Frederick County Rurality

Frederick County, VA.

Sharing with The Barn Collective
and Wordless Wed. on Tuesday.

Rainy Season Randoms

For a while it looked like Hurricane Florence was going to send us torrents of rain, but we seem to have escaped the worst of it. We have had heavy rain and more is coming tomorrow morning, but this afternoon the sun came out. Flooding has been "the usual," that is, enlarged ponds, wet fields, and a few impassable roads that get that way with every heavy storm. 

There were tornados in Virginia today but they were east of the Blue Ridge, not near here. Now for three picture for Random-osity, with the first one also linking to Monday Murals.

The Good: This mural is on a wall next to the new Shenandoah Museum of Contemporary Art is Strasburg.  People have been coloring it with paints, but progress has been slow due to the weather.
 

The Random:  I get the feeling that nature can't take any more of our pollution so she's fighting back!

The Fun: Although I planned to stay home today, the unexpected sunshine called me out. I ran a couple of errands, bought a dollar cup of coffee at Royal Farms, and drove a short distance to the golf course behind Walmart, where I drank my coffee in the sunshine. I took a short walk to the river, where I saw some young men fishing. Fishing may not look like fun, but people who like it assure me that it is.

Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church

This church is near Grottoes, VA, a small town best known for Grand Caverns. Not in the picture is a large addition holding a fellowship hall and Sunday School rooms.

Originally built in 1857, the church was rebuilt in 2005 following a fire. 

 

Sharing with InSpired Sunday and Shadow Shot Sunday

A Variety of Creatures

Big Bird? I believe it is an emu. I don't see these very often. It posed for me!

There are many ducks and geese on our neighborhood lake. The mallards have multiplied over the past year.

The squirrel was photographed by one of my game cameras.

The final picture shows a rabbit I saw at Oatlands.  We have rabbits at home too, but my pictures of them are all starting to all look alike.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters and I'd Rather Be Birdin'.

Five Images from Oatlands.

Willy Nilly Friday.

1. This fence interested me, with its varied-height pickets and the sharp angle. On the hill behind it stands Oatlands, built between 1804 and the 1820s.

Black and White Weekend.

2. Here's a better view of the manor house. My older pictures of Oatlands show a deeper yellow paint color.

Sharing with Skywatch Friday.

3. Oatlands is known for its lovely gardens, so I'm devoting the rest of this post to them.

I filtered the image of the zinnias to give it a bit of drama for Orange You Glad It's Friday and Floral Friday.

4. Frank wanted to see water features so we traipsed down to the lily pond. It is a peaceful spot.

Weekend Reflections.
 

5. Since there were many flowers calling to me to take their portrait, I made a collage of pictures from the gardens using PhotoCollage. 

P.S. If you are in the path of Hurricane Florence (or any other storm), please be cautious. It has not reached us in Virginia yet but we are expecting days of rain, and the ground is already wet from a series of showers. We have extra supplies in case the road to town gets flooded or the power goes out.

Keep your phone charged!

Edgewood Cemetery.

This charming cemetery is enhanced by the decorative iron fence and archway as well as numerous trees. I happened to find this near the town of Grottoes on Rockfish Road. It is across the road from Mt. Horeb Church.

Sharing with Fences Around the World.

North Fork in a Light Rain.

Memorial Park in Elkton, Virginia.

Tuesday Treasures.
 

It's September 11th so I'm sharing a few pictures of the Elkton 9-11 Memorial. I did share a single image of this at the end of August because I had a dramatic shot of it that I wanted to post for a black and white linkup, which they turned out to like enough to show it this past weekend.

  

This day seventeen years ago is etched in the memory of almost everyone who was old enough at that time to understand what was happening. I won't repeat what I wrote about it on the 10th anniversary of that shocking day because you can click through if you are curious.

The Elkton memorial is in Stonewall Memorial Park.

Also in the Memorial Park is this attractive monument honoring the town's veterans.

"In memory of the veterans that gave their lives on the battlefields in all conflicts. In honor of those that served from the Stonewall District."

I love the petunias here, so beautifully cared for, and I'm sharing them with Floral Bliss, a linkup that is ending this week.

I also like the stonework on this memorial. The flagstone looks like Bull Run Mountain stone.

A Dining Room Mural.

I've seen a few of these scenic murals in older homes. People ordered them in sections from Europe and fit the panels together. There were ways to customize them so that your walls were not exactly like your neighbor's.

For more murals, visit Monday Murals.

Sperryville UMC

This Methodist Church is along Route 522 as it passes through the small town of Sperryville in Rappahannock County. Built in 1915, it is described as "country Gothic style" in a description of the Sperryville Historic District.

My camera angle (looking upward) resulted in inward-leaning lines but that weather vane was slanting already. Wait a minute, why a weather vane instead of a cross? I don't know.

Next door to the church is a fine red barn or stable.

Since I'm sharing this post with the Barn Collective as well as InSpired Sunday, here's one more barn from the same county.