A View Along Oak Ridge Road

Mount Crawford, VA

One hundred and fifty years ago, this was a farm owned by Samuel Slusser.  The farmhouse was beautifully renovated 20 years ago.

Striving Starling, Hunting Robin

The starling was on the railing, trying to get suet from a feeder. This feeder has a wire grid on the bottom where woodpeckers can hang to feed. Birds that do not have toes designed for clinging are almost out of luck, but they can still try. This bird would jump upwards and occasionally grab a morsel of suet.

Today was rainy, but there was a break in the weather this afternoon, and I sat on the deck with my camera. I could hear various birds in the trees, but the leaves are thick and it was hard to get a picture. Charlie was outside with me so not many birds approached. Robins, however, are pretty fearless as long as you are 20 feet away.  This one hopped along on the grass, looking for food.

Looks like it found something! American robins eat insects, worms, and berries.

Along Passage Creek

Fort Valley, VA

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Unveiling the Reflections of Nature Mosaic

Seven Bends State Park

On Saturday, a mosaic was unveiled in the children’s play area near the Hollingsworth Road entrance. It was designed and created by the Community Art Collaborative and represents the beautiful environment of the park.

We’ll take a closer look in a second but first you may be wondering about the character on the left. Why, it’s Ranger Fox! 

It was Kids to Parks Day so there were activities for children. One of them was the Mosaic Animal Friends Scavenger Hunt. Guests were invited to find 17 types of animals in the mosaic.

In the middle section, we see the play space with its version of the Woodstock Tower. 

Monday Murals / Mosaics

Materials for the mosaic were funded by The Friends of Seven Bends State Park, and the framing structure was erected by park staff. 

Guests were able to work on creating mosaics.

Although we had a beautiful day, the river itself was still swollen and muddy. The low water bridge had been closed by floodwaters and reopened just the day before. 

May Flowers in my Front Yard

Before I moved here, the previous owner had planted a flower garden in the front yard, and a vegetable garden in the backyard. I think he took meticulous care of them, but my style has been more casual. I’ve planted some perennials and put some annuals in the flower pots, but mostly, I just scatter seed. 

The first picture shows some blossoms on a shrub, which I think is a weigela. It is showing its age, and last fall I paid my lawn guy to cut it back because it was too tall for me to prune. Since then, I’ve been trying to tackle the honeysuckle and grapevines that threatened to strangle it. Anyway, it has some nice flowers.

Earlier this month, there were lots of lavender blue flowers, which my phone app says are flax. The sweet william began to bloom, and continues to do so in various colors. 

Coneflowers have started blooming, and today I photographed one that was sneaking through the green bench.

My yellow coreopsis is back. The common name is tickseed, which I don’t like much, but I will say the seeds are very easy to harvest and scatter around.

The humble white clover is a small plant that is not appreciated by everybody. Some fussy people don’t like it in their lawns, but personally I encourage it. It returns nitrogen to the soil and provides nectar for bees.

These small petunias are an annual that I planted in one of the flower pots early this week. 

My Current Dog and My First Dog

Charlie

My current dog is Charlie, a tri-colored beagle. I'll show a second picture of him in a minute, but first I'll show you my first dog.

Spotsy was a pointer mix. I named him after the county that he came from, Spotsylvania. I was an adult when we got him. I didn’t have any dogs as a child because my father had asthma and reacted to dogs and cats. I had no idea how to care for a hunting dog and did not give him enough exercise. As a result, he learned to escape from our small backyard. We built a taller fence but he figured out how to unlatch the gate. But mostly he was a house dog. My kids adored him.

I should have learned from that experience that I should not choose a hunting dog breed when I only have a small yard. Yet I always liked beagles, and when 4000 beagles were rescued from Envigo, I wanted to adopt one.

There were none up for adoption from the shelters near me. My daughters located a shelter in Charlottesville that had some. Lynn and I drove over the mountains to get Charlie.

He has been a challenge. I take him for several walks a day, and almost every day we go for an adventure. It might be a trip to the dog park, or a sniffari in the state park, or a play date with his friend Sadie. Once he gets enough exercise, he takes a long nap.

 Charlie is a good boy.

Why? Because it’s there.

Sometimes I take pictures that are a little bit odd, but I think other photographers will understand. Many years ago, I was showing my mother some of my photos and she looked at one, and said, “Why did you take that picture?” I didn’t know how to answer that. I was a little bit insulted, or surprised because she never said anything negative about me. I still don’t know why she said that, but it stuck with me. 

Why did I take these? Well, why not? 

The sunshade was triangular and cast an interrupted shadow on the picnic table and grass.

The oil lamp distorted the shapes behind it, and reflected the windows at the bottom. Perhaps the lady in the picture was wondering what I saw in it. 

Along the North River in Mount Crawford

Near Harrisonburg

The remains of an old flour mill still stand beside the river. The mill burned in 1962. It had been five stories high and had three water wheels and dated to the 1870s.

The  miller’s house has been restored and is used as a vacation rental.

 

The North River

Waiting for Hummingbirds

My hummingbird feeders are set up, but I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. Part of the reason is that we’ve had several rainy days. I’m not concerned because I have a garden in both the backyard and the front yard to attract them if they feel like visiting.

Meanwhile, I have a pretty hummingbird on a suncatcher.

It rained yesterday and then last night it poured. All the low water bridges were flooded and even some main roads were flooded. I couldn’t take Charlie to the state park today because both entrance roads were under water at the river.

I took him to Riverview Park during a break in the rain and we walked around and also sat in the gazebo.

The Metal Chicken Trio

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

New Mural at Massanutten Library

Harrisonburg

A mural celebrating books and reading was recently completed outside the Massanutten Regional Library. The artist is Tyler Kauffman.

I drove past there a month ago when it was not quite finished, but it is now completed as you can see in the first photo.

I have posted pictures of this library before. There are flowers and artwork in front of it.

Previously Shared Murals by Tyler Kauffman:

Mosaic Monday / Murals