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This is the home page for Ed & Kathy Silveira. We are retired, live in Studley, Virginia (just northeast of Richmond) and loving life. Studley isn't a town, or village, or even a state of mind. It's got a general store, and post office (with the best post-mistress in the US). It's lovely and it's our home.

We know that some people want to work until they drop. We are not those people. While on vacations during those years before we retired we heard two comments (from retirees) that really resonated with us:

"Our week is 6 Saturdays and a Sunday", and "If you like to be on vacation, you'll like retirement." Weekends were the best for us and we love to vacation.

We enjoy travel that takes us to lands where the language, customs, and cultures are different from what we are accustomed. It's mentally challenging and marvelous. These are pages of memories. They are for the kids, for the grandkids, and sometimes just for us. There are few things more humbling than to read something you wrote 10 years earlier when you were so much smarter, and knew so much more. We've been blessed with good friends, health, and family. This is a collection of memories (and sometimes pictures) of our travels and visitors who have traveled to our home.

2012 - 2013

The machine to the left began another phase in life. New technology fascinates me and the product of this massive machine is amazing. So, this blog is also a place to unload some stuff that rattles around my head. At the end of 2012 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, as many men my age are, and I used this blog to document the process as I traveled along an unfamiliar road. The destination was known, but there were choices to make along the way. If interested click here on Journey to read about what we decided to do about it. I tried to make it as lighthearted as I could. It has certainly put a crimp in our travels, but that is only enjoyment postponed. It was last updated on March 15, 2014.

2011

Now, at the end of October we are settled once again at home with memories of a fantastic trip. I got so used to driving on the right side of the road it is a bit of an adjustment. Previously I've been carefully "driving left - looking right" on what must be some of the most beautiful country roads in the world - the gracious counties of England, Wales, and Scotland. We've just started to get our body clocks right, the pictures are saved on backup and I'm about ready to tell the story of a wonderful trip to New then Old England. We planned this trip to have three stages: family ties in New England, a week with Richard and Lucy in a London apartment, and 10 days (3 in Scotland, 1 in Wales, and 6 in southern England) driving around Great Britain. To start, let's go home to Rhode Island. The second part of our trip takes us to London and a little apartment in Bermondsey. It was a short flight from London to Edinburgh where we spent the next few days enjoying Scotland. Following a return flight back to yet a different London airport we rented a car, headed west to the Cotswolds, and made a loop across mid-southern England stopping at some magical places we had only read about. It was a great way to see this beautiful land.

Not all travel requires planes, boats, or trains, and a recent call from my brother Rich set me on a short walking journey to my wood shop. He asked if I would be interested in turning some replacement legs for a bed that his son Zachary had used in his youth. "I'd be delighted." was my response. Enjoying the process as much as the fulfillment, I decided to document the steps from board feet to bed feet. I hope Naia (Zach and Maria's beautiful new baby) will someday enjoy her "new" bed.




2010

It's October, the nights are cool, the southern sun warm, the camellias are in bloom (a wonderful shiny bright pink-flower-surprise nature provides just when everything else is fading to brown), and we are looking back on what may have been our favorite trip to date. Filled with good (and different) food, family, beautiful artwork and a healthy dose of history, it ranks right up there. Venice is a different experience when you are staying on the Lido and the city is only a boat ride away. Germany was fascinating, fresh, and totally comfortable. We could hardly wait to see Berlin, and make our way through what used to be East Germany. Dresden is remarkable, Nuremburg still a little frightening and old Ludwig's castle has to be seen to be appreciated. I would rank our drive through and short stay in Austria, as a must do (BYD) for it's unparalleled beauty. Pictures don't do it justice. So much to tell and it all starts with a plan.

2009

Our 2009 trip turned out to be one of our more interesting. Brother Rich and SIL Lucy, traded their house for one week each apartments in Paris and Ballycastle, Northern Ireland. They invited us to share the experience. We love to travel with them, so it was an easy decision. We made our plan, flew into and out of Paris, then took Easyjet flights between Paris, Belfast and Nice. Easyjet is easy, and cheap ($29 dollars per person cheap). Of course they charge you for everything except breathing but that's OK, you know that going in. We covered a lot of time territory in this trip, BC at Paestum, 79 AD in Pompeii, the renaissance period in Florence, 20th century history in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, and a genuine treat: real time apartment dwelling in Paris. The bonus was being able to spend some time with Rich and Lu; being with family is great. The adventure starts.

In April 2009 Adam, Kristin, and the four kids came to visit. It starts here.

In January of 2009 after a visit from Emily, we went to Disneyworld to meet Adam, Kristin, Alyssa, Megan, Jami and Jonathan. It was great. Click here.

In August 2008 we traveled to Rhode Island for a few days, then met my brother Rich, his wife Lucy, their children Matt, Sarah (also affectionately known as "The Princess"), and Zach with his wife Maria in the Azores for a marvelous 3 island visit. We followed that with some time in the Algarve, Sevilla (which is beautiful) and even a cable car up the great rock of Gibraltar to monkey around with the apes. What a time! Click on: RI, Azores, Algarve, Gibraltar, and Sevilla.

In September of 2007 we traveled to Europe with my son Edward and our daughter in law Alicia. We had sixteen days of excitement in France, Italy, and the Netherlands. in starts here: Europe 2007.

It's always wonderful to be around family and not much beats a wedding when you're not one of the participants. We were thrilled to be able to join my sister Gloria and brother-in-law Paul celebrate daughter Rachel's wedding in St. Louis. I hadn't been to St. Louis since 1968 and all I remember is the strong smell of hops. Hope it still smells like that. It's here: St. Louis 2007.

For a week of grandparent heaven check out our Las Vegas trip with Adam, Kristin, and the four kids here: Las Vegas 2007.

Because we love her, we took Emily (Lisa's daughter) to France for 10 days. She was 3 weeks shy of her 14th birthday and we had a blast. From Paris to Mount Saint Michel to Champagne - Click here: Emily 2006.

There are some other random pages of visits from friends and kids, and grandkids and ongoing projects (none completed that I know of - we're not that good at the completion part). Those can be found in the tab at the right.