Yes, I will admit that garter snake or no garter snake, I let out a little shriek when my new friend and I met yesterday when I was pruning…it sure was cool to see though and they are good for the garden….
Monthly Archives: October 2012
once a “jackass”….
….Always a jackass?
I realize that Chester County native son Bam Margera is like the second coming to a lot of residents, but no disrespect to them, I find that he has gone from local boy done good to problem child many wish would just go away.
Also, he’s not a child (although he undoubtedly influences many.). And I know a lot of people may have a lot to say that I am taking him to task on his latest not so funny bit of jackassery.
So what the heck did he THINK would happen when he posted a photo on twitter looking like he was pointing a gun at the head of an innocent PUPPY?
Hey Bam? Here’s the 411: I have never been a fan of your antics. But it’s a big world out there and normally I can’t see what you do from my window. But sooner or later, dude, you and your motley band of pranksters need to grow up and become contributing members of society. Why can’t you use your celebrity for good? Why is it every time you hit the news, or someone in your circle hits the news it is less than positive?
Is that how you see the world? 
I find this latest stunt, apology or no apology profoundly disturbing. Personally I am thinking you should be making big whopping donations to Chester County SPCA and Main Line Animal Rescue if you are REALLY sorry.
Shaking my head in disgust at this one, and how embarrassing is it for Chester County that Bam has made the news from coast to coast on this? No, Bam, I would disagree. All press is NOT good press and joking about animal cruelty is not funny. You are in the public eye, and like it or not have an obligation to NOT behave like a jackass once in a while.
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, October 9, 10:13 AMAP
PHILADELPHIA — “Jackass” star Bam Margera says he condemns animal abuse and didn’t mean any harm by a photo posted online showing him holding his pit bull puppy with a toy gun pointed to its head.The 33-year-old Margera had posted the photo on Twitter, saying that if the dog made a mess in his bed again “Penny goes Bye Byes.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/SL6f9O ) that Margera says he loves animals and wished he had made it more clear the gun was fake.
Jackass’ Margera apologizes for gun-on-puppy post
By Mari A. Schaefer Inquirer Staff Writer
And given this tweet I just stumbled upon and am posting, was this just the latest attention grabbing publicity stunt? What happens when someone emulates this?
end of season
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Great editorial, and well worth a read
october still life
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politicians, election season, and blogging
Some of us blog all year round. During election seasons, you will see candidates for public office “blog”. To most politicians, blogs represent the devil. Yet during election season they seek to harnass the powers of citizen journalism. It’s a love-hate relationship at best.
Only to me cutting and pasting press releases is not blogging, and is certainly not being done by the actual candidates. They probably don’t even know how to log onto their “blogs” let alone post. Bet they would flunk a quiz on basic HTML code too.
West Chester Patch commented today on Facebook:
District 156 throw down on Patch. Both Binder and Truitt are now blogging. Truitt: http://patch.com/B-cxZt Binder: http://patch.com/B-cxVF
Eternally curious with a few minutes to kill I went to take a peek.
Truitt Campaign: Posted on October 3, 2012 at 10:50 am
TRUITT ENDORSED BY CHESTER COUNTY
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE, LODGE 11
WEST CHESTER – State Representative Dan Truitt (R-156) today announced that he has received a letter of endorsement from the Chester County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 11 in his bid for re-election.
Bret Binder (D) Applauds Commonwealth Court Ruling, Expresses Caution About Law’s Implementation Going Forward
EAST BRADFORD TOWNSHIP, PA –
Bret Binder reacted on Tuesday to the Commonwealth Court’s decision to prevent Pennsylvania’s controversial voter ID law from taking full effect.
“While I agree with Judge Simpson’s decision and it is indeed a victory for Pennsylvania voters, it does not change the fact that this law is a poorly designed attempt to disenfranchise a large portion of the electorate. Dan Truitt’s Republican friends in Harrisburg have made that very clear.”
Jumping Jehosaphats people! That is NOT blogging in either case. There is no first person recounting or any personal opinion whatsoever. Wow. I feel like I stepped into the fictional campaigns in the series “Boss” .
These are merely press releases written by other people . If the candidates are going to blog, then really blog. The campaigns of BOTH candidates are insulting the intellegence of Chester County voters.
And regarding the Presidential “debates”? I am voting them a skip it. They are completely scripted and they might as well have talking robots on stage tonight.
I respect candidates who can speak for themselves. Let’s hope some of them learn to do that before election day.
Peace out.
pumpkins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ask anyone who knows me – I love pumpkins. I was at Sugartown Strawberries yesterday….so I photographed what else? PUMPKINS. Rows and rows of pumpkins, dozens and dozens of pumpkins piled in a jumble of orange. They tell me hay rides start next weekend! Sugartown Strawberries is located at 650 Sugartown Road Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355. Their phone number is (610) 613-0525 and you can find them on the web and on Facebook.
And on your way back and forth next weekend, also don’t forget to check out the fall fun at Woodlawn Landscaping & Nursery on Paoli Pike (they are right there at the intersection of Paoli Pike and Sugartown Road).
another fairy tale for malvern? proceed with caution.
Sorry, jaded skeptic checking in. I just saw an article about Malvern in Main Line Suburban Life and “train station redevelopment”.
And yes the loyal friend TOD (transit oriented development.) TOD is not a one-sized fits all band-aid in ALL areas.
OMG already have the t-shirt on what THIS does to an old-fashioned main street oriented community.
Malvern Borough residents be watchful and not too gullible. Once upon a time they told this tale in Lower Merion Township for Ardmore, PA. Flash forward about ten years and what do they have? Nothing.
No train station (although Jim Gerlach gave them $6 million towards it)
Ardmore DOES have a confounding zoning overlay that cost a pretty penny but really has not gone anywhere called must (Mixed Use Special Transit often nicknamed More Unfair Special Treatment.)
Ardmore has a redevelopment plan of mythic proportions and a developer to build…only years later the developer’s contract keeps getting extended, this all costs loads of taxpayer monies (although there has never been a very specific accounting), and there is nothing to show for it. Many file this project which grew out of the defeat of eminent domain for private gain as a failure, government waste and boondoggle.
Malvern has already bit off a rather large project on East King (I have written about Malvern development before including HERE). This is not an economy for full steam ahead, it is proceed with caution. In this economy you do not necessarily make money to spend money. You need to be careful and realistic. Saying residents of rural areas and exurbs will suddenly forgo their cars and SUVs to take public transit out here is inconvenient at best is just silly. Are all people going to take the train or walk to the farmers market being discussed for 2013 in Malvern?
So my thoughts (in part having lived through this garbage where I used to live) is not to throw the baby out with the bath water, but to go SLOWLY. Finish one project at a time.
New Urbanism Utopia for Malvern is a little too much of a fairy tale for me. And Malvern had better figure out if it can handle the density when the East King Street project is complete versus just layering more on.
Let us be real: Malvern in a small community not too far away from what could be considered rural. People need their vehicles. I do not see Paoli local stops on roads like Swedesford and 401 and Pottstown Pike or Phoenixville Pike.
You will never see the communities out here turn into ones that don’t use their cars and the trade-off near the already congested town center of Malvern Borough for increased density is not worth it in my humble opinion. You keep adding people, they aren’t going to live out here without a vehicle. Where will everyone park? I don’t see that the redevelopment in progress addresses the need for parking sufficiently.
And learn the lesson of insufficient ratables from the East King project.
Residents of Malvern Borough, now is the time to pay attention. For some reason your community seems to be easy pickings for new development. I am not saying progress is bad, but you need to remember what kind of town you are and that is not Wayne and not West Chester. Malvern is small, like Narberth. Look to a community like Narberth. Or even Ambler. Embrace the small town of it all. Don’t let people talk you into what you never successfully will be.
Here is the article:
Train station redevelopment project pitched to Malvern residents
Published: Monday, October 01, 2012
BY Brent Glasgow
bglasgow@journalregister.com
MALVERN – Residents had a chance to provide input on the borough’s future on Tuesday, at an informational workshop on a transit-oriented development plan that could eventually alter the landscape of the community.
Sponsored by Malvern Borough with support from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the workshop introduced the concept of redeveloping the area within a half-mile radius of the Malvern train station.
Presenter Jeff Riegner, from the design firm of Whitman, Requardt and Associates, defined transit-oriented development as “compact, mixed-use, walk-friendly development around a train station.”
The project could include retail, residential and office development.
Allowing residents to leave their cars at home is a priority in TOD plans. Riegner said doing so leads to fewer roadway expansion projects, while giving commuters more options and raising air quality and home values.
“It really is a small-town idea and fits really well in a community like Malvern,” Riegner said.
There is no TOD plan currently in place for Malvern.
roasted butternut squash soup
October = Fall = start of soup season. I like butternut squash soup. Mine is different because I roast my squash (roasted vegetables add more depth to soups) and I add garam masala, mace and ginger, instead of just nutmeg. I will be making this later today, thought I would share the recipe now.
I was over at Sugartown Strawberries yesterday afternoon and was inspired to make soup due to the perfectly beautiful squash fresh picked by Farmer Bob. (And as a related aside, Sugartown Strawberries starts hay rides next weekend I think)
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and seeded (mine today is about 3 pounds)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 large white onion, minced
- 2 carrots minced
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 pint light cream or fat-free half and half
- 6 fresh sage leaves chopped fine
- celery salt and ground pepper to taste
- mace and ground ginger to taste
- small dash of garam masala to taste
Directions
Halve your squash and remove seeds. brush with olive oil, dust with salt and pepper and place face down on a sheet pan lined with non stick foil or parchment paper and roast skin side up about 40 -45 minutes at 350 degrees (you want squash to be roasted and cooked to be able to easily slide out of the skin.)
When squash is done, remove from oven and leave to cool
Place butter in dutch oven or soup pot and melt. Add sage leaves to pot, followed by onion, carrots and a little celery salt. Over lowish heat gently cook onions down to the point just before they caramelize. Remove from heat.
By now your squash should be hopefully cool enough to handle. Remove from skin and put small pieces into your soup pot with the onions and stir. Fully incorporate your squash (yes, there will be an unattractive mush in your pot at this point) and next quickly whisk in corn starch and incorporate. Slowly and gently whisk in light cream or fat-free half and half – do not boil but bring the heat up almost so all is incorporated.
Add the broth. Stir, stir, stir until all is incorporated and blending together and broth is heated through.
Reduce to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes covered. Next take a hand blender (you know one of those little blender wands and puree your soup right in the pot.
Check salt level and adjust accordingly. Add ground pepper and additional salt to taste and add a good shake of both ground ginger and mace and a judicial pinch of garam masala. A lot of people do this with just nutmeg, I think the garam masala, mace, and ginger taste better.
Keep on simmer/warm stirring occasionally until you serve. This is a soup you can serve the same day or heat up the next day.
This is a soup that does NOT freeze well, so make it fresh and finish in a couple of days.
Additional serving suggestions:
Garnish with rough chopped flat leaf italian parsley and a smattering chopped toasted pecans and a teaspoon of crème fraîche in the center of each soup bowl or serve plain.