Fine Dining with the Hollars

We had a surprise invitation to share a gift card given to my cousin, Hunter Hollar.   The restaurant was the Local Chop and Grill House.  (Construction on the building began in 1911. The four-story brick building originally contained well over an acre of floor space.  Click here to read more:  Wetsel Seed Company)   

Even though the menu was upscale and fancy, we all managed to find something that we liked, including delicious desserts.

Hunter and I grew up together and our families shared many activities, especially with the Youth Fellowship at church.  Then, when Hunter was at U.Va. and I was at J.M.U. which was then mostly a girls college, he really liked me because I fixed him up with girls!  We've kept in touch through the years and I never cease to enjoy his company. He married Mary Margaret, whom I just love, and they raised two lovely redheaded girls.  Hunter became president of a bank in Maryland and recently retired here in Singers Glen.

We always have a barrel of laughs when we go out with Hunter and Mary Margaret!!!

p.s.  Hunter, take note -- you've really made it in the world -- you're on our blog!

Yard Swap Party

I saw this on Carolyn Arnette's Facebook status in early May, 2010:

Our "Ultimate Girfriend Yard Swap" will be Sunday, June 8th, at 1:00 p.m.   Remember, beyond being economical, eco-friendly, and an excuse to clean out your home, this Swap with your Girlfriends is far more fun than a yard sale with strangers!  And best of all - NO MONEY NEEDED! " Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" and a Reason to socialize too.

Bring 3-10 items.  We will also accept  "extra" items, just to make it interesting.  You may have an extra kitchen item, piece of jewelry, a book or two, CD's, DVD's, etc. that we cam make them into a set.  

You may drop off  your items any day between May 30th and June 5th. Snacks and beverages will be served.  

Beyond being economical, eco-friendly, and an excuse to clean out your home, this Swap with your Girlfriends is far more fun than a yard sale with strangers! 

That sounded like such a neat idea so I asked if I could come, too -- just brazenly invited myself!  I especially wanted to go because I wanted to see how Carolyn organized the event.  

During the week before the party, each person is asked to bring at least 10 items that are good but they don't use.  Carolyn organized everything for display in a room.  When people arrived, they first had a potluck meal.  Then they ran it sort of like a Chinese gift exchange.  People drew a number, went into the room, and chose an item.  The next person could take that item or go choose another one.

Since I had a funeral to attend, Carolyn graciously had me come by and make a list of things I'd like.  My high school friend, Phyllis Flick, was there and kept my list.   That evening I went in and Phyllis had kept about 5 of the things from the list.  The left-over items are donated to a charity so I got to choose 5 more items.

Watch out, I just may get energetic and try one of these Yard Swap Parties!

p.s.  Carolyn is the first cousin and best friend of Leslee from Alaska. 

Another p.s.  2018  I got a sturdy oak office straight chair.  It has been a delight to use in the garage for putting my boots on.

Sleepless in Singers Glen

Today was one of those strange days of retirement -- where you make it up as you go.  I woke up about 7 a.m. and could tell Ed was sleeping soundly so I quietly read in bed for over an hour.  

Finally got up and made it to one of our sweetest computer clients, Frances Campbell, at 10:00 a.m.  She wanted to have me check her security programs and a few other small things.  It seemed that no matter what I did, the computer froze and crashed.  After rebooting several times, I called my guru, Ed.  He had me reboot in Safe Mode.  After several calls, I convinced him to come over.  Well, the same things happened to him and we ended up working there several more hours.  FINALLY, we got things working smoothly.

By that time it was going on 3:00 p.m. and we hadn't had lunch -- we're still on our Cure for the Middle-aged Middle diet.  We left one of our cars on the west side of town and went to Ham's restaurant, where we had their baby back ribs and salad.  As of today we've both lost 7 pounds......man, I haven't had a piece of bread for 4 weeks!  

During lunch, it absolutely poured.  We stopped at the bank, did a few other errands, and got our other car.  We went to Finders Keepers, this great local discount store.  One thing I bought was some hard candy for the church to throw out from its float to advertise Vacation Bible School on Saturday.  The Singers Glen Parade is THE big social event of the year - the parade is only about 15 minutes long but we do enjoy it!  The Singers Glen lawn party starts Thursday night and will finish Saturday night.

Ed went on home and I stopped at the drug store for a minute.  I started home and realized he was probably already there so called to tell him I would just go on and run the candy down to the church.  I arrived at church and saw the very people I needed to give it to, thinking I wouldn't even have to get out of the car.  Wouldn't you know....the candy was in Ed's car!

I stopped at Thelma Hollar's, as she had told me to come get a start of a purple flower she has.  She ended up giving me several flowers I don't have and I had a nice visit with her.  She lost Leonard, her husband of 63 years, recently.  I've always loved her so and it's a pleasure to spend time with her, even during this difficult period of adjustment.

As soon as I got home, Faith and Jonathan, our new neighbors, called and said they'd be down shortly.  We'd asked them if we could hire them to trim our 3 forsythia bushes by the shop, which had gotten about 10 feet tall.  I thought they'd be here most any time so went out to dig some flower starts for Faith.  Naturally, the wet ground made the weeds just slide right out of the dirt so I'd just pull a weed here and a weed there......ended up staying out till almost dark, when Ed insisted I should come in.  Faith and Jonathan did a wonderful job - my, what young people working in a team can accomplish.

After a little time on the computer, I got in bed to read for just a bit.......Ed came into his recliner in the bedroom and we just kept reading and reading.  I finished my book (just started it last night --  "Big Girl" by Danielle Steele) and Ed only had 6 pages to finish his.  We didn't go to bed till 12:30 a.m.  

I'm itching to get back out to those weeds but here it is about 2:30 and I can't turn my mind off!  Bet I'll sleep tomorrow night........I'll be counting weeds instead of sheep!

Tomato Clause

I enjoyed growing some tomatoes in the past few years.  Our friend, Gayle Davis, had shared some Cherokee Purple tomatoes with us a few years ago that were simply delicious.   I've watched since then and had never been able to find the plants.  While I was still in Florida, Gayle emailed that she'd found some at the local farmers' market so I asked her to get me a couple.  She was only able to get one for me but I was happy.

Meanwhile, I'd decided to take a break from tomato growing this summer.  Faith and Jonathan have rented Mother's house at the top of the hill (a few hundred yards away from us).   They've plowed up part of the area where Grandmother May used to have her huge garden and are growing all sorts of veggies.  So, I gave the Cherokee Purple to Faith.

Faith was here yesterday and Ed asked her if she'd checked her lease because my brother was supposed to put a Tomato Clause in there.  Puzzled, she inquired,  "A what?"  and was met with,  "A tomato clause that says you have to give us every 5th tomato that you grow!"

The light dawned in her eyes and she laughed as she reassured Ed that she'd give us some tomatoes.

Shame on Ed.....he'd already cornered Gayle at church and somehow twisted her arm gotten her to promise him some tomatoes when hers come in. 

Catching Up in VA

The days seem to fly by here.  I feel like I'm making some progress on catching up with my weeds.   I finished spraying the thistles and poke weeds today -- although that's a never-ending process.

A few people asked about my birthday celebration on June 5th.  Since Ed and I are still on our "Cure for the Middle-aged Middle" diet, we decided to postpone the birthday meal.  I spent the day doing something that gave me great pleasure.  My cousin, Leonard Hollar (84) died on Thursday.  I called his son, Hunter, and offered anything at all to help.  We were pleased and honored that he felt close enough to request a casserole for Saturday, since family was coming in. 

We actually got up at 8:00 a.m. (early for us!) and went to Costco, Wal-Mart, and Redfront Supermarket.  We got lasagna, beans, rolls, Jamaican meat pies, fruit, cookies, tabbouleh, and breakfast burritos.   We delivered everything except the lasagna and beans to Hunter and Mary Margaret's house.  When they were cooked, we took them down.

Saturday evening we went to the visitation at the funeral home, Sunday morning to church, then to town for a bit (more on the Yard Sale Party later), to the funeral, the graveside service, and we were invited to the family dinner given at church afterward.  The funeral was very simple and touching.  Leonard's sons, Hunter and Barry, gave the best eulogies I've ever heard -- filled with humor, touching memories, and making important points about their dad's life.