A fall adventure in West Virginia

Happiness is... having a friend with whom you can enjoy shared  interests.
Sharon is such a friend. We enjoy getting together for lunch, and various
kinds of outings...especially where we can play with our cameras.
Back in August, we decided on an outing to Blackwater Falls in West
Virginia, to enjoy the fall foliage at its peak color. Yesterday was a day
that suited us both. The weather forecast was calling for a cool day in
the forties, cloudy, with an occasional light rain. No problem...we would
dress in layers for warmth, and not having a sun to cast shadows might be
a benefit.
Early in the morning our fall adventure started out every promising...

 

 

The distant views were a bit hazy...

 

 

But quite colorful up close...

 

 

So onward we traveled...

 

 

 

Surprise!!! Snow flurries on top of the Allegheny Mountain...just small snow flurries

...no stopping us.

 

 

At Canaan Valley the snow flurries became big snow flakes,with the temperature

hovering at thirty-six degrees. 

 

 

 

No turning back for us...onward to Blackwater falls we headed.

 

 

Walking along the trail with a light snow falling...

 

 

The boardwalk down to the falls...a little slippery...but no stopping us.

 

Taking pictures of the falls...playing with our camera settings.

 

 

 

Looking more like winter wonderland than fall...

 

 

 

Our outing went like this... :)  This picture of Sharon pretty much tells the
story of our Blackwater falls adventure in the snow.

 

 

Traveling toward home after a fun day.

 

 



My zinnia experience

I enjoy visiting local garden centers and greenhouses. While on the farm, such spring outings would result in treating myself  to various annuals to fill in  for continuous flowering throughout the summer. Since moving though, my time, energy, and resources have been devoted to establishing trees, shrubs, and perennials, instead of planting and tending to annuals. However, in early 2011, while obtaining seeds for my vegetable garden, I spied a pack of  zinnia seeds. The package displayed a picture of a large beautiful purple flower with a yellow center...minimal cost, drought tolerant, easy care...how could I resist. It was a good decision. They germinated very well, and bloomed profusely. Plus, they were a hummingbird magnet. They were more pink than purple, but still  beautiful large flowers...

 

 

...a must repeat again this year experience. But I goofed! It was a crazy mild winter, and early spring. Over taken with spring fever, I made the mistake of setting them out too soon... :( ...there were only two survivors, plus a volunteer from last year. I resolved to be content with the three plants.
Well,...maybe I wasn't content after all. While checking out an end of season sale at a local greenhouse, when asked if I needed help, I responded..."do you have any tall zinnia plants?" Much to my surprise, she replied that they had eight leftovers. There was no label, but she was sure they were tall and red. She would let me have them for the sale price of six. With such a great price, even though they were root bound it the tiny six pack containers, I didn't have to think twice!

They turned out be a very rich vibrant red...

 

...beautiful to behold at all stages of development...

and a great long lasting cut flower to be enjoyed indoors...

 

I'm enjoying both the pink, (that's not really purple), and the red...but I think I like the red better.

 

 

Recent outing to wonderful West Virginia

I like country road outings!  ...roads that wind, and twist about,...and I especially like to travel on mountain roads.  Recently, Daryl and I enjoyed such an outing to Black Water Falls, and Seneca Rocks in West Virginia.

A close up view of the black foamy water...







 

Getting to the falls from the parking lot was quite easy...venturing off the trail  strongly discouraged...

 

 

I also enjoyed viewing the Joe-Pye-Weed  in bloom at the time of our outing...

...if only I had a damp meadow to enjoy this butterfly magnet at home.



Our stop at Seneca Rocks...

No rock climbing on the day of our outing...but then it was a damp, off and on light rain kind of day... :)

The river at Seneca Rocks...

All in all it was a fun, but short outing.

 

 

 



A blue moon month

Wednesday evening, (August 1st), it was partly cloudy..overcast, and not as bright as it could have been, but there was a full moon...

...so what's the big deal!  There is one every 29 days...once a month. This month, however, there will be a second full moon occurring on August 31st.

When two full moons occur in a calendar month, the second full moon is called a "blue moon" ...thus the phrase, "once in a blue moon". A phrase that refers to occurrences that are uncommon, though not rare. The next time for two full moons to occur in a single month will be in 2015... July 1st and 31st.

Whenever I view the moon, I can't help but recall a rhyme from  my childhood...

"I see the moon, and the moon sees me. God bless the moon, and God bless me".

DIY Gazing ball

My diy gazing ball project began with this...

an old water trough float. Seen here after it had received a much needed scrubbing to remove layers of dirt. For years, it and another just like it, resided in a small cinder block-stucco building referred to as the 'old milk house' at our dairy farm. At one time the cows were milked in an area under the barn. The milk, collected in large milk cans, was kept in the 'milk house' until taken to market. Around 1957 a dairy was built, and the 'milk house' became a storage building...mostly for cast offs. When we sold the dairy farm, a huge task was cleaning out and vacating all of the buildings. The floats were designated to the junk pile, but, with a gazing ball vision, I retrieved and transferred them to a storage building at our heifer farm. This spring, while rummaging through my stored 'junk', I decided now was the time to try a gazing ball project. First, I needed to decide what kind of gazing ball I wanted. The easiest would be to spray on metallic paint, but I wanted it to be reflective. From past experience with metallic paint, I knew that it would not be reflective enough for me. In the end, I decided that I would have the most fun with creating a mosaic...a reflective mosaic using broken pieces of mirror.

Finding a broken mirror, however, proved to be a challenge in itself!  Along the way, as I inquired here and there, I took some good natured teasing about creating seven years of bad luck. I thought about buying a cheap one, but couldn't bring myself to destroy a perfectly good mirror...besides the project was about creating something new from cast offs. Eventually I did find some damaged pieces that I nipped into smaller pieces with...

nippers designed for nipping glass. The nipper, an earlier addition to my tool box, was a most necessary tool for the project. 

I think I will wait and see how this one holds up before I try a diy project with the other float.  I used an adhesive and grout labeled for exterior use. (By passing the more expensive already mixed kind that was being marketed in tubs for small do it yourself projects, ...opting instead to go with the dry powder form that I mixed myself...small batches at a time). Regardless of the adhesive and grout used, with our freeze and thaw climate, it will need to be stored indoors over winter. 
But for now...

it resides in the landscape among the flowers. All in all it was a fun first time learning experience.

Fireworks photography attempt

Since moving here, I discovered that I don't need to leave home to view 4th of July fireworks...that is, if I'm content to view them from a distance. Three years ago there
were numerous displays all around.  With drought conditions the past two years, there
have been a lot less,...but still some to be viewed.  This year I decided to grab my camera, and try my luck at photographing the nearest ones. I say near...but they are still miles away.

Some interesting results...question marks?

A wing?

:) ...I think I need to study night time photography. The fireworks were so much more vividly colorful, and beautiful than I was able to capture with my camera. But, in my defense...it was my first attempt, a spur of the moment effort, and the fireworks were

miles away... (I don't have a location...but miles away).

With the official arrival of summer I'm seeing....

Today, according the calender, summer has officially arrived.
I'm starting to see a few of these...

 

                                                                          Praying Mantis 

 And...

too many of these... Not good! Considering the plague of an invasion last summer, ...and the mild winter...not a good sign. I'm already starting to see leaf damage.

The Hydrangeas are putting on an awesome show!  They are somewhat wilty with the hot weather, but perk up in the mornings and evenings when it is cooler. We could use some cooler weather now. Today it is 90 degrees and humid. Still, the hydrangeas have been blooming profusely. I'm able to enjoy them outdoors and indoors.

Even the BoBo Hydrangea that I got at the JMU Arboretum this spring is trying it's best to perform.

 At only a foot tall, five of the eight stalks have tiny little merging flowers.

Then there is the Miss Kim dwarf  lilac. It was loaded with blooms in April...Showy and fragrant. Afterwards, I dead headed and trimmed to shape it.

 Now...

it's flowering again.

It's not flowering as profusely...nor...

are the flowers themselves as full and showy. But, an interesting first experience for me in the world of gardening. Thus, summer officially begins.

Wordless Wednesday...outdoors ...in spite of the deer