Monthly Archives: February 2024

things that make me curious

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I’ve written about the Brickette Lounge twice now. Probably three times if you count when I merely shared the article about it coming back after being closed and then sold on my blog’s Facebook page.

I was glad it was getting a second lease on life initially, because it had been such a community favorite over time. A place like that is not ever going to be my jam because it’s line dancing, which has never interested me. Sometimes I like country music and Americana Roots music, but the whole honky tonk in the land of Yankees? I am completely ambivalent.

The old Brickette coexisted with the neighbors. The new Brickette isn’t so much. I know nothing about the owners or staff and the barbecue they serve isn’t bad, but not as good as Farm Boy BBQ, but no one is and that’s just my opinion. Not a criticism.

However, where I am criticizing the Brickette and the bar people who own it has to do with the parking. And it’s not just a couple of cars of overflow it is a LOT of overflow, taking over a residential neighborhood and parking on Route 100 like it’s a side street and it’s not.

This parking problem is dangerous. And it also lends itself to a conversation about occupancy levels inside the building doesn’t it?

I suggested while writing about this, that maybe if they did ticketed events it would help with the parking and therefore occupancy issues, right? Because when you create a ticket event, it’s basically like a cover charge. And you also get a count. It’s not a bad thing. Just like it’s also not a bad thing that it was suggested to the Brickette that they rent a satellite parking lot for these very crowded evenings and have a little shuttle bus.

In the meantime, West Whiteland Township is proceeding with no parking signs and parking restrictions as per the meeting last evening.

Some people have been kind of obnoxious about the neighbors expressing their concerns. And now people are getting obnoxious about me writing about this. Someone rolled up today with a few comments allow me to share the screenshots.

These comments make me curious.

Gosh, she was fun, right? I leave my comments open because I like normal discourse. not pound on me I am a horrible person for having an opinion different from theirs discourse. And when people come in guns a blazing like this, you think to yourself, they’re not necessarily just a customer but maybe they have some affiliation with the actual establishment and or the ownership group right? Well that’s what I wonder about here.

But it’s funny, my new pen pal goes from thinking it’s “weird“ that I write about this too. I’m a bad writer. And when you hit a nerve with someone you can always go to the bank on the fact that they will say you’re a bad writer.

And also, it is not elitist in the least to say if you can’t afford to go out, don’t. It’s life and simple economics.

And do I have resentment about the Brickette? That doesn’t even make sense because I really don’t care about the bar, I care about the neighborhood around the bar.

Then this woman says my writing about this is “unproductive.” It’s just something I’ve decided to write about because I see a problem happening with the neighbors, and the neighbors deserve more of a voice. It’s that simple. It’s not about trying to shut the Brickette down, they just need to be decent to their residential neighbors. Dealing effectively with their parking problems will accomplish that.

So actually the Brickette does have control over their parking lot. And no they can’t magically make the land footprint bigger, but I also wonder if it is possible to rearrange the parking lot so you get more parking spaces in there?

The whole point writing about this is the neighbors have rights too. They don’t want their bar neighbor to not have success, but they reserve the right to not be happy to find drunk people on their lawns, eating McDonald’s, and parking everywhere and on Old Route 100 making it dangerous to exit the neighborhood onto Old Route 100.

So there we have it. Enjoy your afternoon.

brickette lounge can do better for the sake of their neighbors….and patrons.
sign down…at the brickette

sign down…at the brickette

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Imagine if cars were parked all over when this went over?

hey starbucks and kimco you called the police on girl scouts? SHAME ON YOU!

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Video came from dad and Philadelphia Magazine posted it. Dad got video from LMPD apparently.

Just when I thought Lower Merion couldn’t get any more ridiculous…well it IS a full moon…but I digress…. Anyway, a Kimco Realty babe at Suburban Square (using that term very loosely) called the police on GIRL SCOUTS SELLING GIRL SCOUT COOKIES IN A LITTLE RED WAGON in Suburban Square ! Picture of a red wagon below for illustration.

Yes, this really happened. So imagine my horror when I saw this in Philadelphia Magazine and a big HT and thank you to Victor Fiorello for covering this :

NEWS

Suburban Square Calls Cops on Girl Scouts Selling Cookies

Only on the Main Line does a dad request police body-cam footage from a Girl Scout cookie incident.

by VICTOR FIORILLO· 2/27/2024, 12:16 p.m.

Suburban Square Calls Cops on Girl Scout Cookie Sales

It’s that time of year: Girl Scout cookie season! ….Most of these Girl Scout cookie sales you see go off without a hitch. But that wasn’t the case on a winter Wednesday earlier this month at Suburban Square. That’s the very Main Line-y shopping center in Ardmore.

Ardmore resident Eric Lowry showed up outside the Starbucks at Suburban Square with his 13-year-old daughter…Between his two daughters, Lowry has been helping sell Girl Scout cookies for close to 10 years. And he says he’d never been told that the girls couldn’t sell wherever they chose to. They’d even sold at Suburban Square in the past.

But on this particular day, an executive with the Suburban Square management group, Kimco Realty, approached Lowry and his daughter and asked them to move. “They said we had to stop selling cookies because we were standing on private property,” Lowry tells me, insisting that the specific spot they were on was not private property, but public. “They threatened to call the police as some kind of intimidation tactic.” Lowry flat-out refused to move and dutifully documented the encounter on his cell-phone camera.

At some point thereafter, the Suburban Square executive relocated to a different part of Suburban Square. There, she spoke with officers from the Lower Merion police department who had arrived on the scene. As seen on police body-cam footage that Lowry later obtained and published on YouTube (yes, this guy actually jumped through the required hoops to obtain body-cam footage from the cops), the Suburban Square executive explained her dilemma to police.

Part of that dilemma, it becomes apparent, is that Lowry’s Girl Scout cookie setup was outside of Starbucks. And Starbucks is a Suburban Square tenant that sells cookies, so the Girl Scout cookies were presumably creating a business conflict. She said that Starbucks was “freaking out.” (A manager at that Starbucks told me they have no comment on the matter.)

And Starbucks is TOTALLY part of this and they don’t want to comment? The big enormous coffee company couldn’t handle little GIRL SCOUTS pulling a little red wagon? They viewed them as competition we guess? Yo David and Goliath, Starbucks? Remember how that sitch turned out? I will be honest, I do not buy anything from Starbucks and have not for years. Their coffee always tastes burnt and they are overpriced on everything.

So Starbucks is no stranger to controversy from coast to coast, and aren’t saying anything according to Philadelphia Magazine. If I still lived in Lower Merion, truthfully I would put THAT Starbucks and Suburban Square on my skip it list. (They get all touchy when you say “boycott” so I would merely spend my money elsewhere as a personal choice.)

Part of the problem I have with this after watching that video that Philadelphia Magazine got from the dad (body cam footage I guess which is technically public information if you want to pay for it, which is what the dad did), is the whole misconception by Kimco’s doofy chick on camera talking about the sidewalks as if it was their private street? Really? I thought St. James place in Ardmore has been a public street in Lower Merion Township since the 1930s? And sidewalks are not public any longer? And Coulter Avenue is a public street too, right? Does Kimco own the Lower Merion roads/ streets now? Very confusing and am I suffering from bobble head disease? I sure hope not.

Of course what really piqued my interest here, is I actually know who the dad is. I knew Eric Lowry peripherally from when I was active in Ardmore and lived in Lower Merion Township. He’s a very nice man with a nice family. Active in the community. Helpful. And he is a very peaceful person, so Ms. Kimco 2024 must have been something special for him to go buy body cam footage etc. (Lower Merion charges for the privilege and it’s more than the cost of a couple of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies.) Also if Ms. Kimco 2024 was recorded by him during their interaction, there is no expectation of privacy in a public space and that took place on a public sidewalk. I guess she gets that now?

Of course also as per Philadelphia Magazine, now Kimco seems to have issued a cover their ass statement. They will give them a booth but they have to fill out a form? Does everyone do this with Girl Scouts? I simply don’t know but honestly? Those people were hostile towards kids selling cookies? The hell with them. I feel utterly disgusted by this example of stupid human tricks.

Please note, I do not have a problem with Lower Merion Police Department here. I feel for the officers that had to deal with the Kimco people. Lower Merion Police Department did not cause this, Ms. Kimco Realty 2024 and apparently Starbucks did. And as for Kimco, their statement to Philadelphia Magazine IMHO is not an apology, and there should be one. That entire Girl Scout Troop in my humble opinion deserves an apology spa day in Suburban Square with lunch on Kimco as far as I am concerned. And Kimco can certainly afford it.

This just blows my mind completely. It’s mean. Again, no tables or booths, they were pulling a little red wagon. It doesn’t get cuter than that.

Support your local Girl Scouts and help these kids meet their cookie goals. And support your local coffee shop and let chain Starbucks sit. And maybe trade in Suburban Square for Main Street Ardmore which is always more user friendly.

Again, please support Girl Scouts selling Girl Scout Cookies. It’s as American as Apple Pie. Calling the police on little girls selling Girl Scout cookies is NOT.

And I will tell you that if you don’t wish to bring Girl Scout cookies into your own house because you don’t eat them or whatever you can buy them as a donation and the Girl Scout troops will give them to people who need a little extra treat in the community.

This opinion is brought to you by the First Amendment.

Thanks for stopping by.

glad you’re busy, just knitting socks all day myself.

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My friend and I were talking about the busy, busy, busy self important beavers in this world. You’ve met them. These are the women you interact with usually as a volunteer who have to tell you why they can’t do their part, want credit… but….WAIT FOR IT…they are “Soooooo busy!”

Sooo busy. They want you to know they are more valued in their role in the workforce than you are. They have VERY.IMPORTANT.JOBS. Their husbands are CAPTAINS.OF.INDUSTRY.

Have you met me? Personally I do not care. I judge people on how I find them not by what they earn and who they may or may not know, and I have discovered in my almost 60 years on this planet, I probably actually may know some of the people they claim to know, but I just keep my own counsel on that one. By all means, please, tell me how well you know someone who is a guest in my home sometimes. Do I sound like I am being snobby? I am not. It is, simply put, a dangerous game when you brag about whom you may or may not know.

Back to volunteering.

So you decide you wish to volunteer wherever because of whatever reason. The non-profit appeals to you, maybe. It’s a church or school you know or had kids at or family worship there. It’s an arts based non-profit that means something for some reason. It’s a little local non-profit that you know does good things. Whatever the case may be, you wish to volunteer. You sign up. You do your part. Then you are asked to take the lead in something. Co-chair or chair of something. Then the fun begins.

There you are eventually chairing something. You allocate time from the rest of your life. A committee forms. Then you ask people to pitch in. “But, I’m sooooo busy!”

Sigh there it is. They want their name on the committee list but work? Oh honey that is for other people.

I will fully admit I have slowed down over the last decade. I work for myself and have since breast cancer. I wasn’t sure all of those years ago I was ready to leave corporate America. But I drove my doctors crazy working through the surgery and treatment because I had no choice, I need to pay for my breast cancer surgery and treatment, right? So after treatment was concluded, one visit my care team sat me down. The cliff notes version was I either had to find another way to earn a living or I was at fairly high risk of recurrence because of stress. So I took like 10 steps back and started working for myself.

That was 12 years ago. It’s been an adjustment. I still do not really know how to relax but I try. I spent my whole life working and working hard. And I never used that as an excuse when volunteering somewhere. I made the time because I made the commitment. So it literally irritates the snot out of me to hear someone say they would but they are ‘Sooooo busy!” Gosh honey, I am knitting socks myself.

I never was the person who made fun of stay at home moms. Most have zero clue what goes into that average day. And then I learned more post breast cancer when I was home. Working from home and keeping house. That is honestly, busy. Not every day all day long but there are a lot of moving parts. I was really glad to say good bye to the car rider line for example. That was hell on earth.

But when you work from home and/or a stay at home mom you would be surprised at the people who do not value your time. The phone calls, text message, messages, emails. Why aren’t you instantly available? And if you try to reach some of these people for something, like a volunteer project, they are “just sooo busy!“

You know what else I have discovered? People make time for what is important to them and if they aren’t pulling their weight, find someone else.

You know what is related to above statement? Don’t let those people make you feel guilty with their “Just sooo busy” of it all. Guilt is wasted. And there will always be people who are “Just sooo busy” until they need something from you.

It’s like when people tell me they are “Just sooo busy” and they don’t have time, yet YOU are supposed to have time to listen to them whenever they deign to grace you with their presence. Real friends know life ebbs and flows, and if you are too busy one time for real, and they are too busy another time for real, we still find the time for the relationship.

I like to try to help people at times when I can. Not for any particular accolades or atta girls, but just because it’s the right thing to do. But there are some people you will pay it forward for who will never reciprocate towards you or anyone else. You still did whatever for them because it was the right thing to do, but then you learn to distance yourself. There are always going to be people with a hand out, you can decide whether or not you give them a hand up.

These people are related to the ones who tell you they are doing good things. That’s great, but they aren’t doing for the greater good necessarily, are they? I am still about the quiet doers, or the people who actually do the heavy lifting.

This goes hand in hand with a conversation I had with another friend who finds it frustrating how some friends always expect her to drop everything for them, yet those people never even ask them how it is going in her world. Or if you tell someone how you are doing, instead of listening and just being a friend there is criticism of what you should be doing and how they would never. Alrighty, maybe take a look at what you have done to your life before you dish THAT out to someone?

Women are and always will be strange creatures, even to the members of their own species. I know I am. I am actually OK with that for the most part. It’s a hard acceptance when you finally realize and accept that not everyone is going to get you and that is quite all right. And I have had my share of feeling dumped on, used, and criticized and put down…sometimes almost simultaneously by those who want something from you. And that is just personally. As a blogger, it’s worse.

As a blogger, some days it feels like everyone wants something. I have written before about the lack of boundaries in contact to me. And it’s never fun when I can’t do whatever mystical thing I should be able to do. Especially when someone writes to me and says “You should cover this!” and I ask “Why?” This of course is especially amusing when you know it is someone who doesn’t care for me, yet I am supposed to drop everything and say “Oh my gosh yes.”

I do say no. I had to learn that as a blogger and a regular person.

Help where you can, walk away without guilt when you cannot. And when someone tells you they are “Just sooooo busy!” might I suggest a reply of “Well I have just been knitting socks all day myself.” It will give you a giggle and that person won’t understand, and that’s fine.

Carry on and thanks for stopping by.

so what’s up with this restaurant and the emperor’s new clothes event?

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So I used to hit up Autograph Brasserie once in a while with my friends to have lunch in Wayne. It’s a pretty place, and if you’re visiting the shops where the restaurant is located, it’s one of the local options. I really liked this place for lunch, I have always been less enthusiastic about it for dinner. Mostly it’s the bored poseur factor and at lunch all customers seem treated more equally than dinner. I also don’t care about specialty cocktails, I am the occasional glass of wine. They did have decent mocktails last time I was there for lunch, however.

But it’s not a bad restaurant. I don’t want anyone to think that.

However, after seeing this on Instagram, I have to tell you they sound a little desperate.

I mean, honestly, why does this restaurant need a legend in his own mind to promote them? Is business that off?

No one much has commented on it save you know who and people who wonder WHY they are doing this (screenshots all below,)

Like I said, I don’t get it and what do they get out of this? This guy is not a native Main Liner from a known family with history, right? This guy isn’t actually famous, right? And is he actually an “influencer?” He’s a dude who self-brands as a public figure on social media but heck a house plant or pet could be one too, right?

So Autograph how is he compensated? Sorry not sorry but normal patrons, even occasional patrons like myself, are turned off by this. Ick factor and all. Now it actually doesn’t matter if I patronize them or not, but they should care enough that people question this whole set up, right?

I can spend $45 better than this. So dumb. Sign me not interested in buying the emperor new clothes.

This post is bought to you by the First Amendment and public social media posts.

sweet dreams, margery niblock

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The last thing of Margery’s I had framed this past fall of 2023.

I have written about Margery Niblock many times. I have even met people through my writing who also collected her work and knew her. Today I found out from my mother that she died on February 6th at her son Marc’s home in Bucks County. She was 86.

I sit here kind of sniffling, still not knowing what exactly to write and feeling quite sad and every one of my about to be 60 years.

I have so many memories of her.

Here is a photo from the Portland Police Department from her time in Maine:

Photo courtesy of Portland Maine Police Department Facebook

The Portland Police Department wrote a wonderful post about her on Facebook:

The Portland Police Department is saddened to announce the passing of Marge Niblock. Marge passed away on February 6, 2024, after a brief illness.

Marge was from Philadelphia, where she was an artist and court stenographer. In 1979, she ran for Sheriff of Philadelphia losing after garnering a solid 7,500 votes. While not earning the job, she made new lifelong friends, which she is best remembered for.

Marge came to Portland in 1989 and settled into her new home on Quebec Street on Munjoy Hill. She quickly made her way to the Portland Police Station to meet up with Chief Michael Chitwood, a friend from Philadelphia, and then proceeded to befriend all of us over the next 33 years.

Chief Chitwood had her sit on dozens of promotional panels and citizen groups during his tenure. She continued to be a sounding board for every chief that followed. Chief Sauschuck made her an official member of the department when he convinced her to run for Civil Service Commissioner. After her appointment, she sat on almost every interview panel for police officer candidates during her terms as a commissioner.

Marge also served as the crime reporter for the West End News. Marge would often be seen driving through the city in the Flame Mobile, looking for her next scoop. Most of her crime reporting was filled with questions, because Marge liked to understand why the crime was committed or why a certain victim was targeted. Her stories were filled with whimsical observations and often featured animals. Marge was more interested in the wayward opossum walking across the Million Dollar Bridge than a murder arrest. When a circus performer had their car broken into and his costume (including the bright red nose and colorful socks) stolen, her story questioned if the thief would use the stolen items or just discard them.

Several of us were fortunate to be on her Christmas card list, which would be a scratchboard print, usually with an animal theme, and always delivered in person. The lucky ones of us could convince her to do a scratchboard of our homes. The process included a long visit to take photographs. Only a few of us received a wood carving for our desks.

She was an incredible person with a huge heart. She would walk through any neighborhood in Portland, and someone would know her, or she would stop and talk with someone she had never met before.

In November of 2022, several of us saw Marge for the last time at the Portland International Jetport when she returned to Philadelphia to stay with her other family. She told all of us, “I’ll be back.”

We will miss her.

Here is Marge’s blog page with many of her stories: https://margeniblog.typepad.com/margery_niblock

I have memories of Margery lasting a lifetime. I loved her from the time I was a little girl. She was one of my parents’ friends who fed my imagination and love of art. She taught me and many other kids at St. Peter’s wood block and linoleum (and I still have a scar on my right arm to prove it) . She was my friend and a family friend. Her art will live forever on my walls. But I will really miss talking to her once in a while.

Even when I was a kid, Marge didn’t treat me like a kid. I remember her prints hanging on clothes lines at the Headhouse Craft Fair that she started along with my mother and others. I remember the giant Great Dane who I think was called Tiger (or that is just some random memory having to do with it’s brindle coat), and the little mutt thing named Fang (I swear I think that was the name.)

Other funny memories include being at their house when the Great Dane decided to nap underneath the coffee table in the living room. Then it stood up, taking a table full of cheese and stuff with it…until that all hit the floor.

I also have a memory of some dinner over at the Niblocks when Marge was making a leg of lamb. It was Dijon mustard encrusted. Maybe it was a Julia Child recipe?

And the art. So many memories of the art she created, including what she created for Unicef.

I remember when she moved to Maine. And then for a while she made the most beautiful jewelry out of silver and beach glass from Maine. They sold it at the Independence Seaport Museum. There is a necklace she made for sale on eBay now actually. I still wear my jewelry she made once in a while.

I remember a few years ago when she told me she wasn’t making any more art and wasn’t going to bother with her computer and that I could just keep calling. And call and talk to her I did until one day she stopped answering the phone in Maine. That was how I found out she had moved back to Pennsylvania.

Marge was incredibly bright and I loved speaking with her. Miles and years would just melt away. She was just a wonderful woman. I knew she was slowing down, and that is why she came back from Maine to be with her son. But life being life, I didn’t get to see her again after she arrived back in Pennsylvania in 2022. I wanted to, but I did not want to intrude on Marc and his wife.

So dear Margery, you and yet another piece of my growing up years are now completely my memories. But I will keep you in my heart and memories, and aren’t I lucky to have some of your art live with me.

Thanks for being one of the cool grown-ups in my life. We will all miss you and your infectious laugh still tinted with a New York accent after all of these years.

Fly with the angels.

love is a flower and you have sown the seed
art makes me happy
buy art that makes you happy
unexpected memories of childhood past
it’s a pear thing

brickette lounge can do better for the sake of their neighbors….and patrons.

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People are going to think I am picking on a local business just because. I am not. This is a question of public safety, and how neighbors are being treated.

A post on NextDoor caught my eye, and it wasn’t the first post I had seen about problems living near the new Brickette Lounge on Historic/Old Route 100:

I just have to say this…I live near the Brickette, I am very proud of locally owned businesses. However tonight as many other nights the patrons of the place parked directly on Pottstown Pike right in front of the business as well as on Kirkland and other streets close to the bar. I am aware of this situation as it happens often so when I see it I know to be careful turning from Pottstown Pike onto Kirkland & vise versa. This is an issue that needs to be addressed due to the fact as I was turning onto Kirkland tonight and traveling up the street, another vehicle coming in the opposite direction almost hit me head on as with cars parked on the side of the road it leaves the road very narrow there is no way to move over. Thank god the other vehicle saw me at the last moment, came to a stop and we both drove away safe but these patrons parking causing hazards must stop! Some of my neighbors have even found people passed out or eating McDonalds on their front lawn in the middle of the night! The police have been notified on several occasions but nothing has been done to stop this very dangerous situation. Can anyone point me in the right direction of who within the township I can express my concerns to. Thank you in advance.

This is not the first time since they reopened, that I’ve heard these complaints. You see these posts go up in places, and then they come down. Yet the problems seem to persist.

I have no problems with live music, I have no problems with line dancing, but I do have problems when patrons of a bar and seemingly the actual establishment don’t respect the neighborhood in which the bar sits. And whether these patrons and/ or the establishment like it or not, this establishment has residential around it, and they need to be treated with respect.

Kirkland Avenue is its own small neighborhood. And if you’ve ever been on it, it’s a fairly narrow road. It runs between West King and Old Pottstown Pike.

That street is not an extension of a parking lot. And I could tell you honestly without batting an eye if I found bar patrons on my front lawn eating McDonald’s when a bar closed, I would turn a garden hose on them.

The Brickette is owned by a company that owns lots of local watering holes. (See https://www.3westhospitality.com/venues )

3 West Hospitality describes themselves as:

3 West Hospitality is a growing restaurant operations and management group that is focused on high-quality concepts and staff development based out of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

I know West Whiteland is trying to deal with this. They are in the process of ordering no parking signs but they are advertising for the signs and no parking on Old Pottstown Pike and Kirkland Ave, etc. and that takes time.

The company which owns the Brickette could do better, but are they in fact being a little hands off? I mean they should want to be a good neighbor, right? The old Brickette Lounge didn’t do this. They never had to deal with parking problems. They weren’t crappy to neighbors.

Last week the Chair of the West Whiteland Supervisors, Brian Dunn, went out on Monday evening at the request of residents to check out how busy the Brickette is on Mondays. You see they do line dancing Mondays and Wednesday. Well he almost got hit coming out on Old Pottstown Pike/ Old Route 100 because of ALL of the people parking on Old Route 100/Pottstown Pike!

People were really excited when it was announced that the Brickette was being saved. Michael Klein reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2022:

Again, I am really glad that this place is doing so well again. It looked so dismal for the last few years of its prior existence. However, there are neighbors to be considered, and there are safety issues.

The owners of this place should be looking for solutions. Success is a great thing to have, but if you can’t fit all your patrons on your footprint, then you have to look to safely solve the problem. People parking on Old Route 100/Pottstown Pike is not safely solving any problems it’s basically Mae West’s famous quote “Hello, Suckers” because it’s only a question of when someone gets hit leaving this bar for parking there, not if, right?

3 West Hospitality and the Brickette could make the line dancing nights or whatever an Eventbrite event. That way when they sold out enough tickets that covered the spaces in the parking lot, they were done for the night on that event. They could rent a shuttle bus and offer shuttle service.

Brickette Lounge has expenses they have to meet for sure, but they also have a responsibility towards the community they exist in. They also have a responsibility towards their guests. And by not stressing things like don’t park on the road in front of the bar, they put patrons at risk, don’t they? Are profits worth more than lives?

Maybe Brickette Lounge doesn’t give a damn about these issues, but they should, shouldn’t they?

It’s that simple.

Be better, Brickette Lounge. Please.

trash talk 2024: a.j. blosenski continues to fail customers!

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Well Waste Connections still can’t get a handle on A.J. Blosenski. A.J. Blosenski has gotten so bad, they make Whitetail Disposal look good, and in my opinion that is saying something.

East Whiteland cited them for not picking up trash. Recently District Justice Lauren Holt kind of “disposed of it”, while it looks like in East Pikeland, District Justice John Hipple agreed with East Pikeland, and A.J. Blosenski pled guilty. Here is a selection of things I found having to do with A.J, Blosenski: That was only Chester County, and not including civil dockets searches. I saw things in Berks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties as well.

AJB-in-the-court-systemDownload

Municipality after municipality is frustrated with A.J. Blosenski / Waste Connections. So are residents. Many residents and municipalities feel stuck because in some cases, like West Whiteland Township, they are the sole trash and refuse company and stuck in contracts. Maybe it’s time to break contracts since they aren’t doing what they are contracted to do?

So I don’t know what gives with A.J. Blosenski. We switched to Opdenaker in the fall and they have been like clockwork. Maybe it is time for the PA Governor or Attorney General to get involved?

Trash talk over.

Thanks for stopping by.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/te/trash-hauler-cited-east-whiteland-township

https://www.waste360.com/junk-haulers/pa-representative-calls-for-action-against-trash-collector-missing-routes

https://aj-blosenski.pissedconsumer.com/review.html

https://6abc.com/aj-blosenski-trash-complaints-help-chester-lehigh-county-pa-representative-joe-ciresi/13685992

lampshades

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Lampshades. Yes, lampshades. A very important detail in my opinion, just like choosing the right lamp.

Above is one of my favorite lamps. My husband can actually take it or leave it but I love it. I actually bought it for $30 without the shade, but newly rewired at the very first clover market ever a bunch of years ago and it was rewired.

This lamp is actually from 1935 and you can find an example of it online in the West Virginia Museum of American Glass:

Idealite, Inc., electric lamp base. Clear. Blown pattern incorporates stars, swags and tassels. Embossed under the base: “PAT. NO. 95524.” Possibly made by L. E. Smith Glass Company.

No, I don’t think my lamp is particularly valuable, I just like it and I think it’s cool that I was able to rewire it because I think it’s better looking than a lot of lamps I see today. Like many other details in a home, sometimes a rewired and modernized lamp is awesome.

I have actually used three or four different shades on this one lamp. I had not been thrilled with the one I had on the lamp most recently . It was almost right but not quite. Maybe it’s a woman thing and it’s kind of like not exactly having the right pair of shoes to go with an outfit or purse. It just has to be right.

So I was looking at a Facebook memory of a lampshade with pine cones and chickadees I bought from a woman in Maine who makes the most wonderful lampshades. Her name is Barbara Gail Lewis. Her business is found on Etsy and is called Barbara Gail’s Lamps.

Barbara is really an artist. And this lamp shade is so fun. I hunted for years a few years ago to find someone that made these pierced and cut and hand colored shades. I think it’s a real art form, and there used to be this lovely lady up in Adamstown, PA at Black Angus Antiques back in the day who made them, but I think she’s long since retired and the last time I went up there no one did lampshades like this.

To an extent, these handcrafted shades are an anachronism to modern designers. And they’re not in general “fashion” for home design and that’s fine. I don’t need to be trendy I just know what I like. And I have liked these lampshades since I was a kid because my mother has some, some of my friends’ mothers had them and grandparents had them. It’s kind of like a handmade patchwork quilt and to me it gives a sense of home.

So when I first bought the shade with the pine cones and the chickadees, I bought the wrong size. Because if you don’t learn how to measure properly for a lampshade, you’re screwed. From another business I buy lampshades from, Lamps Plus, here is a little video explaining how to measure for a new lampshade:

Anyway, I bought this lampshade originally for an old stoneware jug my mother had made into a lamp years ago. But the first lampshade I bought I didn’t measure correctly, and I needed a slightly larger one. So I hung onto the smaller shade and I’m glad I did because all of a sudden today I realized it would be perfect on this clear glass lamp.

I love these pierced and hand cut lamp shades. Sometimes they are just cut and other times they are multi dimensional and also hand colored like the ones that I have that are the chickadees and the pinecones. During the day when your lamp is off, it just looks like a pierced and cut lampshade. Here is another one I have for a converted oil lamp, another favorite lamp style of mine:

So I really do like converted oil lamps lamps. But I only convert lamps that have cracked collars or can’t be used as an oil lamp. I remember when Martha Stewart had converting oil lamps on her early TV series and in her magazine . Literally season 2 of the original series in 1995. It made finding antique oil lamps a very expensive proposition when they had been very reasonable in price. And then everywhere you turned, you had people turning usable oil lamps into electric lamps badly.

It was one of the Martha crazes back then I didn’t really like. As a matter of fact, it made me dislike her series and magazine, because half of the things I liked, she liked as well, and then she made a cost prohibitive for the rest of us. Yes, I know it’s the whole literal theory of supply and demand. Martha Stewart has always been good at supply and demand, and actually a lot of what many of us find sentimental.

So for years, I couldn’t either find oil lamps I wanted to use with liquid paraffin in them, or that were slightly damaged to convert to a regular lamp. You see I don’t believe in converting the ones that work in their original capacity to electricity. But everything is cyclical even in home decor, and now you can find some really great lamps and still get the shades made.

The lamp above is a great example. Over 12 years I found that brass lamp at the East Goshen Yard Sale when you used to go to peoples driveways and not to the township building or the park. It was from a farm on Hershey’s Mill Road set up off the road where I think it’s slated for some kind of residential development at this point, sadly. Or it was presented as such a couple of years ago. I wrote about the house:

nasty subdivision potential in east goshen? file under another chesco farm about to bite the dust?

Now I paid $12 for the lamp. The brass was In wonderful condition but it was unusable as an oil lamp due to a crack in the collar and a little one at the bottom. So it would make a perfect table lamp. I took it to Home Lighting of Frazer. They did a great job wiring the lamp, but they were super slow and really expensive. Because I spent so much on the wiring I had to hunt to find a reasonably priced vintage shade because I didn’t think a new shade would work for this lamp. I found one on eBay and it was hard sided and it’s historical buildings I believe of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Vintage lampshades can be the bomb. Usually they are, like lots of things, better made. I find them all over locally. Dishfunctional, Surrey Consignment Shop, St. David’s Fair, Frazer Antiques, Clover Market, estate sales and even Goodwill. Also eBay and Etsy. And sometimes even the Smithfield Barn.

For handmade shades there is also the Lampshade Lady on Etsy and LJs Florals and Shades.

There are other lampshade creators I occasionally see at craft shows, but none that I can find regularly. One was Shady Lady Lampshades.

Anyway enough waxing poetic on lampshades. But the right one can really change the look of a room and a lamp.