Fine Arts in the rain..

The Reston Fine Arts Festival is an annual event held outdoors in the town centre.

Some fifty or sixty artists, photographers, sculptors, furniture makers and jewellers from all over the US convene for two days.  Normally the streets are full of people enjoying the art, entertainment, food and drink.

On Friday night the gala opening event was warm if not sunny but today the temperatures plummeted and the rain fell solidly.  We visited briefly at the end of the afternoon and all the exhibitors looked very cold and miserable in their tents.

Not too many customers, as you see.  And it looks as if next weekend is going to be sunny, warm and dry..

Closing a door..

Today I was back at the 'old' house for the carpets to be cleaned.  All empty now of course and a little sad.

This view along the side of the house was always beautiful throughout the year but particularly in Spring when everything is so green - particularly now with so much rain.

The beautiful yellow Iris which grow tall in the drainage channel are just coming into flower.

Enjoying the Meadow

The area of grass 'lawn' (more of a mowed field) behind the house and our neighbours is sheltered and currently very green and lush after all the rain.

We have seen deer wandering through on several mornings but this morning this  one decided that a rest was in order and so she (?) settled down into the long grass and proceeded to graze on the grass all around her.

Celebrating Graduation

Many US Universities hold their graduation ceremonies at this time of year and High School students also graduate when they come to the end of their schooling.

With the end of the academic year approaching the shops are gearing up for celebrations.  Not only helium balloons but cards, gifts, party goods, cakes, cookies..

This was my favourite balloon - think we can all relate to that one!

Night Visitors

The other night David set up the 'wildlife' camera to see what was around, especially at night.  It appears that the raccoon is our most frequent visitor, returning at different times of the night to check out the bird feeders.

The second time that the camera was out there were two of the 'masked bandits'.  We thought that we had put the bird feeders well out of reach, but..

It appears that raccoons have quite a long reach - and no fear of heights, as the decking rail is around 15ft off the ground!

Sunbathing Chipmunk

Today I have been busy at the 'old' house, cleaning and preparing to hand it back to the landlord tomorrow.  In the afternoon sunshine I noticed this little chipmunk enjoying the warmth of the sun on the decking.

I only had my phone to photograph him but fortunately he didn't see me until I had crept right up behind him to take this shot.

Carolina Wren

We have now got some bird feeders in place and our last visitor of the day this evening was this Carolina Wren who seemed to have a lot to say.