Goodbye 2012

View of the gardens, Morven Park

Sunday was a cold but sunny day, a good day for a walk, so Walt and I drove out to Morven Park in Leesburg. We pretty much had the park to ourselves but it was pretty and felt good to be out walking in the cold wintery air. This was the home of a Maryland governor during the Civil War and a Virginia governor in the early 20th century and was opened to the public in the 1960s. There are tons of ancient boxwoods, lovely old trees,  and an old mansion which is open to the public for tours. There is a lot of huge open land so the views from the house are beautiful, even in the winter. I could see the lines of the gardens and ponds, so we will definitely have to come back when the gardens are in bloom.

We had some flurries on Saturday, but no real snow.  I sure am hoping for a good snowfall sometime this winter. We also saw the movie Jack Reacher this weekend, and if you have read the Jack Reacher books, don't bother seeing this movie. Tom Cruise is no Jack Reacher. Jack doesn't smile, especially that goofy Tom Cruise smile.

It's New Year's Eve,  always a favorite day for me (it's my birthday!), so it will be a fun day. My friend Lorraine always makes me my favorite birthday cake, Walt and I go out to lunch in Old Town Alexandria, and then we will celebrate the New Year with our good friends tonight. My friend Mary is making dinner and we are all bringing a bottle of red wine and are going to do a wine tasting.  Happy New Year to all!

Pretty Virginia magnolias

Great old tree

The mansion

Hellebores in the snow

One of the Civil War huts where Confederate soldiers stayed in the winter

Happy Birthday Rose

Jimmy and Rose

We had dinner on Saturday with Walt's brother Richard and his family and his sister Rose and her husband, Jimmy. We celebrated Rose's birthday and had a nice time catching up on all the family.  And because she is named Rose of course I had to put her on the blog! Hard to believe she has two granddaughters and is expecting two more this spring!

December 31, 2011

I have been waiting all year to use this poem that I like so much, by  Ron Padgett, and today seems like the perfect day.


"That was fast. I mean life."


Happy New Year, everyone!

A Busy Holiday Weekend

Book Group 2011--Gillian, Mel, Ellen, Sue, Norene, Liz

This weekend was really, really busy. I worked all day on Saturday and we had our holiday open house at the library all day, which means hordes of people come in for the free cookies and punch, and craft activities for the kids. We also had the local high school choir sing in the afternoon, and a small orchestra group played Christmas music, which was so nice, and made the whole library feel festive and Christmasy. Having music in the library is the best. I wish we had it all the time.

Orchestra playing at library

Saturday was also Walt's birthday, so that night we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant  in Reston Town Center, and Brooks was able to join us. 

Walt on his big 6-0

On Sunday morning, my book group met in Leesburg for our annual Christmas brunch at Tuscarora's, a restaurant we have been going to for the past few years because we love their Sunday brunch.  Everyone was able to come except for Mary (we missed you Mary), and Liz made a surprise appearance and told us she will join us again for book group now that she is retired. Liz was one of our originial members, but dropped out for several years while she was working full time.  Eileen's annual Trim-A-Tree party was next at 6, but on the way, Walt and I stopped in to an Open House at a friend's house in Falls Church. She is a member of my book group at the library, and I thought it was so nice that she invited me. So we stopped there for about an hour, met lots of interesting people,  and then headed off to Eileen's. It was so fun to see everyone again, especially Eileen's brothers, Walter, John, and Dick,  who come in from California, New York and New Jersey for the occasion. The food is always really delicious and it really feels like Christmas after Eileen's party! Now I need a day to rest. Haha. No rest at this time of the year.

Gerry and Walt

Maryann, Prudy, Eileen, Kate (Maryann's daughter)

The Two Walters (Eileen's brother and my Walt)

Running Six Miles For Six Decades--Woohoo!

Happy Birthday Bob

Last night we went over to Bob and Carol's to celebrate Bob's birthday! It was fun to see them and hear about the first weeks of school for Jackson and Keenan. Carol is back to work, Keenan is playing soccer and lacrosse this fall, and Jackson made the j.v. soccer team at high school, so they are very busy!  Carol made chicken and steak fajitas with onions and peppers, and a rice and black bean dish for dinner. Birthday cake was an apple spice cake with cream cheese frosting, and all was delish. They had just been to the Grand Canyon this summer so we talked alot about our trip and they gave us some tips for things to see and do.

Happy Birthday Bob

Walt and Bob in their pretty yard

And because Bob is going to his 40th high school reunion at St. Joe's this weekend,  and because you know I love the old photos, here is an old one of Bob, I think at his high school graduation.

Bob, 1971?

Not much gardening (well, not any) this weekend, as I had to work on Saturday.  On Sunday morning W and I went for a long walk at Meadowlark and it really felt like fall. W went for his first run since hurting his leg in the afternoon and he felt pretty good, so he's thinking he may still be able to do the MCM in October. It keeps looking like rain around here, but every day is just cloudy and gray. A busy week coming up as I have to work every day. We are getting new computers and a new phone system in the library this week, as well as an upgrade of our catalog and checkout system, so it should be a crazy week at the library. Nothing ever goes smoothly, so we are expecting to be without computers at all for a day or so. That's always fun.

My library during the big rain

Happy Birthday Julia!

I know, this is seeming like the birthday blog, but someone I know would be pretty upset if she wasn't the star of the blog today. Happy Birthday to my sweet girl.

Happy Birthday Mom and Tom

I love this picture of my mom and Evie in the summer of 2007. Mom was about to turn 90 and all she wanted to do that summer was get out to Chautauqua and take a swim. We were all worried about her getting in that cold water in early summer, but she was determined and she did it. And boy did she enjoy it!

And here's a picture of Biff, too, since today is his birthday too!