The Queen of Seaford

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 39

Another week is in the books. We took a quick trip to Nashville to visit our daughter and family. I want to tell you, my faithful readers, that I am going to drop the follow.it email feed. I will continue to post here on my blog site, "The Queen of Seaford," but I will also be posting on Substack. On Substack there is a way to sign up to receive emails of new posts. As I figure it out, I will be sure to post about it here. I won't cancel follow.it quite yet, allowing for an overlap.

So without further delay, let us continue with last week's photos.

Day 265-

In my daughter's neighborhood in Nashville, they go all out for Halloween decorations. Our son-in-law pulled out some of theirs while we were there. The grandkids love it. The younger one was carrying a life-sized skeleton around with him, he's two and a half. Sunrise accentuated the bats and skeleton hanging on the porch.

Spooky Season

Day 266-

Our drive home took us through Chattanooga and Atlanta. Saw a lot of signs for both Rock City and Ruby Falls. I remember the 'See Rock City' advertising on barns. It was an iconic sighting. Met a woman a few weeks ago, and the conversation somehow got to the 'See Rock City' signs along the highways. She had never heard of them. I was dumbfounded. So for those who haven't seen a 'See Rock City' sign for a long time, here you go! They are no longer painted on the roof of barns along the highways but signs of their own, mimicking the barns.

Iconic

Day 267-

The Golden Asters are in full bloom. They are nice native blooms, blooming at the same time as most of the Goldenrods we have popping up. Chrysopsis mariana is the most common one here in South Carolina. Common names are Golden Aster, Maryland Aster, and Maryland Golden-aster. I like the shaft of sunlight hitting the flowers, making them shine.

Golden Aster

Day 268-

This Gnome house is a favorite of so many of us in the neighborhood. I saw activity with the gnomes and thought the owner was just moving them to cut the grass. Next time I drove by, she had set up a yard sale for the gnomes. It is so cute. I'm eager to see what she does next with them.

Yard Sale

Day 269-

Driving home the other night, we finally got a little bit of rain. I think my rain gauge reading was 2/100th of an inch...not much! We did have a few raindrops on the grill of the truck.

Raindrops

Day 270-

While waiting for the show to begin, I took a few photos of the Peace Center, where we were to see Lyle Lovett. He puts on such a great show. By showtime, the seats were all filled. When I bought the tickets the floor seats were already sold out. We were able to get row A, center seats, in the first balcony. Really like the seats.

Peace Center, pre-show

Day 271-

This native flower is such a nice burst of blue color in the fall, where there's a lot of yellows, oranges, and reds. Blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, is perennial and will spread where it is happy. Mornings are a great time to capture the sunlight sparkling on the blooms.

Blue Mistflower Aglow

That's all for this week. Next week I will include a link to my Substack page.

Sunday, September 21, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 38

As fall comes, there is a big change in my garden. Orb Weaver spiders and fall colors on the deciduous trees and shrubs.

Day 258-

Large spider webs in the garden appear in the fall. The Orb Weavers put their webs up at night and generally take them down in the morning. That's a lot of work each and every night! This one was quite large, the circle was probably about two feet across. It was also across the middle of the yard, so the spider had to secure its web from the Magnolia tree to the right and the house on the left.

Spider Season

The color version of this photo wasn't as impressive as the black and white one.

Day 259-

I have multiple Oakleaf hydrangeas in the yard. Three of them are in the front yard, they are Hydrangea quercifolia 'Ruby Slippers'. They really live up to their name in the fall. Their fall color is so vibrant, it really pops in the garden. The dog hair is an added bonus!

Ruby Slippers with Dog hair

Day 260-

We live in an area where active timber harvesting is year-round. The log trucks are often overfilled. One doesn't want to follow too closely behind these loads.

Log Truck

Day 261-

When I went out front to play frisbee and rings with the dogs, there was a tiny gray feather that I just had to get a photo of. Fiona is a bit of a vacuum cleaner- she will inhale anything unusual on the ground, especially if you wanted to give it a closer look. I needed to get my photo quickly. Not sure what bird lost this feather.

Tiny Feather

Day 262-

We made a quick trip to Nashville for the weekend. This was the sunset reflecting off the buildings of downtown. Grandson (five years old) was having soccer practice on the field with views of the city.

Sunset

Day 263-

With the kids going to school and parents working, Charlie and I played tourist for the day and went to the Grand Ole Opry for the backstage tour. If you are ever in Nashville, it is a good tour to take. I really marveled at the size of the stage where "Hee Haw" was filmed. It seemed rather small. We walked through the building to the main stage. The photo was taken of the ropes and cables of backstage where the Opry is performed. The black and white image shows all the shadows and shapes.

Backstage

My first thought for the photo of the day was in the entrance area. The lights with all the guitars were an interesting photo. All these guitars are Gibsons, donated by the company.

Day 264-

Coming home from the above mentioned grandson's soccer game we encountered this trolley. It made me laugh, the name on the trolley was "Trolley Parton". These trollies circle through town, where you can do a pub crawl of different breweries. Always something to see in Nashville.

Trolley Parton

Another week done! It is fun to gather photos from trips out of town. My day-to-day experiences at home center on the yard and garden. See you next week.

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 37

Welcome back to another weekly roundup of photos. Some garnered more attention on Facebook than others.

Day 251-

While playing with the dogs in the front yard, I looked to the back and saw an odd shape in the tree. Usually it is a bird, Mourning Dove or Red-bellied Woodpecker or Brown Thrasher. Turned out it was a squirrel! They don't normally sit up that high.

Squirrel in Silhouette

Also observed that morning was a pair of Bald Eagles soaring high in the sky. I only had my cellphone with me, so the photo isn't great. My choice for the photo of the day was the squirrel, while it also wasn't a great photo, it was a nice silhouette.

Day 252-

Since we have had Millie, our kitty, we have made sure to keep the door to the room to the toilet closed. As a small kitten she would love to play with the roll of toilet paper, unrolling it all the way to the cardboard tube. So, as a rule, we keep the door closed. I guess one of us left it open. Millie unrolled a nearly full roll of toilet paper. When she does that we say that she is having a party. This was a photo that got a lot of laughs.

When the Door is Left Open

Day 253-

While getting ready to water the containers with the hose, I re-encountered the Carolina Praying Mantis. The long, tall shadow made on the wall was impressive. Thought that it would make a good photo choice. Hope you agree.

I'm Still Here

Day 254-

It is Ironweed season. The variety I have growing in my yard is quite tall, perhaps Vernonia noveboracensis. This one grows 6-8 feet tall. I have found there is a nice, more garden-friendly-sized variety called Iron Butterfly. I may try to move these tall giants to a better space. It is a gorgeous shade of purple, and pollinators love it.

Ironweed

Day 255-

When we first moved here, I planted a variety of Panicum virgatum, a native grass. There are several varieties of Panicum virgatum. I have/had three different ones- Shenandoah, Heavy Metal, and Dallas Blues. This one pictured is either Heavy Metal or Dallas Blues. I can't remember which of these two I planted in which location. Shenandoah is smaller and has green blades that turn red in the fall. The two I can't remember specifics of location, are taller, and have bluer foliage. I will have to try and determine if this one is Dallas Blues or Heavy Metal. The morning light illuminated the seedheads so nicely.

Panicum

The rejected photo was the original photo, in color. I thought the black and white image showed the brightness of the seedheads better. Which do you like better?

Day 256-

This day's image is of something that sits on my dresser. It is the telegram that my dad sent to my mom's parents, my grandparents, telling of my birth! My dad was in the Army, and he and my mom were stationed overseas, telephone calls were unheard of at that time. A telegram was sent to announce my birth. It is faded and tough to read, but I love having it.

Telegram!

Day 257-

This beauty is a native plant growing in my side yard. I have others in various spots in the yard, this one is the largest. Deer love it, so many remain small. Its botanical name is Euonymus americanus, with many common names. Our favorite is Hearts A' Bustin' because of a song by Billie Joe Shaver. Another name is Strawberry Bush. You can see why it has these names. These drupes really pop against the green foliage.

Hearts A' Bustin'

This brings us to the end of another week. Thanks for stopping by.

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