Leesburg Oatlands Get-Together - December

All six of the Take Joy Society members were able to get together to celebrate Christmas in Leesburg, Virginia.  Edie, who had started off her married life here in 1972 showed us the downtown area.  

Leesburg was dressed up for Christmas. . . .

We stopped in several shops . . . .

And window-shopped others. . . .

Inside shops were decorated for Christmas as well. . . .

The log cabin is part of the Loudoun Museum, which unfortunately was not open that day. . . .

The Mervin Jackson Park is a recent addition just behind the Museum, adjacent to the parking garage. . . .

We then drove to Oatlands just outside of town where we would first have Afternoon Tea in the Carriage House. . . .

The waitress brought out tea sandwiches (Cucumber, Smoked Salmon with Horseradish & Dill, Cranberry Turkey Salad, Pimento Cheese, and Apple Butter Cream on Cinnamon Swirl), scones with jam and cream, Luscious Lemon Bars, Fudge Brownies, and Lemon Raspberry bars along with the tea. . . .

After we ate we exchanged gifts.  We were to choose something that represented a town or place we'd visited that was special to us.  The gifts were numbered and each of us drew a number.  When we opened our gift we were to guess not only the town the gift represented but who the gift was from.  Then the giver would tell us why she loved visiting that town. . . .

This cheese slicer was from Norway, the ancestral homeland of one of our members who has visited there several times . . .

These gifts represented Frederick, MD--an ornament, pin, apple jelly from a local company, and a Patsy Cline CD because Patsy lived in Frederick for several years in the 1950s--one of the favorite places for this member who will be leaving us in a couple years. . . .

Susan Branch's Christmas cookbook represented Martha's Vineyard where this Susan Branch fan vacationed for a week. . . .

The Fraser Fir candle reminded this gift giver of Maine, one of her favorite places to vacation and the setting for the novel she is writing. . . .

The necklace made from sea glass represented the Chesapeake Bay for this member and held special memories of her late mother and the times they'd hunted for sea glass together. . . .

This member made these plant stakes to represent the Flower Show in Philadelphia where her son now lives.  She's gotten to know more of the city and has come to love it. . . .

The carriage house gift shop sold ornaments and displayed them on two trees. . . .

After the Tea we walked over to the mansion itself.  Along the way we came upon this ancient Osage Orange tree.  You can read about it and the other trees on the grounds HERE. . .

A short history of the beginnings of Oatlands plantation can be read HERE. . . .

There were no guided tours that day but the college student who greeted us gladly shared his knowledge with us.  As a Historic Preservation degree student his enthusiasm set the tone as we walked through each room. . . .

The only photography allowed was of the Christmas tree in the Drawing Room.  We learned that the term "drawing room" comes from the more formal "Withdrawing Room."  After dinner the men would go to the Smoking room while the women would withdraw to their own room for tea. . . .

I was able to get a few other photos, though, out several windows. . . .

We ended our afternoon with a walk through the gardens.  Despite it being winter it had a different sort of beauty to it.  The house, no longer a home, belonged to a different time and place, but the garden held the hope of new life yet to come. . . .

❤️Take Joy❤️