Cricket Hill

Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the eyes and mouth on this tractor.

Unless I'm mistaken, it's whistling, too.

A friend from this blog who owns a home in the Cricket Hill area asked me to watch her garden while she was out of town.

(Watch = Water + Note to Self: Please don't forget to water, thank you very much).

Anyway.

The tractor above lives peacefully in the woods on the way to her home. I've admired it for some time.

Another thing I've admired is the view from her dock.

I've had the privilege of sitting in one of those chairs and can tell you that once your feet hit that dock, all stress is immediately released to the universe.

Shifting gears, today includes (unless it rains) a soccer game in Windsor, which is exactly 3,000 miles from Mathews or 2,500 from California, depending on which way you're traveling.

A blog post which began with a whistling tractor and could ramble into perpetuity unless forced to a conclusion ended with pink chairs and a trip to Windsor is now coming to a merciful close.

The End.

Roadside Scenes

These were taken last week

from the road that winds its way from the Court House

to Haven Beach.

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The Chesapeake Bay Family's Father's Day celebration was fun and quirky even by our standards and a little unconventional. Cuz where's the fun in conventional?

An evening filled with good food and lots of laughs culminated with a family outing on the Gator (a contraption featured in yesterday's post).

We visited neighbors, picked a few blackberries, and all in all had a splendid time.

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How did you spend the day?

Three Things

These were taken with my loaner camera.
Canon still hasn't acknowledged receipt of my Beloved Camera.
This does not make me happy, but I am giving them the benefit of the doubt
for about ten more seconds before I blow a gasket.

All we had to do was blink and now it's Thursday again. On Thursdays I like to spew off three random things and encourage you to do so too. Let's go.

1. Last night's track meet was postponed until tonight due to the weather. This is merely a deferral of yesterday's logistical challenges to another day otherwise known as today. I can't be at the track meet and simultaneously pick up my daughter from lacrosse practice an hour away.  I can't express how grateful I am to have parents close by who fill in the oh-so-many gaps caused by my inability to clone myself. All I can say is thank you. Thank you, thank you, for always being there.

2. Take a look at that picture above from Garden Creek Road near Onemo. First, notice the sign warning of a Squiggly Turn up ahead. Not just a sharp turn to the right (which the road seems to suggest). Oh no. A squiggly turn that hooks right before hooking back left before hooking right again. It's important to anticipate and prepare for Squiggly Turns when negotiating your way through a swamp on either side Mathews County's narrow roads with shoulders consisting of nothing more than fiddler crabs marsh grass. Now take a look at the skid marks in the road hooking sharply to the left, in absolute defiance of the sign warning about all turns, in any direction, including those to the right or left. Or right. Again.

(Who here is dizzy from all the sharp turns to the right and left and right again?  Chesapeake Bay Woman, put your hand down.)

3. Welcome to Mathews County, where a sign makes CBW dizzy with too many quick turns provides a token warning. Yet going in the opposite direction or coloring outside the lines is not just OK, it's almost expected. 

What's happening in your world?

I really think the sign should give more warning about the sharp right turn
rather than confusing matters and worrying with any turns after this one.
But maybe I'm over-analyzing road signs. Again.

Foggy Morning

These trees border the dirt lane leading to Church Hill Plantation off Route 14 in Gloucester.  I took these after delivering Chesapeake Bay Daughter to school (which is directly across the road) during a particular spell when there was lots of fog each morning.

This mercifully brief blog post is brought to you by an extremely busy Tuesday that began at 5:30 a.m. and didn't end until after 11:00 p.m.

After work I headed to King William for a track meet, where so much happened I wouldn't know where to begin. The various stories, which I'll share when there's more time, were as full of twists and turns as the never ending two-lane Indian trail highway which leads from West Point to King William and back.

There are two Indian reservations along that road, so it's actually quite probable that it was an Indian trail at some point.  FYI, driving in the dark on a former Indian trail when you've been up since 5:30, worked all day, and just spent 3 hours standing alongside a track in bitterly cold weather is challenging at best.

The foreseeable future promises to be just as exhausting busy and exciting.  In addition to Saturday's 10K in Richmond, followed by CB Daughter's party that evening, I'll be going on a little excursion out onto the waters of Mathews in what is bound to be an adventure, if it all works out.

Getting back to the topic at hand which to be honest I didn't think where was a particular topic being focused on started off as Church Hill Plantation,  click here for a previous blog post that includes an overview of Church Hill's infamous ghost story.

Three Things

This old house lives in an area known as Blakes.

It sits just off of Route 198 near the intersection with Route 626, Hallieford Road.

(These photos may or may not have been taken from a moving vehicle.)

The aging building below 

is nearby.  There used to be a dead school bus in the thicket adjacent to this building, however I haven't seen it in a long time.  For all I know the bus is still there, and the thicket which has grown even thicker has completely consumed it.

My father knows what this place used to be--and I should know because I've heard him talk about it.

However, as I write this the hour is late and the day has been long.

Questions about the particulars of these places can be answered another day. (Or in the Comments if you happen to know the answer.)

For now since it's Thursday, if you feel like sharing Three Things, please do.

My three things are:

1.  I'll be relieved when today is over with, thanks to an hour-long presentation this introvert must give at work. Believe it or not, I am using the crab hat as a prop. My boss couldn't believe it when asked, but after I explained its purpose in relation to the topic, he not only gave me the green light, he gave me props for creativity.  

2.  Saturday will be a good--nay, great--day spent with great friends.

3.  For the life of me I do not understand why I continue to use the word nay.  

4.  (Because 3 is only a suggestion.) Friday night Chesapeake Bay Daughter and I will be working the dinner shift at the Courthouse Restaurant in Gloucester to raise money for her 8th grade trip.  If you're local to the area and are in the mood for a spaghetti dinner, stop on by.

Feel free to leave your thoughts (three, four, however many) in the Comments section.  When I return home from the grueling day that will be tomorrow, I will be thrilled to read them.  If you can incorporate the almost extinct word "nay" (which dates to the 13th century, just like CBW's cell phone) into the mix, all the better.

Thanks in advance.

Wednesday

I would call this post Wordless Wednesday except it's been proven that I am incapable of posting without words, unfortunately.  So for now this is simply called Wednesday with the caveat that I am attempting to be quiet today, mostly because there's nothing of interest to say.

However, I do have these pictures of a lovely old house which lives at the intersection of Routes 643/Haven Beach Road and Route 682/Whites Creek Lane.
I've photographed it before, but not with snow on the ground.

Have a great Wednesday.
With or without words.

Snow Scenes

These are some random shots from last Saturday night's snowfall.

Last Saturday night's snowfall was gone by about midday Sunday.

More or less.

Yes. That is a fake animal tail hanging from the red mailbox.

Depending on who you listen to, we might be getting more snow this Sunday night.

Or we might not.

It all depends.

We'll see.

You never can tell.

Anything's possible.

*******

Since I could go on and on dreaming up different ways to say the same thing, 

which is we might get some snow, I'll stop now.  

Personally, I'm hoping for lots. 

I love snow.

It brings a certain brightness to winter

and gives you permission.

Permission to stay indoors.

Permission to seek out comfort food.

Permission to stay put and not go anywhere.

Snow covers up all the drabness and dreary lack of life underneath.

Are you a snow fan?

Or would you rather have a root canal?

People usually have very strong opinions one way or the other.

There doesn't seem to be any middle ground on snow, or not much anyway.

Gray

Notice the little bit of green on the planks in the lower right quadrant.

These are shots of some random, unrelated structures that I decided to group together based on two common denominators.

Love the moss on the roof and the open door, sort of beseeching us to come inside.
(I didn't, in spite of the pleas.)

First, they're all slowly being absorbed by their environment.

This little shed in the woods has an adorable chimney.

Second, they're all rather drab and gray in color.

I've been feeling like I'm being absorbed by my environment  rather drab and gray myself here lately.

This too shall pass.

Who else is ready for spring?

Familiar Scene

This tree is a very familiar sight to anyone living in Mathews who has to travel to Gloucester and points beyond, and let's face it.

We Mathewsonians  all have to travel to Gloucester and points beyond at some point whether we want to or not.

Anyway this tree lives along Route 14 in Gloucester, in a field across the road from my fifth-grade English teacher's old farmhouse, which is now Holly Hill Antiques.

These photos were taken under duress so the quality is lacking, but trust me.
It's a beautiful tree.

I can't tell you how many times I've driven by this tree and wanted to pull over to snap some photos.  However this particular stretch of road is like the Autobahn, and pulling over on the shoulder to take pictures is not exactly the safest thing to do.


(In the interest of safety, I will refrain from telling you how these were actually taken, but rest assured it isn't something you're going to read about in any safe driving manual.)


Next to this tree is an old silo that ordinarily sports a sign for the pumpkin farm in Mathews, run by Fighting Mermaid and her family.

As a side note, I worked there back in high school when it was a strawberry farm, and I loved it! But tending to strawberry fields in the heat and humidity of Mathews County is very hard work. Shortly afterwards I decided working at an amusement park might be fun, so I went to work at Busch Gardens.  Which is a whole other story for a whole other day.

The orange pumpkin sign gives directions to the farm.

Alas, I've noticed the last couple of times I've driven by this silo that the pumpkin sign has fallen off. This made me think about who would be responsible for retrieving the sign and hanging it back up, and exactly how they'd go about doing so.  That hanging spot is pretty high off the ground.

I also wondered if they'd bring a camera with them.

What a great opportunity to take pictures without having to worry about getting run over...


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(*waving* Hi, Fighting Mermaid! Let me know if you need any help retrieving this sign. I'll bring the camera!)

Trek Through the Woods

Once upon a time deep in the woods near Beaverlett, there lived a charming old house.

Chesapeake Bay Woman, who occasionally jogs down a road near these woods, took advantage of a leafless winter day and bright sunlight to take a few portraits of this house.

By the way, these are the exact same woods she trampled through over the summer only to contract the worst case of chiggers in the history of mankind. In addition, she was nearly carried away by mosquitoes with the wing spans and facial features of the Starship Enterprise.

But in the winter?  No need to worry about such freaks of nature.

The photo above, a glimpse at the kitchen, is one of my favorites from the excursion. Well, all except for that weed there in the foreground.  That's probably the beginnings of Jack and the Beanstalk, getting a jump start on the spring growing season.  We have mutant plant growth as well as mutant insects in Mathews County, fyi.

I imagine someone must have spent hours sitting in this living room chair pondering the meaning of life.  Even though this isn't the living room, it's the front porch.

Still, based on how remote this house is, I don't think it matters much where you place your furniture or do your pondering. What is important is that you feel comfortable and undisturbed while reflecting.

Speaking of pondering and reflecting...

...this isn't something you see every day.


The End.


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p.s. Please visit my friend Lauren's blog and send her and her fantastic son and daughter some words of encouragement and positive thoughts. Thank you!
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Soybean Fields

Soybeans - Town Point Landing Road

Near Glenns

Town Point Landing Road

Near American Legion Hall

Town Point Landing Road

Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

It's time once again for me to recycle recite some facts and figures from the 1962 Mathews County Soil Survey, a must have in anyone's personal collection of outdated books.  


Today's topic is How many photos from Town Point Landing Road can CBW post? soybeans.


To follow along, turn now to page 41 in your hymnal copy of this delightful U.S. Department of Agriculture publication:

"The land in corn declined from 4,226 acres in 1944 to 2,145 acres in 1954.  Soybeans are replacing a substantial part of the acreage formerly used for corn, and in 1954 a total of 3,115 was in soybeans."  

Now, for some data that isn't almost 500 50 years old, we have this from one of the Mathews County websites:

"The largest employers in the county are the county school system and D&P Embroidery, whose principal product is the blue field of stars portion of the United States flag. Retail sales annually total over $21 million.

Agriculture also remains an important part of the economy. There are 61 farms in the county of an average size of 101 acres. The principal crops are corn, wheat and soybeans."

Last but not least, some agricultural facts and figures from this site:

Average value of agricultural products sold per farm: $92,460
Average value of crops sold per acre for harvested cropland: $941.58
The value of livestock, poultry, and their products as a percentage of the total market value of agricultural products sold: 7.42%
Average total farm production expenses per farm: $76,645
Irrigated harvested cropland as a percentage of land in farms: 2.74%
Average market value of all machinery and equipment per farm: $39,665
The percentage of farms operated by a family or individual: 87.23%
Corn for grain: 1179 harvested acres
All wheat for grain: 360 harvested acres
Soybeans for beans: 1,978 harvested acres
Vegetables: 28 harvested acres
Readers Who Are Now Asleep:  Both All


And now CBW must lie down for a while since facts, figures, numbers, details and specifics seem to have brought on a major overheating of her synapses  a mild headache.