November 7-13, 2025

 Beth and Bob were at Pirkle's Perch cottage for winter close-up time. 

 AND also to meet with Sterling Hubbard of  Sterling Landscaping  about putting in bayberries and camelia plants for a privacy hedge at the edge of our Bird Sanctuary property. 

We also were there to to be present with Cody Haynie, The Chimney Doctor, who was putting in a new Hearthstone Green Mountain 40 fire-burning stove!  The long-lived Jotul died at forty-nine (the stove given to Grandpa Doc and Grandma Chee-chee's 50th wedding Anniversary, 1976.) 

Bob split lots of wood, and re- paneled the outside wall of the bird sanctuary bedroom.

Other projects included re-arraging some furniture, making a computer desk area in bird sanctuary bedroom,  shelves next to refrigerator for toaster and breads, and a corner shelf over the stove for canisters. Temperatures ranged from 39 - 62 degrees while we were there! 

Beach was beautiful!

80TH Birthday Gift - "Work Weekend" - Memorial Weekend 2023

 It was a chilly, very windy, sunny and sometimes rainy weekend, May 26 - 29 at Pirkle's Perch on Gwynn's Island. Sister Harriet came from Montana; Grand niece Mackenzie came from Denver; niece, Dana came from Atlanta; niece Daphne and Will came from Burke, VA; grand niece Ariana and William came from Springfield, VA; son Peter and family, Jessica, James and Naya came from Burke and bob and I from Fairfax, VA. There were thirteen of us altogether! We all stayed  on Mad Calf Lane at the George house and at the Grizard house.

 There was wonderful conversations, laughter and story telling and much work accomplished.  Outside there were  two benches built out of pier lumber, plants and mulching in the memorial garden, gardenia bush and two hydrangeas planted, weeding, the shed completely cleaned out, All the windows washed, water floats (the big duck) inflated and washed, shell creations on the porch shelf and some brush removal. And the grand finale was putting "Harry" the heron (birthday gift)  on a shore pillar, found under the cottage, by the crepe myrtle in the ground marking the turn into the cottage!!  Inside the kitchen got a fresh coat of paint, as did the bathroom, small wooden table on the porch was painted and refinished, books and DVDs were dusted and catalogued, Mathew's Info pamphlets and stationary drawer were organized and fans cleaned.

Saturday night we ate at SouthWinds Resturant and on Sunday night we ate at the White Dog in Mathews.  One of the highlights for me was all of us together,  each reading a page of Grandma Chee-chee's 11 page journal about the history of the cottage at Gwynn's Island.

Ann Nichols celebration; Beth and Bob Closing 2020

 October 24, 2020

It was an absolutely glorious Gwynn's Island day to celebrate our special friend Ann Nichols - sunny and 77 degrees!

In fact it was so warm that many sought out the shade of the house. Andy and Frences BLILEY a nice BBQ lunch to celebrate Ann's life. Glad we were here!

Pandemic Columbus Weekend 2020

 First rainy Columbus Weekend that I can remember in a long time-- 

BUT the sun came out on Monday Columbus Day.  It was wonderful to have out little Franklin stove to keep us warm in the evenings.  Bob did a terrific job of cutting down a dead honeylocust tree and sawing up logs for the fire.

We both did a lot of cleaning out flowerbeds and wooded area near the front lawn. 

We did a huge job cutting down briars, honeysuckle vines and ivy vines from around the clothes line!!!

Because of the challenges of getting to outlets and getting the library table drawer open, we decided to move the table and consequently we rearranged the living room space!  It was fun and we both really liked the new configuration; we will see how it will go for the long haul. Can you guess which piece of furniture is missing?

Here are some photos of the beach:

 

Morning canoe jaunt