Dolce Vita

Chicken fingers with honey mustard dip.

When we first moved to Richmond our daughter’s family introduced us to the Dolce Vita  restaurant. We were impressed by the staff’s efficiency and friendliness and their swift attention to our dining needs.
Now it is five years later and we have visited a number of restaurants near us, but this is the one we return to again and again. What initially attracted us to them still prevails.
Dolce Vita is a family place with the emphasis on family. It has a real Italian ambiance without being overpowering. There is a variety of entree’s from which to select. A family may dine here without breaking the bank.

Lib and I were there for a light supper. I had chicken fingers with a honey mustard dip, she had a sampler platter of calamari, onion rings, and cheese stuffed ravioli.  Delicious garlic rolls complimented the meal.  

We went early before the main dinner crowd had arrived so we had a relaxing meal together.. 

Where they cook it....

 

A Perfect Fall Day

Blue Ridge Fall

My Kingdom for a Quilt....

For some time now Lib and I had discussed buying a new quilt for our bed. The one there now had been there for quite some time and was beginning to look a little frayed and timeworn. I knew sort of the design I was looking for (for most of our marriage Lib has picked furniture patterns and other household items based on her aesthetics as we have irreconcilable differences there. Now I get to pick and she is slowly coming around to my artistic values. Sometimes there are just either/or choices and one or the other has to acquiece.)

It’s been quite an adventure. First I went online and showed her the sort of patterns I was interested in. They are strong, big, colorful and usually geometric. I like patterns that are bold and in your face so to speak. These were  what I was interested in. Quilts with similar patterns are available online for about $800-$2000. They are really works of art and way beyond what we could afford. The two on the left were types that appealed to me

Last week we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and perused the choices they had. Not quite as dramatic but similar in a more subdued way and for around $200. We had heard of a Mennonite Quilt Auction in Harrisonburg this past Saturday so thought we might make a trip there to see and appraise quilts, the Fall leaves on the mountains, and perhaps visit Lib’s shut in sister.

 We were on the road by 7:00 am and arrived at the Rockingham County Fair Grounds near Harrisonburg where the auction was held. This is no small affair. Money from the auction goes to support Mennonite charities and there are literally hundreds of  quilts from which to choose. We registered, received a bidding number and entered a very large auditorium like room. There must have been at least  800 or more interested people gathered there. At 9:30 the action began.
Suffice it to say the event is well organized. Between the large and beautiful quilts up for bid there were art items, furniture ,and knick knacks. One bidder paid $80 for a large hot cup of fresh Brunswick stew! It was entertaining, but we realized that unless we were prepared to
pay a reasonable king's ransom, we were not going to leave with one of the really beautiful ones. They were bid very close to the prices seen online.We left the auction at noon and went to the Dayton Farmer's Market for lunch and some more looking around. Next we spent some time with Lib's shut in sister and her husband in Bridgewater. The last picture is from the overlook on Afton Mountain on the return trip home. Leaves were still green. A good day all in all.

At the auction

Lib looking over goodies at Farmer's Market

A Come Back....

I am so proud of my wife Lib! Around this time in December she had a major back operation to correct several severe problems that were making her life miserable One of the hopes she expressed to her surgeon was to be able to do her normal homemaking work, including the entertaining of family. They told her that they felt a 75% recovery was definitely possible. Tonight she proved that even more was possible.

Several weeks ago she began planning this evenings dinner. It was to be a celebratory dinner, marking Jeff and Cathy's 19th anniversary and the beginning of Devin's going to middle school. She also invited Jimmie and Sharon, Cathy's in-laws, to enhance the celebration.

Lib's goal was to pretty much do it all herself. This morning she peeled the apples and baked the apple pie.
                                                           

Lib mixing the poppy seed chicken recipe.

Our dining area ...

Chicken recipe into the oven.

Lib and Bill after the dinner...

I sort of tidied up the premises. This afternoon she cooked the chicken, prepared  the poppy seed chicken,  set the table, fixed the peas, and did the other things to make our families feel welcome and comfortable.
It was a fun evening!!

Communication changes in my lifetime

Most of us feel the need to be connected. Without our connections to others we feel isolated, alone, and sometimes depressed. I believe there is a healthy need that expresses itself in normal activites and perhaps a pathological state where the slightest separation creates panic or grave discomfort. 

Electricity has permitted us to be connected in ways unpredictable just over a century ago. The early phone system permitted women, isolated in their homes, to have community conversations on the “party line”. About the same time radio in all its manisfestatons began to bring the outer world into the family living room and instaantly wherever there was a transmitter there was sharing of local news. 

Newer phone systems abolished the “party line”, but women were working outside the home during the World war II years and there was less isolation. During the early 50's, television by its sitcoms and other programs gave us the illusion of being connected while slowly leaching out conversational skills. For some “What will we talk about...?” was a palpable fear. For those who made the effort in the early years, computers and what soon became possible with them, soon replaced the jaundiced and repetitively boring world of television. Communication with friends and family by email replaced the laborious handwritten letter. Often, the email was a little more carefully phrased then something blurted out suddenly by phone. Many of us chose to communicate this way as it became more widespread.. Libraries were utilized less as access to great knowledge resources became cheaply and instantly available. 

The smartphone has added a new layer to communication as it a phone married to a computer. 
Texting is wildly popular as it still gives the thoughtful a way to communicate carefully before pushing the “send” button. Siri (the phone program that allows you to replace finger strokes with voice recognition) makes that process still faster..but one is advised to think carefully before speaking. 

As a retiree, I have more discretionary time. My computer and iPhone allow me almost instantaneous connection with those who are important to me. FaceBook lets me be in tune with family and friends.Twitter gives me quick information on what is happening “out there”. Applications on the iPhone fill in the gaps....I search and add those I need, and since most of them are free, I delete those that no longer fill a useful function. I could live comfortably without TV. Being without my iPhone would really feel frustrating. 

Walking.....

When we first moved to Brandermill from Roanoke I could scarcely walk a hundred feet. That's how much the pain of arthritis had debilitated me. While driving around the neighborhood area I became aware that there were really fine macadamized trails around being used recreationally be walkers and bicyclers. It was easy to be envious.

Then hip operations a year and a half ago made it possible to consider the possibility of exploring those trails. Looking back at my blogs I see where I walked around the circles in my immediate vicinity up to mile this past February. These were estimates using the car odometer. A few months later an iPod walking app revealed that it wasn't quite a mile.

This summer my grandson and I began our first forays onto the trails. It wasn't long before we were regularly walking a mile and a half. One morning we broke the two mile barrier and did so again yesterday. I'm so grateful for this accomplishment.

The trails run through wooded sections of our development and often parallel to the main highway we use to go for groceries. The planners laced the whole large area of our development with these trails and what a delight it is to explore them.

 We have met other walkers who seem to be regulars...taking care of their health one of the cheapest and most delightful ways. I look forward to seeing the changes that Fall will bring.


The trails cross over Brandermill Parkway several places and this morning as we approached the road a car saw us and stopped to
let us us cross. This is the second or third time I've noticed this

consideration for walkers. It is, after all, a neighborhood where
people wave to total strangers who drive our area.

We took these pictures several weeks ago during our morning walk. I feel so very privileged to be a part of his growing up years.

A Day in Roanoke...

Lib and I spent a delightful day in Roanoke, Virginia yesterday. It was our home for most of our lives and we have many good memories from there.

We left Brandermill about 7:15 in our trusty old 16 year old car a Toyota from the year 1995. It is reliable, gas efficient, and very comfortable for our old bones. Our route took us through Amelia, Appomattox, Lynchburg, Bedford, and into Roanoke. It was one of our hot, typical summer days and the car's AC was  taxed to the limit keeping us comfortable.

Lib first transacted some necessary banking at MemberOne credit union that she couldn't do from . Next we decided to visit our former church, Oak Grove Church of the Brethren. We were hoping to see Ed our pastor, and  Carol director of music and other church functions. Neither was in, but we met a young man who was the son of  a bell choir ringer we knew. He knew us before we recognized him Had an enjoyable  chat with him before going to our next place.

We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant that specializes in pork entrees. Thought we might have seen someone we recognized from our former lives in the area, but to no avail.

From Google maps of our former domicile it appeared that the new owner had added a carport. Thought we'd check it out, but when we arrived there was no such appendage to the house. Must have been some sort of temporary structure (tent maybe) that was there when the satellite flew over.

We next visited Tanglewood Mall for some cologne that we can't seem to find in our Richmond stores. The sales lady knew Lib from the days Lib had been a sales associate at Belk. They visited briefly catching up on store personnel Lib had known. The mall was nearly deserted, but since it was the noon hour that was to be expected.

Next we visited with Ruth Stafford. She is an incredibly inspiring woman; a great grandmother who sort of functions as an adopted mother. We keep in touch by phone and regular mail, but it had been since November that we had actually seen her. Then she was in an assisted living situation recovering from a fractured arm. In the meantime Lib had the big back surgery, so there was much to compare and talk about.
Ruth and "HT" (her husband now deceased) were responsible for nurturing us through the early years of our
square dancing experience. It was one of the best investments in time for us, introducing us to an activity that was healthy in numerous ways. We also met a whole new set of long term friends that expanded our social circles considerably. For about seven years we danced, attended square dance conventions, ate meals together and bonded as The Grand Squares.

We went out to a local cafeteria for supper and there met a former viola student of mine, Cathy and her friend, Bo. Cathy and I have sort of kept up with each other as both belong to FaceBook. It was such an unexpected surprise to to encounter her there! What a delight to catch up, albeit briefly, with her.

We took Ruth home and then headed for Brandermill. All the way home we saw where rain had fallen, and it continued to thunder and lightning in the distance but little evidence at our own home. A very nice day!!
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