HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - THIS AND THAT AND WHAT WE DID ON 8-15-25

A bit of a ramble today.

We left the house relatively early, for us (Friday 8/15/25). Getting out before noon is 'relatively early', and a little before 10.00 a.m. today, which was our aim. We were heading to Chateau de Chantilly, deciding to forego tomorrow’s weekly Saturday donut from the local supermarket and my coffee from the coffee shop next door, to go to what is now our favorite breakfast stop. It's not that far a drive away and we were there in 15 minutes. Traffic was light by that time, and we were lucky to find a parking spot in front. 

Not a weekly event but not that long ago either. We just felt like it today. Last time we said our visits would be once every month or so, but if wishes were horses as the old saying goes. We actually met a sweet little dog (on the 4th). I asked the two ladies at an outside table (restaurant next door) if I could take a photo of her. She finds her voice for dogs. They were only too happy to oblige and no one else was there. This little sweetie was sitting on a seat next to them but as I walked by, she surprised me by hopping up onto the tabletop, walking across for a bit of a fuss and immediately started nuzzling my hand. Say hello to Misha! I could have stayed with her for longer, but I quickly took my photo, thanked the ladies and moved on. When I looked back she was off the tabletop and once again had settled back into her chair.

Chateau de Chantilly isn't as fancy as its name implies, but it is what you might call a trendy place, more than any we normally go to. I love their high ceilings with the hanging lights. Very popular but midweek seems to be a good time to go, busy but we have always been lucky getting a table. Weekends is a different matter. The coffee is excellent. I ordered a vanilla latté, my usual go to. Below is a photo of Gregg waiting in line, which was quite long.  

Both coffee and croissant, and my dear other half's pastry, was a welcome treat. His looked on the plainer side but he said it tasted decadent, a word he doesn't use very often when describing desserts. It had cream cheese baked inside. Mine was a Dubai Chocolate/Nutella stuffed croissant, and it was excellent! I ordered this the last time.

Here's a closer look at my bakery treat. I think that coating is shredded coconut. It might have been something I would pass by without a second thought, but it was recommended to me by our son and daughter-in-law and I was curious as they never steer us wrong. All pastries are at this link.

The only photo I took when we were going back to our car was something Gregg pointed out. It was the restaurant next door on the other side. He said I should take a photo. I'm glad he did because all I could think of was getting back to the car and out of the heat. 

So that was the outing this morning. 

A few days ago, dear other half was sorting out the boxes in the garage, and came across an old navy teddy bear I painted in 1988 (I would always date them on the back, put my first name above the year, all in tiny letters, with a little red heart over the ‘i’ just like I do on my signatures for the blog). The bear is a reminder of the small cottage industry I used to have, which I kept going for 14 years. I had paper to draw ideas down, pencils, paint brushes, paints, a jigsaw to cut my designs out and a standalone sander, along with ear protectors and safety glasses. There were also squares of sandpaper that I used to finish. When everything was nice and smooth, it was time for the next step. This small business of mine would cause me to wake up in the middle of the night, with a design of an ornament in my head, to be drawn immediately before I forgot. 

Our garage turned into a workshop where I cut out the ornaments while everyone was at work, and quite often when neighbors came home from work, invariably someone would bring a bottle of wine over with a couple of glasses, plus camp chairs, and it was time to stop until husbands came home. That was my sign to stop, brush the sawdust off my clothes, sit down and join them. They were wonderful neighbors. 

We had all moved in at the same time and met while getting our gardens in order. (There was no landscaping done by the builders.) Sometimes husbands joined us, and the kids played in the cul-de-sac in front of us. We lived at the top of the cul-de-sac and it was a safe area for them to play, especially as we parents all had our eyes on them. The kids ranged from five to 10 years of age, and everyone took care of each other. If parents were late for any reason, they knew that we would all look out for their offspring until they were able to get home. All they had to do was knock on our door. It was a great neighborhood.

I have told this story on here before, but it’s been a while. I sold everything I made at Christmas craft shows, some of them on navy bases as you might guess from the teddy below. I got my ideas from everywhere, even from a person walking down the street. No, I didn't stalk them - big smile here - but occasionally an interesting person would walk by in an interesting outfit, and I took note, turned them into elves or fairies or Santa Clauses. I worked around the family’s hours, saw they were well taken care of and as soon as they left for work/school or wherever, I would do a few chores and start cutting out or painting. Usually I made several stacks of ornaments and turned them out on fold-up tables in the garage, painting each part until they dried and start on another part until they were finished. I also painted in the evenings when all was quiet, up until midnight sometimes. It was a fun time, and I wish I had taken count of the thousands of various shapes I made and painted over the years. I met all kinds of lovely people and enjoyed selling my ornaments to them.

With my navy ornaments wives would bring their husbands uniforms. First it was navy and, being a navy wife, I pretty much knew what they were all about. But then wives from the other services got word and could I do theirs? When I explained I really didn't know about those, wives offered to bring me their husband's uniforms. They explained about the ribbons and could I do them in order, even parachute insignia was fair game. It was all a wonderful challenge to do them. Gregg used to joke that I must have had a paintbrush with two hairs to do those. That first time when he came home, I remember how shocked he was to see half a dozen or so different service uniforms on hangers over every door. We still have a chuckle when we remember those days. I would copy them on my tracing notepad, take photos, cut the ornaments out and sand them (not always teddy bears but little toy soldiers for the most part). The doorbell rang a lot, and the uniforms kept being hung on the closet doors as the word was passed from one person to another. My ornaments were rudimentary, but people seemed to enjoy them and that was enough for me. 

And then as I got older my fingers gave out and they screamed very loudly that I needed to find something else to do. I was very sad but it was time to put all my things away as the warnings came from the doctors when they found out what I did. My neighbors still turned up at our garage where we would sit in a circle and chat for a while. We did that quite a lot during the week until Gregg left the navy, and we moved into the civilian world, all the way across country. 

As for my ornaments, I retired and Gregg was relieved. He never liked me using a jigsaw to cut these shapes out, always fearing for my fingers but I never cut things out unless I was totally alert. We gave the jigsaw and sander to our handyman soon after. 

I was very happy he found this navy teddy the other day. It was my only copy left of that design and a total surprise to have it back, and of course the memories started rolling. It will be joining the others on our Christmas Tree come December.

Anyhow, I think I have done enough blathering for today but I wanted to leave you this. I just found it on Pinterest and it tickled my funny bone.

Sorry, I can't come to work tomorrow.

 I've got to teach my facial expressions 

how to use their inside voice.

Thanks for looking and I hope 

your day is great.

My blog originally started out as a journal of photos and memories for our son. I forget now how I found out about blogging, but it seemed a great idea to use it for this. I didn’t know much about settings so was shocked when that first comment appeared. A new world opened up.  I keep a lot private, which will be for son’s eyes only (Gregg writes too about his side of the family.  We both said how wonderful it would have been if we knew more about our own parents, asked more questions, but this is something as young people that we didn’t think of.) My mother told me lots of stories about her life, and my father did too. I have passed these stories down to our son. I share memories and moments for him on here now, even the boring stuff. 

A NICE WALK AT WALNEY

 

Hello Dear Friends!

A collage of photos from our latest walk at the visitor center and the pond today. I was hoping to see hummingbird moths. I didn’t see them but there were other things that kept our interest. 

It was a lovely day, in the low 80s and not too humid. I will have the larger photos and explain more when I can put a post together. Lots of lovely nature. I feel so good getting out in it. It's like a tonic and a breath of fresh air all rolled into one.

More photos either tomorrow or at least within the next few days.

I hope you all have a great day, wishing you peace and thanks for stopping by. 

MORE FROM MEADOWLARK GARDENS ON 6-30-24

 I found this pretty little red flower very easily. It really popped out against the vibrant lush green fauna as I was walking along the path. It is the Florida tasselflower. I have never heard of it and if I have seen it before, have never noticed. It is also known as Cupid's shaving-brush, Red Florida tasselflower and one more, Flora's paintbrush, with a botanical name of Emilia fostbergii. Thankfully non-toxic to humans and pets. 

A member of the sunflower family, it is a common yard weed. Although many dislike seeing these pop up in their lawns, the pollinators are very attracted to its small bright red flowers. It reseeds itself easily with dandelion-like fluffy seeds and can become invasive if not removed. Unusual for me, I only took one photo instead of my usual dozen or so! Who shouts "Hurray to the digital age?" My one photo will have to do this time, I am blaming it on the heat.

I enjoyed seeing the Cardoon. Its other names are globe artichokes, Prickly artichoke and Cardy, with a botanical name of Cynara cardunculus. I have shared it before but maybe I missed some information. I would have to check with previous posts to find out, so at the risk of repeating myself: It was first brought to the United States by Spanish and French settlers in the middle of the nineteenth century. It was popular in ancient and medieval Greece, Rome and Persia, and appears in written records from as early as the 4th century BC.

They are edible but I have no clue how to prepare them and I am going to have to go to bed soon as it has been a long day. Next time I photograph them I will delve into that side of things more thoroughly, but there is plenty of information online if you want to do a search. I did learn that they are an ingredient in one of Spain's national dishes - cocido madrileño - and have long been an important part of the Christmas meal in Spain's northern regions, and at least one Italian region. Also, Cardoon flowers are used as a vegetable rennet in some traditional Spanish and Portuguese cheeses.

You have to be careful when handling them because of those nasty looking spines, so it would be wise to wear gloves. There is lots of information in the link below my first photo of the Cardoon, if you would like to find out more. They towered above me, are said to grow 3 feet to 6 feet but these seemed much taller. In the winter finches eat the seeds and then when spring appears, if any of the soft down remains, it may be used to line nests.

When they bloom, bees and other pollinators will visit them. The bees were very busy when we were there. The flowers produce lots of pollen and nectar between June to September.  I certainly enjoyed watching the bees for a while. I always find them fascinating little creatures. There were two types of bee, the smaller one remained elusive and the bigger of the two was easier to photograph.

One last little bee plus the tiny insect in the top middle of the photo.  That's as close as I could get.

And finishing off with a photo of the two of us (at the beginning of our walk). We didn't take our usual long one around the garden because of the heat, but even so we had a very enjoyable time. We just have to pace ourselves more and know when to quit!  Me and the mouse in my pocket that is, as Gregg is a Virginia boy and can take these high temperatures. I on the other hand wilt like a lettuce, and that hasn’t changed since we started married life at our apartment in Alexandra, Virginia. The following year when my family visited in the height of summer, they were the same. How about you, can you handle humidity?

I always have more photos to share from the garden, but I will give this one a rest for a while. It is also getting late and it's time to put my laptop to bed. 

Thanks for looking everyone, 

and have a great Wednesday.

GREEN SPRING GARDENS - PART 1 - 1/12/24 - A SHORT VIDEO OF US

I found these sweet, bedraggled birds at pixabay.com, a familiar name as it is my go-to place when I want to find a particular picture or graphic.

The last time we were at Green Spring Gardens was on October 1st, 2023. We were still wearing light clothing with short sleeves. It was a very different story last Friday. Our video will give you an idea of what the weather was like. It was cold! 50 degrees Fahrenheit which we would have thought would be good walking weather, but there was a biting wind that made it seem much colder. 

So far this year we have had good days but also heavy rain with flood watches, wind and yesterday our first snow. We didn’t leave the house.  The high was 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and the low tonight will be 27.  Below it shows you what we are expecting for the next eight days.  I just had a pop-up on my iPad. We are now under a winter advisory until 10.a.m. tomorrow.  However, on Wednesday it is going to be sunny.  We were told before that was going to be a snow day. Weather will always be unpredictable.

We like to take a short video on our outings.  It’s fun to look at them years later.  Next time I will share a few flowers and plants. Some were still blooming, though looking a bit worn out. A nice splash of color though considering the time of year.

I hope you are staying warm in your part of the world, 

or if it is very hot, staying cool.

SHORT VIDEO OF GREGG AND DENISE....

on the Pine Island Audubon Center Nature Trail.

YESTERDAY....

we never did get as far as Skyline Drive but we did go to the Manassas Civil War Battlefield.  I will share a few photos below and do a longer post later.  There isn't a lot of time before we go out.  It was a pretty day as you can see below, and the sun is shining so need to get out and enjoy it.  We have a couple of errands to run before we head towards the mountains.

We stopped at the Visitor Center first. 

Below you can see Gregg and Bill walking over to Stonewall Jackson's Statue....

and here they are right next to it.

Jackson is sitting on his beloved war horse Little Sorrel.

A close up of the stone in the above photo.

I couldn't help but stop and say hello to this little fellow.  He was lovely and after checking with his owner this sweet little dog was very friendly and enjoyed a bit of fussing.  I had taken this photo far off and cropped it.  

We ended up having my birthday meal at a Thai restaurant relatively close to home.  It was a very nice way to end the day, and I was happy to have Bill there to help celebrate.  One of the staff took our photo.

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - 5-2-17 - NAPA VALLEY

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017

Gregg's sister drove us to Napa Valley today, where she treated us to a wine tasting and tour at Palmaz Vineyards.  She only lives a couple of hours away and has been there several times, with her husband when he is not working, occasionally on her own and also with family and friends.  Her favorite is Palmaz Vineyards, and I can see why.  It was a fascinating experience.  We were given a tour by a charming young man.  The winery is 18 floors underground and the building is built into the mountain. (Its owner, Julio Palmaz, is a doctor who invented the stent. He had a heart attack when he was 71 and it saved his life.   You can read his biography here.)

The tour came first and it was amazing.  The central feature of the winery was based on the old Roman concept that the best way to crush grapes was to use the force of gravity.  

We took the elevator to different floors, and were shown the fermentation room where 24 large vats were placed around a circular room.  He showed us a map of the property highlighting the 24 unique soil types present, and the 24 unique grapes growing on each of the soil types.  These end up in those 24 vats. On the concave ceiling above us there were projected statistics and visual data of each vat, state of the art that looked like something out of a science fiction movie.  

We walked through long tunnels full of wine barrels. The wood for the barrels comes from France and are assembled in California.  By doing it that way they could ship more wood at a more economical price. Along one of the tunnels was a bottling room where we were introduced to several of the staff.  The machinery used for the bottling process was surprisingly small.   However, giving the limited distribution of the wine, there was no need for anything larger.  Unfortunately, you won't find this wine in any store, and the distribution to restaurants is limited to just a few states.  The primary customer base for the wine are those people who join their wine club like my sister-in-law. 

  

The wine tasting came next where we we were taken to a room and treated to a selection of six delicious wines.  I couldn't remember each one so went to their website and found what you see below, though they do vary at times.  

Palmaz Vineyards Riesling "Louise"

Palmaz Vineyaards Chardonnay "Amalia"

Palmaz Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Current Vintage

Palmaz Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Select Library Release

Palmaz Vineyards Muscat Canelli "Florencia"

As we drank from each glass of wine we were told its history. Before we moved on to the next glass, we ate an hors d'oevre, also explained to us.  Placed behind our selection of wines was the hors d'oevre plate, and each delectable delight was a tiny work of art.  (On the wall is a projected photo of the Palmaz Family.)

Here are a few photos taken in the wine tasting room.

One interesting fact we learned was that many of the winemakers in Napa Valley are female, including the lady we met at Palmaz as we toured the tunnels.  He explained that the palate of a woman is more refined in general.  Well, there you go!

I was very impressed with our host.  He was excellent throughout this experience, very warm, friendly and polite.  At the end of our tour, as Gregg and my sister-in-law were talking to him, I excused myself to take some photos, and I thanked him very much.  I expected that to be the last of it but then as I had taken several photos, I turned around and realized he was waiting for me so that he could say a last goodbye.  He shook my hand warmly and said that he had hoped I had enjoyed myself.  I assured him I had, beyond measure.  

If you go to this page on YouTube you will be able to view several short videos on the vineyard.

I noticed that at the end of each line of vines, rose bushes are planted.  Not only do they look extremely pretty but they are put there for a reason.  If a sickness attacks the vines, the roses become infected first.  If the roses become unhealthy, then they know whatever is affecting them will attack the vines next.  This gives them time to doctor the vines before they too are infected.  

There are also falcons used to protect the vines, a scarecrow of sorts.  They are used as a deterrent to keep away the large flocks of birds, (such as the starlings mentioned in this article) who love to feed on the grapes as they ripen.  You can read about them here.

I was quite sorry to see the end of the tour as it was memorable.

We finished our trip to Napa Valley with a lovely meal at a restaurant called Bouchon Bistro.   

It was another very enjoyable experience.  We ate a delicious meal at one of the outside tables.  In the top left is Gregg's chicken dish, top right I had ordered rainbow trout, and the bottom two photos shows my sister-in-law's escargot encased in puff pastry and a small cheese platter.

In the photo below the waiter can just be seen on the left, clearing off our table which was next to the wall and out of sight.

When finished Gregg and I were sitting on a bench nearby and an Englishman started talking to us.  He was employed at the restaurant, one of the managers.  We had a very pleasant conversation and he told us he was from London-by-the-Sea (Brighton and Hove).

It is 6.27 p.m. and after a long but exceedingly enjoyable day Gregg is tired, I am tired. I think we will be going to bed early tonight.  

We are off to Monterey again tomorrow with my sister-in-law.  We are going to the Aquarium.