Bert's mosquito pit becomes a beautiful garden

After several years of planning and work, the Hardy water garden is finally finished. A lovely patio and walkway were installed during the winter and the garden was landscaped this spring. A variety of peonies, viburnum, dianthus, lilies, coreopsis and other plantings add fragrance and color from April through September. We enjoy sitting out on the patio with our friends and family, and even stoke the chimnea (a gift from the Stuarts) when things get chilly.

Beth meets Peyton Manning!!!

Beth had a brush with greatness on June 17 when she met Peyton Manning, Quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, at a special event she helped plan at Capital One. Capital One recently signed a global issuance agreement with MasterCard and Beth was part of a team that planned a celebration event which featured MasterCard spokesman, Peyton Manning. Peyton was very nice, gracious and down-to-earth. He participated in a 30 minute Q&A with the audience and met 7 lucky associates in a Meet & Greet.

In true Hardy fashion, Beth acted appropriately blase' - like this kind of thing happens to her everyday. In truth, she was very excited to meet him!

Sara graduates!

Sara graduated from Randolph Elementary School on June 3, 2008. She had a wonderful run at Randolph and stayed on honor roll the whole time. After the graduation ceremony, students and family enjoyed a nice reception in the media center. And the next day, the 5th graders enjoyed a graduation party at the YMCA pool.

Congrats Sara! We are so proud of you! ...Off to middle school.

Native son returns with history lesson in the Old Masters

Native son returns with history lesson in the Old Masters
By Eric Beidel -The Winchester Star
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Winchester — A city native returned on Sunday to share his knowledge of the art world, its sometimes shady past, and how Americans came to appreciate the British masters.

The crowd for Christopher Apostle’s lecture, "Trading Faces: Collecting British Portraits in America from the Gilded Age to the Present Day," was standing room only at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley on Amherst Street.....

Read the entire article:

http://www.winchesterstar.com/article_details.php?ArticleID=7557

Father's Day Weekend

We had a great Father's Day weekend. We started out Friday night at the end of year Goochland Little League picnic. The boys both received their trophies and James even won an autographed baseball. The awards ceremony could have been a bit shorter but...

Saturday the boys played in their final t-ball game while Bert took a foursome to Ford’s Colony in Williamsburg to play golf. Everyone played well but the round of the day goes to Jon Hood for shooting a 69! Good thing he was Bert’s partner! Saturday evening we had a great cookout with the Potts, Stuarts and Raines. It was a meat-fest...Everyone brought “a lot of meat”! We had steaks, chicken, pork tenderloin. Lots of fun. We watched in awe Tiger’s incredible round at the US Open. I think even the women were converted to golf fans.

Sunday we wrapped things up by having another cookout at the Potts’s house along with a pool party. The day was capped of with Tiger’s amazing putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff. Happy Father’s Day!

Our new pet