Smithfield Virginia Church

Known as the "Old Brick Church" as it was called prior to the Revolution.    Historic St. Luke's Church is the oldest existing church of English foundation in America circa 1632 and the only surviving Gothic structure in the nation.

  It was  Anglican originally and after the Revolutionary war it became Episcopal.

windows in the east end 

 

About 99 percent of the brick you see here is original 

A wicket door you can see here

No Virginia colonial church had stained glass windows.  The original was diamond paned leaded glass.  Windows were replaced in the 1900's.   The  Victorian style remains in place today. 
Interior Jacobean finishing has  Tuscan columns formed from the trunk of a tree.
I didn't get pictures of the inside because it seems as usual for us it wasn't open the day we were there. 

  Immediately surrounding the church is the historic  graveyard.

Historical graveside Angel

The detail after so many years remain

I am sharing with inspired Sunday

Monterey barns

Here another barn taken in the highlands, Monterey Virginia this past march
This place has lots of barns.

  

Some decay going on here

just got it in the view finder,  Steve moves fast

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Under blue skies

Pretty blue sky with lots of puffy clouds.

I love brown eyed Susan's      These come back year after year.

purchased the seeds for this plant at Jeffersons Monticello _ prickly poppy

Lavender will have another wave of blooms after this one.

a volunteer sunflower from seed left last season

Provence Lavender is growing rapidly
  

 

she wants to pull one 

   

I could just squeeze her ,  she is so sweet. 

 

 

First English Lutheran church

Located on historic Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia is this beautiful stone church .      (update)   Several comments as to the doors painted red, I have seen Catholic, Presbyterian ,  Methodist and others painted red.    We are entering through the blood of Jesus Christ.   A sign of the holy spirit.   Red doors date back centuries I have read .  Not many have them because of architecture as some have the heavy glass doors now but I think it's a great color with a powerful message, paint them all red.

A small number of German Lutherans gathered in Richmond to found St. Marks Lutheran Church in the year of 1869.
 At that time two other Lutheran congregations were in the city worshiping in the German language.
Members in 1876 of the fledging congregation changed their name to First English to show that they were committed to ministry in language of this country. 
New church was built at Stuart circle on Monument avenue in 1911.

 

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rural with cotton

Near the Pamunkey Indian  Reservation in King William county Virginia is this field of cotton.  These pictures were taken a couple of season back.

I stopped to see and feel it and now understand what my Mom meant when she told me that her fingers bled when she had to pick it when she was young.

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Homestead Barn

At the Frontier Cultural Museum in Staunton Va.   I took this picture of the barn part of a 1740's American settlement.

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Country church

A pretty church I stopped to take a look at in King William County Virginia.  

St James Presbyterian Church - circa 1895    
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Historic Church in Leesburg va.

The first meeting house that was made of stone was built before 1768.  Between 1785 and 1790 it was replaced by a larger church.   Prominent Methodists who preached in the church was Wesley's missionary to America - Thomas Rankin ,  Francis Asbury- who preached there in 1776,  and the first American born Methodist traveling preacher - William Watters.

 

 interesting history about the church can be found here

Old Stone church

 

 Church and foundation stones can be seen at the old landmark

 

 

 I love the old iron fence

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

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 The tablescaper - oh the places I've been

and

Fridays Fences 

Rural Filling Station

Courtney road filling station.  I never gave this a half a  look when we would pass it .  Just another filling station to me on an old country road that was decaying.  

 It was more than a place to get gas, as it is told below, there were customers who had running tabs for gas,  no way will those days come back.    

The old filling station with a canopy - glad to see it preserved as a reminder of a simpler time

  

 

 

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Ashland strawberry faire

Steve and I go every year to the strawberry faire that is held on the Randolph Macon Campus.     This year it rained and became so muggy that we didn't stay long.   Long enough to get a crab cake and shrimp skewer and look.   We checked out a few booths to see what was on sale.     We didn't get any strawberry shortcake,  the crab cake did us in,  delicious.

First these painted hub caps caught my eye

 

some nice and heavy granite cutting boards

 

great tasting crab cake ,  so thick and has old bay sauce on it

we listened to some music while we ate

 

 

 Plate stakes for the garden

 

 

 

More wreaths,  I think any and every type has been made by now.

reasonably priced baskets

I bought a few last year and when they started looking shabby as they usually do after a while,  I cut them back and they grew back just as pretty again.

 

 

 

 

 

 Looking from college to Iron horse restaurant on corner

 

Henry clay hotel  behind the train station

 

There was a person who made jewelry from aluminum cans, this is so pretty and looks like it's made from a sunkist soda can

walking our way back to the car is this cute little shop.   I notice these crates made into planters

 

Tires painted and are holding flowers.  My mom used to do that with tires because she didn't have many pots to grow plants in and old tires is what she would use.     She painted one white one time and planted flowers in it.