Kudzu Flower

Kudzu has many symbols; negative notations given by environmentalist, southern culture recognization, work opportunities for depressions era.
I noticed yesterday that the Kudzu flower is in bloom. Whatever the symbol, it has a beautiful flower.

catchpenny's

catchpenny's

for the Vintage enthusiast

Catch Penny's is an adorable vintage store on Main Street in the town of Warrenton. It is a must go! Bobbie Corker is the owner/manager who has an amazing collection of cloths, home decor, and other miscellaneous items.
This store isn't just amazing because of what's inside, but also for the Main Street opportunities it provides. Catchpenny's has given this little Main Street some energy and beauty. The build is in great shape and the window decor is always seasonally sensational.

Sunflower Fields

These photos were taken in Granville County yesterday. This field in particular has rotated crops from year to year. Last year they planted tobacco in the first time in many many years. This year they have planted sunflowers for wildlife. Sunflowers attract a diversity of wildlife, including Gold Finches, Doves, quail, turkeys and numerous song birds.
The most amazing aspect of Sunflowers are the patterns which they create, though I guess you can find this amazement throughout all of nature. What makes Sunflowers stand out would be the colors, designs and large scale (compared to other flowers).

Robin Fish (Lepomis auritus)

These Fish (Lepomis auritus) were caught on Little Fishing Creek at Medoc on Sunday. Common names for this fish include robin, redbreast sunfish, redbelly, yellowbelly sunfish, bream. I pulled some of the Fish Details off the Wildlife Resources Commission Website. These details include:

Identification
One of the brightest-colored sunfish, the redbreast has green-to yellow-brown sides with reddish spots and a reddish-orange belly. It has bluish streaks on its cheeks and around the eyes. The most distinguishing characteristic of this species is a long, narrow (no wider than the eye) extension of the gill cover. These flaps may exceed a length of 1 inch and are entirely black.

Habitat & Habits
Redbreast sunfish inhabit freshwaters of eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida. Redbreast sunfish are found throughout North Carolina, except for cold mountain waters. Their diet is probably the most varied of all the sunfishes. They eat bottom-dwelling insect larvae, snails, clams, shrimp, crayfish and small fish.

Good Places to Find
Redbresasted sunfish frequently concentrate around boulders, logs, aquatic vegetation or tree roots. They take any type of small natural bait, spinners, spoons, plugs, artificial flies and popping bugs. Use a lightweight line (under 4 lbs.), a thin, small bobber and small hooks. Unlike other sunfish, redbreast can be caught at night, using a wide variety of lures and baits.

Redbreast sunfish are found in most of North Carolina’s major river systems with sparse populations found in the Chowan and Pasquotank rivers. As you move west across the state, populations increase until you get to the Little Tennessee, Savannah and Hiwassee rivers where the populations drop off once again. There is excellent fishing for redbreast throughout the center of the state — just find a stream with some good cover and running water and you should locate some redbreast. The Tar River from Granville County through Edgecombe County is an excellent place to start.

Summer Thunderstorm

It has final rained! Today Louisburg received about 2.5" in about an hour. I am sure now the Tar is Muddy Muddy and has gone up a good few feet. These are some photos I took while waiting for the rain to let up.

Tobacco's Blooming

Butterfly Weed & Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle

This flower is called Butterfly-weed/Pleurisy-Root (Asclepias tuberosa Linnaeus), which is commonly found along road sides and on edges of fields. This wildflower can also can be planted in yards as a drought resistant flower that blooms for most of the summer. The insect on the flower is a Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollos). This photo was taken yesterday (6/17/09) in Granville County, NC.

Transitional Landscapes

Transitional Landscapes

I am in the woods often, and I often run across old cultural remains. These artifacts help me understand the particular landscape a bit more. Typical artifacts I find in the woods include, old vehicles, house foundations, old homesteads, fire ring, barbwire fences, bottles and trash, and simple Native American tools.
Before I go out to a property I usually look at an aerial map, contour map, and other topographic data, but understanding a property isn't complete until an on site visit is conducted. An old barbwire can tell you where the old property boundary use to be. Fences didn't fence the cattle out of streams, just kept the cattle on ones property. Another common finding in the woods are large piles of dirt and maybe some plastic mixed in. This is from the old ways of farming, mainly tobacco farming. A large percentage of this area was in tobacco production, and the old practice was to kill everything off, cover with plastic, scrap away, and replant.

It's interesting to understand the history and seeing the recovery or transition. I really enjoy going into a developed hardwood forest that at
one time was a homestead or a tobacco field. Nature is an amazing phenomenon.

RAIN RAIN

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY

Pickin' Strawberries!!!

Tis' the season! There are many places to get your local strawberries.
Farms that come to mind include:
- Wood's Strawberries & Produce in Castalia
- Vollmer's Farm in Bunn
- Vegetable stand on 401 south of Louisburg

Nothing's better then fresh strawberry's in the summer. I eat them with every meal and snacks in between! I also like to buy them bulk to freeze. Last Christmas I made strawberry jam with some, and smoothies with the others.

Pink Lady Slipper

This week I came across the beautiful orchid, the Pink Lady Slipper. It's been a flower that I have only heard much about, but never seen until now. I have heard of places in NC and one place in Warren County in particular that encumbers over a hundred in one area.
The flower is currently in full bloom and can be found on the forest floor. The orchid perfers highly acidic soil, so commonly found amongst the pines. If your interested in finding this beautiful flower, good luck, but remember it is illegal to transplant the flower. It is also difficult to transplant because the Lady Slipper requires that a fungal mycelia to be present in the soil.

Turtle Crossing

Turtles have add it hard since the building of roads. As turtles have evolved to protect itself from mammals with it's hard outer shell, they have not prepared itself for the automobile. The turtle population has greatly decreased because of the automobile, while one, trying to cross the road and two, because their habitat has and is being destroyed with the building of roads. Yesterday I passed a turtle trying to cross the road. I ended up turning around and moving the turtle across the road to safety. The turtle was an Eastern Painted Turtle.

Franklin County Historic Homes Tour

Franklin County Historic Homes

Tours Saturday, April 18, 2009 @ 09:00 AM Duration: 8 Hours

In the past two-hundred years, Franklin County has been home to a governor, poets, statesmen, authors and other prominent Southern figures. The 11 historic homes and sites chosen for this tour have retained the charm and significance of our Southern heritage. Join us on this special journey to celebrate our appreciation of life in the past entwined with life in the 21st century! Tour Dates: Saturday, April 18 (9 am-5 pm) and Sunday, April 19 (1 pm-5 pm) Tour Sites and Homes: The Person Place (circa 1790) Woodleaf (early 1800s) Franklin Academy (1804) Allen-Bruton House (1908) Wheless House (mid 1900s) Stovall-Rigsbee House (circa 1898) Patterson-Noble-Baker House (circa 1824) Perry-Timberlake House (early 1800s) Cascine Mill Perry House (Cascine: Circa 1780s) DeHart Botanical Gardens - During this special weekend you are invited to enjoy a walk through the DeHart Botanical Gardens. These local gardens and nature trails attract bird watchers, botanists and naturalists! The gardens are located south of Louisburg on Hwy. 401 and this weekend are open to the public from sunrise to sunset. Address: 3585 US Hwy. 401 S., Louisburg, NC (Garden entrance is 300 yards north of the mailbox sign.) Saturday, April 18, 2009 • 11:00 am - 2:00 pm The Person Place will feature: A Colonial Soup Lunch $6.00 • 605 N. Main St., Louisburg, NC Local Heritage/Colonial Artisans, Dulcimer & Guitar Music, Heirloom Plant Sale & Bakery Table Local Heritage Art includes spinning (wool is from a local farm), pottery, fine arts, horsehair jewelry, canvas floorcloths (demo) and encaustics on wood panels (demo). (Open to the public.) Sunday, April 19, 2009 Visitors are invited to attend the 11:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service at one of the four Century Churches in the downtown Louisburg Historic District. The church has been at the heart of small town America in the South for well over a hundred years. First Baptist Church (1890)(1925:current bldg.), corner of E. College and Spring streets. Louisburg United Methodist Church (1901), corner of E. Noble and N. Main streets. St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1903), corner of Church St. and Sunset Ave. Louisburg Baptist Church (1904), corner of Middle and N. Main streets. Tickets: Your ticket is good for both days in case you cannot see everything in one day! Advance Tickets ($12.00) may be purchased at: The Coffee Hound Bookshop, Louisburg • (919)496-6030 The Franklin Times, Louisburg • (919)496-6503 Antiques Emporium, Raleigh • (919)834-7250 Suzanna's Antiques, N. Raleigh • (919)844-2652 Hardware Cafe, Warrenton • (252)257-2779 The Cotton Company, Wake Forest • (919)570-0087 Remember When Antiques, Oxford • (919)693-3112 Tickets Day of Tour ($15.00) will be available at The Person Place • 605 N. Main St., Louisburg, NC Day of Tour Phone (919)496-5502 Ticket Purchase by Mail: The Person Place Preservation Society • PO Box 135, Louisburg, NC Sponsored by The Person Place Preservation Society

Visit PNC's Website for more information