Bud to Bloom

Tonight I will share a sequence of pictures that show one rose going from bud to bloom

The rose is on my Mr. Lincoln rosebush. I always look forward to seeing the first bloom.

I also want to smell the roses as these are very fragrant.

mr. lincoln rose, bud, bloom, rose bud, fragrant rose, rose bushI had been watching this bud for some time before it started showing just a bit of red.

mr. lincoln rose, bud, bloom, rose bud, fragrant rose, rose bushA few days later it opened up to show the red bud.

mr. lincoln rose, bud, bloom, rose bud, fragrant rose, rose bushIt slowly started to open.

mr. lincoln rose, bud, bloom, rose bud, fragrant rose, rose bushLuckily it doesn’t get too hot when the first roses start to bloom and the petals do not get singed by the sun.

mr. lincoln rose, bud, bloom, rose bud, fragrant rose, rose bushHere it is really starting to open.

mr. lincoln rose, bud, bloom, rose bud, fragrant rose, rose bushAt the same time other roses also started to open. This was from a week ago.

rose bush, mister lincoln, large red roses, fragrant roses Today the bush was full of beautiful roses, and will continue to have roses for the rest of the year.

It smells wonderful.

I always take time to stop and smell the roses on this bush.

Steven

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Virtual Hike to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

The next destination on my Virtual Hike was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The destination was the Gettysburg Battlefield, but I am also thinking about some friends who live in Gettysburg.

Amish country, Lancaster county, Susquehanna River, Gettysburg, Lincoln, farms The previous destination on my virtual hike was the Pequea Log Cabin School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Amish country, Lancaster county, Susquehanna River, Gettysburg, Lincoln, farms The virtual hike route went through rural areas in Lancaster Pennsylvania as it headed west toward Gettysburg.

Amish country, Lancaster county, Susquehanna River, Gettysburg, Lincoln, farms You could tell that it was an Amish/Mennonite area from the signs along the way. I have memories of visiting Intercourse many years ago. The sign about a fabric and bookstore together also brought back memories as I visited a similar shop near here in Gordonville and bought one of my best Amish history resources.

The route went over rolling hills with some nice vistas of farm country.

Amish country, Lancaster county, Susquehanna River, Gettysburg, Lincoln, farms After making it through Lancaster I came to the crossing of the Susquehanna River. There are not too many places to cross the river.

From the river I passed through York county where some of my paternal ancestors lived in Pennsylvania.

The virtual hike finally make it to the Gettysburg battlefield. I used the battlefield museum as the destination, but I would have also wandered all over the battlefield area and also the cemetery.

Amish country, Lancaster county, Susquehanna River, Gettysburg, Lincoln, farms Outside of the museum there was a statue of President Lincoln sitting on a bench. Of course, right near here was where he gave on of the most famous speeches in American history.

See: The Gettysburg Address

The next destination on my Virtual Hike is where another historic event took place just prior to the Civil War.

I have been setting shorter distances between destinations for better motivation for my daily walking and so far it has been working. I have been walking more each day and have made good progress on my Virtual Hike. I am still a few stops behind on my posts.

I am now heading west and have some interesting stops planned that are family or history related.

Steven

Images in this post are from Google Maps and Street View

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