Sky Watch Friday Photo

Sky Watch Friday

Halloween

Last Day of October

Quick Trip Around My Late October Gardens

South of HouseEast of HouseEast of House AgainBack Entrance: Pumpkin Peeps in Pots Front Entrance: A Couple of Pumpkins To Greet

The Friday Night Trick or Treaters.

Ohio Calls Halloween Beggers Night.

Uh-ohh, the black phantom is slipping up on the little ghostie.

Boo!

Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin and John McCain

Have you heard that the hottest costume for Halloween parties is not John McCain but Sarah "Miss Alaska" Palin! For every John McCain costume there are two Sarah Palin costumes. Here' the evidence. In the above photo we have two Sarah Palins: the Sarah Palin that was winner or runner up for Miss Alaska and the Sarah Palin who is running all over the country with Baby Trig in her arms in an outfit from Macy's campaigning for Vice President of the United States.

The Sarah in the suit I don't recognize but she sure is a va-va-voom cutie! If this gal can act/do comedy she can replace Tina Fey in the Saturday Night Live skits mocking Sarah Palin. The Sarah in the bright red dress is our daughter Jeanine's roommate, Maria! The young man impersonating John McCain had to use a lot of grey coloring to get his hair John McCain's color but he still looks youthful and much taller then John McCain really is.

Now the last person in the photo is our sweet little daughter Jeanine who decided to stick a pillow under her dress to portray Sarah's daughter who is in a family way. I took one look at the photo and had to have Jack take a quick look and then we both had to get a strong drink. Jeanine! Jeanine!

Our younger daughter just recently flew down to Houston, Texas for a wedding. Here are Jeanine and her beau Brian Rearick standing in the aisle of the Lutheran Church where the wedding ceremony took place. Brian was the best man for the groom. I think Brian and Jeanine look beautiful in this photo. The men in the wedding party wore long black tails and in this photo Brian reminds me of Johnny "the man in black" Cash.

Both our daughters have a soft spot for men with blue eyes! So does their mother.

Blog Reader: What Happened?

Blog Reader: So what happened last night?
Joann: Jack and I got Booed!

Blog Reader: When did you learn that you had had the boo treatment?

Joann: When Jack came back from setting out the garbage receptacles for Thursday morning trash pickup he noticed this spider bag sitting by our front entrance.

Blog Reader: Scary! Scary! What did you do"

Joann: Well, Jack brought it inside the house and told me about it when he came to bed after midnight.

Blog Reader: You were asleep?

Joann: That's correct but hearing about what he found on the front step woke me up and sent me charging down the stairs to take a little peek.

Blog Reader: So what did you find?

Joann: All this chocolate candy plus a Dr. Oetker German Lava Cake Mix and a mini cake pan and a Boo Message.

Blog Reader: What did the Boo Message say?

Joann: A lot. A lot. So I'm going to boldly type what the note said.

Boo

The air is cool, the season Fall

Soon Halloween will come to all.

The spooks are after things to do....

In fact, a spook brought this to you.

Boo is a shield from witching hour.

Just hang it up and watch its power.

The treat that came with crumpled note,

Is yours to keep: Enjoy them both.

The power comes from friends like you,

will carry this and make it two.

Just one short day to work your spell,

or a big ZAP will strike your tail.

so, don't forget a nifty treat,

something cute or something sweet...

You have been BOOED! Please keep it going by following these drections:
1. Enjoy your treat.
2. Place the BOO sign on your front door or visible in a window.
3. Within 2 days, make 2 copies of this note, make 2 treats and 2
Boo signs.
4. Secretly deliver to 2 neighbors/friends without a BOO.
5. Keep an eye on nearby front doors to see how far and fast it
spreads by Halloween.

Uh--ohh!

Two A.M. On The Night (Day) Before

Halloween

Uh--ohh!

Joann: There it sits.

Blog Reader: What?

Joann: You know. What Jack said was down here.

Blog Reader: What?

Joann: The Watch-it-mit-call-it that comes with the you-know-what!!

Blog Reader: Oh, dear, you are making no sense at all plus you thru in mit

which is German for with.

Joann: I know. I'm sleepy and walking and talking in German.

Blog Reader: Can we go back to bed and do this blogging in the morning?

Joann: Great idea. And in the morning I'll take a photo of the Watch-it-

mit-call-it and post here.

Blog reader: I second that thought. Now let's hit the hay.

Bradford Railroaders Do Washington D.C.

Blow The Train Whistles!

The Bradford Railroaders Rolled Into

Washington D.C.

The Bradford Railroaders came from Bradford, Ohio for their exciting week of touring Washington D. C. Standing beside me is my niece Debbie Gariety Wirrig, the daughter of my brother Carl Gariety and his wife Esther Gariety of Russia, Ohio.

We met the Bradford students for breakfast in Woodbridge, VA at the Old Country Buffet where we learned that three other schools from southwest Ohio were using the Old Country Buffet as their morning breakfast location too. Jack and I were worried about being late so we were on the road in the dark by 6:15 A. M. to make sure that we allowed enough time to get across the county.

So when we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant at 7:10 A.M. we immediately saw two big travel buses from Buckeye Charter Services in the parking lot and empty! Oh, my we must be late and they have already gone inside to eat I told Jack! But we were not late, these two buses were from Riverside, Ohio.
Soon my niece Debbie and her son Brandon arrived on another Buckeye Charter bus and we greeted them and then went inside to find tables for eating and chatting. In this photo the students discovered that they could have among many things fried chicken and soft serve ice cream for breakfast. Many opted for the ice cream.
Here is my niece Debbie sitting across from my husband Jack.
And here is Debbie standing by that big Buckeye Charter bus that was well decorated with patriotic flags.

Aunt Joann and Debbie posing for Jack's camera. Our dark eyes and dark hair and short stature? are family traits. But I am 18 years older than my niece.Another mom volunteered to take this group photo of our breakfast meeting. Left to right: Debbie, son Brandon, Aunt Joann and Uncle Jack. Debbie Wirrig and Brandon Wirrig posing for the camera and getting excited about visiting The Holocaust Museum in the morning and Arlington National Cemetery in the afternoon. The students will gather at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to have a student wreath laying ceremony and to see the changing of the guard. My niece Debbie in 1980 was one of the attendants for the Little Miss Chick Pageant for Poultry Days in Versailles, Ohio! Debbie has kept her good looks. Our final photo: Aunt Joann and niece Debbie are pointing to the name Buckeye on the side of the charter bus. I saw lots of folks wearing Ohio State sweat shirts exiting all the charter buses from Ohio.

Railroaders Leave The Tracks

Big News Flash

The Railroaders From Bradford,Ohio

Have Left The Railroad Tracks Behind

And Are Heading Down The Road To

Washington D. C.

Via Gettysburg, PA Battlefield

You May Spot Railroaders

At ESPN Zone Late Tuesday Afternoon

All These Railroaders Are Buckeyes.

Check Out Baby's Outfit.

He Is A Little Buckeye In Grandpa Tom Gariety's Arms.

My World Tuesday Second Week

My World Tuesday

Second Week

October 28, 2008

My Neighbors Experience A House Fire This is every homeowner's worst nightmare. Your beloved home sweet home going up in flames!
This happened in My World last Wednesday afternoon here in our Piedmont Golf Course Community in Haymarket, VA.
My neighbors and I counted 15 firetrucks that came thru our gated community to fight this house fire. There were just as many or more police vehicles and ambulences responding to this fire that destroyed three homes and severly damaged the siding on a fourth house.
This was the first time I have ever seen a hook and ladder unit in operation fighting the flames that were whipped about by the blowing fall winds. Actually there were two hook and ladder units fighting the blazes. One in front of the townhouses and on at the back of the townhouses. If you click on the photo above, you can see the fiery inferno on the main floor of this townhouse. Luckily everyone was away at the time for this particular townhouse but a pet dog had to be rescued by firefighters. Some Final Thoughts
The Prince William Fire and Rescue squads as well at the Prince William Police need to be commended for their quick response and the efficient manner in which they fought this fire. Three homes were condemned and the homeowners had just three and half hours to go into the smoldering ruins and retrieve any valuables that they wanted to retrieve. After that the houses were boarded up and placed off limits to everyone. One family had three children and the youngest, a girl, came home from school on her birthday to find her house in flames and her birthday presents on fire! Kindhearted neighbors who heard about this went out and bought birthday presents for her as well as clothes and shoes.

Today we received an email from our Piedmont Homeowners Association giving us an update of this devastating fire and info on how we can give either clothes or household items or money to help these unfortunate neighbors.

Need Something Fun After This Sad Post?

Detour by mouse to the blog I have listed under My Blog List to see a bunch of babies dressed up for Halloween. Look for Jenn and Terry.

My daughter did a split picture: the babies in drag at the 2007 party at her house and the same group plus a few others in this past Saturday's 2008 party at her house. The little fellow dressed as Mickey Mouse and holding a sippy cup is my pride and joy: my grandson Jack! He was a little out of it because he had just gotten his first chickenpox vaccination.

Airlie House Near Warrenton, VA

Beautiful pathways and flower beds with many still blooming perennials lining the walkways.

My husband Jack enjoying a southern style swing on a wide verandah of one of the guest lodges at Airlie House.

Upper deck of the pool house with pool with view of the lake thru the big old pine trees. On Sunday afternoon I showed you outside photos of Airlie House near Warrenton. This afternoon I am showing you inside photos of Airlie House which today is run as a green conference center away from the hubbub of Washington D.C. for many business organizations and government related organizations. Above is the old family dining room used by the last owners of this house.

Jack discovered Airlie in the 90's on an EPA conference he attended at Airlie. He was so impressed with this resort style conference center about 50 miles due west of Washington that the very weekend that he returned home from his conference he brought me to Airlie House to experience its fine facilities.This is the beautiful dining room where chefs prepare grand foods to be served buffet style for the guest staying at the conference center. The spacious windows overlook the grounds and lake. Below is a nicely terraced path leading to the front entrance of Airlie House with the Spanish steps. Last Saturday the weather was perfect for exploring once again this grand facility and exploring the buildings as well as the grounds. Here is a conference group listening intently to their leader discuss something. I know not what but I did notice that this was an almost all Asian group so maybe it was a business group from Asia here for a conference Here are the Canadian geese enjoying the lake under trees with leaves turning yellow and red. I found a white swan taking a little late morning siesta before her next swim and she had on an identification tag of some sort.

Click here to learn more about Airlie House and Conference Center or to schedule your business conference at this awardwinning green conference center. You will learn that this is one of the oldest conference centers in the United States. http://www.airlie.com/index.htm

Go Virginia! Go Wahoos!

Jennifer Put Down Jack and Pick Up The Phone and Call All Your UVA Friends!

The University of Virgina in Charlottesville, VA beat Georgia Tech in an important ACC football game and that means that the University of Virginia is now #1 in the Coastal Football Division of the ACC.

Go Virginia! Go Caveliers! Go Wahoos!

We Interrupt The Football Games

We Interrupt The Football Games

For This News Alert

We interrupt the Sunday afternoon football games to bring you this important announcement: more Ohio buckeyes will be coming to the greater D.C. metro area this week. This time it is the Ohio village that hosts each October a great pumpkin show: Bradford, Ohio in Miami County Ohio.

And this time the visitors will include my niece, Deb Wirrig, and her son. We hope to meet up with them for breakfast on the day they will be touring Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Now if you would like to know more about the village of Bradford, Ohio, do go to this website: http://www.bradfordoh.com/index.php?page=history
You will learn about Bradford's connection to the railroads passing thru the village; the founding fathers of the town; the great Bradford fire; and the most famous person from Bradford plus see some very old black and white photos. The name of the most famous former citizen of Bradford is
Allen Sutton Sothoron who played for the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns. Allen Sothoron was the last legal spit ball pitcher in the major leagues.

And if you would like to learn more about Bradford Village Schools go to this website: http://www.bradford.k12.oh.us/

And if you would like some info on that Annual Bradford Pumpkin Show
go this website: http://cleveland.about.com/b/2008/10/10/the-bradford-ohio-pumpkin-show.htm

One more comment, I would be derelict if I did not report that my great niece, Samantha Gariety, the daughter of Tom and Dorothy Gariety of Russia and the grandchild of my brother, Carl Gariety of Russia was a member of the 2008 Bradford Pumpkin Show Court. In 2000 Samantha's older sister, Nicole Gariety Keller, was also in the Pumpkin Show Court and was crowned Miss Pumpkin of 2000.

Can You Picture It?

Here comes the bride all dressed in white.

(Your imagination will need to provide the bride for this imaginary wedding scene.)

The bride all in white descends this heart shaped staircase

and exits the front door and descends the Spanish steps

and follows the bridesmaids pass this fountain to the wedding pavilion on the lawn.

She turns to face the awaiting assembled guests and looks back up the pathway to that magnificent Airlie house where later she and the bridegroom will have their wedding reception.

The extensive formal gardens offer many opportunities for photo opts for the wedding couple

and the wedding guests leisurely strolling thru the boxwood lanes.

Everyone will find interesting gateways to explore

like this wood and iron butterfly one. They will want to peep thru the opening to see what they can see of the beautifully landscaped grounds, lake, swimming house, tennis courts, riding stables and grounds, and sweeping lawns.

This tour of Airlie House in Fauquir County Virginia near the city of Warrenton will continue tomorrow. Same time, same place and same blog.

St. Raymond of Penafort in Fairfax Station

This is a new Catholic Church in Fairfax Station in Fairfax County. It has a French saint's name: St. Raymond of Penafort. Jack and I liked the beautiful stain glass windows that this new church has. It looks like in time the church architects plan to add more stain glass windows to this church. This church is located on Pohick Rd, right off the Fairfax County Parkway.

The outside has an Italian look with the bell tower to the right.This is a side wall of the church. Notice down low are the Stations of the Cross. And this is the sanctuary and alter. As we walked towards the alter we could hear the large organ above and behind us begin a beautiful hymn. They were practicing for a wedding ceremony later in the day.
This is looking towards one of the side transepts of the church. This picture makes me think of my book club's book for next month: The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett which is the story of the building of a cathedral.
This is the beautiful rose window that you face as you leave the church. Click on the photo to see the details. Have a blessed Sunday. Pray for peace in the midst of these turbulent times.

And now that we have been to church this morning I can give the answer to the farm question I posed yesterday under my one blog post for Saturday. (The one where Jack and Jack are watching the cow get milked.) What is the difference between Sunday going to town overalls and every day overalls. Everyday farm overalls were dark blue to not show the dirt while Sunday going to town overalls were a snappy blue and white stripe.

James Madison University is #1!!!!!!

Jeanine's News Flash!

James Madison University is still ranked #1 in college football in Division I. They went up to Villanova and won the game with a Hail Mary play. So Jeanine stay on the phone and tell all your fellow JMU alumni that James Madison won and is #1! What a great game that will go down in the record books and be discussed for many years to come.

Go Dukedogs!

Go JMU!

Want to learn about James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA? Well, click here: http://www.jmu.edu/

Saturday Golf Game

Golf Time

Today is Saturday and Jack Aidan's golf game has been canceled because of the pouring rain so he is practicing putting inside the house.
Good Putt! Let's practice a correct swing. Hold your hands like this. Keep your eye on the ball. Follow thru. You need to position your feet better if you ever expect to play with Daddy or Grandpa Karras. They won't give you any slack just because you're cute.

Go to this Yahoo site to discover what golf and the finanacial crisis have in common: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081023/cm_csm/ywalshe;

_ylt=AnmMi8UGlzyEVpzBlaR4yfes0NUE

Milk Man From Hale, Missouri

Moo!

Moo Cow, I just love your long eyelashes. Do you curl them?

Moo, Moo!

A lot has changed over the years but milking machines still look the same.

I wonder if that is a De Lavel milker?

Moo, Moo, Moo!

Now that is a very cute milking stool complete with a little udder.

Moo Facts.

Cows are ruminants that chew their cud.
What in heaven's name is cud?
All cow stomachs's are divided into four parts.
Cows and bulls can have horns.

Farmer Jack from Hale, Missouri used to milk over 130 cows twice a day on his family's farm.

Little Jack Aidan's response to learnng this: "Oh-ohh, I hope I don't have to grow up and milk that many cows twice a day!"