A Sunday Stroll

Happy Sunday Everyone.
I hope you all have had a nice weekend. Mine was busy. I worked yesterday and today Dean and I went with Rebecca and Cody to VA. Beach to meet up with my son. He had a rare chance to take Cody aboard a Navy Ship (photos to follow in my next post) While they were doing that Rebecca and I ran into the toy store for some ideas for Santa, then we all had lunch with my mom. Later in the day we stopped at this wonderful old cemetery in Norfolk. I had know this cemetery was there but had never been. As you can see from the photos it is very old and some of the grave go back to the mid 1860's at lest. One of the more famous graves is that of Civil War Confederate Army Officer Charles Pickett, The brother of Major General George E. Pickett,. Both Charles and George fought at Gettysburg,

Also the largest grave *as you will see in the slid show* is of  John Core. He Served with John Singleton Mosby as one of his Rangers and with the Commissary General's Office during the Civil War. After the war, he returned to Norfolk where he became a very successful farmer and businessman. He founded John H. Core & Company which were importers, manufacturers, and packing agents.
He died in 1910 leaving an estate valued at over $500,000. He would have been a multi-millionaire by today's standards. He stated in his will that he wanted a mausoleum built in Elmwood Cemetery for his remains and those of his wife, Martha Anne. The couple had no children. He set aside $100,000 for the construction of the mausoleum.
My grandson Cody (who is a big fan of Gettysburg) quickly recognized the Confederate flags that were displayed on many of the graves in the cemetery. You can even see him salute at some of the graves. I thought that was really cute.
All in all it was a good day. I hope you enjoy my slide show

The World Around Me..Rosewell Ruins

Today I returned to Rosewell Ruins in Gloucester VA. I had visited this location last spring and had been wanting to return. All was quiet today but I can certainly see why this place is suppose to be haunted.

Stories have been told at Rosewell. Everything from slaves buried in the Cellar walls, to a mysterious lady who walks the front steps every night.





From Wikipedia,

Rosewell Plantation in Gloucester County, Virginia, USA for more than 100 years was the home of members of the Page family, one of the First Families of Virginia. Begun in 1725, the huge brick Rosewell mansion overlooking the York River was one of the finest in Virginia. Through much of the 18th century and 19th centuries, and during the American Civil War, Rosewell Mansion hosted the area's most elaborate formal balls and celebrations.



Rosewell Mansion and part of its history were described by author James Joseph McDonald in "Life In Old Virginia" (The Old Virginia Publishing Co., Norfolk, Va., 1907) thus:

"The mansion is substantially built of brick, three story and basement. The foundation walls are three and one-half feet thick. The reception hall is large, the ceilings lofty, and the whole mansion is indicative of refined taste and wealth. From the upper windows, a magnificent view is had of the surrounding level lands and the waters of the creeks and the York River.
"During the life of Governor Page, Thomas Jefferson was a frequent and welcome visitor there. While on one of his visits he wrote the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence in what is now known as the 'Blue Room,' situated on the northwest corner of the second story of this house."
The elaborate Flemish bond brickwork, the towering three stories, and the siting of the mansion were all meant to recall elaborate London homes of the era. In that sense, Rosewell was among the most sophisticated early buildings built in America.

The Rosewell Mansion was destroyed by fire in 1916. Today, a largely undisturbed historic ruin, the site has been the subject of archaeological work which has revealed many artifacts and shed light on some aspects of colonial life and architecture previously unclear.



Page family of Virginia
Governor of Virginia John Page (1744-1808) was the grandson of Rosewell's first owner, Mann Page (I). He grew up there, and was a classmate of Thomas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary in nearby Williamsburg where he graduated in 1763. John Page fought during the American Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of colonel. He also served multiple terms in the U.S. Congress and the Virginia General Assembly.

Other notable members of Virginia's Page family also include Governor Page's brother Mann Page III, his great grandfather, Colonel John Page of Jamestown and Middle Plantation, author and U.S. Ambassador to Italy Thomas Nelson Page, and Virginian Railway builder William Nelson Page; Confederate General Richard Lucian Page.




A family legend says that the courtship of John and Margaret Lowther Page began with an exchange of poems.


In 1790, John Page was a 47-year-old widower serving in the First Congress of the United States. Congress was meeting in New York, and it was there that he met Margaret Lowther, who was about 30 at the time. According to the legend, John escorted Margaret to a party and later realized that she had left a glove in his carriage. He sent the glove back to her with a note reading


"Taking 'G' from 'Glove' leaves 'Love'

Tis that I offer thee."


Margaret replied with another note:

"Taking 'P' from 'Page' leaves 'Age,'

And you are too old for me."


Perhaps Margaret was only teasing, or perhaps she soon had a change of heart, for the couple was married a few months later. They continued to write and exchange poems during their marriage.

Chickens, Grand kids and Snowmen oh my (the world around me)

Last month I decided to try and post something every week or at lest every couple of weeks about my area. I call these post The World Around Me...Here is my latest

My daughter finished work early today. I was off and the sun was shining so we took advantage of the spring like weather by getting outside. We decided on the local children's farm. First we stopped for some lunch.


As you can tell my grandson thought it would be more fun to wear his cup on his head than to drink out of it.

After we ate we stopped at our favorite thrift stores (since they were on the way)
I found a couple of movies and my daughter found this!

I told her she was crazy, that it would never fit


But she had a plan

I held my breath


1-2-3


Whew...she did it!

Next stop, the local children's farm where Cody played on the Swings

And the slide


He ran around in circles



And played peek a boo



While I took some pictures of the turkeys


And the swan



And the ducks by the water wheel


We stopped to feed the horse


Check out the llama


How often do you see cows in the city (This sounds like a new TV show...stay turned for cows in the city brought to you by butter lovers of the world)


Look at these beautiful baby goats


They were so sweet


Here comes the albino peacock


With this beauty not far behind


Next we stopped at the chicken house


This little fellow is having a bad hair day


And this one talked to us the entire time we were there


Not to be out done. Mr Rooster let out a big cock a doodle doo


Cody loved petting the deer


But was starting to get a little tired, so we sat down to rest


We were bored with the playground and the animals so we took a little walk to the other side of the farm, where this old building is


You might remember from last year that this is one of the area's that Cody saw a "ghost", It was in here that he saw an old man.


He didn't see anything there today,(I have to admit I wish he had) so we just looked around.


Isn't it amazing how quick kids get a second wind


We finished up our walk by stopping at the old graveyard where last spring Cody saw "The Lady Ghost"


We haven't mentioned her to him in a long time, but he still remembers seeing her.


he wasn't afraid and he enjoyed walking around the graves


It's been a long time since he has "seen" anything. I think he is outgrowing it already. I am not sure why children seem to have the ability to see and feel spirits, but his mom and I want him to be comfortable around cemeteries and old places where "something" might be.
One of the ways we do this is by giving him the camera to take photos.


I think he did a good job getting this one of me and his mom

And an even better one of his feet (giggle)


One last walk around the lake and it was time to head back to the front of the farm





We must not forget to visit the rabbits


Or the giant turtle


And last but not lest climb in our favorite tree



Thank you for joining me for a trip in The World Around Me....

Brought to you by Cows in the City..For butter lovers everywhere(Giggle)




Hey let me out of here will ya?