Psalm 19:1--The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork.
I wish to apologize to anyone who may be having trouble making comments on my posts. I appreciate your visit so much, and wish I could read what you have to say, but something is going on with my computer, and until I can get the issue addressed, this may continue. Please keep visiting! Also, often I cannot make a comment on some posts I look at, particularly those who ask for me to show I am a guest. I have noticed sometimes someone can only comment in the "Reply" section of another comment...if that's all that works, then that's fine! Let's keep visiting no matter what happens, and know we are touching each other with our creativity and thoughts and images even when we can't get (or leave) feedback. God bless you my dear blogger friends!
I am a bit late posting this, since we had almost an inch of snow fall the other night, and most of the lovely leaves have now fallen from the trees, but just a couple of weeks ago this is what it looked like in our new yard! For those of you who have kept up with us, you know that a "new back yard" was a long time coming, and is such a blessing!
The crape myrtle tree in our front yard...it was gorgeous! In the foreground is a Japanese maple.
Another shot of the crape myrtle.
A closeup of the leaves.
Another Japanese maple.
A tree across the fence in the back.
And two cute little Carolina Chickadees who make a home in our yard and in the yard next door! They like our tossed-away boxes! I guess it's warm inside with the crumpled paper. And they come and look in the windows sometimes. So cute....we're glad to share our new home with them!
Our good friend has a farm, and he shares eggs with us from time to time. The last two dozen he offered us, he asked if we minded "ugly eggs." He said when the chickens get older thay sometimes start laying really big eggs with wrinkled shells, but the eggs are just as good to eat. So, we got us some "ugly eggs."
Here I placed one of the small ones next to a regular large farm egg, and also next to one of the large ugly eggs! Interesting comparison.....
I decided it was time to make an omelet!!!
And here is my "ugly omelet" next to two "ugly potato pancakes!" :-)
The cotton bolls have opened and lie among the rich green foliage.....
A Virginia scene that has repeated itself over and over for over 150 years....
And the corn stalks are chopped.....The leaves are changing color very slowly, but the hints of glorious Autumn are there. Asters are growing in the ditches along with goldenrod and morning glories. The soybean fields are turning yellow. We look with anticipation at the weeks to come and all the treasures they will hold!
This is Suffolk's well-known historic treasure, College Court, a group of Arts & Crafts bungalows.
Only one is larger than the others and stands as a gem close to the entrance. They are all wonderful! Arts & Crafts is my favorite architectural style. I work a short block from these houses, at the Suffolk Seaboard Station. Seeing them makes me happy, just like the imminent arrival of Autumn in Virginia!
I have been the Coordinator of the Suffolk Seaboard Station Railroad Museum now for over six months. It has been a very challenging job in a lot of ways, but also extremely rewarding! I have come to love the Station and its connection to Suffolk history. I enjoy sharing all that with visitors each day that I am there. But, I was faced with a daunting task for a new employee--this is the Tenth Anniversary since the Station was restored and opened as a museum; also the 125th Anniversary since the Station was built. Only a couple of months into my new job, I had to begin planning for a huge celebration event.
Just a little over a month prior to event, we had a visit from my sister who lives in NY and two of her three boys....Tighe was FASCINATED with the HO-Scale model of the Suffolk-Carolina RR line and Suffolk from 1907. The two-room model was created by the Tidewater Div. of the National Model Railroaders Assoc. and is a huge treasure!
Here my husband Russell who often volunteers at the Station (so does my Mom) explains some of the aspects of the model to our nephew Griffin and my sister Susan.
Preparations began in earnest for the big Celebration event. Here Dan Bathe sets up a hand-made Circus Train his father built as a loan display in one of our Museum Collection cases.
This is a better view of one of the shelves of the display.
The gift shop was stocked well for the expected visitors.
The weekend of August 28th & 29th finally arrived! As you can see, the weather cooperated wonderfully! One of my most proud achievements was getting the Teddy Bear Express Trackless Train ride for the kids. It was completely underwritten by a kind donor, and the $2. apiece tickets we sold for the ride was all profit! One of our volunteers created the tickets to look just like real train tickets, and they were punched just like a conductor would punch a train ticket. The child could then keep it as a souvenir.
Another proud achievement was securing the talents of two days worth of musical entertainment...who all agreed to perform for free! I promised to feed them, and Subway and Chick-Fil-A came up with donated food to feed not only the musicians but also our wonderful volunteers! Here is the Billy Joe Trio! They were awesome!!!!!
This is Matthew Bradshaw, a very talented keyboardist!
Winds of Grass, a very popular local Bluegrass group! Just great!
The Potecasi Creek String Band! So good!
The Harmonizing Echoes Gospel Group were with us both days, and they were incredible!
The Commodores Barbershop Ensemble were just fantastic! AND, somehow I failed to get a shot of the Tidewater Concert Band! They are a 35-member band who did big band and show tunes and were just wonderful!
Here we see the kids enjoying the Teeny Tiny Farm Petting Zoo.
And the G-scale Thomas the Tank Engine!
A volunteer played inside the Station, singing songs for kids that she created just for Suffolk and the Station itself.
I leave you with this funny shot! :-) This is my husband Russell and our dear friend Fred, who came to help out, being silly posing as the 1885 man and woman about to board the train. A donor provided the plywood for the figures and cut them to my drawing, then I painted them. They were a nice addition, along with a boy and baby girl who stood beside them. Russell and Fred posed in those too, but I won't humiliate them! :-)
The weekend was incredible! We made a good amount for the Station, and everyone had a wonderful time. It was worth all the long hours and exhaustion (that took me about a week and a half to get over!) But, when you are celebrating something this important and wonderful, it makes you feel great when all goes well.....
