Sunday Bridges - Buchanan Swinging Bridge

The Buchanan Swinging Bridge is 366 feet long, 57.5 feet tall and the only one of its type to cross the James River. Portions of the bridge date back to 1851 as the Buchanan Turnpike Company Toll Bridge. On June 13, 1864, Confederate General McCausland burned the covered bridge to prevent Federal Troops under General Hunter’s command from crossing the James River. Following a series of replacement bridges, the Buchanan Swinging bridge was constructed on the earlier piers in 1939.

(that's one of my little boys Braden to the right, about to cross the bridge!)

More bridges from all over the world can be found at Louis La Vache's blog!

SkyWatch Friday

Football season has started! Braden and Dalton attended football camp at Lord Botetourt High School this week. Botetourt Parks and Rec puts this on each year and the little kids, ages 6-12 are instructed by the high school players and coaches.

Here they are preparing to warm up under a toasty, blue summer sky. Temps were in the upper 90's this week but they kept the boys hydrated!
(Braden and Dalton are in the last row, Braden in orange shorts, green hat and Dalton in black shorts, red hat)

To see more skies from all over, or to play along, visit SKYLEY!

Happy SkyWatching!!

Pick Your Seat

(Front porch in Buchanan)


After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts she decided she was feeling a little tired. So, she walked into the living room where she saw three chairs. Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet.

"This chair is too big!" she exclaimed.

So she sat in the second chair.

"This chair is too big, too!" she whined.

So she tried the last and smallest chair.

"Ahhh, this chair is just right," she sighed. But just as she settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

Watery Wednesday

This is one of our favorite spots on a summer day!
Craig Creek, Craig County

Today is my first day to participate in the Watery Wednesday meme, to join or to see more watery scenes, visit Watery Wednesday of course!

Barn Charm Tuesday

The Joseph Sherfy Barn is located on the battlefield at Gettysburg. On July 2, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, the 18th Mississippi Regiment of Barksdale’s Brigade swept around the the original barn toward the 114th Pennsylvania and the 57th Pennsylvania. The original barn burned to its stone foundation during the battle, killing Union soldiers of the 114th Pennsylvania who had sought refuge in the barn earlier.

To see more barns from all over, or to participate in Barn Charm, visit Tricia @ Bluff Area Daily Photo!

Whiskey Still - Mabry Mill

One of the many displays at Mabry Mill is a whiskey still. While my husband was looking at the still and reading about it, this man asked him if he wanted to know how a still works. Nick of course said "yes, I would"! The elderly gentleman in the above photo is Franklin Delano Williams. He was there visiting Mabry Mill with a friend of his but gave us a great history on stills and running moonshine in Franklin County (which by the way is The Moonshine Capital of the World and recalled his own earlier days when he was making and running moonshine, spent some time in jail and even escaped a chain gang!! He really had some stories to tell and we were so lucky to run into Mr. Williams!

Sunday Bridges - Mason Dixon Line

Heading back home from Gettysburg on a dreary, rainy afternoon, getting ready to cross under the Mason Dixon Line bridge.

To see more bridges, or to participate, head on over to Louis La Vache's Sunday Bridges

SkyWatch Friday

Last Friday we drove to Richmond to pick Ashlyn up from the airport. We left a little early so we would have time to take a quick tour of Richmond. Richmond is chock-full of history and one of those cities on our list to check out. Once we got there, we drove around to see some of the sites from our car, then parked and walked downtown in search of some good eats! We ended up here, at the Tobacco Company. It looked like a cool place to go and the cigarette girl standing out front kind of cinched our decision, this looked like a cool spot!

The Tobacco Company is an old abandoned tobacco warehouse that fortunately was restored into this super hip restaurant. They have furnished it with some great old antiques and there is even an old brass elevator that actually works.

We ordered drinks and took a peek at the menu. Having the 3 boys with us, we noticed nothing on the menu that they would eat, in fact, after they looked at the menu, all 3 of them piped up with "I'll have a salad" lol...so we finished our drinks, soaked up the atmosphere and then headed down the street to City Dogs, a little hot dog joint that was sure to please 3 boys!

Anyways, I just loved this place and lookie there, you can see the sky from inside the restaurant! To see skies from all over the world, visit SKYLEY!

Happy skywatching!

And by the way, how hot is it in your neck of the woods? I know most of the US is experiencing a major heat wave, us included. Today it's supposed to hit 98 with a heat index of 105. It's already toasty out this morning, 82 but feels like 88. Stay inside and keep cool if possible!!

Graffiti Tree

Mabry Mill, Floyd Co

Ozzy

Ozzy is 5 months old today! He was just 5 weeks old when we got him, weighed less than 5 lbs and is now 68 lbs! He's such a smart guy too, potty trained easily and sleeps in bed with Dalton and shares his pillow for his head!

Barn Charm Tuesday

An old barn still kickin out in Floyd County, VA

To see barns from all over or to participate, visit Tricia @Bluff Area Daily Photo

Mabry Mill-Floyd County

Operated by E.B. Mabry from 1910 to 1935 and made famous by artists and photographers the world over. A trail takes visitors to the gristmill, sawmill, and blacksmith shop. Old-time skills are demonstrated in the summer.

I know it's been a while since I've been blogging...summer has gotten so busy! I had taken Ashlyn to have her senior pictures done at a photographer in Bedford, Mark Hubbard Photography. I would NOT recommend this place to my worst enemy, unless of course you love high pressure sales. The pictures turned out great but when I went to "view" the photos I was asked to sit in the sales office while viewing them on a wall monitor. After about an hour of choosing the pictures I liked, I was then shown the price for the first package she tried to sell me, $1000+, yeah, right...so I dwindled the package down, with the sales lady still trying to sell me everything under the sun. When I asked for proofs I could take home to show my husband and think about what I want, she looked at me as if I had gone crazy and said "you had no intention of buying anything today"? Um, NO...who goes and makes that big of an investment without being able to talk it over with your spouse and think about it? I was not given a disk of proofs or anything that I could view from my house like most good photographers will give you. SOOOO, this was about a month ago that I walked out of this place and have not heard a peep from them. So in a nutshell, I would not recommend Mark Hubbard Photography and find a photographer who doesn't pressure you into buying a high priced package right there on the spot! What a waste of my time that turned out to be!