Discover Smith Mountain Lake
SUMMER 2015
39
38
PJ Belle
540.525.0134
3 acre secluded Waterfront Home with dock 4 BD/2.5Ba w/full
walk out LL! Deep Water! Wide water views from dock! New
paint inside Ext stain New fireplace! Wood stove! Huge MB!
and bath! Cathedral ceiling addition 2–HVAC units 1 yr Home
Warranty Owner/Agent.
Call 540-525-0134 or email
Only
$316,500
!
COME SEE OUR NEW location!
Phone: 540-721-3821
40Village Springs Drive, Suite 14
Hardy, VA 24101
NOW
OPEN!
They embroidered ball gowns and jackets with beads for court nobility. Imperfect beads
that would not fit over the needle were saved for use in flower making. Peasants would
also recycle beads from discarded clothing and fashion them into decorations.
The word “bead” comes from “bede”, which is Middle English for “prayer”. Beads were
used to mark the number of prayers a penitent said. These “prayer beads” became the
forerunner of the rosary, which is still used in the Catholic Church. Very early rosaries
or prayer beads required so many prayers that people with money would hire the poor to
say the prayers for them. These people were called “bede people”. Hopefully they reaped
the full benefits of all those prayers and not just the pay, which surely wouldn’t have
been much.
The Arkells believe that beaded funeral wreaths may also have been made by French
Catholic nuns, as a way to earn money for their orders. One of the funeral wreaths in
their collection was made to fit a child’s coffin; therefore, it is smaller than the typical 3
to 4 foot long wreaths.
During Ross’s career with General Motors, Judy was busy herself raising their two
children, Christopher and Emily, both of whom are employed today in design work.
While the children were growing up, Judy also put her art degree to use by doing free
lance work as a fabric artist and in advertising. She enjoyed sewing clothing for herself
and the children, and making decorative pillows or collages from salvaged pieces of old
quilts. Yes, it appears she still has some of these items on display. Plus, there are at least
two framed pieces of quilts among the collages on the walls.
If you ask Ross and Judy if they ever plan to move from their current home, they just
laugh and shake their heads. They are warm, gracious hosts who “as long as a little dust
doesn’t scare you” welcomed this intruder into their lives for a few hours on a pleasant
Saturday afternoon.
