Staying Safe

How are you all doing while staying safe and away from friends and family?  I admit it is quite hard not to see my son and daughter and grandchildren.  This is probably the longest we have all been apart.  Since not seeing them while we went on our 57 day South American adventure and now not knowing when we will be visiting again has caused some angst for my heart.  I imagine the same is true for many.  

I'm so thankful that we can still take our daily morning walks.  It's a great time to share with my sweetheart and get exercise.  I find being in nature is good for my mental health.  We took the camera with us this morning so I'd like to share the beauty that greeted us.

The ospreys swooping over the river caught our attention.  We continued on the path spotting another one having his breakfast.

Getting outside in the sunshine always makes my soul feel refreshed.  Seeing nature in action is a privilege.  

Mockingbirds were flitting around the path this morning.

We are so lucky to have such a beautiful walk by the river and then beside the canal.

The redbuds are blooming in Virginia.  They are spectacular with their never ending blooms. 

Every morning the cororants are at their posts on the rocks along the fall line.  Every now and then they dive under and get a fish.

Though not a great photo, we were thrilled to spot this bald eagle.

It's so interesting to see the turtles climb on the logs in the canal to sun themselves.  Our grandson reminded us that they are ectotherms, meaning they are cold blooded and get their heat from their environment. 

The canal section of our walk is so peaceful with a turtle or a duck or occasional goose.

We both are incredibly thankful to be able to continue to take our walks.  Please stay safe, my friends. 

Family Visits

When family members live a distance away it's always fun to get together for quality time.  Our daughter came for a visit the past few days that thrilled us.  She lives in New England.   Her son lives with us while he's attending college and it's particularly nice for both of them to visit in person.  It's also nice for her Mama and Daddy. 

We sometimes have busy visits and I must say this was one of them.  Our middle grandson turned fifteen this past week so we all celebrated with him.

We had beautiful weather on Sunday, so we took a long walk on our Heritage Trail.

Samuel and his Mom

Rappahannock River

On Monday we decided to visit Monticello.  We all love history in our family and our daughter requested we go visit the home of Thomas Jefferson again.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Michie Tavern and then drove up the mountain to take the tour of the home of our third president, the author of The Declaration of Independence, Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and the father of The University of Virginia.

Monticello enjoys a lovely view of the valley and into the Blue Ridge mountains.

It was threatening rain but we carried our insurance umbrellas to assure it would stay dry.

The gardens have been planted with vegetables as well as flowers.

Photographs are not allowed inside of Monticello, but the Mulberry Row area can be photographed.  These were the slave quarters.  The real workers that made Monticello the place it was.

We knew snow was predicted for us during the week, so we wisely visited Monticello before the turn of weather.

We received four inches of heavy lovely snow on the first full day of Spring.  This is quite late for us!

Because of the snowstorm our daughter's train was cancelled for her trip home.  I can't say we were unhappy about her having to stay another day.

I was happy to be able to pick the daffodils that were lying on the ground today.  I really meant to pick them before the snow fell. Most all of our snow has melted and maybe Spring really is on its way.