A Brief Critter Update.

Saturday's Critters

I'm experimenting with a new placement for a trail cam. So far it's only taken pictures of my husband mowing the lawn and a variety of images of geese.

In other local news, Flash has been acting very tired and his appetite is even worse than before. He is on a bunch of medications for congestive heart failure, which he has survived since being diagnosed in February 2017. I hope he's not in pain. He does not complain.  He's a good dog.

Flowers and Other Pretty Things.

Willy Nilly Friday.
 

1. This trumpet vine photo is from a month ago but I wanted to share the bright orange flowers.

Sharing with Orange You Glad and Floral Friday.

2. I think these purple flowers are phlox.

3. These fellows are fishing in the North Fork at Strasburg Park.

Weekend Reflections.

4. I came across this old picture of Marie when she graduated from high school. I had not put it in the album at the time because it was printed too dark but I took a picture of it yesterday and edited it to be a shade lighter.

Black and White Weekend.

5. The final image is a cell phone picture that I took this evening.

Skywatch Friday.

View from the Goose Creek Bridge

Blog Post #6,430.

This historic bridge is no longer open to vehicles but you can park nearby and walk over it.

In June of 1863, Lee's army was on their way to Pennsylvania, where a battle wound up taking place at Gettysburg. It was important to Lee's strategy that he reach the ShenandoahValley ahead of the pursuing Union Army, so his cavalry under JEB Stuart was tasked with protecting the main body of the army.  The cavalry delayed the Union Army in a series of skirmishes along what is now Route 50. One of these was at this bridge across Goose Creek, now a small historical park.

Sharing with Fences Around the World.

Farms Along Riverview Drive

Near Maurertown, Virginia.

Sharing with The Barn Collective and Wordless Wednesday.

Random August Diversions.

Random-osity

The Good: Flowers are doing well in our area because we've had adequate rain. Well, sometimes we got a lot more rain than we need, but that's better than drought.

Sharing with Floral Bliss.

The Random: This is among the few things I inherited from my grandfather. His mother was a collector of many things, and this framed remembrance honors Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903. On it is written "To Mrs. D. Harry Hammer, with my best wishes, John T. McCutcheon."

McCutcheon was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American newspaper political cartoonist, so I'm counting this as a treasure.

The Fun: A mother and children are cooling off in the Shenandoah River when a turning jet ski startles the kids. Don't worry, they recovered in a matter of seconds.

Hotel Utility Box

This picture is left over from our Ocean City trip. I saved it to share with Monday Murals.

White Post UMC

This Methodist Church is in the village of White Post.  This little town is in Clarke County, Virginia. Not far from here was the home of Lord Fairfax, the only resident peer in Colonial America.

Sharing with InSpired Sunday

and Shadow Shot Sunday.

Geese and Other Creatures, Summertime.

It's Saturday so it's time to post some critter photos for Viewing Nature with Eileen and I'd Rather B' Birdin'.  This first picture of geese also works for Weekend Reflections.

I don't know the young lady but she saw me admiring her dog and did not seem to mind if I took a picture.

Speaking of dogs, Flash is hanging in there in spite of his age and heart condition. He no longer likes dog food, even the special ones he was eating before our trip to the beach. I may have spoiled him by wrapping his pills in treats. Also, he won't eat anything that's not really fresh. Is it possible for a dog to be histamine-sensitive? I seem to be, making me wonder whether there is a common cause for this condition. Also, I seem to have become allergic to chicken, while he has been allergic to it for many years. How strange is that?

I saw a cute painting of squirrels in an antique store window.

Five Cloudy Day Snapshots.

It's Willy Nilly Friday over on Tom's blog so I've picked out five photos to show you.

1. I recently got a Virginia State Parks Pass, good for a year. I celebrated by carrying lunch one day to  eat at Shenandoah River State Park, even though it was an on-and-off rainy day. I felt good standing at Cullers Overlook as the wind swept across the valley!

2. When we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge a few weeks ago, Frank was driving. So of course, I snapped a picture.

Sharing with Black and White Weekend.  

3. Naked ladies have appeared in my yard! That's one of the names for these pink flowers, also known as Surprise Lilies and Resurrection Lilies.

I planted these as bulbs a few years ago so they aren't really a surprise. The proper name is Lycoris squamigera.

4. Also in our yard are daylilies. I couldn't resist taking a picture of some with our "barn quilt" behind them. 

Orange You Glad and Floral Friday.

5. Here's another picture from a rainy day. Here the rain had moved on but mist was still rising.

Skywatch Friday.

The View from Tea Berry Road

When a friend said she was "trying to figure out where the Tuscarora Trail passes through the County Park," my immediate response was "It doesn't."

I've been to Shenandoah County Park many times and I never saw a trail that continued eastward toward the Massanutten Mountains. But Nancy knows the area well so I tried a few different search terms and sure enough! The trail follows the north border of the park along Tea Berry Road.

A planning document for the park explains that a new fence "was set back from the road by 15 feet to improve the Tuscarora Trail (The Tuscarora Trail is a 252-mile long bypass route of the Appalachian Trail that passes through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania)."

I have seen the Tuscarora Trail where it runs along the mountaintop border between Virginia and West Virginia, but I have not seen signs of it crossing the Shenandoah Valley. Well, that's still being worked on! The planned route seems to follow existing roads for much of the way, and Tea Berry Road is one of them. The portion that borders the park may be the most-improved section of this route so far.
Yesterday I had an appointment in Woodstock and had lunch in the County Park and then drove up Tea Berry Road to see the "trail." Here is the cleared portion along the park border.

Shenandoah County owns the adjacent County Farm (once a home for indigent and disabled citizens). Here the trail passes the farm's cemetery. Note the blue blaze, a marker for the trail.

See my 2016 post on the County Farm and Alms House.

My picture of the cemetery is rather dull but I'm including it because someone will probably land here on a search for the County Farm Cemetery and I don't want to completely disappoint them. Very few grave markers were in evidence.

After the county property ends, blue blazes continue on trees beside the road. Eventually the trail turns onto Creek Road.

Two blazes on a tree mean that the trail turns. The higher blaze being toward the right indicate that hikers should turn right.

My views of the trail ended near the intersection of Creek Road and Riverview Drive. The trail went downhill onto private land. A map on AllTrails shows it as the Dolly Ridge Trail (Private). Hikers should consult a trail guide or get permission, but it is common here for private landowners to permit serious hikers to cross their property on an established trail. The trail crosses a steep ridge and connects to the Massanutten Trail. Eventually this will connect to the planned Great Eastern Trail, which will extend from Alabama to New York state. 

The picture of the farm nestled against the ridge was taken just beyond the point where the trail left the public road. You can barely see a bend of the North Fork of the Shenandoah in the lower left, but it runs between the rows of trees that cross the pasture.

The Theme is Music!

It's the first of the month and that means City Daily Photo is challenging members to post on a particular topic. This month it's MUSIC.

I love music and I have a number of unpublished images that show some aspect of music, but I had trouble picking one out. I wound up selecting four and my top choices are the first two.

Since music is lively, I decided to liven up the images just a bit with vignettes, saturated colors, or other effects.

I don't play an instrument at this time, but I learned flute when I was in elementary school. When my children were small, I learned to play guitar chords because I was bored with housewifery and strumming a guitar was something I could do while keeping an eye on little girls.

I like all kinds of music.

Also sharing with Through My Lens.