1st Ever OVPR Women’s Wine-e-Vous

A group of Notorious Ladies who are known to frequent the Shady Side of the Street were hatching various nefarious plans at the OVPR ‘Vous last spring when some benighted soul suggested a “Ladies Only” event.   From thought came action and thus at the end of September  various women of questionable repute could be seen setting up camp in a secluded section of woods rather near some stockaded Necessaries.  (I am more than a bit wary of any settlement that finds it expedient to stockade its Necessaries.)   Thus the 1st ever  Primitive Man-less Settlement Wine-e-Vous came to be at the OVPR site near Surry VA.  Oh the poor colony named after Our Good Queen Bess will never be the same.  (Although I think Bess might have enjoyed herself greatly during the festivities.)

My PMS Lodge

I arrived and set up my lodge on Thursday before noon only to find several substantial lodges and dining flies already in place.  I strolled over to the nearest and found various dark plans were already in progress aided by a bucket or two of libations.

Main Gathering Area Thursday Evening

As more and more ladies arrived and dinner was over it was decided (by persons who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) that a visit to the “Other Side of Camp” was needed.  There were rumors of MEN hiding out over there near an abandoned inn and this was not to be tolerated. 

The “Men's” Camp

Obviously from the laundry we were misinformed – or other ladies had preceded Yours Truly and left their calling cards for one and all.  Well if the men are here, they have been warned!

The Bad Kids

Well what can you expect when the Bad Kids are in charge.  This whole thing was their idea – with some help from their friends.

Setting up the Table for the Wine Tasting

Friday began with a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon – no one will go hungry at this Settlement!  About midmorning Chantel introduced the ladies to the fine art of wine tasting and no, vintages aged in coolers very like those of the local 7-11 were not in evidence. 

Ladies at the Wine Tasting

Of course wine can’t be tasted without food, so after we sighted, swirled, sniffed and sipped we had several kinds of cheese and crackers to enjoy between wines. 

Wine, Cheeses, Bread & Lemons at the Tasting

Checking the Wine Tasting Menu

And thus we wiled the morning away seeing, swirling, sniffing, sipping and eating our way past lunch and into the afternoon. 

BUCKET!

Of course wine tasting wasn’t the only way to go – later in the afternoon there were buckets passed as well with Unholy Concoctions that never saw the inside of a church being passed from hand to hand.  Friday ended with a camp wide dinner and an evening of camaraderie.

Saturday brought an all day drizzle with periods of rain.  Yours Truly did get in a fine bit of hawk & knife practice but the shooting and archery others had planned was put down by the rain.  Another wine tasting was held, this one stocked by the participants.  The Rkatsiteli I had brought for just this purpose was well received.  Various Sundry Other Things were also pursued in the way of fun – Games to be precise.

Stacking the Dice

  This game requires the participant to stack dice one at a time on top of one another on a tongue depressor held between your teeth.  After each di added the stacking hand must touch the table for the move to count. 

More Stacking of the Dice

Since several buckets had come and gone before the games began this went better than I had anticipated. If memory serves me right, the winner had 7 dice on her stick. 

Coin Tossing

There was also a Coin Toss with nickels & dimes.  The buckets got smaller as they got farther away and of course the score for getting the coin in the bucket increased as well.  The cloth on the ground makes the misses easier to find. 

Clothes Pin Tag

The day ended with Clothes Pin Tag in the gloaming.  Each woman had 5 clothes pins on her back to start.  The goal was to grab clothes from other women and add them to your back.  Highest pin count after 5 minutes wins.  (It was decided after the game that next time 2.5 minutes was plenty long enough for the sport.  We ain’t spring chickens ya know.)  The Day ended with another evening of fine dining for one and all.  No parched corn & jerky in this settlement!

Dinner at one of the Camps

Meanwhile rumors of odd doings over near the abandoned inn continued to circulate.  Finally a denizen of the deserted camp we had scouted on Thursday appeared out of the night.  Something is just not right here.

The Inn Camp “Lady”

Perhaps there was more in some of those buckets than meets the eye or palette.  Anyway, this apparition soon disappeared and the evening ended with a song swapping session under the communal fly.

The 1st OVPR Wine-e-Vous Medallion

The Rumors of a 2nd Gathering next year appear to be true.  I’m ready.

Fall Equinox

Well its official – Fall Has Officially Arrived with the Equinox on September the 22nd.  Personally I view the seasons as straddling the equinoxes and solstices but the modern world at large sees this as a personal eccentricity and the natural world ignores my thoughts entirely.    

Pine Tree area Mushrooms

Meanwhile another kind of fall mushroom has popped up in my yard.  These grow near the pines and can get to be 5 inches across.  Like the earlier ball shaped fungus they have no stems.   I normally get 8 or 9 types of fungal growths in my yard during the year, more if it’s a wet spring or fall.

Looking North to the Blue Ridge Mountains

I had wonderfully ambitious ideas about starting fall by getting a bunch of maintenance done around my yard but the day was far too nice to let that happen.  I didn’t take the same ride as last time but aimed for panorama views rather than woodland solitude.  The blue skies of fall have always seemed deeper than those of summer.

Creek into the Beaver’s Pond

I did check on the Beaver Pond again. The mud has settled out in the creeks and rivers as well as the pond itself. The rivers have dropped down too but the pond is deeper.

Beaver Pond

There were 4 Pileated Woodpeckers and a Lesser Blue Heron on the far side of the pond in the trees – too far for a photo.

Robinson River looking Upstream

The Robinson River is running about 12 to 18 inches deep which is a good flow for September.  I did see 3 Great Blue Herons hunting dinner in the river it didn’t seem good to disturb them for a photo.

Mind you, I did get the windows and storm windows in the kitchen and both front bedrooms done along with my laundry, the dishes and some stuff sorted.  I even finished getting most of the photos on my desktop computer organized.  So it wasn’t totally a labor free day.  And Saturday was spent with Da Urchin here as she went car shopping – she got herself a New-to-Her low mileage Subaru Impreza and I got a sunburn.  It was a very good weekend. 

Fall Along the Rapidan & Conway Rivers

One of my favorite local motorcycle rides goes past the Advance Mills Dam.  The dam is still there, its maintained mostly as a water take-out place for the local volunteer fire companies.  Its also a nice quiet place to sit, watch the world go by and think. 

Advance Mills Dam

There isn’t any place to put a canoe in here, but the sunfish are obliging from time to time.  The jewel weed is thick all alone the Rivanna River here, so the hummingbirds and butterflies are much in evidence

Advance Mills mill pond

When I first moved into my house there was a little store here in what was once the local grocery.  It closed about 2 years later, reopened as a country thrift store with some groceries for a year or so and then closed for good.  The building itself was torn down several years later. 

This historic marker was put up the year the grocery was torn down.  It was the last building in what was once Advance Mills.  At least someone thought it was important to mark its grave. 

Creek on the Middle River Road

This area was home to a thriving beaver colony and a pair of swans with 8 cygnets the year after Da Urchin graduated from college.  The next year the beavers were gone and it was just a meadow with a small creek meandering through it. 

The Beavers are back

Well the beavers are back, they have repaired the old dam and built 2 new ones.  The meadow is once again flooded although its too late in the year to see if the swans are nesting here again. 

Another view of the Beaver Pond

The main dam can be seen in the distance.  This is a good amount of water for this time of year.  Its actually hard to photograph due to the thriving cattails, jewel weed and various bushes.

    

Conway River near Teal Mtn. Looking Upstream

Rain over the mountains quickly becomes rain in the rivers.  A few days ago this river had 18 inches of water in it on average and clearly visible rocks.  Now the rocks are underwater and the river is running almost 4 feet deep.

Conway River near Teal Mtn. Looking Downstream

The rocks on the downstream side of the bridge I’m standing on are totally submerged.  There are several pairs of Great Blue Herons and a pair of Great White Egrets that nest along this stretch of the Conway River.  They are generally in residence until early October although I didn’t see any of them today.  With the river so high they were probably off seeking dinner in quiet farm ponds.

Conway River at the Shenandoah National Park Boundary

Nearer the headwaters of the Conway the water was 24 to 30 inches deep.  That creek joining the river on the left is actually the Conway River Trail.  The road used to ford the river here but the ford was obliterated by the nameless storm that also put the Rapidan River bridge on US29 at the Greene-Madison line 8 feet under water.  The Weather Channel broadcast footage of the bridge under water that Da Urchin and I saw in Florida while we were visiting family there.  It was a very scary and very destructive flood. 

Stone Wall on the Conway River Timber Company Land

The area above Fletcher on the Conway used to be home to a dozen or so seasonal camps as well as several year round homes.  As of this year most of the camps are gone and in their place are “No Trespassing” and “Conway River Timber Lands” signs as well as this very impressive stone wall.  Unfortunately there is still no parking along the road here even though there are several trailheads for Shenandoah National Park along the road.  I’ve never figured out why establish a trailhead if there is no parking so it could actually be used. 

Virginia Whitetail Doe getting an Afternoon Snack

This lovely doe glanced at me as I stopped to watch her, decided I was no threat and went back to trimming the verge.

A bit farther on this group of 6 deer crossed the road in front of me to snack in this camp’s yard.  They looked up when I stopped for the photo op but were otherwise not bothered by my presence. And thus I headed home to my own dinner with the rain tapping the roof of my van.

Have I mentioned how much I love living in the mountains of Virginia?

20 Years and Counting

My Little Home

Twenty years ago on September the 15th I signed my name a couple of times & became a homeowner.  Many many things - good things & bad things but good things mostly - have happened since that day.   My daughter has grown up, learned to drive, found her wings & now has a home of her own in the hills of Virginia.  I’ve changed jobs twice, owned 7 cars & trucks & shared my home with a wonderful array of cats & dogs.  I had 2 white pines damage my roof & watched the 3 foot tulip popular Rita gave me grow into a grand tall tree.  Its been a good home to me & mine. 

Rita’s Gift Tree Now

So I think its OK that I’m in a somewhat reflective mood today.  Typically rainy days are quite productive for me.  I put on music, do rendezvous crafts, get various little projects done, clean house, practice music & the like.  And today was monsoon rainy.  I got new strings on the guitar, set up an online account for my HD insurance, did the laundry, took the trash to the recycling center & then just plain stalled.  My get up & do got up & went. 

Another View of the House

So I got up & went for a drive with my camera.  I drove past where Da Urchin trained for Cross Country & then where she practiced driving with me.  I drove past the stretch of the Conway River where it looks like Minobu-San & where I would go when she was in Japan because I felt closer to her there.  And I opened my mind to all the good memories of this home in the last 20 years.  There were too many to count, too many to remember all at once.  Deo Gratias.

 

September - When Summer Glides into Fall

September has always been about beginnings – it’s the beginning of both the school & liturgical year.  For 25 years of my life & 17 years of my daughter’s life September was about buying school supplies, finding where the classrooms were, meeting the teacher & seeing just who was in your classes.  For 3 years my daughter was even the teacher, half way around the world in Japan where school begins in the late spring.  There is a franticness to September, an almost mantic level to it that even the natural world mirrors.  Mushrooms appear, spiders are everywhere, various critters try to move into the house & every bug in the world is trying to find a mate.

This Spider has a Web the Size of the Picture Window

But September is also about ends.  The motorcycle rallies have come & gone and 3 of the 4 rendezvous I usually attend are over.  The annuals in my yard are fading & there will be no new growth until next spring.  The berries have ripened & are now past there prime.  And the first few leaves have begun to turn.  I love fall, its my favorite season – but there is a pensiveness to it, a beginning that calls one to reflection on endings.

A Different Spider Made This Web

At the Labor Day Motorcycle Rally I rode my favorite rides in the Buena Vista area, rides I’ve done many many times since my 1st motorcycle rally there in 1983.  Buena Vista is as it was then, rather a stepchild to Lexington with a good 3rd of its downtown empty storefronts.  Various business come & go although it has some family run eateries that are still going concerns.  Once the town had 3 factory employers, 2 closed their operations by 1988 and only in the last year has a 2nd factory operation moved into the old Blue Bird bus factory location.

But it’s the surrounding countryside that has changed.  The Lexington Horse center is grand & has had a spinoff business effect in its immediate area; but farther on into the countryside the family run restaurants, independent convenience stores, small farm supply places and the like have all gone with the years.  I rode through several once quietly prosperous villages that now have only a post office & for sale signs in empty buildings.  Even a few of the 7-11s that replaced the independent places are now derelict.  Changing demographics, changing economy, changing times – changing seasons.

Front Yard Mushrooms

August was a very active month for me, what with 2 motorcycle rallies & a weekend with Da Urchin.  This last weekend it was time to rest, relax & tie up a few loose ends.  Gypsy Jane is here, working in the area this week.  Her RV roof got damaged in the storm on June 30 & it was time to finish fixing her rig.  We got sanding disks from Lowes, a fiberglass kit from Advance Auto & had at it.  The gel coat removal went well with both of us taking turns at the sanding.  Jane mixed & applied the fiberglass patches as per instructions.  Once it has cured properly we’ll sand it lightly, apply the new gel coat & paint the patched area. 

House Last February

Remember the white pine limb that fell on my roof last February?  Well the roof was patched right off, but the limb removal & cutting up the pieces has taken a much longer time.  The pieces big enough to need a chainsaw I cut & stacked last weekend.  This weekend I finished up the smaller pieces & stacked them ready to be burned in my fire ring.

The Little Branches Stacked Up to Use

I also cleaned the too-far-gone-to-burn-wood from my fire wood stack.  (The big stuff in the photo is the backside of my knife & hawk target area.)  As long as I was cleaning up the yard I also trimmed up the maple in the front yard & put the trailers back alongside the house. 

There was also some routine house cleaning, computer maintenance and whatnot done.  I even got a new field point hot glued onto an arrow for Gypsy Jane.  Saturday evening Gypsy Jane & I played some music, which put a pleasant glow on the whole weekend. 

A Time for Beginnings – A Time for Endings

Vacation Days–Monday & Tuesday

There are 2 more days to my vacation – days I intend to spend at home working on this & that.  Right off, the lawn mower wouldn’t start & the lawn was quickly reaching weed whacker status.  I had already changed out the spark plug but the air cleaner was way past its expiration date too.  Once that was replaced everything ran like new.

It ain’t pretty & it took 5 hours of work but the LAWN IS MOWED!  Since its supposed to rain a bunch more soon this is a very very good if somewhat boring thing.  OK, everything in life isn’t a Grand Ride on a Clear Day on a Harley.

This fellow was hunting in the jungle of the lawn – he got moved so he can go & find a lady friend to propagate his kind.

Its late summer when the grasshoppers can fly & there are katydids out of an evening.  Fireflies at night too, just not many.  The days of Elven cities in the trees here about are gone.

Its also the season of mushrooms & toadstools.  These are usually the first of the fall fungus to appear.  They only grow in the front & side yards.

Here’s a before & after photo.  They start out round with no stem, then they sort of explode, turn black & send little spores everywhere.  Way cool.

Once the yard was mowed & it had stopped drizzling it was time to cut up the white pine limb I finally got totally off the roof last work break.  The fresh cut log ends are the limb, nicely waiting an evening campfire to return their carbon to the air.

It has been a glorious, wonderful & relaxing vacation – which I ended by spending several hours fishing.  I caught & released 7 sunfish, fed Mike’s Salmon Eggs to a whole lot more, watched the hummers in the jewel weed, saw 2 mud dabbers collecting soft mud for their nests, & was overflown by a kingfisher.   And all around me little copper & brown butterflies vied with even small pale blue butterflies for the best sunny sports.  Life is Good.

Vacation Days–Sunday–SLR Rendezvous

The Motorcycle Rally ran through Monday but I had planned to only stay until Sunday.  My Faithful Readers may recall that I am typically at Belle Grove in the lower Shenandoah Valley for both Memorial & Labor Day weekends.  The Rendezvous was there this year too & so were my friends so I took the scenic way home.  US Route 11 is a wonderful relaxing way to travel the Shenandoah Valley.  There was a heavy overcast when I left the Rally but the rain didn’t catch me until New Market.  Oh well, that’s why I own a rain suit.

Gypsy Jane was there having left my place on Thursday morning. 

So were Mark & Holly – that’s Long Beard on the left

The range doesn’t open until 1 PM on Sunday out of consideration of the local church services so most folks were staying dry in camp when I got there.

Some folks were drying out in camp.  Apparently it had rained quite hard over night & earlier that day.

Almost every camp had a fly set in Rain-Mode

Of course a little rain doesn’t stop Rendezvous – even a lot of rain doesn’t stop Rendezvous.  And socializing is the order of the day.

There’s nothing quite like late morning coffee with friends & family

Missy of Barkertown Traders was there all the way from western upstate New York.  It was really really good to see her.  Too bad there wasn’t time to a good song session together.

Long Beard was there too – its been several years since he has attended this event & it was good to see him again too, even if only briefly.

Of course some folks know what’s best on a misty rainy morning – a good nap.

After about 4 hours a window of weather opportunity opened up & the open hopefully dry road called.  So I was on the road again & headed this time for home & hearth.  There was a bit of rain until after Flint Hill & a 5 minute monsoon near Banco but other wise the ride was fine & dry. 

It is good to be home.