Pirate and Fairy Princess

Elias and Meadow in costume, some years ago. Contributed by my sister - thanks, Peggy!

Up on the Roof

Today Frank went up on the roof to wash the clerestory windows. I took the camera up to him so he could show me what the view looked liked from up there. I don't try to step off the ladder onto the roof because I start to shake when I get up there.

By the way, our roof is brand new, installed just a week ago.





And here is the view from the roof. From there Frank could see more of the mountain than you can see from the deck.

More North Mountain Views

High on the top of Great North Mountain is a utility cut that provides great views. The picture of the rocks is for the geologists out there.

Visitors have left some interesting symbols on the mountain top. The hearts are nicer than most graffiti. I don't know who left the blue cross.

Another Halloween Costume Photo

Lynn and Marie Javins, Oct. 1975

If you have been following my posts this month, you may have seen earlier pictures of my daughters in costumes. Here Lynn is on the left, and Marie is showing signs of her interest in superheroes.

Emma L. Carpenter's tiny books

Among the items that I found while unpacking from our move are two tiny books. One is a copy of the New Testament from 1868, and the other is The Book of Common Prayer from 1869. That one has a personalized cover, saying "Emma L. Carpenter 1872" in gold letters. Both books look their age, with well-worn covers.

Emma Carpenter was my great-grandmother's name when she was married to Captain Russell Carpenter. After his death she moved to Chicago where she wrote for a newspaper and eventually married my great-grandfather, Judge D. H. Hammer. Her maiden name was Bower.

Oct. 25 View

From our deck, 5:35 PM Yesterday

Working on the MCS R&R Site

I've been working on revisions to the MCS Resources and Referral website. It includes a section on Multi-Sensory Sensitivity which results from carbon monoxide poisoning. It includes the symptoms of chemical sensitivity plus high sensitivity to light, sound, touch, hot or cold weather, and in some cases, electrical fields.

Forbidden Fruit

I've mentioned my food allergies before. Sometimes people ask why don't you cheat on your diet. Well, because I will suffer, that's why. But the week before last I took a chance and had just a little bit of fruit in some soy yogurt, figuring maybe the processing and enzymes would have made the fruit safer. It didn't.

My gums swelled and got very sore. This was 11 days ago and they still have not recovered completely. Last week I went to Frank's dentist (he had to go anyway so I went with him). Dr. Zale said my teeth were fine but my gums looked angry. He recommended salt water rinses. That was a week ago and there's been a definite improvement. Only the back left gums are inflamed and sore now. But even that is enough to make chewing and biting painful, so I've been eating soft foods. And I'm getting tired of them. My diet was already limited, and now I'm feeling hungry.

Why did I even buy that yogurt? Well, there are three stores in Harrisonburg that carry soy yogurt, none that carry goat yogurt, and nothing closer. (Harrisonburg is an hour from home.) When we were there two weeks ago, I went to Kate's Natural Foods and Kroger and neither one had any flavors that I can eat safely. We didn't have time to go to Sue's Nutrition before they closed so I decided to try some raspberry yogurt. Never again.

Funny thing, I don't tolerate soy except in yogurt. I use it as a salad dressing because vinegar does not agree with me.

My gums have reacted this way to fruit before and the awful thing is that when they swell a lot, particles of food get stuck between the gum and teeth. Last time I wound up having the dentist fix this and maybe I'll have to do it again. I hope not.

Photos Oct. 23, 2006

Through the window is the supervisor from the crew that put on our roof. He was up there measuring some windows that need to be replaced.

And below is Monday's view from our deck, illustrating that we don't have to go far to see fall foliage. The red leaves belong to a dogwood tree.

New roof

We're getting our roof re-shingled. A team from Tidewater Exteriors of Front Royal came Saturday and removed the old shingles, but there was a problem with the supplier and the shingles did not come. Monday all this should be straightened out and the roof finished.

Our dogs were concerned when they heard men on the roof, but they only barked for a little while.

Sculpted Squirrel

On the rail of our deck

I have not bribed the squirrels at our new home enough to get them to pose, but this little fellow left his job as a doorstop long enough to model for my camera.

Autumn at Shrine Mont

Yesterday we drove to Orkney Springs for the unglamorous mission of taking trash and recycling to their respective dumpsters. Since it was a beautiful fall day, we visited Shrine Mont, always a charming spot.

It did not disappoint. The trees were colorful and the open-air cathedral was peaceful yet intriguing.
Shrine Mont is only a couple of miles from Basye at the end of Orkney Grade Road.

Should I switch to AOL's free plan?

I've used AOL for a long time. It's enabled me to connect to the internet from anywhere in the US because they offer an 800 number for dialup. This is not free but is helpful when you are traveling and long-distance calls are restricted. We once stayed in a condo in Chincoteague where you could not make long-distance calls although 800 numbers were allowed. Relatives who had MSN were out of luck, but AOL came through.

Now AOL is offering free internet to broadband users. Should I switch? I'm not sure because there are still times when I need the dial-up option. I was also concerned about the free webspace that AOL provides members. Their customer service rep assures me that "you may continue to create web pages if you choose to switch to the AOL free service."

I was also assured that "You may have up to 7 Screen Names with the AOL free service. There is no charge for having more than one Screen Name." Also, "AOL Journals are available with the AOL free service." (Journals are similar to blogs.)

Some folks sneer at AOL, but AOL has been good to me. I remember calling their customer service well after midnight and getting help.

Hinkletown, Iowa

I came across the Hinkletown website because of a connection to my family tree. In 1846, Mordecai Suiter took his family to Iowa and settled in Hinkletown. Mordecai was a brother of my direct ancestor who lived in eastern Ohio. Two of Mordecai's sons wrote memoirs which were published in the Oskaloosa Globe in 1905, and part one and two of these narratives have been posted on the Hinkletown website.

• PIONEER LIFE Part I: Account of Early Settler Jeremiah Suiter
• PIONEER LIFE Part II by Jeremiah Suiter
• A PIONEER OF '49 by Berrimand Breeden, husband of Margaret Elizabeth Suiter
  

From the introduction:

In the spring of 1846, the family of Mordecai Y. Suiter, a 43 year old miller, left Ohio to move to Iowa. They made part of their trip by canoe to the Ohio River, and took a series of steamboats to the Mississippi River, where they landed at Le Claire, Iowa, and spent the winter. In the spring of 1847, they traveled by covered wagon to their claim on the Iowa - Keokuk county line.
The first year was marked by a house raising, bad weather and the struggles of preparing the prairie sod for its first planting.
The father died in the spring of 1852, in an unfortunate accident while trying to build a dam across the English River. One son, Jeremiah, became the blacksmith at Hinkletown through the 1880s.

If this doesn't interest you, check out the Hinkletown photo essay: the llama-riding goat

Autumn comes to our house

Here in Shenandoah County, the trees are ablaze with color. The dry months of summer did not prevent a glorious autumn, although the oak leaves are going straight from green to brown. The maples seem brilliantly unaffected, and several other species are adorned in shades of yellow.

I took these photos in our driveway yesterday.

More: See some autumn photos from 2005.

Ladybug ladybug...

Today our garage was covered in ladybugs! Turns out they are Asian Ladybugs, sometimes called Trick or Treat Lady Beetles, and they were looking for a winter home.


We hadn't seen ladybugs swarm like this before, and from an article, I see that this variety is fairly new to the US, having entered around 1988. They are considered beneficial insects but if you have a door on the sunny side of the house, they will slip inside when they get a chance.

A Step toward Selling the Chalet

Frank has joined Creekside Realty here in Basye. This should help him to market our chalet if needed. Not sure if it will be necessary since someone is interested in buying it and may submit a contract tomorrow.

This window view is from the loft bedroom.

The View from Great North Mountain

If you follow Crooked Run Road west from Basye, you will labor up a twisty-turny road, back and forth up Great North Mountain. You leave the farms and rural homes and pass through the George Washington National Forest as you climb upward.

We drove up there Sunday, as far as the West Virginia line at the crest of the mountain. There we found a couple of communication towers and a rough side road that is blocked to vehicle traffic. And nearby is a gas line/utility line cut through the forest, offering views both eastward and westward. The road we were traveling continues on to the Mathias/Lost River area, but we did not venture that far.

The photo below looks east-southeast toward Supinlick Ridge, which is where we live. I believe our home (and Basye) is out of the frame to the right, although it's not visible from that point. From our deck we can see the radio tower ahead and to the right.
Next is the view in the other direction, looking towards West Virginia.
According to Wikipedia, Great North Mountain is a 50-mile long ridge.

Who-o-o is this?

Today was sunny and the leaves are changing. This afternoon we took a little drive in the National Forest. Around 5:30 we saw this owl. He let me take his picture. I felt honored to get so close to an owl.

Orange sunset, Valley Pike

We did some shopping in Winchester on Thursday and were going to have dinner at the new Outback on Route 11. It was too crowded though - a 50-minute wait. So we went to Popeye's and as we turned into the parking lot, we saw this brilliant sunset.