My Return to Gordonsville

On Saturday afternoon I drove down to Gordonsville. I was rather anxious about the trip, not having been down there since the end of last year. Passing forgotten landmarks and familiar sights did little to quell my angst, even seeing 'my' old armchair at the end of Rob's road, in the same place, the same position and looking none the worse for wear. The familiarity of the trip ended as I turned into the driveway and saw Rob's house at the end. He had warned me about the felling of the pine trees and although I had been upset to hear of it I had thought I was prepared to accept the change in the house's surroundings. Wrong. I was shocked at the desecration and the area resembled a war zone. Rob had felled all the pines at the front of his house and Jim had had a good third of the trees at the back chopped down. Rob had chopped his pines down for fear of them falling on the house in a storm and though I tried to understand his reasoning I was still dazed at the change in scenery. A few small hardwoods still stood, their branches trying to reach out and apologetically fill the empty spaces. It was amazing at how different it all looked, bare, almost raped and I averted my eyes concentrating on getting inside the house, hoping to find friendly familiarity inside. 
It was comforting to hear the ticking clocks and Rob proudly showed me his new collection of cuckoo clocks, all purchased broken from Ebay and now all running. He pointed out the one he had bought and repaired for my birthday and I loved it, the unusual decoration and the music box that tinkled after the cuckoo had heralded each hour. I was impressed at his newfound skill and we chuckled as we watched each one take its turn to announce the time.
We went into town for pizza at Fabios and for the first time that day I found myself relaxing and accepting being back in this world that I thought would remain in my past. Returning to the house, we saw Jessie and it was wonderful to hug her again. I had missed her.
We had nothing planned the next day and I was grateful to Rob for that, we needed to re-establish our old routine, so we were content to just potter about with a trip to fetch groceries and mundane activities.

 Rob had planted some flower seeds under the window which were flourishing and attracting a young Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly.He was perfect and fearless, not concerned about us shoving a camera up close to him and at one point even dangling from my finger. He stayed on the flowers all afternoon.

Rob had also hung in the shrub outside the cones I had decorated as part of a Christmas decoration for his dining room. I was touched.

I had bought carrots and apples at the store for Jessie's new pets. Sam is a jackass and Blackie a horse, both of whom are the best of friends and had suffered abuse. Jessie had rescued them and welcomed them onto the farm.

Whispering in Sam's ear.

They were both friendly although Blackie was a little shy but both loved their snacks and cuddles and seemed perfectly content in their new home. Sunflower the cow also enjoyed a few bites, making me laugh as she still liked to head butt me if I let her.

 Stuart reflected in Rob's car.

Rob disconnected whatever he had attached to the tractor and parked it next to Stuart while I stuck a Massey Ferguson sticker on Stuart's trunk.

 The two Masseys!
And then it was time for a tractor ride with me driving. I'd forgotten most of the controls but Rob soon reminded me and we were off trundling down the road again just like old times.

I still don't know how Rob manages to take great photos holding the camera out the way he does but he always gets good shots.

Checking the mail and then my favorite photo of the day taken by Rob of me slowly plodding down the driveway. 

 The two Masseys again.

A cute little salamader that Rob found under the bench on the front porch. The poor thing was trapped in a spider's web so we gently rescued it and managed to pull most of the sticky web from its tiny feet.

The view from 'my spot' by the fence is still the same and still beautiful.

It was soon time to leave and to head back to Meadow House and a hungry Kota. Rob had earlier fired up the BBQ and we'd had a wonderful meal of chicken and potatoes with veggies. He had looked over at me and said, "It's nice to see you across the table again", and it was nice. Nice to be back. And I'll be back again, especially since he gleefully sent me a few days later a text photo of a new vacuum cleaner for me to use. It's been nice laughing with him again.
The journey home to Meadow House isn't quite as long as it was to Centreville and it's certainly a lot more enjoyable with no traffic hold ups the whole way through. It was also wonderful to not lose the 'country rural' feeling that I used to experience as I neared the snarling roadways of DC's suburbs. We now drive from one country house to another.

And The Heat Burns On

After a week with sizzling temperatures of 115F or higher there was barely a respite for the weekend. This year is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and at Manassas Battlefields a reenactment was being played out, but I wasn't there. I just couldn't bear to be outdoors any longer than was necessary so I had to amuse myself indoors. So not really sure how my logic kicked in but I thought it would be a splendid idea to see how my pastry skills were and on Friday evening I spent 1.5 hours making a ground beef and sausage pie, including making the pastry from scratch, with English butter and lard. didn't want to be outside in the sun but I was happy standing next to a hot oven. Go figure!

The pie was perfect.

On Saturday morning I met up with an old friend to see the last Harry Potter movie. We decided to catch the early show at 9:30 as we were concerned about not getting good seats with the crowds. There were 10 people including us! After that it was a bout of shopping running from one air conditioned store to the next. Then we parted as we both had other plans for the rest of the day. I went to the Restore shop in Manassas looking for a nice piece of slate on which to paint a house name for Meadow House. I started down the steps leading to the basement and on the fourth or fifth stair suddenly found my skirt up around my ears. Pushing it down quickly I looked straight into the eyes of a man standing below who had obviously enjoyed the show. I pulled a face and we both burst out laughing. I realized the outside door at the bottom of the stairs allowed gusts of air to blow through, a fact I shall remember in future. I kept bumping into the guy around the store and each time our faces split into grins.

I left the store slateless and decided to go home. A quick stop at the store to grab a few supplies and then then I planned to stay indoors.

But not before I'd taken a photo of my yummy vanilla cream soda with chocolate and vanilla icecream floating on top.Heaven!

Kota and I had a quick tour round the garden so I snapped a few shots of a Carolina Wren, a hydrangea and the dreamcatcher in the fir tree at the back of the house. A previous tenant here had been a Native American whose pet had died. The grave is still visible and the tree was planted in memory of a beloved companion.

Rob turned up later in the evening but I still had one more adventure before he arrived....

I was sitting at my computer when I looked up and saw what I thought was the ears of a German Shepherd dog trotting behind my car. I ran to the lounge as Kota was out on the patio. Imagine my surprise when I opened the French door and came face to face with a black bear, no more than 30ft away from me. I warned Kota to stay but I wasn't even scared. Nor was the bear. We all stood looking at each other for a few seconds then he continued on his way through the undergrowth. I grabbed a pair of boots and my camera then Kota and I scouted along the woodland edge hoping to see him again. No luck. Oh well, there'll be other times hopefully.

Very little was achieved Sunday due to the excessive heat again but we did manage an amble down to the pond to feed the fish.

The fish food is kept in a container that sits in the tree and those fat scaly critters know when there's people about. Barely a second passed from the granules hitting the water's surface before big mouths appeared sucking at the surface. We sat and watched for a while but the heat was too much. We staggered back to the house.

I did manage to put up my new bird box which I'd bought at Tractor Supply that morning. I love that store.

My beautiful roses that Rob bought me on Sunday morning. They're a pale pink and green with the palest green shading at the base of each petal. For some reason they remind me of an English country garden. Despite wanting to sit on the AC units all the time, the weekend passed too quickly. And we get a break with the heat next week. Upper 90's all week. Groan.

A Paddle in Big Red

I took the day off on Monday so I could get out on the water. It's been bugging me for weeks that I haven't been kayaking. With the move and settling in, time was passing by. There's a stretch of water nearby called Lake Brittle so that was where I headed. Not the easiest of places to find as it's not sign posted but a friendly local gave me directions and I soon found it. There weren't many others there, just a couple of fishermen in jon boats So I was fine sharing the lake with them!

It felt wonderful to be in a kayak again and I spent the first 15 minutes or so just paddling as fast as I could creating waves over the bow.It was great to release some energy. The lake was alive with dragon flies that darted back and forth or hovered over me. I stopped near some branches that were poking above the surface, a landing platform for the insects to sunbathe.

 There was a pretty water lily patch where golden blooms opened up while the green pads below them collected water that sparkled like frozen ice.

I spotted a green heron on a branch and as I readied my camera for a photo I inadvertently startled a couple of mallard ducks. They in turn made me jump so my photo was blurred. I felt a little bad as in their fright they had shed some feathers. I gathered them up for a shot and then kept the blue one.

I think this bird is a snipe. I haven't seen these before on other lakes so it was nice to see a new species. There were plenty of gooses paddling in the mud too and they all stopped to watch me paddle by.

 A Pearly Crescent-Spot Butterfly landed on my ankle as I had both feet dragging in the water to keep me cool. He visited for about 20 minutes and I could feel little pin pricks on my skin as his proboscis (tongue) prodded for salt or water from my perspiration. A dragonfly also landed for a brief visit so I stopped completely until they left.

A blue heron. I also saw a white egret but was too slow to photograph that.

The sun was unrelenting so I stopped on a shady bank for some respite, enjoying the coolness underneath the trees. I perched on a tree root and read my book for a while.

Back out on the water, I noticed a group of school kids had arrived for a kayaking class. It was time for me to leave but I was fine with that. I'd been out for nearly 3 hours and was ready for some air conditioning. I could also feel that I'd got a little sunburned so I didn't want to bake any further. I'll be out on the water again before too long, I have to explore the water nearer to Front Royal next.

Sterling comes to Marshall

Saturday afternoon was hot but thankfully not humid and Debbie, Jim and the boys along with Scott and Kim came down to visit. Debbie had suggested that the boys bring their bikes so without further ado Luke and Max took to the gravel and promptly started collecting boo boos. With plenty of skidding, jumps and a fall after each pass, we all yelled out, "Shake it off!" before the tears started, and the boys continued undaunted.

Luke proudly showing off his war wound patched up with SpongeBob band aids.

Debbie larking about on the swing.

We all strolled down to the fish pond stopping on the way to look at the remnants of some iron works.

I found out later from Maggi that her son had started sculpture and put together a few pieces which are now left on the steps of the old house which burned down a few years earlier. Here Scott is explaining about the abandoned furnace and how it worked.

Big boys fooling around at the pond.

Me and Kim.

Debbie and Kim.

Scott messing with Luke and Max.

My favorite photo of the whole day and it turned out exactly as I hoped, an image of a lazy hot summer's day; Jim and Max walking back from the pond.

The Rabble. Rob turned up later and soon fooled around like the rest of them.

Max hammering down the gravel drive. Did he fall off?

Yup! And was proud to sport his new boo boo.

As with any BBQ the boys hung around the grill, each passing golden nuggets of information on the master skill of grilling. Jim's was, "You keep flipping, Deb, you keep flipping." And Rob was trying extra hard not to look into the camera lens as he usually loves to do. Looks like it's taking every ounce of his concentration.

The boys on Scott's bike. We had a fabulous afternoon and evening. The food and company were unsurpassable. We watched the full moon rise and then as the boys got drowsy, we packed up and said our farewells. But they'll soon return!