Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

October in Virginia

October 8-28, 2017                                                                          Most Recent Posts:
Charlottesville Virginia                                                                 Back in Virginia – A Carrie and Celia Meet Up
                                                                                                   A Spectacular Send Off From Schoodic Point



I’ve written many posts in the past seven years on Charlottesville and all the things to see and do here including Shenandoah National Park, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the University of Virginia.   You can find any or all of those by googling those terms using the search bar on the top left of the blog.

When we return here it’s mostly for medical appointments, to see friends and the big one, to see Carrie and Celia.  So most of my posts from here are about seeing them as our friends are tired of having their pictures taken and I don’t tend to carry my camera around everywhere like I do outside of Virginia.

All that said this post will have a few things that happened while we were in Virginia including a visit from Carrie and Celia.  I left out all the visits and meals with friends and  picked 3 things that are at least a little different from those we’ve done before.  


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I went for a hike at the Ivy Creek Natural Area originally the farm of Hugh Carr a former slave.  You can find a previous post that tells all about Ivy Creek and its history here.   I  stayed for a presentation in the education building by local author Jennifer Ackerman on her new book The Genius of Birds.  My pictures of Jennifer were too blurry to use so I borrowed one from her web page. 



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Her presentation was excellent with unbelievable examples of the genius of birds from the enormous amount of field research she did.  Her slides of bird photographs were outstanding. 


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Jennifer Ackerman




Gordon3I also took a beginning calligraphy class at my beloved Gordon Avenue Library.  Libraries just have everything.  I’ve always loved calligraphy and beautiful handwriting in general.  The Instructor was a local calligrapher and the class was wonderful.  In fact the instructor was so good that I do think with regular practice, as in until it became rote, I could become proficient enough to suit me..  Just not sure where to fit that into my life around the hiking, kayaking, biking and all the rest. 


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Our local absolutely stunning 1931 Paramount Theater does vintage movies at least twice a month and I walked on down there to watch Some Like It Hot with great performances from Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.  I only had my phone so some of the pictures here are………well Galaxy S5.   Therefore these are a combination of ones from the Paramount website and mine.

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Some Like it Hot


Some of the nearby restaurants were all decked out for Halloween.  Sal’s gets the “most creative” award.

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I asked David to choose some pictures of what he did while we were in Virginia and laughingly he chose not play but projects.   I guess those are fun for him.


Well this first one was not so fun.  Seems wasps had decided inside the shop was a great place to build nests.  David not so much.  Gives me the creeps just to look at them swarming all over



IMG_0002Next in line to deal with is the toad lighting problem.  Last post I mentioned that we had to drive home from Maine separately because none of the lights on the back of Ruby were working when hooked up to tow.

The Blux Ox cord connecting the electric from Winnona to Ruby is of course  blue




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The 4 wire flat harness had pulled loose from the Blue Ox Mounting.  Apparently water had gotten in the rubber boot, had  no where to drain and caused the wires to come loose. 






IMG_0008You can see the water line and the rust from water accumulating inside the boot and being unable to drain.  This seems to be a poor design.  Blue Ox of course has never heard of this problem though they did agree that it could be a problem and it might be a good idea to drill a small seep hole in the bottom of the boot.  That done square off the wire ends, restrip and clamp and it should be better than new.  Or at least it’s been working fine since this was done.


Getting things fixed is very satisfying but some things are more fun.  The granny smith apple, tree planted YEARS ago for Carrie since it is her favorite, had a bumper crop of apples.  Lots of folks were notified to come on and pick.  Carrie took a bag home with her from her visit and some of them ended up in pies.  YUM!   But there are still apples for the deer and whoever else wants a share.



All organic with a bit of cosmetic cedar apple rust.  Cedars grow in farm fields and it is absolutely impossible to keep them out so apples have rust on them.  A rag wipes it off.  No danger to health. 



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We have views of Humpback Rocks on the Blue Ridge Parkway from the yard.   This one is zoomed in over the trees   We kept waiting and waiting for the usual Blue Ridge color display.  October has always been THE month and one of the reasons we hang out here then and do medical appointments but color was so late this year that we missed it.   Of course there is no climate change.

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This crib is on its 3rd generation now that David put it back together and cleaned it up.  I used it, Carrie used it and now Celia is using it when she visits.


Winnona doesn’t spend her time in Virginia at the farm because there is a 3/4 mile driveway that is too rough for her and lined with trees that need trimming for her to drive through.  We’re never here long enough to make much headway on that but some was made this year.

Truck fulls of gravel are picked up by David’s antique 1986 Chevy S-10 pick up truck


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Then it is spread and graded sections at a time.   A lot of work.

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But at the end of the day there are beautiful sunsets over the Blue Ridge.

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The very best thing we did of course was enjoy a visit from Carrie and Celia.  That’s up next.


12 comments:

  1. Your October was our November with "back home" routines and highlights with family :-) My grandmother, who passed when Mom was 16 so I never met, was a wonderful calligrapher. One of prize possessions is a piece she did on Vellum about the Eastern Sierras. It is a lovely art and I'm always happy to see it's still being taught. You could calligraphy a "cover" page in your journal when you get to a new month :-)) I love old theaters and delighted when a I see a restored one. That is a beauty!! The Halloween table is very fun :-)) Yucky wasps, hate them! Getting work done feels great, but tell David to have more fun!!

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  2. Your views of the Blue Ridge area are amazing!

    And your penmanship is much better than mine.

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  3. Nice summary. I must confess I had some fun too, including food and drink with my friends who still live and mostly work in that area. Most fun of course was Carrie & Celia's visit, so much fun to se our little girl with her little girls and smiles all around!

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  4. Your farm is just so lovely, even during a green October. Amazing about the crib being used by you! I can see you using it for Carrie, and Carrie using it for Celia, but having a crib from your own babyhood is quite a wonder. Stability and life in the Blue Ridge I guess, is that where you were raised?

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  5. You did some lovely things while there! Dad...well, seems like he, too, kept busy with some stuff I wouldn't have wanted to tackle!! Look at that gorgeous pie crust with extra dough...maybe one day! ;)

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  6. I fear wasps, brave man David. Lovely area you call home.

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  7. I am so happy to be a part of the friends group that got to see you in C'ville. I had no hope for the leaves due to the drought, but November shaped up to be better than I expected. Thanks for sharing. I am off to rake!

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  8. It's nice to have things to do around your home to keep busy. Love the calligraphy! I took that as a class in high school, and although I no longer have the pens, I think I still remember all the strokes. Not sure where I would use it in the day of computers. Nice apple tree, yum!

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  9. What a rich and lovely visit home! You did a fine job of creating a wrap-up post about your month in Charlottesville. Eric just finished reading The Genius of Birds and has been sharing little tidbits with me. We would have loved that presentation! I agree with Jodee, your calligraphy skills will be a good addition to your art journaling.

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  10. This is a great way to catch up with your posts. Im sure David enjoyed working on his projects around your property. Hmm Calligraphy, I think that would not only be fun but good for our brain cells, to learn new things. I too would enjoy that bird presentation.
    A wasps house...ohhh I wont event get near it!

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  11. Good times getting involved with local classes, lectures and art. I took lettering classes in college but haven't done more than type in many years. Yet best is your time with the girls.

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  12. Great catch up of your time at the farm, love the views you have. The crib sure looks like the one I used for our sons which was the one my brother and I used.

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