scarecrow – Slow Shutter Speed

Actually, it’s not that I’m sleepless, I can’t sleep because of a sore throat. It’s not Covid, the rapid home test came out negative, and I have a yearly doctor’s appointment tomorrow. Great timing! So, let me use this time to tell you about a recent adventure around Grass Valley in Nevada County.

We sometimes take off without a definite destination in mind as we did recently. We headed toward Grass Valley. Some stops along the way yielded fungi, a pine cone, a not so scary scarecrow and a scenic pond.

The real exciting find happened after lunch. We found the Bridgeport Covered Bridge! Constructed in 1892, this bridge had undergone renovations and reopened in November 2021 to pedestrian traffic. It crosses over the South Yuba River.

The South Yuba River.

**This gentleman was drumming with his family nearby.**

We visited the visitors’ center and saw the old Shell station which added atmosphere to the park.

I’ll say goodnight and hope that I can sleep tight!

What’s a barn quilt? A quilt sewn to hang in a barn? No. They are boards painted to look like quilts and hung outside of barns and houses. When I heard about this from a fellow Camera Totin’ Tuesday member, I was curious. I found that the practice is done across the U.S., and our local quilters have established the Rio Linda, Elverta Quilt Trail Project.

The women gather every Tuesday afternoon in a member’s garage and paint. They paint on special wood boards and paints meant to handle whatever mother nature throws at the quilts, especially rain and wind. The women work from a thick pattern book. And, when there’s a special request, they do their best to work the theme into a pattern. Here’s where they work.

The only charge for a barn quilt is the cost of the materials, the labor of design and painting is free. Our hostess told us about a quilt they painted for a church, and when the pastor retired, they stitched him an actual quilt of the same design.