... I've gotta do this more often
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Painting with Light
Got to spend an evening shooting with the Alleghany Camera Club down in The Mill. Fun. And educational ...
... I've gotta do this more often
... I've gotta do this more often
Friday, October 19, 2012
Parent's Weekend 2012
This was a wonderful weekend. Beautiful weather, meaningful chapel services, deep conversations with teachers and topped of by a great bluegrass band and picnic!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Oyster Tasting for 2012
How great it is to be able to say "Second Annual" about an event. It always gives us joy to add "annual" to any event announcement and in less then a week we will throw our Second Annual Oyster Tasting at Rappahannock River Oysters to benefit Jacob's Ladder.
Last year we had around 75 folks join us on a gorgeous evening. The setting was lovely, and of course the oysters were delicious.
This year we thought it would be fun to have cups made, since we are at the "Second Annual" stage, but how many? 75? 100? 125? We ordered 125 for a "reach", and also to be safe (so we are not stuck with cups). Wouldn't you know it? As of today, we have 150 folks signed up - with a wait list!
So if you are one of the lucky one's with your spot already reserved, we will see you Sunday, rain or shine ...
... and we'll look forward to the Third Annual event, next year!
Last year we had around 75 folks join us on a gorgeous evening. The setting was lovely, and of course the oysters were delicious.
This year we thought it would be fun to have cups made, since we are at the "Second Annual" stage, but how many? 75? 100? 125? We ordered 125 for a "reach", and also to be safe (so we are not stuck with cups). Wouldn't you know it? As of today, we have 150 folks signed up - with a wait list!
So if you are one of the lucky one's with your spot already reserved, we will see you Sunday, rain or shine ...
... and we'll look forward to the Third Annual event, next year!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Remembering "That will be 200 CzK ... 500 ... 2000 ..."
Ah memories. How they sneak up on you at interesting times.
I am cleaning out my wallet - taking out the old cards, scanning them in for contacts, etc. and I come across some Czech Krona hidden away in my wallet. Why do I have Czech Krona in my wallet?? Well, you never know when you may meet a Czech officer of the law ....
:: Cue Music - Flashback to Prague ::
Ah, Prague.
Prague is a lovely old city. Lovely old bridges, lovely old churches and cathedrals. Lovely Mucha museums and lovely art. Just - well - Lovely.
Also a little bit corrupt ... in an lovely-old-Iron-Curtain kind of way.
We drove into Prague on a Friday and drove out on a Sunday. Remember this day. Sunday. The day that no courthouses are open.
Sunday, leaving the hotel, I forget to turn the headlights on. The sun is shining, it is a beautiful day, and I just did not think of it. I get around the corner of the block from the hotel, and am flagged over by a policeman. I roll down the window and say "yes?" He looks at me a moment, looks at the license plate again (which is German), then the following conversation ensues (in very broken, but very precise English, on his part):
Czech Cop: "I do not speak English well."
Me: OK.
C.C.: "You must drive with your lights on. This will be - at the most - 200 Krone."
Me: Ah. Yes, OK, so how do we then proceed with this?
(my lovely daughter chimes in from the back "Sprechen Sie deutsch?" - which is not so helpful at this stage)
Corrupt Czech Cop: "Ah, yes, this will be - at the most - 500 Krone".
Me: Excuse me? I thought I just heard you say 200?
C.C.C.: "Oh, did I say 200? My English is not so good, this will be - at the most - 2000 Krone."
Me: ?
Me: ?? ???
Me: Ah. Excuse me, I need to make a phone call, I do not carry that much cash.
(so I start to call my friend in Prague - just to give me time to think about this interesting development)
C.C.C.: "Please drive your car around this corner" (it is into a dead-end street).
I drive up. I turn off the car, I talk to my friend - he says "just keep talking English like a tourist and try to get out of it" well ... that was helpful ...
The C.C.C. ambles back up to the window ...
Me: I am sorry, I only have 300 Czech Krone (which is about $15 USD)
C.C.C.: *shrug* "OK, that will be, at most, 300 Krone"
Me: Thank you. I will need a receipt ...
All this time, living in Europe, I have heard about friends who have traveled into the former Eastern Bloc countries and having to come up with what amounts to a bribe for some obscure traffic law. I am perfectly willing to be a law-abiding citizen, and am willing to pay a fine for a traffic violation, but this was my first personal experience with a bribe. It pays (literally) to keep your head and not get emotional or upset about it. I am sure that, had I argued the point, the price to drive out of Prague that day would have been - at the most - 5000 Krone. And since it was Sunday (remember?) there was no way I could go talk to a judge or other officials to get it all sorted out. And of course, the C.C.C. was well aware of this.
However, since I drove away, paying $15 instead of $263, I think I came out ahead ... especially as we were at that moment carrying about 1000 additional Czech Krone for travel expenses. :-)
:: end flashback ::
Which explains why I STILL have about 400 CzK in my wallet ... because you never know ... you just never know ...
I am cleaning out my wallet - taking out the old cards, scanning them in for contacts, etc. and I come across some Czech Krona hidden away in my wallet. Why do I have Czech Krona in my wallet?? Well, you never know when you may meet a Czech officer of the law ....
:: Cue Music - Flashback to Prague ::
Ah, Prague.
Prague is a lovely old city. Lovely old bridges, lovely old churches and cathedrals. Lovely Mucha museums and lovely art. Just - well - Lovely.
Also a little bit corrupt ... in an lovely-old-Iron-Curtain kind of way.
We drove into Prague on a Friday and drove out on a Sunday. Remember this day. Sunday. The day that no courthouses are open.
Sunday, leaving the hotel, I forget to turn the headlights on. The sun is shining, it is a beautiful day, and I just did not think of it. I get around the corner of the block from the hotel, and am flagged over by a policeman. I roll down the window and say "yes?" He looks at me a moment, looks at the license plate again (which is German), then the following conversation ensues (in very broken, but very precise English, on his part):
Czech Cop: "I do not speak English well."
Me: OK.
C.C.: "You must drive with your lights on. This will be - at the most - 200 Krone."
Me: Ah. Yes, OK, so how do we then proceed with this?
(my lovely daughter chimes in from the back "Sprechen Sie deutsch?" - which is not so helpful at this stage)
Corrupt Czech Cop: "Ah, yes, this will be - at the most - 500 Krone".
Me: Excuse me? I thought I just heard you say 200?
C.C.C.: "Oh, did I say 200? My English is not so good, this will be - at the most - 2000 Krone."
Me: ?
Me: ?? ???
Me: Ah. Excuse me, I need to make a phone call, I do not carry that much cash.
(so I start to call my friend in Prague - just to give me time to think about this interesting development)
C.C.C.: "Please drive your car around this corner" (it is into a dead-end street).
I drive up. I turn off the car, I talk to my friend - he says "just keep talking English like a tourist and try to get out of it" well ... that was helpful ...
The C.C.C. ambles back up to the window ...
Me: I am sorry, I only have 300 Czech Krone (which is about $15 USD)
C.C.C.: *shrug* "OK, that will be, at most, 300 Krone"
Me: Thank you. I will need a receipt ...
All this time, living in Europe, I have heard about friends who have traveled into the former Eastern Bloc countries and having to come up with what amounts to a bribe for some obscure traffic law. I am perfectly willing to be a law-abiding citizen, and am willing to pay a fine for a traffic violation, but this was my first personal experience with a bribe. It pays (literally) to keep your head and not get emotional or upset about it. I am sure that, had I argued the point, the price to drive out of Prague that day would have been - at the most - 5000 Krone. And since it was Sunday (remember?) there was no way I could go talk to a judge or other officials to get it all sorted out. And of course, the C.C.C. was well aware of this.
However, since I drove away, paying $15 instead of $263, I think I came out ahead ... especially as we were at that moment carrying about 1000 additional Czech Krone for travel expenses. :-)
:: end flashback ::
Which explains why I STILL have about 400 CzK in my wallet ... because you never know ... you just never know ...
Sunday, September 02, 2012
First of September 2012....must be prep time for the Kristkindlmarkt in Clifton Forge.
First of September 2012....must be prep time for the Kristkindlmarkt in Clifton Forge.
Paul is almost two weeks post gall bladder surgery. I have need to find things that are not heavy lifting to keep his hands busy. So what is more natural then preparing for Xmas in the heat/humid wave of September! Think cool and giving thoughts.
Paul is almost two weeks post gall bladder surgery. I have need to find things that are not heavy lifting to keep his hands busy. So what is more natural then preparing for Xmas in the heat/humid wave of September! Think cool and giving thoughts.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Life in CF
Clifton Forge has some good things going for it ...
Magic in the Mountains - the kick-off for the Spring/Summer event season out here.
Italian Ice is the bomb!
The Jackson River from the footbridge
Der Mann im Mond (“Lueg Müetterli, was isch im Mo?”)
I scream, you scream, we all scream ...
And of course, the trains .... but we'll have to load an audio file for you to truly appreciate them :-)
Magic in the Mountains - the kick-off for the Spring/Summer event season out here.
Italian Ice is the bomb!
The Jackson River from the footbridge
Der Mann im Mond (“Lueg Müetterli, was isch im Mo?”)
I scream, you scream, we all scream ...
And of course, the trains .... but we'll have to load an audio file for you to truly appreciate them :-)
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Blumen. Drinnen und Draussen ...
This morning was sunny, relatively cloudless, and warm. Now it is cold and a little rainy, but before the weather changed I took a little stroll from the kitchen to the front yard.
We got a clipping from my dad's geranium. It was just a wee sprat when we moved out to Clifton Forge, but it's grown a bit since then ...
Out front, there is a solitary rose, of the small variety. Not all the blossoms are in bloom, but we have the promise of some nice colour.
We also have a little frog-pond (or The Swamp, as Madge likes to call it) where the Iris are now in bloom and we also have some Hosta, that fill in the space very nicely.
We got a clipping from my dad's geranium. It was just a wee sprat when we moved out to Clifton Forge, but it's grown a bit since then ...
Out front, there is a solitary rose, of the small variety. Not all the blossoms are in bloom, but we have the promise of some nice colour.
We also have a little frog-pond (or The Swamp, as Madge likes to call it) where the Iris are now in bloom and we also have some Hosta, that fill in the space very nicely.
Monday, January 16, 2012
My journey as a grant writer...
My journey as a grant writer officially started in November 2011. The thought had been on the back burner of my mind for several months before our return from Germany. It was more of a thought of “now what?”; the “what to do with the rest of my life” question. We had just returned from a fantastic chapter in our lives, the kids are growing up and do not need micro-managing and college tuition is looming on the horizon, plus the fact I am still young.
Fortunately, I am blessed to have great, wise and insightful friends that are not afraid to share their thoughts. In one week I had three of them come at this question from three different angles. Unknowingly, they all had me heading in the same direction, the direction of working in the non-profit area of grant writing and development.
With that I was further affirmed by being offered a position at Jacob’s Ladder, Inc, a social, cultural, and educational enrichment program for gifted, at-risk children. The program has been around for twenty years helping kids in the fourth through eight grades get a handle on life and to realize the potential they have and that things can be different for them.
The program is great and solid, so I am walking into a place where I can learn tons and also help at the same time. I am getting into the rhythm of how to manage my time to meet deadlines and how to organize my Mac, all the while still being head taxi mom, cheerleader, homework checker and the other duties that go along with aforementioned.
As with any new endeavor there is a learning curve. The biggest challenge of this job could seem to be finding the correct grant match for the program or it could be the waiting to see if you have won the proposal, but I am finding the hardest challenge is the writing itself. How do you find fresh easy words to describe your wonderful program to the same people that have been reading the proposals for the last twenty years and already know and support your cause? How do you find the words to describe your wonderful worthwhile program to people who don't know you at all? How do you write “150 or fewer” clear, descriptive words that all can understand? These are major parts of my new learning-curve climb. But not to fear, I am finding that when it comes to this writing subject, greater minds and talents then I have had struggled with the same problem.
Thus I end these thoughts and continue along my journey knowing that I am in good company, for as Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”
Fortunately, I am blessed to have great, wise and insightful friends that are not afraid to share their thoughts. In one week I had three of them come at this question from three different angles. Unknowingly, they all had me heading in the same direction, the direction of working in the non-profit area of grant writing and development.
With that I was further affirmed by being offered a position at Jacob’s Ladder, Inc, a social, cultural, and educational enrichment program for gifted, at-risk children. The program has been around for twenty years helping kids in the fourth through eight grades get a handle on life and to realize the potential they have and that things can be different for them.
The program is great and solid, so I am walking into a place where I can learn tons and also help at the same time. I am getting into the rhythm of how to manage my time to meet deadlines and how to organize my Mac, all the while still being head taxi mom, cheerleader, homework checker and the other duties that go along with aforementioned.
As with any new endeavor there is a learning curve. The biggest challenge of this job could seem to be finding the correct grant match for the program or it could be the waiting to see if you have won the proposal, but I am finding the hardest challenge is the writing itself. How do you find fresh easy words to describe your wonderful program to the same people that have been reading the proposals for the last twenty years and already know and support your cause? How do you find the words to describe your wonderful worthwhile program to people who don't know you at all? How do you write “150 or fewer” clear, descriptive words that all can understand? These are major parts of my new learning-curve climb. But not to fear, I am finding that when it comes to this writing subject, greater minds and talents then I have had struggled with the same problem.
Thus I end these thoughts and continue along my journey knowing that I am in good company, for as Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”
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