What about these?

Do you remember playing with these when you were a child?

It is highly unlikely that any sets of Jacks remain intact from those childhood years.

So, I went out to buy a set.  Seems like there were twelve jacks in those long ago (for me) years.  They also seem to have a different appearance.

Well, there are no complete sets from those past years here; however, there is one to use for comparison.

Do you see the difference?  We had to be sure that all the jacks were off the floor when we were finished playing.  They didn't feel good at all on bare feet!  Ouch!

Something for thought....

Some of you may be familiar with the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.  He is best known for the "Lord of the Ring" series, though there are others to his credit.  I recently saw this quote by him, and thought it worthy of posting.

    "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold,

                          it would be a merrier world!"

                                                               - J. R. R. Tolkien

Do you remember these?

Do you remember this game?  Well, unless you are in my age range, you may have no recollection of it.:-)

This game was one that occupied our time indoors during recess in elementary school.  As I remember, we called the game "Fiddlesticks!"  The sticks were various colors, from end to end!  Here is what today's version is like -

 

Also, there are not as many of them.  Hopefully there are enough for the Munchkins to enjoy the next time they visit.:-)

An evening with friends....

We recently enjoyed an evening with friends, visiting their home for the first time!

What a beautiful welcoming! We were able to enjoy eating sitting at this table!

As you can tell, there is a lovely garden area - plus - this collection on display -

Heart-shaped rocks that have been found out and about!

It was a lovely evening!

Is it really?

I'm not sure if I have mentioned taking a table to the refinishers a couple of months ago.  I know that I was too embarrassed to take a picture showing the "before."  The finish had been worn off the entire top of the table.

Well, we picked it up last week.

I am really happy with the work that was done on it.  It is a Conant Ball table, and I have learned that the company went out of business in 1980!  A bit of time on the Internet, and I discovered it is now considered "vintage!"  My, my!  That must mean that I am vintage as well!:-) Does anyone else claim that particular designation?:-)

The celebrating continued....

Little Munchkin's birthday wasn't the only celebration of a recent week-end.  The Husband and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary as well!

We made a visit to Barter Theater in Abingdon, VA for a Sunday night performance of Mountain Stage with Larry Groce.  Not being regular listeners of NPR, this was a learning experience for us!  The show we saw was actually a taping that will be aired on NPR the second week-end in October.  

Guests who performed included Whiskey Gentry, Nellie McCay, Gretchen Peters, JD Souther, and Wayne Henderson.  It was quite an opportunity and a full evening!  You can see on the marquee that the show began at 7:00.  Well, it was 10:00 before it was over!  

We were given permission to take pictures - without a flash - during the performance; however, this trusty iPad just wouldn't pick up images.:-(  I will be referring to this occasion at some point in the future.  If you are in an area that is served by NPR, and if you are a fan of the type of music for which the artists I mentioned are known, this is a program you won't want to miss!

I may say that JD Souther and Nellie McCay have a new fan!  We were already acquainted with Wayne Henderson, a guitar maker of note, as we have toured his place of business a couple of years ago on a More Than A Vacation trip.  I believe a CD or two came home with us that time and became a treat under the Christmas tree.:-)  

Abingdon is a familiar place to visit as I worked and lived there for two years a number of years ago, and there are still friends in the area.  It is really a wonderful area for a trip you might want to consider.

On another note, I am optimistic that we now have a better functioning Internet connection.  We will see.:-)  

Have a good week!

On the farm....

There are some new residents on the farm.

The Country Couple have added three llamas to their menagerie!  They do have names, though they seem to escape me at the moment.:-)  Shenandoah and Tecumseh are two of the names, but I'm unable to match them with the correct picture.:-(   They were definitely very curious about what I was doing with this camera in my hand!:-)