Happy Independence Day!

For Independence Day we returned to Ferry Farm, George Washington's boyhood home.  At Samuel's request we ventured out on a very warm and muggy July day.  We made sure we carried water and looked for shade whenever possible.

Ferry Farm is a popular spot for families to enjoy the Fourth.  They really do a nice job of having different tents open for children and adults to learn about this era of George Washington.  Also there are different exhibits to learn about the Native Americans that lived here long before the white man came to America. 

This gentleman was telling us about the Patawomeck language that he is trying to decipher and learn.  When the English came to America the language of the Native Americans was forced out of existence.  He is trying to learn this language that has not been used for 300 years!

Samuel and Bear had to take spin in a dugout canoe.  You know how guys are!

The Declaration of Independence takes center stage on the Fourth.

You might know that George Washington wrote a book called The Rules of Civility based on rules from the French Jesuits from 1595.  He copied 110 of these rules for his book when he was sixteen.  Clearly George Washington was an extraordinary young man!  Ferry Farm featured some of these rules of civility about the grounds.  

We decided to go take the tour of the home again.  If you want to see the inside again of  the Ferry Farm home you can go Here  They are continuing to add furnishings.

  
Before leaving I wanted to take a quick look at the garden by the visitor center.

We enjoyed our celebration very much as we remember our First President, George Washington on Independence Day! 

Catching Up

When uploading photos to One Drive I realized I had not shared some fun family times of last month.  Even though these are a few weeks old I do enjoy remembering the good times.   

We went down to visit the boys over President's Day weekend.  They had gotten a trampoline from Santa that their Dad was putting together when we arrived.  If any of you have ever had the pleasure of putting one together you know it's not hard, but quite time consuming.  The boys were delighted beyond belief at the finished project!

Yes the weather was warmer last month than this month.  Alex loves to wear Bermuda shorts on days that are 60 and above.  

Of course the big kids had to give it a try.

I have a lot more sense than these guys, so I declined the temptation.

Miles came home to stay with us for the weekend.  It's the first time he has done that without his brother.  We thoroughly enjoyed the alone time with just him.  

Ferry Farm had a celebration honoring George Washington's birthday.  Miles wanted to go so we ventured out for a little history lesson and fun at Washington's Boyhood home.  I've mentioned before about the building of the home on the original foundation.  We took this opportunity to see it up close.

First you must partake of birthday cake!

And a little sip of cherry tea!

Then off to play Colonial games.

We walked over to the site of the home construction.  It's so exciting to see the home coming together.

The home is being built as close as possible to original building methods.  Hand forged nails can be seen on the building.

Miles wanted to run down the hill to the river.  The Washington home sits at the top of the hill overlooking the Rappahannock River and the city of Fredericksburg. 

That's him in the burgundy shirt.

We reminded Miles that George Washington must have run up and down this hill as a child, just like you did!

Down by the River

Do you get antsy in the winter?  I tend to stay in our home for days working on projects and then I feel I must get out. Most days we walk our neighborhood, so it's not like I don't go outside.   It doesn't matter where we go, I just need a change of scenery.

  

We have our main meal in the middle of the day since Grayden retired.  We call the largest meal of the day dinner.  It's convenient for us and our grandson, Samuel.  He has morning classes and works in the evenings.  So this arrangement has worked well for us.  

Since it has been staying lighter longer, we have been enjoying our supper down by the river.  It's very close to our home.  Recently I made us ham and cheese sandwiches and fruit salad. Grayden enjoyed the cappuccino he made and I took along my mug of Earl Grey.  Some days we buy a sandwich at the local eatery and take it along to enjoy by the river.  Just these little trips with my husband sure help to beat the winter blues.

Water has always been an important part of my life.  We always see interesting sights on our little outings.  The weather was nice and we just sat and talked and observed nature.  Geese fly by.  We have seen bald eagles. Folks with their lines in the water hoping for the big one to bite. The train racing along the railroad trestle.  Simple pleasures.  Simple times.

If you look up on the hill the building of George Washington's boyhood home is being reconstructed. The myth about the cherry tree began at this site.  At the bottom of the hill you can see where young George was said to have thrown a silver dollar across the river.  It is quite narrow here and I imagine he possibly could have.  It is considered a myth about him throwing money away, but it is thought he probably threw a rock across the river.  At the time the river at this point was 300 feet wide. It isn't a myth that George Washington lived here from age 6 to around age 22.  This is where he learned to survey, joined the Masons, read his first book on the military, copied the rules of Civility and petitioned the colony's British governor for his first military office. It's pretty exciting that the excavations by archaeologists found the foundation of the Washingtons!  The home is being built on the original foundation.  I hope to report updates as the building continues. If you wish to read more about Ferry Farm you can go HERE 

We in Virginia and particularly our area, are quite proud to stand where Washington stood and try to understand how this young man became our first president. February 22nd is his birthday so I thought I'd share a little history of him that may not be familiar to you.  We were friends of a local writer when we first moved to Fredericksburg.  In fact she helped us buy our first home and always talked about the history of George Washington's boyhood home.  It was her dream that this property be saved and restored to its time when the Washingtons lived here.  I often think of her and wished she could see the progress that is now being made at Ferry Farm.  She wrote Ferry Farm and gifted a copy to us.  

Gilchrist Waring also wrote historical books about Williamsburg.  You may have seen some of her books there.  Her books are geared to children, but I find them wonderfully informative.

Upon leaving the river after our little picnic we were treated to the most amazing sunset.

Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day you may want to have some sweet Valentine tags or make a banner like I did.  You can go to Nora Murphy's blog and download these little tags  HERE  I just printed mine out on card stock and used kitchen twine and little clothespins to attach to my kitchen window.

February can be a cold and dreary month for some of us.  As winter seems to go on and on, I hope there will be times of joy for you, my friends. ♥