This and That Pictures

Here's a random group of pictures that don't tell any kind of story except maybe what I find interesting. Not all are great pictures, but they remind me of things I've seen. My father-in-law once said he didn't care much about a picture's quality if it was good enough to remind him of something. 

This was the first time I had seen a little free art gallery.

A mural advertising Sykesville Days.

We're harvesting a few pears these days. It's always a race against the critters and rot.

A new fence around a church we saw on our outing the other day. A bird has made quick work on one of the posts.

A restored steam engine tractor in Parkersburg, WV. Of course, Ward was very interested in figuring out how it worked.

The town where my father was born and the cemetery where we found the graves of my great-grandparents and great-uncles. My sister supplied some interesting stories about them. It is true that there have been moonshiners in WV. :)

These giant metal roosters seem to be a trend in the Parkersburg area.

When we visit somewhere, we usually collect magnets as our souvenirs. Thanks to Hannah at Squishy Tulips for the idea of displaying them. (Frames from a thrift store.)

This is a weevil that we found attached to the end of a roll of toilet paper. Somehow, we didn't get a picture for scale, but the actual insect was quite small, about 1/4" long. I took it outside, and it eventually disappeared. I can tell you I look more closely at the toilet paper before I use it now. :)

This is another of those things that's hard to discern in the picture. The trunk of this tree was little more than bark, yet it supported growth on top of it. 

That's 10 things, so I guess that's a good time to wind up today's gallery. 

Until next time...

Thankful Sunday

 I am thankful for gardening advice.

Cucumber trellis in Uncle Billy's garden

This summer, Ward built a deer and rabbit fence around our garden area, and it has helped. It has also expanded the area available for plantings. Now I have to design how to best use the additional space. I want to do some raised beds to take me into the future, when the back and knee issues will be hindering. These will not be easy to move once in place, so I need a plan. It's a big project that seems overwhelming. 

I asked Uncle Billy to walk around his garden to look at spacing and get his advice on various plants since he has been doing this for a long time. Of course, there is a lot of information available online, but it's not the same as seeing and hearing things in person. 

So, as I make my garden plans, I am thankful to Uncle Billy for sharing his wisdom with me.

Go Fever

 Do you ever have that restless feeling when you don't want to stay at home with the routine things that need to be done? Do you feel like you need a change of pace, even if it is just for a short while? That's what I call Go Fever. And I had a case of that this morning. I told Ward what I was feeling, and he was game for an outing. We decided to check out a cave that we had recently heard about that was only 40 minutes away. We headed for Camel's Den Cave in Patapsco Valley State Park. 

Patapsco Valley State Park is a large park running 32 miles along the Patapsco River. The cave was a short walk from the Daniels parking area.

The trail started next to the Patapsco River (looks like a small pond here).

The trails were generally sandy and surrounded by Japanese stilt grass.

Japanese stiltgrass was introduced to this country over 100 years ago in some packaging material. It has become invasive since then.

We had to cross two streams on the way to the cave. Luckily, neither of us fell on the slippery rocks.

Camel's Den Cave. It is a tectonic cave, meaning it was formed by tectonic forces, unlike most caves, which are formed by the dissolution of rock (such as limestone). It was small by most cave standards, only going about 20' back from the entrance.

On the way back to the car, we saw a great blue heron.

Ward wanted to see the Daniels Dam, just down the road. The dam was built originally in 1833 and was used to power mills in the area. 

The mills have long since closed, and the dam is no longer needed. The Dept. of Natural Resources has just begun a study on removing the dam to improve fish passage. Three other dams upstream have already been removed.* 

The town of Daniels was a company town for a cotton mill. The mill was active from the 1830s to the 1960s. Hurricane Agnes in 1972 wiped out the town, and this church on the hill above the dam was the only surviving structure.

We hiked to the top of the hill to get a better look at the church. 

There was a nice view from the top. 

We made it back to the car just as it started to rain. We were stuck in road construction traffic on the way home, but it was all good because I had packed snacks. All in all, it was an excellent cure for my Go Fever.

Until next time...

* The DNR sign put an apostrophe in the Daniels name, but that's incorrect.

Wordless Wednesday, A walk around the yard

Thankful Sunday

I am thankful for friendships.

Recently, I was able to spend time with a friend from Seattle who was in the area visiting her son and his family. We had crepes for brunch and then walked around the charming town where her son lives. Because we live on different coasts, this was a rare and special treat. 

Since our meeting, I've been singing a song I learned in scouts.

Make new friends

But keep the old

One is silver and the other's gold.

Now, if I can just get Ward to sing it with me in a round, the experience will be complete. But until then, I am thankful for friendships.

Until next time...