Easter facts you probably didn't know!

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

This is fun!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 6 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Field Trip for Volunteers

Here is the History of several of the places we visited last Saturday on our Field trip of Henrico County properties. I'll include pictures in a few days.

Happy Birthday Christine

Happy Birthday to Christine! I won't disclose her age, as it would only make me feel old!!!! At any rate, today is her day, and I hope Michelle and Brian have cooked up something exciting for her.

The New Year

The New Year has come and gone with a quiet passing here, but Eric and I are going to a party this evening here in the neighborhood. This couple is from Germany, though they have lived here many years, They are actually one of the first CrossRidge residents we ever spoke to, as they were outside one day when we were driving through and trying to make a decision. Almost three years ago now! We have no idea who will be there, and hope Eric doesn't get buttonholed with HOA questions.

I thought I would share a few family links from Grandma Walter's family. This is the home page for one of my cousin Mary. I saw here when in Portland, and she promised to share pictures with me. Mary and Bert Evens Home Page and Mary and Bert's Christmas letter are here for your enjoyment. Pictures she took during the reunion at Ray and Jo's house are here. One person i didn't see was my cousin David, and he and his son Drew are in this picture. So mom and dad, I hope you enjoy looking through these pictures too!

It's been bitter cold here, as in most of the country. It was 2 8 last night, up from 19 and 16 the two nights before. We are supposed to go up to 69 on Monday, and in the mid 50's today, so we are warming up some. Probably a temporary thaw! We are still very dry, with not much chance of rain till late next week.

Yesterday I visited with Becky a few hours. She has been busy sewing pants for Jake from wool sweaters and knit tops. She is doing great! I played with the kids, and she and Jake took a mini nap, right there on the couch. Zack showed me the in and outs of Webkinz , and Maddie drew for me and told me all about Nutcracker and who danced.

Kleenex and Me

Somehow, somewhere, someone is out to get me. Just when I though I was over my cold, out of the blue another full blown head cold struck yesterday afternoon. One of those weird ones, where one side of you sinuses runs, and the other clogs up. Nasty. I went to bed early, and woke up feeling better, but my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton. Hopefully it won't linger. At least I am caught up on holiday activities.

This past week has been great fun, as Skyler was here visiting. Her Cone grandparents brought her by plane. When she and Maddie saw each other it was like long lost pieces of velcro, they latched onto each other and the 4 days here, were inseparable.
I had them over twice to play and bake. Monday they came and made cupcakes (Maddie's choice) for the birthday party for Maddie later in the evening. Tuesday they came for sugar cookie baking. I was pretty impressed with them both; they had cutting out cookies and decorating with sprinkles down to a fine art form. Of course, the kitchen floor was well decorated too.





I'll post other pictures of her visit, but now think it is about time get out of my PJ's.

Sights from Washington and Oregon

Here are the photo albums I have put together of my trip to Washington and Oregon. If anyone has any memories or corrections to make to the picture captions, please do.

Each of the lines of Text below are a link to a web album of photos.

Grandma Walters House, now a Coffee House for the Neighborhood Church

Pictures of Riverview Cemetery, Milwaukie, Oregon

Walter Family Gathers

Trip to Friday Harbor, Washington

Quilt Retreat, Orkila YMCA Camp, Orcas Island

Crescent Lake

The year I was 14 or 15 we went to Orcas Island for Vacation. We camped not far from this lake, and Dad came here to fish. While he rented a boat and went out fishing, Mom sat in the car, and Mike and I spent time on the beach. As often happens, a storm blew up in the afternoon. If I remember the story right, Mom got sea sick, from the car, watching the waves!

Trip in a Nutshell

The past two weeks in the Pacific Northwest were like a time travel adventure backwards. I will only cover a few high-lights here, some I think my Dad and Mom will enjoy. I intend to upload an album of pictures later today and will give a link to them when I have them ready.

The first day I arrived in Portland, one of my first adventures was to go to Milwaukie Oregon to see the house where my family lived. This was home for us from about 1956 until 1961. I was in second grade when we moved here, and Mike must have been about 2. Although I had been back here about 10 years ago, I didn't have a camera then, so took no pictures. The amazing thing to me is how small a place looks compared to one's memories. Although most of the neighbor homes are the same, the streets and houses seem much closer together than I remember as a child walking though the neighborhood on my way home from school, etc.

A second memory jolt was the week before on Orcas Island. We camped here when I was a teenager, probably about 13 or 14 years old. I remember my dad renting a boat to go out on this lake to fish, while Mike and I played on the beach, and mom sat in the car. From the parking lot, she could see all of us. An afternoon storm blew up, and mom got sea-sick from seeing the waves on the lake!

Take me with you, please ....

Silly has caught on the fact that something is going on, and it involves going somewhere. She is either trying to stay close, so she can keep her eye on the action, or else, she is making a bid to go with me. You notice she is sleeping nicely though in all the pictures, one would not want to loose sleep what ever is going on.

Have a good week!

The Weather

So, I am sure you all know we are still in a drought. Probably tomorrow night the local government will vote to put us all on water restrictions. For the year, we are over 6 inches below normal, and for October, which normally recieves 2.6 inches, we have had a whopping .01 of an inch. It was in the 80's today. Eric is still in shorts. So there, you know how much like summer it really is. The plants think it is spring, some are blooming again. Very weird.

National Folk Festival - We love it!

Be sure and click on the title for more about the festival than the links below. The clips take time to load, so be patient!

One of my favorite groups was Vishten from Prince Edward Island in Canada - this was my favorite song! See why below!

Mariez – moi
Paroles / Lyrics : trad.
Air / Melody : Emmanuelle LeBlanc SOCAN

Marie moi donc ma petite maman, je veux me mettre en ménage
Voyez vous pas qu’j’arrive à vingt ans, je pense que c’est le bon âge
Toujours tourner, toujours filer, c’est un métier qui me ennuyer
Si vous ne me marier pas, ah non je ne filerai pas

Refrain / Chorus
Toujours tourner, toujours filer, c’est un métier qui me fait ennuyer
Ah, si vous ne me mariez pas, ah non je ne filerai pas
Si vous ne me marier pas, ah non ah non je ne filerai pas
Ah si vous ne me mariez pas, ah non, je ne filerai pas

Si qu’à vingt ans, j’suss pas mariée, je vous le dit oh mère!
J’voudrais qu’mon fouet serait réduit en cendre et en poussière
Et que ma quenouille, ma quenouille sur les tisons
Qu’elle soit réduite en cendre, en cendre et en charbon

Fillette rencontre son amant, lui raconta son histoire
Marions nous maintenant que j’ai fait consentir ma mère
L’amant pour la récompenser, lui donne pour gage un doux baiser
Marions nous, soyons heureux et tu fileras si tu veux
"
What did I like about this song ? The lyric ..... "si vous ne me mariez pas, ah non je ne filerai pas" - "If you don't marry me, Oh no, I am going to stop Knitting! " ..... Desparate woman do desparate things!


Today we are going to see D.L. Menard and The Jambalaya Cajun Band, his back up band.

Greetings

This week was Rebecca's Birthday, and as ususal the kids made her a cake and special gifts. This year they put together and painted birdhouses, both reflecting their current interests. Zack made a pirate ship, and Maddie a castle.

On the home front, it has not rained in over 3 weeks and we are 4 inches below normal now, the plants are pretty stressed. On top of that, it is supposed to be 90 tomorrow, so our temperatures are way above normal too. Last week we cleaned out the zennias from the beds and planted panseys, of course, if we had know it was going to be this hot this weekend (yes Mike I have heard of 7 day forecasts) - we would have waited. But, fall is in the air. at least the trees are starting to behave like it is fall, and next week the forecasters

We finished a "Fitness Week" here at Crossridge, and in spite of very poor turnout, it was very well done and those of us who went to all the activities heard some brilliant speakers talk on health and ways to improve our health, as well as maintain where we are at. A few even promised we'd be rejuvenated! LOL! The underlying theme of most was drink more water! How simple.

The funniest incident (or most telling) though was on Thursday when a friend and I walked to the pavilion for lunch to hear a talk on Alzheimer's. When we got there, the talk had been canceled. I asked it they had called to alert everyone and they said yes. With a puzzled look we questioned not getting a call. Turns out we had NOT signed up for it ... Just thought we did. Now did we need that talk? I felt even worse thinking if we had signed up, maybe they would have had enough to hold the talk.

Friday my Yoga partner and I gave a one hour demo of Yoga for newcomers. She and I worked a couple weeks on it, made posters, etc. and we had only one person show up. Disappointing. But we have all the stuff done now, and think we may just do it again in a few months. The advertising for this was very poor, and what was done was confusing to many. Of course that's another issue, not to be confused with the fact that many just don't care about being proactive when it comes to health. Those that did participate were at nearly every talk.

Next week I'm going with a group to see the Capitol Building and the Governor's mansion. The Capitol was renovated these last few years in anticipation of the Jamestown celebration this past summer, and of course the Queen of England came to visit here. We'll eat downtown at the Capitol Ale House.

Ages and Ages

Well I may win the award for the longest times between posts, if there is one. I still don't have much exciting to tell, but I do have a picture to share.

I love the view from my sewing room, and still do not like the thought of obscuring it with curtains. However I came to notice that there was a good bit of glare, especially near the top of the windows where the sky was in full view. Last week, Pam called to plan a "Thrift Store" invasion in Fredericksburg, where we meet once in a while. As she taught summer school this year this was here first time off. We always start the morning with breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, (we share a breakfast that has eveything) .... and then we hit the road.

This year we haunted some new places, and at one I found two valances for my windows. Both in perfect condition (only needed washing). They were Martha Stewart stuff, nice cotton with embroidery. And since I wasn't totally sure I would like any covering, the price was perfect. $3.00 for the pair. How can you beat that?

I couldn't resist!

One of the side benefits of being a grand and great-grand parent! Be sure and click for a big view!

And a added note to the post about the storm we had the other night - Dominion Power said there were 38,500 lightening strikes during the 6-7 hours of the storm. That translates to one a sec. It was QUITE a show.

Ditto

Not much new is happening here on the home front. We are coming up on two years in the house, and it seems like we have been here forever. I have to really think back to remember life about AKK.

This week we had two events that made us thankful we are no longer on the boat. Yesterday afternoon we got a phone call from the man who bought the boat. He was having battery problems and issues with the AC pump. Eric talked with him quite awhile about both, but when he hung up, he and I both said, isn't in nice that is not our problem anymore! Then last night we had a terrific thunderstorm. It lasted (the lightening) well over 5 hours. Being aboard would have been loud and a worry, with that much lightening and the tall mast! We did lose power for about 6 hours, but it really wasn't an inconvenience, we finally just went to bed. The biggest problem (for me personally) was I couldn't finish the Harry Potter book as I had planned. Candle power just wasn't really strong enough to read by.

We got the house pressure washed (part of the provided maintenance) a few weeks ago and that was nice to have everything looking clean and shiny again. The storm blew lots of leaves an limbs into the yard, and we are still uncertain if they will come and pick them up or we will have to. Maybe tomorrow we can find that out. I hate to throw them into the wetland. My compost pile may have washed away, or else it is very compacted. I need to get down there with a rake and see if it is still there, or it floated off.

Well, nothing new under the sun here. Even with 2-4 inches of rain, we are still dry here.

Happy Birthday Mike

Today is my little brother's birthday, HEY MIKE! Happy Birthday!!!

There isn't much exciting going on here. After last week and all the activity, this is nice. I took care of the Glen Allen Three yesterday for mom to go on a grocery run, and other than Yoga class, have been pretty close to home.
The Knitter met to dye with more natural stuff and have a pot-luck lunch. We had more luck with lunch that the stuff in the pots brewing! We tried blackberries, and though the color was acceptable, I'd have liked them better cooked up in Mom's cobbler! LOL.

Eric had his dental surgery on Wednesday, and if recovering well. Just a tiny bit of swelling, but no pain at all. I'm amazed at what they can do. The verdict is still not in on whether the loose tooth can be saved; it might have a fracture in it. So, time is needed here and until later, he just heals and carries on.

Neither of us have been upstairs working on train scenery, though it is time for me to start working on the third panel of a series of four going up on to the left of the window, along the side of the rail yard. So far, I have in a Creamery and Ice House, and in the distance homes and hillsides. I'd like to do cows (lol) but am not sure I can pull that off.

We've had a bit of rain, but still not enough. This weekend though we have a prediction of two days of possible showers. Hopefully that will happen.

Jake is 5 Months Old

Here is a group of pictures of Jake taken this week - he turned 5 months old on Wednesday. Jake spent every morning with us while the others went to church for Avalanche Ranch - VBS, Z and M had breakfast each morning before going off.

Be sure to watch for the surprise ending to the video!