Frog Valley and Cacapon

Near Berkeley Springs, WV

Monday Mural: We visited Frog Valley Artisans a couple months ago. The colorful frog mural is on the exterior of the building.

As you can see, there was color everywhere! (Note the tie-dyed sheet on the ceiling.)

Since it was late October, even the trees were brilliant.

Mosaic Monday: The last collage shows pictures from Cacapon State Park. I took these in January a year ago. 

New Mural at Blue Wing Frog

Strasburg, VA

The Blue Wing Frog was a restaurant in Front Royal that had murals and fun decor. Since they moved to Strasburg, I watched for signs that they had decorated the new location. Then a local artist posted that she had painted a mural there, so I went to see it.

It’s a pretty fantasy that has hummingbirds, not frogs. However, there’s a winged frog outside on the fence. There’s also a butterfly painted on the side of the building, but it was already there before they moved.

Monday Murals / Mosaics 

Lunch at the Blue Wing Frog

Front Royal, Virginia.

When Marie was here last week, I took her to a restaurant we had not tried before.  The Blue Wing Frog is located on Chester Street, once an important street in town but now fairly quiet due to traffic being routed around the edges of the historic district.  I had seen positive reviews of it online so it seemed worth a try.

We were greeted before we even got through the door. I was pleased to see a nice mural on the wall, and original art placed around the dining rooms.

We ordered simple fare but it was good. Service was good too.

Sharing with Monday Murals

and Mosaic Monday.

Rust Colored Toad (Frog?)

I tried to find this amphibian's picture online but didn't know enough to figure out what he is. If you know, please comment. The sounds in the night video are not coming from this fellow; he was very quiet because Ben and I were nearby. (Location: Shenandoah County, VA)

You might also like: Evening Sounds and Sleeping Frog.

Sleeping frog

We saw a couple of frogs floating in a spring-fed pond today. I believe they are hibernating. Some frogs spend the winter in water and absorb oxygen through the skin.
This fellow did not move when I took his picture so I assume he was hibernating or at least still drowsy. Frogs are normally too shy to pose for more than a moment.
When I downloaded the image, the skincolor had this purple cast, but it was not so bright in the shady pool. Actually, it was raining lightly at the time and I used flash for this frame, which probably brought out this color.

Animal Sculptures in Riley Park

In Woodstock, Virginia

Turtle (in Sepia Tones)

Stone Frog

Linking to: Sepia Saturday

and Camera Critters

The Fuschia Plant

When we got ready for our Carolina trip, I took the hanging basket down from under the porch roof and moved it to where it could get some rain. I also filled the glass watering ball with water and plunged it back in the dirt. Fuschias are thirsty plants and will not survive more than a few days without water. Fortunately, our area got rain while we were away so the plant did well. On the evening that we got home, I went out on the deck to add some water to the plant.

With a rustle and a hop, something jumped out of the plant and disappeared into the darkness. Was it a bird? A mouse? A frog?

The next day I approached the plant cautiously to take a look. Out fluttered a bird who flew away. I peered into the plant.

Under the leaves was a nest filled with little eggs.

Evening Sounds: Frog Calls

I think Froggie went a courtin' by singing in our pond. Click the arrow to listen.

It was too dark to get much in the way of of visuals except trees and sky but they're nice and peaceful.

Color! Art and Foliage

 Berkeley Springs, WV

The red cardinal is painted on a wall outside a place called the Cardinal Bar. I happened to see it when I went to Berkeley Springs to view art and fall foliage. Autumn colors don’t last very long, so I make an effort to get out there and see them.

In the hills outside of town is a stained glass studio called Frog Valley Artisans. I already have a pretty piece from there hanging in my window, so I refrained from buying anything this time.  I enjoyed looking though.

 

The one I own is a landscape, but peace signs seem to be popular.

A little farther out Route 9 is a spectacular overlook, so of course, I drove out there.

Linkups: Monday Murals and Mosaic Monday

Thursday in Clear Brook

Frederick County, VA

After taking some pictures in Winchester, I decided to go up to Clear Brook Park to get some pictures of the lake. I had stopped at the park once, but had not walked out to the lake. The water level turned out to be low, like most of our rivers and lakes are right now. It’s been a fairly dry summer.

Some people were fishing, and others were walking along the trails. 

I saw this cute green frog. It did not move, so I was able to get closer. I modified his close-up in the Oilbrush app. 

The park has a number of amenities, including an old caboose.

The parking lot is surrounded by Rose of Sharon trees. 

The Clear Brook community is still somewhat rural, although it’s proximity to I-81 has made it a trucking hub. There is a large Amazon Fulfillment Center. 

The post office is still small.

When I got back to the veterinary to pick up Charlie from day boarding, I found one of the resident cats sleeping in the waiting room. 

I’ll close with a picture of Charlie that I took today. He was quite pleased because he not only chased the ball and played with it, he brought it back and laid it near my feet. He is not a retriever breed so it has taken him a while to learn to bring the ball back.

Toad in the Driveway

Here's our amphibian buddy showing himself in daylight. I placed a dog statue next to him for scale. The dog is 11 inches tall.

I worry about our real dogs grabbing a toad! They can be somewhat poisonous.

See also: Rust Colored Frog or Toad

Wetlands Boardwalk and Charlie’s Report

After an appointment in Winchester yesterday, I decided to make a brief visit to the Trails at the MSV. I happened to be at a medical building next to the wetlands, so I walked down the boardwalk. When I was there four years ago, it circled a pond, but the pond has gotten so low that it’s now a marsh..

I admired the tall steel sculpture of a great blue heron. It’s the work of artist David Groenjes.

I saw this frog in some shallow water. The water doesn’t really show in the photo. I saw minnows too.

I’m feeling tired so I’m going to let Charlie the beagle take over.

Hi! I’ll tell you about some things I saw this week. Look at this giant rabbit! I saw it from the car and I didn’t get out because it was taller than my mom.

We went up to Skyline Drive and saw some deer. Miss Deborah took me for a walk while Mom went in the store.

There were two days when I went to day boarding at the veterinary. I’d rather go play with Sadie at Deborah’s house, and I did get to do that one day. That was fun! I also got to go to a dog park, but no dogs were there to play with.

Today we walked around by the courthouse in town. It was noisy because there were horns honking and some people making noise and talking. I was glad to leave and go to the state park by the river.

I hope that next week I have some quiet times and some fun times too.

Sounds of Lake Laura

I hear a crow... and are those frog songs?

Shenandoah County, VA 4/12/08

Little Frogs and Dogs

What are these people looking at?

Fortunately, they were glad to show me. There were tiny frogs in the creek under the bridge. This is in the Carrier Arboretum.

Can you see the little frog? It’s on a rock. The next one is on a leaf on top of a rock. It seemed like there was one on almost every rock!

Now I’ll turn the post over to Charlie.

Hi, it’s Charlie! Something happened that I don’t like. The mornings got very cold. I don’t wanna get up out of my chair when it’s cold, but Mom insists that I go out for a walk. I wish she would make the sidewalk warmer so that my paws don’t get cold.

Here’s a picture of the river that I saw when we went to Seven Bends State Park this week. The trees are starting to look yellow.

One day I went to the veterinary and got my nails trimmed. They gave me a bandanna for being brave. .

Today we went up to Basye to play in the dog park. Sadie went too. 

I ran really fast and got tired. Now it’s time to go to bed.