As some of you might know, I have had a rough several weeks dealing with numerous obligations and an unexpected monkey wrench being thrown into the mix. Life does that every once in a while to keep us on our toes. Then, too, it is that time of year when it is finally cool enough to do things outside and the list of usual fall chores gets doubled by the extra things that need to be done THIS year, like scraping and painting the Adirondacks, cleaning out Studio East… and my Saturday’s are usually spent at the Train Station trying to be useful but mostly being frustrated by an uncooperative body. How I hate being so slowed down, but I have been having to deal with muscles that just totally freeze up and to try to move them is excruciatingly painful.
But, in the midst of all this chaos and confusion I had a day of sunshine…I had company… and it was such a joy! Fellow Blogger Ginnie (from NC) and I have been “friends” for several years and have often talked about getting together, but schedules and distances just never seemed to work out. Actually, we often talked about meeting when I would be in PA and she would be on her way up to visit family in NY. Then, a friend of Ginnie’s decided to come to VA, and it all worked out. Bonnie had a small sculpture to pick up at Turner’s here in Onley! How cool is that?!? We had a wonderful visit and one I hope we can repeat.
These shots are down at Turner’s Studios… that handsome young man is David Turner. You can visit their gallery at http://www.turnersculpture.com/.
This is my back yard- the water was up over the bottom step of one of the barns, the water was half way up the tires on this little trailer. The rest of the yard was just a pretty little lake! I had planned on cutting the grass yesterday, LOL! Guess that didn't happen! 
The road out front was flooded - remember this is a turtle-back road, so it takes a lot of rain to cover the center of the road! My driveway goes up a slight incline from the road, so it is also amazing to have several inches of water in the driveway. Here you can see the "wake" from the passing car! Waves in the driveway going up from the road!
It was afternoon, but the sky was so dark, the street lights came on. The camera used flash automatically. 
The carport went under water, as did the back yard. The wind blew a few things around, cat's dishes and water bottles for watering the hanging plants floated in the water.
See that M on their foreheads? No, the cat's, not mine! The story is that about 2000 years ago, there was a special baby born in Bethlehem, and he spent his first few days in a manger in a stable. The weather over there can be chilly, especially at night, and this little cat crawled up in the manger, curled up next to the baby to share its warmth. The baby's mother, whose name was Mary, woke up from her nap and found the kittie curled up next to her baby. She reached over to pet it, stroking its forehead, and forever its decendents will wear a M on their heads in honor of that loving cat. 
We have one of those cats... and , yeah, he can be loving, but we have found it is just to lull us into a false sense of security while he is planning some mischief to get into. Oh well, we love our Rascal anyway!
I choose to think it is the same one that follows me when I am watering things - I thought it was that he (she?) was attracted to the movement of water, sound of it, the coolness close to the water coming from the hose. As you can see, I have spent considerable time wondering about this. But yesterday, I had the hoses set up in their respective garden areas, careful to not water the Punkin patch snoozing in the last remaining potato bag, 
while I was weedwhacking in a different part of the yard. I must have been 50 feet away from the hoses, well 100 feet from the hose on the beans, and 40 feet from the cats snoozing or scratching (the ticks have been BAD!) and there he was, buzzing around my head. When I sat down for a little break in one of the Adirondacks, the little fellow came and sat on the arm of the chair across from me. My camera, of course, was in the house. So, I came in and grabbed the camera, returned to the patio, and, of course, no dragonfly on the chair. So, I headed back to the barn and the weedwhacker, and crackle, crackle, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzztttttttttttt, there he was. He sat down on the edge of the wheelbarrow, and I reached into the barn for the camera.
These close up shots are NOT telephoto or enlarged by a photo program. The camera was not much more than a foot away. I did not use any color enhancing program, tho I wonder if something might have helped bring out the beautiful soft blue on him, or the turquoise of his eyes. I really wondered if I could slip a finger under him and pick him up, but I did not want to frighten him away.
One (a Great Blue Skimmer???) kept resting on a bit of blue sage, but by the time I pushed the button, he was gone. Maybe his blueness blended in real well so that is why he hung out on these branches.
The golden winded ones were more skittish, but one fellow finally decided I was not going to hurt him, and he let me get real close.
Don't you just love dragon flies? Enjoy!
I primed it, Paul painted it, Niall split it in half, Charlie and Paul helped put the hinges on it,
Niall and Paul screwed a gazillion screws in it to make it good and stable,
then did the same to the other half of the door, Crawford Doors made special hinges for us, and Niall and Charlie managed to hang half the door today.
Meanwhile, our newest member, Tony, helped me put the fence up around our HVAC compressor and primed some more boards for the inside of the fence.
Dennis and Tom ran the wiring that will go to the rest of the building and the layout.
We really did not think we were going to survive more than a couple hours in the heat, but we hung in there and got half the door hung and the other half ready to go up.
Last week, our former mayor spent the morning vacuuming the office area so we can move our “stuff” out of the storage unit a couple miles away. I might add, he, John Willis Kellam is in his 80s, so you see, we are an equal opportunity volunteer labor force. Nobody is too old! Imagine someone older than I am! But, it sure is nice to have a couple younger guys working, too.It is always interesting to find out what our members do or did for a living. The newest member, Tony, is an Art Teacher, so that makes 2 of us, tho I am retired. Among today’s crew, besides 2 art teachers, we had an Army colonel and veterinarian, a member of the clergy (Unitarian Universalist), an opera star (from the Met), a furniture maker, a heavy equipment operator, and a construction manager with VDOT, a golfer, bicyclist, a big game hunter, a couple philosophers, a Shriner, a couple musicians, and a Ballroom Dance instructor. How eclectic can you get? We represent a wide divergence in political thought as well as religious inclinations. What do we have in common? We all like railroading in one form or another and to one degree or another. We all believe in volunteering. And we all get along very well, thank you.You are welcome to stop by when you see us there or come to one of our meetings, the 3rd Monday of the month, 7 PM, at the Sage in Onley.
The top photo is courtesy of Linda Ross and was taken near Logan Road in Onley. The bottom photo is courtesy of Kate Evans and was taken at 1:25 this afternoon behind Melfa just off of Phillips Drive/Mapp rd, just off of Main Street.
That funnel cloud was out in Colonial Village when someone took this picture. Colonial Village begins at the end of my property here in Onley, but on the other side of the street. It goes back to our woods that Elizabeth owned which runs from the middle of my property north and west. The tornado went thru that field on the north side of town, thru her woods and into Colonial Village, then lifted and headed down to Wachepreague and Quinby. Apparently it touched down first near the Custis Neck intersection just above the new Accawmacke Elementary School in Daugherty, then headed down here.
As I have mentioned before, I have learned not to drive thru flooded areas. Our roads back here are very narrow, so narrow some farm equipment not only takes up the entire road but can rip up bushes planted too close to the road, even knock over utility boxes along the roadways. So, if someone else is coming, it is a guess to figure out where the drainage ditch is along these turtle back roads. And they are turtle backs because it is so flat here, we have to have drainage ditches all over the Shore.
The deepest part of this "puddle" might be close to 4 feet next to the field.
