Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Beach & The B'urg

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"Together" has been the theme for 2020, so we thought we'd just relocate for some more togetherness.

A blast from Mom's past, Margaret and Matthew have fallen in love with the Cheese Shop's House Dressing, which we affectionately refer to as "Dody Sauce" since she seems to magically appear with it when we see her:-) 


 

 


 

A brief stop in chilly and windy Williamsburg for Cheese Shop lunch and to say hello to Sir Christopher Wren, we were quickly off to the beach. 

                                          Still chilly, but beautiful!

In our rental house, thankful for Legos while we watched the Banff Mountain Film Festival.  COVID pro?  Michael and Andrew usually go to the big screen for the Festival for Andrew's birthday, but we all got to watch this year with no public viewings. 

And it was nothing short of 

And it was nothing short of fascinating to watch a blind man summit
the Old Man of Hoy in Scotland - Can you see the tower on the TV?  The trailer will leave you in awe! 


The USS Wisconsin docked in Norfolk is quite this site this COVID holiday!  The popular ship tour was sold out before we'd even learned of it, but walking around it bathed in a stunning sunset was absolutely worth it.   












A warmer day, we enjoyed a few runs on the beach, some football and lacrosse. 

Penny's first experience with waves, she never tired of chasing seagulls into the water! 

Sweet Molly hadn't seen waves, either, since Andrew was a baby and we camped with friends at Nebraska's Lake McConaughy.  No longer up for the bird chase, she was happy to sweetly greet each passer-by.

 

Likely the one and only time they "beach" together....if for no other reason, that yes.  Even if the house allows pets, it's still a royal pain to have dogs at the beach.  It's.just.a.mess.

 

Our first morning was calm as glass.  Our last morning, we enjoyed waves as big and aggressive as a mid-summer afternoon.



Back in Williamsburg on the way home, they indulged me as I searched for the famous blue ribbon door winners on Duke of Gloucester Street.  Yep, that's a wreath!




                       

                             Beautiful Bruton Parish Episcopal Church

 

The Governor's Palace

So sad that even jail is closed:-(



LOVED the eggs!



 

The peacock feathers were gorgeous! 


 

One of my favorites.


Still cannot believe they paved DoG St.:-(





It never gets old visiting my old stomping grounds, old as they are.  Looking forward to a post-COVID trip (perhaps with two dear friends who will both have freshman there next year!). 

"...William & Mary loved of old.
Hark upon the gale,
Hear the thunder of our chorus
Alma Mater - Hail....

God, our Father, hear our voices
Listen to our cry;
Bless the college of our fathers,
Let her never die."

 


Friday, December 25, 2020

Christmas

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"Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God." 

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!


With God, there are no coincidences. I was no aware, yet never the less surprised that the "Christmas Star" was visible in 2020----on December 21, the Longest Night of the year, no less---for the first time in some 800 years. Our conditions were not favorable in C'ville to see Jupiter and Saturn do their thing, but friends with good binoculars reported they could see rings! Regardless, it seemed like well-timed HOPE this year.

 
Posted December 23, 10 years ago (though taken when she was a youngster still able to hike Colorado's 14-er's), Daisy was one of the best and will, in all likelihood, be re-united with sweet Molly sometime this year. We love our sweet Springers for a good 16 years!

Because of the beautiful wreath Margaret and Matthew made at Olivet, we may have started a new tradition this year. We used our Advent Wreath as our center piece, so thought we'd do Advent in the dining room, which worked quite well being adjacent to the piano room! Mom began with our usual Advent scripts from her SC church growing up (dated 1984) and Dad concluded reading excerpts from Luke 2. Neither Margaret nor Matthew set the house on fire while lighting the five candles and Andrew pulled up the rear with "Joy to the World!".





Seemed fitting to complete our "6th man" with the olive wood nativity set that Laura and Robert gave us as a wedding present more than 15 years ago!


 

Mmm, the boys LOVE bacon wrapped scallops (and tenderloin tomorrow night!). Margaret loves bacon.


The only nice thing about COVID was not running around on Christmas Eve trying to sneak in traditions in between services. We were able to have dinner at a reasonable hour, "watch" church when it suited, and read the Grinch as soon as we delighted. This year's surprise? Margaret read nearly the whole stink, stank, stunk story!



And then...it was Christmas morn.

Apparently stocking stuffers from Michigan's Cherry Republic were the biggest hit!!!

A microphone?!?! Because sweet-pea needs to be ANY louder?!?!
 
FOOS-BALL!!!!!  "This was on my Google Doc!"
 

 

Awe, Grogu...

Teaching Mom how Grogu "uses The Force".

An Air Rifle to add to our collection for our Meadow adventures!

Ending the day, again, with the peace that only Christ can provide.

"Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God." 

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!