And that’s a wrap until next year! Another amazing holiday house tour from Surrey Services for Seniors
I am an in kind and regular sponsor which I am just mentioning so you know WHY I do the photos and that they are done as a volunteer. (Otherwise you’re not allowed to take pictures inside people‘s homes obviously.)
This year, the houses were so beautifully and perfectly festive!!! I have to say the homeowners knocked themselves out for all of us and it was much appreciated!
I loved all the homes and will be going through photos over the next couple of days, but I will be sharing a little video with you guys below so you can get a flavor for the tour and the shops afterwards, which were also so much fun!
I do have to say my favorite house was on Poplar Avenue in North Wayne. I love that section of Wayne. It is so historic and just being in the neighborhoods there makes you happy because mostly everyone decorates.
If you would like to give a Christmas donation to Surrey, which does so much for people follow this link:
So I think this is Tredyffrin Township and this is Stormwater funkadelic. The pipe drains to the public sidewalk. As ONTO the sidewalk along Lancaster Avenue – talk about a winter hazard for pedestrians especially, right?
This is the strip shopping center at 41 E Lancaster Avenue in Paoli where Our Deli etc is.
And no, I was not driving when I took this picture. I was a passenger in a car.
So whichever municipality this is they need to deal with this. It’s a fall hazard for pedestrians and this is going right out onto the road which causes another potential hazard trying to keep the road clear during winter icing events.
We all know the roads aren’t going to be perfect in the winter but something like this dripping over time in freezing weather could just be big enough to cause an accident. I mean, let’s face it. It’s problematic enough getting out of this weird little strip mall.
Developer Eli Kahn at 12/1/25 Tredyffrin Supervisors Meeting
So this is an interesting one at the end of the supervisors’ meeting last evening, Tredyffrin Township’s bumbling and inefficient zoning officer (I am entitled to my opinion and I’m being understated because I don’t understand why she has a job, but I digress) pops up rather nervously to announce to the supervisors that are developer was there with essentially a problem.
What was the problem? Something to do with the sewer and how his workforce housing project was essentially being potentially charged too much if it goes forward the way it is for sewer capacity they’re not going to use, right?
Here is the recording of that portion of the meeting:
I don’t understand how it was just sort of popped on the agenda like this do you? I’m not saying he shouldn’t be heard because he should be heard, and this is a developer whose projects I am not generally speaking fond of, but when you listen to this meeting snippet, do you really think he’s wrong? I actually don’t. (Shocker, right?)
This project was introduced at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025:
So this is a trend we’ve seen being proposed in other municipalities and not just by this developer. It’s all about redeveloping these old commercial properties and these office buildings that have become obsolete whales and making them into living units, and in some cases, schools?
So I have to ask are we potentially replacing one problem with another problem? To be clear l, I’m not saying I’m against workforce housing if it actually happens. But I also look at these plans for this housing and so many of the units are these little itty-bitty things so what about workforce housing for families?
But I’m not going off on that tangent today that’s just something I think about. We definitely need affordable housing for all stages of life, but do we really need more apartments? I keep asking that question.
So the reason Eli Kahn went to Tredyffrin has to do with sewer. And sewer capacity and what he is paying for. It’s an interesting conversation. Listen to the video. So he’s telling the supervisors that they have problems in their sewer fee structures I guess? Basically he’s saying it’s not a one-size-fits-all?
I find it interesting, just like I find it. Interesting how it all kind of got plopped at the end of this meeting.
What is it with sewer fees and sewer capacity and municipalities out here so you have the thing that West Goshen Sunshine uncovered that’s on her Facebook page about fees paying health insurance bills of supervisors?
And then, of course, we have West Whiteland Township, trying to do the right thing for residents being sued by the Exton Mall developer and why? If there isn’t really sewer capacity, how should they be able to build as much? I don’t understand. it’s not like that’s the only problem on that site is there? Not enough parking correct? Too many houses for the area because of the density already existing correct?
Around 6:30 AM this morning, Casella Waste Systems showed up to pick up residential garbage in a residential neighborhood. They are the successor to Whitetail and pretty much are just as bad as per the reviews.
6:30 AM is too early in a residential area. Noise ordinances exist for a reason.
Of course because I posted this on Facebook the great unwashed had to roll up and say I was being mean to trashmen. Duh, the guys driving the trucks don’t set the schedule. That’s why I didn’t call the police which municipalities say to do. (I also don’t believe that it is the role of police departments to babysit trash trucks who get their orders from the corporate offices.)
So the comments I am sharing are representative of the dumb dumb chorus and posted publicly.
One of my favorite comments is from a woman who posted a public photo on her Facebook page that I found very amusing for the tacky factor.
I am not being mean to the working man. Also my trash hauler NEVER does this holidays or not. And FYI my neighbors who use this company don’t particularly care to be woken up too early.
And again, the drivers don’t set the schedule, the offices do. So that is where I take my complaint. TO THE OFFICE.
Enjoy the obnoxious comments received before removing them and their authors.
The great unwashed and ignorant on social media are after all, national treasures!
I am always curious when things seem odd, aren’t you?
I will admit I have always been a little curious about East Pikeland because it always seems a little off, doesn’t it? Is it as simple as too many crystals and soy based candles or something?
And then there’s the Kimberton Fire Company, which is like part of the heartbeat of that community, isn’t it? so the first question is why is somebody suing the fire company?
For real:
So then I have to ask is why is the Kimberton fire chief trying to I don’t exactly know do what to a 41-year-old widow with three kids? I mean, I have to ask do we really think a 41 year-old widow with three kids is a threat to the Kimberton fire chief?
And why am I allowed to ask that question? Is it simply because there is a public criminal complaint and a publicly posted court docket?
And is this how residents who speak out in this municipality are treated? Is it just me or is this kind of twisted?
So yeah, that’s all I’ve got. And my questions and my opinions are brought to me by the First Amendment. And why I’m asking is posted below in screenshots.
She is being represented by Samuel C. Stretton, Esq. of West Chester.
So guess what? My husband‘s provisional ballot is one of the ones that apparently does not count.
I have covered up the number of his ballot for privacy sake for the screenshot above, but I can tell you I am still checking it and his vote is nowhere to be found.
NOWHERE. It’s like it didn’t exist, like he didn’t exist as an Independent on Election Day. It is like they ate his provisional ballot.
Am I surprised? Nope.
Of course, you also can’t get anybody on the phone in voter services let alone the esteemed director who has been invisible since the election day debacle. If it’s not a fluffy, self-aggrandizing media interview, she’s invisible and to date, unapologetic so whom is she in the process of blaming?
So this is kind of why litigation is being filed, isn’t it?
Here’s the link to the county’s bogus press release:
I personally don’t have faith in voter services at this point. And Karen Barsoum the department head and she needs to go.
She can’t hide behind the county commissioner she hides behind, which is Josh Maxwell. I think he’s trying to be kind and be fair because that’s totally the way he is, but Barsoum is doing Josh Maxwell a great disservice. IMHO she is damaging his political credibility.
I do not blame Josh Maxwell for this, but I so do blame Karen Barsoum.
Yeah….so Villanova held a meeting with neighbors over at Cabrini. I actually am glad they did it, except listen to a snippet of the presentation and I have to ask if this Villanova official has ever visited Villa Blue Tarp in Mount Pleasant?
This neighborhood is mostly Chester County/Tredyffrin, but a part of it is also Upper Merion/Montgomery County. The Tredyfrin part of it has some seriously ridiculous off campus party pits. Forget about are the houses safe for the students to live in, will the neighbors ever have peace? The lady speaking at Cabrini I’m sure has the best of intentions, but she has zero clue or doesn’t want to have a clue of what actually goes on in off campus party pits in Mount Pleasant, which is close Cabrini.
Neighbors also reported the following who were at the meeting:
FYI Traffic is going to be awful when Villanova opens the Cabrini campus next year!!!
Villanova says they have purchased six large buses. Shuttle service will leave Cabrini campus every 5-10 minutes 6:30 AM to 10:30 PM.
400 on campus student vehicles. 600 staff and commuter vehicles. Who knows how many Ubers and Doordash type vehicles, right?
That’s a lot, isn’t it?
They are permitted on campus at any time. The King of Prussia and Eagle Road entrances will close at 10:30 PM and reopen at 6:30 AM.
All traffic during this time will enter and exit on Upper Gulph.
I am very glad I don’t live near there. And with Villanova going to Cabrini and Valley Forge Military failing, and who knows what’s happening to that land, how will Radnor and Tredyffrin be protecting their residents through this?
I am glad that Cabrini is not going to be a giant parcel for residential McMansion development, but all the same, Villanova doesn’t have a good track record with their off-campus students, so what’s it going to be like over there?
Also to be considered is the practicality of the traffic implications on a lot of these roads, which are overtaxed and overburdened already.
Buckle up residents, you can hope this will all go smoothly, but I predict a lot of bumps in the road.
And speaking of Villanova, what are they doing with their main campus area property (or properties?) that back up to Aldwyn Lane? And doesn’t the university own properties on Aldwyn Lane? Is Radnor protecting their residents over there or ignoring them?
This is going to be interesting for sure, right? It’s their own version of Happy Valley without the great ice cream right?
So my neighbors through our woods and behind us ended up with chicks that weren’t properly sexed and yes, the end result was a rooster surprise.
And it’s not like they wanted him, but today they found a farm further out in the county that had room for a young rooster. this rooster had been making all of us laugh because it was just so crazy.
Mr. Rooster had a crow that sounded broken. And he started his day often between 3:30 AM and 3:45 AM.
His owners, as opposed to someone who shall remain nameless in Willistown, have been actively looking to find him a new home on a farm further out. As in a place 10 acres plus.
So today was moving day for Mr. Rooster and he was not having any of it. He liked his suburban subdivision street and his cushy coop. Now, granted, if the lots were just bigger, roosters are good for a flock. I know that. But the street behind me is basically 1 acre lots.
We actually didn’t hear him through the woods until the leaves came off of the trees. But our neighbors are super nice, and we have all. had quite a few giggles about this rooster trying to rehome him. Of course they have small children so a lot of the times it wasn’t funny for the littles.
We were outside today doing gardening chores, and as I had taken a break from planting bulbs to throw some pine straw mulch down, I saw a rooster darting through the woods.
So my husband and I came to our neighbors assistance and it took four adults to wrangle a rooster.
Mr. Rooster thought he could escape us by squeezing through the fence of our other neighbor’s pool enclosure. But he was so indignant about being chased that once he got in there, he had puffed his feathers up so much he couldn’t get out so we were able to keep him corralled until they could get him in a transport box that rescues use for things like cats or small dogs so it was big enough.
As of now, he is settling in to his new home. Hopefully he behaves he wasn’t a mean rooster. He just was loud and his alarm clock was definitely broken.
But I have to admit I laughed so hard my sides were aching afterwards since it was just funny chasing a rooster. And when he ran into our woods and realized there were other humans standing there, he literally had the bird equivalent of an “oh crap” look on his face.
Anyway, you can now add wrangling a rooster to my repertoire.
