The Lukester's 7th Birthday

On Friday evening I sped down to Gordonsville to spend the evening with Rob which whizzed by and before I knew it I was heading north again to Meadow House. But I took a quick photo of the cuckoo clocks Rob bought on EBay. The gap is where mine hung. I'm hoping he'll fix another couple for me, they're so cool, and really he has so many that I'm sure he wouldn't miss another two birds cuckooing each hour.

Back home I got straight into cooking mode. I knocked up a spaghetti bolognese for the evening when Rob would arrive to stay the night before driving up to New York for his family reunion. And then the rolling pin came out and I made pastry for strawberry jam tarts, lemon curd tarts and mince pies with meringue on top. Before I knew it Rob turned up and we ate dinner then collapsed on the sofa.

Next morning fueled with bacon and eggs, Rob set off. He had sandwiches and snacks and all my baking loaded in his truck. I waved him off with 3 tarts left for me and an apple in the fridge!

No wonder he looks so smug!
I had a couple of hours to grab a nap and relax then I was off to Sterling for Luke's birthday party which was at Peggy and Tom's house in Maryland. But first I stopped at a local farmers market to buy some fresh peaches for Max, a special request from Jim.

These peppers looked wonderful but I had no intention of cooking anything else just yet so no purchase was made. 

It was wonderful to see my American family again. I'm so lucky that both Jim's and Debbie's families have 'adopted' me, it's great having so many relatives. Kim and Scott were there also, we had a fab crowd. The Lukester didn't want to wait too long to open presents so we didn't make him wait.

Both Luke and Max were ecstatic with my present, thanks to Jim giving me a heads up.

 Luke doing his happy dance.

Another happy pose.

 The Toy Story cake. This was chokklit! Scott, my chocolate buddy, and I were very happy, and it was delicious.

 Bits, Peggy, Scott, Jim and Tom all looking as though they were scared about what was going to emerge from the wrapping paper next!

The Happy Birthday song and then candle blowing. It only took one puff. Go Luke!

Lou, Scott and Bits waiting for their slice as Debbie cuts the cake.

Luke almost grabbing his slice.

Jim's granddaughter, Kylie, not happy with being picked up and therefore being further away from the cake!

Dear ole Bits. He told me a great story of how some young upstarts at work had called him an 'albatross' and that he needed to retire. He went on to secure new contracts while showing them up in the process. Don't mess with Bits!
Once cake, food and presents were done with, it was outside to watch the kids in the pool.

Awesome dive by Maximus. It seems only a few months ago I remember this little chap in his life jacket and being too scared to stand on the first step of the pool. He's now the Man from Atlantis.

 Luke and Max looking very cool in their goggles.

 Noah diving over Peyton.

Seems like constant adjustment with the goggles is a necessary part of pool life.

 Jim diving then striking a pose in the 'lifeguard chair'.

Nice hairdo Noah!

Sweet little Max.

Even Mocha likes to hang out by the pool except that she's the only woofer I've ever met that's afraid of water. She spent plenty of time running around the edge and barking but wouldn't even stick a paw in the pool.
Eventually we had to leave and head back to Sterling and then for me on to Marshall. These birthdays are whizzing by, but hey, if they speed up on us, then it means not too long for the next family get together, right?

My Birthday Weekend

Yet again we had another stifling weekend and yet again I lacked any intense energy to go in pursuit of any strenuous activity, yet I didn't want to stop indoors. Rob wasn't coming up until later in the day on Saturday so I decided to go exploring locally. There were a couple of small villages which had piqued my interest so with the AC blasting out in Stuart and carrying my smaller and lighter camera, off I set.
The first place was Rectortown. I remembered I'd been here many years before and it had a Maidstone Rd running though it which was significant to me as my home town in England is Maidstone. Apparently George Washington visited here and frowned in disapproval upon the local inn which served alcohol.

It was a pretty little place but I couldn't stay long as I only had a couple of hours on this morning's excursion, but I was happy I'd remembered the place correctly and intend to return soon as I also recalled that fresh watercress grew in the stream. I want a big bag of that.

On the way out, I came across this old building at Lost Corner. Abandoned, but it's surrounding area was a little too busy for me to try and enter so I had to be content with external photos.

Some very cool stuff was piled up around its walls which kept me happy for a while but I was very aware of vehicles passing by and staring at me.

Along the railway track I noticed another vintage building so I strolled along to that. I really didn't have time to check out this building thoroughly but I shall be returning soon to investigate.
Since time was of the essence I jumped back into Stuart and headed for nearby Delaplane. This place was the first station which used the railroad to transport troops to the First Battle of Manassas. There was less here than at Rectortown but I did have a nose around an antique store there.

I nosed around pretty quickly. The prices were astronomical, my purse wasn't going to be opened here.

Awesome sign on a business across the road.
I rushed home after receiving a text from Rob who had arrived at the house, and then had to wait a whole afternoon, evening and night before I got my birthday present from him. To help pass the time though we did have plans and went to Manassas to meet with MJ and Martin where we watched Cowboys and Aliens, which was utter poo, and then went to dinner at Unos.

 I got a free dessert for my birthday, a giant peanut butter cup, which I did manage to share a little of, albeit begrudgingly, and MJ and Martin very kindly paid for dinner. It was a wonderful evening.
I thought I was handling the 'no present situation' pretty well but was getting anxious the next morning when Rob showed no signs of wanting to get up, even when a breakfast at the diner was offered.
Finally he emerged and after my shower I rushed out into the living area not even bothering to dry my hair. I love presents!

I was delighted and impressed to get this very cute little Minneapolis Moline tractor. It was the same size as my other little tractors and being my all time favorite make, it took prime position at the front. He also had got me a very cute card which was special since he hadn't bothered with cards in his past.

Unwrapping the long awaited cuckoo clock. Rob told me he'd bought a stack of cuckoo clocks on Ebay, hoping to find one that he could repair and get working so he could give it to me. Aaaah. I'll take photos of the other clocks when I next go down to Gordonsville.

Very happy with my clock, I absolutely love it.

Here's a little video of it cuckooing and the music, Eidelweiss. It is so nice to hear one going off in the bedroom and the other calling back from the lounge. Makes the house more of a home.
We spent the rest of the day lazily, having lunch in Marshall and then watching the whole series of A Cook on the Wild Side which I'd ordered a few weeks back. Before too long Rob had to leave and he was a little miffed because there was no food to pack up for him to take back home. He'd gotten used to taking home my cooked leftovers from our meals but this weekend we'd eaten out each day. Poor Rob, he's got to wait a whole week!
After I'd waved him off Kota and I went for a stroll down to the pond to feed the fishes. We ended up running nearly all the way but it felt good after being so sluggish recently.

As the sun went down I snapped a few last shots and then Kota and I sat on the bench watching the last of the light fade away while listening to the insect songs build up around us. A last sprint back to the house and we both arrived puffing and ready to flop into bed. The end of a lovely birthday weekend.

My Return to Gordonsville

On Saturday afternoon I drove down to Gordonsville. I was rather anxious about the trip, not having been down there since the end of last year. Passing forgotten landmarks and familiar sights did little to quell my angst, even seeing 'my' old armchair at the end of Rob's road, in the same place, the same position and looking none the worse for wear. The familiarity of the trip ended as I turned into the driveway and saw Rob's house at the end. He had warned me about the felling of the pine trees and although I had been upset to hear of it I had thought I was prepared to accept the change in the house's surroundings. Wrong. I was shocked at the desecration and the area resembled a war zone. Rob had felled all the pines at the front of his house and Jim had had a good third of the trees at the back chopped down. Rob had chopped his pines down for fear of them falling on the house in a storm and though I tried to understand his reasoning I was still dazed at the change in scenery. A few small hardwoods still stood, their branches trying to reach out and apologetically fill the empty spaces. It was amazing at how different it all looked, bare, almost raped and I averted my eyes concentrating on getting inside the house, hoping to find friendly familiarity inside. 
It was comforting to hear the ticking clocks and Rob proudly showed me his new collection of cuckoo clocks, all purchased broken from Ebay and now all running. He pointed out the one he had bought and repaired for my birthday and I loved it, the unusual decoration and the music box that tinkled after the cuckoo had heralded each hour. I was impressed at his newfound skill and we chuckled as we watched each one take its turn to announce the time.
We went into town for pizza at Fabios and for the first time that day I found myself relaxing and accepting being back in this world that I thought would remain in my past. Returning to the house, we saw Jessie and it was wonderful to hug her again. I had missed her.
We had nothing planned the next day and I was grateful to Rob for that, we needed to re-establish our old routine, so we were content to just potter about with a trip to fetch groceries and mundane activities.

 Rob had planted some flower seeds under the window which were flourishing and attracting a young Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly.He was perfect and fearless, not concerned about us shoving a camera up close to him and at one point even dangling from my finger. He stayed on the flowers all afternoon.

Rob had also hung in the shrub outside the cones I had decorated as part of a Christmas decoration for his dining room. I was touched.

I had bought carrots and apples at the store for Jessie's new pets. Sam is a jackass and Blackie a horse, both of whom are the best of friends and had suffered abuse. Jessie had rescued them and welcomed them onto the farm.

Whispering in Sam's ear.

They were both friendly although Blackie was a little shy but both loved their snacks and cuddles and seemed perfectly content in their new home. Sunflower the cow also enjoyed a few bites, making me laugh as she still liked to head butt me if I let her.

 Stuart reflected in Rob's car.

Rob disconnected whatever he had attached to the tractor and parked it next to Stuart while I stuck a Massey Ferguson sticker on Stuart's trunk.

 The two Masseys!
And then it was time for a tractor ride with me driving. I'd forgotten most of the controls but Rob soon reminded me and we were off trundling down the road again just like old times.

I still don't know how Rob manages to take great photos holding the camera out the way he does but he always gets good shots.

Checking the mail and then my favorite photo of the day taken by Rob of me slowly plodding down the driveway. 

 The two Masseys again.

A cute little salamader that Rob found under the bench on the front porch. The poor thing was trapped in a spider's web so we gently rescued it and managed to pull most of the sticky web from its tiny feet.

The view from 'my spot' by the fence is still the same and still beautiful.

It was soon time to leave and to head back to Meadow House and a hungry Kota. Rob had earlier fired up the BBQ and we'd had a wonderful meal of chicken and potatoes with veggies. He had looked over at me and said, "It's nice to see you across the table again", and it was nice. Nice to be back. And I'll be back again, especially since he gleefully sent me a few days later a text photo of a new vacuum cleaner for me to use. It's been nice laughing with him again.
The journey home to Meadow House isn't quite as long as it was to Centreville and it's certainly a lot more enjoyable with no traffic hold ups the whole way through. It was also wonderful to not lose the 'country rural' feeling that I used to experience as I neared the snarling roadways of DC's suburbs. We now drive from one country house to another.