Jack's Confused Sense of Rejection

Jonathan Krull has published an article on C.S. Lewis in Relevent. Check it out.

One Year Ago Today

We married!

Anniversaries are lovely!

We dined at the restaurant where we were engaged. We even sat in the same spot. It was a perfect evening. We had the place to ourselves. After dinner we went for a little walk to the spot where the proposal and acceptance were given and taken. I think this place will always have a little bit of magic for us.

Cherry Nut, Cherry Cappuccino Cake
My Aunt made the cake and it is amazing! She preserved it for us so we could enjoy it this year. It came out of the freezer perfect. It tastes amazing!

Cake Detail

Orchids

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Message in soy sauce and wasabi. The sushi was fresh and tasty.


He was king for the day, so we watched The Day After Tomorrow and in the evening went to see Smuggler's Ransom by Noa/Rice Digital. It is one of the latest works by our very good friend Daniel. The SMN, who hosted the event, had reserved seats for us. The production was very good. It has been great to watch them grow in their abilities.

We finished off the evening with peanut butter pie. Could life get any better?

Supper Club

Menu:

Grilled Garlic & Mustard Chicken

Tomato Pesto Salad

Baked Potatoes

Succotash

Wine:

2005 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough (New Zealand)

Dessert:

Peanut Butter Pie

Party Members:

Culinary Athenians

Did you know that Cars have Vacuums in Them?

As I am not Kevin, I did not know this. I guess they go where no computer chip wants to go in car... like where the oil goes...

I learned this because Hemly's oil system kept beeping at me, even though he had just had his oil changed. It was really annoying, and made me want to get him fixed. Germans probably make it that way so that to make it stop beeping you have to be responsible and take care of the car.

Jonathan was so sweet, taking Helmy to the shop and relieving me of all bother without being asked. I am rather incompetent with car things. I know enough not to let them talk me into new halogen fluid or a second transmission. But that is where my knowledge ends. Knowing that I am not good at this stuff makes me all the more cautious about it, to the point of inactivity. I usually ended up calling a man anyway to help make the decision. Now that I have Jonathan, I do not have to worry about it.

In the end, it was rather a simple operation, Hemly came home that night. The only bother was that they reset the trip odometer, the radio, the seat, the mirrors, and the heat. Grr, why do they have to mess with my car?

I just wish they had installed vacuums in the cabin so that the floors stayed clean.

These are some of the parts that made Helmy so unhappy: punctured hose and corrupted valve.




I have no idea what to do with them now... Maybe just throw them away!! Any suggestions?

Breach

It is not Presidents' Day without a good DC flick. This year Breach was the one to see. It is more of a mental thriller than an action-spy-save-the-world movie. It was DC down to the traffic.

Two particular aspects of the movie, aside from the fact that it was filmed "in Town," drew our attention. First, it is based on a true story from our adult lifetime. It is not like so many other government crises that you just study and catalog in the memory as mistakes not to repeat. This happened in a time I remember. It was not some Cold War drama that is in my history text. I read it in the paper.
Second, Eric O'Neill has his J.D. with honours from GW Law. He is now in private practice in the area. It is not until now that he was allowed by the FBI to tell his side of the story. The movie is very much from his perspective. The audience learns as he learned the details of Hanssen's treachery. It seems that lawyers can be good guys. This makes us happy.

Kudos to David for taking us to seeing it and watching it twice in one weekend so that we could see it with him.

Cedar Grove

Presidents' Day weekend we enjoyed a lovely house party at Ceil's family home.



She let us explore her home, and it made me feel just like a child in a book.











Only this was better
because it is real and still usable, not some museum where you can look but not touch or take pictures.



We opened all the doors we could fine, and peaked into all the musty old places. We even looked at the graves, but were careful not to tread on them. The ghost of the revolutionary war soldier did not bother us. He died in the parlor on the sofa. But the traces were removed. That is not his grave.








We even took out a boat on the tidal river. It was not so cold once you got the rowing muscles going.




Nick also joined us for the weekend, but we have no photographic evidence at this time.



Thanks Hannah for the great picture!


Jonathan chopping wood. We were very glad he did. The sub-arctic temperatures made the ever-present fire in the kitchen a particularly pleasant feature of the weekend.


Cedar Grove: A Brief History ~ by Ceil, a member of the current family in residence

The original sections of Cedar Grove were constructed on or around 1736. Original buildings including the separate Kitchen and the Main House (currently consisting of the Parlour and two bedrooms above). In the early colonial period, kitchens were not attached to the main structure in case of fire. In the Kitchen, you can still see the original exposed ceiling beams, though the original cooking fireplace was taken out and rebuilt into a heating fireplace in the late 1970s.

The fireplace in the parlor is not original. It is a late Victorian replacement as the chimney was struck by lightening around the turn of the century. The lightening split the marble mantle, and the current fireplace is the replacement as reconstructed by the insurance company (back in the days when they actually did the work of fixing damage.)
The two floors were connected by a small internal staircase. Between 1738 and 1758 the Kitchen was dragged closer to the Main House, and the two sections were built together. Inside, small groups of stairs, and low doorways show where the sections were added on, a feature common in British houses.

During the 1860s, a crosshall was added on to the house, which included removing the Parlour and dining room staircases, and adding the main formal staircase. The addition also added on the Chamber bedroom downstairs and the Yellow Bedroom upstairs.

Around 1900, the Wilkines added on a corner screened porch which has entrances from both the formal dining room and the Chamber. (There was also a Victorian era veranda added onto the front of the house, but this was removed.)

In 1989-90, my grandmother tore off the Kitchen's Screened Porch and added on a glassed in porch with a gable bedroom overtop.

In 1866, my great-great-great grandfather Dr. John T. Wilkins purchased Cedar Grove and gave it to his son, Henry Wilkins.

Our family has lived on the Eastern Shore since the 1620s, but of family homes, Cedar Grove is the one that is still owned by my family. It sits on a bluff overlooked Church Creek which is a salt water tidal creek of the Chesapeake Bay. Several families owned Cedar Grove before our family, but the only family to own it for any extended time was the Upshurs. Anne Upshur is the woman buried in the front yard.

Fireplaces: 6, but 2 are sealed.

Outbuildings: Smoke House, Garden Shop (former Privy), and Shop.
Outbuildings removed in my mother's life time: Sheep Fold, Ice House, Carriage House, Windmill driven Water Pump/Storage Tower
Outbuildings removed during my grandmother's life time: Servants Quarters

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Song of Solomon 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your love is better than wine;



Thank you, Darling, for the beautiful flowers!