Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 137

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1)
Football season has officially started with two-a-days yesterday...they have to be at school by 7 a.m. and get done at 2:30...they will do this for 5 days, including tomorrow, a Saturday!
(This pic was taken last football season...that's Dalton getting down low to take that boy out!)

2)
(Braden 15 with the ball...in case you were wondering they are on the same team, just different uniforms for home and away games)

Yesterday after practice Braden and Dalton's coach took them aside and told them they would be practicing with Varsity today. They are pretty excited about that! They've worked hard! I hope all goes well!

3) Recently I started watching Southern Charm. It's a reality show about a group of young people and a couple not so young, who live in Charleston, SC...a few of them have deep family roots in Charleston from before the Revolutionary War...I find that so interesting! There's 4 seasons and they are available on demand...I am ready to start the 4th!

4) Ashlyn is coming over a little later to do her laundry haha...poor thing doesn't have a washer and dryer in her apartment but no biggie...it will be nice to see her!

5) We've had a heat wave the last couple of weeks. The temps were in the 90's for 16 days straight ending yesterday with temps only in the lower 80's...glad that happened just in time for the boys' football practice!

That's it for me this week! I hope you will join in too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others!! Have a great weekend, stay cool!



I'm going to link up with Mascha's Color of Hope & Five on Friday :)

All Aboard!

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The Buchanan Railcar Inn . Buchanan

This spiffy railcar can be rented out for an event or a sleepover...that would be kind of fun!

Today I am thankful for an afternoon of drinks and friends! I got together with a couple of girls for a drink or two this week. It was fun. I don't know why I don't that more often...life gets in the way I guess!

Linking with Michelle's Thankful Thursday and Signs, Signs

Black & White Wednesday - Take 1

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Buchanan . Botetourt County

I used to participate in a Black & White Wednesday weekly meme but it stopped a while back. I love color but I also love an excuse to post a black & white...Do you know of any weekly B&W memes?

Mountain Union Church

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Mount Union Church . Explore Park . Roanoke

This old church was built in the early 1800's in Botetourt County and then moved to Explore Park in the 1990's...I didn't know that I used to live near where this church originally stood! I had been to the cemetery a few times to fulfill Find-A-Grave photo requests...you can see those HERE and HERE ...I had a couple more requests to find there but never was able to find them...anywho...



(these were taken in April of this year)

I also didn't know that this church was started from Fincastle Presbyterian Church which I found out HERE in "A Partial History of Fincastle Presbyterian Church" which says this about Mount Union:

"Mountain Union Church is the daughter of the Fin-
castle Presbyterian Church. She was born on the Satur-
day before the third Sabbath in February, 1832. To this
daughter the mother gave twenty-four members, among
them a ruling elder, Mr. George McDonald, who was im-
mediately made a ruling elder in the new organization."

There were other interesting write-ups in the story...

That's about all I was able to find out on this little church but one neat thing I found was this old photo/postcard:

I think it is dated 1905? *Found on Rootsweb*

The church can be rented out now for weddings, reunions, etc...

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

HERE'S some more posts I've done on Explore Park in the past...it's one of my favorite places for hiking around :)

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 136

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1)
The 4th of July was Christian's 20th Birthday! We didn't have a party or anything really...just caught him as he was grabbing stuff to head out the door again so this was our little impromptu celebration!

2)
This pretty girl was visiting our backyard frequently this summer...haven't seen her in a while but recently I did see a mama deer with triplets just down the road...so cute!

3)
Some new sculptures were installed in Elmwood Park in Roanoke recently...I've been meaning to go over there and get some pictures of them...on the day I took this we were just running through quickly trying to get to a festival...

4)
Awww can you stand the cuteness?! Taken at a festival downtown...

5)
Alf sighting! Did you used to watch that show back in the 80's? We did, every week haha...we were easily entertained back then that's for sure ;)

That's my 5 this week friends and I hope you will play along too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have fun and have a great weekend!



I'm linking up with Mascha and Five on Friday

Having Fun With Something Sparkly

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Chandelier in Black and White @ The Homestead

Chandelier in orginial colors

Chandelier in Heat Map (I think this one is fun!)

Chandelier in inverted colors (I think this one is kind of spooky!)

"Chandeliers are marvels of drop-dead showiness, the jewellery of architecture."
Peter York

Today I am thankful for getting Ashlyn all moved in! Ashlyn and the boys and I did a lot of the work of hauling boxes over on Friday...it didn't really take too long...2 trips...and then we had time to grab some lunch at Benny's downtown...Ashlyn's treat :)

On Saturday we used Nick's truck to haul over her couch and bedroom furniture with the help of her boyfriend. She's not unpacked yet but she's getting there and she has bought some really cute things to give it her own look. Her apartment is a renovated old house built in 1900 which has been changed into 4 apartments...I love the old touches inside, such as the molding and cute little locks and windows...I haven't been back over as she's been working all week but can't wait to get over there and just walk around her cute neighborhood...wait till I show you some of the beautiful houses there!

Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

2 Churches

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Warm Springs Presbyterian . Warm Springs . VA

This pretty/old church was built around 1855 and right next door sits this one:


Warm Springs Episcopal Church or I've also seen it listed as Christ Episcopal Church, ca 1852...this one is now a private residence. While driving by I saw the owners out in the back doing yard work so we snuck a quick picture of the front without being too nosy! This one is my favorite...couldn't find much history on either churches but did find THIS which shows an old picture of the 2 back in 1900 and also a brief mention of a storm in 1974 that almost did the Episcopal Church in....glad to see it was saved! Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures and yes, I know it is Wednesday...you can see I'm still struggling to keep up!

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 135

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1)
More from The Bridges/Dr. Pepper Park in Roanoke...this is the Speedy Gonzalez edition...getting Ashlyn moved this morning...

2)
We were going to get a moving truck but thought she didn't have too much to move and the heavy stuff like bed and dressers could fit easily in Nick's truck tomorrow...

3)
Boy were we wrong...you would not believe the sea of boxes sitting here waiting to be loaded into my Explorer and her little tiny car...

4)
This morning it will just be me and Ash and the boys moving all this...we get to pick up her keys at 9...in an hour...I see a few trips back and forth in our future...good thing her apartment is only 10 miles away!

5)
Her friend and boyfriend will help later today when they get off work and Nick will help with his truck tomorrow when he is off...hopefully by tomorrow it will just be the bed and dressers...I better get going! We have a busy day ahead!!

That's my 5 this week and I hope you will join in too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others!! Have a super weekend :)


I'm linking up with Mascha's Weekend Green & Five on Friday

P.S. Thank you so much for linking up last week and I apologize for not getting around to visit everyone yet...it's been a busy week with getting things ready for Ashlyn's move and other clean-ups but I will get to you eventually, I pinky promise!

Stairs & Shadows

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The Bridges/Dr. Pepper Park . Roanoke

Today I am thankful for getting an overwhelming task done...is there a mess in your house that needs to be cleaned up but everytime you look at it you just don't know where to start? That's been the story of my computer room...yuck! It's a big/odd space and my computer is just in the corner and junk that doesn't have a home gets piled around it. I've been wanting to make the space my workout room. Nick ordered a tv for in here for my workout dvd's and I cleaned and rearranged where my computer was! I'm sitting here in a nice and clean space and in a day or two my workout area will be finished! Yay!

Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Roanoke Fruit & Produce

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1119 4th St SE . Roanoke

Owned and operated by the same family since 1908! That's pretty impressive! This building sits next door to yesterday's building. For more on Roanoke Fruit & Produce see their website HERE

Virginia Can Company

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315 Albemarle SE . Roanoke

*must have had something on my lens on the last photo :(

From Wikipedia:

"Virginia Can Company-S.H. Heironimus Warehouse is a historic factory and warehouse complex located at Roanoke, Virginia. The "U"-shaped complex was built in 1912, and consists of an office and two factory buildings. All three of the buildings are two stories in height and are constructed of brick on a raised foundation of poured concrete. A second-story pedestrian bridge connects the two factory buildings and a brick hyphen connects the office building to the north factory building. The complex was built for the Virginia Can Company, the first and largest manufacturer of tin cans in Roanoke, Virginia. After 1951, it housed a clothing factory and then the Heironimus department store warehouse.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and included in the Roanoke River and Railroad Historic District in 2013. It is located in the Virginia Landmarks Register listed Southeast Roanoke Historic District."

I found THIS news story about the building being purchased and fixed up back in 2011...

While I was trying to find some old original pictures of the place I found THIS interesting story about child labor in the early 1900's in Virginia...it also mentions children working in cotton mills in Roanoke with old pictures to help tell the story...

I did manage to find some older photos although I'm not sure when they were taken...you can see them HERE

Note to self: If you do an image search on S H Heironimus you end up with a lot of vintage Roanoke pictures!

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Doors

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These are all from the same area I showed you on Thursday and Friday, "The Bridges/Dr. Pepper Park" Roanoke:


"A very little key will open a very heavy door."
Charles Dickens

Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 134

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More from yesterday's post around "The Bridges" in Roanoke:

1)
I liked the ice cooler with the old dilapidated buildings...

2)

3)
I wanted to see what the graffiti said but was a little nervous about getting too close to that end of the bridge...

4)
The message made me a little more nervous so I turned around and went back the other way haha

5)

This was such a neat area to explore!

That's my 5 this week! Now it's your turn! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have a great weekend :)



I am linking up with Mascha's Weekend Green & Five on Friday

Some One On One Time

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The Bridges . Roanoke
The stage for "Dr. Pepper Park" is just to the right of those stairs.

On the 4 of July we last minute decided to go see the Red Not Chili Peppers (that's right, I said NOT..they are a tribute band of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) at the Dr. Pepper Park. It was our first time seeing a show at this venue and we had a blast...the RNCP were great and I loved the open air and all the old abandoned warehouses around it, plus it was pretty cool that we were literally "under the bridge" when a thunderstorm rolled in with lightning and trust me, that wasn't lost on me when the Red Not's sang "Under The Bridge" haha...anyways....I wanted to come back and check out the area so today I did just that, with Braden:



Today I am thankful for my day spent with Braden! Dalton went to the water park for the day with his girlfriend and her family so it was just me and Braden. He wanted me to take him to Dick's Sporting Goods so he could pick up some stuff for football...then I took him to lunch at his favorite place Benny's for a slice of pizza. Then off to explore the area of the "Bridges". As "bored" as he may look, he was really a good sport and not once said "can we go home now?"! This was definitely a day to be thankful for! Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday :)

I will get Willy Nilly up in the morning so I hope to see you then!

Plus I have lots more pics of this area to show!

Sunday At The Salem Fair

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Salem Fair . Salem

This is the view from the top of the Ferris Wheel. I love the view from up here. Not a lot of people yet, probably too hot. It gets more crowded at night. The tall ride to the left is the Super Shot (if you click the link there are some videos you can watch of it if you don't know what it is). I always have to ride that one at least once, which we did. After we got our fill of rides we let the boys stay and we went home, chilled for a bit, went out for dinner then went back and got the boys. It was a nice day :)

Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens & Mascha's Weekend Green

City Daily Photo July Theme Day - Motion

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Wasena Storage . Roanoke

Braden and Dalton practicing their box jumps. No matter where we are, if they see something they can jump, they're jumping!

To see more "Motion" pics, visit City Daily Photo

Have a great weekend :)