Big Blizzard

Last Saturday it snowed all day. Cheryl picked me up and I went to their house for several hours. Sunday and Monday I was snowed in. I did not feel like digging out my car and was hoping the snow would melt it. No such luck--it was just too cold. Tuessday I dug out the snow that the snow plow had blocking my car and ran errands. Last night (Christmas) it rained and melted most of the remaining snow. The ground below is now green again and the deer can find food.

They say it was one of DC's worst storms. Faith missed three days of school and the metro system was down, too. David had to work in DC, however. His new position required it even though Monday most Federal offices were closed. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I was at Cheryl's---just six of us. David's. Dad and step-mom were the only other guests, but we got in a nice visit.

BIG STORM COMING

The picture shows the storm that came through in March 2009. That is looking out at my car.
Today they are prediciting one of the biggest storms in years. I have Bible study this morning and then I will go to Cheryl's and make sure I have everything I need for at least two days in my place.

Starting tonight I will be trapped! I went to the library and got a lot of books. Maybe by Sunday evening David can come pick me up so we can have our first meal in their new kitchen.
However, with the storm and all the snow I'm not sure if they can get all their stuff out of the storage container on Saturday as planned. Both Cheryl and David love the snow---they are probably thinking this is fun.

Faith visits Santa

Faith wanted to see Santa this year. I'm thinking it may be her last time.

She will be ten in May.

Happy Thanksgiving

David's Birthday Trip

David's birthday was Oct. 10th. They had to work on the house remodel that day, but the next day we drove to the Chesapeake side of Maryland to St. Michaels. We took a 90 min. ride on boat up the Miles River looking at the houses of the rich and famous. The town was all decked out for fall and the weather could not have been more perfect. We drove up to Chestertown to spend the night and toured that area the next day before heading home. A very nice weekend.

More pictures can be found at: http://peggy41.shutterfly.com/330

New pets at Cheryl's house

Faith got a couple or rats---as if they needed more pets at that house. They started with one but Cheryl felt it needed company and so now there are two. Both are males---so there should not be anymore.

Waterford Fair---Virginia

Well, Cheryl and I enjoyed the fair last year so much we wanted to make it an annual event. So, last Friday we went back again. This time we knew what to expect and so we planned our day a little better. The home tours are great, but because the homes are so small they only let about 8-12 people in at a time and it takes up most of your day just seeing the homes. We got in line for the homes first thing---plus we planned our arrival for the starting time of 10 am. We still only toured four of the five homes open that day.

The craftsmen that have exhibits are extremely high quality. Neither of us could afford most of the items, but just looking at them was fun. The woodcarver above had items that started in the hundreds of dollars up to the many thousands for Noah's Ark with animals.

After seeing a lot of homes over two years, we decided that next year we will use the time to enjoy more of the vendors and exhibits. You really need two days to see everything thoroughly, but there are no two day tickets and it is $15 per person per day to get in. We will just do it in stages.

For more pictures, see my slideshow at: http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=peggy41&page=peggy41&album=236

Hungry Goat

Beautiful Saturday

Last Saturday was beautiful and the goats were out grazing on the lawn. They like to eat the leaves from the trees.

Faith Gets A New Pet

His name is Depereaux. I call him DP for shot. Rats like to be handled,

so a perfect pet for Faith. The cats seem willing to accept him (at

least so far), Remember to click on the picture to enlarge it!

Guinea Hens

These are the three guinea hens we got to keep the tick population down at Cheryl's. They have to be kept penned up for six weeks to acclimate themselves to her yard and then you let them free range.

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

Here is a map of the museum, gardens, and house (remember, you and click on the picture to enlarge it). We loved this place in Winchester, VA.

Road Trip

Faith was at her other grandma's last week for a few days and Cheryl and I took advantage of that and went into Virginia and down towards the Shenandoah Valley. We stopped along the way at Middleburg (hoity toity town) and looked in some shops and had lunch. We took small back roads and drove through some beautiful countryside. We got into our destination town of Winchester mid afternoon and hit the tourist center. We watched a video and picked up brochures and maps and since it was too late to hit our main attraction we hit a few more stores and walked their beautiful historic downtown area.

It was 6 pm by the time we got to our hotel and got checked in. We were tired and just ran to the nearby KFC for dinner and then came back and watched a little TV until we hit the sack at 9:30 pm. The hotel had a great breakfast and we were up and gone by 9 am. We hit Walmart before heading

to the Museum of the Shenandoan Valley They opened at 10 am and we got the first garden and house tour. Then we had lunch in the tea room and did the beautiful new museum for another two hours. (no pictures allowed in the house and museum)

Time to head back towards home (only two hours away), but we took a different route through more small towns and stopped and shopped in Purceville and Leesburg. By then I was exhausted and it was 5 pm and we were still about one hour from home. I would like to go down Skyline Drive in the fall. The area is just so beautiful and there is so much to see. I have to do it just a little at a time.

We had a great time. It was only 165 miles round trip, but we really needed the two days in order to putter around whenever we saw a store we thought looked interesting.

I tried to put paragraphs in this post, but although they show up in the preview, they don't in the post.

Sorry.

Antietam Pictures

The battle here was the bloodiest single day battle in American History. There were 23,000 casulaties that day. The site now consists of beautiful farm land and you can tour the well marked sites of the battle.

We stopped at a few other places and those pictures are included in this slideshow.

For more pictures from that day click on this link:

http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=peggy41&page=peggy41&album=168

A day trip to Antietam National Park

Friday was a beautiful day (temperature in low 80's in

the afternoon). We decided to go to Antietnam National Park

and to Shepherstown in West Virginia. It is a really beautiful

drive and only about one hour away. We stopped in Boonesboro

to see Nora Roberts new restored old hotel there as we drove

right through the town on our way.

We took a picnic lunch with us and found a beautiful spot in

the park under some huge old shade trees where we had lunch.

I'll post more pictures of the park later. I'd like to go back in

the fall when the trees are turning color, too.

Faith at the Beach

Mother Deer with Fawns

I saw something running around below my condo and when I looked

I realized it was a fawn, not a dog. Then I saw the mother and another

fawn. I ran down downstairs to a window in the lobby where I

could see and get better pictures. They only stayed about five

minutes.

Click this link to see more shots:

http://peggy41.shutterfly.com/157

A Little Humor to Start Your Day

This is an e-mail I got today and thought I would share with you:

A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax....OH MY GOD! Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier. While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!".

A passenger in coach yelled "Thant's nothing, You should see the back of mine!"

Faith

Faith got some headbands for her hair the other day and she

looks so different with this new hair style.

A Day in The Country

Cheryl, Faith and I headed out into the country to the oldest

continuously operating store in Montgomery County. We needed

to buy something to treat chicken mites and this was the only

store around that stocked it. You can find more pictures if you

click this link to a slideshow posted on another site:

http://peggy41.shutterfly.com/130

White Water Rafting

To see a slideshow of other pictures taken while Jim, Lisa,

and the kids went white water rafting, on the Kings River,

just click on this link:

http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=peggy41&page=peggy41&album=117

Baby on Board

Faith gets to feed a baby.

One of Cheryl's friends is fostering a 3 1/2 month old baby.

She bought her by to show Cheryl and Faith got a chance

to hold and feed her.

Racoon Tracks

Cheryl has racoons in her yard that she feeds on a regular basis.

We found these clear pawprints after a rainstorm.

A Beautiful Sunday

For more pictures of Cheryl's yard, click on this link:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/573378712LiPFmk

Another trip to Luckett's Store

This is the cute Marc Train Station in Point of Rocks, MD.

I drive by it on the way to Luckett's Store. I always wanted

to stop and take a picture and this time I did.

To see all the goodies I admired at the store, just

click on this link which take you to a slideshow.

http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/573358951gRLzdD

The "Little House" grows up!

Cheryl's House

A professional crew came and installed the waterproof layer on

the roof on Wednesday. Some company donated the time of his

crew and the materials. They were super fast. Done in less

than two hours.

Metro Crash was on my line

The line I ride into DC is the red line. They still do not
have the trains running normally on this line. I had ridden
into DC when Jan was visiting on June 4th. Hopefully
they will have it operating normally in August when I
will be going into DC again.

Yeah, the roof trusses are up!

American Eagle In Action

My friend, Linda, took these shots while on vacation in Maine.
I thought they were amazing and wanted to share them with you.

Old Photos of Faith

Chicken Trivia

Construction Update at Cheryl's

After receiving over 1 1/2 inches of rain in two days there
was a break in the weather and they removed the tarp and
started putting up the walls on the second floor.

Thought for the Day

Faith has been taking some singing lessons and they put on a

little performance to show the parents what they had learned.

Grandpa Shive was in town to help with the construction on

their house so he went to watch the show and took us all out

to dinner afterward.

Dave at Work

Cheryl took some pictures of Dave over the course of the

construction so far. He will have a whole new set of

skills by the time construction is done.

My Home Sweet Home

Jan was here visiting for a week and I utilized her decorating talents.

She helped me pick out the picture and rug shown in this shot. I've

been looking for those items for almost a year. Home Goods is where

we scored these purchases.

Cheryl's house is a major mess now. They are
living in the basement downstairs in very tight
quarters. All the rain we have been having has
delayed a lot of the construction work. The
entire house is covered with tarps.

I came across this quote I liked and decided to put it with
one of my favorite pictures from a garden tour I was on
several years ago.

Remember---you can enlarge the photo just by clicking on it!

Wild Rose Bush

Animals seen at Cheryl's House Sunday

The bunny was right near where we were sitting watching the

chickens search for worms. Cheryl says he lives in that part

of their yard and they see him all the time. The small turtle

she spotted in the stream. It is a baby snapping turtle. She

put him back near the drainpipe that goes under the road

hoping he would move down the stream into the open

forest area. Adult snapping turtles are dangerous---they

have a terrible bite.

Faith's Slumber Party

Faith Turns Nine

Faith had a coupon for a free hamburger at

Red Robin, plus they gave her a free Sunday.

She is saving up for her Nintendo DS.

Construction Update