Blue Ridge Shadows

Fostering the puppy

2008-07-26T12:42:00.003-04:00

This little guy showed up around the end of June. We fostered him 2 weeks until the SPCA of Martinsville/Henry Co. could take him. Right now they need to adopt out the dogs they have in order to make some room. I think you can adopt for half the normal price. And they have some good looking dogs too.

Mama's Boat AKA Philpott Princess

2008-07-26T12:10:00.005-04:00

Well it's July and we've yet to crank the boat. She has been under going a partial restoration.

Fire & Ice

2008-07-26T10:19:00.004-04:00

I finally had to walk down there and physically move her out of the fire.

After the storm

2008-07-26T10:04:00.003-04:00

I failed to mention this storm was in late April I think. Fierce is the best way to describe it. But look what we got next.

Hail of a Storm

2008-07-26T09:48:00.005-04:00

Two storms converge right over my house. Tornado warnings
go out on the radio for our corner of the county.

Another warning: Circulation has been spotted in the clouds.
No we didn't have a touch down but we did get hail the size of quarters.

Let me try and catch up. I never meant to let the blog go this long. So bear with me. And yes, I have a new camera but these pic are from the cybershot. My new camera is an Elph. Again just bear with me.

Martinsville Bulletin Photo contest

2008-01-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

Everybody dig up your best shots of Henry Co. Only 125 shots were entered last year. You can enter up to 3 shots per person and only amateur photographers. I have my favorite picked out but I'll be throwing in 2 more just for good measure.
Just in case ya'll are wondering where I've been, my sister loaned me her Wii
I've bowled golfed and fished my brains out on the thing. I love it. It's very user friendly especially toward the older genaration. Easy to connect to tv and easy on screen instruction as to how to play;hold the remote and the best thing is it gets you off the couch.Fishing and sports are my favorite games. Don't care much for the Mario stuff type games. Guess I out grew them.
And for Christmas she gave me the coolest thing. It's the Kodak EasyShare digital picture frame.
It also was easy to hook up. She also bought me a data card and card reader which is also easy to hook up. I just don't know a whole lot about a computer so to get started My brother-in-law Buck came up last night and reconnected my router and showed me how to load my data card with pics. So cool a gadget you won't believe. Kodak EasyShare digital picture frame.

I love snow!!!

2008-01-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

Ya'll look at this dog. And yes Lisa I will send those photos your way. Thought I already had. My camera mysteriously fixes itself............ husband just interupted to show me a stich that came out.. Anyhow camera is out in the Miata with the doors iced shut. Not a good thing for camera but tooo late now. Me loves the snow.Flat landers don't see a lot of real (fluffy) snow like they do up top. So it was a much welcome sight here at the Cassell house this morning. Jeff's daddy said he looked out at 4:30 am. and nothing. Looked out again at 5:30 and everything was white.

6 months old

2008-01-01T16:39:00.000-05:00

Cooper continues to grow. and grow and grow.

New Years almost here...

2007-12-30T08:50:00.000-05:00

Big Christmas this year lots of great food. Many nice gifts. A couple of extravagnt gifts(MOM & LISA) .Thank you all. But I only snapped a few picture before my camera started having technical difficulty. The little bugger takes such a great photo I've decided to send it off for repairs. Most are saying it's not worth it because it's a cyber shot but I've used some of the new cybers and hey they're no better than what I have. Some ain't as good even with more mega-pixie things.
So here's a link to my sister's blog which shows Christmas at our mom's. And if you love dogs scroll through her blog and check out the Great dane - baby elephant they've been raising in the house.
Later today I'll try to salvage what's on my camera before I box her up for repairs.

Happy New Year All. Have a safe one. And don't drink and drive.

View from up top...

2007-12-21T09:17:00.001-05:00

The photo above is of the centuries old land mark, Buffalo Mtn. And the one above that is Leslie

Shealor's Greenberry House. By the way thank you for the linky-love Leslie ! I'm loving the new blog,"Life in Meadows of Dan" The rest of the pics are Lovers Leap and the old zoo.

I took a little trip to Hillsville tuesday with my husband and like most men it's hard to get him to slow down for anything. I myself have more work than time. It's been a long time since I last posted but I promise to pick up the slack.

Year round camping on Philpott Lake

2007-11-10T17:57:00.001-05:00

Corps of Engineers - fall and winter park schedules for Philpott Lake.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Philpott Lake announces the fall and winter fee schedules for parks located in Henry, Patrick and Franklin Counties . The following parks are open for use year round: Philpott Park , Goose Point Park , Ryans Branch Park , Twin Ridge Park , Deer Island and Smith River Park . Launch Ramp 1 at Philpott Park has a $3.00 Area Use Fee in effect year- round. Likewise, there is a $4.00 Area Use Fee in effect at Goose Point Park .
Goose Point Park has nine sites available for camping on a first-come / first-served basis. Deer Island has 21 sites available for camping. Camping fees are $5.00 per night from November 1 through March 27, 2008. Campers with more than two vehicles must pay an additional $4.00 per day for each vehicle over the two per site limit. For the off season campsites have been rendered somewhat primitive with no water or electric hookups available. Toilet and shower facilities have been closed to avoid problems with freezing plumbing. Portable toilets (porta-johns) have been made available for visitor use. Park regulations continue to apply to off-season use. Any questions may be addressed by calling the Visitor Assistance Center at (276) 629-2703.

Henry Co. is peaking with color

2007-11-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

Most of Patrick Co. is past peak and leaves are all but gone. However I ain't been over around Kibler Valley but I would quess there are still some good pockets of color still to be found.The above shots were taken on the Goosepoint Rd. yesterday. Cloudy and rainy but still showing vibrant colors.

Playing with Pearl

2007-11-02T20:20:00.001-04:00

Seeing Red Finally

2007-11-02T20:17:00.001-04:00

Fairystone and Philpott Lake Overlook.

2007-11-01T21:42:00.001-04:00

Fall's colors are starting to blush the edges of the lake here at the Philpott Overlook. Water looks a bit low/normal for this time of year.

Corps stresses the facts: One big rain can’t fix a drought!
A week ago, October 25th-27th, relief appeared to be arriving in North Carolina and South Central Virginia as a major wet weather system blessed parched areas with a long, soaking downpour. Cameras throughout the region captured wings of water spray flying up from car wheels and shining beads of water dripping from pine needles. Dry stream beds bubbled merrily with water and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water control managers anxiously watched lake levels creep up—just a little.
Mike Moneypenny, of the National Weather Service, called the welcome rain a ‘Rogue Storm,’ technically described as a ‘cut off low’ that became stalled by surrounding pressure patterns and stayed put to drop rain for an unusually long time. Then Moneypenny said, ‘nothing more is coming!’ The drought is not over.
“We all bought time with this rain,” said Wilmington District’s water control manager Terry Brown. “The Corps lakes have all benefited, but none are back up to guide curve, and stream flows are already dropping back.” To give an idea of the extent of the benefit from this rain, Brown showed the region-wide water management group a series of graphs charting the forecast downward trend of water in the lakes. After a brief bump upward from the rain, the graphs all are expected to sink back down, reaching their before-the-rain level on different dates depending on how much benefit the lakes had received and the types of uses expected for the water.
Philpott Lake rose 2.3 feet, but will be back to its pre-storm level by about December 3 if no more rain arrives.
“Long term forecasts continue to indicate that a dry winter and spring still could lie ahead of us,” said Wilmington District Water Control Manager Terry Brown. “We and all those who depend on the water in these lakes are grateful that we have some added time to find the best way to stretch our resources,” he said. “But we recognize that we got a little breathing space, not a rescue!”

Fall's here and so is the rain!!

2007-10-24T22:48:00.000-04:00

Here's the last picture I took of the summer's green leaves. Hopefully over the next few days I fill this blog full of fall color photos. That is if the rain let's up. Already over 4 inches here in the Bassett/Sanville area. I wonder about my sister down in Ridgeway. Their weather is usually drasticly different than mine.

Da Blimp

2007-10-22T19:35:00.000-04:00

Race Day Martinsville Speedway

I like tractors....

2007-10-18T17:18:00.000-04:00

This is a Ford 601 Workmaster. Man said it was a 60'ish model year.

This place fascinates me...

2007-10-17T18:34:00.001-04:00

Philpott Dam

Smith river as it leaves Philpott Lake.

Top view of Dam from the lake overlook.

A White Flower

2007-10-14T17:13:00.001-04:00

Morning Glory. Thought it was a bean until it put out a bloom the other morning.

A Philpott Shot

2007-10-14T11:27:00.000-04:00

Took this photo friday afternoon. Look at the Blue Ridge. Philpott Dam photos , I'll wait and post them later on .

A Sure Sign of Fall...

2007-10-13T09:30:00.000-04:00

Persimmons. And yes, I was brave enough to taste one. Sweet and with no mouth puckering. So it must be fall because any other time of year these things will make your mouth turn inside out.

The good old days...

2007-10-12T09:47:00.000-04:00

Hopkins store sits right on route 8 in the Buffalo Ridge community. It's nice to see it with a fresh coat of paint. For years it sat with paint pealing and I thought , well one day somebody will think it an eye sore and want to tear it down.Bless the one who saw fit to save it and picked up that paint brush. Job well done.
I can remember when it was still a working store. Every Sunday moma would take me to Floyd see her grandma. Granny Boyd I called her.Although her name was Beaulah Epperly.After her first husband, Charlie Boyd, passed on she married Posey Epperly.
Now granny and Posey's house was fun. They had everything we didn't.Land to run around on,cows, a big old white cat and a refridgerator full of 10 ounce bottles Dr Pepper in the basement.Granny was a firm believer in that children should always drink milk. I didn't like granny's milk. You see granny bought milk from a lady named Lillian Haden.She lived a farm or two down from granny and she raised milk cows. Seemed like she charged 25 cents a gallon if you brought your own jugs. Always after supper and after suffering through a glass of that straight from the cow milk,Posey and I would would slip off to the fridge in the basement. There Posey would open the fridge,reach in and feel for the two coldest bootles.He would then pull the caps from both and hand one to me. Then we would walk over to the door that lead outside and as he unlocked and opened it he would always say"Don't let her(granny) catch you with this pop".I would go out the door and up the steps as fast as I could.To the left of the house under the grape vines is where I would hide. I wonder if she ever knew.

Uninvited Guest

2007-10-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

Two of the bitchingnous bitches that ever bitched.

Happy Bithday Lisa

2007-10-08T14:46:00.000-04:00

Salty Dog

2007-10-08T14:24:00.000-04:00

My little chihuahua takes to water like a duck to a pond. We're back from the beach and besides being rained on everyday I'll say we had a good time. Now if little Libby could speak she'd say "woohooo"!!!

A Lake Shot

2007-10-03T08:12:00.000-04:00

We are heading to the the beach this morning. Fall Bike Rally at Myrtle Beach that is. 5 days of beautiful places and smiling faces but no computer. So I'm leaving ya'll with this beautiful shot of Goosepoint Va. This photo was taken Sunday, from my moma's front yard.

A Happy Dog

2007-10-01T11:31:00.001-04:00

"Bear Dog"

This is truly a happy dog.

Fishing on Philpott

2007-09-28T15:12:00.000-04:00

Done a little fishing on Philpott lake here while back. Caught a few fish and threw them all back. You'll see us riding mom's pontoon boat in the video.We've affectionately named her the "Philpott Princess"

If I had to pick one...

2007-09-26T12:37:00.000-04:00

These wonderful Canna Lilies are dug up and replanted every year by my husbands aunt. Besides being beautiful, they hide the dying vegetable garden behind.

Happy 49th Birthday Jeff

2007-09-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

Cooper

2007-09-23T18:18:00.000-04:00

This is a new member to my family. Cooper is a 4 month old great dane who belongs to my sister & brother-in-law. Gotta love those donkey ears!

Fairystone Park

2007-09-23T17:15:00.000-04:00

Fishing Fairystone State Park

2007-09-23T17:10:00.000-04:00