Special Times with Family

 

August is a special time for Greg and me since it's the month for Greg's birthday and our wedding anniversary. 

We celebrated our special days together, and also with family.

Our anniversary came first, and relatives sent us anniversary emails and even...

pretty flowers with balloons.

Greg also gave me some...

 beautiful, unique anniversary flowers.

We went on a little anniversary trip to Fancy Gap, Virginia where we had a tasty lunch at-

FYI: www.thegapdeli.com

Afterwards, we went to Poor Boys Variety Concrete Store (on Facebook.com) in Cana, Virginia... 

where I got Greg a neat yard statue since he loves gardening and working outside in our yard.

A few days later, it was time to celebrate Greg's birthday. He received nice birthday cards, emails, and gifts. 

We had two very different celebrations. 

One part of our family came to our house...

for a birthday dinner...

complete with cake (and ice cream) for dessert.

The second celebration was at-

The Peppermill (FYI: www.the peppermillnew.com) in Abingdon, Virginia with another part of our family.

Photo of the four of us taken by our wonderful waitress.

Loved the healthy salad!

We then went to our house for...

a birthday cake for Betty and Greg since Betty's birthday is close to Greg's.

We had our refreshments...

in our new gazebo. This was very special for Greg and me since this was the first time that we'd ever gotten to use it. 

We got our unfinished gazebo just a few weeks ago, and Greg and I painted it ourselves, but we're still not quite finished with it. The gazebo was something I'd been wishing for, for a long time. Getting the gazebo is solid evidence that with positive thinking (and a little elbow grease!) dreams can and do come true!

~"Time spent with family is time well spent." -Unknown

After my father passed away, I consulted an excellent psychic who told me that family was important to my father, that family meant everything to him, which comforted me because I had never realized how much he cherished our family.

Now, especially, it's so important to enjoy our time with family and friends, and to remember them, and also our loved ones who have passed away, in our prayers every day.

Special note: Starting in September, I'll be writing mini-blog posts for "The Art of Positive Living" on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. Posts for my other blog, "Spirit Photographs," will still be published the third Saturday of each month. With this schedule, I hope to free up some time so I can work on books that I'm planning to publish sometime in the fall of this year. Also, please see the widgets above for information about my current books.

Positive thoughts: "The love of a family is life's greatest blessing." -Eva Burrows

"Family. Like branches on a tree our lives may grow in different directions, but our roots will stay as one." -Unknown

Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, September 11, 2022, Becky

Hidden Gems, Fancy Gap & Cana, Virginia

Welcome to this blog post, and also...

Greg and I first learned about Fancy Gap when we were at an upholstery shop in Abingdon, Virginia. Greg saw a lion statue they had outside the shop, and we asked where they had gotten it. They told us there was statuary in Fancy Gap and Cana, Virginia.

Greg wanted a lion statue, and we also wanted to see what else they had in these two towns since we are new to the area.

Fancy Gap and Cana are over an hour from where we live, and we decided we'd be there a whole day, and really enjoy our trip.

In Fancy Gap, our first stop was" Mountain Star Gallery" where they have all kinds of beautiful, local handcrafted items.

"Mountain Star Gallery"

Another neat shop is "The Nest & Hive Shoppe."

Gloria Brown is the personable owner of the shop.

 It's beautifully arranged and decorated, and all ready for Valentine's Day!

Also, there are some other neat shops, like Carolyne's that has locally-made, delicious candy, as well as quilts and other items.

Before we went on to Cana, we decided to stop by the highly recommended restaurant, "The Gap Deli" for a quick lunch.

It was great! It was a large salad for me, and a meatloaf sandwich for Greg.

We topped it off with a piece of fantastic hummingbird cake which we shared.

This is the beautiful view of the Southern Appalachian Mountains from our first stop in Cana...

Towe's Country Store...

which has all kinds of wonderful things, like Amish canned goods.

We had one more stop, the main reason for our trip...

 "Poor Boy's Variety" which has all kinds of pretty statuary and other items for the yard,

and the one item that Greg had wanted is now his, a lion, to stand guard at our new house.

Fancy Gap and Cana in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia are two hidden gems that are just waiting for you to discover. Take a chance; try them out. Bet you'll be glad you did!

Happy Valentine's Day!

(At "The Nest & Hive Shoppe")

Positive thought: Always remember: "Don't let anyone dull your sparkle!"

Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, March 1, 2020, Becky