ABC Wednesday - P is for Poet - Anne Spencer House - III

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This is the cute little garden house that Anne Spencer's husband built for her.

Inside her garden house...don't you just love that colored glass? I do too! And see those little kidlet cutouts on the shelf? How funny, my grandma had those of us too! I haven't seen those in a LONG time!

Another from inside the little garden house. We were told by a nice woman from the garden club who was there working that sometimes Mrs. Spencer would sleep on that couch when she was writing. Look at that stone floor. It's beautiful. I wish I had gotten a better photo of it. The garden club woman told us what kind of stone it was but I have forgotten...Mrs. Spencer's husband Edward worked for the post office and acquired many of the things he used in her garden from people on his route that were going to throw it out.

Here we are sitting at the goldfish pond that Edward Spencer built for his wife. The garden club woman told us about the circle not being perfectly round but they decided to keep its shape the way it is when they were restoring the gardens. I like that it is not perfect. Makes it even more special don't cha think?

One more look at that adorable garden house!.....I'll wrap this up tomorrow so be sure to come back, ya hear?!!

For more info on the Anne Spencer House/Museum:
1313 Pierce Street. Lynchburg. Va. 24501
434.845.1313
Anne Spencer Museum

Linking with ABC Wednesday

Anne Spencer House - II

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Anne Spencer House, Lynchburg

I'm late today..."I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date"....not really but that song just crept into my head...anyways...I wanted to show you this super ingenious idea that Miss Spencer's granddaughter came up with to hide the air conditioning unit. That's her grandpa's old car and she had it cut down to cover it all up. Isn't that brilliant?! Yes, I thought so too! Extreme repurposing for sure!

Linking with Rubbish Tuesday ....more garden photos tomorrow!

Visit the Anne Spencer site HERE

The Anne Spencer House - I

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Anne Spencer House. 1313 Pierce Street. Lynchburg. 24501. 434-845-1313

Yes we went to the reenactment on Saturday and I have loads of photos and some video to share but I wanted to get this post out ASAP because it is time sensitive! We ended up in Lynchburg on Sunday and were told to go look at the gardens at the Anne Spencer House. Incredible!! Now on Tuesday you can actually tour the house and garden as part of the Historic Garden Week so I wanted to put that out there for the locals.

I have more to show you from Miss Anne's garden plus our great visit with her gracious granddaughter coming up so stay tuned! :)

For more information on Anne Spencer, visit the website HERE and for more info on the garden tours, visit HERE

Random 5 Friday - Bierer's Deli

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Bierer's Deli, Buchanan

I like those windows that run across the top above the awnings.

Random 5:

1) We moved here to Botetourt County in 2008. Just like all our previous moves, schools were always our first concern when researching an area. We loved Botetourt for their school ratings and the fact that it was a little rural, not too far out, but not in the city of Roanoke. We still absolutely love it here. I found this video clip featuring Botetourt so you can see why we love where we live! Let me know if you recognize anything in the video!



2) We went to watch our minor league Red Sox play last night. That's always a good time!

3) I worked on some genealogy yesterday and found out that a great grandfather of mine was a Hessian Soldier. His name was Jean Baptiste Schneider. More research to do!

4) Tonight starts the 3 day Civil War reenactment in Buchanan. Yep, we're going!

5) Another blogger, I can't remember who so I apologize if it was YOU and I am not giving you proper credit but anyways, mentioned this show on their blog and I've gotten a bit hooked! It is called The Returned. It is in French but has subtitles. It's on Netflix. Here's a trailer:



Have a great weekend! Be safe!

Signs, Signs - River Bank BBQ

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There's a new bbq in Buchanan. River Bank. Located on Lowe St, next to The Copper Top and across from Twin River Outfitters. We were going to pop in for some 'q but decided to stop in at our local favorite, The Copper Top for a beer first. We told the nice owner (they treat you like bff's there, serious!) that we were going to try it out after our drink but she convinced us to stay and try hers. She is from Memphis afterall! But no worries River Bank, we like us some bbq so we'll try yours too!

Also, River Bank is hosting a yard sale on Saturday to help the family of a local 13 year old who was recently diagnosed with cancer. If you are nearby, please stop by River Bank with your items to sell. For more info Click Here or to support Dakota via Facebook, Click Here...prayers are appreciated and do help!

Linking with Signs, Signs

ABC Wednesday - O is for Federal Occupation

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On June 13, 1864 Federal General David Hunter marched through Buchanan and ordered the burning of Mt. Joy.
In 1906, this present house was built on part of Mt. Joy's foundation.

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For more info on Hunter's Raid in Buchanan, Click Here

Linking with ABC Wednesday

Our World Tuesday - The Abandoned Project II

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Along Route 11. Botetourt County

What do you think this used to be? A store? A Garage?

Linking with Our World Tuesday

One more view:

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There's a new linky! Rubbish Tuesday, so of course I'm linking because I join everything lol....visit more rubbish HERE

Meet Daniel

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This is Daniel Caldeborn. He is from Sweden. We met him yesterday in Buchanan. Daniel was having some lunch along the James River and getting ready to jump back on his bike for the days ride. Daniel wanted to tour the USA in a slow fashion so he flew over here and started his journey in Yorktown, Va and will end in Portland, Or. He thinks it should take him about 3 months. We enjoyed talking to Daniel and I told him to have his parents and girlfriend Google my blog so they can see a picture of him since I'm sure they are missing him! Best of luck to you Daniel! It was nice meeting you!

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Weekend Reflections - 1906 Ale House

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1910 Memorial Avenue. Roanoke. 24015
540.562.8951

No I haven't been inside, I just liked the reflection in the window and the name of the place. But....I have a feeling we'll visit one of these days. Check out their menu HERE

Linking up with Weekend Reflections

Happy Saturday :)

SkyWatch Friday and Random 5

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Blacksburg Rd, Fincastle. I snapped this yesterday morning. Had to pick up Ashlyn in Buchanan. We both have had car troubles this week. Not fun. Mine is all better now...hers has to go back to the dealership again today. She has my car, I have Nick's car and he's going to drive a car off his lot. Musical cars today!

Linking with SkyWatch Friday

1) I'm sad that Nancy stopped blogging even though she told us not to be sad ;) I wonder how many of us will continue with the Random 5's she started?

2) Today @ 1:30 I will be on spring break! Today @ 3:30 the boys will all be on spring break!

3) Nick was out of town for a few days. Got caught up on movies he won't watch. I found the movie Adore on Netflix. I really liked it. These 2 women have been BEST friends since they were kids. Then they both go and fall in love with each others teenage boys. Although that sounds taboo it was really interesting to see how their friendship never falters and the side effects of their relationships with the boys. Here's the trailer for you:


4) I also watched 12 Years A Slave and August: Osage County. I hadn't finished 12 Years when I rented it a couple of weeks ago but Sunday I watched both of these back to back. Talk about intense. I was wiped out after all that. I should have followed 12 Years with a comedy ;)

5) I made talapia foil packets last night for dinner. Slice some lemons. Place your talapia on top, add a couple of pats of butter, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper then wrap and stick in oven, 350 for about 20 minutes. So tasty and easy peasy!

Have a great weekend and happy Good Friday!

Signs, Signs - Country Cuttin'

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136 Railroad Ave. Eagle Rock. 24085

Linking with Signs, Signs

ABC Wednesday - N is for New Traffic Light?

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Catawba and Etzler. Troutville.

This is down the street from my house. It's been going on for MONTHS. I have to drive through this daily. It's a hassle. I heard they are putting in a traffic light and a bridge. There is no need for a traffic light there even though this area gets quite a bit of traffic because of the Botetourt Sports Complex. But the traffic is all going in the same direction. There are softball tournaments throughout the season. It brings busloads from out of town/state to play here. My boys will get to play one or two games at the sports complex. Ask parents of baseball players if they like the sports complex and you will get angry answers because the tax payers paid for this yet our own kids rarely get to play here (the sports complex was built before we moved here). Now all this road construction. We all think it's quite unnecessary. Down to the right was once an old farmhouse. Not too long after we moved in they tore it down. But they left this great old tree on the corner. Then they started this mess and out went the tree. I always knew I should have gotten a picture.

Linking with ABC Wednesday

Edited with a new title, questioning the traffic light now since Anita says we aren't getting one! I like Anita's answer much better!

The Abandoned Project - I

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Along 460 in Blue Ridge.

I love old, abandoned buildings/houses, don't you?

The rain stayed away so the game was played as planned. It drizzled on and off but no biggie. The Braves (the boys' team) won, 6-4...awesome start to the season!

Monday Murals - Mosaic in Grandin

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This mosaic mural is in Grandin Village, near Pop's Ice Cream which I showed you HERE. I couldn't find any info on the mural.

Tonight is the boys' first baseball game. Opening Day was Saturday....gorgeous day, warm and sunny...for some reason we didn't get a game scheduled for Saturday. Instead our's is tonight. Forecast: 100% heavy rain...figures.

Linking with Monday Murals

Weekend Reflections - Virginia Tech

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Today is the 3.2 Run in Remembrance @ VT. Over 9,000 people will be running/walking throughout the campus to celebrate the lives that were lost 7 years ago. For more info Click Here...the weather today is perfect for it!

Linking with Weekend Reflections

Random 5 Friday - Grandin Village

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A street view of Grandin Village, looking over towards the theatre. I know, I'm still showing you Grandin Village. It's such a cute little area and I love it. "Well if you love it so much, why don't you marry it?" Ha, did everyone else say that as kids? Anyway, obviously the little red/white/blue canopy is a barber shop and next to that, the maroon canopy is a little restaurant/bar called the Community Inn or as the locals call it CI, "not just because it's a lot shorter than Community Inn but it is also considerably easy to spell." lol...taken from their website. We popped in this place and had lunch. Braden and I had hamburgers, which were great. Dalton had chicken strips and I forget what Nick had. This was why we were too full for Pop's ice cream!

So now some randoms...so glad Nancy is back, yay!

1) Today will be 80 and sunshine. I ordered a bunch of plants for the garden from the FFA at school.

2) See what the Michael Vick dogs are doing now...wonderful! The Vicktory Dogs

3) Do you believe in fairies? Click Here to see some strange "fairy" pictures.

4) One more week of school then it's spring break!

5) And lastly, a great friend of mine was dealt a pretty crappy hand this week. Please keep her in your prayers. Thank you.

Now let's go visit Nancy for more randoms! Have a fantabulous weekend!

Signs, Signs - Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar

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Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar. 1916 Memorial Avenue. Roanoke. 24015

I've been showing you around the Grandin Village area of Roanoke this past week. I showed you the Grandin Theatre HERE and the Morris Apartments and a mural HERE. This is Pop's and it is right around the corner from the theatre and the apartments. I admit that we've never stopped in there, nor did we this time since we were still full from lunch but it is a place I had heard about and need to get back to, soon! So you know me, I tried to find info on this great old building and found that it was once the Raleigh Court Library from the 1920's to the 1970's. You can read more about that HERE. I also discovered that not only ice cream, they have some pretty amazing grilled cheese sandwiches, which I found out when I came across a story in Esquire Mag, which you can read HERE...I didn't notice Pop's having an actual website but they do have a Facebook page HERE if you want to check them out!

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Linking with Signs, Signs

ABC Wednesday - M is for Morris Apartments

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Morris Apartments. 1401 Grandin Road SW. Roanoke. 24015

When I snapped this photo I didn't know it was an apartment building until now, getting ready to post it. I just liked the architecture. So, upon my Googling research I found out that it was built in 1929 on this really neat website called Emporis. It has tons of buildings and stats, to see Click Here. For more info on the Grandin Village area Click Here and for more photos with the letter M, Click Here! ...Happy ABC Wednesday :)

Ruby Tuesday - More From the Flying Mouse

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...continued from yesterday...
Here we are getting an in-depth tour on the fine art of beer making by the Brewmaster himself, Frank Moeller. My husband had about a gazillion questions and he patiently answered each one, in great detail! Very nice people at the Flying Mouse.

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Collage:
1) Look how cool the outside area is...with a fire pit! Sit outside and listen to live music...which we plan on doing Saturday!
2) Kegs waiting to be filled
3) Some cute redheads at the bar ;) Yes, the Mouse is family friendly!

And....

(click on photo to enlarge)....there's a beer waiting for Bartleby! These guys think of everything!

For more on The Flying Mouse Brewery, visit their ultra cool website HERE
Linking with Ruby Tuesday Too and Our World Tuesday

Monday Mural - Bartleby Hopsworth

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FLYING MOUSE BREWERY
221 Precast Way
Troutville

We have a new brewery in Botetourt! The Flying Mouse. This is Chris and his sidekick Bartleby Hopsworth. Chris is one of the 5 partners @ Flying Mouse and the creative genius behind Bartleby, the "determined" little mascot. You can see his artwork all around the brewery and although this isn't a mural per se, I think it would be awesome to see a big Bartleby Hopsworth mural out front welcoming guests. Maybe in the future?!

We stopped in yesterday afternoon and had a beer and a look around. 3 of the 5 partners were there and so nice to give us a tour and tell us all about their vision for the brewery and all the hard work and sacrifice it took to get here.

The Flying Mouse is opened on Friday/Sat/Sun with live music and food trucks on Saturday afternoon/evening.

Tomorrow I'll show you a little more :)

For more info on the brewery and Bartleby the flying mouse, visit their website HERE

Linking with Monday Mural

Weekend Reflections - Back to the Candy Store

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The Candy Store. 122 Campbell Ave. SE. Roanoke, Va 24011. P: 540.904.5580

A trip downtown last weekend meant another visit to The Candy Store. I always love those skinny chickens so of course I had to take a pic. Some of you might remember the display from last month with the pink flamingos HERE. I hope they don't think I'm a stalker, 2 posts of their windows in the span of a couple of weeks, but hey, how can I resist such a cute window display?! And there go my boys right into the store, no hesitation. They are almost like the "Where's Waldo" on my blog. They are usually the ones walking in a door while I stand outside to get a picture haha.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

The boys have baseball practice later today. Looks pretty out for it. Maybe I'll snap some shots. Christian is supposed to be going prom dress shopping with his girlfriend. Hope she's not half as bad as Ashlyn when it comes to dress shopping, for Christian's sake lol....have a great day!

Random 5 Friday - The Grandin Theatre

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The Grandin Theatre. 1310 Grandin Road SW. Roanoke. 24015

This sublime theater originally opened in 1932 and ran continuously through November 11, 2001 according to Wikipedia. I tried to find historic information on the Grandin's own website but there was zippo. Not one teency bit of historical info, not even the date it opened. When a person sees a theater like this they are thinking "How old is this place?" am I right? Sheesh Grandin website runners, throw some historical info on your "About" page. (You know me and my need to know the history of the pictures I post!) Anyway, if you want basic info such as movie times or employment stuff, visit their website HERE... if you want to know anything historical you're going to have to Google it.

Nancy @ A Rural Journal is taking a spring break so we are on our own with our randoms this week....so here I go:

1) I am going to contact The Grandin and tell them they really should add a paragraph or two about this fine theater's history. Yes I am ;)

2) While Googling info on The Grandin, I found some accounts of the paranormal, which you can read HERE

3) Started watching 12 Years A Slave yesterday afternoon. I was only able to catch about the first half hour or so but I can tell it is going to be hard to watch.

4) We have been having super weather this week. Upper 70's, low 80's. Today we are near 80 again but have thunderstorms scheduled for the day. Then we fall back into upper 50's to mid 60's for the weekend and next week. That will seem like freezing after this week. But on the bright side, things are BLOOMING everywhere!

5) Have the garden ready to plant. Now the fun starts! Can't wait to get my herbs in!

Have a great weekend and stay out of trouble!

Signs, Signs - Noah

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Carmike Valley 8. 1700 Apperson Drive. Salem. 24153

Sunday we were supposed to go to the Nascar race in Martinsville. The weather was sketchy calling for rain and SNOW! We had 2 tickets already but needed to purchase 4 more. It was going to be a gamble not knowing how the weather would turn out and if the race would be cancelled due to rain so we decided to just give the 2 tickets to Ashlyn and her boyfriend and we went to the movies instead. We went and saw Noah. The boys and I thought it was pretty good, my husband said it was alright. I'm much easier entertained though I guess haha...anyways, we pulled up and noticed these workers hanging the O on Noah. Seems a little scary. The person who hung "Sabotage" must have had extraordinarily long arms!

Linking with Signs, Signs

ABC Wednesday - L is for LOTSA Rocks!

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or, LONELY...this is one of my most fave-O-rite houses in the area. Don't you just love that stonework? I want to move in. It always looks vacant but I notice a truck parked there. This sits near Greenridge, not too far from us and bt-dubs, Greenridge has an awesome gym and pool. Love to take the boys to the indoor pool during the cold winter months! Any-who, back to the house...isn't she a beauty? I wonder how old it is. I couldn't find any info. I would love to know its history!

Linking with ABC Wednesday

April Theme Day - Look Out For Triangles!

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Starlight Bicycles. 1502 Grandin Road SW. Roanoke. 24015

The theme this month is "Look Out For Triangles"....lots of triangles to be found here at Starlight Bikes. Some of you might even notice the star in their sign from my post HERE! Roanoke is pretty proud of that star and you can find it all over the place!

To see more triangles, visit City Daily Photo