Yorktown Va

On one day during our trip to Williamsburg we decided to drive the short drive down to the third corner of the triangle of historic areas called Yorktown. This is where the American Revolution ended and English surrendered to George Washington and the Continental American army and French naval forces that brought them down.  After a visit two years ago Phyllis and Mildred said we would enjoy it and they would come with us. We had a lovely sunny day and the drive was nice and not too long. We arrived and found the area by the York River where they had visited with my sister and brother in law and his mom.
We decided to go check out the historic area on top of the hill and the Mom's just hung out and shopped by the river.
Before we went up we saw the tall ship which was at pier seeking riders for a two hour cruise ($30 per person) it was tempting but costly. Maybe on some future trip we can go for a ride on the tall ship Alliance. I have always wanted to see how it feels to be on a big sail boat like that after reading of all the harrowing crossings our ancestors took back and forth to Europe in these small wind powered vessels.
Keith and I enjoyed a cool local gallery full of crafts from local artists. Quilts pottery even some glass work and naturally lots of watercolor and prints of historic areas and views were in the gallery. Then we just walked around looking at what was there and the many buildings that had been restored and rebuilt. Soon it was time to get back to the river side and eat a great meal with the two ladies who brought us out there. We had a view of the river in the restaurant and saw the tall ship go sailing by during the 2 PM cruise!
We also saw the coast guard doing drills at the piers. They were pulling up to the pier attaching ropes to the piers then unhooking them and driving back out and in again over and over. Three or four boats were all doing this at the piers. I enjoyed the visit and had a very good walk up and down the hill that day. We all slept well that night.
This is the end of my Williamsburg photo essays. Hope to go back and next time with a better camera and even more time to explore all the nooks and corners and museums and historic houses and gardens that are so intriguing and interesting and always evolving with new discoveries and new stories of how the new world was in the 1700's in the colonial era.

Phyllis, Keith and Mildred seated at the river walk where there were plenty of benches to rest upon.  Notice they all wear dark glasses.

Keith working hard to get a close up of a moving target

Monarch butterflies love the nectar of lantana flowers 

One of my favorite butterflies on asters by the river walk

two of the coast guard ships pulling in and out of the piers 

Three coast guard boats drilling docking maneuvers under the massive bridge 

coast guard ties up the speed boat....

Two sail boats at the piers, the little one in front only had one mast. 

the tall ship up close from the pier

the back door to the corner house 

brick wall around a big formal garden nice to a very large colonial home 

up on the hill a few historic houses 

The first sail went up on the three masted tall ship as we were heading back to eat lunch 

Finally as we were waiting on our food the big tall ship went by with full display of it's sails! Really nice way to end the perfect touring afternoon. 

Williamsburg II

There was a first day on our visit to Willamsburg when we toured the gardens and just enjoyed the beautiful light on all the old and reconstructed buildings. I get a kick out of looking and making photos of all these patterns colors textures and compositions.

Pomegranates ripe and ready

pomegranate flowering in a pot

tomaotes

beauty berry a native to Virginia 

cool porch design in a back yard view

lady in red riding sidesaddle 

gate with a hedge overhead 

fancy backyard 

Lady riding in a towncar

handsome out house 

another white mulberry leans over the street 

passing colonials 

lady with a hen

hen on a leash was with the lady in red

Orange leaves against the red wall

kitchen garden and out houses for smoking meats and keeping milk cold 

hen house 

Sheep 

Tavern kitchen garden 

white mulberry tree trunk cut back but not down

unusual fence design framing the lovely hedge and yellow leaves 

Love that blue sky against the red and orange 

The old courthouse under the cotton puff clouds

new idea quilting

I had an idea as I was finishing up my Fairhaven Summer Quilt project last week for a design based on a fence pattern at Powhatan Plantation in Williamsburg, Virginia. I saw and photographed a few of the fences and one in particular faciated me for many reasons. I recall there was a moment when I realized as a kid that not all fences were put together the same way. These designs are very geometic and thus very good for flat designs like in a fiber art project such as a quilt. My father once told me about a design he and uncle Herb put in the banister around my Grandparents front porch... he also talked and pointed out some of those classical colonial designs he had studied when we went to Williamsburg in a book to me at some point. So this idea has roots in my childhood when I was learning about Architectural history from my father.

the railing at Powhattan to the left of the doorway. 

making green and white striped fabric to begin 

folding and cutting to create triangles from the stripes 

assemble the short sides of the triangles  to make a square

the resulting new quilt block design

new friend resuced

across the street the first look at Doug and his new dog "Jazz"

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting my pal Douglas Kingsbury and his new rescue dog  . It was my job to get some photos of him since Doug has had his hands full taking care of this new 3 year old rescue Airedale he hasn't had an opportunity to get it's picture. I can see why since Jazz as they were calling him is very busy and interested in everything almost like a puppy. We went for a walk and then came home to see what sketched beginnings of paintings Douglas had to show and visited with Jazz a little too. He has only been in his new home for about a week. I have to say he was very friendly and I fell in love pretty quickly with his charming good looks and sweet disposition. I think he is going to be a great pet once he gets settled in and learns the signals Doug and his husband Bob are trying to use to educate the dog on how to behave in a busy urban setting. After the date with Jazz who will likely be getting a new name soon that sounds something like Jazz. Doug and I had a nice lunch and went to the free day at the Phillips to see the ballet paintings and sketches and a couple sculptures by Edgar Degas. It was a perfect fall afternoon for friends dogs and Degas. I took the metro to and from Mount Pleasant and did sketches both ways. We walked a lot and really had a fun afternoon. I look forward to seeing more of Doug and his dog in the future since the dog will help ground our world traveler a bit for the next few years.

Douglas Kingsbury and his new dog

he was a whirl wind in the kitchen waiting for his lunch ... and reminds me of Tin Tin the European cartoon guy who had a dog like Jazz! 

He has a very expressive face and body language.