Thanks, Grandpa… You weren’t American, but you fought valiantly for the cause overseas. I never met my grandfather. He had died in Peshawar, India, fighting for the Black Watch during World War l. Peshawar was on the northern frontier of British India, near the Khyber Pass. In 1947, Peshawar became part of the newly …
Category: Memories
May 25
Don’t Forget Your Towel!
Each year, May 25 is Towel Day. Do you know why? Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans. On this day, fans carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to demonstrate their appreciation for …
Jan 13
Anniversaries
Today, January 13, holds a couple anniversaries for me. I remember the day of the Air Florida Flight 90 Crash in 1982 so well. We were living in the Metro DC area and our young son had just turned 2 in December. Tom, my DH, worked in DC and I was never sure the route …
Mar 01
The Music Man
A few years ago TCM was doing 31 Days of Oscars. I first sort of noticed this when I looked ahead in the scheduling and noticed that all TCM shows were alphabetized. At first, I thought maybe that this scheme was some sort of placeholder before I realized what they were doing. Personally, I …
Feb 22
My Ringtone: Scotland the Brave
“Scotland the Brave” (Scottish Gaelic: Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. My cellphone ringtone is Scotland the Brave. At any event or rehearsal, everyone knows it’s my phone, if one is ringing 🙂 I posted a bit about that here: …
Feb 15
Happy Presidents’ Day!
Today is President’s Day, a combo of holidays for George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays, making a new Monday holiday. These days people don’t seem to celebrate much except for having car and furniture sales. When I was a kid, we lived in a small town (Pawcatuck, CT and Westerly, RI are sister towns, virtually …
Jan 06
Yummy! National Shortbread Day!
Shortbread is a classic Scottish dessert traditionally made with: 1 part white sugar (I use powdered) 2 parts butter 3 parts flour (I usually use rice flour) And a bit of salt Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture which is caused by its high-fat content, provided by the butter. “Shortening” is …
Music
- 🤩 Seven Events happening today- 11th Annual Kite Festival - Cub Run Stream Valley (Flint Lee Road) – Watershed Cleanup 2024 - Fairy Festival - Mosaic Festival - Festival Of Colors 2024 Holi DC - Seedling Tray Planting & Plant Swap - Brookfield Family Movie Night!
- 📚 Little Wiggles Storytime, May 2Join us to have fun together with stories, songs, fingerplays, lap bounces, books and social time for children from birth to 20 months!
- 🎭 Free Theatre Workshop for 4th – 8th graders, May 3During the workshop, you will play theatre games, take a tour of our auditorium including the lights and sound booth, props, and costumes, learn and perform a piece of choreography from the show, and have a Q&A with members of our cast and crew!
- 📕 Book Launch: Meet Author Henry G Brinton, April 29War Bug opens a window on the riverfront town of Occoquan, Virginia, and offers glimpses of social upheaval through chapters that alternate between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.
- 😎 Vacation Bible School (VBS) Registration is OpenHere, in this vibrant hub of heroism, young and old heroes alike answer the call of duty, joining forces to lend their extraordinary talents to Hero Teams across the globe. Whether it’s solving perplexing puzzles, battling dastardly villains, or rescuing those in peril, these superheroes are always ready to save the day with a dash […]
- 🎤 Live Concert: Oh, The Places You will Go!, April 28It’s a small and beautiful world! If you had the opportunity to travel anywhere you wanted, where would you go? Come fly with us to some of our favorite places!
- 🥁 Fun with Music for Preschoolers, MondaysStep into a world of giggles and song with “Fun “with Music at Pender! This is not just any music class – it's a journey through sound and imagination designed especially for preschoolers and their favorite grown-ups. Since 2013, Jim and Roberta Pont have been creating a space where tiny toes tap, and little voices […]
- 🎵“Live Concert: Celebrations! May 4Conductor: Richard Parrell Prelude to a Celebration Philip Sparke Strike up the Band arr. James Kessler Winter Milky Way Yukiko Nishimura
- 🏃🏼 Feed Fairfax 5K May 4Are you ready to lace up your sneakers for a cause that hits close to home? Join us for the Feed Fairfax 5k, a family-friendly event that’s more than just a race—it’s a chance to make a tangible difference in the lives of Fairfax County students facing food insecurity. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May […]
- 🐑 Spring Farm Day, May 4Ages 2-Adult. Watch sheep shearing and antique farm equipment demonstrations. See cow and goat milking demos and participate in hands-on farm activities.
Little Free Library
- Dying To Date: Love, betrayal, murder—a great first dateBy a good friend of mine! When dying to date Mr. Right leads to finding Mr. Wrong—it’s deadly. Relationship expert Kristina Truly has a proven track record of dating the wrong men. However, her highly publicized romantic failures don’t stop her fans from attending her Finding Mr. Right, Not Mr. Perfect seminars and reading her […]
- The Poisoned PeerThe 99-year-old Earl of Middlemop has had his future cruelly snatched from him. Who could have poisoned the richest man in Wessex? The answer lies within the walls of Gripedown Hall where family secrets and bitter rivalries prevail. Senior sleuths Churchill and Pemberley investigate on the behest of their friend Tryphena Ridley-Balls. However, another friend […]
- Murder in the ManorMURDER IN THE MANOR (A LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY—BOOK 1) is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by Fiona Grace. Lacey Doyle, 39 years old and freshly divorced, needs a drastic change. She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the […]
- Murder on a Midnight ClearA snowbound country mansion, a missing butler, and a Christmas case . . . Olive and Jasper have never been closer—except in one area. Jasper is still reticent about his frequent disappearances from polite society. With the holidays approaching and no paying client on the books, Olive decides to shadow Jasper when he’s unexpectedly called […]
- Discerning GraceAs the first full-length novel in The White Sails Series, DISCERNING GRACE captures the spirit of an independent woman whose feminine lens blows the ordered patriarchal decks of a 19th century tall ship to smithereens. Wilful Grace Baxter, will not marry old Lord Silverton with his salivary incontinence and dead-mouse stink. Discovering she is a […]
- The Thursday Murder Club: A Novel (A Thursday Murder Club Mystery Book 1)A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment “Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining.” —Wall Street Journal “Don’t trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman’s own laugh-out-loud whodunit.” —Parade Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves A female cop with her […]
- Body on Baker Street (A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Book 2)The amateur sleuths at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop must call upon the powers of deduction in order to rid Baker Street of a ruthless killer Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy managing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium on Baker Street and adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room in anticipation of the store’s upcoming book […]
- The Devil and the Dark Water (A Locked-Room Historical Mystery)A murder on the high seas. A remarkable detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist. It's 1634, and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who […]
- Too Many WomenAh, sweet mystery, when Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin plunge into a case of murder brimming with luscious, lethal ladies. Who murdered Waldo Wilmot Moore? Well, there were five hundred female employees at the Wall Street firm where poor Waldo had worked. Any one of them might have done it. And there was also the […]
- Christmas Cupcake MurderAs December turns Lake Eden, Minnesota, into the North Pole, the heat is on in Hannah Swensen’s kitchen to honor two Christmas promises: baking irresistible holiday cupcakes and preventing an attempted murderer from succeeding the second time around! While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas […]