Location: Andrew Jackson State Park; Lancaster, South Carolina. .USA
God Bless. Get Outdoors. Enjoy Nature. Have a wonderful week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Location: AJSP Lake; Andrew Jackson State Park; Lancaster, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a wonderful week. Get Outdoors. Take a Hike. Enjoy all of God’s Beautiful Creations. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Location: Andrew Jackson State Park; Lancaster, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Get Outdoors. Take time to smell the flowers. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Location: Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Get Outdoors. Enjoy all of Nature’s Beauty. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
This week’s theme of Things Made of Glass/Ceramics was an interesting one for me to find images that I’d like to share. We’ve had rain this week and Coleman has been feeling under the weather with a bad chest cough, therefore we haven’t been out and about that much. So I decided to search through my archives to figure out what I could possibly come across to use for this CFFC challenge.
Here are my selections:
First off to Remember the Fallen, But Never Forgotten …
God Bless. Have a funtastic week. Keep an eye out for the CWWC post on Friday. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Water reflections are the most common reflections we see on our adventures. Perhaps, due to being close to the Catawba River or possibly within a short drive of any number of lakes. It doesn’t really matter, I love gazing over the water no matter where we are to see the reflections of the surrounding landscape reflecting over the water.
Tina from Travels and Trifles is this week host for the Lens-Artist Challenge. She has chosen a theme of Cats and Dogs.
At this present point in time we do not have any cats or dogs. The only cats that have been around in places we lived were feral cats that would roam the neighborhood. Sometimes female cats would have their litter under our home and their would stick around for awhile.
Here are some photos of those cats …
Here are a few pix of my Aunt Irene’s Dog plus one of a Dog Statue at Andrew Jackson State Park in Lancaster, South Carolina.
Regardless of where you spend your time at Andrew Jackson State Park you are bound to see a vast selection of geometric shapes and patterns. They could be lines, circles, rectangles, triangles, or columns.
You may see them near the parking lot, at the Meeting House, in the Museum in the building with the office, in and around the school house or within the playground or by the lake. Geometric designs are all over the Park, just be observant and you’ll notice the wide array of different types of geometrics.
For more information about Andrew Jackson State Park and the events and activities it has to offer click here.
Judy invites us to join in with her to play “The Numbers Game #55.”Today’s number is 176. To play along, she suggests you go to your photos file and type that number into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find that include that number and post a link to your blog in herNumbers Game blog of the day. If instead of numbers, you have changed the identifiers of all your photos into words, pick a word or words to use instead, and show us a variety of photos that contain that word in the title.This prompt will repeat each Monday with a new number. If you want to play along, please put a link to your blog in comments below.
Here are my contributions to The Numbers Game Challenge:
My entries here are from The Lindsay Pettus Greenway’s Lighting of the Greenway. Whenever Coleman and I are hiking in a Greenway, State or National Park, we do not Rush; instead we take our time strolling through the paths and trails in taking everything there is to see. Nature is amazingly beautiful and peaceful, there is never a need to Rush. Take your time, relax and enjoy your journey.
Golden Snowflake
Silver and Gold Lined Pathway
Shining Brightly
Sparkling Snow Droplets Covering a Bridge
Can you sense the Snow ❄️?
Bonus: Gold at the Christmas Market
Please make sure your which way is the main object of your photo. Thanks.
Cameras: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max and Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Location: Town of Cramerton; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Season Greetings. Enjoy your holidays. Remember the Reason for the Season. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
The Springs House in Lancaster, South Carolina started off small and then blossomed with the growth of the textile industry. Built between 1820 and 1830, the original home was much smaller than the grand manse it is today. The House was remodeled and expanded in the 1850’s after having a series of owners. In 1888, the property was purchased by a business called Heath, Springs & Company. Leroy Springs, a Textile Magnate, made the house his home.
Springs House Lancaster, South Carolina
Leroy Springs founded the Lancaster Textile Mill, one of the largest textile mills in the state and possibly the country. Springs also directed several other mills in the Upstate, and the resulting economic boom led Lancaster into an era of prosperity. [The Springs Mills in Lancaster stopped manufacturing in South Carolina after 120 years of manufacturing production, thus closing both the Grace and Close plants in 2007.]
In 1902, Springs assumed full ownership of the house and remodeled it to its current state in 1907. The house remained a residence until 1957 when the town purchased it and utilized it as its city hall until 2000. Today the Springs House serves as the Lancaster County Council for the Arts. The Springs House is listed on the National Register of Historic Houses.
God Bless. Enjoy Nature. Smell the Flowers. See the Beauty in Simplicity. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
This week Cee is allowing us to post any type of road, path, step, bridge or sign. I have chosen to post some paths, steps, dirt trails, and wooden paths and bridges along the Lake Nature Trail at Andrew Jackson State Park. I took these photos when was camping there the summer after my mom passed. It was a relaxing, peaceful, meditative experience of communing with nature.
Cee is back and allowing us to post any type of road, path, step, bridge or sign this week for her Which Way Challenge. This week I have mixed it up with a little new with a little from my favourite place from my archives. Hope you enjoy!
Path to a small prayer garden Highway 200 leading from Lancaster to Great Falls, South Carolina closed due to Hurricane Helene.
Nature Trail Andrew Jackson State Park Coleman on the Trail at AJSP
For Tina’s Lens-Artist Challenge this week I chose to show a recent neighbourhood belonging to a friend which we meandered around to check out the area. Our friend’s neighbourhood is in southern Lancaster County in South Carolina.
We enjoyed our stroll through the neighbourhood; hope you enjoyed sharing our walk.
The Brown Thrasher’s name stems from its unique feeding behavior of foraging on the ground for its food. It usually forages amongst leaf litter and other thick ground cover. It quickly sweeps or thrashes its long bill in a side-to-side motion thrashing through leaf litter and other ground cover to uncover food. Its distinctive feeding strategy of thrashing for its food is shared with western relatives like the Bendire’s Thrasher.
Brown Thrasher Aka Toxostoma rufum
The Brown Thrasher can be seen in abundance throughout the Eastern and Central United States. Interesting enough, the Brown Thrasher is the only thrasher which lives primarily east of the Rockies and central Texas. It is the state bird of Georgia. The photos of these Brown Thrashers were taken in Lancaster County, in the Piedmont region of South Carolina.
Brown Thrasher “Mimic Thrush”
It is known as the “Mimic Thrush”, however, it is out mimicked by the Northern Mockingbird. It only repeats one or two phrases unlike the mockingbird which repeats three or more. Its sound is more mellow and musical in quality.
Brown Thrasher range map by ABC
Springtime is the best time of the year if you desire to spot a Brown Thrasher. After they pair off, they tend to become more elusive, staying hidden underneath thick cover. They are monogamous during breeding season and both males and females incubate the eggs ( around 3-5) and feed the nestlings. Even so, the females still do the majority of the incubation.
The Brown Thrasher typically feeds heavily on insects during the breeding season and on fruits, berries, and seeds during other times of the year.
Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are just one bird species out of hundreds that you might see feasting from your bird feeder in South Carolina.
Northern Cardinals are common backyard birds in North America and can be found in many locations in South Carolina, including Seabrook Island, Lexington, and Lancaster County.
Male Northern Cardinals are known for their bright red feathers, black eye masks, and short crests. Females are brown with red accents and crests.
Northern Cardinals are seed and berry eaters, but also eat insects, spiders, centipedes, and snails. They prefer to forage on the ground rather than in feeders.
Distinguished by their “mohawks” and reddish-orange beaks, both genders remain year-round residents in South Carolina.
Northern Cardinals are non-migratory birds, meaning that once you draw them to your yard they are likely to stay there year-round.
Natural fruits that attract these birds include blueberry bushes, mulberry trees, and other dark-colored berries. Bird seeds that have been known to attract Cardinals include black oil sunflower, cracked corn, suet, mealworms, peanuts, safflower, striped sunflower, and sunflower hearts and chips.
Jeff R Clow//Getty Images
In many cultures throughout the world, the vibrant red color of the cardinal is a symbol of good luck and abundance. It is also said to represent vitality. If a cardinalcrosses your path, it is meant to give you strength and hope.”
Everywhere you go there are signs to Welcome your presence. Welcome you to come into a store, Welcome you to a town, Welcome you to a Greenway, and even Welcoming children to a Playground.
Let’s start with our Welcome to a favourite store in Amish Country, Ohio called Lehman’s. Lehman’s provides products that Amish and Englishers alike desire to purchase and meets the needs of those desiring a simpler lifestyle.
Lehman’s East Entrance Kidron, Ohio
Next up is a Greenway constructed in the last five years in Lancaster. The Lindsay Pettus Greenway was intentionally designed as a hard-surface trail to ensure that people of all mobility levels can smoothly access the trail. By doing so, everyone can connect to places of interest and engage with nature. This Greenway is a place where everyone can freely enjoy over two traffic-free miles of nature in the heart of Lancaster County.
Welcome to The Lindsay Pettus Greenway Lancaster, South Carolina
On one of our visits to the North Carolina mountains we stayed in West Jefferson while attending a family reunion in Deep Gap. After the reunion, we walked around the Historic Downtown area of West Jefferson and discovered many interesting places and sights including the Ashe County Cheese Factory. The Ashe County Cheese is just a short ways down a side street from this sign. There you may watch cheese being made & then go straight across the road and buy some freshly made cheese in any flavour that suits your palate.
Welcome to Historic Downtown West Jefferson West Jefferson, North Carolina
Here we are in the city we currently reside. Welcome to our area of the world.
Welcome to Downtown Gastonia Main Avenue Gastonia, North Carolina
One of the places my grandson, Coleman, likes me to take him to is the Playground at the local YMCA. Approaching the Playground we notice the sign Welcoming us (especially children) to the Playspace.
Welcome to Your Playspace! YMCA Gastonia, North Carolina
Time for us to go home and relax. You are Welcome to visit our area anytime.
The Scientific name for the American Goldfinch is Spinus tristis. American Goldfinches are cherished for their bright yellow feathers. They appear year-round in western South Carolina and during fall and winter in the east.
The American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to Mexico during the winter.
These photos of male American Goldfinch were captured in Lancaster County, South Carolina in our backyard. They blend in with the yellow wildflowers that you could almost miss seeing them if you weren’t looking carefully.
Human activity has generally benefited the American goldfinch. It is often found in residential areas because it is attracted to bird feeders, which increase its survival rate in these areas. Deforestation also creates open meadow areas, which are its preferred habitat.
Interestingly, Goldfinches connect to spirituality by their vibrant presence, reminding individuals of the necessity to live life fully and energetically.
This week we are taking a look at the Tufted Titmouse which are common birds of South Carolina. The Tufted Titmouse have a white front with small silver-grey crests on their tops.
Tufted Titmouse Lancaster County, South Carolina
The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a small songbird from North America which is a species in the Tit and Chickadee family. Its habitat is primarily deciduous and mixed woods. [When these shots were taken we lived in Lancaster County surrounded by Pine Trees and various other trees as well. I (at that time) maintained bird feeders hung in trees in our front yard. It was lovely to watch the variety of birds that would pay our feeders a visit.)
The Tufted Titmouse was once considered non-migratory and native to Ohio and Mississippi River Basins, however, bird feeders and other factors have caused these birds to occupy a larger territory across the United States and stretching into Ontario and Quebec in Canada.
They tend to gather food from the ground and from tree branches. They also enjoyed visiting our bird feeders to gather food. They enjoy a mixture of several varieties of berries, nuts, seeds, small fruits, insects, and other invertebrates. I often purchased bird feed/seed that was geared towards songbirds which contained berries, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
God Bless. May all your hopes, dreams, and prayers be fulfilled. Take care of yourselves and have a fantastic rest of your week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
The forward thinking of concerned citizens, volunteers, business partners, and in partnership with the Katawba Valley Land Trust; the ideas, planning, and reconstruction of certain areas into a Greenway of trails in Lancaster began to develop beginning in 2014. The Greenway includes numerous pedestrian connections with linkages to residential, commercial, and local school properties, trail heads, and nature centers, bridge crossings, and sidewalk improvements.
Comporium Communications Trail Access is the starting point for Coleman’s and my hike along the first phase of the Greenway’s Master Plan. The first phase of the Reconstruction of Land in Lancaster was completed in 2019. Our hike took place in February of 2022.
As we moved forward in our adventure, we encountered several informational signs which were a tremendous help in guiding us as we moved forward along the Greenway.
Coleman and I decided to move forward together along the nature trail towards creek overlook and eventually the Wetlands Overlook.
Here Coleman takes a minute to look out over the bridge at the creek below.
Coleman can’t resist climbing on the bridges railing at this next point or interest.
Informational Signs are located strategically throughout the Greenway. This particular one gives information about out the Lindsay Pettus Greenway and Lindsay Pettus himself.
The forward thinking of Mr. Lindsay Pettus and the many volunteers ensured the Greenway is and will continually be accessible to everyone regardless of their mobility needs.