March 17, 2014 by anexpatreturned - 2 Comments

Three Days until Spring and Too Early for April Fooling

Yes, we really got all this snow overnight and, at two in the afternoon on March 17th, it still hasn’t stopped.

I never would have thought, when I moved to Virginia (it is, technically, the south, after all) that I would have more occasion to use cross-country skis than my bicycle. Go figure! I’ll just keep waiting for spring. Meanwhile, has anyone got some snowshoes I can borrow?

A little something official about our wacky weather: Winter storm blasts U.S. mid-Atlantic days before spring (trust.org)
What a fellow expat-returned (to England, in her case) is doing to get ready for spring on the Other Side of the Pond: Spring Has Sprung…I Hope! (putthekettleonblog.wordpress.com)
And an transplanted English gardener’s opinion on what our snowfall will do to the early blooms: Tommie crocus shocked by a St Patrick’s Day snow (beforeyougarden.com)

Will our crocuses hang in there? I’m crossing my fingers! In the meantime, with the fireplace lit and the prospect of a cup of hot chocolate, it’s beginning to feel a lot more like Christmas than St. Paddy’s Day.

Wishing you all good cheer and some Irish luck!

Until next time,

– Jennifer

March 16, 2014 by anexpatreturned - 0 comments

Why Going Running Isn’t Boring When You Live near the Woods (Part II)

Here There Be Beavers

March 15, 2014 by anexpatreturned - 4 Comments

Why Going Running Isn’t Boring When You Live Near the Woods

Just browsing, thanks...

When I lived in the city, you couldn’t have persuaded me to go running if you paid me. “Boring!” I thought. Here, it’s another sort of pastime entirely. I never know what surprises I might come across.

October 31, 2013 by anexpatreturned - 1 Comment

Happy Halloween!

My very own Jack-o’-lantern, courtesy of Dad, expert pumpkin carver with many years of experience.

After years of living in a land with no Halloween, how could I not be excited about this? I am living in a neighborhood where kids actually go from house to house trick-or-treating, and I’m all ready with a basket of goodies by the door. Are they going to have some creative costumes or will it all be straight out of a package? I’m hoping for some good fun. Happy Halloween to all!

September 24, 2013 by anexpatreturned - 0 comments

Before Billboards

Not only were there no billboards yet, but tobacco advertising was still alive and well when barns were used in place of billboards in the country

“Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco – Treat Yourself to the Best”
Not only were there no billboards yet, but tobacco advertising was still alive and well when barns were used in place of billboards

Today some people allow advertisers to emblazon the outside of their cars with photos and logos, for a fee. In the first half of the last century, however, farmers would allow companies to paint their advertisements on the sides of their barns. Without billboards, it was the best and most high-visibility method to make their products known in rural areas.

Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco advertisements have adorned the sides of a number of barns along the road I have been taking to my grandparents’ house since I was a kid, but not this is the only one I have seen which is still visible from the road that isn’t falling down or completely hidden by new-growth trees. A little piece of Americana, and when the last of these disused barns falls in, it, too, will disappear.