Memorial 2008 slideshow available

Link to slideshow of all my pics is now available... Click here!
Please beware, this is all of them, bad included, raw as they came out of the camera meaning unaltered. I had no time to sort them and make them go through Photoshop. Since there are a lot, I'm sorry for dial-up folks, you probably won't be able to view this. I'll try to make some CDs for the next time we meet, Lex Vegas I believe. I couldn't get to it this week :( but I'll include the video of Hudson jocking the hell out of me as a bonus! I put it on my website too but it seems too big to play so I will also try to compress it when time permits and zip it up for download. For the Pirates coming this week-end to Hampton, I'll have it loaded on my laptop for you to view :)
~ Vickie ~

From Rivers to Lillies

Hey Friends-

Thanks for another great Memorial Day float!! I love being with y’all, taking it easy, laughing a lot, doing PFD floats with Carolyn, listening to Bob Marley at 7:30 a.m, getting new music from Jimmy "Pandora" Stewart, hearing Jay's sous chef adventures and eating Yum Salmon, catching a dead garrrrrr, catching up with Deb and Lauren, trying to avoid the elusive zig-zagging Tippecanoe and Luz too, defying Vickie's French fighting words with a forcefield of Dove chocolate, and saving the world one damsel fly at a time..:)

Wanted to let y'al know that I've recently joned the little Nelson County string band, Tigerlily, and so the next time I’ll play with them will be June 29th at the Nelson County Summer Festival at the Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington. Tigerlily opens for The Seldom Scene.

Here’s the festival website—should be fun!
http://www.oakridgeestate.com/pages/208MusicLineup.htm

Come hang out at the festival if you can. Love to see you! Y’all are always welcome to stay at our place if you pass this way.

Cheers,
Hudson

Cherry Crostata

Thank you Kathy for the cherries! Here's what I made with them! A Crostata... Straight out of the oven and still bubbling! Don't ask... I picked the most difficult, time consuming recipe I could find on the web... It took me for EVER to get it done but it smells really good in the house... Hopefully it tastes the same... I'll tell you tomorrow!
Luv,
~ Vickie ~

MORE RIVAH WEEKEND PICS

A few more pics to share! O Webmistress, please don't delete that one of you bundled up in your sleeping bag, since you put up that goofy one of me and my pizza hobo pack! LOL! Love that one of Luz taking a break in the back of my canoe. Somehow the canoe went much straighter when I put her in the front! LOL! Vickie, you missed some good video of me and Luz going down the rivah sideways and backwards. Wasn't that the most beautiful sunset? Such a great weekend! And the best part was all of us being together again having a great time!

"Down by Da Rivah"

Great pics Vickie.And where are you?I hope you don't delete the pics of you.Thanks for sharing. sorry you burned. I am kinda of tender myself.Thanks again Hudson and Jeni. what a treat, you guys spoiled us.

Definitely "Jamming on Da rivah" with Grateful Dead."The Big River" "Well I heard my dream went back downstream, cavortin' on the James, I follow you big river when you called". And Neil Young, " Down by the river" Thanks for sharing your music with us Nathan,and thanks for the FOJ T-Shirt, huggy and bumper sticker. I already put it on my car. I now feel I can say that I am officially a member of the FOJ crew. Now that I so humbly got to know Jay.
Regina, sorry to here about Carroll's brother hope his procedure goes well.Looking forward to hanging out with you guys again soon. love ya all,
Luz

Memorial Week-end

Preliminary pictures... I will post all of them on my site later and will provide the link.

Saturday evening we arrived at Hudson and Jeni's in Schuyler. The grill masters Nate and Jay had the grill already on. Since Nate won Kathy's contest, he got his present!

Sunday morning, Jeni and Hudson got up at the crack of dawn to bake us "homemade biscuits" and had a huge all-u-can-eat breakfast buffet ready for us all.

A few more friends of Hudson and Jeni's joined us in the morning to paddle down with us but didn't stay for camping (I apologize, I'm really bad with names and I can't remember all of them). A fun afternoon down the river got us quite sunburned: Carolyn's margaritas were excellent medicine though! When we got to the island, it was already occupied... But small world... Carolyn knew them! So we shared the island. In the morning, Nate had to get Hudson up with her fav song, a Bob Marley one of course... We stayed on the beach and in the water a good part of the day and Jay had us do tequila shots before lunch... Luz learned how to paddle and almost had a grilled dragonfly on toast for lunch but we managed to convince her that shrimp would be a better choice... I am having trouble loading the video of Hudson making fun of me about American chocolate but I'll get it up one way or another at some point.

Thank you a gazillion to all for this fantabulous week-end. Thank you Carolyn for the KT Tunstall CD, I'm overdosing listening to it... Beautiful weather, and the best crew to paddle and camp with :)

Broad Appetit!

This event was a hit...and on a rainy day!!! The paper said food vendors were told to prepare for 500 people, but over 5,000 attended. That's why the Berkley ran out of those great smelling crab cakes! It was such a success, It's already been scheduled to happen again next year.

Here are some pics of me & Jim & Luz at the bug cookoff. Cricket bread anyone?

Friday Cheers on Browns Island

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this on the Blog

Carbon Leaf on Brown's Island.What a grand Show! They played "Life less ordinary" and Hey "what about every thing"what about my life so far, what about our dreams. We enjoyed hanging out with Keith 's Parents. Keith, loved your Pop. A very wise man.Like father like son.We are going to try and do it again on browns island this Friday to kick off "Memorial Day Weekend"

Sam Bush with The Whiskey Rebellion.Come join us FOJ!

IT'S CHERRY PICKIN' TIME AT CHERRY KNOLL!

Yes, it's cherry pickin' time again at Cherry Knoll in Powhatan! Come one, come all and pick to your heart's content! But you'd better hurry! My flock of feathered friends are already singing for joy at the prospects of a delicious fruity meal this weekend. BYOB - Bring Your Own Basket and fill it to the brim. These tart cherries make delicious pies and cobblers. An annual Memorial Weekend treat at Cherry Knoll in Powhatan!

Fish Tales or Holy Mackerel!

Jim Baugh called me a few weeks ago and said that he was filming a show in West Palm Beach with the Suzuki Tournament Team and did I want to shoot camera. My history with Jim goes back several years ago. I started shooting camera for Jim's TV show in 1991 when he had a show on Channel 12 in Richmond, called "Fishing in Virginia. We would shoot 26 shows a year and Jim tenaciously marketed his show to big sponsors. We had a 6:00 camera call every morning and shot all day - drank heavily at night as we previewed the footage, charged batteries, cleaned lenses, and planed the next day's events. We traveled all over Virginia in his old Suburban with over 100,000 miles, trailering his 21 foot Procraft fishing boat. I shot camera for Jim throughout the '90's. In recent years, I found full-time employment and only shot camera every now and then on special shows in Hampton. Jim's show turned into Jim Baugh Outdoors as he syndicated with New England Sports channel, The Outdoor Channel, Outdoor Life channel and other cable sports channels. Suzuki, Berkley Trileen, Pursuit Boats, Abu Garcia, among others lined up to sponsor his show. Now he shoots 11 shows a year, and enjoys his spot among the National Fishing Shows on TV. Well, Jim drove down in his cherry red Corvette with license plates that read JBO TV, and when I caught up with him at a local marina, he was talking to the captain of the OUTRAGEOUS boat that we would be shooting on Saturday morning. The boat was a $250,000 + Contender, with 3 - 300 HP, 4 stroke engines. Nothing was spared on this vessel in terms of bait wells, power, or electronics. The boat had three cameras - one on the bow, one on the stern, and one underwater on the bottom of the boat. The captain and crew would fish today for King Mackerel. They will fish to win a $20,000 purse. These boys were serious. The Captain, Ron Mitchell paid the $2,500 entry fee, filled the 4 gas tanks with 100 gallons each of fuel at $4.30 per gallon, picked up $300 in bait and made their way to the starting line. It was like old times for me and Jim. Suzuki wanted Jim to do a show with their team in the Ocean catching the really big fish - the technology has changed since Jim and I started almost 20 years ago - cameras are smaller and better equipped for shooting and play back - they are lighter and that is good, since I am older and not the strong dude I was in the early '90's. The engines started -very silent ( 4-stroke technology) the 6 speakers on the boat start blasting Heavy Metal tunes. It was very surreal! I felt like I was in a movie like Top Gun. It's six in the morning and this boat is lit up like a Christmas tree. The guy on the helm told us to find a secure place and hold on. He wasn't kidding. The 68 boats leap into the Ocean from the cut at Singer Island and speed off toward one of the small fish icons on the GPS computer display on the console. Each captain has his special special spot marked and they speed off to fish as much as possible before the 5 P.M. weigh in. Traveling at 60 mph on the water, the boat barely hitting the water, props whizzing loudly as the boat leaves the water, we hit the first mark. It was a hot, long day. Jim and I talked about old times in between the sudden sound of the reel spinning out of control and the captain yelling, "Fish On" - crew scrambling, I'm trying to find the best angle for the shoot, trying to see the line, hoping to catch a shot of the fish glinting in the deep blue of the Gulf Stream water. It was like old times - Thanks, Jimmy. Old men need adventures.

They Say It's Your Birthday....Happy Birthday To You...

(imagine the tune)
Happy Birthday, Keith. Wishing you a year of new great adventures.
-Carolyn & Jim

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNA KATHRYN!!

I became a Mother 24 years ago on Mother's Day weekend in 1984 to this precious little girl, and what a beautiful, wonderful young woman she has grown up to be! You have blessed our family, Jenna, with the wonder of you, and I wish you a future full of dreams come true! Love you so much! I'm so proud of what you have accomplished so far and can't wait to see what's ahead!

Hope all the Friends of Jay Moms had a fantabulous Mother's Day, and that you had a fun and memorable time, as I did.

Race for the Cure

Kelly and I walked today in honor of our good friend Helga, who is a breast cancer survivor. She was put on hospice in February for lung cancer, and thanks to her miracle.... she has been living by herself down at the beach for four weeks!! If that is not a miracle, I don't know what is! Kathy, we looked for you but because of the huge turn out, there was no way!!

We are well and just really busy. Adam is home for 48 hours before he heads to NC/GA border for three months for an internship.

Regina

Welcome back to Va Beach Tom & Chris

So my friends Tom & Chris arrived on Friday from Germany, after almost 2 years. Tom was stationed here with Nato and lived in Virginia Beach for 3 years. I am very happy to welcome them back for a vacation and we enjoyed having breakfast outside on the patio this week-end. Then today, Michele and I went to Bubbas for lunch and good thing I had my camera to catch the moment, even though she did everything she could not to be on the picture... See a pattern here maybe among Web Designers? Anyhow... cheers and hope to see you soon,

~ Vickie ~