Birthday Celebration / Lancaster PA

My birthday Celebration was a trip to Lancaster, PA. Above is the Central Market where you can find fresh cut grass feed beef, fresh vegatables, crafts, quilts, aisles full of yummy treats and good to eats...and I got some homemade FUDGE....mmmmmmm.

Another photo of the Central Market.

Believe it or not, these are flowers carved out of wood! Beautiful !

Who doesn't want to shop at a Target that has it's own Horse and Buggy parking spaces??

The entrance to the Amish Farm and House. We toured an Amish home and walked around the farm. We saw cute goats, pigs and old tools and buggies.

AND...we watched this fella whittle/carve small roosters and items from branches. We watched while he carved about 5 curly tail feathers onto a small rooster. Then he took the toothpick sliver of wood left over and made a cute little flower that he gave us. It was absoulutely incredible to see the work he does!

....... a close-up of him carving the tail feathers.

We drove down the road to Bird-in-Hand and took a buggy ride ..This is Magic our horse!

Our driver, Reuben was quite the storyteller and made the ride so enjoyable! We drove down the busy street, clip clopping along slowly. We drove through some beautiful Amish farmlands and our driver told us about farming and life in the Amish community.

Looking across a field of soybeans at a farm with many silos. Notice the clothes line that is on a pulley cable allowing a looooong line of clothes to flutter in the breeze.

A quiet pond we drove past.

Driving under an old railroad bridge toward the end of our ride.

We ended our day with a fantastic meal at a Sonic Drive-in. (Haven't seen one of these since leaving Vegas! ...... mmmmm yummy!) I have a GREAT birthday celebration!!

And I was able to check-off another thing from my "Bucket List" ride in an Amish Buggy! FUN!

Antietam

Antietam Civil War Battlefield, in and around the small town of Sharpsburg MD. The site of the bloodiest single day battle of the war. Aanytime you visit a battlefield, expect to see lots of beautiful grassy rolling hills AND start your visit at the Visitors Center! Here I saw a one hour video of the whole day of battle presented by civil war re-enactors. Then when I took the driving tour of the battlefield, I could imagine what happened at each place.

This is "Burnside Bridge" the site of a 3-4 hour long battle to cross the bridge and engage in combat. Today it is a serene and lovely picnic spot and now my screensaver!

By mid summer this will be a new cornfield. The cornfild was the site of countless battles and chaos one side and then the other side winning at times and so many deaths.

An example of the beautiful grassy rolling hills that surround this area and were the sites of many battles during the day.

The Sunken Road. One of the most famous sites of this battlefield. Go online and read about it.

Another view of the Sunken Road. And an excellent example of the split-rail fences used during this time of the civil war.

Statutes and monuments and memorials are everywhere around the battlefield, to dedicate and remember fallen soldiers and their regiments.

A monument at the edge of the Cornfield battle area.

Some of the cannons you will see around the park.

Watching the video of the battle left quite an impression on me. Then when I started driving the tour of the battlefields..... I was amazed at the area it covered. One regiment hiked/ran 17 miles from Harpers Ferry that day and still engaged in long battles. Driving from site to site, I drove around present day farms and through parts of the town... the battlefield is a LARGE area!

And a little sidebar of fun...... At one point the tour takes you down a few streets of the town. As I was entering the town on my war to Antietam, I noticed that the folks were setting up for a parade. Well as I was driving through town on my battlefield tour, suddenly I noticed that the street ahead was blocked and the parade was going by, I was going to back up and turn around and go out the way I had just come BUT in those few moments (yes moments) the street was closed and blocked for the parade behind me..... so I sat out the parade in my car, watching the parade go by and eating my picnic lunch, which I was able to offer to the other two cars that were blocked in with me. Memories are made. And I saw my first battlefield.

blossoms of Spring

Hope you enjoyed a little taste of the beauty that I enjoy as I drive to my different work sites every day. I am sooooooo blessed. Spring is wonderful in Northern Virginia!

Christmas trees around DC

This evening I finally made it down to see the NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE. It's pretty big and quite colorful. There are several train sets set up around the bottom of the tree. Folks can walk all the way around it And then there are small trees about 5 feet tall set up along the walkways representing all the states and territories.

Here you can see the National Christmas tree, some small state trees, and the Washington Monument.

The National Christmas tree is set up in the eclipse, if you look one way...you see the back of the WHITE HOUSE and the other way...you see the Washington Monument.

The lights and decorations are a net laid over the whole tree.

Overheard while at the National Christmas tree................. A young dad says to his young son,,, okay son, now it's time for us to start saying goodbye to the tree because it's just about time for us to go. Son: no daddy no and he starts to cry. Dad: we don't have to go just yet. Let's go ask mommy how we'll say goodbye okay. Son: okay dad. And thankfully mommy had an idea and a short time later I saw this little family walking away and the son was smiling and skipping.

Here is a huge christmas tree set up in front of the US capitol building. This year, this tree comes from the state of Wyoming and all the decorations were made by school children from Wyoming. The day I saw it we were having 30 - 45 mph winds...it WAS cold and windy...I could "hear" the tree before I got near to it. Many of the ornaments were made of tin or metal etc and they clanged and banged and jungled in the wind.

Inside the US Botanical Gatdens near the Capitol building, there was another very decorated Christmas tree. It was SO cold and windy outside, and inside, well...I could NOT get my jacket off quick enough! It was warm and toasty and the displays were lovely.

Here's the full tree... lovely.

And here is the Christmas tree in the front of a Lutheran church that I visited recently.

a close up of a dove ornament.

Wishing you all a joyful and blessed 2011. Happy New Year!!

A Christmas Memory

Last sunday I decided to attend a nearby Lutheran church service.... I was wanted to see an Advent wreath and sing some christmas Hymns.
Well I was definitely NOT disappointed AND..... I got a little trip down Memory Lane when I saw their Christmas Tree.
One of my favorite memories from my childhood is making Christmons to decorate the huge tree at the church we attended. "What's a christmon you ask?????"
Well they are symbols from the christian faith. We always made them from sheets of white styrofoam. My dad would use his exacto knife to cut them out and then we kids would cover them in glitter!!!! We would have a family gathering at church where we'd make these sparkly decorations, the Pastor would explain the meanings behind each symbol and then we'd hang them on the tree. And then every sunday I'd sit and stare at "MY" ornaments on the tree....So beautiful.
So this last Sunday I was thinking about my dad and the joyful times we spent making these unique ornaments for the tree..... and I discovered that a tree decorated with Christmons is still just as lovely today as it was in my memory.
Merry Christmas and Joy to the world the Lord has come!!!

blessings,

Pam

Beautiful Fall Colors

Beautiful day to take in the Skyline Drive in the Shennandoah National Park.

Fantastic views as far as the eye could see.

great colors

My favorite photo of Fall color................. at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland at a Women's retreat

Swallow Tail Falls and canyon hike with some gals from the retreat

My favorite spot to sit and take in the fall colors surrounding the cabin we stayed at during the retreat.

Fireworks

We hit the metro around 8 PM with "thousands" of others, all heading to the National Mall. It was crowded and everyone was looking forward to a fun evening. Here you can see nothing but people trying to get out of the metro, up the escalator, and people trying to get off the trains and into the lines of folks on the platform.

We arrived on the National Mall. No grass to be seen, only a sea of people sitting, standing, walking...and waiting for the fireworks to begin. enlarge this photo and you will see a carpet of people, everywhere. We found space to stand in a closed off street near the Washington Monument.

And the fireworks begin...................

they were spectacular, and fun and full of ahhhhhhhhhs!

Red, white, and blue.......just right for the 4th !

Afterwards, we joined the mass of folks walking up the streets and out of the area..."our moonlight stroll" past the White House. We joined the crowds to squeeze into the full beyond capacity metro and headed home to the cats and air conditioning!

A really fun and memorable evening. When in the Washington DC area, everyone should experience the 4th on the Mall at least once!!

Happy summer

blessings,

Pam

sorry I don't think my firework videos made it here!