HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE. - HORSES IN VIRGINIA

Old photos I thought I would share again, going back as far as a couple of months after I started blogging in April 2008. In a couple of years, I will have been blogging for 20 years, starting with another blog - since closed but available for me to share with you when I haven't been doing much. I opened this one in 2016.

We often went for a ride on the weekends. We found these gorgeous horses and for the life of me, I can't remember where. Gregg to this day is great for following his nose and taking a road we have never traveled before. We don't have to ride long before we reach horse country.

Aren't they beautiful?

Just look at their expressions?

It just says, "I'm disgusted, where is my apple and the least you could have brought us were a few cubes of sugar? Don't come back next time without them!"

I would have loved to have fed them a few carrots, or an apple, or a cube of sugar. I didn't actually have anything but probably wouldn't have fed them. I'm not sure their owner would have been happy with me doing that, and I felt I was taking a liberty asking Gregg to stop the car so that I could take a few pictures. They ambled over immediately, for that treat maybe?

I thanked them for their company, and for the photos. Truly, I love these beautiful animals, and I so rarely get to see them now, except from a distance

A DRIVE ALONG THE SNICKERSVILLE TURNPIKE, VIRGINIA - FRIDAY, MAY 5TH, 2023 - PART 2

Continuing from yesterday’s post here, and thanks to Ginny’s question in her comment the same day, and also Linda's comment when she replied to her question saying, "It is named for the town of Snickersville, which is now Bluemont. That and Snickers Gap were named for a Mr. Snickers who operated a ferry, probably across the Shenandoah." Thank you ladies!  I searched online to learn that the village of Snickersville was named after Captain Edward Snickers who ran a ferry across the nearby Shenandoah River in the 1760’s. It grew quickly, and in the 1840's a General Store opened for business to serve the local population and travelers.  I am assuming the turnpike was also named after him. You can read the full history at this link. 

I am sharing a few of the properties we saw.

We passed several wineries.   I have noticed more of them over the last few years, but wine has been produced in Virginia as early as the 17th century.  

This was the only mural I saw that day.

There are also very old-looking log cabins still standing.  

Another view of the one above.

And then there are places such as the following.

All different styles of architecture.

I enjoyed looking at the pretty homes, including the old log cabins and think of how it must have been for them way back when.  Such stories those old walls could tell.

I still have photos to share from our mini road trip.  More next time!

LINDA ASKED THAT MORNING...

 

“Linda asked that morning what it was about Charlotte’s Web that Ally particularly liked; maybe it would help to think about that, since it was Ally’s model book. “I like the family that comes together in the barn,” Ally said without hesitation. “I like that they aren’t all the same thing; one is human and one’s a spider and one’s a pig. I like that it has nothing to do with blood relations, and everything to do with love.”

Meg Wait Clayton 

a quote from her novel The Wednesday Sisters

A graduate of University of Michigan Law School, Ms. Clayton also earned bachelor's degrees in History and Psychology from the same school, and worked as a lawyer in Los Angeles.  She grew up primarily in suburban Kansas City and suburban Chicago, where she graduated from Glenbrook North High School.  She began writing in earnest after moving to a horse farm outside of Baltimore, Maryland, where her first novel is set. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SUNDAY DRIVE

(An old fence on the left of the barn which has also seen better day.  Still beautiful though.)

Last weekend, feeling a bit of cabin fever, we thought it would be safe to take a ride in the countryside. We wanted to find a nice, quiet area for a walk and so, with a full tank of gas, we set out. 

(An old farm with fences out front again.  Hard to see those fences as they seem camouflaged against the grass.)

Much to our surprise there was a lot of traffic on the roads, and when we drove to all our usual places, the parking lots were packed and people were heading for the trails.  We didn't feel comfortable being around all those people.  There wasn't 6 feet between them to spare, so we drove by and went on our way.  

(Another farm with a silo painted like an ear of corn.  And there are the fences again.)

Not once did we get out of the car, and the only time I opened a window was to take these photos. Our speed was generally between 40 to 55 miles per hour on open roads, much less of course going through towns, and along narrower roads.

(Other rural scenes as we drove by.)

It was good to get out but I don't think we will be doing that any more.  

(Another fence in front of the cemetery.  We were in Manassas by this time.)

(The rest of the photos were also taken as we were driving through Manassas.)

(Approaching the traffic light I noticed the mural on the left.)

(Here's a closer look.)

 (The historical old town area is very nice.)

(You can read about Manassas at this link.)

(I have often thought I would like to look around Iron Horse Antiques.  One of the comments I read from a happy customer, was that it is the best furniture store in the Northern Virginia area and it is one of the top 10. Their furniture is made out of quality solid wood at a great price with professional customer service.  Now that is quite a glowing recommendation.  

Apparently they have obtained solid oak European furniture from military people who have purchased overseas, and there is also Amish furniture of the same excellent quality.  The salespeople appear very knowledgeable, knowing all about the fabrics used, whether they were treated, what was in the cushions and much more.  If ever any of our furniture finally falls apart, I think I will look here first.  Unfortunately I couldn't find a website but it has plenty of good reviews on Yelp.)

These photos I am sharing today for Gosia's Fences Around the World, were taken on our Sunday drive, and I was happy to see several fences, so win-win!

Thank you for hosting Gosia.  

If you would like to see other fences, or join in with your own, you will find the link here.  

Thanks for stopping by.  

Enjoy your day and stay safe and happy.

THE OLD BARN IN NOKESVILLE, VIRGINIA

On Friday, August 10th, 2018, we decided to take a ride up to Skyline Drive.  For as far back as I can remember we have passed by this old barn with the cow and the pig painted on the side, really not knowing anything of its origin but enjoying it all the same.  (The photo below is one I found online.  Its location is on Route 28 in Nokesville.)

As the years went by we began to notice how both the barn and the mural were slowly starting to fall into disrepair.  Then a couple of trips back we were delighted to see that it was sporting a fresh paint job, on what we assumed was the renovated barn.  It turned out that the old barn had been leveled, to be replaced by this new one and a new cow and pig also.  I decided to do a little research on line and found its story here.  

The barn was built by farm owner William R. Free in 1922, and passed down to his son-in-law, Thomas Hawkins, Sr.  

Twenty-three years ago Sylvia Ludwitz, who had passed by this barn all the time on her commute, heard about a mural contest on the radio.  She was eager to enter the competition, but wasn't sure where to paint her project.  Remembering the barn she asked permission from Mr. Hawkins Sr. to paint on the side.  He said yes and she and a group of students from the Brentsville District High School began their labor of love.  The mural didn't win the contest but it became a very important icon for Nokesville, to all of us in fact who enjoyed seeing the cow and pig as we made our way up Rt. 28.

As I mentioned in the beginning, the barn started looking a little ragged and the mural with it.  In May 2012 the Hawkins Barn Restoration Committee started organizing fund raisers.  I guess the barn was too far gone.  Sadly it had to be demolished and a new one was built in its place.  

In 2015 the current barn owner, Dale Hawkins, found the artist again, and asked if she would repaint the mural.  It doesn't sound like she had any hesitation in agreeing to do so.  The story goes that she was base jumping in Katmandu when news of the new barn and the mural request found her.  She immediately hopped into a dugout canoe and started paddling north. After three months of travel (hopefully she wasn't in the dugout for very long) she arrived in Nokesville and started painting the mural, this time helped by many residents including members of Friends Uniting Nokesville.  It was an exciting time for everyone, including the people driving by who saw the painting going on, honking their horns in encouragement.

So here we were last Friday, not realizing all the effort that had gone into restoring one of our favorite sights as we drive towards the Shenandoah's.  Sylvia Ludwitz, the artist who started it all, Dale Hawkins and the town of Nokesville have a lot of heart to get this done.  My thanks go to all of them.  It has always given us a smile as we drive by.

MOUNT VERNON INN RESTAURANT

Last week on a very rainy day, we decided to pop over to the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant for lunch.  I also wanted to look around the gift shop.  A little early for Christmas shopping yes, but I picked up a couple of gifts anyway.  There were so many pretty things in there and I loved browsing around.  It is a great shop, two shops actually across the hall from each other.  

We took Cousin Bill there a few weeks ago, looked around George Washington's home first and then went for a bite to eat at the restaurant.  (If you missed that post you can click on the red lettering at the beginning of this paragraph.  Scroll down and you will see us having a meal in the restaurant.)  

As it poured down outside and felt more like a fall day than summer, Gregg said this would be a good day to go and have a bowl of their peanut and chesnut soup, a good old colonial specialty and one that the restaurant always offers.  

The only thing I took photos of our meal was their homemade skillet cornbread, which comes with a delicious piping of vanilla bean honey butter on the top.  I also enjoyed a mug of coffee.

I forgot to take photos of that soup and the rest of our meal, which was a French dip sandwich which Gregg and I shared.   Another specialty they have is bread pudding.  Whenever we go anywhere we hardly ever seem to feel like a dessert afterwards.  This time, however, curiosity got the better of me. I had heard good things about their bread pudding and decided to take a piece home.  It was very welcome that evening, as delicous as I had heard.  I found their recipe on line and if you like bread pudding, you can look here.  Next time we have friends over it will be on the menu.

There is a very nice room next to the dining area, where you can wait for a table if needed.  Fortunately we didn't have to. There was no one to disturb so I had fun taking photos.

I tried different angles but unfortunately I couldn't get a photo of George without reflections of the lights in the room.

They cast a warm glow that was very nice.

On the way to Mount Vernon we passed George Washington's Grist Mill and I noticed this lovely big barn nearby.  I asked Gregg if he would mind pulling into the parking lot so that I could take yet more photos.  I didn't get out as it was still raining, and took these from the front passenger window.

The barn is located in 

George Washington's Grist Mill Park.  

It is a dairy barn and you can read about it here.  I read the following, and more, at this link.

"Though the dairy barn at Grist Mill Park was built in the 1920's by Minnesota Sentator Clapp, the land is part of the Union Farm owned by George Washington.  The farm was part of an original land grant in 1657 and passed through a few members of the Washington family, until George Washington acquired it in 1784.  The farm passed through multiple owners after George Washington's relatives sold it, and eventually 78 undeveloped acres were acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority in 1978."

Hopefully we will be able to get to the Grist Mill next time.