Late January Snow!

Big snow in Blacksburg, January 30!

An unruly golf course lurks beneath this placid snowfield

 

Tee times were unavailable. 

 

Snowboarders, sledders, and a brave runner

  

 Yard art in snow

 Snowplow chasing SUV

 Asta

 Bou in her fashionable attire

Snowy pix review

It's been a cold, snowy winter for southwest Virginia. We've had a brief respite that melted most everything, including the big piles of shoveled stuff by the driveway, but more might be on the way this weekend. Here's a photo recap of the two snow so far:

Our hammock awaits summer.

The back deck during the big snow.

Nestling dove during the first snow.

The dogs plowed their own path to the rhodo patch during the big snow. Here Asta confronts Bou on the way back to the house, insisting that Bou stop and play.  Bou is declining Asta's offer in this photo.

Asta frolics during the first snow. Malamute lineage?  Perhaps.

Woods and views: photos from late November

A long-belated post with some images from late November, starting with this rather aggressive looking bloom on our Christmas cactus, looking like a bright red bird of prey in our kitchen window.

Around Thanksgiving we took a brief trip to Blowing Rock, renting a cabin on a long ridge just south of town with a walk to a great view overlooking the Globe valley. Asta strolls down the rock face in the first photo, then becomes very interested in something in the woods in the second.

On the day we left the Globe valley was filled with fog, and you can see Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountain jutting above the low-lying cloud.

I spent some time walking around in the woods (no surprise there), taking these photos of the forest floor, complete with glassy trash:

Random mossy things on the forest floor

Bottom of a wet leaf

Buried bottle, bottom side up, ensconced in leaves

Fuzzy plant

NovPhotos: Day 6: Jesus in the waning light

Statuary of Jesus and lambs in the Sunrise cemetery in Fairlawn, Virginia. Taken at sunset.

NovPhotos: Day 5: Dawn and Dusk

Dawn, a few minutes before sunrise, from our backyard

Dusk, a few minutes after sunset, from our front yard

NovPhotos: Day 4 - Morning light after a hard frost

A hard frost and a bright sunny morning led to these photos.

A raspberry leaf.

Frost on an oak leaf

NovPhotos: Day 3 - Misty New River, with Geese

As I drove into Radford this morning I could see mist rising above New River.  I drove down to the river and found these geese hanging out on both ends of the island that's just behind the Radford University campus.

NovPhotos: Day 2 - Bou on the sofa

Bou sleeping on the couch cushions, with morning light behind her. Canvas looks and other treatments added in Photoshop.

NovPhotos: November Photo Project: Day 1

NovPhotos is my winter project to post photos 5-7 times per week throughout November, more or less. 

Here's the first round, starting with a view of Catawba Valley from Blacksburg taken on Halloween. The clouds were zipping across the sky yesterday morning as a front came through, and sunlight was peeking through. Here it covers the mountain at valley's end:

Some residual kitchen window Halloween decorations, plus our oddly spotted, bright orange/yellow mini pumpkin:

Same view, only focusing on the Christmas cactus that's thinking about blooming. Seasons change, ya' know: