Mama's Boat AKA Philpott Princess

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

After the storm

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

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

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!!!

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.

Year round camping on Philpott Lake

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

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.

Seeing Red Finally

Fairystone and Philpott Lake Overlook.

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!!

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

Race Day Martinsville Speedway

This place fascinates me...

Philpott Dam

Smith river as it leaves Philpott Lake.

Top view of Dam from the lake overlook.

A Philpott Shot

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