Snowy Days

Virginia is not really known for receiving a lot of snow.  So most of us that grew up here delight when the meteoroligist mentions the word.  Snow has come to us for the last few weeks.  Some of us dislike it and some of us love it.  I happen to be a member of the latter group.  How about you?

I love how the snow quiets the world around me.  The hush that comes when it's snowing feels peaceful. 

My garden doesn't look particularly great this time of year, but when it's snow covered it looks better.

The snow covers up a myriad of things including all the leaves that have not been raked yet!

Grayden and I decided to "fly" away to one of our favorite places again.  If you read my last post we went to Colonial Williamsburg after not having visited for a couple of years.  So we took a little trip south there for a few more days.  And guess what?  It snowed there twice while we were there!

Bundled up with our winter gear,  we still were able to take our daily walks.

My favorite Compton Oak looking lovely as usual with its snow skirt all around its base.

This American Sycamore tree looks lovely against the azure sky!  There is a great variety of trees that are easy to see their form in winter.

It's always a pleasure to visit Colonial Williamsburg.  Each season reveals more beauty.  Thank you for visiting with us on this snowy afternoon.  Stay warm and cozy wherever you are!

Colonial Williamsburg Decorations

One of our favorite places to visit is Colonial Williamsburg.  It's been over two years since our last visit.  Since we would be outside, we felt safe to spend a few days walking around the Colonial Historic area viewing the lovely decorations that grace the homes and public buildings there.  

Walking in Colonial Williamsburg is so joyous for us!  Viewing the decorations that volunteers fashion for the buildings is quite inspirational to me.  I adore using dried and fresh greens at Christmas.  In my younger days I tried very hard to do this in our home.  As I'm sure you all are well aware, it takes a lot of time! 

In 1937 The first Historic Area Residents Doorway Decorations Contest took place.  They wanted to encourage residents to go for a more old fashioned appeal than the modern.  

The use of dried materials, peacock feathers, oyster shells and fruit make gorgeous wreaths for windows and doors.  Colonial Williamsburg landscape employees and volunteers begin making decorations for over 200 public buildings and unoccupied residences in November.  They use all natural materials harvested from the Historic Area gardens.

 

The huge old Compton Oak always bekons me.  It is a hybrid between a live oak and a overcup oak.  It was planted by C. Justus Brouwers during the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg sometime between 1932 and 1936.  He transplanted it from the Pungo Woods area of Va Beach.  It is the largest known Compton Oak in the United States.  Standing over 70 feet tall and 97 feet wide, its trunk circumference is 14 feet.  It's one of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen!

Residents decorate their homes with the same care that the foundation does.  They have discovered over the years that the homes and buildings that are in direct sunlight should not use fruit as it will rot quickly on warmer days in Virginia.

If you have looked at all of the decorations, congratulations!  I couldn't leave any of them out.  Do you have a favorite?  I can't possible single one out, for me they are all works of art.

 

Ringing in the New Year with Snow!

Happy New Year, friends.  Grayden and I welcomed the New Year with a trip to Colonial Williamsburg.  I'll be sharing our trip there soon, but first I want to share the snow storm on our first day back home! 

It's a marshmallow world out the windows early this morning.  Considering just a few hours ago it was pouring rain, the heavy wet snow accumulated fast!  The temperatures have been so warm, I must admit I didn't think the snow would stick.  

 As we are eating our breakfast and enjoying talking to our eldest grandson, the lights begin to flicker!  After going off and on a couple of times the electricity goes out!  Yikes we all say along with each other.  Surely it will return soon!

Seeing the weight of the snow on the leyland cypress, my heart sank.  These trees are not known for their longevity.  We planted them years ago and have slowly had to remove the many that occupied our back property.  They were planted to avoid putting up a fence, but we still had to do that as they proved not to be a great choice.

As the morning wore on we realized the power was not coming on in time for dinner.  I was planning to make taco soup that day so I started it on our gas grill.  Thank goodness we have a grill to cook meals and gas logs to keep us warm.  

The snow continued as my soup bubbled away on the grill.  The weight of the snow continued to weigh down the dogwood trees and the crepe myrtle. 

 

The feeder saw many customers as the snow continued as well as the spoils that fell to the ground by the juncos.

Although we enjoyed the quietness of the week we were thrilled to have our power restored yesterday!  I even reheated our taco soup on our hearth by the gas logs.  Yes, necessity is the mother of invention or as my Mama always said, "I've never improvised a day in my life." 

Having no power from Monday to Wednesday was interesting to say the least, but as we all talked about this experience we consider ourselves fortunate.  Tonight we are expecting more snow!  We're prepared!