Another June 5 event -- West Wind Farm Vineyard & Winery

West Wind Farm Vineyard & Winery in Max Meadows, Va., will celebrate its fourth year June 5 with a concert by Envision and food by JoDon (delicious!).

The winery will also host Summer Saturdays on July 3, Aug. 7, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9.

West Wind blackberry wine is my favorite and Chris and I have given West Wind wines for Christmas gifts.

Weekend photos -- May 22-23

Though I had to work Sunday and most of Saturday was spent doing chores, Chris and I did find time to take two 2.6 mile walks on the New River Trail State Park.

Here are some beauties and what I think that they are. Now, my identification skills aren't that great and Newcomb's just isn't my friend, but this is what I came up with. If you have any suggestions or can correctly identify them, let me know in the comments below.

I think the flower below is possibly a campion of some kind. I'm not too sure. Any ideas?

I couldn't find the fuzzy bloom below or anything that closely resembled it in Newcomb's or our other wildflower book. I'm leaning toward an orchid. Anyone?

I'm certain the purple beauty below is a Virginia Waterleaf:

And, of course, this is a Virginia Spiderwort, one of Chris' favorites:

And the very familiar fire pink:

While I was at work Sunday, Chris ventured out and took some more pictures in Carroll County and our yard. Check 'em out:

Mountain Laurel

Bug on a leaf

Tulip poplar bloom

Peony

Titmouse

And, if you were wondering, we did go to see the Embers play at Hillsville's summer concert series, checked out the cars in the cruise in and talked with some artists at the Carter Home's Art Festival. Chris took some pictures for The Gazette.

Activities in Asheboro, N.C.

Normally I post activities in my own area of Southwest Virginia, but thought I'd share some upcoming activities in my hometown, Asheboro, N.C.

While visiting The Courier-Tribune's website for some news updates, I found a list of June activities. Here's the article. The cemetery tour of the Old Asheboro Cemetery on June 5 will feature World War I and II  and Korean veterans in recognition of D-Day (June 6). An interesting idea. (Note: Chris' niece, Roxanne, will celebrate a birthday June 6.)

Star, a town in Montgomery County (south of Asheboro and Randolph County), will celebrate its heritage on June 5. Here's the article about the festivities.

PawPaw is fond of saying, "I was born on Little River," which is a small river that runs through Montgomery County. PawPaw attended Star Elementary and grew up in the Black Ankle community, where his family holds a reunion every summer. I wish I could go to the event, but I have to work that day.

Also, another fun fact, an article in the Monday's paper about Johnny Miller caught my eye. I pointed to his picture and asked Nannie who he was. "He looks familiar," I said. Nannie didn't know him. Then I had an ah-ha moment. Miller was one of my regulars when I was a waitress (among other duties) at Back Creek Seafood many years ago. It was nice to see a familiar face in the paper. :)

Memorial Day Weekend Flea Market, Hillsville, Va.

The annual Memorial Day Weekend Flea Market in Hillsville, Va., is about to start. Are you ready to scour hundreds of vendor booths for antiques and flea market finds?

I like looking for dishes that complete sets that I have that have been broken or were given to me with missing pieces. That includes discontinued designs of Princess House Crystal and other lines.

I know the link above says the market is only held in Bowman's lot, but it's grown much larger than that over the years and covers a large portion of town.

The market is smaller than Hillsville's famous Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show, but still draws in a crowd and vendors from all over.

The market opens Friday and runs through Monday.

Weekend activities -- May 22, 2010

There's lots going on this weekend. If you're in the area, plan on stopping by one of these spots:

Wildflower Walk, Whitetop, Va.
The Blue Ridge Discovery Center (which is a group, not a place) is going wild flower hunting in the Whitetop Mountain area tomorrow.

A description of the hike, found on the group's flyer, says the hike will begin in "Spruce-Fir forest and descend into rich forests of birch, maple and oak."

To reserve a spot, contact Carol Broderson at carol@ls.net. She is a longtime hiker, discovery center volunteer and Mount Rogers Recreation Area trail maintainer.

The meeting location will depend on weather, the flower bloom status and, hopefully, should be settled on by now.

Arts Festival, Carter Home, Hillsville, Va.
The Historic Carter Home, Main Street, Hillsville, will host an art festival from noon to 8 p.m. tomorrow.

I don't know too much about it, but heard lots of local artists would have their wares on display. Patty at the Time Factory told me about it.

If you go toward the end of the day, you'll be able to catch Hillsville's first summer concert of the year.

Hillsville Concert and Classic Car Cruise-in
The town has added even more concert dates this summer. This one snuck up on me. I thought the summer concert series would start in June.

I'm excited that The Embers are kicking off the event this year. The Embers usually end the concert series in late summer.

And, as always, the streets will be parked with hot rods, classic cars and some motorcycles. People come from all over to hang out and check out other's rides. It seems to grow every year. My favorite last year was a car made completely of wood. So cool!

The event also includes children activities, food and beverages.

The concert is 5:30-9:30 p.m.

The remaining concerts of the year are:
June 26 -- The Entertainers
July 24 -- Craig Woolard Band
Aug. 21 -- Jim Quick and Coastline
Sept. 11 -- Mark Roberts and Breeze
_______________________________________
And, unrelated, here's some photos from our yard. The plants are looking great this year and we even got a peony bloom!

(From front to back) Coral bells, hosta and catmint./Photos by E.A. Seagraves

Please do not use photos without permission. Thanks!

(From front to back) Weigela and mock orange.

Peony . . . the only one we have and the first time they have bloomed.

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

On our return trip stop in Savannah, we went to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge in Hardeeville, S.C.

There's a 4-mile wildlife drive in this refuge and lots of birds and alligators can be seen in the water and shore.

It was a very cold day so the few alligators we saw weren't very active.

Chris about missed this guy floating in the water./All photos by Christopher Brooke

Do not reprint or use without permission.

We did see lots of birds though.

Park rangers said we could get out and walk along the levees in the park, but we didn't do that. We just stuck to the road and drove around taking photos of what wildlife we did see.

Oh, and fishing is allowed. Here's a couple of men (way in the distance) braving the cold and pending rain:

The refuge is former rice fields that are now used as freshwater wetlands for wildlife. Driving around the refuge you can still see water control structures, which are used to control the water.

Although it was cold and windy, it was a nice refuge to visit.

You can reach the refuge from Savannah by driving north of U.S. 17 for 7 miles.

Lake Kissimmee State Park

One of the coolest places we visited in Florida was Lake Kissimmee State Park.

Well, actually, I probably think it's cool because we saw two armadillos. I squealed when I saw the first one. Really. I did.

All photos by Christopher Brooke/Do not use photos or reprint them without permission.

And it's not because armadillo is the mascot of the community college I attended. It was just so cute . . . well, sort of.

We walked along a trail at the park that was pretty much flooded. We tried to keep to the side of the trail as much as possible, but by the time we got back to the car, our feet were pretty much soaked.

This is the trail, not a creek. It was flooded from recent rains.

Most of the trail meanders through open grassland, perfect for birds and, obviously, armadillos.

Before looping back around, the trail follows along a section of the Everglades. We could hear air boats out on the water, although we couldn't see them.

I know it's hard to see, but the Everglades can bee seen in the back.

In the water we saw ducks and various herons and other water birds. No alligators though. I guess we weren't close enough to view them.

The park also has campsites, playgrounds and picnic tables at the park, but we didn't take advantage of any of them.

Orchids

I'm proud to announce that I've seen my first wild orchids!

Here's a showy orchis that Chris snapped:

All photos by E.A. Seagraves or Christopher Brooke/Do not use without permission.

Gorgeous, huh?

For over a week we kept an eye on the beauty, waiting for it to bloom. I've always wanted to see a lady slipper but I was frightened that a mid-April frost claimed it and ruined my chances for seeing one. Luckily it survived.

Chris and I tried several shots before we could finally snap this lady slipper. I'm proud to say this is my very own wildflower shot. Chris was jealous, but not for long. I reminded him that he gets to take all kinds of beautiful flower photos and should be happy that I actually caught one on camera.

Here's some of the beauties Chris has taken recently. The first three are trilliums and the last is a wild dwarf iris: