Friday, December 13, 2013

Old houses, Christmas decorations and another parade

I’m still doing randoms on Friday. Random 5 Friday is a meme started by Nancy of A Rural Journal. Nancy is taking a break, but it’s hard for me to give up my randoms.
So here we go for this week.

One
Becky Green Aaronson of The Art of an Improbable Life recently did a giveaway of a 2014 Creative Peeps Inspirational Calendar she designed and produced through Improbable Publishing. I won!



I already have it set up on my desk, ready for the new year. I’m looking forward to having an inspirational quote in front of me to help carry me through my work.
Please stop by Improbable Publishing and have a look at the calendar. Becky is donating $1 from every sale of a calendar to cancer research.

Two
Please visit Lisa at Two Bears Farm for a wonderful story about a horse rescue and continuing work to help horses in need.
Lisa is such a kind person with a generous heart for people and animals. I have been inspired by her, and I know you will be, too.

Three
Last Saturday was my mother-in-law’s 91st birthday. To celebrate, we took her out for an early dinner at J.T.’s at the Lavalette, a restaurant in Gretna in the next county over.
The restaurant is in the Lavalette House, a lovely historic house. It was decorated so beautifully for Christmas.
And the food was great, too.
These photos were taken with my phone.





Four
Every year, the staff at the newspaper I work for have a Christmas photo taken. We put it in the Christmas issue of the paper, and it goes in the publishing company’s newsletter.
We went to Avoca in Altavista this week for the photo. The news editor at a sister paper met us there and took the group picture.
According to its website, Avoca was built in 1901 and is built in the American Queen Anne style. It’s on the site of the home of Col. Charles Lynch of the American Revolutionary War.
Avoca was decorated for its annual Christmas open house. I got some photos on my phone to share. They're not great photos, but they will give you a sense of the place, I hope.










Five
The local high school’s football team, the Altavista Colonels, will play in Salem on Saturday for the Group 1A state championship. My paper’s editor and sports reporter will cover it, of course. I don’t think Larry and I are going. But we’ll probably be listening to the game on the radio and hoping for a win. Go, Colonels!

And this week, I have a sixth random.

Six
I’ve got another Christmas parade to photograph on Sunday afternoon. It’s the Rustburg Christmas Parade. It was rescheduled from last Sunday, when we had all the ice.
I’m looking at a very busy time at work next week. We’ll be working not only on the Journal issues but on Forest Life, a monthly publication we also publish.
We’ll be laying out the Dec. 25 issue of the paper a day early, Monday, Dec. 23. So that means we have to have all our copy and photos done early.
With all that in mind, I’m taking today off. I have comp time to use, and I really need to get stuff done, like Christmas shopping, card sending, a bit of decorating, working on my editing business set up, etc.
I know this time of year gets busy and hectic for so many of us. Let’s all take a collective deep breath and focus on what’s most important in our lives.



17 comments:

  1. Don't work too hard! I hope you have a great weekend.

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  2. Tina, I followed you from your Shirley Showalter's website to your own since I see you as a commenter quite often. I have enjoyed this point and learned of your struggles (mine are different in kind but similarly frustrating. I love the photos your posted, especially of the glittering tree.Thank you!

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  3. gorgeous Christmas decor. always a fan. ( :
    have a good weekend.

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  4. Avoca is beautiful! Everything is so Christmassy. Happy 91st birthday to your mother-n-law. That's awesome. And I will definitely check out the horse rescue post.

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  5. Oh I love random 5 too and miss Nancy. Lisa is a very kind hearted soul and that was a wonderful story.
    Oh I love that place it is so beautiful with the Christmas decorations.
    Take care, don't work too hard and enjoy Tina. Hug B

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  6. oh that home is gorgeous!! have fun at the parade, stay warm! and happy birthday to your mil!

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  7. Happy birthday to your mother in law.

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  8. Wow Avoca looks so neat! Thank you for your kind mention today and your support! These horses are going to be so much better for it!

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  9. that big home is so beautiful! love the wooden stairway. happy 91st to your mother-in-law, too. i hope the work week will go well for all, and congrats on that cool calendar win!

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  10. The decorations in that house are so beautiful!! I would have never thought to decorate my dining room chandelier...hmmm...maybe I'm not finished. :) Have fun photographing the parade; that should be fun! Yes, let's all focus on the reason for the season.

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  11. Lovely Christmas decorations! I love the lights, and would put more up at our home, but they never seem to last more than a year or two at best, so I decided to save money this year and not buy more. We will get by with what we found still working.


    Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
    And joining you for R5F...
    http://themonkeywranglersblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/random-5-friday-121313.html

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  12. When I look at all the beauty and inspiration in this post, I am filled with the holiday spirit! Thank you!

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  13. PPicasso's quote is one of my favourites, I think he must have been a very funny man when relaxed and not stressed. Those are gorgeous decorations..have a great comp day.

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  14. Wowzer! YOU are BUSY. All of this is Fabulous . . thank you for the reminder to focus on what is most important.

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  15. oh tina, that's a wonderful give-a-way you won. i think the perfect person for that won!!

    i visit lisa when i can and have read that story!! it's the perfect story for christmas time, a great reminder for all of us, to remember whats important!!

    i really enjoyed all of your BEAUTIFUL images!!

    ps....i miss nancy so much, i can't wait till she returns!!

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  16. Thanks for the mention, Tina. And congrats again on winning one of my calendars. It makes me happy knowing you appreciate it so much!

    And Happy Holidays to you! I love all your pictures. Hopefully you can slow down a little once your deadlines are met and revel in all the beauty. I'm on the go right now too, and appreciate the reminder to take a deep breath! :-) --Becky www.animprobablelife.com

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  17. I am breathing deeply! I enjoyed your photos!

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