Fall Color at Hollywood Cemetery

As I have been working to finish my program about Hollywood Cemetery that I am presenting to the Heritage Rose Foundation conference in Florida in two weeks, I realized that I need a few more photos.  Yesterday was warm and breezy, and it was a perfect day to hit the road in the Mustang and waste some gas while I got this done.

The convertible top was down earlier, but I had put it up by the time I took this photo.

The light at the cemetery, with the high overcast sky, made for some pretty magical light.  The orange and yellow of the leaves in their fall color were almost electric.

Here is a series of photos, taken as I went through the cemetery and presented in the order in which they were taken.  (No editing on these, except to size them down, sharpen them a tad, and add the watermark.)

Sit back and enjoy some fall color in my little slice of Virginia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You won't hear from me for the next few days, because this is the weekend of our Greyhounds Rock canine cancer benefit.  Today is set up day, and we hit the ground running tomorrow with seminars, speakers, raffles, auctions, and dogs and their humans as far as the eye can see.

(Now I have to see how to post to the Greyhounds Rock Fredericksburg FB page from my phone or iPad.  I'm sure I'll figure it out ... if I can, I plan to be posting photos all weekend.)

A Fabulous Fall Day

The weather today was perfect!  The sun was shining, with puffy white clouds accenting the bright blue sky.  The air was crisp and cool (sweater weather) but not so much as to be uncomfortable.  A perfect day to spend the morning working on projects (I'll show you later what I was up to) and the afternoon with a friend.

I was on the deck enjoying the view, while Daniel was outside at lunchtime, and I noticed that the trees across toward Hartwood Winery are starting to change into their fall colors. This will be an even more beautiful view in about a week. (When I say that I live next door to a winery, I mean RIGHT next door. The foreground of this photo is our field, and the other side of that board fence is vineyard.)

Some of the trees between the house and our barn are beginning to shed some of their leaves, and the barn is coming back into view.  (We can only see the barn from inside the house when the trees are leafless.)

Looking toward the south, I loved the way the sunshine was illuminating the branches of our enormous pecan tree.  Blue sky, green leaves ... ahhhhh.

Thank you, all of you, for your kind compliments about the painted bed I showed you yesterday.  I am a bit surprised at what retail prices must be in shops.  (I'm a bargain hunter, after all ... retail shopping and buying is something that I almost never do.)  The consensus in the comments was that $250 would be a good price ... perhaps it is, with commission and booth rental figured in, but it makes me squirm.  I was thinking it should be more like $175.  This would leave enough $$$ to buy a lovely nightstand, or perhaps a dresser or chest to go with your little girl's bed ... repeat customers and word of mouth satisfaction is the ticket ... I hope I'm on the right track.

Have a great weekend, Everyone! 

Fall ... literally

Remember on Sunday when I told you that the leaves on the huge oak trees in my front yard would be on the ground before the end of the week?

This is what things looked like on Sunday afternoon.

As if directed by some mystical force, the leaves began to fall yesterday evening.

It's raining today, as it was yesterday, which may hasten the process.

Youngest Daughter is going to have to clear off her car if she plans to go anywhere.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Awww Nuts!

Real nuts.  Black Walnuts.  A MILLION of them.

The Black Walnut tree beside our house was especially productive this year.  This is an average-size tree, about a foot and a half in diameter, and it produced all of the nuts you see in these photos.

I didn't stage or alter these nuts at all for these photos.  This is exactly what they looked like on the ground below the tree.

It was impossible to walk through this area without stepping on a nut ... with the potential for a nasty fall, and a twisted ankle, looming with every step.

In preparation for our Greyhounds Rock picnic two weeks ago, we had to pick up every single one of these nuts.  It's one thing for US to gingerly step through the Walnut Mine Field ... and a completely different situation to expect one's guests and their dogs to do the same.  This is when I am especially thankful to have my golf cart.

The bed of the cart is 4-feet square, and about a foot deep.  It's filled to capacity ... from one tree!!! 

These nuts didn't go to waste, I assure you. We drove them to the back of the property, and we spread them along the tree line, where we are making a hedgerow. The varmints back there should have a feast!

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Autumn Colors

This time of year is almost perfect.  There's a refreshing chill in the air in the morning that almost makes up for all of the 90+ degree days we endured this summer.  The sun rises and lights up the autumn colors in the trees ... and I marvel at the views from my deck.

You can see that the pecan tree is getting a bit threadbare, as it drops its leaves in preparation for winter.  This opens up views toward the rear of the property that we cannot see in spring and summer while the tree has all its leaves.

Looking a little closer, I can catch a glimpse of the Rose Field beyond the fence and before the barn.  In season, I can't see this area at all from the house.  Once all the leaves are gone, I will have a clear view of the barn all winter.

The trees across the field, looking north toward the Winery, are beautiful.

This is the view toward the front of the property, with our across-the-street neighbor's house and beautiful red crape myrtles in the background.  The rose beds in the foreground hold much of my collection of antique Hybrid Tea roses.

We finished the day with colors of a beautiful autumn sunset.

(no PhotoShop actions were necessary here.  This was Mother Nature's creation ... I just snapped the picture.)

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Come With Me on a Drive Through the Mountains

I spent most of Thursday driving to and from a funeral in the beautiful mountains of western Virginia.  When I left the house that morning, the weather was grey and rainy.

I took the Interstate, because the weather made for less than ideal driving conditions on the country roads that I prefer.  The farther I drove, the better the weather got ... until the rain stopped, and the sun emerged, and we had a beautiful day!

The funeral was for the father of one of my dear rose friends.  His family has been in the Shenandoah Valley since the mid-18th Century.  His father was being laid to rest in a family cemetery, beside his father.  The drive to the cemetery wound us past some beautiful countryside.

As we reached the top of the hill, and I parked my car, this is the view I saw.

I cannot imagine that it is possible to spend eternity in a more beautiful place.  (Regular readers here already know how much I love cemeteries.)

The service was incredibly uplifting.  We were reminded that my friend's father has gone to live with the Lord, and there he will wait until it is time for the rest of his family to join him. 

As I left the cemetery, with a two-plus hour drive ahead of me to get home, I was marveling at the beauty in the countryside along the road.  The scenery was framed by the spectacular vistas created by the mountains with the leaves on the trees just beginning to don their autumn colors.

The drive along the narrow country road that led to and from the cemetery provided some beautiful country vignettes.  I would have loved to stop and get a better look. 

The row of weathered mailboxes to the right of this grey barn would have been a wonderful subject for a photo shoot.  The light was perfect, and they had such character.

(In case you're wondering, the photos in this post were taken with my point-and-shoot camera, most of them from my car while I was driving.  I had to crop them to fix the composition to make them look right, because I was shooting blind ... keeping my eyes on the road, you understand.)

This huge formation on the side of the mountain is called Chimney Rock, according to a sign.

With the clear weather, blue sky, and lovely scenery, I headed back home through the Shenandoah National Forest, up and over the mountain, instead of taking the Interstate like I did earlier in the day.  The views along the way were just as uplifting as the minister's message at the funeral.

The mountains in the distance had me humming "America The Beautiful".  I can see where the words "purple mountain's magesty" came from.

It's awfully hard to photograph the lovely farms and towns I passed while zipping by at 55 mph.

Here's the Shenandoah River ... sort of.

The bright sun and crisp sky made for a beautiful drive, as the road wound up and down the mountain itself.

There were peeks of a lovely valley view off to my right ... most of them along deadly curves in the road, where photography is definitely an ill-advised distraction.

The drive home, alone in my car, with the beautiful scenery outside, provided a perfect sense of peace.  It was exactly what I needed.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)