
September 30, 2010
Revolutionary War Reenactors


These fellows are teaching us some things about the Continental Soldiers and their weapons. The location was the Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum property in Mt. Olive.
Labels:
American Revolution,
Living History
September 29, 2010
Fife and Drum Corps


The Fife and Drum Corps is part of the U.S. Army's Old Guard which "conducts memorial affairs to honor our fallen comrades and ceremonies and special events to represent the Army."
The band's colorful uniforms are patterned after those worn by the musicians of Gen. George Washington's Continental Army. In those days, military musicians wore the reverse colors of the regiments. The uniform designed by General Washington included a blue coat lined with either red or white fabric.
Labels:
American Revolution,
Living History
Farm House Becomes a Museum
Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum
Mt. Olive, VA

Labels:
Farms,
Shenandoah
September 28, 2010
Making Rope

Rope used to be made of hemp, which grew well in Virginia. It could be made in modest quantities on a farm like this man is doing, or it could be made industrially in the very long lengths needed for ships.
Labels:
Farms,
Living History
September 27, 2010
A Civil War Doctor
Living History at Germanfest
Mount Olive, VA
Sept. 25, 2010

In preparing for this post, I did a search for my great-grandfather James P. Suiter. I found him quoted in several books including Illinois in the Civil War and The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. I knew that he had left a diary and my dad's sister had given it to a history library.
Well, the books show that it's in the collection of the Illinois Historical Library. I'm glad that researchers made good use of it.
Labels:
Books,
Civil War,
Genealogy,
Living History
September 26, 2010
Getting Tires in Maurertown
Frank Waits at the Tire Dealer


Labels:
Family
September 25, 2010
Photos Lost and Found
We went to a festival today. The day was sunny and warm (a bit too warm for late September actually) and there were a number of history exhibits. So I took a lot of pictures.
Tonight I started downloading them to my computer via the Zeikos card reader that I started using as described in a previous post. But the reader kept losing the connection. I've had this problem before but this time the connection went off and on, off and on. And each time a warning message appeared saying to eject the card properly or data could be damaged.
Then the pictures would not come back. The card appeared to have been scrambled. Uh-oh! I ejected it and tried to view the images in the camera. They seemed to be gone!
I opened my image recovery software (PhotoRescue) and tried to repair the damaged card. Unfortunately, the card reader lost its connection again part-way through the process. I wasn't able to eject the card properly because the connection was too loose, so I wound up shutting down the computer and starting over. This time I connected the card reader through a cord and made sure everything remained still on the table while the recovery software did its thing.
Yes! It worked and 70 pictures were saved. It looks like one was damaged but I don't think it was important.
![]() |
Patsy Cline Exhibit |
Then the pictures would not come back. The card appeared to have been scrambled. Uh-oh! I ejected it and tried to view the images in the camera. They seemed to be gone!
I opened my image recovery software (PhotoRescue) and tried to repair the damaged card. Unfortunately, the card reader lost its connection again part-way through the process. I wasn't able to eject the card properly because the connection was too loose, so I wound up shutting down the computer and starting over. This time I connected the card reader through a cord and made sure everything remained still on the table while the recovery software did its thing.
Yes! It worked and 70 pictures were saved. It looks like one was damaged but I don't think it was important.
Labels:
Photo Techniques
September 24, 2010
Deer in the Driveway


In the last photo, note the figure right behind Junior. It's an old concrete deer statue that stands next to our neighbor's driveway. I'd love to know what the young deer thinks of it!
Labels:
Deer
September 23, 2010
The View from FR 92


Logging in George Washington National Forest
By the way, we saw a parking lot for the Big Schloss trail but a sign said the trail was temporarily closed because a bridge was out. (Turns out that the bridge replacement on Big Schloss is funded through the Recovery Act.)
Labels:
Great North Mountain
Mosby Symposium Coming to Winchester
October 2, 2010
“A DAY WITH MOSBY” SYMPOSIUM
at
THE ARNOLD BUILDING
500 SILER ROAD
WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA 22602
See the Turner Ashby Chapter Page for details.
Labels:
Civil War
September 22, 2010
Historic Newtown (Stephens City)

![]() | On Saturday I visited the history museum in Stephens City. In addition to their main building in a graceful brick house, they provide tours of a couple of nearby buildings. I was impressed by the interior of Steele's Store, pictured below. It's shelves are full of authentic old merchandise, neatly displayed as though ready for customers. All this is a short distance from busy I-81, providing a sharp contrast between the noisy and pressure of heavy traffic and the more gentle pace of the past, at least as we imagine it. |

Labels:
Shenandoah
Old Farm Wagon

This one is not a Conestoga wagon, which has more of a banana shape in order to keep cargo centered. It does not even appear to be one of the many wagons that were built in Newtown (Stephens City) back when it was well-known for the the wagons built there. However, I have seen a Newtown wagon in Luray, VA.
Earlier Post: Covered Wagon in Pennsylvania
Labels:
Shenandoah
September 21, 2010
Living History in Newtown, VA

Earlier Posts:
- Marker: Town almost Burned by General Hunter
- More Pics of Historic Stephens City
- Field Trip Starts in Stephen's City
Labels:
Civil War,
Living History,
Shenandoah
Playing with PhotoFrame

Labels:
Photoshop
September 20, 2010
Squirrel in Ivy and Grass


I used a filter (Ink Outlines) in Photoshop on the first image. The second one is not filtered except for a slight sharpening.
September 19, 2010
The View from Maggie's Deck

Labels:
Great North Mountain,
Sunsets
September 18, 2010
Pink Roses


The roses in our own garden are not blooming right now, but we expect to have some more blossoms now that the weather is cooling off.
Labels:
Gardens
September 17, 2010
Close-Ups at the Shrine


To reach the cathedral from Orkney Springs, enter through the archway gate on the circle at the end of Route 263 and park in the lot across from #29 on the map. Walk up the driveway to the little chapel and the shrine.
Previous Posts: Shrine Mont in January
Labels:
Churches,
Gardens,
Orkney Springs
September 16, 2010
At the Music Festival
Shenandoah Valley Music Festival
Orkney Springs, VA


Labels:
Orkney Springs
September 15, 2010
September 14, 2010
Testing a New SD Card
Our View Today

Great North Mountain
I formatted a new memory card for my camera today. It has a capacity of 8 GB which is much more than my old card. I've been shooting in "Camera Raw" and the files are large (over 20 MB) so the old card was filling up too quickly.The new card works well in my newest camera but when I tried to see the pictures on my laptop I ran into a snag. My trusty card reader was not up to the task! Fortunately Frank had given me a new card reader for Christmas (which I had never used), and I located it and voila! The files showed up on the laptop so I can process them the usual way in Photoshop.
As you can see, I shrunk the picture and added a copyright line from an image that I created for that purpose. I paste it in whenever I feel like adding the copyright message. I resisted doing that for a long time, figuring an image smaller than 5x7 inches would not be stolen but alas! I found my pictures showing up on other sites without even a credit to my name. (People, if you want to use one of my photos, please ask!)
My reason for using the "Camera Raw" is to cut down on "noise" which was showing up as blocky pixelated areas in the sky. I still get some of that when I save as a JPEG, particularly a small version like this. I always save a larger version for printing.
A disadvantage of using "Camera Raw" and large files is that each picture takes noticeably longer to save on the camera, so it's click and wait ...and wait... before I can click again. I think when I'm shooting a bunch of pictures that don't involve the sky I will switch to a smaller image size.
September 13, 2010
SRLPOA


The meeting was held at the community pavilion which is on a bluff next to the North Fork of the Shenandoah. The weather was beautiful and the people we met were friendly. The meeting was conducted by SRLPOA President Johnny Eppard, a local contractor.
Labels:
Creeks and Rivers,
Shenandoah
September 12, 2010
Clean Water Needed in Many Countries
WaterAidAmerica: Supporting safe water and sanitation in Asia and Africa.
Labels:
Health
Blue Butterfly

Labels:
Gardens
September 11, 2010
Lynn and her Cat


The Humane Society has a page on the hazards of spot-applied flea treatments. They advise consumers to consult a veterinarian before using over-the-counter pesticides on pets.
Labels:
Family,
Misc. Animals
September 10, 2010
September 9, 2010
Burger King Changes It's Coffee
I drink only decaf and even then I only tolerate some brands. At home I make Folger's decaf because it tastes okay and doesn't cause me pain afterwards. The pain I speak of is high in the abdomen, around the rib cage. Sometimes it's been pretty intense, so I try to avoid drinking coffee in restaurants unless I've had it there before without bad results.
On Monday we were in Luray and stopped at Burger King. I ordered a cup of decaf and had a rude disappointment. It was not the coffee I was used to getting there. It tasted like bitter mud. I threw out most of it, partly because of the taste and partly because I need to stick to brands I know are safe for me.
I got around to checking the web tonight to see what happened and found that Burger King has ditched it's BK Joe coffee and replaced it with Seattle's "Best." That word "Best" is part of the brand name, not an actual description. Yuck! (To be fair, I don't like the other famous brand from Seattle either. Expensive does not equal good, in my experience.)
Back to the chest pain: I don't know why I get it from some coffee brands and not others. Perhaps it's the acid content causing gas, or possibly there's an additive or contaminant (propylene glycol maybe?). It even happened with a cup (actually only part of a cup) of organic decaf that I purchased in a natural foods store. Anyone else get chest pain from coffee?
Labels:
Health
Contrails forming a "Y"
Yesterday we saw these vapor trails against the evening sky. We often see contrails left by planes flying over the mountains. 

See also Contrail in Wikipedia
Labels:
Air Travel,
Skies
September 8, 2010
A View from the Quicksburg Mill
Vista at Quicksburg, VA
Looking across the railroad toward the North Fork of the Shenandoah with the Massanutten Mountains in the distance


Labels:
Books,
Massanutten Mtn.,
Mills,
Shenandoah
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