Forest Hill Park Refurbished

Park Benches

View from the Bridge/Dam

The dredging of the Forest Hill Lake has been completed!  It now looks much like it did when we first moved to the area in 1972, no longer the wet land it had become.  Landscaping is still under way, with planting of a hundred or so black gums trees and grassy areas.  If you’re from the Richmond area you know that this was once the centerpiece of an amusement park, a street car destination.  The street cars were scrapped in 1949, right after they were bought by General Motors.  Forest Hill is now a quiet retreat in the midst of the city, with extensive walking and mountain bike trails and picnic shelters.  For the last two years it has also been the Summer Saturday home of the South of the James Market, which will continue til Christmas.  The Forest Hill trails connect with the Buttermilk Trail that follows the James River for several miles – lovely urban jewels.  Check them out!

Graves Mountain Lodge

Wednesday the Fedites, our informal group of retired Federal Reserve ladies, made an excursion to Graves Mountain Lodge, Syria, Virginia, for lunch.  It had been raining here steadily for two days, so I thought the trip might be rescheduled, but our fearless leader for this event was not deterred!  And I’m so glad – it was a lovely sunny day with dramatic clouds, and we had a wonderful time!

On the way up and back we stopped at the Tastee Freeze in Gordonsville – it used to be picnic tables under a roof, but now all is enclosed with an extensive menu.  Check it out if you’re traveling north from I64 on Virginia route 15.

Our other stop en route was at Yoder’s Country Store, fully stocked with any Menonnite food stuff you might crave.  At the farm next door, conveniently located next to the store parking lot, were goats, chickens, and a pen of turkeys!  Which is where I spent most of our short visit.  Store is on the right of route 230 heading north, just before you get to route 29.

Graves Mountain Lodge has been one of my favorite places since our high school MYF group spent a weekend there, in the days before time.  Meals are served family style and the food and service are first rate.  Doesn’t hurt that it’s just a few miles from Old Rag, one of Virgnia’s premier hike/rock scrambles. In the early 90’s our IT boss at the Bank took our management team to Graves Mountain Lodge for a planning session.  We actually did some planning, spent the night in the rustic rooms of one of the lodge accomodations, then climbed Old Rag the next morning! 

On this most recent trip, in addition to lunching at the lodge, we visited the Apple Barn and stocked up on fresh apples.  Also they had some very nice fresh gourds, at a good price, so I brought home a couple.  After lunch, as we were (eventually) leaving the dining room, we met up with three other couples just leaving – and two of them were Fed retirees!  Which required extended exchange of greetings and news.  In all an excellent trip.

Trip to the Country

Front of Glenn’s Log Home

Momma on Glenn’s Back Deck

Deer at Glenn Acres

Saturday I drove my parents to Scottsville to check on the progress of my cousin’s log home.  He started out in 2004 planning to do all the work himself from a kit.  Everything was delivered to his site, high above the James River upstream from Scottsville.  It’s a beautiful location – with a view of the river and the mountains off the back deck!  He has done a lot of the work, but he’s hired help from time to time to try to move the effort along.  And now its almost done!  He’s hoping to move in this year!!

After a thorough tour of the construction, we adjourned to my aunt’s home (his mom) in Palmyra for a delicious lunch.  As we were getting ready to head back to Richmond, several of the local wildlife stopped by!  They were not nearly as thrilled to see them as I was – the deer devoured their garden this summer and continually destroy the landscaping.  Great photo op tho.

Virginia Fall Fiber Festival

Herd Them Up

Sheep Dog

Move em’ Out

Shearing

Newly Shorn

Raw Fleece

Roving in woven basket

Knitted Lace

Hope you had a chance to see some of the studios on the virtual tour!  For those of you still making the circuit, scroll down to the next entry for a tour of mine…

This past weekend the Fall Fiber Festival and Montpelier Sheep Dog Trials was held at Montpelier Station in Orange County, Virginia.  I drove up on Sunday and had a pleasant time watching the dogs move sheep on command, learning about shearing, and shopping the vendor booths. 

I learned that the lanolin in the sheep’s wool is water soluable – which is why the fellow shearing the sheep frequently dipped his shears in water.  The water dissolved the lanolin and lubricated the shears.  He said he typically uses electric shears, but for demonstrations its easier to bring the manual set.  The particular sheep I watched him clip was significantly past due for a trim. The wool next to the skin had felted in many places which he said necessitated the manual shears anyway.

Click here for more info on the festival.  Dates for next year are October 2 & 3, 2010.

Cloth Paper Scissors Studio Tour!

Studios magazine of the Quilting Arts is sponsoring a virtual tour of studios beginning October 3rd!  Check back here on that date for a tour of my sewing space and annexes, then follow the links to others on the web!

If you want to join the virtual tour, the scoop’s at In the Studio with Cate editor’s blog

Click on the photo or paste http://www.interweavestore.com/Mixed-Media/Magazines/Studios-Fall-2009.html.?a=qa090928 in your browser for more info on the magazine.

Virginia State Fair!

Clear Skies

Winning Pumpkin

In Cognito Legendary Santas

I love the Fair!  That said, it was a different experience this year at the new location just down the road from Kings Dominion.  Navigating was no longer second nature – I had to check the map on several occasions.  Many of the buildings are temporary – of course, such as the one where the quilt show was hung in murky lighting.  The one huge permanent exhibition building with excellent lighting and wide aisles was turned over to consumer exhibits, rather than housing the quilting and crafts as I would have done.  Guess that’s why I’m not in charge. 

We checked out the winning pumpkin, all 1,057 pounds worth, and watched the momma cow lick her 30 minute old newborn calf.  The Legendary Santa(s) were there, in summer guise – shorts and Christmas themed Hawaiian shirts!  The flowing beards gave them away! 

It was a lovely sunny fall Sunday and the crowds were still building as we left around 3:30 pm. Fortunately there’s plenty of parking with shuttles running one behind the other.  Next time I’ll go during the week.

Montpelier – Country Quilters Show

Susan, Maren and Paula

Tie One On by Estelle Porter

View from the Cemetery

Yesterday representatives of the Bags quilting group took a field trip to the Monpelier Center for Arts and Education.  This is wonderfully renovated old county schoolhouse that serves as the library and cultural center for the area.  The Country Quilters, a chapter of the Richmond Guild that meets in the building, have up a 20 year retrospective of their work.  The show is excellent – it helps that members of the chapter are some of the most talented quilters in the Richmond metropolitan area. 

My favorite was Tie One On by Estelle Porter.  You may be familiar with her amazingly detailed home portraits that she does on commission.  I’ve seen numerous tie quilts, but this one is very original and caught my fancy.  Maybe there’s hope for the suitcase full of ties languishing in the closet…

Montpelier is a charming wide spot in the road out Staples Mill Road/route 33 northwest of Richmond.  The feel is very rural, tho they do have a brand new tastefully done strip mall where we dined at the Bamboo Chinese Restaurant. There’s a general store with Amish cheeses and a hardware store that appear to be in original 19th or early 20th century buildings and a lovely white frame church with graveyard.  A pleasant 1/2 day trip from town.

Ashland’s Gallery 606

Ann Ayer show

Gallery 606

The Fedites

Last Tuesday the Fedites, an informal group of Federal Reserve retirees from the class of 2004, did Ashland!  Our excuse was a show by Ann Ayer, one of our number, that was hanging at Gallery 606.  We discussed taking the train from Richmond, but decided to carpool.  (may have to train it to Fredericksburg around Christmas!) 

The Gallery has been open six weeks – this is their second show.  I was pleased to see not only Ann’s work, but also several pieces by Bill Kendrick, my one-time water color teacher, along with several other artists.  The overall quality of the Gallery was very good.  Definately worth the trip.

Next we did lunch at Homemades by Susanne – delicious!  And we saw several trains thunder down the middle of mainstreet to the station as we sat and chatted. 

The owner of Gallery 606 also has a jewlery store in town.  Jewlery isn’t one of my main interests so I wasn’t jumping at the chance to visit, but I was delightfully surprised.  Susannah Wagner and her fellow artisans design and craft custom jewlery.  Lovely intricate pieces, many fairy tale and seashell inspired.  Check it out next time you’re at the Center of the Universe.

Time for ice cream!  We strolled back across the tracks to the local ice cream store, where we enjoyed our favorite sundaes and another extended chat session.  Finally we headed home.  A good day.

Smoky Mountain Art Retreat

The Art Gang

Fun in the Kitchen

Relaxing on the Porch

Fran and Pat Creating

Cathy Painting

Art

Our five days in the moutains were full of fun, family, art and adventure.  Andrew Goldsworthy was our feature artist – I’d heard of him, and seen a couple of his rock installations, but I gained I new appreciation.  He doesn’t have a website – check Wiki for info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy

As always it was a delight to be in the mountains, particularly as we had excellent weather.  The season was just tipping to fall, and a couple of nights were rather cool. Apples were just right for frying. We had a family lunch on Tuesday and our cousins and aunts brought delicious food of all descriptions.

We visited with Arnold of Smoky B’s honey and learned about capturing swarms and making the most of the brief sourwood season. We toured Bryson City and Franklin, and make a stop at the Mason Mine gem store on route 28. 

And everyday we worked at water colors, conte crayon drawings, fabric art and environmental sculpture.  It was a grand time, a satisfying interlude, a rejuvenation of the resiliant resources of art. Thanks to my sister for making it happen!

Warrenton – Quilter’s Confectionary

Amazing Selection

Checking out the remnants

Happy Shoppers!

I visited Warrenton last week – the Bags did a ”by appointment” with Karen Walker of Quilter’s Confectionary (http://www.quiltsweets.com/).  If you’re in that area, and have need of a particular fabric, she’s probably got it!  I found some of my favorite blue with glow-in-the-dark stars and solid flag red, among other pieces.  

While rain poured outside, we had a cozy lunch at Claire’s at the Depot – excellently presented and delicious sandwiches and salads.  A fun outing!