RSS feedJune 11th, 2011
When Nature Calls…
By Silver Blue
…you’ve just got to answer.
Especially when it’s the Beauty of Nature that calls. Here are a selection of photos of the roses (and other flowers) around the Shenandoah Forester (the name I christened my house):
Azaleas tend to bloom in early spring, except here where they bloom into June. Strange, I know, but then again, I’m the one who has roses that bloom in December. Speaking of roses:
I had a bout with blackspot, but won. I liked the way the sun singled out this rose to “highlight.”
Red (or maroon) seems to be a very popular colour for roses, and around my house is no exception. I like the way these clustered.
Mother Nature has been PMSing the past couple of years with massive thunderstorms. While I don’t care for all the lightning, the aftereffects make for some beautiful photos.
I have a Peace rose by my driveway that does something interesting (other than hold rain beautifully). It’s actually a tri-coloured rose off one rootball (and on the same cane, no less):
You see, the roses are yellow, pink and yellow, and almost all pink. I don’t know what causes it, but I do enjoy it.
Delicate, fragrant, and prolifically pink!
I’ve lost this rose since taking its photo, but it was known as a “Charisma.” I had it, and a “Gemini” (of which, unfortunately I have no photos of) that didn’t make it through one of the massively snowy winters we had about a decade ago.
Taken just this morning (that’s my Cinnamon basil to the right, and purple basil to the left), the heat doesn’t stop my orange roses from blooming any more than they did the red one I posted yesterday.
Of course, there’s Irises (in many colours), and gardenias:
and these smell just as wonderful as they look.
The mimosa (not just a drink!) is in bloom:
and they’re a lot like dandelion clocks in their delicate airiness. Of course, then they look really unattractive as they fade.
Rhett! The magnolia’s in bloom! While everyone tends to photo them fully open, I captured this “unique” (to me) look:
Who watches over all these flowers, especially when I’m not around? Why the magical bunny of course!
He’s hard to photo, as he’s always on the go, but the lure of the delicious clover was too much for him to pass up and he posed, majestically, for my camera. (Actually, having a quality zoom lens helped QUITE a bit!)
Finally, just for my Northern Star…no flower photo journey would be complete, sans “Bud”.
Perhaps the favourite of all my roses, because this plant came into “Bud” in November, and stayed tight in its bud, weathering most of the winter, until Valentine’s day, when it opened up.
Silver Blue, who is a true romantic at heart.
(A note about comments: If you wish to comment (and I welcome them), you have to click on the name of the post, which will open it, and the comment box is at the bottom of the screen.)
It’s the real thing…
By Silver Blue | 4 comments
4First off, a note about comments: If you wish to comment (and I welcome them), you have to click on the name of the post, which will open it, and the comment box is at the bottom of the screen.
I like to travel. I love to find old buildings and capture them before the ravages of time cause us to tear them down and “renew”, for the buildings of today have no charm as the buildings of yesteryear did. That’s why when I moved back to Hampton Roads in 1980, I discovered a building that I could not believe. Then, almost overnight, it changed. Abandoned. Sold, repurposed. Altered. Then, that tenant moved out. The building sits, waiting to be destroyed. But, wait! Some of the alterations have come off over time! Quick, to the camera, before it’s gone forever….
Well, you can see SOMETHING has been covered up. But why? Perhaps it was copyrighted? Identifiable with a company or brand?
Why yes! The former Newport News Coca Cola plant, owned by the Brown Family.
Even the other side of the factory has those endcaps covered.
But not the middle! There we go! Precisely what I remember. The stone Coca-Cola bottles. In fact, everything is carved in stone here.
Though, honestly, I don’t know why the windows on this end were closed off. I don’t even know when the plant closed.
You can sort of see the holes that were drilled (look inside the B, between the g and C, and inside the final c on the bottom line) to cover up the identification on the building.
Here, the holes drilled to conceal the logos/ads are far more obvious.
The “holy grail” I was after with the camera. You can see the drill holes where the outer cover (as shown in the first two photos) was attached to conceal. You don’t see stonework like this any more.
Evelyn McCormack Brown, heiress to the local Coca Cola fortune lived in this mansion on Chesapeake Avenue in Hampton until just a few years ago. It had an asking price of about $1.2 million, and I do believe sold for close to that amount. The home is classical in appearance and overlooks the Hampton Roads harbour. (Thanks to the Brown’s Granddaughter for leaving a comment and correcting my faulty memory on Mrs. Brown’s first name!)
Before we close, however, let me show you the only remaining building to the left of the old plant…unique in its own right.
Sure, you see buildings with curves these days, but made out of REAL brick? Most of the facades these days are cast to look like brickwork, but aren’t. This is the real thing. Not sure how much longer IT will be standing, either. (The photos were shot in 2007, and I’ve not been back down there since, so that all may have been torn down already.)
Silver Blue, who is really more of a Dr. Pepper kind of guy.
(N.B.: As of early 2013, when I returned by the old plant, it’s still standing, but the covers on the endcaps (where the bottles were hidden) have finally come off, exposing all the bottles. Maybe I will be able to return to capture the entire building uncovered…. (Updated 3/23/13))
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