Berkeley Plantation

Some years back I made plans for my husband and I to drive across the James River and on to Berkeley Plantation to celebrate our anniversary. After our move to Virginia we had not visited any of the James River Plantations and I thought this was a good start.

There is a long drive leading up to the main house. I love drives like this, framed by tall trees. In my mind's eye I see carriages drawn by sleek, dark horses carrying ladies in long, frilly dresses and umbrellas.  It's an era that holds my imagination.

Our anniversary is on Dec 10th and it was pretty chilly that day but we had fun going through the house

and exploring the grounds.

 Our anniversary lunch was in the little restaurant and we sat eating a delicious meal while watching squirrels cavort about the yard and feeding from the various feeders.

I'd like to give you a little of the history of Berkeley.

It was at this site that the FIRST Thanksgiving was held in the year 1619, before the one at Plymouth, Mass.

This was the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It also was the home of the 9th President, William Henry Harrison, 'Old Tippecanoe Harrison'.

During the Civil War  the house served as the Headquarters and Supply Base for McClellan's Union Army. President Lincoln came to review the 140,000 Union soldiers. It was here that a young man composed 'Taps', the bugle song played at military funerals.

One of the young soliders was a drummer boy by the name of John Jamieson. He evidently took a liking to the plantation for in 1907 he bought the property and began restoration on the house and surrounding land. It is now a historic site and Elbert and I thoroughly enjoyed our anniversary there.

This is linked to Our World Tuesday. For other interesting places to see please visit the site at http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/

'N'ext letter

                                                        N stands for Navigate

                                         Some of my guys (left to right: John, Michael, Elbert
                                          and Christopher) navigating the rapids in Tennessee

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                                                      N stands for Newbold-White House

The Newbold-White House in North Carolina. Very old, very interesting.

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N stands for Niece

We had a wonderful visit from our sweet niece

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N stands for Night

The night sky (and a full moon) over Rye, New York

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N stands for Nourishment

Yummy food on my kitchen counter

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N stands for Nutcracker

My granddaughter as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the 'Nutcracker'

My World is a foggy world

You never know what you will find when you least expect it!! Take a trip my daughter and I made across the James River on a ferry recently. The drive over was filled with fall leaves, old farmhouses, huge fields that had been harvested and some that had not. Lovely countryside and a joy always as we go from home to Williamsburg.

Just as you approach the landing dock at the ferry you drive around a curve and down a hill. Before us lay this scene...........

The river was socked in with fog. You could barely see the ferry as it nears the landing dock.

It's getting closer, we can see it more clearly now, sort of. Soon we will board and head across the river. How will the pilot get us across safely? I am sure he has his ways.

Halfway across the span of water the fog has lifted enough for us to see the eagle on the piling. He sits there a lot, just waiting and watching as the ferry steams by.

We near the other shore. The pilot blows his loud horn, then again. What's up... he doesn't usually do that. It is then that Shirley and I notice a fishing boat sitting in front of us, right in the path of the ferry. He doesn't move. The pilot comes on the PA and announces that he must move, that he is in a marked channel.... the boat does not move. The guy just keeps throwing that line out over the side of his boat. So, the ferry swings hard right, then hard left to go around that dumb fisherman. We were so close to the landing the ferry had a difficult time getting back in position for his final approach. What an exciting morning!!

And, that is My World Tuesday... If you'd like to see other interesting places from around the world go to http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/

pictures courtesy of my daughter, Shirley. Guess where my camera was!!! Home

Mmmmm

                                                            M stands for marching

Midshipmen marching onto the field at the Naval Academy. A sight to touch your heart.

M stands for Market

Here I am (in the black & white jacket) shopping at Graysons, my favorite farmers market

M stands for Midshipmen

Okay, I already did midshipmen! But those young men give so much for all of us. They deserve all the recognition they can get.

M stands for Monument

My Mother and step-dad standing in front of the Alabama monument at Gettysburg battlefield.

M stands for Morse code

Elbert was a radioman in the U. S. Navy and he knew the Morse code until the last few months before he died. Here he is showing our son how to use a code key at the Pony Express Museum in St. Jo, Mo.

M stands for Mice

Years and years ago I made these cute little church mice out of grey felt. I dressed them in red choir robes covered with white lace over the robe and they are holding little song books. They still come out to 'sing' every Christmas.

M stands for mushroom

You can't imagine what I had to climb over to get a shot of this mushroom. It was too cute to pass up.

Smokey, our dog

I've never been much of a dog person. I like my cats, but dogs... nope. But, it's not what you like that matters when you have children. Elbert had been at sea for months and the kids missed their Dad so when I had an opportunity to get them a dog I did what was best for my children!!

Queenie was a small dog. The man that she belonged to said she was a miniature German Shephard but I don't think he knew what he was talking about. And, I didn't know one dog from the next. I just knew that she was the pet for Michael and Shirley.

Time passed and Queenie gave birth to some puppies. We kept two, a fuzzy fur ball called Albert and a sleek little dude we named Smokey.

(Michael is holding Smokey, Shirley is holding Albert)

When it came time for the family to leave California we could only take one dog. There were two adults, a teenager and 3 younger children packed into that car already, along with suitcases and other paraphenalia. One dog could go. We chose Smokey, our son's puppy. Albert would have to be left behind. We moved from Concord, Ca. in 1964.  and we still hear from our daughter about how we left Albert behind!! She was unhappy little girl.

(Michael playing with Smokey in my Mother's yard)

In 1969 Elbert retired and we moved to Alabama to a farm. Smokey never strayed from the house and he and Michael were the best of buddies.

(This picture was made in the late 1970s - just look at that face!)

 One day we could not find Smokey. We looked everywhere, for days, no Smokey. A week passed, then two. One Sunday, when we returned home from church, there was Smokey. He never told us where he had been but neighbors about 2 or 3 miles away said they saw him limping homeward. Someone had taken him from our yard. As he tried to find his way home someone had shot him in the leg and he never walked on that leg again. He even had his own newspaper coverage telling about his big adventure and misadventure. (Click on article to make it large enough to read)

Eventually we had to have Smokey put to sleep. He was laid to rest atop the bluff where he and Michael had spent so many happy hours. He was about 12 years old.

Rainy Day Comfort

It's a rainy day today and the powers that be say it's going to turn cooler.

So, on a rainy day I decided to have a cup of hot tea with my breakfast. Just regular tea with a tad of sugar and I'm drinking it out of the cup from my set of 'Fresh Fruit' dishes from Franciscan Dinnerware.

My hunger pangs were bigger than my tummy this morning.... what was I thinking when I cooked all this food?

I am feeling great this morning, planning for the upcoming holidays.

I have been thinking about going to my grandson and his wife's house for Thanksgiving. For years, as a mother you cook big meals for holidays and the family comes pouring in. Now, as a grandmother, I get to enjoy our family, all the children, grandchildren and great-grands. How sweet is that!

My thought for the day is this:

'It were better far to sail forever in the night of blindness, with sense  and feeling and mind, than to be thus content with the mere act of seeing. They have the sunset, the morning skies, the purple of distant hills, yet their souls voyage through this enchanted world with a barren stare'.

taken from 'The World I Live In' by Helen Keller.


If you love tea and friendship please join Ruth over at http://celebratefriendship-ruth.blogspot.com/

Ls in my life.

L stands for Lake

Lake Sylvan was created in 1881 when a dam was built across Sunday Gulch in the Custer State Park in South Dakota.

L stands for Lighthouse

The Sankaty Lighthouse in Nantucket went into service in 1850. If you look closely you will see me, Elbert and granddaughter Brittany standing in front of it.

L stands for Limousine

Daughter Susan entering the limousine at her wedding in Vermont.

L stands for Lions Club

Hubby Elbert was a member of the Boldo, Alabama Lions Club for several years. These are his Lions Club hats

L stands for Little Jerusalem

The real name of this site is Ave Maria Grotto and is located at St. Bernard College in Cullman, Alabama. The 125 replicas of shrines from over the world was built by Brother Joseph Zoetti, a Benedictine Monk. It's quite amazing to see the intricate detail Brother Zoetti put in each piece. It is commonly called 'Little Jerusalem'

L stands for Little White House

This summer vacation spot of Franklin D. Roosevelts is located in Warm Springs, Georgia. My sister and I went on a 'girls' trip to see it and nearby Calloway Gardens.

L stands for Lobster

You gotta remember that we are from Alabama and Elbert and I never had seafood growing up. Once he was in the Navy we learned to enjoy it restaurant style, already cooked. One day we get this large box from our daughter and it was marked lobster!! I could hear them crawling around in there. Scared me to death. I was not even going to open that box, much less cook the darn things. Next door grandson comes to the rescue. He came over and cooked them for us. He brought over steaks, too, so that he and his parents and Elbert and me could feast on such fine food!! But, don't send me any more live lobsters, please. Grandson might not be available next time.

Veterans Day

Our Veterans Day this year is 11.11.11. World War I, also known as "The Great War, ended when an armistice between the Allied Nations and Germany was signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. November 11, 1918 became known as the end of "the war to end all war."

Veterans Day has been set aside to honor veterans from that war and many wars since. I'd like to honor my husband who served for 22 years in the U. S. Navy.

He enlisted in the Navy in 1948 and fought in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

                                                           Picture made in 1948
                                                            San Diego, California

Chief Willie Elbert Barton abt. 1963

Lt. Barton at the U. S. Naval Academy  1965

Laid to rest

May God bless you always and God bless the U.S.A.