Skywatch Friday = Grey Skies At Wegmans

Skywatch Friday = Grey Skies At Wegmans Grocery Store

Jack and I love the Wegmans Grocery chain that started as a grocery business in New York state.
I like to describe it to folks who have never experienced a Wegmans grocery as a gourmet grocery with great value that is like a crossroads mix between Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, a wine and cheese shop, bakery, florist shop, fish market, and ethnic food store and restaurant. If you can't find it at Wegmans, you can't find it.

This Wegmans is on state route #29 .

This is another view of this shopping center. More grey skies.
But what do you expect in December in the greater United States.

Now please go visit other Skywatch Friday memes by clicking here:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

What's Happening Here?

Jack and I were going to the Gateway Shopping Center to get a new gas tank for our grill and to have a cup of coffee at Starbucks when we ran into blocked off streets, crowded parking lots and people rushing with kids and babies in tow. Did Obama return to Prince William County? No. It was someone even more exciting to all these folks. It was Flumpa the Amphibian. I think he was a big green frog and he may be coming to a place near you because his frogmobile says he does nationwide tours. At any rate he drew quite a crowd of babies, kids and young moms on a warm July morning at Atlas Walk. Just eight years ago this very spot near the Southern Railway tracks along route #29 was a depressing abandoned iron works business named Atlas Works. Atlas Works was one of the suppliers for the iron beams that were installed in the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City. Every American remembers seeing these twisted iron beams lying at ground zero. Well, some of those iron beams came from this very spot in Gainesville, Virginia. And today some of those twisted iron beams that were hauled away from ground zero were reused in the making of a new Navy battleship that was launched this year---the U.S.S. New York. And our decrepit and abandoned iron works has been reborn as an upscale shopping mall with a small town main street appeal and it sports the name Atlas Walk.

70 Bags of Mulch on the Drive

70 Bags of Mulch on the Drive.

70 Bags of Mulch on the Drive.

Take One Down and What Do You Have?

69 Bags of Mulch on the Drive.

When it gets daylight out I will take a photo for you of those 70 bags of mulch on the drive. In the meantime you can enjoy these photos of Baby Jack taken at Fair Oaks Mall where they had a small spring garden display.

Farmers Market at Heritage Hunt

Now that Heathcote Blvd is up and running we have discovered a wonderful Farmers Market at the entrance to Heritage Hunt. The market is open for business under tents on Tuesday mornings. Take a look at the beautiful heirloom tomatoes, yellow pattypan squash, white eggplants, colorful peppers and sweet cabbage that I bought. There is also a gentleman selling African style handwoven baskets and a Mennonite family selling baked goods. The bread and cherry pie were delicious! In addition there are vendors selling organic meat and
honey products. So mark your calendars and cruise down Heathcote
to the Farmers Market. You will find
great things to purchase and the vendors are a lot of fun to talk to too.
I got into a long discussion with one
lady about Paula Dean's appearence on the Larry King Show. We got to discussing Paula's longtime affair with a married man. Paula warned the viewers that that was a bad mistake on her part. An affair with a married man will just give you bread crumbs--no bread. And there you have it from the mouth of Paula Dean.

I Want A Phone That Works!!!

Jack and I have been caught up in the downfall of our phone provider, Sun Rocket. Our phone service promptly up and stopped on July 16. A couple of days earlier the company sent us a final email message stating that they were no longer accepting service calls and ended with the statement: good by. We thought that message was very abrupt and rude but we had no idea as to what was coming at us next. We learned thru the Washington Post that Sun Rocket was going bankrupt overnight and that the CEO broke the news to the employees, then fired them. She then announced that she was resigning as CEO. She picked up her purse and briefcase and walked out the door. Well, that left us with no home phone service except for cell phone service. This all happened three weeks ago and we have been trying to get new service since then. Apparently there is a wait period for going from one phone service to another if you want to keep your same phone number. The thought of changing numbers and having to change our personal checks and notify all friends, relatives and businesses of the new number was not a pleasant thought. So we have been trying to be patient but after two and half weeks we are about to throw a hissy fit. What's taking so long! In the meantime we have been reading in the Post horror stories from other former Sun Rocket customers---like the lady about to deliver a baby and no phone access to call her husband to tell him to take her to the hospital ASAP! And we have our own horror story. This week we asked the new provider to give us a temporary phone number to use till we can be checked out or whatever it is they need to do before they start our service up again with the old number. Well, this new temp number apparently was last used as a fax number. So now we are breaking our -uts to get to the phone when it rings and all we get for our efforts is a fax machine beeping in our ear. Oh, and yes, of course this phone dis-service began the month after we paid our phone provider in advance for two years worth of service. I don't think we will get a dime from this company that has filed bankruptcy so abruptly. Trials and tribulations. If you run across the former CEO of Sun Rocket, give her the old heave ho.