Rural Thursday Blog Hop #35

(taken from Food Lion's parking lot)

This is the Daleville Town Center located in Daleville of course ;) They have been working on this since we moved here in 2008. It's supposed to be a whole neighborhood, where you can live and shop and not have to drive. Over on the other side, you can't see from the picture is the housing. I don't know how many houses they've completed but the last time I drove through there were only a handful. And I'm not even sure if any of those have sold yet. There is one shop in the Town Center I like called The Willow Pod which is a neat little gift shop. Other than that, there isn't much else except a light store and an urgent care. Maybe it's just me but I don't see this as being an all inclusive neighborhood. The architecture is pretty though and they do make good use of the field by holding outdoor concerts and this weekend is the Biscuit Bash and all proceeds will go to help abused and neglected animals.

Last night the boys had their 4th football game and their 4th win! It was a great game. They all played so well!

I finished reading Water For Elephants last night. Loved it. I know, I'm late reading it and watched the movie first and since it's a favorite of mine, I decided I must read the book that got it all started. What a great book. It made me a little sad when they would flash to 93 year old Jacob. I realize how quickly time flies and I really felt a bit melancholy over that fact while reading the older Jacob parts. Then there is beautiful Rosie. Reading the book has made me want to read more about elephants. What smart creatures they are! When we first moved here, Nick had gotten tickets to the circus. We had a fun time but I remember when the elephants came walking past us, one looked like she was crying. I swear that I saw a tear on her cheek. I have always remembered that look in her eye and that tear as she walked past us. Actually, I even blogged about it right here ...

And back to the book...don't you just hate when you finish a book that you loved? I'm going to miss Jacob, Marlena and Rosie....

Check out more from Rural Thursday's Blog Hop, it's fun!

Black & White Wednesday

Salem, Va

A couple of weeks ago we went to Olde Salem Days after the boy's football game. We weren't there much more than an hour when a storm blew through, blowing display tents over and having to shut the event down. This was my view from the beer garden which was actually the safest tent to be under :)

Barn Charm Tuesday

Troutville, Va

I didn't like this picture at all but it was my only barn left so I played with it using the "Heat Map" effect. I like that one, makes fun photos.

We are getting rain in biblical amounts today. Started yesterday but now it's really coming down in buckets. Today is supposed to be full of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Football practice was cancelled yesterday because of the rain, supposed to practice tonight instead but I'm thinking that's not going to happen...

Visit Barn Charm to see barns from all over :)

Sunday Best on Monday #3

Bright and early @ Myrtle Beach, SC

Linking with

Friday Fences

Another from Woodpecker Ridge in Troutville.

Anyone have any exciting plans for the weekend? I don't know what we're doing. I would like to go somewhere though. The boys have a football game tomorrow morning. Today is my anniversary. I've been married 27 years! Wow, that's just crazy. I don't feel old enough to be able to say that!

Have a great weekend!

Linking with Friday Fences

Rural Thursday Blog Hop #34

A bench in a garden @ Woodpecker Ridge, Troutville

Last night the boys had their 2nd football game of the season. They won! 8-0. They also won their first game last Saturday, 6-0. It's fun to win :)

Have you heard about Postcrossing? You send a postcard out to a random person somewhere in the world and get one back. I had heard about this a few years ago and it sounded fun but I never actually signed up. Somewhere in my blog hops over the past week I saw a blog about the postcards this one blogger had received so I went to Postcrossing and signed up and requested the 5 addresses that a new Postcrosser can get. I then went to Snapfish and made up some postcards of some of my images. The people I have been assigned to send postcards to live in Russia, Belarus, Netherlands, Germany and Taiwan. Once the recipients mark that their postcards have been received, I then get to be on the receiving end of postcards. Doesn't that sound fun?! I love getting real mail in the mailbox!

Black & White Wednesday

A trail marker @ Woodpecker Ridge