New Events in (and around) New Castle

     I find most of my information at The Roanoke Times, Myscoper, and So Salem newspaper! There aren't very many events listed for New Castle, but I always do my absolute best to find events in and within close vicinity to the area (within 30 miles or less). Sometimes, if it's something really fun, but farther away, I add it anyways!  Here are some of the more interesting events I found for the weekend.

Saturday May 22nd
1. Anniversary Celebration at Nancy's Candy Company-Chocolate Tasting....Can you say....YUM?  "Ease into those spring evenings with one of our classics---our dark chocolate covered Peanut Butter Meltaway. A smooth thick layer of our melt in your mouth Peanut Butter drenched with our silky dark chocolate."  Starts at 11 a.m. Located in Salem.

2. Angel Street Saturday Matinee with Attic Productions in Botetourt County. I absolutely love this theater and highly recommend it!  Show begins at 2:30pm and tickets cost $10 for students/seniors and $12 for adults.

3. Carilion Clinic Mutt Strutt at Wasena Park in Roanoke City. FREE ADMISSION!!!!  "Bring your dog and join us for a fun filled day in the park. All proceeds benefit our pediatric and adult patient funds." (Roanoke Times) 9am-1pm

4. Craig County Public Library Book Sale...10am-4pm (Happening every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in May)

Tuesday May 25, 2010
1. Trip to Monticello...Monticello - House, Grounds and Wine!


Description: Day-long trip to tour Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello, lunch at historic Michie Tavern, a special afternoon tour of Monticello's grounds and a wine tasting with Gabriele Rausse, assistant director of grounds at Monticello. Mr. Rausse is called the father of viticulture in Virginia and revolutionized the Virginia wine industry, having revived Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello grapes and helped to start over forty vineyards and ten Virginia wineries.

Venue: Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Address: 3rd Floor, One Market Square, Roanoke, VA, 24011

Cost Notes: Historical Society members - $75.00 per person. Non-members - $85.00 per person. Price includes transportation, lunch, and site tour.

Time: 8am-6:30pm
(Roanoke Times)

Thursday May 27, 2010
1. "How H.P. Lovecraft Took Over the World"; EMERGING ARTISTS Series (for more on H.P. Lovecraft, check out his website....if you are a lover of Poe, you would probably greatly enjoy Lovecraft's works as he was greatly influenced by Poe's writings)

"Mike Allen, Nebula Award nominated science fiction writer and contributor to the new book CTHULHU'S REIGN, presents an evening dedicated to the writing and pop culture infleunce of H. P. Lovecraft, who Stephen King describes as "the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." A night of science fiction, fantasy and "cosmic horror"... The evening includes: * Excerpts from feature films adapted from H. P. Lovecraft writings. * Video clips dedicated to the art of Lovecraft. * A Lovecraft influenced live theatrical performance. * Exhibit of Lovecraft artefacts and memorabilia. * Several short readings from Lovecraft writings. * A discussion of Lovecraft's influence on pop culture. * Reading from Mike Allen's new story, "Her Acres of Pastoral Playground". Mike Allen also writes the art and culture column for The Roanoke Times. This event could be rather creepy so you may want to leave the kids at home, or make sure you are responsible for them!"
~~Takes place at The Roanoke Main Library 6:30pm-8:00pm
     

Friday May 28, 2010
1. FESTIVAL IN THE PARK BEGINS  FREE ADMISSION....Will post more on this event next week or if you would like to know more sooner, check out the link!
Roanoke City

~~**~~As a final note, if anyone has certain events that you know of that will be occurring, please feel free to post them in the comments section of the blog. That way, I can get a better idea of people's interests so I can eventually fine tune my posts to cater to your specific likes and dislikes. And since I no longer live in Craig anymore, it would be awesome to have people who do to keep everyone, including myself, updated with current events and activities going on in and around New Castle! I hope everyone has a great weekend!~~**~~

Remembering Prissy and Wolfy

    

    

 I am having a really rough night tonight. Mom called me a little while ago to tell me that my childhood pet, Wolfy, had passed away. My brother had just gotten home and found him curled up beside the house...went home to doggy heaven. :-)  It was bittersweet for me, because he had been suffering these past few weeks and has been deaf for the past several months. But still, I got him when I was eight years old and he was there for me through EVERYTHING. I decided to post this on my Craig County blog as well, because when people ask me about my childhood, there are two things that immediately come to mind...my two dogs, and the beautiful landscape surrounding where I used to live. :-)  Never will I ever, ever forget these animals...they knew everything about me. I can remember having horrible days at school sometimes and coming home, forgetting all about my homework, and just running outside and into the woods, Prissy and Wolfy chasing behind me. I would run to my favorite tree, throw myself to the ground and just sob, letting my tears soak the ground until my two best friends came up and nuzzled at me...and then I would hug them and let them soak up my tears instead! *grin*  I can't stop the teardrops now as I write this blog...because it makes my heart ache. I never got to say goodbye to either of them, really. Prissy passed away a few months ago...infact, it was about two months before I gave birth to Noah Whately...and now, poor Wolfy is gone too. :-(  It just hurts so bad to know that I'm growing up and the things that once were have changed, are changing, and will continue to change. Don't get me wrong, I LIKE change for the most part, but it's so hard when it means having to say goodbye. I know that most people who grow up in the country have at least one pet growing up...and if you're like my family, probably much more than one, lol. Our dogs were a part of our family and do you want to know something funny? They even had their own Christmas stockings...and YES, Santa visited them EVERY YEAR....because they were one of the kids too! :-)  This has been really hard on my parents as well....even harder on them than me, because I got married and moved away...so I had in a way already said my goodbye a couple of years ago. It still hurts, knowing he's not going to be there to greet me the next time I drive up the driveway, but we will all get through this. I know it seems silly, getting this upset over a pet, but for those fellow animal lovers out there, you understand! :-)  They become like another member of the family and when they're gone, a small part of your heart goes with them! Please say a prayer for our family this week if you remember...that God will take away our heartache! :-)  For after all, doggy heaven is a much better place than doggy earth!

I Always Knew I Was a City Girl at Heart

     My Grandaddy always tells his favorite story of me as a little girl. I was about two years old and was walking out of their house in the Holler (the name we call the road I used to live on). I had made it down about three of the steps when a huge bumblebee flew up right beside me...and what did I do? I threw my hands up in the air, started to scream and ran back into the house as quick as my chubby little toddler legs could carry me. To this day, I am still absolutely terrified of bees...it's turned into a phobia. Infact, if one gets near me, I will shake uncontrollably, and as embarassing as it is, I will still scream and sob. It makes me wonder how I lived all those years in the country without suffering from a heart attack. :-) 
     There are so many things I LOVE about being raised a country girl, though...the quiet nights where I could just lay in my bed where the only sounds that filled my ears were the whipperwills, crickets, and wind in the trees. Just being able to walk out the front door onto your porch and being surrounded by trees...not another house in sight...WOW!  I miss those days.
     BUT..then there are the things that I absolutely DO NOT miss that have totally convinced me that I'm pretty much city-fied now-a-days. For example, this winter while my poor Mother was snowed in for almost two weeks, I had my road plowed in about two hours and was at Wal-Mart the very next day...and the fact that I can drive to Walmart in five minutes THRILLS ME! My power NEVER goes out...hasn't one time in the two years I've lived here or the three years that Caleb has...and that sure makes me smile, because this is one girl who can't stand the thought of life without electricity....although, I do have pretty fun memories of a house lit with candles when I lived in Craig...and Mom lecturing me and my little brother about being careful not to burn the house down *grin*...I don't think I'll ever forget stuff like that. And then, there was that one time that Andy accidentally knocked the candle off of my bedroom dresser and it spilled hot wax all over my carpet...which NEVER came out, by the way. It's okay, though, because everytime we looked at it, we never forgot Mama's lecture about "how we could have burned the house down" *smile* and how we all laughed about it afterwards. *sighs*  I really hate that I had to grow up sometimes...because I had such an amazing childhood, filled with wonderful memories; family, friends, and fun!
     But, as a final say, even though I absolutely loved growing up in Craig County, it took growing up in the country for me to realize that I'm a city girl at heart! But, at the same moment, my heart is always torn between the city and country...yes, in the city I don't have to worry about bugs or the downside to snowstorms, but in the country, I feel a sense of renewal and calm...there seems to be no rush and the way of life and living seems to be from a simpler time! :-) 

Appalachian/Folk Toys

     I took an Appalachian Studies class when I was in Middle School and I loved it so much that when I went to college I took several more classes on Appalachian and Folk Studies. When I was in these classes a major portion of the classes was devoted to discussions of poverty in the Appalachian region and how families coped during these times. They didn't have the money for expensive toys but what they did have were the resources for unique ones. Today's post will include links to some of my favorite websites along with directions on how to make your own folk toy.

Links
1. Mountain Craft Shop Company
2. Foxfire Books  These were some of my very favorite books as a child. I used to love looking up home remedies for ailments...even though some of them kind of freaked me out! :-)
3. The Whirligig

Building Your Very Own Appalachian Toy:  The Whirligig
     The whiligig is a toy that spins...it can be powered by the wind, your hands, or friction powered.

Directions:
To build a button spinner, loop a string or heavy thread through two opposing holes of the button, and tie the ends together. Put the loop over your thumbs with the button hanging. Spin the button around until the strings are completely twisted on both sides. Then pull the strings taut. The button will spin rapidly as the string unwinds. When nearly unwound, release tension, but keep the string relatively straight between the thumbs. The angular momentum of the button will cause the strings to twist again in the opposite direction. As the button slows, pull on the string again and its direction will reverse.[1] (wikipedia.com)

Pictures of Whirligigs:

Wind Powered      

Hand Powered/Friction Powered

Events for the Weekend

     I am going to do my best to keep updates on what is happening in and around Craig. Every Friday, I am going to try to do a post entitled New Events in New Castle, listing that weeks' events. Obviously, life sometimes has a way of keeping me busy, lol, but I will do my best to keep up with this. As soon as I get my AdSense working correctly, I will be posting a direct link to New Castle Va on Facebook...which I am a member of! :-)  So, here are some of the events happening this weekend in and around Craig County!

1. May 15/ New Castle Dance Studio presents Alice in Wonderland. (2pm and 6pm (?))

2. May 15/ The Craig County Farm Expo Including Farmer's Market, Pony Rides, and Milk the Cow

3. Book Sale at the Craig County Library- Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays in May.

Close to Craig:

1. The Historic Roanoke City Market

2. May 15/ KIVA Outdoor Art Adventure "Celebrate the life and art of Keith Haring with an outdoor art explosion". Make sure you bring a lot of chalk with you and a wear a white t-shirt. :-)  Event takes place at Highland Park in Roanoke Va. 10 a.m to 1 p.m. Event is free.

Sorry I don't have time to write more, but my little man is waking up! :-)  Gotta go do some Mommy stuff! Hope you all have a blessed day!

Small Town Girl

     I decided to start a blog devoted to the retelling of stories of my childhood and my life as a small town country girl. You wouldn't believe it if you saw me now, as I consider myself very much "city-fied" but I once did all sorts of things you wouldn't have believed! *smile* Thinking back always puts a huge grin on my face because I have a mind full of memories just waiting to jump off onto the page! All in good time, my friends, all in good time! This blog will include pictures, poetry, and stories I've created throughout my years of growing up in rural Virginia. I have big plans for this blog....and it may take some time to really get started, so invite friends and family and share in the fun and let the storytelling begin. Even share some stories and pictures of your own! :-)  "Ya'll come back now, ya hear?!"