Sepia Saturday - 11 October 2014 Abandoned But Remembered

Empty, abandoned houses, buildings or especially churches are just that, abandoned.  

We understand anything abandoned 

is usually

doomed and

left to rot and decay away.

Sad, but true.

Unless, someone cares enough to step in.

SEPIA SATURDAY

Just simply abandoned.  That is all.

Are you ready for an adventure as we step back in time?

The place- Fredericksburg, Virginia

The photo reads, Filling their canteens, and was taken sometime between 1861 and 1865 (possibly May 1864) during the Civil War.

Abandoned But Remembered.

I learned about this lovely forest equipped with buildings which appear like you've stepped into an Elizabethan village of Stafford in the 1580's.   It's known today as the abandoned Renaissance Faire, of Fredericksburg.

(Not to be confused with their current location link here.)

The link below is a tour of the abandoned Renaissance property as it is today.

This video is worthy of your attention.  Perfect six minute tour of the Abandoned Renaissance Fair in Fredericksburg.

 George Washington's Mother owned this land at one time.

So what did the area look like in days gone by?

A few photos from back in 1927 Stafford County, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Photo from 1927

I'm not sure is that a dog, cat or cub, and do you think is it living, or not?

This photo was also commissioned by Mrs. Devore the restoration to her estate near Fredericksburg.

Chatham, Fredericksburg 1927

Also from 1927 in Chatham

Again from Mrs. Devore's Estate.  Is this feed for animals?

Beautiful birdhouse as well.

Perhaps these are the hungry ones waiting to be fed?

Listed as Ferry Farm, original office building, boyhood home of George Washington.

Apparently this is the location of the boyhood home of George Washington.

Ferry Farm, Fredericksburg, Virginia.

So be sure to stop by the other Sepia Saturday posts and see what everyone else posting.

Good Fences #29 - 9 October 2014

Early morning thoughts today,

 from where Gnomes roam.

GOOD FENCES

Please meet my treasured earthly groundskeeper, Mr. Gnome.  He may be wearing a smile this morning, but he's carrying a heavy burden.  His friends are wilting or worse, drastically drying up around him.  

Of course, this bit of news just in from his friends on the west side of my house.  Jack Frost is still sleeping across our yard as this is being announced.  See, life is so much brighter on the east side in the morning hours.  

Proof - sometimes, somebody else is struggling even more.

"My life is a lovely story, happy and full of incident."  -  Hans Christian Andersen

Whatever comes your way

wear your days proud. - Karen Sather

"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."  - Hans Christian Andersen

Be kind to your flowers.  

Cover them nightly, stretch out their days.  

Trust an old Gnome, 

you'll miss them when they're dried up!

My morning perspective?  Beware the hungry wretched bite of Jack Frost.  Get plenty of sunlight, and for all those friends you bring inside, study daylighting now.

Always remember, "Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale."  -  Hans Christian Andersen

Be sure to check out more Good Fences.

Hanging Out With Frogs

What could be more hopping fun than hanging with frogs or toads along the Cannon River in Northfield, Minnesota?  Croak, croak, crOAK!


"Frog in a little pond can be much happier than fish in a vast ocean." - Mehmet Murat ildan

Hello there, "Little Green Frog (song by Rainbow songs happy child's song)

F

Lunching at Froggy Bottoms.

"When I play with my band around the U.S.A. the most requested song is 'Peace Frog'. - Robby Krieger

"I'd rather be ignored as a frog than eaten as a human." - E.D. Baker

"Curb your fretting, tadpole, or the frog of your future will fail to croak.' - Thaddeus" - Paul Collins

"Don't be a fish; be a frog,  Swim in the water and jump when your feet hit the ground." - Kim Young-ha

Froggy Bottoms is crawling with frogs.  They're every where.  No matter where you look.  How many can you spot just in my photos?

Count the correct number of frogs, and be a winner
of knowing you can correctly count frogs! 

Thematic Photographic - # 311 - Run Down

THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

Carmi's theme this week is

RUN DOWN

Luckily, (and perfect for our run down theme) this funny thing happened today while eating lunch outside.  No, it wasn't rain.

Always look up when walking or sitting under  freshly watered flower pots.

Northerners, The Story of Life in a Magpie

I'm sensing her concrete determination to escape.  What do you think?

Will she free herself?




THE MAG

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

by

A Girl, Through the Eyes Of A Leaf

(Based on a true story)

ONCE UPON A SUMMER

Being all tip-top and rather dependable leaves, we pretty much just cling to our branches.

Trouble is, most everything around us stands out so much more.

Of course the occasional photographer arrives a lot.  But they eagerly snap nature and decide- blossoms take precedence over the leaf.

Not that long ago, life was ripe with new growth around here.

Until a few of us began to dry out and change our colors drastically around here.

Yes, the air grew sharp

when once we winced in explosive heat.

We now felt crisp around the edges

so chilly our air grew sharp

it was quite capable to freeze any fart.

....an so it goes.  Frost gathers again like a sneaky, toothy dragon at the window of our souls.

Another wintry wrap begs to move in.

A sudden oppressive air blows by, pushing folks to exchange their mowers for snow-blowers.

Heat made everything swim with delight.  While we Northerners now immersed in cold pockets are pulling down our shades, preparing for wintry blasts unfit for human exposure.  No more bonfires, no more porch gatherings, forget tent camping or outdoor swimming........ WAIT!

Sure our arid heat lingers from a distance but ye old weatherman has just declared-

A sunny week with our temperatures in the 60's for us!

Win! Win!

As for the girl caught by barbed wire-

she escapes

boards 

a plane 

for Tahiti 

and lives

for wild surfs!

Shady Shades of Ghosts- 6WS

Shady shades of, ghosts?

SIX WORD SATURDAY

Welcome to downtown Northfield, Minnesota.

SOME STRANGE ART 

AT PLAY HERE

"Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea." - John Ciardi

"A good question is never answered.  

It is not a bolt to be tightened into place 

but a seed to be planted 

and to bear more seed toward the hope 

of greening the landscape of idea." - John Ciardi

ART is much like that.

"My face looks like a wedding cake left out in the rain." -  W. H. Auden

(In fact my entire body looks that way.)

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

WINDOW DESIGNS-

takes on an entire new meaning to art don't you think?

What is that strange, almost human like creature hosting an eerie sense of fashion; as if, desperation got the better of him?  Seriously Mr. Pumpkin Man you had to wear football gear? 

Obviously, Mr. Skeleton Man is glaring sightlessly back at us with the most peculiar over sized glove any skeleton would ever dream of wearing.

What did the skeleton say when his brother told a lie?  "You can't fool me, I can see right through you."

Don't be fooled by his toothy smile.  He's hardly a scary or fearsome creature doomed to rest upon a stool behind glass in a store that hasn't even opened yet. Notable for his bony stature, perhaps a bit unpredictable in nature and yet, his days ended long ago.  He doesn't scare me.

BUT THEY HAVE GRABBED PEOPLE'S ATTENTION

A closer look at Mr. Pumpkin Man reveals-

"Men are like pumpkins.  It seems like all the good ones are either taken or you just can't make up your mind as to which one you should take home."

Do you think this passerby was impressed or viewed the window scene sardonically?

What do you see on closer inspection little munchkin?

WINTER NEARING, DE-CLUTTER,CREATE MORE ART

If you're into yarn, knitting or crocheting- or perhaps

YARN BOMBING 

CHECK THIS OUT.

Yarn Bombing can be quite tasteful see here.

Or totally outrageous. 

AND THIS LINK.

See you all later, it's time to go Arting!

Enjoy your weekend.

Stop Thinking Too Much

and enjoy.
This post isn't just for four seasoned folks.

I know Floridians and Californians call our winter, their mild summer, so I've been told.

But, isn't it just a matter of perspective?

While the wind is blowing wildly, I'm beginning my winter chant today.

You are in charge of your own happiness!

(over and over)

So, my first duty this time of year-

When the chill of winter is upon you, and goddess Demeter is truly tired, you know from the rawness in your bones, Jack Frost or Old Man Winter will return from the underworld and the changing of seasons begin again.

MAYBE!

Absolutely you recognize you must bring ye strawberry plants in or they shall surely die.

Okay, last weekend our temperatures were in the 80's.  This weekend, some pessimistic weathermen are predicting a dusting of snow.  Sad isn't it?  Just goes to show how irrational Minnesota can be in fall.

Yet morale is high for us! Ha! Ha!

"Mankind differs from the animals only by a little, and most people throw that away."  - Confucius

We invite people and animals into our world.

Alex, on Vacation and digging it!

Meet adorably sweet Axel.  Lucky for him his human parents are on their honeymoon an he gets all of us to watch over him until they return!

WIN!  WIN!  

As a matter of fact winter doesn't rule the existence of all creatures.

"I come bearing gifts my lady."

"A primitive artist is an amateur whose work sells."  Grandma Moses

A sun who spreads light and

warmth wherever he went,

and was an example to all those

who think beyond their horizons.

Paulo Coelho

"No one places her dreams in the hands of those who might destroy them." -  Paulo Coelho

"October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen.  It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again." -  Hal Borland

I'm beginning to see beyond and through my trees more and more today.

Never judge a book by its movie, and never judge a place by its name.  Wise words, Never Judge!

Funny thing, this town in South Dakota has had snow fall before us this year!  

Ah ha! Holy Terror is sometimes just a mall!  

Good morning precious Tigridia, flower of Mexico.  Okay this photo was actually taken last week.

Some of the prettiest things in nature, bloom only for one day.

Always- "Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness." - Allen Ginsberg

Because some days it's purr-fectly fine to be a cat!

"When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon." -  Thomas Paine

Good Fences # 28 Sensible Fences

My offering began at Chicago O'Hare Airport, where we traveled "across the pond" and arrived in London, England just a few years ago.

GOOD FENCES
Greetings-
London, England, where hardly a fence can be seen on our vacation disk.

Of course, we discovered a most famously important gate.  Do you know where it is?

My daughter, at Buckingham Palace.

We actually met a tour guide at the Tower Hill Tube Station for a Jack the Ripper tour along the streets and alleyways of London's Whitechapel district.

Tower of London

and more necessary fences.

"A man's mind is wont to tell him more than seven watchmen sitting in a tower." - Rudyard Kipling

But once you travel beyond the city of London, 

a hint of remarkably old, yet hearty and quite lovely fencing unfolds.

A Walking Play

THE MAG # 239


The soul exists partly in eternity and partly in time." - Marsilio Ficino

Autumn in Maderia by Jacek Yerka

A WALKING PLAY

By Spoonerism in a Car

There once was a thing called courtly love

and it could be had at the Renaissance Faire

if you dare.
Characters are-

He- (The Four of Hearts, She- The Queen)


At the Renaissance they have the flags hung out.
She'd become his golden fleece.
Seeing her and biting his lip
yet her lips are zipped.
He lingered a peek at her breasts
admiring a half-formed wish
is this damsel busy
lighting a fire
by her cozy little nook?
This is the fun part
before the end of day and it's pouring with rain
oh dear old Queen
and this Four of Hearts
We hear wedding bells.


As for this poem
I say ho hum swell- you may be bored, and truly screaming and crying
*      *      *      *      *      *
this version you may not be bored, and truly creaming and sighing.

Now by way of Spoonerism

At the Renaissance they have the hags flung out.
She'd become his folden geese.
Seeing her and lighting his bip
yet her zips are lipped.
He lingered a beak at her pests
admiring a half-warmed fish
is this bamsel dizzy
fighting a liar
by her nosey little cook?
This is the pun fart
before the end of day and it's roaring with pain
oh queer old dween
and this whore of farts
We hear bedding wells.

Live from 2014 season below!