That '70s Style.

Saturday at Clermont Farm

See 2017 Posts:

History Talk in Berryville.

Clermont House.

Random-osity Fun

Good, Random, and Fun. 

The Good:  I looked out and saw that a crew was replacing a leaning utility pole in the yard across the street. The end result is good, although the sight was a bit strange. (I wonder what their job description says?)

The Random: I'm counting this bit of trompe l'oeil as a Monday Mural. It decorates the door of a ministry in Culpeper.

The Fun: Frank and I did a bit of wandering through the Shenandoah Yard Crawl on August 10. We didn't buy anything but browsed through some displays. The event gets bigger every year and I've learned to only do a part of it, exchanging pleasantries with the sellers and noticing some of the stranger items. You don't see this stuff in a big box store!

Mosaic Monday.

Bonus Picture: Lynn has a shirt from Hull's Drive-In Theatre. Yes, there are still a few drive-ins in Virginia. Hull's is near Lexington, and there is another one in Stephens City.

“You don’t stop having fun when you get old. You get old when you stop having fun.” 

~ Anonymous

Rural Rappahannock County

A Church and Some Farms.

St. Peter Catholic Church is near the towns of Washington and Sperryville, Virginia. It is fairly new, although the sanctuary has a traditional look. I was told that the church was designed to look like a country church in order to satisfy concerns from citizens.

Rappahannock County has a very rural appearance and most people want to keep it that way. It is beautiful and charming, but visitors may notice an absence of chain stores and urban sprawl. People there believe in slow growth and a peaceful countryside.

InSpired Sunday.

The rest of this post consists of pastoral scenes. You'll see a fancy stable because there are some very wealthy folks in that county. I've been on garden tours there and visited some large and luxurious ranches.  It is worth getting off the main road to explore the area.

The Barn Collective and Shadow Shot Sunday.

Butterflies and Critters with Hooves

Saturday Critters.

There seem to be more butterflies this summer. Perhaps I'm finding more of them because local parks and gardeners are making an effort to allow native plants to grow, including some that were considered weeds.

I took the third photo yesterday. It was nice seeing a calf with it's mother.

The deer was in the shadows, probably keeping cool.

I think the butterfly on the coneflower (echinacea) is a fritillary. I am not a butterfly expert, by any means.

The handsome horse looks friendly, doesn't he?

Flowers and a Brief Trip to Lost River State Park.

It's Willy Nilly Friday, and a good time to post an assortment of photos and join some end-of-week blog hops.

1. A bright sunflower against a blue sky.

Floral Friday and Friday Bliss.

2. I met Lynn for lunch today. We drove to Lost River State Park.

3. Black and White Weekend: A metal rope helps hold a bridge in place at the park.

4. Weekend Reflection: This is Howard's Lick, seen from that footbridge.

5. Skywatch: I'll close with another flower against a sky. This one  is a daylily.

Green Scenes Seen Today

This morning when I left the house to go to the podiatrist, I noticed a luna moth on the doorway.

After my appointment, I went grocery shopping. Ran into a rain storm but it passed. I made a detour at Markham to take a few pictures. I found a couple of board fences for the fence linkup.

The white horse moved into an awkward looking pose as I took a picture.

I wanted to get a picture of this old truck but wish the light had been brighter so that it were more obvious what's unusual about it. 

Signs and Graphics

Tom the Backroads Traveller has taken over the hosting of Signs, Signs, a weekly linkup for pictures of signs. Tom is a prolific blogger of high quality photos and travelogues. I don't know how he finds the time to host multiple memes, but I appreciate his doing so.

 The pesticide warning is one I take seriously.  Consider that "cide" is a Latin suffix meaning killer. Anything strong enough to kill pests is likely to be harmful to people and pets.

The second image is a laundromat window. Water is used for laundry, after all, and the fish bubbles are reminiscent of soap bubbles.

Photo #3 shows a cute display at a tire shop, with tires decorated to look like snowmen.

The "AUTION" sign isn't the result of a typo; it's more of a case of a stick-on letter that failed to stick.

The sculpture of a dog stands in front of a veterinary office on the east side of Woodstock. I spotted it while driving past and stopped to take pictures. A plaque says it honors William A. Truban, DMV, 1924-2007. It appears to have been made from pieces of farm equipment. 

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Pretty Farm Scenes near Boyce.

Sharing with:

The Barn Collective,

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday. 

Some Fun, Plus a Thought about Greed..

Random-osity

The Good: Front Royal has a new mural and it puts the town on the Appalachian Mural Trail.

Monday Murals.

Painted by Jacqui Ris, the mural is at Mountain Trails, a store for hikers and travelers. In addition to gear, the store offers a shower and bathroom for hikers, and even laundry facilities.

Many hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) visit Front Royal because the town is within walking distance of Shenandoah National Park, which hosts slightly over 100 miles of the AT.

The mural shows two people hiking with a dog. The young artist has also painted murals on a flower shop.

The Random: Ever wonder why we put up with wealthy people doing awful things until they get way out of hand? It seems to me that we not only need to be critical of greed, but we need to stop idolizing the quest for wealth.

The Fun: Last week's National Night Out offered a wholesome combination of recreation and a good cause: the chance for citizens to get to know their public safety officers. This collage shows some images from the festivities in Strasburg.

Mosaic Monday.

Candlelight Vigil.

Candlelight Vigil for Victims of Gun Violence

Front Royal, Virginia

Sponsored by Four Churches on August 11.

"Make me a channel of Your peace

 Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope 

Where there is darkness, only light 

And where there's sadness, ever joy."

from the Prayer of St. Francis.
 

The vigil was held in a parking area across from First Baptist Church of Front Royal.

Inspired Sunday.

Different angle of the church tower with rising moon.

Sunset seen from a bridge.