Clematis

The clematis vine beside our driveway is looking good!

I filtered this image in Photoshop to bring out texture and contrast, using a Poster Edge filter on a duplicate layer.

Fun for Dogs

Sometimes we take the dogs to Orkney Springs for a nice walk.

Above: Frank walks Flash and Ben around the pond at Bear Wallow Springs. We've posted photos of that area before.

Left: Ben enjoys running inside a fenced area.

Iris in Edinburg

I spotted these flowers when I pulled in to the curb in Edinburg, Virginia to make a cell phone call.

Now Listed as a Daily Photoblog

Thanks to Around the World with Daily Photoblogs Old and New for listing us here. Their criteria are that photographs mainly from and related to a specific geographical location are posted at dated intervals (not necessarily daily) and archives are kept which are readily searchable by date.

They note in the listing that I've been posting since June 2005. Looks like I've got a 5-year anniversary coming up!

View from Beaver Estates

A Shenandoah County Sunset

When we left the interstate at Mt. Jackson and headed west, the evening sky was worth photographing, so we pulled off at Beaver Estates and took a picture (above). I took another one when we reached the stop sign at South Middle Road (614).

Sunbeams and Dogwood

The dogwood petals are gone now, but a couple of weeks ago they looked lovely. Late one afternoon the sky looked so pretty I went out on the deck to capture the scene.

Follow Oil Spill's Impact on Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife blog follows the oil spill and it's impacts on wildlife. Breton National Wildlife Refuge has been closed, for one thing.

A Church on South Middle Road

Near Mount Jackson, VA

Philo

Pileated Woodpecker

This fellow has been visiting our deck since I hung a suet feeder there. He's about the size of a crow but much more handsome. Frank named him Philo.

Photoshop's Upgrade

Someone commented today on one of my posts (from November 2007), asking if I use the latest version of Photoshop. Well no... I use CS4 and there's a brand new version out which I don't have. Maybe I'll put the upgrade on my wishlist.

I see on Adobe that new features of Photoshop CS5 include automatic straightening and "automatic correction of lens distortions, chromatic aberration, and vignetting." That sounds useful! I do a fair amount of correcting for lens distortion, mostly on photos of buildings and tabletop-style signs like Civil War Trails markers. Ideally I would avoid the problem in the first place by holding the camera absolutely level and parallel to the subject, but it isn't always possible. In the case of buildings, often it's impossible to get an unobstructed view from far enough away to get the roof in the picture, so I wind up tilting the camera, causing lens distortion. It may turn out looking awkward, and Photoshop already has a filter for improving it. It's not automatic though, so I'd love to see the new version in action.

Whether it will work on those table-top markers is a different matter. If I hold the camera level, the text of the sign is angled away and will be unreadable. On the other hand, if I tilt the camera above the marker so that it is parallel to the surface, the sign will read clearly BUT my arms aren't long enough to hold the camera high enough to get everything parallel! So I usually take a couple of compromise shots, and the results can be awkward, like the example here in which none of the lines look parallel.

The upgrade sounds intriguing but Adobe's upgrades are expensive. I'll have to think about it a while.

Our Nature Trail

The Nature Trail at Bryce Resort has improved signage and paths. These views are just below the Lake Laura Dam.

Stoney Creek, formed at the spillway, can be seen in pictures two and three.

You can access the Nature Trail from the parking lot below the dam or from the swimming pool parking area which is below "The Hill" condos and behind the Community Store in Basye.

Views Along Indian Trail Road

Yesterday I decided to drive home from Harrisonburg using back roads east of I-81, mainly Indian Trail Road as far as Mauzy.

The day was pretty and the scenery was charming.

Flash and Lynn

Wilcox's Landing

We followed a "Civil War Trails" sign near the Charles City Tavern down a road to the James River. There's a pleasant park that appears popular with fishermen.


We spotted an eagle and a sign telling about the Union Army crossing here in 1864.

Wilcox’s Landing

Crossing the James

— Lee vs. Grant – The 1864 Campaign —

Excerpt:

From June 14 to 17 – here at Wilcox’s landing and three miles downstream at Weyanoke Point – the Army of the Potomac along with artillery and several thousand supply wagons moved south of the James... The crossing supported a simultaneous advance and attack on Petersburg, one that nearly ended the war.

For the rest of the text see HMDB.org.

Formal Garden

Westover Plantation, Virginia: We entered through the gate near the old kitchen. It was April and the garden was lush with color.

Historic Westover Plantation

There are places that just about take your breath away. Westover Plantation is one of those. I first visited it on a field trip and later took my husband to see it. The grounds are gardens are lovely. We returned for Historic Garden Week in order to see the inside of the house, which is normally closed to the public. It overlooks the James River in Charles City County, Virginia.

The center section of the manor house was built around 1730 for William Byrd II, an important person in Colonial Virginia, founder of Richmond, well-known diarist, and a member of the still-influential Byrd family.

The James River was the site of the first successful English settlements in America, and a number of large plantations grew along its banks. Westover is one of several that can still be seen. It's convenient to Williamsburg and Richmond and next door to Berkeley Plantation, which is the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison (1773) and in 1862 headquarters and supply center for the Union Army.

Memorial to William Byrd II

• Wikipedia bio of William Byrd II
• My Civil War field trip page on Westover which was headquarters to the Union Fifth Corps

Old Well House at Westover

"Indian Well House"

"Legend says that this dry well was connected to the tunnel which exits at the riverbank to provide a way to escape Indian attacks. Six people were killed on Westover in the 1622 Indian massacre."

The number of people listed as killed is in disagreement with the newer sign seen in a previous post and in this list from Jamestown records which lists two men killed at Westover. However, there were two other small settlements that were associated with this one and two men were killed at each; thus the total of six. The three plantations were owned by three brothers with the surname "West."

• Book: Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers: A Biographical Dictionary, 1607-1635
• Link: Charles City: Natives in the Landscape

Garden With Cheerful Birds

Westover Plantation near Charles City, VA

Above: Here's a short video I made in the garden at Westover. Note the birds singing!

Link: Westover on GardenVisit.com

Iris and Azalea

Lavender, Red, Green

Pictures of Us at Westover

A week ago we went to Westover Plantation for Historic Garden Week. It was one of the rare days that the interior of the house was open for tours, and the gardens were even lovelier than they are in the summer. There is a gracious air about the house and grounds that is refreshing.