Late October Leftovers

Fort Valley Landscapes

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Butterfly Mural in Harrisonburg

Virginia Avenue

Monday Murals

 This colorful mural is on the side of the Grass Roots Landscaping and Garden Center. 

Monochrome Medleys

 The pictures in the first collage are from today. I was looking for textures.

The other mosaics are screenprints from Facebook posts for a black and white theme. Most of the individual pictures have been on my blog within the last two years.

Charlie Turned Three

Yesterday was Charlie's birthday. He was not impressed when I sang Happy Birthday to him in the morning. I’ll let him tell you about the day.

Hi! There was something special about yesterday and Mom said it was my birthday, whatever that is. Other than her singing to me, the morning was ordinary enough. We went for a walk and I took a nap. In the afternoon, we got in the car and went to Wendy’s. She gave me pieces of my hamburger until it was gone, and she gave me a couple of fries.

We went to the dog park and some of my friends were there. They were pretty much the same ones who were there the other day, so there were nine dogs including me. Their moms and dads told me “Happy Birthday.” It sounded like something to be proud of, so I was. I showed all the dogs how fast I can run, and we raced around and played. 

Here are some of the other dogs.

And here’s a picture that Mom made on the computer.

I think we are supposed to share animal pictures for Saturday Critters, so here are some horses.

I hope you get to see some friends and have fun too.

Dine In or Not

Fast Food Restaurant

I don’t expect anyone other than photographers to understand why I took the third picture. Sunlight coming through the screen made a pattern on the wall that looked like some kind of code.

Along U.S. 340 in Page County

Not Far from Luray

Here we see the South Fork of the Shenandoah from a boat landing just off 340 where it bypasses Luray. There’s also a business route 340, the old route that goes through Luray and Stanley. U.S. 340 runs from Greenville, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland, and I’ve traveled all of it at one time or another. It passes through some beautiful country.

I took these pictures at the end of October. I imagine the leaves have fallen since then. We had a frost yesterday, and today there was much-needed rain.

 The third picture is from later that day when I was driving back along 340. In the distance is a peak in the Massanutten Mountains.

Skywatch

Bridgewater Dam and Ducks

Wildwood Park

Bridgewater is a small college town in Rockingham County. The dam on the North River carries a thundering outpouring of water. 

Mallard ducks were floating serenely above the dam.

Wild Bird Wednesday / Water H2O

November View, Riley Park

 Woodstock, VA

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Blog Post #8900

This is a picture that my sister took of me when she visited. We were at Seven Bends State Park, and I posed with a sign for the children’s play space. I’m on a committee that helps support the park’s development. Our group is affiliated with Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.

Virginia has wonderful state parks. So does West Virginia, and I’ve been going to parks in both states since I was a small child. I was fortunate to have parents who enjoyed exploring natural areas. 

Flowery Mural and Powerbox

Culpeper, VA

I probably should’ve backed up to get the top of the mural in the picture. Perhaps I couldn’t because there was a car parked next to the curb. Here’s a different angle showing the rest. I’m not sure that helps.

I don’t know who painted that one. I did find out that the nearby power box was painted by Crystal Burnham. 

Monday Murals

Little Fork Church

Culpeper County, VA

 The first church on this site was built of wood and burned in 1773. It was rebuilt of brick in 1776. This is one of the few colonial era churches that still stands in Virginia’s northern piedmont.

Window with Reflections

The nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places describes the exterior as follows:

"Little Fork Church is a one-story brick structure which measures approximately 83\' x 33\'. Its walls are laid in Flemish bond with random glazed headers above and below the water table. Unfortunately most of the brick below the water table as well as the brick gutter have been covered by cement. Rubbed brick marks the four corners of the building as well as the window jambs, principal window arches, and original door jambs. The long south wall of the church is divided into seven-bays containing six semi-circular arched windows and a central door. This door, as well as the west door, has been altered but probably both originally featured brick pediments. The west facade has two small rectangular windows placed high on the wall as if to be gallery windows although it is not certain that the church ever had a gallery. The whole of the building is surrounded by a modillion cornice (probably the original) and is crowned by a hipped roof."

A tall monument in the churchyard was erected in 1904 in memory of the Little Fork Rangers, a local Confederate Cavalry Company that drilled here early in the Civil War.

Mosaic Monday

A Civil War trails marker tells how the “peaceful parish became an entrenched camp.”

"In the spring of 1861, the Little Fork Rangers (Co. D, 4th Virginia Cavalry), mustered in the yard of Little Fork Episcopal Church. On July 4, the Rangers were presented with a battle flag as they left Rixeyville for the First Battle of Manassas. Capt. Robert E. Utterback called on them to follow the flag "into the face of the enemy, defending it with the last drop of your blood!" Utterback's call proved all too prophetic as the Rangers served under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and other commanders from Manassas, to Gettysburg, to Appomattox Court House."

Read the rest of this marker on HMDB.