Take me home, country roads: Part 2

I'm a farm girl at heart,

even though I've been city-fied.

Roaming around Anne's property brought back lots of "comfort" memories since I grew up with 2 sets of rural grandparents.  

When I see a building like this, I can't wait to look inside.

Not only did I see exactly what I expected to see:

the ubiquitous detritus of a life more grounded in self-sufficiency (save everything because you might be able to use it in the future), I also smelled exactly what I expected to smell: old wood and engine oil and something indefinable but akin to a hay bale warmed by the sun.

Bliss!

I'd like to take this moment to point out that the lensing effect in the above photo of a hand-hewn door latch was not created with an app but was a naturally occurring event that I captured with my phone.

Country magic!

Truly, I could've have hung out at Anne's house for my entire visit but since we were in God's country my friends managed to force me off the property for a brief visit to town and then some hiking.

Speak of the...!

I wanted the local flea market to be more engaging but there were no piles of moth-eaten, hand-stitched quilts or stacks of rusted scythes and pitchforks.  The best item, by far, was this tableau of Jesus turning water into wine. I might've shelled out the $10 if only the stream of miracle liquid was fiber optically enhanced. 

What I wasn't going to shell out $10 for was a jar of local maple syrup.

I appreciate the time involved in this handcrafted treat but them's city prices!

The weather was MUCH warmer than we expected

but it didn't stop up from hiking.

There were many beautiful things to see on our hikes.

I could have sat and studied the sheen and texture of this tree for an hour.

I was intrigued by the stone chairs in this camp site.  Might be fairly comfortable with the addition 

of a sleeping bag for cushioning.  Could always retreat to the hammock if comfort was not forthcoming.

Great rock formations!

This photo won't be filed under "death defying selfie," mostly because I didn't take it, but I make no secret of the fact that I am scared of heights so I only stood up long enough for Pat to take the shot.

...nervous...

Items of interest that I found in the woods:

Items of interest that, luckily, I did NOT find in the woods:

And then it was time to head home...

...after a quickie visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Diana and I pondered, "Not a single bathtub?  Not even an old timey copper tub to splash around in?

Nope.

The gardens of Monticello have been maintained in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson who spent decades collecting seeds and plants and experimenting with their growth in the Virginia climate and in the midst of all the beans, melons, squash, and tomatoes, there was a trellis of this plant:

The same weed my neighbor lady was eating off my fence!

Still don't know what it is.

I wanted to buy seeds for a perfect little cantaloupe I saw in the garden marked "nutmeg melon" but the gift shop was out of stock.  Surely a cantaloupe the size of a softball could beat out the cavalcade of voracious Florida pests that rule my backyard; I'd be eating it before they even knew it was there.

Sounds like a good excuse for a return visit.

I'm going to close this post with a non sequitur blurb from the magazine "Women of China."

Anne had a few issues at her house and they were a glimpse into a very different culture.

Sounds like common sense: take pictures, look at them through the years, 

think about when the photo was taken.

Now we have a complex Chinese name for that process. Yay!