Outside Photos - Near Eagle Rock

Train track near Eagle Rock

Craig Creek off Ball Park Road

Craig Creek

Bubbles in the Grass

I was trying to bolster a little creativity the other day and decided to blow some bubbles. I discovered I could not blow bubbles and photograph them in the air at the same time. However, they stayed together in the grass long enough for me to take some shots.

The last one is my favorite, because you can see the tree and horizon in the left part of the bubble.

Two Mornings

"I'm so glad my window looks east into the sunrising . . . It's so splendid to see the morning coming up over those long hills and glowing through those sharp fir tops. It's new every morning, and I feel as if I washed my very soul in that bath of earliest sunshine." - L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Fog

Sunrise Hitting Frosted Ground

Autumn Beauty

Early Days of Spring

First butterfly!

Dogwoods getting ready to bloom.

Some kind of cocoon thing on my berry branches.

This is either an anemone or a sorrel of some kind. I thought it was a wood anemone but those have five petals, these have four. 

I couldn't find anything that looked exactly like these in my guide books. 

They are very pretty, whatever they are.

The View From My Father's House

This is what I looked upon in my teenage years; this exquisite landscape scene of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My father built his house here in 1976, when I was 13. I lived there until I married at the age of 20.

Isn't it a lovely view?

Spring Bustin' Out All Over

Farewell 2013

I do not usually want to wish away a year, but I am not unhappy that 2013 is leaving us. It hasn't been the worst year of my life, but it certainly hasn't been the best.

I hope 2014 is better.

Here are some photos of the past year:

In hindsight, perhaps this picture that I took in JAnuary was a hint of things to come.

February brought us interesting weather.

The snows came in March, right as I as began teaching my journaling class.

Spring arrived in April, and I remember being grateful for the color and change of season.

In May, my husband began his big farm project. It commenced with the drilling of a new well.

 In June, I turned 50, and then 20 days later had my gallbladder removed. My husband turned 54 in June, too.

July was a continuation of one of the wettest years we'd had in a long time, causing mushrooms to spring forth like hobbits from holes after each rain.

In August, our garden gave us an abundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. By the time the garden gave up the ghost, I was glad to not be eating those three particular vegetables for a while.

September gave me some great spider web photos.

October had a lot of fog.

November gave us what little color we had for Autumn; it was one of the dullest years for tree leaf viewing I can recall. We also celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.

In December, my husband finished up his project and received recognition from the state for his efforts.