Hello Hello From The Shenandoah Valley

I joined DG this week and 've been enjoying this website immensely. I have already arranged for a nice plant trade, added a few tidbits here and there, and joined into a couple of posts. I can see that I need to get myself more organized so that I can volunteer some photos into the Plant Files. I have thoroughly appreciated these informative entries!

I've been a gardener for a number of years, as well as a quilter. I am no longer working full-time (very early early-retirement!!) and am now enjoying the freedom and luxury of my passions.

WElcome to The Garden...and you are from a beautiful place!! I am formerly from WV and Va...and try to make it back home at least once a year. Meet me at Humpback Bridge!! We'll have a little picnic and dangle our feet in the creek! LOL Jo

Welcome Lynn from up here in Frederick, Md :)

I was born in Huntington, WV....everyone in my family graduated from Marshall Univ. there. My folks moved to Rockville, Maryland when I was 8 years old, then we moved up to Damascus when I was 13. So I've lived in both WV and MD and know them both pretty well.

(We finally had a decent Spring rain today. Finally!!)

Welcome, Lynn! Where is Stephens City? I DO know Damascus (assuming Damascus VA), used to live in Boone and went that route to I-81.

LIved in Rockville when we moved from Indiana when I was 13. Whereabouts in Rockville?

Darius, Stephens City is in northern Virginia in Frederick County, not too far from the County seat, Winchester. We are situated in the Shenandoah Valley --the Blue Ridge, Allegheny and Appalacian chains. I live in the county outside of the actual town and am a mile from 2 other counties (Clarke Co. and Warren Co).

I've not been to Damascus, VA -- I was referring to Damascus MD, the northernmost town in Montgomery County MD.

Dea, When I moved to Rockville, the population was only about 28,000 !! Sure has changed since then, hasn't it? We lived in a suburb known as "Twinbrook" and I lived on McAuliffe Drive, right off of Rt. 355. My mother taught PE at Broome Junior High School. (The building is still there but the school closed --it was too small and out-dated for the area). My mom went from Broome to Montgomery Village Jr High, then on to Mark Twain School as a Counselor. She's since retired. She lives in Burtonsville now and comes here to play in my gardens and greenhouse. (They are now looking to move -- went to Asheville NC last week, in fact, looking at homes.)

Dea, have you ever been over to Behnke's Nursery in the Burtonsville area?

I know McAuliffe Drive very well and the old Broome JHS and MV Jr High and Mark Twain too! A friend of mine was a counselor there for many years - Rudy Hewitt. I basically lived off Twinbrook, but where it turned into Rollins Avenue there at 355. Small world, eh?

Before DH and I moved to Frederick, we were just outside Damascus. Jimmy Cone stand is still there :) And yes, I go to Behnke's all the time but I go to the one down in Potomac since it's closer. Look only, no buy ;) Their prices !!!!!

I think darius used to live in Asheville!

Dea this is getting more and more interesting! The house that I lived in was barren til we moved there. My mom, being an avid gardener, put gardens all around that lot, and my dad and I made a flagstone patio off of one side. (Now guess where I get my green thumbs, eh?) I lived very close to Farragut, in fact I skateboarded on that street and another one running parallel. That would have been from about 1963-1968.

Mark Twain opened the year I was turning a Senior at Damascus High. Since it was not the 'normal' school, they required all teachers there to have at least a Masters in Psychology, and prior to the school opening, there were many inservice days and 'experiments'. I was asked to be a volunteer student for the teachers there, so my girlfriend and I agreed. Some of my summer days were spent there (it was a 12-month position for all teachers).

In Damascus, we lived about 1.4 miles from town on Ridge Road in a very large white house w/ barn and other outbuildings. A gravel road ran down one length of the property to a large farm w/ horses, owned by the Steele's. Across the road were the Warfield's and next to that was a very large field. I would often walk to town for a Jimmie Cone ice cream, not having any other means to get to town.

Many years ago, the Benke's had their home off of Rt 198 and you could drive through their gardens to see their plantings. It was always a great little trip for my mom and I to take. He passed away and the home was sold. I have one of his old daylilies: Dad's Best White.....the only almost-white I own. (Benke's is dangerous to go to with my mother!!)

Hello welcome nice to meet you.. this is great welcoming site.. Twyla

hello from new york state

Greetings to you, Hope and Herbie, and thanks for the nice welcome.
This is a fun site and I've learned quite a bit!! There are some super forums here and I dont' think that there is enough time in a day to read all that I'd like to.

Hi from Iowa. I'm glad you are having fun here. It's a great place and it just keeps getting better and better. Enjoy!

Good morning and welcome from Az :)

Hi Brugie and PiggyPoo! Thank you for welcoming me.
I've already completed 2 trades and have learned alot of interesting tidbits while reading forums and going through the PF info. This is a dangerous website!!! LOL

PiggyPoo -- We will be doing an RV road trip this September to UT and mostly AZ. We have been planning it for some time. I am looking so forward to seeing that area of the country. I have not been in either state before.

Lynn...when you come to AZ...providing it isn't the month of October...I would be happy to get a few of our DG people together to meet up with you. I'm about an hour from Tucson...and just off I-10 below Benson, AZ

I will be leaving for the KY RU about the last week in September. Also, I plan to come on to Virginia...Clifton Forge/Richmond and Va. Beach, after the RU. Jo

Hello and welcome, I too am recently new to the site and find it to be wonderful. Happy gardening!!!

Gary

Welcome to DavesGarden!

Jo, I think we're going to be passing each other by, huh? Too bad....we will be on the road from Sept 10 through Oct 9.

Cheryl, thanks for the welcome.

Gary -- thanks for the howdy, glad you made it here, too! This is a fantastic website. Welcome, Gary!

Good Morning from Monaville, Texas and welcome. I lived in Charlottesville for a short after leaving NYC and moving to Texas. I used to visit a good many people up and down the valley.

I am new to DG's as well, and have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

Regards,
Melissa

LCG....too bad indeed....I'll be in VA after the 9th....maybe we could meet up on Afton Mtn...LOL

Welcome, Melissa...I sure you know where Afton Mtn is too....and I used to live in Richmond.

Jo

Hi Lynn, welcome! I was also born in Huntington WV (St Mary's) and went to Marshall (go herd!) Now I live in NC and am a newbie gardener. I also love quilting. I look forward to seeing pictures of your garden and seeing you around Dave's.

Rachel

Hello MelissahL and Rachel, and thanks for the welcome. RoadRunner I see where you REALLY get your nick-name from! LOL.....

Rachel, I am working on a book about some of my 'ancestors'. My family was centered around the tri-state area from Lesage WV over to Crown City OH and down as far as Greenup County KY. The book is about my great-grandfather and his life - he was the prosecuting attorney for Portsmouth OH and led a very interesting life, giving up his legal occupation for the life of a farmer along the Ohio River. How's that for gardening dedication?!! My grandmother was a teacher in Cabell County and earned her Masters in History. She was a grand story-teller and I was an eager listener to stories about family and 'the good ole days'. At present, I am continuing the research on our lineage....it is a consuming task and I wrestle between doing that, gardening, quilting, and husband/family. There is never enough time in a day....LOL

What does your ID "butterqueen" come from? Would you mind sharing ?

Hi Lynn, My family is mainly from McDowell and Logan counties in WV and Carter and Rowan counties in KY. My generation is the first that has no coal miners or tobacco farmers. That is what most of my ancestors did. Will your book be published? It sounds interesting, both the research and the final product.

Butterqueen is actually an embarrassing little tale from Marshall. My best friend and I dormed at Buskirk Hall and our guy friends shared an apartment across the street from campus. Well they didn't have much money, so we smuggled things out of the dorm cafeterias to them, mostly condiments and cereal. So I had 2 pockets full of 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter' sample packs in my new suede coat and we headed over for a visit. We stopped off at a party and I laid my coat over what I now know was a radiator. We got a little tipsy there and headed on over to our friends' apartment. It was my first time being tipsy and I couldn't walk, that combined with the icy weather was no good. I slipped and landed face first in the middle of the street. A policeman was coming by and after helping me up, asked for my id, I was obviously underage. I started reaching in my pockets and, I'm sure you guessed, they were full of melted fake butter. I started crying and wiping my face and had sticky butter all over me. I was horrified, but my friends thought it was hilarious and started calling me the butter queen. Not long after, I was trying to think of an online screen name and my 'partner in crime' best friend signed me up as butterqueen and I have used it ever since. I always just thought of it as a cute, quirky name that's almost always available and when it isn't, I wonder why in the world someone else used it lol.

Rachel

Edited to say sorry I wrote my own little book there. No one ever asks me about the name and I started reminiscing and got carried away.

This message was edited Jun 6, 2005 8:23 PM

Rachel....I was born and raised in Raleigh County...near Sophia, WV.

Have you ever heard the southern saying "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit"?? I say it to a friend of mine all the time and he laughs so hard. Jo

Rachel, Are you kidding? That's a great story! You have me still laughing about it and when my hubby comes home, he's gonna hear your story, too. It is very original and I am reminded of that old saying, "There but for the grace of God go I " Yes, yes....Butterqueen lives! LOL

I have lived in Logan, too, and I remember parts of it very clearly. My mom's first year of teaching was at Mann High School in Logan. My dad worked for Columbia Gas. I remember our very large old brick house on Stratton Street, not far from an elementary school where I went to 1st grade.

We moved from Logan to Maryland. My mother got a transfer over to Montgomery County (Rockville MD). I have never been back to Logan after we moved because it was about 50 miles from my grandparents' houses in Huntington and Barboursville. I still think about it though, even wrote a poem about childhood there....coal miners and coal was a part of life there and left an impression with me.

My first best friend, Edna, was from Logan. I have an iris named "Edna" that is on a thread over in the Iris Forum and I bought the iris because of the name. It's a beauty, too.