Autumn is the Orange season

I am sitting here at my desk on a cold and sunny afternoon. The windows are all aglow with oranges, yellows and reds, hints of brown slowly overtaking the boldest display of colors nature has to show. The experience is so brief but always delivers a joyous burst before the long months of cold when grays are the main color theme. I have been taking photos of the leaves here and there when I go for walks and I have a few to share. I was lucky to go south last week to Williamsburg and Jamestown Va for a visit with my out of town family and friends. We sat by the fire in our rooms and told and listened to stories each of the elders had for us. It's getting harder to go out and make new experiences for some of the gang and just being together and sharing is still an exciting event with so much distance in between our family and these friends. Keith and I love going to colonial Williamsburg and the loop drive at Jamestown the original English colony famous for Captain John Smith and his little friend Pocahontas who married John Rolfe some years later and became the first officially sanctioned bi-racial marriage in the new world. The history in that area is fascinating to me and there are a some really good books that detail the stories for those interested in the colorful details. The designs in Colonial era were heavily influenced by Chinese art and ceramics. I designed a quilt based on one very popular fence detail my father the Architect told me was Chinese years ago. He and his father used it on their home's front porch.  Naturally, I took along a few inside projects, to fill some of my time in the big apartments we were staying in while in Williamsburg. I got one really big quilt top basted together ready to hand quilt and a second smaller one is nearly finished. My next blog post will be about finished quilts.

Brookland's streets full of color before we went south to Virginia

This year numerous deer were seen on the Jamestown Island Loop drive.

James River is tidal and surrounds Jamestown Island

Marsh grasses grow all over Jamestown island 

Sister Jenny, Mildred, Phyllis, Elizabeth and Frank at Jamestown glass blower

Keith with his long lens taking photos on Jamestown Island

Colonial Williamsburg was nearing peak color in their maple trees 

Yellow berries on a holly tree in colonial Williamsburg. Rare 

Colonial garden center

Lesson in how to make a garden row to plant seeds for winter crops. 

Scarlet oaks one of my favorites 

red house paint colonial style

The new Carlton Coffee House next to the Colonial Capitol was added a couple years ago 

All the formal gardens are open for free in Williamsburg 

Coffee house and costumed folks

bicyclists and girls on a bench lined the Duke's street 

tented encampment on a side yard was doing laundry

One of my favorite gardens has a stream running through with little foot bridges

a new tree to me this pink leaf wonder was only at Ford's Colony where we took long walks on wooded trails. 

more pink orange leaves over head

miles of trails at Ford's Colony made it a perfect vacation place to walk.

The pink tree at the edge of the woods posed for a close up. 

trip report: Colonial Williamsburg

Frederick under the orange Colonial Williamsburg Courthouse maple tree

We had a great time walking in Williamsburg and enjoying the chilly autumn air with the hard slant of the sunshine's rays lighting up the colorful leaves. Blue skies and lots of orange leaves... We were treated to a great lodging by my mother at the Marriott Manors in Fords Colony in the woods. It was hard to find but worth the hunt once we got there. The gas fireplace worked great for a quick bit of cozy and the beds were like warm butter so perfectly suited to our achy bodies and warm under the nice duvets I wanted to bring the mattress home.
We ventured through Colonial Williamsburg twice during the week then once to Jamestown Island and finally to Yorktown to complete the colonial triangle of historic places. Yorktown was the site of the surrender of the English to General George Washington and French ally Rochambeau who cornered the English in Yorktown by sea and land, they were trapped with no help on the way. Oct. 17,1781 Cornwallis ended the American Revolution by surrendering his sword to the Americans and our French allies.

It was nice weather for long walks, cool enough but not too cold for a brisk pace. Since we have been down there many times we did not get into all the touring of houses and lectures and entertainments that are so magical when new. Instead we just soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed our time with Mom and her best pal Mildred Cunningham and let them duck the cameras for all week for a change. Hence no pictures of our great ladies from this trip will be forth coming. Instead I was stingy with my camera finger and only took 63 shots the whole week. I used my eyes instead. Looked without the camera in my view most of the time. It was different for me but felt right for a change to just soak it up and let the record be inside my head. I did take a few and a few interesting shots will help give you some of the color and feel of our views.

Williamsburg the old white mulberry tree

Orange leaves in the big courthouse maple

fence patterns in Colonial Williamsburg look like quilts to me 

down the alley a special fence behind a spectacular green gates

this design makes diagonals look like a fish bone pattern 

 Jamestown Island:

Captain John Smith's monument in Jamestown colony, the first successful English colony. 

view of the river inlet making Jamestown an island

Jamestown Nat. Park full of pine needles and cones underfoot 

Black point under high tide on the James river, look closely and you see the other side of the river

Keith blustered by the stiff breeze with a smile

Black point beach cove on Jamestown island 

 Yorktown:

On the way to Yorktown, view of lake on the Colonial Parkway

Yorktown had loads of quilts in the visitor's center gift shop

I like this red and white quilt a queen sized masterwork 

One of the colonial era homes in the little port town of Yorktown and the marble 98 foot tall memorial column in the background. 

The York river from the memorial field atop Yorktown heights. I loved this huge hack berry tree Keith is there giving us some scale to measure the mammoth tree. 

 Colonial Williamsburg second visit:

back in Williamsburg the second time the fife and drum corps 

fife and drum corps sit on the curb till the clock chimes assembly for the parade

old mulberry near the capitol building fence

Williamsburg tavern and trees 

The capitol building 

Thanks to mom for a great week and Mildred for keeping mom company while we went on our long walks. We always enjoy having Mildred's company on these trips and will miss her when she moves west to Colorado.  I am happy to have accomplished some quilting on my rose star project, hand quilting evenings while listening to TV.  It's about a quarter of the way to complete.