Thursday, May 31, 2012

Three Things

Notice how Son is parked as far away from
Mother and Sister as possible. Facing the opposite direction, no less.
With iPod blasting in his ears, as if to say,
"There's no way I'm affiliated with that bunch over there."




On Thursdays I like to encourage my one reader everyone to share three things which can be random, related, off the wall, straight from the Complaint Files or right from the I'm Happy For No Good Reason channel. Whatever you want.


I'll go first.


1. Chesapeake Bay Daughter graduates from 8th grade Friday morning at Ware Church in Gloucester. We have an 8th grade dinner to attend this evening, and there's a graduation party at some point this weekend-- I can't keep up with it all, there's too much  so much pomp and circumstance. Did I ever graduate 8th grade? Of course I survived it, but I don't recall any ceremony.  All I remember was the sense of sheer relief at never having to wear those pin-striped, jail-uniform-like unitards in Ms. Barkers' gym class.  Amen.





The girl has some athletic legs. And she's beautiful inside and out.
Yes, I am bragging.
Signed, Her Mother.





2. Next year both of my children will be in high school. This high school.









3. A brief two blinks of an eye years from now, this son of mine, who is merely fulfilling his duties as outlined in the Teenagers' Guide to Suffering Parents and Family By Ignoring Them All, will be going off to college. (The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.)

4. (Because 3 is only a suggestion.) Wasn't I just dropping them off at daycare/preschool/kindergarten/first grade? When did I become old enough to have two children in high school, when I just left high school myself thirty years ago?

5. If they're old enough to be in high school/almost college, that can mean only one thing: I am old enough to be accepted into an assisted living facility to know that in two shakes they'll be living their own lives. And I'll need to line up the movers for the next phase of my life, which surely involves a funeral home an assisted living facility.

The End.


Now it's your turn to share three things. Or one thing. Or ten things, it doesn't really matter.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Freeport Landing






Recently, on the way to West Point to attend the West Point Mosquito and Gnat Festival a track meet, I pulled down one of my favorite places in Gloucester County: Freeport Landing on the Piankatank River.




If you polish up your telescope squint,
you can see the house pictured below waaaaay off in the distance.
(Or click on the image for a better view.)









Love the double chimneys.
Did you know that some people in Mathews pronounce them "chimbleys"?
It's true. Just ask my neighbor.






















































This is the actual landing part of Freeport Landing.


Aside from my relentless mentioning of Freeport as the place where my German ancestor(s) on my mother's side jumped off the boat into Gloucester County, there's very little mention of Freeport Landing that doesn't involve the state of Maine, if one conducts a quick Google search.

Here's one recent Gazette-Journal article that mentions it. (Incidentally, the Hatch referenced in the article taught in the Mathews County school system back in the 1980s. His wife was also involved in the school system, if memory serves.)

Several blog posts on this site mention Freeport: here and here and here, for example.

Dear Gloucester Expert known as Chesapeake Bay Mother, can you fill us in on any significant memories/ knowledge of Freeport Landing?  

Muchisimas gracias.

Love, CBW

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

More From the Weekend





As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this weekend was fabulous.




In addition to the fun at the beach, 
there was lots of relaxing
in my yard by the creek.









Queens Creek was filled with boaters
taking advantage of the gorgeous weather.









Even our neighbors were out in kayaks.







In addition to the typical Memorial Day scenes like boats and beaches,
there were several highly unusual sightings.


While I was lounging creekside with my
Sudoku book and wine
I noticed something up in the air flying in my direction.


I can't say this is something you see every day.



There is a person dangling from this contraption.
It's like a parasail with an engine.
He was way up in the air.  I mean way up.
(Apologies for the poor quality of the photo.)



Yes, the weekend was full of the usual....







and the very unusual.


This rare aquatic creature was spotted
 frolicking in the Chesapeake Bay.



There's a person dangling from this contraption also.


Deltaville Jamie migrated south for the weekend
and was able to join me for an afternoon
at the beach.

She went out so far into the bay,
she joked that she was almost at Tangier Island.







To read more about powered paragliding/paramotoring, which evidently is now being enjoyed here in Mathews, click here.


To see another picture of  Deltaville Jamie and her duck float, click here.


If you want to learn more about Tangier Island, click here.



Monday, May 28, 2012

Beach Weekend

I think there's a leak out of the lower left corner of this photo.
Due to the slant of the horizon and all.




For the second weekend in a row,








the weather here in Mathews has been incredible.










For the first time in a while, I did a whole lot of nothing
other than enjoy this particular beach at the southern
end of the county. It was almost like being on some tropical island.









Hopefully you've been able to unwind a bit too.


Happy Memorial Day. 


Friday, May 25, 2012

Redart Work Boats






























I love these baskets...








and the cute little lids.



These were taken from the docks at Redart last weekend.

Speaking of weekend, I am ecstatic! very happy that Memorial Day weekend is upon us.

Not only will I enjoy a three-day weekend, but I'm taking off from work next week to prepare for and participate in Chesapeake Bay Daughter's 8th grade graduation activities.

Happy Memorial Day.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Tour de Mathews: Part III

Field down Redart



After getting caught trespassing a lovely visit at Beachland, my friend Brooks and I drove down to Redart.






High on my list of things to show him were boats, workboats in particular.






Brooks has a deep interest in workboats and found my blog googling workboat images. Over the course of many months we became friends.

BTW, some of my very best friends have come from this insane inane little blog, which is probably one of the main reasons I keep doing it.




CB Mother and Brooks discussing quantum physics.
No, really. They were.
Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.



Anyway, on the last night of The Tour, Brooks came over for dinner with my parents.  He was eager to meet my mother because he's a fan of her blog.




Although my  mother just as easily could have been striking a pose,
in fact she was holding her hair because of the strong winds.


After standing over a charcoal grill for a couple of days hours, I served up some hickory-infused chicken at a table with a grand view of Queens Creek.

My personal philosophy as of the past five or so years is that every day is a special occasion, so every night that the Chesapeake Bay Children and I sit down to dinner together, I light candles.

Even if it is just the three of us (and it almost always is), the candles are lit come supper time. Just ask them, they'll tell you so.

Why wait for a special occasion when that special occasion is now?

Anyway, the two candles I normally light every night were a little raggedy, so I took two votives and stuck them in lovely little seascape-decorated holders. Because they were votives (i.e. doomed to die out after an hour or two), I didn't bother blowing them out after dinner was over because, why?

I'll tell you why.

We all adjourned to the back deck. My parents sat facing the creek.  I sat to their side drinking wine .  Much to my dismay, Brooks sat facing my parents which meant he was facing the house, the kitchen and the table.

I say much to my dismay because in the bizarre little world I live in, everyone should be facing the water, absorbing its magical healing properties.  Facing my dirty, cluttered house is anything but relaxing, in my opinion.

But never mind my little world, which happens to be filled not only with special occasions every evening at supper but  also catastrophes mishaps. One or two, anyway.

No, it was a good thing Brooks was facing the table, because one minute we my mother and he were discussing quantum physics; the next minute he says, casually, "Wait.  Is something on fire?"

Indeed something was.

One of those votives somehow or another (and how this happened will never be known) not only caught the holder on fire, but the holder seemed very content and amenable to going up in flames to the point of providing a pyrotechnics show for the neighbors across the creek catching the table on fire.

When I heard the word fire, I did not panic.  These things happen.  Believe it or not, I actually tried to blow the fire out.  It should come as no surprise that the fire laughed at me to the point of hysterics.

Someone grabbed a tea towel and smacked it down.

The tea towel is scorched.

A layer of wood is seared from my table.

One cute votive holder with a seascape motif is disintegrated.

And a good time was had by all.

The End.



Taken from New Point Campground, where my friend stayed this weekend.
This was before the fire, as a point of reference.
The calm before the fire, if you will.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Adventures at Beachland





As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend an out-of-town friend (we'll call him Brooks to protect the innocent) visited Mathews for the first time, and one of our stops was the beautiful place known as Beachland.









Knowing the owner was going to be away this particular morning, I coordinated my visit with her sister.  She emailed me inquiring about the date and whether I still planned on going, and I emailed back confirming that indeed I was.










We were all set.









Brooks and I were amazed at the peace and tranquility of the beautiful estate. We admired the barn, walked by the beehives, took some photos of the creek, and then turned our attention to the house itself.







We loitered lingered in the back yard admiring the house.  Taking advantage of the gorgeous day, we decided to sit for just a spell on the back deck.

The sun beamed down, birds sang cheerfully, and all in all it was very serene, very relaxing.

All of a sudden, amid the roar of all this peace and tranquility, I heard a sound that my trained ear has come to recognize after trespassing taking photos for this blog for so many years.  A ghost! car was approaching.

I asked Brooks if he heard it, and he said no. Although I tried to resume the state of relaxation, any hope of that fell by the wayside when we heard footsteps ascending the stairs behind us.

Oh no. My worst fears were about to be realized.

Here we were, lounging casually in someone's back yard--doing absolutely no harm, though.  Plus I had told a family member I would be here, which you'd think would be enough to assuage my guilt fears.

Still.

Who was here, and what would they think of us loitering hanging out in the yard?

As my heart leaped into my throat I quickly scampered off the deck into the yard, held up my camera, and dove headfirst into my well-rehearsed  speech (for just this sort of occasion) before seeing who was there.

"Hey there! It's Chesapeake Bay Woman," as beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

Whirling around to see who was on the receiving end of this announcement, I was relieved to see someone I recognized as a family member. Someone I've met before.

 He looked understandably startled, at least for the first few seconds, until it all registered.

Waving my camera around as if it were some sort of Get Out of Trouble Free card, I continued. "Suzie said it would be OK if we stopped by to wander around and take some pictures. Did she tell you?"

The beads of sweat were as big as golf balls by this time.

"No," he said.

Crap, I thought.

Oh no, I thought.

As it turned out my fears, of course, were all for naught.  He not only very graciously welcomed us, but he invited us inside.



From this angle, the footsteps came up those stairs on the left.
We were sitting near the stairs on the right.


Many, many thanks to Gloria, Suzie and Bob for giving us the privilege of visiting this beautiful place.


Stay tuned for the next chapter of the Misadventures of CBW The Three Hour Tour, where CBW serves up a meal that included a complimentary post-dinner fire.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Barn




This weekend's weather was nothing short of spectacular. 






 Constant breezes with 70-degree, crystal clear weather was perfect for taking a friend from out of town on a tour of Mathews.








One of the stops was Beachland








There is a story to tell about this particular part of the tour. 








But for now I'll just share these shots of Beachland's beautiful barn.














This week I'll post more photos and tidbits from this weekend's misadventures adventures which include things such as trespassing honeysuckle, beaches, workboats and a fire.  Inside the house.  My house.  Specifically, on top the kitchen table.  Thankfully, the small fire was caught in time, so no big deal.  (The kitchen table might say differently, but, hey, it could have been worse.)

Anyway, this week will be another brutal week for me at work, but I'll try to get the pictures and stories up as time permits.

 What happened in your world over the past several days?

Friday, May 18, 2012

Grounded




These shots of a boat pulled gently ashore near Smithers Cemetery on Queens Creek are from 2010.

The boat seems so comfortable and relaxed there out of the water, almost as if it's catching up on lost sleep.

Or perhaps I'm projecting my ardent desire to catch up on rest and sleep on an unsuspecting, perfectly innocent boat pulled up on shore.

Either way, I hope there's at least a nap in my future you enjoy a peaceful, relaxing weekend.