Where The Wild Things Grow

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The Roanoke River . Explore Park . Roanoke

Today I am thankful for pretty light! This morning I had to get the boys to school a little earlier than our normal routine. They had to run for their coach so he could record their times...anyway, on our way there the sky was dark grey but the lighting on the ground and mountains looked like a gigantic spotlight was shining down...made for a very pretty drive this morning! I wished I had my camera with me because I wanted to take a picture of everything! Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Black & White Wednesday

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Explore Park . Roanoke

"I believe the future is only the past again, entered through another gate." Arthur Wing Pinero

Kemp's Ford Schoolhouse

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Explore Park . Roanoke

Originally located near a ford of the Blackwater River in Franklin County and then moved to Explore Park and restored. This little school was in operation from 1860-1935. The region was isolated following the Civil War and changed very little during the time the school was in use. Reports from students of the 1920's mirror the experiences of the 19th century students.

The school was moved to Explore Park thanks to a descendant of a former teacher of the school.

I've shown you the schoolhouse before right HERE

Linking with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Lovey Dovey

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Explore Park . Roanoke

Those 2 little specks ahead on the pathway are a pair of Mourning Doves...I think they were getting annoyed with us because they thought we were following them...but fact of the matter is they kept going forward on the path that we were taking haha...Mourning Doves always remind me of my grandparent's house...they always liked to hang out there :)

Today I am thankful for the arrival of Spring, finally, today! We get into the 70's at last...jeez I hope it stays!

Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 168

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1)
Fiery sunset...

2)
Tan Yur Can...Bedford

3)
Bike parking @ Duke University . Durham . NC

4)
Wilson Hughes Gallery . Roanoke

5)
The Color Purple . Explore Park . Roanoke

Linking up with Tom's Willy Nilly and:
Weekend Reflections
Skywatch Friday
Floral Friday

Have a great weekend :)

Early Spring

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Explore Park . Roanoke

This was taken this past spring while the boys were on spring break...we spent the day hiking around...doesn't seem possible that summer is coming to an end already!

Today I am thankful for a few quiet hours to myself! We started back to school yesterday and I get home a few hours before everyone else...I have to say that I have enjoyed it! Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

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 :)

Houtz Barn

Explore Park . Roanoke

"The German double-crib “bank barn” represents a highly specialized form of architecture. This barn served the needs of the Houtz family’s large-scale commercial farming operation on Mason’s Creek near present day Salem, VA. Barns of this type may still be seen in Pennsylvania and throughout the Shenandoah Valley."

Isn't this a great old barn? I love the different pieces of wood they used....linking with Tom's Barn Collective

Kemp's Ford Schoolhouse

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Explore Park . Roanoke

This Link tells a little about its history and the restoration process.

Linking with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Little Cabin In The Woods

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Explore Park . Roanoke

Linking with Tex's Good Fences

Trailing Behind

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Just a small portion of the miles of trails at Explore Park

Linking with Mersad's Through My Lens

Happy Monday!

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 100

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1)

I love weather vanes...this one is in Buchanan

2)
Nick is upstairs watching Generation Kill and I can hear this song playing on the show...I had forgotten how much I like it!

3)

Cuppa coffee anyone?

4)

Explore Park
The boys were supposed to have a football game in Rockbridge County tonight (Thursday) but we have been having so much rain since yesterday...major amounts of rain... so they postponed it till Monday...I'm glad...Monday's weather looks to be much better!

5) The area where they removed the stitches is healing pretty well...I still have a deep cut on the side of my nose that they didn't stitch that just needs to heal naturally. I have been very good about keeping Vaseline on it like the Dr. ordered. Next week I can start tissue massage which will help to break up the scar tissue.

Well that's my 5 this week! I hope you will play along too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have a great weekend :)

Slone's Grist Mill

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On Sunday we went to Explore Park to hike around a bit. Before we moved here in 2008, Explore Park was a living history museum. These historical buildings were all moved here for that reason but it was very short lived and was already closed by the time we got here :( The buildings are still here and there are big plans to get this place going again.

My 1 complaint while there is that the trail to the historical area is also a biking trail and we had this group to contend with:

It was a large group, loud and obnoxious and riding their bikes in the grass tearing it up...I thought bike riders respected nature? Anyways the historical area is quite small and they took up quite a bit of room. There are miles and miles of trails, I only wish they would keep the historical area accessible to only foot traffic as this group had no desire to see the buildings, just used the area as a rest area ruining the tranquility of it for everyone else...ok, ruining it for me ;) anyways, that's my rant now to show you some pictures of the mill:

I've posted about Explore Park a few times before HERE HERE & HERE
and you can learn more about the park HERE

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Random 5 Friday & Some Good Fences in Williamsburg

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A pretty little lane in Williamsburg. Notice how that tree on the left has grown through the fence? Poor tree! I love Colonial Williamsburg. I want to live there. It is probably my most favorite place on the planet!

Linking with Good Fences

Now some randoms:

1) Yesterday I took Ashlyn to James Madison University for their transfer student orientation. She got her fall schedule and her id card! This is really happening! I am so excited for her! She worked so incredibly hard the past 2 years at the local community college to get accepted into JMU!

2) This is really weird...A couple of weeks ago Christian's girlfriend Alyssa was on Facebook and noticed a link for "21 Medieval Torture Devices"...she clicked on it and was going through the pictures when picture #16 came up. She noticed these "little ginger twins" and zoomed in and it was US lol...It was from our last trip to Colonial Williamsburg a couple of years back! How funny to be looking on a website and come across a picture of someone you actually know?! Some people say to contact them for compensation for using my picture but honestly, I don't care about that at all, I just thought it was so funny and so random! You can see the photo by CLICKING HERE (that's Braden and Dalton in the pillory. Christian is the one in the white hat locking the pillory down. I'm in the green jacket to the right and Ashlyn is next to me!) So while we were in Williamsburg last week, we updated the photo:

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and a bonus one in the stocks:

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They sure have grown since the last visit haven't they?!

3) Just read the a movie that was mostly filmed at a local park, Explore Park is now opening in some theaters...you can read the story HERE. I probably won't get a chance to see it at the movies but will watch for it on Netflix eventually! Looks interesting and I just love Explore Park. I've shown you Explore Park HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

4) It's officially summertime in the Breese house and all around Botetourt County! School is out for summer!

5) I miss Nancy's blog and her Random 5 Friday linky. I loved running around bloggy-land reading everyone's randoms. I'm thinking of starting a link-up for it. I think I'll start it on next Friday.

Have a GREAT weekend!