When imagining that perfect outdoor setting for a wedding, your mind may tend to think of spring and summer. Yes, those times of year are beautiful, but don’t underestimate fall as an equally gorgeous season to tie the knot outside, especially in the Shenandoah Valley.
By Catherine Bogaty, MSV Special Events Manager
Fall in the Shenandoah Valley means one thing: color. The leaves on the many oaks, maples, dogwoods, and other native trees begin to fade from deep green to brilliant hues of red, orange, and yellow.
By Curator of Collections Nick Powers
Building a new trail sounds simple, but to create a network of trails over 90 acres can be a challenge.
by Perry Mathewes
By Adult Programs Manager Sally Meyer
Happy National Walnut Day! While this holiday was created to celebrate the hard-shelled nut the walnut tree produces, we are instead “going nuts” about a few objects made with the beautifully-grained wood at the heart of the tree.
by MSV Horticulturist Chantal Ludder
“Come buy, come buy!” As much as I would like to do a pastiche of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, I promise to refrain. But quite soon you are going to see a line of MSV gardeners trotting diligently back and forth from up the hill to bring hundreds and hundreds of plants down to the museum patio. What plants are we selling? Why, anything you could want, of course. All plants labeled, all plants priced.
by Curator of Collections Nick Powers
May 7 marks National Teacher Appreciation Day, an opportunity to celebrate and honor educators of all types who make lasting contributions to our communities. Teachers change the lives of millions of children every day, inspiring a lifelong love of learning and molding young minds in a positive direction.
Have you met some of our favorite furry friends?
Potter Samuel Bell (1811-1891) of Winchester made this pair of molded whippet figurines in 1841. Whippets are an English sighthound breed descended from greyhounds. The Bell family of potters made numerous whippets as decorative pieces for Valley homes, some of which retain their original paint decoration.
Raise a glass to celebrate National Beer Day with this beer stein in the MSV Collection! National Beer Day began right here in the Old Dominion in 2009, but Virginians have enjoyed “cold ones” for centuries.
It was around this time last year the MSV exchanged the original windows on the building for newer, more environmentally conscious ones. Since the old windows were not of use to anyone else, and probably would have been left to languish in a landfill otherwise, the Gardens and Grounds Department quietly laid claim and spirited them away to our workshop. To be honest, I’ve never been more pleased to be in possession of a pile of debris in my life. Old windows, especially the large, sturdy ones, do not run cheap. They are also hard to find in any real quantity, especially if you are looking for a uniform size. Until this happy little windfall, the Museum was unable to offer the workshop I’ve wanted to run for years: Building a Cold Frame.
