Weather Got Us Again

The weather threw us for a loop again this week when we had to close on Friday.  We hope all of our families and friends fared well during the storm and winds on Thursday evening.  It was an unnerving night, for sure.   At least by Friday it sort of feels like Fall outside.  We are really looking forward to being able to spend more time outside in the next couple of months.  Hopefully it won't get too cold too soon.  Here's what we were up to for the three days we were in session this week!

Tuesday was Master Gardener Day so we headed to Freedom Park to see what was going on at the Botanical Garden.  Our usual "lead" gardeners, Linda, Karen, and Barb were all out of town, so Pat, Carolyn, Marcella, Diana, Joanne, and Valerie took the reins and gave us an exceptional experience!

We told the MGs that we were taking care of our succulent gardens, keeping them in sunny spots and not over-watering.  They were proud of us.  Pat showed us a succulent from her home garden called Autumn Joy.  It blooms!

 

Next, they informed us that we had planting to do.  We looked at seeds for mustard greens, spinach, and fava beans before planting them.  

Here, Diana taught Laura to make shallow rows for planting spinach seeds.

 Valerie helped Patrick and Kacie plant garlic, too!  Yum...we look forward to harvesting and cooking with that!

The zinnias are nearing the end of the season, but it's been so warm and they are hanging in there.  With MG Marcella and Alexis helping, Devin cut some for us to bring back!

Back at the tables, we planted bulbs in our two large pots.  We did this last year and when Spring rolled around, we had daffodils and tulips in bloom!  This year, we layered several bulbs in hopes of having a lush, colorful pot in Spring, 2019.  After the guys in this group planted daffodil, tulip, and hyacinth bulbs, Xavier took a turn and placed anemone bulbs.

This group planted the same bulbs, and then topped the planter with pansies, which will provide color throughout the Fall and Winter, before the bulbs pop up in Spring.

Doesn't this look good?  Our "herb of the day" was sage, and our snack was pound cake made with a variety called pineapple sage.  It was as tasty as it looks, and we got the recipe!

It was warm, but overcast skies made it bearable for us to eat at the park.  We walked over to a sheltered area adjacent to a playground.  There were no little ones on the playground, so we got to play!

If we had told our guys we were going to take a walk, they would have complained it was "too hot."  But turn them loose on a playground and they run around like Energizer Bunnies!  LOL!  

Lots of climbing and good exercise today!

Dev's long legs had no trouble climbing this equipment!

Kacie and Kate enjoyed swinging.  The playground was a nice ending to our busy morning with the MGs.

Wednesday morning was busy, too.  Pam came with flowers from Trader Joe's and we got busy making several pretty arrangements.  Here, Pam taught Sam how to cut stems at an angle.

Devin pulled wilted leaves off the stems of these flowers.

Down in the kitchen, this crew assembled the Arc's November newsletter.  As usual, there are lots of fun events coming up, including a costume ball and a night of Disney "madness!"  Be sure to mark your selections and return the sign up sheet to Bette Faye by October 22nd!

Chris and Xavier worked on inventory for some Eaton parts that Meemaw had finished putting gaskets on.

We love how this photo shows our "busyness."  Once the newsletter assembly was finished, the guys that were working on it joined the others in the big room to help with flowers and Eaton work.

We had enough flowers to make five arrangements this week.  

Meemaw, who works on Eaton tasks for us at both AFCC and the Eaton facility, was the recipient of this lovely arrangement.  Her grandson Drew was proud to present it to her!

Liz and Alexis were happy to present a bright arrangement to Mr. Nonnemacher, the librarian.  He said we could begin shelving books again any day!  We enjoy helping him in the library!

Patti came and told us we had three weeks to prepare for "Thriller Yoga" that we will do on Halloween!  We will learn a series of moves that we'll do to the music of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" when we have yoga on October 31.  Our gang requested this and Patti is making it happen!

During this session, we were learning to be yoga zombies...

We practice many poses designed to improve our flexibility.  As you can see here, Devin pretty much has flexibility mastered!

We're working on another Halloween project:  making posters for Coach Teri's neighborhood Halloween party.  On Thursday morning we began coloring pictures to use on the posters.  We made summer cookout posters for her neighborhood earlier this year and did such a good job, we were recruited to make more.  We will put pictures of the finished products in next week's blog!

Thursday was also National Sausage Pizza Day.  We made a healthier version using pita bread for crust and turkey sausage/ lowfat cheese for toppings.  Kacie and Dev were in charge of browning the sausage.  

Liz and Alexis assembled these beautiful salads to accompany our pizza!

Yummo!  We couldn't tell that they weren't from Domino's!  Our guys said they loved them!

We did brain work after lunch.  Our topic was Native Americans.  This busy group was learning about types of homes the Native Americans had.

This group used map skills in their lesson about where different tribes lived.

This group thought the names of some of the tribes were very interesting.  They were surprised to learn of a tribe named Miami, that lived in Ohio!

We spent the end of the day on Thursday learning about Parkinson's disease as a prep for our visit to APEX Physical Therapy on Friday.  Lexi's cousin Scott specializes in treating those who are living with Parkinson's through a fitness program called Rock Steady Boxing.  We were going to participate in a sample class with him.  But the storm and winds came Thursday night, forcing us to cancel AoA on Friday.  We are going to reschedule our visit with Scott for next Friday.  😃

  

Here's what you need to know for next week:

Tuesday:  It's bowling day!  We will also have pizza for lunch, sponsored this week by a friend of Lisa's who loves what we do at the AoA.  We would also like to hide our Halloween themed rocks so if it's not raining, we will stop in CW and explore.  Wear your Arc shirts!

Wednesday:  We have visitors today from the Mariners' Museum.  They enjoyed working with us when we visited so they want to see if there is some kind of programming they could bring to us at the center.  We also have a couple of crafts to work on that we didn't get to last week.  And, it's Yoga w/ Patti day, so dress to stretch!  Lunch on your own.

Thursday:  More visitors today!  This time, Drew's dad, Andy, is bringing friends from Anheuser-Busch to meet and greet with us.  They will be volunteering at the Octoberfest on Saturday, so we're going to schmooze with them ahead of that.  Lunch will be provided by our visitors...probably pizza.  (We told them it's fine by us to have pizza twice in one week!)  Since it's also Chocolate Cupcake Day, we will prepare dessert!  

Friday:  We're planning to take our road trip to New Kent if the weather doesn't throw us any more surprises!  Wear your Arc shirts and comfy pants or shorts, and bring $10 for lunch.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20:  Join us at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery for Octoberfest!  It's going to be a lot of fun!!!  Proceeds benefite The Arc of Greater Williamsburg!  Thanks, Anheuser-Busch!

👪 Families, we are planning a Family Meeting for Thursday, November 1st.  Details are still being worked out for location, but we'll let you know very soon.   Thank you!

Enjoy the weekend,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan