Brentsville Courthouse

The historic courthouse in Brentsville, Virginia

A little one

I watched this little fellow hop across the yard into my neighbor's yard this morning. It got off the ground once but only for a second. Guess it doesn't have its wings yet.

Pink Flamingo

Guess this replaces the old school plastic ones

The Plains landmark

Brown-headed Cowbird returns for a visit

The confederate spy and General Lee

Liberia Plantation in Manassas

Henry House and the Henry Hill Monument

Located at the Manassas National Battlefield Park and site of the First and Second Battles of Manassas. The house was the home of the Henry family. The monument was built by Union soldiers to commemorate those who fell there.

Ladies at Liberia Plantation

The generals

How will they cope?

The temperature is predicted to go above 100 degrees in the Washington DC metro area this weekend. This morning, I saw a news piece about a woman who has come to Manassas to participate in the big event. She will be dressed the same as you see here. How will these people cope with the heat?

The troops are gathering

Tomorrow starts the four day celebration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial.

Mr. Bluejay

Waiting and watching

An heirloom

Earlier this year, I blogged about Benjamin Gordon Smith, my husband's great uncle. Yesterday, while cleaning out my in-laws shed we found this baby dress. Inside the bag was a note handwritten by my husband's grandmother (sister of Ben) that read "Uncle Ben Smith's baby dress made by his mother about 1884." On the back it read "His mother Amanda Horne Smith."


This is a picture of Benjamin Gordon Smith.


And one of his mother, Amanda Horne Smith (1859 - 1943).



By finding this dress with the note documenting it's place in our family history and the lost relatives photos I recently blogged about, I'm reminded of how important it is to label photos and family heirlooms for future generations. I'm making a mental note to be more diligent about doing just that.

July's full moon

Spent the last two evenings watching a beautiful moon rise

Mama and child

We spotted four deer on our lunch time walk yesterday. This is a photo of two of them.

Shameful

I was disappointed to see this flag flying at a local McDonald's today

Guns

Evil

Yellow, black, and green

Common Whitetail Dragonfly

Dinner time

Yellow water lily

My granddog, Teddy

Scraping the feeder

I've stopped feeding my birds for a couple of weeks in hopes that the Blackbirds and Starlings will find somewhere else to eat. This Downy Woodpecker visited several times over the weekend scraping the sides of the suet feeder.

No clue what it is but it's pretty

Happy Independence Day

Wishful thinking

A Revolutionary Patriot

Since it’s the July 4th weekend, I thought I’d share my connection to the Revolutionary War. My roots can be traced back to Rev. Moses Holland who was born in Virginia on November 17, 1758, and died in South Carolina on September 8, 1929. He served as a drummer under General Washington’s command and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Rev. Holland was a Baptist minister in Anderson County, South Carolina for many years and founded as many as 26 churches. He served as pastor of Big Creek Baptist Church for 41 years. He was married twice, to Mary E. Barton in 1783, and to Grace King about 1813. The two marriages produced 12 children. He died in 1829 at the age of 84. Rev. Moses Holland was my 5th great-grandfather.







Moses Holland photo from http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/4297046/person/-1091315108/photo/44b58f09-d8f7-4c33-91bd-91ddb6af1ae4?src=search

Sitting pretty