PHOTOS FROM WILLIAMSBURG ON 4-25-25

I didn’t take as many photos on our short trip here. I was having problems with not being able to walk too far because of my knee issues. Gregg dropped us off not too far from this courtyard. The part of the street you see is blocked off to thru-traffic. There were no regular shops on my side as they ended at the road on my left, and to my right it was the start of the historical colonial homes. There were only two tables in use in this courtyard,  I was sitting on a wooden bench in an area all to myself.  It was relatively quiet in my tiny bubble (also where I was privileged to witness the bee swarm I mentioned in this post). I sent my family off to look around the shops, assuring them that I would enjoy my time in this one spot. I love to people watch, and dog watch! I had a great time and not too long afterwards, Gregg after much waiting and circling around, found his parking spot and joined me. We have the app on our phone that locates each other. This is how he found me. I could also follow him and could see how far away he was. It's comforting to know where we are located and is a big help at such times.

Below is a close-up picture of the dog in the above photo. Williamsburg is a very dog-friendly place. People are very responsible and take care of them. I have never seen anything untoward in all the time I have been visiting Williamsburg and all the dogs, I have seen at least, have all been very well behaved. 

We always took family and friends here when they visited us. 

Years ago we lived an hour away and now it is about three to three-and-a-half hours from home, depending on traffic.

In the photo below, on the right of the picture you can see a round piece of art on the brick wall on the right. I wrote about it before, and it shows it in better detail. That post you can find here.

Last dog for today. I loved that expression. I felt she was saying, "I've had enough of this. I would like to go home now and find a cool spot to lie in by the window so that I can watch the world go by, just like that lady over there.” Our eyes connected and we understood each other. 

One last look at the shopping area and...

as our family joined us, Gregg left to get the car again. He told us to walk up the road and turn left on another road. We were to walk to the end of that road where he would pick us up. One of the buildings had a figure of a sheep placed in a prominent spot. These usually show what is being sold inside. It is part of Williamsburg where you often see people walking around dressed in colonial costumes. To step inside these shops it would have been like stepping into the 1700s. We needed to purchase tickets at the visitor center for access. No one felt like it as the general consensus was that time was getting late, and we still had three-and-a-half hours on the road. We had already driven over three hours from the Outer Banks, where we had spent a very nice few days with my sister-in-law and her husband.

I found a plant outside one of the shops called Wax begonia.

This field of wildflowers took my interest for a while as we waited for Gregg.

The buttercups were everywhere...

and so were the dandelions.

The next one is Sweet vernal grass. 

Next you can see the trunk of a Black Walnut tree.

For some reason I took not the whole tree but the bottom and some of the branches and leaves further up. Everyone’s energy level was a little depleted by this time, or perhaps I was projecting. At this link you can see more info. 

If you click here you will find every post on Williamsburg that I have ever done in the lifetime of this blog. Too much to see in one sitting but if you see something of interest, it will give you a lot more information than I have shown today.

I am at end of our latest trip to Williamsburg. It was short but very enjoyable. I know we will be back there again one day.

I am including another collage above and the signature below, which I put together with the app on my iPad. I never get bored using them, and these clever apps make it so easy to do. 

Take good care of yourselves everyone.

WORD OF THE DAY AND DANDELION POEMS

"Dismiss me as a weed," it laughs, 

For it knows resilience is its craft. 

Roots delve deep, seeking hidden streams, 

Drawing sustenance from heaven's sunbeams."

Which leads me to the word of the day "resilience", which means to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.  At different times we have all had to show our resilience.

"Simple and fresh and fair from winter's close emerging,

As if no artifice of fashion, business, or politics, had ever been,

Forth from its sunny nook or shelter'd grass - 

innocent, golden, calm as the dawn,

The spring's first dandelion shows its trustful face."

~Walt Whitman~

We took a trip up to Skyline Drive the other day. A lot of people had the same idea as it was busier than we expected. This was on a weekday and not the weekend. Being retired we usually go when we think it is going to be relatively quiet, but the warmth and sunshine beckoned many, including us. 

My first poem is with a little help from AI, with prompts by me, changing words to suit my own ideas. Walt Whitman needs no introduction here in the States, but for those of you elsewhere you can click on his name and it will take you to more information.

My photos are from the first overlook. After looking at the gorgeous view, I was drawn to a few dandelions. Seeing the splash of yellow several yards away was enough for me to go check them out.

I thought how pretty! And then when I got home I saw a dandelion in the garden about to shed its seeds everywhere and I went, "Oh no!", aghast at the thought. Why do we do that? Poor old dandelion! And yet when we see a beautiful sculpture of one, we go "Oh that's beautiful!" and admire it.

The sculpture was part of an exhibit at The Norfolk Botanical Garden in 2013, a place we used to go regularly at one time, but it's been a long time since our last visit. 

Poor, maligned dandelion! A field of them looks gorgeous, but one in the garden is enough to make me run to get the weeding tool. There are a few other weeds, but I want to make sure they are not seedlings from the flowers we planted last year. A great gardener I am not by any stretch of the imagination, but I live in hope that we will be seeing a few pretties blooming soon. The hellebore is thriving beautifully.

ADDED NOTE: Saturday, April 20th, 2024.

A link that takes you to Instagram and tells you interesting information about the dandelion  Go here to see it. 

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your day!

A WALK NEAR WALNEY VISITOR CENTER

 We were at another favorite area we go to, a place near Walney Visitor Center.  There won't be too many photos this time, but if you click on this link, you will be able to see other posts I have taken over the years.  

There are small patches of land that have been fenced off, for produce, an orchard and not sure about a third.  

We sat on our usual bench underneath the arbor for ten minutes and watched bluebird parents come and go, as they brought food for their babies.  

Decals found in a window at the Visitor Center and...

Dandelions!  How come I love a whole field of dandelions and yet don't want any in my garden?  That should be the start of a poem, "Ode to a Dandelion".  There is more to the dandelion than we see as a pesky weed.  Thinking back to my childhood, my father used to make dandelion wine.  I remember once he put too much sugar in a batch and those bottles of wine that were stored in a small cupboard underneath the staircase, all the corks popped off like a rocket.  

It not only caused a big mess, but the house smelled of wine for weeks, even with all of Mum's cleaning.  She was a good sport, even though she wasn't too happy about that.  I always remember laughter for years after, as the story was remembered and retold among family and friends.  There was a series of bangs as one by one the corks blew their top, one after the other, in quick succession.  The Spruce has a recipe for dandelion wine here.  If I ever made it, I would be measuring that sugar very precisely.

At this website there is a paragraph which reads: "Did you know, for instance, that the leaves, flowers, and roots of dandelion are edible or that the dandelion has purported medicinal properties? Bees and other pollinators also rely on them for a nectar source early in the growing season.”

Common Blue Violet and Dandelion

~Ground Ivy~

~Common Blue Violet~

~Bearded Iris~

~Paradise Apple~

and one last view of the fenced-off vegetable garden.

That's the end of my photos taken near the Walney Visitor Center.