After a chilly start to Saturday, look for more clouds throughout the day. The breeze will return for Saturday and Sunday. However temperatures will cool back to near 60° Satuday, and into the lower 50s Sunday. Saturday will be a decent day for JMU's Homecoming. An isolated light shower can't be ruled out in our western mountains, and even some sprinkles in the Valley, however most areas will remain dry.
As cooler temperatures rush in Saturday night a few upslope snow showers are possible for the western mountains into very early Sunday morning. No accumulation in those favored locations.
Sunday looks to bring plenty of sunshine. We'll be breezy and cool. High temperatures in the low to mid 50s. Next week looks to bring sunshine for the first half of the week, as temperatures slowly warm back into the mid 60s. However we will be tracking another strong front that could potentially bring more rain next Thursday night.
The Bradford Pear tree leaves have finally changed and today's rain caused them to fall to the ground.
Met a friend for lunch Thursday at the Depot Grille located at the historic train station in downtown Staunton. We ate in the glass-enclosed porch with the always-wonderful service from our wait person, Dana. The rain on the roof was a comforting sound as we sat and talked during a leisurely lunch. When leaving, I noticed the golden-colored leaves on the pavement with the old cabooses on an abandoned spur track, a trademark of the Depot. The train station is still used by Amtrak and often the rumble of the passing train can be heard and felt inside the restaurant.
When leaving the Depot, I spotted these two elves at SunSpots hanging greenery over the doorway. The Staunton Christmas parade is Monday, Nov. 30, so everyone is preparing for the big event.
Thursday was a chilly, rainy day ... and FOGGY! This was the view from I-64 heading east at Waynesboro. Afton Mountain was fogged in ahead ... highway fog lights were on ... overhead electronic VDOT signs warned of dangerous travel conditions over the mountain. Thankfully, I was going only as far as Waynesboro.
Colorful autumn leaves are piled up in our back yard.
The last remaining leaves fall to the ground ...
... where's the rake?
This corn maze in the Shenandoah Valley has been a popular place for young and old alike. Many turned out for a Halloween treat.
I had the pleasure of educating my children at home for sixteen years until they both graduated from home school high school. One has graduated from James Madison University with a computer science degree, and the other is currently at Blue Ridge Community College pursuing a degree in business.As I went out a CrowIn our Calvert 2nd or 3rd grade curriculum, we found a Halloween poem that became a tradition right through 12th grade. "Little Orphant Annie" was written in 1885 by James Whitcomb Riley and later inspired the "Little Orphan Annie" comic.
In a low voice said, "Oh,
I was looking for you.
How do you do?
I just came to tell you
To tell Lesley (will you?)
That her little Bluebird
Wanted me to bring word
That the north wind last night
That made the stars bright
And made ice on the trough
Almost made him cough
His tail feathers off.
He just had to fly!
But he sent her Good-by,
And said to be good,
And wear her red hood,
And look for skunk tracks
In the snow with an ax--
And do everything!
And perhaps in the spring
He would come back and sing."
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,This year the pumpkins are on the front porch ... the decorations are throughout the house ... but there's no fall tree on the wall or reading out loud as in the past or decorations on an outside tree put there by little hands. But I pulled out the poems today and remembered ... and read "Little Orphant Annie" out loud just as I did for so many years.
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you ef you don't watch out!
Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout--
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you ef you don't watch out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever'one, an' all her blood an' kin;
An' onc't, when they was "company," an' ole folks was there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you ef you don't watch out!
An' little Orphant Annie says when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns'll git you ef you don't watch out!
Friday morning's sunrise behind our house was brilliant red. SWAC Husband snatched up my camera as he headed out the door saying something about the sunrise as I sat working at the computer ... when he returned he had captured one of the most unusual sunrises I've seen. What's the old nautical saying? "Red sky at morning ... sailors take warning"? Rain was in the forecast.
Out and about on a beautiful October day....
Mix pumpkins, a corn maze, farm animals, hay rides, and a farm market with kids of all ages ... and you get the Cestari Farm Pumpkin Festival in the western Augusta County village of Churchville. Located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it offers activities for adults and kids alike. Check out the article in Monday's Staunton News Leader telling about the fun of visiting Cestari Farm.
Even in the rain and chill of this past weekend, children and adults turned out to choose just the right pumpkin for Halloween night or for pumpkin pies, and to pet the animals and roam the corn maze. The Pumpkin Festival continues this weekend, October 24-25, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day.
Farm animals were on display including llamas, miniature donkeys, sheep, and goats ... animals that elicited a squeal of delight from little ones when they spied the four-footed creatures.
A hay ride to the pumpkin patch offered the opportunity to search for the perfect pumpkin.
Meanwhile, other farm products were available at the barn including mums, pumpkins for those who do not have time to ride to the pumpkin patch, and other goodies.
The hay rides were only part of the fun, the route taking patrons from the main barn, around the corn maze, through the pumpkin patch and back across a small bridge to the red barn.Be sure to check out the Pumpkin Festival this weekend, Oct. 24-25 ... you may find just the right pumpkin for your Halloween night.
Lauren Hepper, with her baby, Caroline Hepper, 5 months, strapped to her chest, enjoyed the anticipation of a hayride and corn maze on a brisk Sunday afternoon. Caroline, in her little brown wool-knit skull cap, looked cozy and ready to go.
"We've been looking forward to the fall activities," Hepper said, nodding toward her eight other companions waiting for the next tractor. The Charlottesville resident said her husband and friends had been scouring the area for things to do and lighted upon Cestari Farms.
"And they had a corn maze," Hepper said with a laugh as she wiped drool from Caroline's mouth and adjusted her cap.
Owner Francis Chester said folks such as Hepper and her family are the type of visitors they've been seeing over the weekend. He said he's been surprised at the number of people who have turned out, including those from out of town.
"Weather or not, they're coming out," he said, grinning and looking out the window at the gray and cold afternoon sky.
Alleghany Mountains can be seen in the distance ... hay bales remind that winter is on its way.
Cows graze in western Augusta County.
Alleghany Mountains
Monday was extremely blustery as a cold front moved through Virginia. Look at the trees ... their leaves were quaking as limbs bent in the wind. A line of extremely heavy rain quickly passed through the area, soaking everything and bringing even more wind.
Dark sky warned of approaching rain as I left GOP yard signs in a neighborhood in western Augusta County.
The view from this house was gorgeous as I left after dropping off yard signs.
Rt. 254 west of Staunton heading toward Buffalo Gap.
Rain and wind knocked black walnuts off trees throughout the Valley. These could be seen on a back road near my home.
The backroads of Pastures District in western Augusta County are always an adventure and today was no exception. I love my District! It is diverse with mountains, pastures, farms, mountain cabins, and national forest. On this beautiful second day of fall, I enjoyed the diversion of taking the road less traveled.
Look at those clouds! They formed like that along the Alleghany and Blue Ridge Mountains. This is the view from my neck of the woods.
Again ... the clouds along the mountains were in gorgeous formations today.
I was volunteering today in my District so a fellow volunteer and I enjoyed lunch on the porch of T-Bone Tooter's Restaurant in Churchville. This is looking at Rt. 250 as it passes in front of the restaurant. Owners Diane and Bennie Rankin have been big supporters of the troops over the years, the site of many "packing" parties to fill packages for our military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After lunch I went for a drive ... the mountains and backroads were calling. This is Rt. 250 heading west out of Churchville on the way to Deerfield and on to Highland County.
Greens are still prevalent at lower elevations but veins of color can be seen on the mountain slopes.
The clouds caught my attention again.
The clouds were low on the Alleghanies as I looked across this field with the hay wagon waiting to be hauled to the barn and unloaded.
The clouds again....
Another back road on the way to a friend's house.
