Day Sixteen – July 3, 2018 – Lake Ridge, Virginia


Day Sixteen – July 3, 2018 – Lake Ridge, Virginia

After all that walking yesterday, it is a treat to have a lazy morning to stretch, shower, and wander upstairs around eight.  The coffee is already made (Thanks, again, Dennis!) and Betsy and I split the leftover baked potato.  Some people don’t understand leftovers for breakfast;  but we do!!

There is plenty of time to put together the brisket which we’re having for dinner.  Kathy’s crockpot is a Cuisinart and the rectangular shape makes it lots easier to cook things like brisket and ribs that don’t fit well into a round pot.  We’ve got all the ingredients ready to go and the pot is on it’s own by ten or so.  That leaves us about an hour to check mail and such.  Kathy brings out her several notebooks filled with art miniatures that she has collected and we pore over them, appreciating the delicate and detailed works.  She also has two notebooks filled with the inventory of her upstairs and downstairs collections, which are voluminous!  Every wall is covered with signed and numbered prints and there are a few that I really covet!!  Good thing I don’t have a spare inch of wall space or I’d be negotiating!!

Twink and Baby have their own room!

One of two;  the other is for downstairs.

Family room art





At eleven Kathy, Betsy, and I leave for another trip to Occoquan.  This time we get to visit Kathy’s friend, Kathy, who owns Creative Creations.  What a wonderful shop, filled with unique artworks and jewelry and this and that!  The stock apparently changes all the time.





We duck into another little art shop for a few moments, then go to The Secret Garden for lunch.  Kathy has a Monte Cristo that looks mouthwatering!  I have a warm goat cheese and spiced pecan salad that rivals any salad I’ve ever had!  The pan-fried panko crusted goat cheese melts in your mouth!!  And I had a Smart Mouth Sommer Fling Hefeweizen and really hit the spot.  It is really hot outside!!  Betsy had a tiny little dish of tabbouleh, and said that was all she wanted.  Guess that’s why she’s so trim!!

After lunch Kathy heads home to take her pills and goes straight on to her doctor’s appointment.  Betsy and I poke around in all the little shops.  The man running the tea shop is delightful, chatting about how his wife goes shopping – but only for sale items!  There is a puzzle shop with jigsaw puzzles and some games.  There is a Bohemian clothing store with really interesting designs that look great on skinny ladies. They do have some unusual pockets that might be worth copying, if either of us ever gets around to sewing again.  There is a stained-glass shop with two different great blue heron pieces!







After a couple of hours we head home and share some rose and popcorn while we check mail and such. Roddy tells me that my assignment is to feed the itty bitty kitty widdies.  They don’t seem impressed with my efforts. Kathy comes home around four fifteen and reports on her doctor’s visit.

Baby has her own spot.



Presently it’s time to make the salad and dish up the brisket and veggies.  Betsy slices the meat and we set the table.  There’s even naan!  And a lovely wine, a malbec from Argentina, Gran Seleccio.

When everyone is stuffed, we quickly clear and clean, and settle in the family room.  We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning, so it will be an early night.

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