The beginning of September brought the County Fair to Chesterfield, Virginia.  It was a traditional fair with rides, candyfloss and lots of other foods I had not heard of before.  We walked round in the sweltering heat, stopping now and then to view the performing white tigers and in another enclosure, performing bear with a cub who was more interested in climbing in a paddling pool filled with water to keep cool.  Another interesting sight was a couple of horned bison pulling a traditional wagon, giving rides to members of the public.

The highlight of the fair has to be the rodeo in the evening.  No-one stayed on the back of the bull for very long and several men were close to being gored.  There was also a race on horseback for the cowgirls - I defy anyone in England to keep up with them as they were extremely fast.  And finally, a race for the young children - a sheep rodeo!  Hilarious, but only their pride was wounded.

 In August I spied on the decking a tiny hummingbird visiting the flowers displayed there.  I was able to buy a special hummingbird feeder which is filled with sugar water.  To my delight and amazement, we were visited nearly every day through August with one or more hummingbirds.  Try as I might, I could not get a good enough picture to put here as they move so quickly, they are quickly gone.  We are also visited by mockingbirds and lots of buzzards cruising the skies.  By the middle of September the humming birds have gone on their journey South.

On our anniversary, I collected Malc from work with a picnic and we walked in Henricus park.  The lake is part of the James river, so we watched turtles swim and fish jump whilst the sun set over the water.  A lovely end to the day.

Also this month, we went to the Outer Banks. About a 5 hour drive away, but worth the effort.  It is basically an island which sits in the Chesapeake bay and which is reached via a long bridge.  We spent our time at the northern end of the island where wild horses roam and there is an old renovated village surround a lighthouse.  We stayed in a traditional colonial style hotel with board walks connecting the rooms with the public areas.  Our room overlooked the pool and the sea beyond and was decidedly quirky.  We dined on wonderful fresh tuna and sunned ourselves on the beach.  The particular weekend we were there the surf was really high and having been knocked off my feet once, decided to sit and sunbathe.  Big mistake as I had not realised how hot it was and by evening resembled the lobster I was going to eat.  Sunday saw us enjoy bike rides around the area, compliments of the hotel.  We will revisit this area during the winter as from November to March we can watch the whales on their journey North.

The days are beginning to get a little cooler now and the nights almost cool enough to manage without the overhead fan.  The clear blue skies, however, promise a wonderful "fall" ahead of us.