Random Winchester Style

Good, Random and Fun in Winchester, VA

The Good: Tom the Backroads Traveller has graciously taken over maintaining The Barn Collective. I'm glad to see this feature continue because I like viewing barns and the weekly linkup reminds me to take and share photos of rural Shenandoah Valley scenes.

The Random: This sculpture of a child reading is outside Handley Library in the Rotary Reading Garden. It is called Innocence and the sculptor is Lawrence Newlan.

The Fun: Also at Handley Library is a mural that you can see from the outdoor reading garden. It is signed by John Burns, 2013. I'm classifying this as fun because the children pictured are having a joyful time with their magic-carpet books.

Sharing with The Barn Collective
and Monday Murals

and The Good, The Random, and the Fun

Busy Week for Lectures

At Samuels Library, Front Royal

Usually August is a quiet month, with few events except for county fairs. It's been different this year, partly because it's the 150th anniversary of the 1864 Valley Campaign.

This week we attended evening events three days in a row. On Wednesday we learned about wetlands and rain gardens at the library, on Thursday we heard an overview of Sheridan's Valley Campaign in Middletown,  and on Friday we attended an outdoor talk on Slavery in the Shenandoah at a farm not far from Middletown. All this was interesting and the weather was pleasant.

Linking to: Scenic Weekends

Yesterday at Bryce

Bryce Fest in Basye, Virginia

It's been over a year since we moved out of Basye but I still miss it sometimes. Yesterday we drove up there to spend the afternoon at their annual festival honoring Independence Day. Our first stop was the library book sale.

I used to volunteer at the library so I have friends there. It was fun to talk with some of them. That's Mona Wolf and Andrea Sutcliffe behind the table. (See Andrea's books on Amazon.)

The air strip is next to the library and helicopter rides were in progress. We didn't spring for one because we did that a few years ago.

The main part of the festival is near the ski lodge. Craft vendors and food booths are set up, and music and magic shows provide entertainment.

A Book for the Library

I'm working on a Blog2Print book for the Basye-Orkney Springs Community Library. It's basically a collection of blog (web log) posts about library events.

When I lived in Bryce Resort and volunteered at the library, I photographed some library events and shared them on the blog. Now I miss the friendly people at the library! I thought it would be nice to give them an album of the pictures.

Blog2Print offers a simple way to publish a hard-copy book of blog posts and I can select them by "Label." The result is not perfect because links don't work in a book and videos don't show up. Still, it should make a nice photo album. This blog is at http://webcroft.blogspot.com and you can search it for "Library" posts.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

Children's Program, April 7
at the Basye-Orkney Springs Community Library

Volunteer Mona Wolf presented another program on Saturday. A couple dozen children showed up with their parents. The theme was rabbits primarily, with Easter eggs also featured.

I've posted pictures from this event over several days. Scroll down or click the Library tag to see them all. Normally I expect viewers to ask permission before using my pictures, but if your children are in one of these photos, go ahead and download it to share with family or friends. Click on it first to see a larger version.

The Fun of Hunting Eggs

The Egg Hunt was a highlight for the children at Saturday's library program. As you may have noticed, the library is next to the airport in Bryce Resort.

Volunteers Brenda and Poteet hid the eggs while the Miss Mona read the children a story in the library. Each child was asked to collect only 12 eggs so that everyone could have some, and the children cooperated nicely. The eggs were not "real" ones but were plastic with candy inside.

Grand Prize Winner

This little girl won "Harvey" at the children's program at the library on Saturday. I was the librarian on duty so I picked the winning entry out of a jar.

All the librarians at the library in Basye are volunteers. I help out a couple of times a month.

Such Adorable Children!

At the Basye - Orkney Springs Community Library
Children's Program, Easter Weekend 2012

Turkey Tries to Escape

Click and watch the short video.

Basye Orkney Springs Library Program

Farmer Tom let his turkey graze on the library/airport grounds. At first the turkey grazed casually, but eventually he made a break for freedom. Fortunately the farmer was able to catch him before he disappeared in the woods.

See all "Library" posts.

Planting Seeds

At the Library in Bryce Resort

Miss Mona likes to include a hands-on activity during each children's program at the library. For "What Does a Farmer Do All Day," the activity was decorating a small pot and planting seeds in it.

Since the weather was warm, the children worked outdoors at picnic tables.

You may like: Airstrip at the Resort.

Farmer Tom's Animals

Miss Mona arranged for Farmer Tom to bring animals to Basye for a children's program at the library. Many of the animals were very young and the children were enchanted with them. Actually, so were the adults!

The program was lively and educational. We even had a perfect spring day for it!

Tom's farm products are sold at the Friendly City Food Co-op in Harrisonburg.

Kids With Animals

What could be cuter than kids with animals?

Kids with baby animals!

Farmer Tom brought young animals to Basye for the library's program, "What do Farmers Do all Day?" Chicks, piglets and lambs were among the adorable creatures he transported in his truck from Turkey Knob.

Honoring Dr. Seuss's Birthday at the Library

Like many libraries throughout the country, our library in Basye celebrated the birthday of famed author Dr. Seuss. He wrote 44 children's books that helped millions of children to read.

Our event included crafts, reading, and snacks. Mona Wolf was our main organizer but other volunteers helped out. The red and white striped hat is modeled after one worn by "The Cat in the Hat" in the book and movie. And don't the little girls look adorable with their faces painted to look like cats?

Face Painting

A popular activity at our library's Dr. Seuss event turned out to be face painting. In honor of The Cat in the Hat, children had their faces painted with whiskers and cat noses. Even some adults had their faces painted.

Blog Post #3300

This is my thirty-three-hundredth post on this blog! I started it in 2005 and I still blog almost every day.

I think blogging has lost some of its popularity because there are other ways of sharing your thoughts and interests online, such as Facebook.  I find the habit of blogging is good for me. It helps me to keep up with my photos and allows me to share interesting places and events with anyone who happens to search for them. The vast majority of visitors to this blog come via Google search results.

I've added a new tag to my Frequent Topics list: Library.  I'm an unofficial photographer for our library here in Basye and I've posted a number of pictures of various library events.

Facepainting, Dr. Suess Event

Clicking on the Library tag will help people find those pictures, and I assume that the folks who are in the pictures will be looking for them or sending relatives here to see them.

Normally I expect people to ask for permission if they want to download my photos, but if you or your children are in a picture, feel free to download it. Click on it first to make it bigger. And thanks for being in the picture!