Tag Archives: Blackstone Valley

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ALMOST AUTUMN IN THE VALLEY – MARILYN & GARRY ARMSTRONG

MARILYN ARMSTRONG

It was our anniversary on Friday. Among other things, we spent an hour along the river in Rhode Island taking pictures. We hoped to see early foliage. It was almost, almost early autumn, but not really, at least nor for this region. When we get fall around here, it’s seriously photogenic.

Still, we took some pretty pictures. Also, a few nice portraits of Marilyn by Garry and of Garry, by Marilyn.

GARRY ARMSTRONG

Photo: Garry Armstrong

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YELLOW WILDFLOWERS IN THE GORGE

There were some amazing wildflowers in the gorge … and some amazing and rather huge bees. I assume they were bumblebees because they seems too big for honeybees. Wherever I went, the bees seemed to follow me. Or maybe there were that many bees. If so, I’m glad. There’s no such thing as too many bees!

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SHINY AUTUMN

SHINY – The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge 

Autumn. It’s my shiny season. From the day the leaves begin to change, I’m happy. It charges me up, makes me want to take pictures, go places, do things. Now, as August ends, I can feel October vibrating in the air. It doesn’t last long, so I hope it’ll be a good one.

These photographs are from October 2016.

I participate in WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge 2017

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THE CHANGING SEASONS: MAY 2017

THE CHANGING SEASONS – MAY AND SUMMER HAVE ARRIVED!

Spring is a fickle season in New England. It’s common for us to not get spring weather. It stays cold, wet, and generally nasty until suddenly, in the middle of May, summer happens.

You leave the house in the morning to do a little shopping, and when you come out of the grocery, summer arrived. That the way it happened this year and it is absolutely lovely outside now.

THE RIVER AND THE CANAL
Photo: Marilyn Armstrong
Photo: Garry Armstrong
Photo: Garry Armstrong
Photo: Garry Armstrong
Slow moving water in the canal …

Usually, May is the herald of summer in this region. Around the middle of the month, the cold, windy, damp air blows away and the flowers bloom. In a good year, it’s sort of perfect. Warm, dry, and bright.

THE GARDEN – EARLY MAY

And so it was. The warm days blew in. Except this is going to be another year of Gypsy Moths, so the beauty of the season is only going to last a few weeks and then the maniac caterpillars will defoliate the trees. We are all hoping it won’t be as bad as last year. The heavy rains this spring might help, but we won’t know for a few weeks.

SWANS ON THE POND

These are the best of the summer pictures. The roses aren’t out yet. It was so chilly for so long, some of the later blooming flowers are not flowering, but they will be here. Maybe one more week. Meanwhile, this is May — maybe our best month — especially since we don’t know what’s coming.

All the pictures were taken by me and Garry Armstrong. If you aren’t sure who took what, look for the name on the photograph.

The Changing Seasons is a Monthly Photo Challenge started by CardinalGuzman.wordpress.com.

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WHITE CHURCH BY THE COMMONS

It was one of the first churches in town and it has been abandoned. I don’t know how many years it has been empty, but it’s been awhile. Probably at least ten years, now. The church has no heat and no parking. The amount of work it would need to make it suitable for a modern community is enough to build a new church … and this one is small.

I love it. It’s a jewel box of a church, a perfect representation of the white clapboard churches which are the symbol of New England. I hoped someone would buy it, but as the years pass, I think it’s only a matter of time before the wrecking ball gets to it.