IT ARRIVED

Just over two weeks ago I told you about a story at this post.  A lady whose aunt bought an ornament at a garage sale 28 years ago, came across the ornament with the name of our son on the back, in her aunt's collection of Christmas ornaments.  She saw this particular one had a name,  a date of birth and other info painted on the back (I removed these in Paint Shop Pro just for this post for privacy purposes).  It was an ornament I had painted about 30 years ago, when I first started painting and taking part in craft shows, and wanted to commemorate our son's birth.  

Her niece came across it recently in her aunt's box of Christmas ornaments, was curious and did a search on line.  She found our son's name and sent him a message, asking if he was the one whose name was on the back of the ornament.  He confirmed that it was, and that his mother had painted it.  This lovely lady popped it in the mail and sent it to him.  It arrived and our son in turn brought it over the other day, and now I have this little family treasure back where it belongs.  I wrote about Gregg's theory of how it was lost at my post (link above)  

I am so thankful to this lady and also to her aunt, and will be writing a thank you letter asap.  

To this lady, if you read my post, I do want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.  There really are not enough words to tell you how grateful I am for your kindness.  But I do for returning this ornament to our family, and please thank your Aunt for keeping it safe all those years.  It will be hanging up on our tree next Christmas.  I will find a box for its storage, and inside the box will be written the history of its return.  

A GOOD REMINDER

One of the cards we received from friends. 

LAST POST OF OUR CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES

As our son and daughter-in-law were off to spend time with her parents, we tend to eat an early meal.  It was served at 1.00 p.m.  I have to say how much we appreciate that they start their day with us, and then go over to d-in-l's parents, to eat another traditional meal in the early evening.  They share their company and we appreciate it more than words can say.  They have done this for many special meals over the years.  Our friend had baked and brought with her a collection of Christmas cookies and sausage roll bites, also a salad to go with the main meal, and a Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert. All delicious and recipes were asked for.  Our traditional meal is a Standing Rib Roast with Yorkshire Pudding, Potatoes, Carrots and Parsnips which are roasted around the beef.  We also served asparagus and Brussels sprouts, and yes ate leftovers for a while!  I never did get around to the Green Bean Casserole I intended to make.  There was also a Yule Log to go with the dessert.

Since childhood I have known the tradition of Christmas Crackers, and you can find them fairly easily over here now.  I found mine in World Market.  A very interesting history of how these came to be can be found here.  Ours were very strong this year as they gave a loud pop when pulled.  If you pull hard enough, what ever is inside can go flying across the floor or the table!  Inside are paper crowns, party favors and jokes and riddles, which were read as we started eating our meal.

I am putting the cart before the horse as first of all we exchanged gifts.

And practiced taking selfies.

The tripod is over there in the corner, mother says!

And finally, after several photos were taken by various family members... 

  we used the tripod.  The one below made me laugh.  His Dad and I gave son advice, patiently waiting as he set things up and watching as he quickly walked around after he set the timer.

We took several and this was the best one of the lot. We were all staring at the camera and no eyes were closed.  Thank you son!

This is the last of our Christmas photos, until next December.  It was as always a very special day.

Thanks for stopping by.

MOUNT VERNON INN RESTAURANT

I am going to be sharing a few posts of our activities over the holidays.  We had a dear friend stay with us for the week.  She left yesterday and we missed her as soon as her car drove around the corner.  Our son and daughter-in-law came over on Christmas Day.  We had a lovely time together and I will be sharing those photos also in the next few days.

This post is of our dinner at the Mount Vernon Inn and Restaurant.  The photo of my friend is when we were waiting for Gregg to join us.  They have a very comfortable seat outside the restaurant's entrance.  The room where we usually wait was being used for a 50th wedding anniversary dinner.

It was after the 25th and these posts will not be in chronological order.  Our reservation was for five p.m.  We arrived half-an-hour early so that we could browse around the gift shop.  

I also took photos of the Christmas Tree in the large foyer.  Here's one with our friend standing next to it.  We had fun looking at all the ornaments.  Many were these dolls.

I remember seeing them in the stores 40 years ago when we were living in Newport, Rhode Island for a while.  The company was out of New Hampshire.  It was the first time I had seen this type of doll.  Not to be played with, more a holiday decoration than anything.  I have three carolers in a box I bought at that time.  They didn't make it out of the basement storage room this year, because they are tucked away in a corner I couldn't get to.  We have more downsizing to do in 2019.  Enough of that!   Here are a few from the tree at Mount Vernon.

They are dressed in colonial style.  The ones I have are Victorian (David Copperfield days).

I didn't get the whole animal in the photo below, but on the right you can just about make out the legs of a toy camel.  They are on sale in the gift shop, along with these decorative figures. 

In 1787 George Washington paid 18 shillings to bring a camel to Mount Vernon for the enjoyment of his guests. When we visited a few years ago during the holiday season, there was a real camel on the grounds, as there is this year.  According to their website you can visit Aladdin, who normally lives in Berryville, Virginia.  You can read about him here.  There are pewter camel ornaments for purchase in the gift shop.  There are also plush toys (those shown on the tree) and a children's book which tells the story of Washington's camel, and other animals at Mount Vernon.

There are also miniature replicas of Mount Vernon, and some were painted on glass ornaments.

And George Washington in clothes-pin form.

At five o'clock we went into the restaurant and had a very nice time together, and a nice meal.

We all ordered the peanut and chestnut soup (sorry, no photo except for the bowls you can see in front of us).  Our friend had the salmon dish, Gregg ordered the turkey pot pie, and I the shrimp and grits.  It doesn't look like it in the photo above, but the restaurant was very busy, as were the staff.  That's why I appreciated it very much when the young man I asked, stopped long enough to take our photo.  He was very gracious, polite and kind, giving us a genuine smile as he said that he was not very good at taking photos and hoped ours would be okay.  It was I assured him and thanked him as we looked at the photo.  

Here is a collage I put together of our meal.  We had asked for the cornbread but the lady who took our order wasn't sure it was still on the menu as it had changed recently.  We ended up with the Colonial Hoecake which was topped with country ham, sautéed crabmeat and hollandaise sauce.  It was very good but I hope we can get the plain cornbread next time.  You can take a look at the dinner menu if interested right here.  The other menus can be found on their website.  We also took home their famous bread pudding.  I never fail to order a piece, to be eaten later that day or the next.  It seems even better the day after.

On our way home we found ourselves next to a Mini Cooper.  I have a soft spot for these cars.  This was the first vehicle I ever owned, in my early 20s. I had saved up for several years.  It was the old style, with rusty spots here and there that contrasted beautifully with its grey color, yes it did.  I loved that old car.  I had my independence and didn't care what it looked like, though I gave it a lot of tender loving care. It was a Rolls Royce to me, four wheels to get me from A to B. When I met Gregg I had owned it for about a year, and on our very first date I picked him up at Torquay Harbor and drove him on a sight-seeing tour over Dartmoor.  The radiator had a leak and I had to carry a bottle of water.  He carefully filled the radiator regularly.  On subsequent dates he rented a car for us, which was probably wise as my old car went into the shop soon after.  Getting back to this fancy little number at the side of us, what I noticed was the Union Jack design on the rear lights, and no rusty spots in sight!  I have seen the Union Jack painted on the roof of these cars, but have never noticed the design in the lights before. 

That's it for our trip to the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant, until the next time that is.  

Thanks for stopping by and on this, the first day of January 2019, Happy New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I am going to take a short break, but will be back in about a week.  My wish is for you to have a very special time with your Loved Ones. 

Peace on Earth, Good-will to All,
and
Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

REMEMBERING...

This is for everyone who is missing a Loved One, especially at this time of the year.  

A WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS

I have told variations of this story in other posts, but for several years now I have been going to the opera with a group of friends.  We met at a British shop I found myself working at, where I went for lunch one day and was offered a job.  I had the right accent I suppose. As most often happens when I get out of my comfort zone, I had to be talked into it. My sister was visiting at the time and I had taken her to lunch.  She told me I would be mad to say no, that if she could she would take the job.  So after listening to her off and on for a week, we went back for another lunch and when asked again, this time I said yes. I talked with the owner for twenty minutes or so, and by the end of it I agreed to start in a few days after my sister had gone home, with the proviso that this would be a trial run.  I ended up staying for several years and I met these ladies.  The shop eventually closed but our friendship has remained, and we all have a love for opera.  

We saw La Traviata last Saturday. We go to our local theater and watch a live televised performance from the New York Metropolitan Opera House.  Beautiful!  However, I fell asleep during the first act. The chairs are like a lazy-boy, where the head rest goes down and the foot rest comes up.  Listening to the music and in the darkened theater, already feeling very sleepy from the night before, I have occasionally been lulled into a comfortable snooze.  I am not alone as at one time or another we occasionally hear a few snores from our fellow opera lovers out in the darkness.  Those lazy-boys you know?

We came back home and my friends stayed the night.  We have dinner, a couple of glasses of wine, and chat until one to two o'clock in the morning, always looking at the clock in surprise and invariably saying where did the time go?  (Gregg leaves us hours earlier to go watch a game upstairs).  This has been a pattern for a whole lot of years, once a month during opera season, sometimes twice, and in the summer months we go do other things.

As it isn't long before the holidays, one of my friends, the lady in the red sweater brought a Christmas Pudding and set it alight.  It was a fine ending to a very nice meal (the main course being cooked by Gregg after we got home from the opera).

Our friend was told by her culinary friend to use Vodka to set the pudding alight, because it gives a more vibrant flame.  Holly leaves and berries from her garden to go on top, and a delicious rum butter to serve with it.  It was all delicious and a very pretty show.

So, there you go, that was our weekend.  A good time with friends is always a gift isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by.

  

A COLLECTION OF ANGELS

Part of my collection are the Angel ornaments, lovingly collected at certain times in my life, and precious gifts from family and friends.

May angels rest beside your door

May you hear their voices sing

May you feel their loving care for you

May you hear their peace bells ring

May angels always care for you

And not let you trip and fall

May they bear you up on angel's wings

May they keep you standing tall

May they whisper wisdom in your ear

May they touch you when you need

May they remove from you each trace of fear

May they keep you from feeling greed

May they fill you with their presence

May they show you love untold

May they always stand beside you

And make you ever bold.

May they teach you what you need to know

About life here and here-after

May they fill you always with their love

And give you the gift of laughter

~Author Unknown~

Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots, of angels.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

I went forth to find an angel

And found this effort brought

That life is full of so much good

The touch that angels wrought.

~James Joseph Huesgen~

How wonderful it must be to speak the language of angels, with no words for hate and a million words for love.

~Eileen Elias Freeman~ 

from The Angels' Little Instruction Book

In my life I have met many earth-bound angels. And talking about earth angels, I just read that actor Gary Senise and his foundation with untold numbers of people and volunteers, are sending 1,000 children of fallen soldiers to Disneyland for Christmas. These are earth angels for sure. Link here: https://tribunist.com/news/gary-sinise-flies-1000-children-of-fallen-soldiers-to-disney-world-for-christmas/

Thank you for stopping by and  

have a great weekend.