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Tag Archives: travel

when it rains go wine tasting

20 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in Lifestyle, photography, sustainable lifestyle, Virginia

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

food, photography, travel, Virginia is for lovers, Virginia polo, Virginia winery, wine tasting

It is grape harvest time in Virginia. The vineyards are lush with grapes—the scent nearing heaven. One of our local winerys hosts seasonal polo every Sunday afternoon when weather permits—a clever marketing ploy as well as a good day out. Yesterday rained, yet this did not prevent tasters from filling the room. This weather condition also provided a few photo ops I thought I would share.

Virginia is for lovers including wine lovers!

To celebrate this harvest season, for breakfast I made a cream cheese omelet with cannellini beans and green olives with a healthy splash of olive oil—all organic please! Enjoy your Monday. 😉

Remember to double click on the images to enlarge.

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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a day away

17 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in Lifestyle, photography, Virginia

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

battles of the civil war, Colonial Beach, Fat Freda's, food, Fredericksburg, fredericksburg city, frozen custard, Potomac, restaurants, The Fredericksburg City Cemetery, travel, Virginia, Wilkerson's Seafood Restaurant

I fantasize about getting away. I envy those who live on the road—exploring, tasting, living large. For the most part I stay close to home as daily chores consume my waking hours—the gardens, birds, and monarchs wait for no one.

In a desperate attempt to change gears, I found another who could take a few hours off for a day away. The trip involved a two-hour drive east and ended up in a small village called Colonial Beach. It was neither colonial nor a beach. Despite the blazing hot sun, the town and shoreline were deserted. And it is still August.

The beach was the shore of the murky, dank, smelly Potomac. A brief stroll to the end of the fishing pier satisfied my curiosity. There was one family on the beach and one person was actually bobbing in the filth. A storm drain from the streets empties directly into the Potomac, only yards from this swimmer. I say, WHAT is wrong with this scenario?

The antique/junk store was closed, so we began looking for lunch. We stopped at a small dive named Fat Freda’s where the menu offered panini sandwiches of little merit. What sent us out the door was the fried bologna—the way your Mom used to make. Hardly!

Further out-of-town, another restaurant perched on the mighty Potomac. Wilkerson’s Seafood Restaurant, family owned since 1946 offered a nice view, clean tables, and a pleasant ambiance. The broiled crab cake and fried hush puppies were memorable, yet pricy.

I knew what I wanted for dessert, so we headed to Carl’s frozen custard over in Fredericksburg. Carl’s opened in 1947 and the machines were built in 1940. They gleamed from behind the glass, as the sullen dipper and cashier passed their day. The custard was smooth and eggy, and did not disappoint, although the unknown ingredients is shipped in from the mid-west.

The Fredericksburg City Cemetery, ca. 1844, rests behind high brick walls, providing a final resting place for over 3400 community members, including 300 Confederate soldiers who died during the 1862 battles of the Civil War. Some of the larger civilian monuments bear the names Ficklen, Toppitzer, Brulle, and Crookshanks.

During all my years residing in Virginia, this part of the state eluded me until this day. Other than for the frozen custard, I shall not return. Decades ago, this place was quite the holiday spot for DC residents, yet those days are gone and merely ghosts remain.

PS Double click on any photo to enlarge for detail.

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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better late than never?

07 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in Dominion Power, Lifestyle

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Fourth of July, Independence Day Celebration, Monticello, Monticello Gardens, Nadia Comaneci, naturalization ceremony, outdoors, photography, plants, travel, vacation, Virginia

Dear old Mother Nature had her way with Virginia again last week. She sent 80 MPH winds throughout the state, dropping trees and power lines like toothpicks. I was one of the lucky ones, with garden damage limited to the Ichi Ke Jiro, which split in half. Electricity was out for 6.5 days during triple digit temperatures and high humidity. A bit of deja vu from last fourth of July weekend—see my blog.

I defaulted to the lower level of my home, where I have a small bed, bath, and comfortable sitting area. I hauled water from my neighbor’s spigot to water necessary herbs and flush toilets, then retreated to the basement until dusk, when I would check birds feeders and baths. I went to bed at dark and woke at dawn, where I would again haul water and scrounge for a meal from my assorted collection of nuts, seeds and dry berries. Reading and naps filled my afternoons while gently transported to idleness.

On the actual fourth, I decided to join the living and drive to Monticello’s 50th Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. The following images portray that visit and give an update of Jefferson’s garden progression. See my earlier blog: the thing about historic gardens, posted in late winter.

Dramatic contrast between reenactment soldier and Nadia Comaneci.

Remember to slide your mouse over images for further captions.

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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images from a glasshouse

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in color, Lifestyle, photography, summer

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

eye candy, glasshouse, Glasshouse Winery, photography, travel, vacation, virginia countryside, Virginia vineyards

Fortunate am I to have a very special winery just down the road. These images came from the glasshouse which connects to the tasting room. The husband/wife owners relocated here from Roatan, Honduras. Exotics are eye candy for this land locked photographer. And the wines are phenomenal too! I always have the Viognier!

Please sit back and enjoy!

banana flower

bananas and friend…do you dare site under this?

palm frond

Helliconia

Plumbago

Need I write anything more?

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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have you taken your stroll today?

16 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in Lifestyle, season, stroll, sustainable lifestyle

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Albemarle County, explore, stroll, travel, vacation, virginia countryside, walking

Have you enjoyed your stroll? Thanks for joining me today. Now go out and enjoy the rest of this wonderful May morning. 😉

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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colors of city market part II

29 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in farmer's market, Lifestyle, season, spring flowers, sustainable lifestyle

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Buy Fresh Buy Local, Charlottesville, Charlottesville City Market, entrepreneurial spirit, farmer s market, farmer's market, good times, happy spring, travel, Virginia

I could not resist taking my camera again yesterday to our local farmer’s market.

The following views are even more representative of the entrepreneurial spirit that lives at farmer’s markets! Why would we shop any where else???

Enjoy these images and remember to slide your mouse over the photos for further description and thank you for your continued comments!

Happy Spring!

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Good times were had by all!

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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Check out HGTV where two of my garden designs are featured…

I was featured on HGTVGardens.com!

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Essay Titles

  • What a summer ~ what a year!
  • Soon to be summer cooler
  • Another blueberry spring
  • Spring garden projects
  • Chocolate Ginger Molasses wafers
  • Winter warmer when we pause
  • The twilight zone is real
  • Projects keep coming…
  • Feeling it
  • the journey continues
  • My food journey
  • Brownies, Keto Style
  • Keto almond crackers
  • If you are climbing the walls…
  • Three hours of sun
  • “this too shall pass”
  • there is no place like home…
  • the perfect Tiny House
  • Miracles everywhere
  • And so it goes…
  • Transform, transition, resilience
  • An Artist’s Way
  • Sunday’s monster project
  • Meanwhile
  • how fragile we are
  • what I learned about Keto
  • small steps
  • do no harm…
  • will this convince you?
  • Plastics…a soapbox tale
  • Let’s clean up our act
  • 2020…are we ready?
  • All I want for Christmas
  • Thanksgiving…remembering love
  • At last
  • Keto “potatoes”
  • When critters call
  • Keto bread revisited
  • My report on Keto
  • for the love of rock, II
  • give a gardener a cool summer day…
  • Oh July, July
  • Kale, the ultimate chip
  • gone Keto
  • she’s baaaack!
  • Perhaps missed
  • for the love of rock
  • the anatomy of a popover
  • the garden visitor
  • what blooms this week

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