the kitchen this afternoon and saw this from the window over the sink. No wonder the previous occupants had a fence around this garden! Anyway, I grabbed my camera and took this photo through the window. Then I opened the front door gently, slipped out and took another picture (below). Can you see that the deer has a plant in her mouth? I even had a chance to take a short video. (See third image, click on arrow.) A few moments after that I saw two deer with her; one was a cute little fawn! They were obscured by the woods so I didn't get a picture of them. |
Okay, that was easy!
This is the "Gingham Cottage" in New Market, VA. On the right end of the wall is a marker telling us that the building is a reconstruction of John Sevier's Trading Post. This building is on the busy corner of Routes 211 and 11. The building has been struck by vehicles several times because the corner is a bit tight for large trucks trying to turn.
When Frank's brother and sister were here, we took them up to the top of Great North Mountain, driving up Crooked Run Road. As the word "crooked" hints, the road twists and turns on its way up the mountain. At the top you can park near the West Virginia border and walk up (passing the radio towers) to the clearing where the gas pipeline crosses the mountain. There you can see for miles.
We've seen more deer than ever this summer, often in the middle of the day. Ben and saw one in the yard again yesterday, and a few days ago I counted 8 that I saw over the course of the day.
If you arrive at New Market Battlefield after the gate closes, you can still visit the sites over by the Valley Pike (US 11). Don't miss St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in the town of New Market and the Pennsylvania Monument north of town.
One cadet who survived the battle was Moses Ezekiel, said to be the first Jewish cadet at VMI. After the war, he studied art and wound up in Europe where he became one of the most respected sculptors of his time.
I played around with filters and layer merging until I got something I liked. It reminds me of the crayon resist pictures we did in elementary school.
This strength testing is controversial; it does not work for everybody. But I think that for some of us it is a way to tap into the subconscious part of the mind which has stored away things of which we may or may not be consciously aware.
