Capitol

Lambs

 

Advent

 

A look back at the fourth Sunday of Advent as celebrated at Bruton Parish in Colonial Williamsburg.

East Gate

 

 

View from the east gate at the Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg.

Grinding Stone

 

This was the year Colonial Williamsburg relocated its windmill. I just now recognized how the wreath maker incorporated a grinding stone this creation.

Christmas Rose

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Furnace

 

Not the most Christmassy of photographs, to be sure. But given the intense cold that so many of us are experiencing right now, I thought it nonetheless appropriate. This is the gunsmith's furnace in Colonial Williamsburg. Most telling, though, is this next photograph taken just moments after the tourists above had left. :-) Stay warm!

Fairyland

 

I thought those potted Christmas trees with pineapples on top in the background lent a sort of fairyland quality to this Colonial Williamsburg house. Quite apropos, especially considering the weather that is about to move in--freezing temps and high winds. Brr!! Hope you're able to stay warm and dry wherever you are.

By the way, here's a link to some fabulous seasonal music, in case you were looking. :-)

Grand Illumimation

 

This was the scene early in the morning at the Governor's Palace this past Saturday as Colonial Williamsburg prepared to celebrate its final Grand Illumination weekend. Crews were setting up the stage for musical performances while a contractor prepared the fireworks in the formal garden located driectly behind the palace.

Gold

 

Apples

 

Music

 

Star

 

Bread Basket

 

Quiet

 

Homes along an unusually quiet December morning along Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg.

Blue

 

I really like the blue seed pods in this one. Very unusual.

Wreaths

 

There are literally hundreds of Christmas wreaths showing up around Williamsburg these days, each one slightly or wholly different from the others. And just when you think you've seen them all . . . well, another one pops up. That's part of the fun here around this time of year.

Plates

 

Still at the same place I took yesterday's photo with the teapot. Hard to capture the interesting patterns in the plates with so much sun to deal with.

Tea Pot

 

Last year the folks over at the bell-maker's shop incorporated blue delft pottery into their Christmas decorations. This year they've made use of a tea service.

Apples

 

Pineapple

 

Seed Pods

 

And I don't have any idea what kind of seed pods these are. But they do make for a quite striking addition to this wreath in front of the wheelwright's shop in Colonial Williamsburg.

American Sycamore

 

Oysters

Indian Corn

 

Chowning's

 

Wreaths

 

It's that time of year again when the elves here in Colonial Williamsburg start adorning the town with their wreaths. There are litterally hundreds of them around, so I'll only share those I come across on a more-or-less daily basis. My understanding that work on these wreaths began many months ago and, indeed, occurs virtually year around as people begin cultivating and collecting the various articles needed to create them.

D.O.G. Street

 

 

Duke of Gloucester Street (aka D.O.G. Street) in Colonial Williamsburg

Eventide

Sun sets on a recently repainted capitol building in Colonial Williamsburg

Linking today with Skywatch Friday

 

Yellow

 

Leaves from the gingko tree in front of Colonial Williamsburg's wheelwright shop

Shop Window

 

Main Street shop window in Charlottesville, Virginia

Hamiltons'

 

Blue

 

 

Methinks the owners of Hamiltons' have a strong affinity for the color blue. I have to admit that I do too. 

Painting

 

Hamiltons' not only serves good food, it also has an interesting collection of art. I spotted this oil on canvas painting in--of all places--the men's bathroom. :-)

Blue Plate

 

Had lunch yesterday at Hamilton's in Charlottesville and ordered the Vegetarian "Blue Plate" Special. As far as I could figure it was made up of a couple of different kinds of squash pickled radishes, cabbage, carrots, arugula (?), and some things fried (?). Very good. Just right, as Goldilocks would have put it.

How about you? Eat anything new and or different over the Thanksgiving holiday?

To Arms!

 

 

 

So, since living in Williamsburg, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the American Revolution was based upon a terrible misunderstanding and that what Patrick Henry, George Washington, George Mason, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, and Thomas Jefferson really meant when they cried, "To Arms! To Arms!" was that everybody should all just go down the street to the King's Arms Tavern for rounds. :-)

 

Linking again today with Skywatch Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Snow! (Well, Sort of)

 

We're still a LONG way from having any snow around these parts, I think. Still, it's nice to see these representations of the stuff in shop windows. 

Trail's End

 

 

Surprising end to my hiking adventure. Near the end, a hiker stumbled and fell on the trail's loose rocks (probably worn out by her earlier ascent), suffering a contusion to her face, although no one could be certain that her injuries weren't any worse. Fortunately, I had a first aid kit with me, something I now always carry with me whenever I'm hiking in the backcountry after having witnessed a number of other such mishaps. 

Anyway, with the help of another hiker or two, we soon got the injured hiker back on her feet and accompanied her to the trail's end. Always good to hike these trails with others when you can because one never ever knows what might lurk just around the next turn.

Trail Sculpture

 

 

As wonderful as the view from Humpback Rocks was and is, I was equally fascinated by what I call "trail sculpture" or, in other words, nature's art as crafted by--who knows how many years-- of exposure to the elements here at around 3,080 feet (938.784 meters).

 

 

Humpback Rocks