Thursday, March 12, 2020

October 2019: Winding Down in Virginia

Posted  March 12, 2020                                              Previous Posts:
About October 2019                                       September 2019:  Memorial for David
                                           August 2019:  Painting, More HEAT, Carrie, Colin, Puzzles


**Warning up front.   This post will not  look right on a phone, only on a tablet or laptop.

After the memorial, there were still more things that needed doing at the farm and so the work continued.

20191005_122518Lots of little things plagued my life this month, like the HVAC panel in the Honda which had to be replaced, Shannon found a nest of Copperheads under some of the old barnboard, Winnona had to go to the body shop to finally repair the damage David did when he hit Ruby from behind 10 months ago, took my 17 year old TREK bike in for its annual maintenance and was told there was just too much Florida rust at this point and it couldn’t be done. 

In the evening, with no one to eat with, play games with, or talk to or anything, I did more puzzles.  It’s quiet, beautiful, and lonely here.


My friend Pam took pity on me and came out to visit.   It’s October, the maple leaves are falling.

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And  my closest neighbors dropped by several times.

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In mid month,  Carrie and I met in Warrenton to have lunch and spend time at Rady Park with the kids.

At the park, Celia enjoyed climbing up the “steps” and going down the slide.  Over and over and over and . . . .



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Peeking out with Colin

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Nana is never too old to swing.



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Papa’s girls tree hugging in his memory.  Wish someone had been around to take the picture so I could have been in on the hug too.





The following week-end the Virginia family flew to Austin Texas for David’s oldest brother Roger’s youngest daughter Abby’s wedding.  (did you get all that?)

Getting there turned out to be a series of problems.  First they cancelled the flight Ashley had reserved for us all from Charlottesville so Tanner drove us 2 hours, to Dulles in DC for the second leg to Austin.  As far as I know, they never returned any of our money for that cancelled flight.  Then in Austin, no one had a record of the car Robin had rented.  Finally, we got to the hotel and I think the rooms were actually right.

Looking at my pictures of this trip for this post, I found that SO many of them were too blurry to use.  I’m going to have to use some of them anyway because they are all I have.

The Virginia group included myself, the next couple to the alter, Ashley and Tanner and the soon to be mother of the bride Robin.  I’m calling Ashley’s brother Justin, next to Tanner, part of the Virginia group since he’s lived there nearly all his life until a recent move to Pennsylvania.


The wedding was held outside at a lovely venue and the weather was perfect.



Abby and Carrie were born one year apart and now they have both married men named Matthew.





A delicious dinner at the reception was followed by dancing.  Roger dancing with Abby brought back bittersweet memories of Carrie’s wedding nearly 5 years ago.







Cutting the cake.


The following day we visited Roger and Carol’s lovely home in San Marcos.  They retired there from Maryland when all of their daughters ended up in Texas.  There was a lot of delicious food in this house and of course I took no pictures of it or the beautiful interior.


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In the afternoon Amy and Angela took us to a park along the San Marcos River.  I got some quick looks at a Pow Wow I wish we’d known about.  The drumming, dancing and regalia were wonderful to see but we couldn’t stay long, we hadn’t paid admission.






It was fun watching people playing in the river.   Looked like a lot of fun but sadly we weren’t dressed for it.  It was definitely warm enough.  Can you say in the 90’s?

















Sunday was our last day in Texas and we went to visit Amy and Angela’s house.  Of course I was too busy to take pictures until they took us out out on the trails behind their house which lead to this lovely spot.






Tanner starts the rock skipping contest while Robin and Angela watch and I take these pictures on my sorry phone.  I sure wish Santa would bring me an Iphone with a decent camera.


Amy’s got the form.

Ashley and Justin up next.















Next up is the driving range where Amy shows her form again.  The group, with the exception of one, looks pretty serious about this endeavor. From left to right, Amy, Justin, Tanner, Ashley.   Too bad I had to take this into the sun.











All this and  it’s only lunch time!  Back to the house for more delicious food and then off to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Garden.  We would certainly have stayed longer if it had not been 94 degrees – IN OCTOBER!   whew!! 

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We climbed the tower to get a view of the  lay of the land.  I particularly like this picture of Roger taking it all in.














Through the gates on this path we found a windmill and oddly an exercise area.










Ah to be young enough, or foolish enough, to work out on these machines in this heat.  It’s the 30 something crowd.


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At least for me this water spot was the most attractive of the afternoon.

Ashley has a cool spot in this grotto.











This was the view from inside another.



The view above is taken from behind the waterfall.

Apparently butterflies are fine with temps approach 100.


And then it was all  over.  It was a whirlwind busy three days and I was exhausted when I returned.  So it was a good thing Shannon was doing most of the work.


He replaced two original windows in the house which predates the records in Nelson County that began in 1888.  Local lore says it was a freed slave cabin.  The windows in the pantry, to the left and the bathroom below,  have wavy glass and everything but they have started to leak.







I was sorry to have to replace them.  We had put it off for years.  But now was the time.

It was always a relaxing view from the clawfoot bathtub.




I’ll  close this October post with a very excellent bumper sticker I saw on the way home from my visit with my Three C’s early in the month.   Might make a good slogan for whomever runs against our sitting president.


I will be leaving Virginia in a few days for my first full winter on the road without David.

27 comments:

  1. I like the pictures looking out of the windows at the farm- xxxooo

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  2. It has been a very busy time for you. Hope you are happy being on the road. Safe Travels

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    1. Yes last fall was a very busy time. I haven't really begun to be happy anywhere.

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  3. Be careful before you start out. This coronavirus is serious and there has been talk of lockdowns in some places. You don't want to stop someplace and then not be able to leave until authorities allow you to.

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    1. Gypsy this post was written two days ago but it's talkin about last October. I'm sorry I'm so far behind and it's confusing.

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  4. WOW...you have had your plate full. You should have been exhausted!!! Couldn't agree more...it is time to be GRATEFULL!!!!

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    1. I thought it was a great bumper sticker and a subtle comment on Mr.Trump's slogan.

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  5. I hope Santa brings you a new iPhone. If you want, I can put in a good word for you with him, after all I've filled in for him quite a bit volunteering with the USO, so he owes me a favor. ;c)

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    1. Great Paul. Please do. Given their cost that's the only way I'll get one.

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  6. You have been (were!) very busy last fall. Beautiful pictures of the wedding.

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    1. Yes, very busy. But having so many things to do really did keep the loneliness at bay

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  7. I think you're brave going into the Texas heat and humidity anytime. But I'm glad you went for family. Must have been hard to watch those wavy windows go.

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    1. Love the idea that I'm brave to go to Texas. I haven't actually let the way the windows go yet they're still hanging around in the shed in case I can think of something to do with them.

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  8. Wow, temps in the 90s in October. That's too darned hot for fall. The wedding looked beautiful. I was especially touched by David's 'girls" hugging the tree in his memory. And yes, that is an excellent bumper sticker. We can hope, right?

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    1. Wish I could have been in on the tree-hugging but unfortunately I was holding the camera. I thought the bumper sticker might make a great campaign slogan. Sort of the anti Trump.

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  9. The deer, the wedding, and the pow wow- quite a sight.

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  10. How about putting mirrors instead of glass into your old window frames? Or what about turning one of them into a kind of kitchen notice board - back with plywood or something similar and paint the backing with blackboard paint, or stick cork tile on to make a pinboard or a combination of the two? I love the picture from behind the waterfall. I have a favourite waterfall in Yorkshire called Hardraw Force which you can walk behind.

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    1. Glad you like the picture Michele. Thanks for the ideas on the windows. I'd thought about repurposing but I'd like to keep the wavy glass. They're a bit big for picture frames so I'm keeping them around until an idea comes to me.

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  11. Safe travels as you prepare to head out.

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  12. I really like your bumper sticker...hang in there life goes on I know how to feels to go one with half of everything missing.

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  13. So you have been on the road for a few months!

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  14. That was an extremely busy month, managing so many repairs, battling copperheads (ugh!), and a very big Texas adventure! The wedding looks lovely and, although the travel was stressful, I’m sure the bride and all of David’s family appreciated you being there. Love the waterfall photos! I’m sorry you had to replace those wonderful windows- I love the old wavy glass— one of the many little details that give an old house its character. If it were me, I’d have just let them leak! (*obviously* because of my unwavering dedication to historic accuracy, certainly NOT from laziness!)

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  15. Great pictures in this blog! Loved seeing the ones from Abby's wedding. I was sorry to miss. So hot there! Wow! Still so grateful for Shannon! He can fix anything! I, too, would like an iPhone...they take such better pictures! xoxo

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  16. I am thinking about you as our country is going through this current crisis, knowing you would be in the state parks and wondering where you are headed to now that they are closed. Hope you are well!

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  17. It's so wonderful that the littles can find seemingly endless pleasure from repeating the simplest actions. You really had your share of hot weather last year. Hope you've found some cooler temps over the winter (but not too cool!) Your time in Texas looks like lots of fun with your family. Sure glad Shannon was sent to you, what a blessing to have his help!

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