Stafford, Virginia
Christmas Eve Morning
Plants
Three-Legged Table
Here’s our new three-legged table, created by our next-door neighbor Jack Murray and presented to us as a gift. I had been saving that hunk of oak in the garage for 15 or 20 years, intending to try some woodwork myself. Deciding I was never going to get around to it, rather than put it on the firewood pile I asked Jack if he’d like it for his own woodworking hobby. Thank you, Jack!
Fringe tree blossom
April 24th in the woods just behind the house, almost our only fringe tree, aka old man’s beard. (Only sometimes attacked by the Emerald Ash Borer. See https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chionanthus-virginicus/.) We do have one other. They’re hard to identify without the blooms. A long shot six days later:
Reflection(s)
Redbud and cherry and woods turning green, via the bathroom mirror, April 2nd.
Almost same direction, via the glass-top patio table, a week later, April 6th.
Men in Trees
The 80-foot white oak near the northwest corner of the house has a fork we don’t want to split. The Bartlett Tree Experts installed a 7-foot quarter-inch steel cable intended to reduce the risk.
Fredericksburg
Ginko tree (Nov 5th and Nov 19th 2022) at the US National Cemetery, with St George’s church spire in the distance. And again, the third photo, 6:45am June 3rd 2023. This is a site of the Confederate defenses of Fredericksburg, and often a pleasant part of my Saturday morning run.
Pics from a drizzly run May 26th
Above, one of a pair of pre-Civil War catalpa trees in front of Chatham Manor, facing Fredericksburg on the far side of the Rappahannock River. Below, 1, the Fredericksburg railroad bridge seen from the Chatham bridge, and 2, the city dock with Gary the white goose supervising his adopted Canada goose family.
Mum & Dad’s Larches
The U-shaped tulip poplar
