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A Day in the life....  

Entries in Blog Fest (9)

Thursday
30Jul2009

Fame and Notoriety (and the song within)

DateThursday, July 30, 2009 at 6:40AM

In case anyone has missed it, BlogFest made the news in Mathews, Virginia! I think we made such an impression at the General Store, they felt they must tell everyone! Here is the link!

Now I love the picture they used!

But as I was reading the article, something in the second paragraph caught my eye... "Asthmagirl's love song to hard cider". As much as I would like to take credit for having written such a song, and as much as I do enjoy hard cider and might have indeed written a song about it.... let's set the record straight. I have not written a song about hard cider.

Until now.

I have to live up to the hype! I know I'm no Foolery or Soup is not a finger food, but bear with me!

An Ode to Cider

To the tune of Paperback Writer, by The Beatles:

Dear Blog Festers-I can drink no wine...

Nor yet your cold beer even with a lime...

There’s a drink I like but is it on your coast?

If we find enough we can drink a toast!

 

We can drink a toast cuz you know I love the hard cider!

Love the Hard Cider!

 

If you like the apple we can try some more...

There a peach I like and its fun to pour....

The nectarine is a stellar brew ...

And the raspberry?! Let’s toss back a few!

 

Let’s toss back a few cuz you know I love the hard cider!

Love the Hard Cider!

 

If you really like them, put them in your sock...

TSA won’t find it, their search is a mock...

If the flight is smooth, you’ll arrive to find

The “Sin” you smuggled was worth your time!

 

Now your friends will laugh because you’re such a dork...

But the cider’s worth it and it’s from New York...

Its taste is complex and it’s not too sweet...

We’ll drink a toast because the bloggers love the hard cider!

 

Love the Hard Cider!!!!

 

I wonder when the royalties will start pouring in?

AG out!

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment13 Comments |
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Friday
24Jul2009

The secret

DateFriday, July 24, 2009 at 6:32AM

I've figured out over the last year that drinking wine is an issue for me. I can't handle the sulfites I guess... No, that's not the secret. Keep reading.

And while I like tasting craft ales and micro brews, I'm not really a beer girl. Still not the secret....

And trendy drinks like cosmos have very unfortunate consequences. Not a secret at all...!

So I'm a real fan of hard cider. I first tried it in Canada and fell in love. I drink it at the brew pub all the time!

The one thing that I wanted at Blog Fest was a few ciders to sip with my friends. So I finally asked Lauren what was available on the east coast and she found Original Sin hard cider.

Oh my!

It was so good, that at the end of Blog Fest, I thought I'd see how well it traveled. Worst case scenario, it broke in my luggage and my tank tops became intoxicated. Or TSA would confiscate it. So I stuck it in my socks. Why I brought work out sox but no shoes is beyond me. I was packing frantically at the end!

So... the secret...?

They made it! TSA did inspect my luggage and either didn't search my socks or didn't care!

I hear someone in New York City likes it quite well too!

Just a little remembrance of my time in Mathews!

AG out!

 

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment15 Comments |
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Thursday
23Jul2009

Facing Mathews

DateThursday, July 23, 2009 at 6:27AM

I haven't really gotten to the point where I'm ready to tell stories about Mathews County, but believe me, there are a few I'll be sharing. For now, I've just been focusing on images. Yesterday was Places. This is Faces!

Where better to start than with Janice and her lovely mamma Maryanne... Hey Mamma!

 

Whatever you heard about Janice being lovely and sweet... just quadruple that and add about 6 scoops of warm and welcoming... maybe a dash chunk of delightful...

The very sultry Daryl....

Ted, of Ted and Molly, our hosts at the Sea Shanty~ Check out the doily under that lamp! And the gas lamp in the ceiling... and those nesting tables... swoon! Oh yes, Faces. Where were we?

Lovely Annie... she has prettiest eyes! I was tempted to photoshop them but decided I couldn't improve on them!

My only shot of Kate without a camera in her hand...! Get the lens, Kate! Do it!

  

Our delightful hosts on the boat ride, Ann Marie and her husband... And Binky who wanted nothing to with me...

What a heartbreaker!

 

Pretty Lauren who has the best laugh EVAH!

Lovely Laurie and the irrepressible CBW!

Beloved Shelley, my erstwhile traveling companion and the keeper of my half of the brain when I'm not using it!

Delightful Meg from Maryland! Funny and Sweet!

 

Here we all are in all our beach bum glory!

Gosh, I miss y'all!

AG out!

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment14 Comments |
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Wednesday
22Jul2009

Tour de Mathews

DateWednesday, July 22, 2009 at 6:36AM

I'm still squeezed for time, but was able to process more pictures from Mathews County, VA, home of CBW (Chesapeake Bay Woman) and BlogFest 2009. I've been to many of the blogs of my new friends, and the pictures are amazing. You can see the BlogFest list on CBW's post here. There are some wonderful pictures and stories. Totally worth the click!

Today, I just wanted to share my initial impressions of Mathews County... I'll keep the chatter to a minimum. It's Virginia through the eyes of Seattle....

 

CBW's back yard...

The old barn....

The creek in front of the Shanty...

An old abandoned building... (I was fascinated by this tank....)

 

On the dock of Ted and Molly (owners of the Shanty)...

  

The light house on a humid misty morning....

Downtown at the "Courthouse"....

Many more memories to come... I know how excited you must be! :-)

AG out!

 

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment13 Comments |
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Tuesday
21Jul2009

Holy Macro!

DateTuesday, July 21, 2009 at 6:34AM

*First of all, I'll apologize, both for the berevity of the this post and the fact that I haven't visited a lot of you yet! I spent a good chunk of time at the hospital last night with K1 who is NOT having the baby yet! She was just having some pain that the dr. wanted evaluated. In other baby news, apparently Ben is not of sufficient weight to qualify for a c-section without an attempt at the regular method... so K1 will be pregnant indefinetely... no scheduling this thing for a convenient time.

So I haven't had a chance to work with more of the pictures from BlogFest... but I did have a couple that I wanted to share this morning...

While staying at the Sea Shanty, Kate was nice enough to let me play with her Macro lens. Without having a planned target, I took this...

Later on that day, Kate found a feather which we played with the next morning....

As a comparison, here's a shot I took this morning with my zoom lens....

Yeah... I may have to shop for a macro lens.... in a couple years when I have lens money again!

I'll try to catch up with y'all later today. I have to go back to work finally and dig into the pile on my desk. I will likely fumble along as my head is still full of all things Matthews County! 

More to come!

AG out!  

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment11 Comments |
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Monday
20Jul2009

Gobsmacked

DateMonday, July 20, 2009 at 9:39AM

Definition- flabbergasted, astounded, shocked...

As much as I was looking forward to BlogFest 2009 and all the folks I would finally get to meet, nothing could prepare me for the experience. To write of it seems almost sacrilegious, certainly inadequate... since I am unable to find words to describe how joyous it was.... At the same time, there's no way I could keep all this inside. We spoke of this at BlogFest on the last day, how each of us would frame our experience in Matthews County, how we would make the visit real to others who could not attend or show other attendees how it felt through our eyes and our hearts. I was confident and thought I would show it through photos.

I took over 400 shots and none of them is equal to the moment I took them in. The best camera could not have captured life in Matthews, the people that live there, or the enchantment of those who came to visit and bond. I'm further challenged by how to select just a few for this first day. I'm unequal to the task of defining BlogFest, but I will contribute to all the others that posted by selecting just a few shots that I took in reflex, knowing that I would remember how charmed I was by the unexpected....

I did not know...

 

... how charmed I would be by our host Janice and her Mamma. I adored Maryann and chatted with her whenever I could!

....how much I would come to adore Janice's friend Bud and the lovely glimpse he gave us of Gwynn's Island and Matthews County!

... how fantastic my new friends would be.... Nora and CW, some of the sweetest folks ever!

  

...how much joy there would be walking barefoot in the sand as a group!

...how the residents would greet us!

...how nostalgic and charming we would find Chesapeake!

...how the sense of utter relaxation would manifest itself (personified by my kindred spirit, Kate)

 

...that there would be sights that left me speechless but filled with joy.

Thanks to all who attended and befriended! It was so worth the trip!

AG out!

PS ~ Yeah... I'm too verklempt to talk about how wonderful it was to meet Lauren and Daryl and Annie and Angie and....

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment19 Comments |
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Wednesday
15Jul2009

Progress

DateWednesday, July 15, 2009 at 6:50AM

I woke up at 4:15 this morning with my head spinning with details. Zoiks! By this time tomorrow I'll be winging my way to the Virginia Blogfest with the Baroness! Great news! Progress has been made! The legs have been waxed, and check out the suitcase...

Still not done... but I have a list and a plan and I'm closing in on it!

Yes... the lens still had the smear on it. I promptly came back downstairs and cleaned it so I wouldn't forget. Here's the proof...

Taken moments later with a clean lens!

Now... work one last day and then the fun begins! Woot! I actually spoke with Chesapeake Bay Woman last night and got directions from the tiny airport we're landing at. I CANNOT wait to meet everyone! The first thing I'm going to do is hug Daryl (scent free, non lung crushing), no... Annie! No... Lauren! Whoever.... Y'all better prepare for the hugging!

"Leavin' on a jet plane... " 

AG out!

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment11 Comments |
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Monday
13Jul2009

Anxiety sets in...

DateMonday, July 13, 2009 at 6:13AM

Is the suitcase big enough? When do I do laundry? Are these shorts too short? Why didn't I think to buy new bras? Is this skirt too tight? Am I too fat? How many pairs of sandals will I need? What I am I going to do about the carry on? Why didn't I start sooner? What the hell happened to my lens?

Happy place... Happy place... Happy place....

My niece L, holding Cassie (Dopey) on the 4th of July at Dad's.... I feel a little better....

Maddie's smile... I feel better.... I think...

Pirate dog! Perfect!  

Oh and the lens...? One of the little dogs licked it. I'm cleaning it now...

Anxietygirl... I mean Asthmagirl out! 

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment10 Comments |
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Saturday
11Jul2009

Timeless

DateSaturday, July 11, 2009 at 7:06AM

This is K3, our youngest. She's going out the door to spend the night at her best friend's house.

One of the things that I cherish most about K3 is her youthful, innocent outlook on life, due mostly to her disability. This picture could easily be attributed to someone at 10 or 12. K3 will be 19 on Monday and her excitement on going to spend the night with her friend transcends her calendar age. I will admit that most 19 year olds do not require their mom to double check that they've packed underwear and a toothbrush along with the video games and comic books... but that's all part of the joy of K3.

Incidentally, that wolf under her arm... TOG (The Old Goat, my beloved husband lo these many years) took her to the zoo for her birthday this week. They always do something together for her birthday. She would prefer that I did not attend and that's okay. Anyway, she will not let go of this wolf except to eat and shower. It's adorable.

I tell you all this because as I took this picture I was contemplating that perhaps some might view K3's exuberance at spending the night with her friend as perhaps a tad age inappropriate. Not that I would give a fig what anyone else thought of my darling girl, but the thought did rattle around in my brain pan momentarily.

And then I had an epiphany. These are few and far between for me... so bear with me.

I could not help but note the similarities between K3's excitement at spending the night with her friends and my own anticipation of going to Blog Fest to see my friends. Granted, I'm not taking comic books and video games, but the adult equivalent of camera and laptop!

I therefore submit that the tug and pull of the sleepover is ageless and timeless. Who doesn't want to get together with their friends and stay up too late and giggle and hug and embrace their inner child.

I went a little further in my observations to note that men do it too. Sorry TOG but its oh so true! They just call it a fishing trip. But the same rules apply. Stay up too late, tell stories, laugh, drink too much beer and take pictures at three in the morning to show everyone how light it stays up in Alaska.

I rest my case!

See you at Blog Fest!

AG out!

AuthorAsthmagirl | Comment8 Comments |
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