Sunday Stealing: 2016

From Sunday Stealing

This Year Meme (2016)

This Year:
A bad habit I'm going to break: eating too much.

A new skill I'd like to learn: how to draw.

A person I'd like to be more like: my friend Teresa. Or Elizabeth Roosevelt. It's a toss-up.

A good deed I'm going to do: keep an eye on the leaders of my community.

A place I'd like to visit: a hobbit hole.

A book I'd like to read: The Silmarillion by J R R Tolkien

A letter I'm going to write: one to myself for when I'm 60.

A new food I'd like to try: I wouldn't mind going through an entire cookbook trying every recipe, if someone could recommend a healthy and easy one.

I'm going to do better at: watching my mood swings.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

 

Saturday 9: Sleigh Ride

Saturday 9: Sleigh Ride (1993)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Have you ever ridden in a sleigh?

A. I think when I was very, very young. It's a vague memory. Maybe more dream than actual memory.

2) This recording is from Harry Connick Jr's best-selling CD, When My Heart Finds Christmas. This year, did you add any new holiday songs to your personal collection?

A. I did not.

3) Harry was born and raised in New Orleans, a city that seldom sees snow. Have you had enough snow to shovel so far this winter?

A. Southwestern Virginia had its warmest December on record, with temperatures going above 70 degrees at times. So no snow. At least not yet.

4) Speaking of weather, Harry hosted a mini-series on The Weather Channel called 100 Biggest Weather Moments. Do you frequently check The Weather Channel?

A. Not frequently, but if there is something going on I will take a look.

5) Harry's mother was a very impressive woman -- a lawyer, judge and Louisiana Supreme Court justice. Tell us about someone in your family of whom you're very proud.

A. My husband is a very accomplished man, though he would never admit it. He has only a high school degree but is a Battalion Chief in the city fire department. He oversees eight fire stations and has the lives of about 50 men on his hands when he is at work. He is also a farmer and a building contractor. He works terribly hard at all three of his jobs. I am quite proud of him.

Welcome to the first Sat 9 of 2016

6)  Happy New Year! Now that Christmas is over, are you done with holiday music and decorations? Or are you sad to see the holidays end?

A. I am glad to see them over and gone.

7) The New Year's Eve fireworks celebration in Sydney, Australia is famous for coordinating pyrotechnics and music. Have you ever welcomed the New Year in another country?

A. I generally don't even welcome the New Year in my own country - I go to bed and sleep right through midnight.

8) Do you have any New Year's Resolutions for 2016?

A. Not yet. I don't know if I will have any.

9) Looking back on 2015, what surprised you?

A. That I stopped writing for a living. I thought I would be doing that for another 20 years or so. But for once I actually listened to my doctor and have been attempting to de-stress (it isn't working yet).

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Welcome 2016

 

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thursday Thirteen - New Year's Eve

So another year over, another year gone! A new one beginning at the break of dawn. Farewell 2015, welcome 2016 - may all of your hearts be light with joy and prosperity.

I'm late today getting to Thursday 13 - my computer decided this morning to go down and it took some time to get it back (and then the power went out while I was in the middle of writing this). Perhaps one of the worst things, for me, about 2015 has been Windows 10. It has certainly taken up a lot of energy and time that I really didn't have to give.

But onward and upward, as they say. And then with it being New Year's Eve, what will I write about today?

1. So far, I have not made any resolutions for the New Year. I've not thought about it at all.


Has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

2. Some years I choose a power word, but I haven't done that, either. I think if I choose one, it might HEALTHY. But I'm still thinking on it.

3. Yesterday, as the year came to a close, I found that my health is still bad enough that I am still unable to go out and "do" a story as a news reporter. In the effort, I learned that I really don't want to go do them anymore, actually, which was a revelation. I thought I'd never stop wanting to do that but its allure has vanished. Maybe that's because of my health but I think instead maybe I've just grown apart from it. So I think I will be spending 2016 figuring out what it is I want to do with the next five years of my life.

Hollins University. Also nothing to do with this post.

4. I also reaffirmed something yesterday that I already knew - I really don't fit in. I'm an introvert, and while I need an occasional outing, I am not good in groups. That is why being a news reporter worked for me for 30 years. I could be involved yet not be involved. I sat on the sidelines and watched, and then provided information for others. It was a way to teach but not actually stand in front of a classroom.

5. My next phase of life should involve something sort of like #4 - a way to work but not be overly involved. Volunteering has always sounded good and I have done it in the past, but for unknown (at least to me) reasons I tend to rise to the top of the groups. I find myself being nominated for office. Then I am named Secretary or Press Relations or some such, when really all I want to do is attend the meetings, meet and greet, and leave. I have been known to drop out of organizations after being pressed by one person or another to take a leadership role. I don't mind selling the hot dogs but I don't want to be the one organizing the fair.

Trillium. Blooms in April. Also nothing to do with this post.

6. It would be nice to spend more time with friends and family. I am not actually expecting that to happen. Everyone has their lives.

7. Perhaps I should learn something new - take some free classes, or set up my own version of a course in something I'm interested in and watch lots of TED talks or YouTube videos or whatever I can find on the subject. That might be fun.

Bear photographed in 2009. And nothing to do with this post.

8. Maybe, given all the issues I have had with Windows 10, I should take computer programming. :-)

9. Coloring is something I hope to do a lot of. Several people gave me coloring books for Christmas. Very nice books, about mythical places or fairy forests or wizardry. Fantasy elements that interest me. I find it meditative so one thing I plan to do is clear a spot in my office where I can do that daily.

Black swan, 2010. Also nothing to do with this post.

10. This is not a resolution but a must: I need to stay on top of our bookkeeping records better.

11. It would be nice if we could have world peace and hope, but I don't see it coming. I will hope, though, that in 2016 people can be less afraid and a little nicer.

Rainbow 2011. Also nothing to do with this post.

12. Laughter and music are good sounds, ones that I need to hear more of.

13. And I'm looking forward to Downton Abby.


Happy New Year! Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 425th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Christmas Day 2015

Christmas Day is generally spent with my in-laws.

My sister-in-law (left) and my mother-in-law preparing snacks.

 

The prodigal nephew comes home. We weren't expecting him; he said he had to work but showed up. A pleasant and lovely surprise.

 

My husband apparently pontificating on some important point. That's nephew Chris on the right.

 

 

Mother-in-law's Christmas tree.

 

The opening of the packages.

 

More package opening.

 

My husband had wrapped this parcel in duct tape.

 

The remains of the day.

 


A little food porn to finish it off. Christmas dinner!

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve is when I held an open house of sorts and folks, generally family, dropped by.

Here are some photos of the day:

Table ready for guests.

 

How I hid my treadmill.

 

My tree for 2015.

 

Packages and decorations on the other side of the room.

 

How I decorated the fireplace.

 

My friend Teresa brought me this lovely painting on Christmas Eve. Didn't she do a fantastic job?

 

My aunt, Carolyn.

 


My husband, apparently eating.



My brother.
 




My brother and his son, Trey.




My father.



Shannon and Rita.

 

Shannon, Rita, and Eunice (my mother-in-law).

Missing from the photos because apparently I didn't pick up the camera while they were there: my sister-in-law, Dina, my niece, Zoe, and her boyfriend, and Shannon's boyfriend, Chris.

Sunday Stealing: Year End

From Sunday Stealing

The 2015 Year End Meme

From the archives!

1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?

A. I stopped working and writing (for pay). I've never deliberately done that before. I have always had a job of some kind.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

A. I didn't make any resolutions last year. I don't know if I will make any for 2016.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

A. No.

4. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2015?

A. I learned that most people do not change.

5. What was your favorite new TV program?

A. Supergirl!

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

A. Better health.

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

A. Can't really think of any dates. I had nice visits with friends for which I am grateful, but I don't know the dates they occurred. Wait, we had a nice trip to Charleston in the fall. That'll do.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

A. I went from only being able to manage 2 minutes on the treadmill before it bent me over double with pain to 25 minutes before the pain forced me off. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it really is.

9. What was your biggest failure?

A. Diet.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

A. A coloring book.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?

A. My husband has been very good and kind while I've tried to get more healthy and overcome this weird disability I have acquired.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted?

A. Donald Trump. I'm sorry, but he is a mean bully.

13. What song will always remind you of 2015?

A. I don't really know. Maybe that Adele song, Hello.

14. What do you wish you’d done more of?

A. Writing and guitar-playing.

15. What do you wish you’d done less of?

A. Playing video games on the computer.

16. What was the best book you read?

A. The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert

17. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?

A. If I had not had to give up my writing work at my doctor's request (it was more like an order).
 
18.  Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

A. 
 

Starry starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

 

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They did not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will.

 

     -- Don McLean

 

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

 

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays!

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives)


1. As you can see, Sam (meme author) loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas?

A. As I recall, I wasn't afraid of him, though I remember that he scared my brother once when he dropped by the house (some friend of my father's, I think). However, I don't recall climbing on his lap every year, though I am sure I must have.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?

A. I hope I'm on the nice list. I mean, the worst thing I do is eat raw cookie dough and cut the tags out pillows.

3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?

A. The one I sent to England to a friend would have gone the longest way. Others went to Florida and California.

4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?

A. Yes. On Black Friday, J C Penny's had a nice warm coat marked down to a ridiculously low price, and I needed a new coat. So I bought it. I then donated my old coats to a church that was collecting coats and blankets for homeless people, since I had a new one.

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie?

A. It's a Wonderful Life.

6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day?

A. Once, a very long time ago, we attempted to see a movie on Christmas day but the theater was closed. That was probably 25 years ago. Haven't been back on Christmas day since.

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party?

A. No. That's mostly because I've been self-employed for the last 20 years.

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather?

A. Hot chocolate.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas.

A. Hmm. Christmas 2014? My aunt did not make it down to see me for the first time in about 15 years, and it wasn't until the New Year that we were able to visit and exchange presents. She brought along her granddaughter, who at 8 years old is the most well-mannered and brightest child I have ever met. She can carry on a conversation better than most adults. My husband and I were very impressed with her.

As for yesterday's Christmas (which was the last Christmas, right, now that it's over?), my nephew who lives in Florida turned up unexpectedly, much to our delight. He'd initially had to work (he's in health care) but his schedule changed so he caught a flight home.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Merry Christmas!

Thursday Thirteen - Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas if you celebrate: Happy Thursday, if you don't!



No snow for us this year. This photo is from 2007.

Christmas Eve has always been the day I look forward to more so than Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is all anticipation and excitement. You can still play "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" or "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," which on Christmas Day you shouldn't do because it's more solemn. At least, it is more solemn once the packages are opened.



Santa from a 2008 parade.

When we were children, my mother used to let my brother and I exchange presents on Christmas Eve as a way to calm us down. I am not sure how old we were when that tradition started, but it is one we have continued almost annually.

I have no words of wisdom for the holiday. Not sure what to list for a Thursday 13, either. We are having extremely warm weather - too warm for making candy and other things that do better in cold weather, that's for sure.


Tree-top Star from 2008

So what to write? A list of things I want? I don't want much, though. World peace, less fighting, more empathy - the things that only humanity can change by changing their hearts. Santa doesn't bring those kinds of things.

How about a list of how naughty I've been? Because we all know I am super-duper bad.

1. I ate raw cookie dough. I know, it is the worst possible sin. I mean, what if that raw egg gets me all messed up? I've only been doing this for as long as I can remember, but I did it just yesterday.

2. Tags do not remain on my pillows. I remove them.

3. Some of my writing earlier in the year was okay. I was proud of it, anyway. I did my best.


My brother in 2007. Has nothing to do with my writing. But he has much to do with Christmas Eve.

4. But then I stopped writing, and became sloth-like, because my doctors wanted me to stop having stress and stuff in hopes I would get better. So I played too many video games.

5. Envy overcame me when I saw the new smart phones. I would really like to have one but I am trapped with an old flip phone. Maybe one of these days.

6.  Unless one can lust over chocolate, I am not sure I experienced this particular sin this year.

7. However, I did eat a lot of chocolate, and while my weight didn't exactly climb, it didn't go down, either - so gluttony, here I am.

O Christmas Tree (2009)

8. I became extremely angry over something or another, but it must not have been overly important because I don't remember the incident. I just know my blood pressure went up.

9. A poor deer jumped into the side of my car. I never did know if it was okay, because it limped off and it was dark and foggy. I hate to hurt animals.



This is not the deer I hit. This is just a pretty picture.

10. I cursed. A lot. Sometimes the foul language flows from my tongue like water being turned to wine. I can make a sailor blush, or a football player faint, or something.

11. I coveted one of my friend's abilities to draw and paint and be a wonderful artist. She does it so effortlessly, like blinking an eye or licking your lips. Doesn't even know she's doing it, just doodling is perfection.

Just a Christmassy photo.

12.  I killed spiders. I am sure I stepped on ants, too, but I know I killed spiders. Great big ugly hairy spiders that we call wood spiders that come out from late September until mid-November. They roam my hallway in my house and are monstrous spiders that make Shelob in Lord of the Rings look like a tiny little baby spider.

13. Last, but not least, I circle back to #4, because I stopped writing almost completely, and that is indeed a bad thing. It is a gift and I am not offering it to the world, because not everyone can write. Some people write better than I, but others do not. We should all do what we are best at.

Not my Christmas lights.

Anyway, happy holidays to you and yours - may your days be blessed.

Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic!

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 425th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Little Christmas Eve

In Norway, Sweden, and neighboring countries in Europe, they call the day before Christmas Eve "Little Christmas Eve." So happy Little Christmas Eve to those who celebrate.

Here is one of Santa's secret helpers checking up on me. I hope I've been good!

Destroying History

The county Board of Supervisors have wasted no time in beginning the destruction of two historic buildings to make way for the "progress" of a shell building which, as far as the public knows, has no company interested in occupying it.

Well, supposedly they are moving them intact to another place, a historic preservation area, on Greenfield. I and many others expect the structures to fall apart when the real effort to remove them is underway. Hopefully we will be wrong and the supervisors will be right.



The structures as viewed from the industrial drive into Greenfield.



These old buildings have been on this high knoll for at least 150 years. The buildings have never been open for public view. The idea is to move them to a historic zone within the industrial park, where a display of some sort might eventually come to fruition.

This has been the plan for 20 years, so I am not holding my breath on the construction of this historic preservation area. During this time, the county did little to protect and preserve these structures, instead leaving most of the buildings exposed to the weather.

 

I am unable to climb the hill to reach the buildings due to a health issues, so I used a zoom to take these shots.

Greenfield was once the home of Colonel William Preston, a Botetourt County statesman and a Revolutionary War hero. These structures that the supervisors are tearing down are pre-Civil War and include a slave dwelling and kitchen.
The Botetourt Center at Greenfield is a 922 acre site the county purchased for $4.5 million in 1995.  The land was divided into an industrial area, a parks and recreation area, and a school area.  The county built Greenfield Elementary School and the Greenfield Education and Training Center in 2000.  The county completed a couple of ball fields and built a $3 million sports complex at the Recreation Center at Greenfield.  Two industries located in the industrial area; one left, so there is one building there for sale. There is also a "pad-ready" site that a business could build a structure upon. It's been available for several years with no takers.



A view from the road. Note the construction vehicles already in place to remove the structures.



When the property was purchased, county officials heard citizens’ concerns about the historic nature of the property and said the historic areas would be protected. A document provided by the county shows that there were several 20th century structures, including a couple of barns, which no longer exist.

The farm was called Greenfield Plantation, named so in 1761. William Preston moved from Greenfield to Drapers Meadows in 1774. He represented Botetourt County in Virginia’s House of Burgess in the 1760s, before there was a United States.  He was a pioneer and a soldier who defended the Virginia frontier during the Revolutionary War.
Preston's son, John, also a Revolutionary War soldier and a Botetourt County statesman, became owner of the Greenfield farm after William Preston and his wife died. The Preston family owned Greenfield through seven generations and sold the land in the late 20th century.

The Greenfield mansion burned in 1959, and it is thought that part of the original log structure existed until that time.

The kitchen that is being torn down measures 16’ by 18’ and faces the southwest wall of the original mansion, which no longer stands.  The slave dwelling is log saddlebag double slave house located west of the house site. It has two log pens which are joined by a stone chimney.  The log walls are exposed on the exterior and chinked with whitewashed red clay.

Part of the structure is protected by an early 20th century porch.

 

The house foundation is the remains of a structure built in the antebellum era.  Historic photographs indicate the structure was a two-story brick dwelling before it burned.  There is also an outbuilding dating back to approximately 1834.

One of the two known cemeteries on the property contains a number of Preston deceased.   Another cemetery has been portioned off with white fence and is said to be the burial grounds for the black servants to the Prestons.

Even though the county has not yet created the Greenfield historic area, the structures being demolished were often visited by folks who venture to Greenfield to walk the fields or the Cherry Blossom Trail.