Frank at Redondo Beach

We had dinner at Kincaid's which is nice but a bit pricey. It's at one end of the pier and the atmosphere is pleasant.

Tourist Info: Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce

The Redondo Beach Pier

View Our Previous Visit

Two Chandeliers

These chandeliers are in the Huntington Art Gallery. The above photo is sharp because the window provided plenty of light. Flash and tripods are not allowed so one of our shots of the another chandelier came out blurry. I liked the image anyway so I increased the saturation and cropped it. Now it looks like a holiday decoration.

You can see what the fixture really looks like in the post below this one.

A Fancy Dining Room

(Click the arrow to view.)

The Huntington Art Gallery is in the San Marino mansion that was the home of millionaire Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and his second wife, Arabella (1850–1924). In addition to displaying a renowned art collection, the building shows visitors a gilded-age luxury home, with some rooms (like this one) furnished as they would have been during the period 1911-1927.

Photography is allowed as long as you do not use flash or tripod. In fact, the mansion and gardens have been used in many films (see list).

Huntington's Chinese Garden

When we visited the Huntington Gardens last year, the Chinese Garden was not open to the public quite yet. Frank vowed to see it on our next trip to California.

These gardens are in San Marino, which is near Pasadena.

Official site: Garden of Flowing Fragrance

A Hot Day at Huntington Gardens

When we last visited Huntington Gardens, the month was February and the weather delightful. August is a different story, and the day turned out to be one of the year's hottest. As temperatures approached 100 degrees F., we cut short our visit a bit.

Squirrel with a Thin Tail

Seen in California

I'm posting this picture for fans of squirrels, including ILĀRIJS from Latvia who has a blog featuring a toy squirrel, and who showed up as a follower of this blog.

A Mostly-White Rose

Art Fair, Laguna Beach

We visited two of the arts and crafts venues at Laguna Beach. We had to pay for parking and admission, but many of the vendors had high quality exhibits, although nothing I really wanted to buy.

In the right-hand picture, a girl checks out some nice landscaping.

Linda and Frank in California

We had lunch at the Cottage Restaurant in the town of Laguna Beach and went to look at arts and crafts.

Flying in at Dusk

Somewhere Near Dulles

Northern Virginia

Pictures from an airplane look so hazy! I cut back the washed-out look a little bit in Photoshop using a method similar to the one I described in my fixing haze post, except that this time I used "Soft light" as the layer blending mode this time, pulling the slider back until the dark areas weren't too dark. Not perfect, but the actual view out the plane window looks like this anyway.

General Grant's Quarters at City Point

I'm trying to finish my Petersburg to Appomattox field trip photos. This shows Grant's modest quarters at City Point.

View from my Living Room Chair

Do you see the hummingbird?

No Longer There

At North Mountain Road and Senedo Road (Route 42)

I came across this picture from February 2008. This old building had suffered roof damage in a windstorm. The metal roof had been ripped part-way off. Since then the building has been torn down.

I was sad to see it go. It proudly stood on top of a hill between Macanie and Forestville. It was unoccupied but looked like it may have been a school at one time.

Caroline's Garden

	Yesterday I drove over to Conicville where a member of the garden club was hosting an open house, or rather an open garden. Recent rains had left us with high humidity and plenty of blooms.

Fuchsia Blooms and Sky

This is the second year I've had a fuchsia in a hanging basket. Just realized I've been spelling it wrong (as fuschia); it's actually named after Leonhart Fuchs, a 16th century botanist and doctor.

Source: Wikipedia article on Fuchsia

Another View of Our Local Covered Bridge

Meems Bottom Covered Bridge is on Wissler Road just off Route 11, the Valley Pike. Some sources claim that it was burnt during the Civil War but others say that no, that was another bridge a little way downstream where the Valley Pike crossed the North Fork.

My mother was a fan of covered bridges and old mills, so that's one reason that I go out of my way to photograph them. Which reminds me that some years ago my photojournalism teacher remarked that I took a lot of pictures showing human interaction with the natural world. That became my homework assignment for a portfolio of slides.

Sounds of the North Fork

Click the start arrow to hear and see the North Fork of the Shenandoah River at Meems Bottom, named after the Meem Family and their bottomland (low-lying alluvial land near a river).

Gnarled Tree

Above: This gnarl looks like an animal's face.

Right: A different view of the tree which stands beside the North Fork of the Shenandoah at Meems Bottom Covered Bridge, Mt. Jackson, VA.

The Mill in Thomas House

I've seen restaurants inside mills (like one in Strasburg) -- here's a mill inside a restaurant.

Today we had lunch at the Thomas House Restaurant in Dayton (Virginia). They feature down-home cooking - the fried chicken is tasty!

In their lobby is a model of the Silver Lake Mill, which stands on another side of town.

Related Article on DNRonline

Massanutten in the Distance

North End of the Massanutten Range

Seen from a Lake Near the North Fork

A Couple of Geese

A Resort Townhome for Sale

Frank has listed a nice townhouse for sale here in Bryce Mountain Resort. It has 3 levels and is a short walk from tubing, skiing, golf, and dining. It's so close to the ski slopes that sometimes snow blows onto the parking area from the snow-making machines.

The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 and a half baths. Asking price is $275,000.

I published it on Craigslist and Frank has it on his Bryce Home website (click on his My Listings tab).

A Field Near Mount Jackson, VA

Beans growing at "Meems Bottom." That's the Massanutten Range in the distance.

Under Contract!

After eight days on the market, my investment house is under contract. It took a lot of work to get it ready to show though.

Here are some before and after photos. I did not shoot them at the same angles because I was recording the scenes for different purposes. The first time I was documenting the fact that the tenant did not leave the house in good condition, to say the least. The second time I was taking pictures for advertising the house on Postlets and other websites.

Living Room as we found it	Same LR window and wall
Hall closet door	Hall Closet is at the left
Door from kitchen to porch	Same Door is on the right
Middle Bedroom	Same Bedroom Now

Picture of Marie

Marie with Henry the Ford,

Yesterday at Potomac Mills

More Morning Glories

Genus: Convolvulus

Morning Glories on Wikipedia

Morning Glory on Wagon Wheel

Trumpet Vine

Not in my Backyard
I've always liked the flowers of the trumpet vine. Years ago when I lived in a townhouse, I planted one of these rapid-growing plants next to a fence. Within a few years it practically covered the back yard.

Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) in Wikipedia: "It grows well on arbors, fences, telephone poles, and trees, although it may dismember them in the process."

Hanging a Door

Our handyman in Dale City cut a window in the new door for the furnace room. After he and Frank hung it, he added a vent panel.

The door has to be ventilated because the gas furnace is in a little room that opens to the outside.

On the Market: My House in Prince William County

We have listed my investment property for sale. It's a rambler in Dale City, Virginia - see the Realtor.com listing or go to Frank's Homesdatabase site and click on "My listings."

We listed it at $164,900 but will consider reasonable offers. It's been painted inside and out and the hardwood floors are newly refinished. We still have a bit more work to do on it.

Dale City on Wikipedia

Deer oh dear!

Friday morning I opened the vertical blinds in our living room and saw two deer in the yard. I went for my camera but they saw me move and strolled among the trees. I was able to photograph this one before he disappeared into the woods.
"How magnificent they are!" I thought. That evening as we left to go to a concert, we saw them in the yard across the road, calming munching foliage. One of them tasted leaves from Harry's dogwood before slipping out of sight.

The next morning I walked Ben down the driveway and there they were again. They stared at Ben and he stared back. Seeing that he was on a leash, they stayed a minute before disappearing down the hill.

I felt fortunate that we lived among these pretty animals. But when Ben and I changed direction and walked up through the yard, my mood turned to dismay. My planters near the pond had been ransacked! The deer had eaten all my geraniums, the pretty parsley, a new plant that I had used to replace one that disappeared, and impatiens. They left a coleus and some fragrant herb that is supposed to repel insects. They also tore leaves and flowers off a rose bush, shown here.

Since then I've sprayed a fresh coat of animal repellent on our other flowers. It has to be applied again after every rain or the hungry critters help themselves.

Post #2020 - Reviewing Recent Posts

Last month I ran a brief series sharing photos from 2001-2005 including some family pictures and a few travel snapshots. Also in July '09 posts, you can see pictures of Kernstown Battlefield, our local Garden Club, visits to Pennsylvania and Savannah, and an Independence Day Celebration.

In June, we've got photos from a trip to North Carolina and South Carolina, some Civil War sites, and some Suiter family history.

I posted Civil War site pictures in May too, including a tour of Petersburg Battlefield and a visit to New Market. Spring flowers are in that month's archive too, along with some pictures of horses.

So far this month, I've devoted a lot of space to photos of cute children visiting Woodstock and Basye. The kids have gone back to their homes in South Carolina and Washington state, but here's another picture showing Frank and his grandkids.

At the Ice Cream Stand

Josie and Ryley

See their blog.

Fun Center Photos

Thought I'd post three more pictures from last week's visit to Woodstock's Stoney Creek Roller Rink and Fun Center. First, Justin and Josie in the snack bar.


Above: Kate and Frank

Left: Josie and Austin play an arcade game.

Route 11 Yard Crawl

The annual yard crawl on Route 11 is August 8, 2009. Come shop the yard sales along the historic Valley Pike! A 45-mile stretch from Stephens City to New Market will be full of sellers and shoppers.

The Shenandoah Valley is really beautiful this summer. We've had ample rain and the fields are emerald green!

At the Roller Rink

Above: Frank's grandkids lace up their skates at the Stoney Creek Roller Rink and Fun Center in the Shenandoah Valley.
Below: Justin's mom helps him skate.

Skating Partners

At the Stoney Creek Roller Rink in Woodstock, VA

Above: Doug and Susan

Right: Josie is helped by her big cousin Austin

Buttons from EWG

Someone inquired about the graphic I placed at the bottom of Chemsense.com which refers to the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. I got it from the Environmental Working Group's page of web buttons (or badges as they call them).

Here's another one of their badges. This one is for cleaner water. I'll drink to that!

Click on it and you'll learn that "Tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals that lack safety standards, according to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) two-and-a-half year investigation of water suppliers' tests of the treated tap water served to communities across the country."

By the way, I tweaked their code for the sake of appearance: (1) made the graphic fall on the left (align="left") and (2) added a little space to the side (hspace="6").

Ski Lift in Summer

Lift Rides at Bryce Resort, Virginia

Above: Justin and Kate are ready for the safety bar to come down, assisted by local Minister Bill Nabers.

Below: Doug and Ryley


Above: View from the top, looking down toward the "core" of the resort and across at Great North Mountain.

Left: Doug took this photo of us.

Flash and Kate's Boys

Flash was a bit unsure when our guests arrived, but he quickly learned that the boys made great companions.

The Young and the Patriarch

Front: Josie with Austin, Justin, Ryley

Rear: Doug, Sue, Kate, Allison, Frank

Masculine and Feminine

Mountain Tubing Video

At Bryce Resort

(To view, click the arrow in the image below.)

Silly Guys

When I looked through my 2005 scans, I found these two photos. I almost didn't post them, but then I reasoned that if people didn't want to be seen looking silly, they wouldn't pose that way in front of a camera.

Above: Frank and his brother pretend to fish with invisible gear at Tomahawk Pond near Orkney Springs.

Left: A goofy-acting grandson is good for a laugh. (At Glebe Harbor, Montross, VA.)

Garthright Cemetery at Cold Harbor?

Yesterday I received an inquiry from someone who saw my page on the Battle of Cold Harbor. Deanna B. wonders about the final resting place of her ancestor James Hooper whose remains where moved from the Garthright Cemetery. I'm putting her question out here in case someone searching the web has an answer.

Here are her notes:
Thomas Williamson Hooper-4 (Joseph Henry Hooper-3, Edmund Hooper-2, Thomas Hooper-1).
He was born on 02 Nov 1832 in Bedford, Hanover County, Virginia, Beaverdam Farm. He died on 26 Nov 1915 in Culpepper, Virginia.
Notes for Thomas Williamson Hooper:
Richmond Dispatch 3 February 1895

"About Beaver Dam" - Interesting Recollections and Notable Natives of the Place, Memories of Dr. Thomas W. Hooper
Near Cold Harbor stands the house where my father was born, and not far from the house there is a graveyard, surrounded by a brick wall, with a half-circle brick along the top. There sleep the generations of my forefathers. In that enclosure is buried Mr.James Hooper and at his funeral Rev.Samuel (blank) officiated in 1754 and preached a most powerful sermon on the text selected by the good man before his death 1 Peter IV:18. The cemetery is referred to by Dr. Hooper is now termed The Garthright Cemetery and sits on the grounds of the house identified by the National
Park Service as the Garthright House.

She continues, "I understand these remains were removed and buried elsewhere. Can anyone find out where they were re-buried and who in addition to Mr. James Hooper was buried with him?"