Tag Archives: fun

a face for radio?

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Life is about trying new things isn’t it? So today I did something different. I was a guest for a few minutes on my friend Barry’s WCHE Show “All Politics are Local.” It airs Friday from 11 AM to high noon.

WCHE Home

Now a lot of people know Barry from various things, including great balloon rides and West Vincent Township. But what people don’t realize is that for many years he was on the radio. So he and WCHE have gotten together and he’s got this new show.

He has had many interesting guests so far, and one of the things I am most amused about are the elected officials of both political persuasions and candidates who ghost him or hide because he has offered them time to come on the air, and not have gotcha moments, but talk about what they’re about and what they’ve done.

Today they also had Neil Young the latest history teacher in Chester County running for office. He is running against Chrissy Houlahan for the 6th District Congressional seat. I was laughing because he came on after my segment, and he remarked that I think I was like the first thing his family saw when he announced he was running. I may have been giggling and posted a comparison to Pee Wee Herman’s haircut, and his because his old haircut did look like he borrowed it from Pee Wee Herman. And he has an Alex P. Keaton working on his campaign, but I’m guessing that the party machine has probably lessened the role of that high school kid who was his campaign manager. And I’m not saying Alex P Keaton because the kid was annoying or anything it’s because that’s what I immediately thought of was the television character Alex P. Keaton from “Family Ties” which was an awesome sitcom- and those who know me know that I don’t really watch sitcoms.

Now I’m still going to say I don’t think he’s my guy, but I applaud him for going on the air and talking about what he thinks and helping people get to know him. He was also very well spoken, which is a thing with me because Barry had a guest on earlier in the week who kept dropping her G’s and it makes you want to hit them between the shoulder blades.

Neil also spoke about the situation in Great Valley Middle School, where he is a history teacher. As he said in a recent media interview:

“There is nothing more dangerous than not holding children accountable,” said Neil Young, a middle school teacher who was the victim of a fake TikTok account created by his students….

“This is not funny,” was Young’s first thought when he found out about the post. He could not understand why students would do this to him or to the other teachers who were targeted. “These are great teachers.”

According to Young, the district’s administrative office (not the administration at the school) initially said that they would take care of the problem, but he was unsatisfied with their response….

A teacher and coach for twenty-two years, Young understands that middle school students are impulsive and make mistakes; yet he has witnessed a change in their demeanor over the years. “We have empowered children which is a good thing, but the pendulum has swung too far.” 

Students are “careless in the way they use technology and have no understanding of the reach they have via social media. When they make mistakes, they are not apologetic and they employ a mantra of ‘I have rights.’”

He pointed out the difference between what I had said, and what those students did, which I think is important. Because every day I have somebody telling me I am a horrible human being, etc. etc. but there’s a big difference between being a blogger and what these middle school students have done.

He also announced on the air that he has a new stylist and a new hair cut so I am glad. His former style is like the some of the other hairstyles on men that I just don’t get. Especially if they have good hair. And there is a thing called too much styling product. And in general, regardless of what side of the aisle you are on sometimes the hairstyles they give candidates, male or female, are horrible. Especially with the women because they look very Stepford wifey.

Anyway, enough about that. Barry and I talked about the new legislation. I blogged about last night protecting residents against SLAPP suits.

pa is slapping the slapp and it’s about damn time.

Barry and I had a great time talking for a few minutes, and it was fun. Maybe we’ll even do it again, who knows? All I know is I’m really glad he didn’t say I had a face for radio because I might have to hang up on him then 🤣

The ability for any of us to discuss local things going on in various communities is very important. And basically today’s local media has been disemboweled. so many news outlets are dead. In our local communities, we really depended upon our local newspapers, and so many have shuttered themselves and gone out of business, or been acquired by things like hedge funds, who don’t give a crap about what goes on in our communities.

It’s really very sad. And you know Barry was nice enough to point out that I am a blogger so I am opinion based.

We’ll see what the feedback is. Because we all know there are so many people every day of the year who love to hate me and I still scratch my head at that one. First of all, they don’t know me, and second of all read something else. But when the haters gonna hate, then you must be doing something right is the other train of thought isn’t it?

Today’s will be up on a podcast soon. I encourage people dealing with issues in their communities to contact Barry and WCHE and see if they’d be a fit for his show. This really is about what is happening locally and it’s the stuff that you know politicians don’t want to get out there.

And face it here in Chester County. There are so many meetings that still aren’t recorded from municipality to municipality, and if they are, the recordings aren’t kept this show is your chance to let the sunshine into your community.

And I think I will sign off with a little thing to think about in West Whiteland, and it’s not about the Brickette.

I am seriously wondering if the newest member of the West Whiteland Board of Supervisors has fallen and hit her head or something?

Apparently there was a Democratic Committee Meeting last night and she had off-topic verbal diarrhea? Should she actually be an elected official? Look, I know I’m not suited for that life and I don’t think she is either and I can have that opinion. Maybe #Resign Fridays should be resurrected? And recall elections take what to happen? Is it something like 2/3 of the plurality of a municipality?

I thought she was a bad choice for a supervisor all along, and I’ve never not said that. But I have been watching since she has been sworn in and she doesn’t seem to get how to do her job. And politics and being a politician is for sure not for everyone. But you don’t see her at public events much do you? But when you do hear things about her it’s usually for what she’s saying that she probably should not be saying including in public meetings. I’m not talking about anything secret squirrel as I have no knowledge of that. And we leave secret squirrel/ squirrel time to West Goshen, anyway.

For example, this elected official has done things at public meetings where she has basically said a valued member of the community shouldn’t be opining on something when what they are opining on is a direct correlation to what their professional background is, so who is she to judge? I am (again) talking about what you can see which makes you wonder about what you can’t see and what you’re not hearing about doesn’t it? I find that troubling.

Now I know this politician doesn’t like me. She will, of course deny this, but she forgets that I actually know politicians don’t like critics and that’s a given but I don’t think she’s cut out to be a politician so I do think she should resign. She only got elected in the first place, because the then incumbent was being primaried and knew she wouldn’t survive.

Also, from a practical standpoint, she’s very uncomfortable with interacting with people. Stiff as a board as one of my grandfathers would have said.

Anyway, I had fun today so thank you Barry and WCHE!

Happy Friday people.

oh st.david’s fair!!! (50% off tomorrow 10 am – 2 pm!)

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If you missed the Saint Davids Fair today, you have a second chance tomorrow!

50% off tomorrow! Open to the public.

10 AM -2 PM. 763 S. Valley Forge Road Wayne, PA 19087 🐿️

This fair is a little slice of heaven. It is a throwback to simpler and nicer times, and a reminder of what can be. There are books, fabulous second hand Rose clothes for men and women, housewares, flea market, you name it.

There is also a big furniture tent and tomorrow everything is 50% off and it’s cash or card. I suggest bringing cash because the Internet is spotty over there and some parts of the property there’s no reception.

This fair benefits the church and their various mission and other charitable projects.

making stained glass….in class!

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Recently I unplugged and took time for myself. I wanted to try something artistic I had not done before, so I took a stained glass class. It was so much fun!

I had learned about the class from a stained glass artist who has studio space in Gallery 222 in Malvern. Her name is Jill Huentelman and her business is Huentelglas. I actually know her a bit and one of her stained glass Christmas ornaments has hung on my Christmas tree a few years.

I love stained glass. I have since I was in elementary school and we took a field trip to a glass blowing and stained glass place. I wish I could remember where it was. I bought a pear stained glass light catcher that I still have today. I have light catchers all over. A bunch from my childhood that my mother gave me, some I found, and a bluebird that belonged to a mother of a friend once upon a time.

Before we started to work on what I was going to create, I learned about a bit of the history of stained glass. Then in with the history came to safety aspects of how to behave in the studio, and how to act around the glass for lack of a better description. Jill is a wonderful instructor and I loved every minute of my time in her studio.

So in the end, I decided I wanted to make a bird instead of a pear. Jill will choose a pear with people to make because that way it is a simple design and not extraordinarily complicated for the first time working with glass like this.

I drew my pattern. Next came choosing the glass.

Jill has so much glass and it’s so cool. There’s plain glass and glass that has pattern and almost texture to the top of it. The glass I chose was reminiscent to me of slag glass I have seen in church windows in Chester County.

Wow, I was learning to cut glass for stained glass! First, I learned how to cut straight lines. Then I learned how to cut curves, and then I was ready to cut out my pattern. It was fun! (And nerve wracking because I didn’t want to make a mistake!)

After I cut out my glass, we did the grinding to smooth any sharp edges and make the design look more like what I wanted. After it was cut out and ground, it got a quick wash off.

Next comes this copper foil. Wound and worked around the edges and rubbed smooth with a special stick which has a name- I think it’s a burnisher, but I think it also has other names.

Next comes the soldering. And soldering involves this stuff that looks like dark Vaseline called “flux.” It makes the soldering stick.

After the soldering and the gluing of the bird’s little eye came another bath and rubbing it down and shining it up with a finishing compound. It keeps the soldering silver and made the glass shine more. It’s a shine and buff.

My class was actually a few hours long and it flew by so quickly it seemed like it was half an hour.

The classes are reasonably priced. You can find everything on her website. The price of the class includes all your materials and there is also a waiver to sign before you enter the studio. Another thing that I should’ve mentioned before is that at various times during this creative process, you rinse your hands off with a special soap that pulls metal and things out of your skin because we’re touching things that contain metals like lead.

It was SO much fun and I think my bird turned out great! So far the classes are just a one off, but if Jill did a series, I would totally sign up! If I took another class, I would like to learn how to make those cool stakes that you can put in your flower pots.

Also, while I was there, I got to see what was hanging on the walls of Gallery 222 in Malvern, which is such an awesome place.

Having art in your life, and the ability for creative outlet is something I’ve always found to be important. Much like gardening, it’s just good for your head and soul.

Thanks for stopping by!

the envelope full of old recipes

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A friend is working on a local treasures booth for an upcoming fall fair. In the middle of a box of things being priced, was this ratty envelope full of recipes. Mostly cut out of The Washington Post. A few were handwritten.

The fair ladies didn’t know what to do with the envelope, so she gave them to me. I scanned them mostly into a PDF which I will upload at the end of this post, for all to enjoy.

The personal collections of recipes are often a fun culinary history of trends years ago, combined with what people hung onto. I did not keep all of the recipes because well…the endless gelatin molds of all sorts of combinations of foods is not my jam.

There are some great recipes in the pile and quirky things like how to make mint julips.

Enjoy!

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another mini-tree!

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No, you are not going to have to do a Christmas decorating intervention, this is one of the trees I decorated the other day. I was just looking at it and thought it was so cute I wanted to share it with you!!

This tree is pretty much entirely made up of things that came from the Smithfield Barn, including the primitive doll cradle that the trees is nestled in! A few of the ornaments came from other places, but the majority of what is on the tree came out of the barn this year.

I hear Victorian Christmas is continuing in the borough of Malvern so go check it out if you’re around!

Happy Saturday all!

so I made a wreath…

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It’s December! Christmas decorations can make their 2013 Christmas season debut!

I made a wreath yesterday.

Including the wreath form it cost me $6.51.

How?

Gently used and vintage Christmas decorations is how.

Yesterday I made a stop at Resellers Consignment Gallery on Route 30 in Frazer. In the front of the store as you walk in there is a jumble of gently and not so gently used Christmas decorations . These decorations include ornaments, ribbon, pinecones, wreath fixings, you name it. You have to dig through, and I hope you’ll dig gently if you go, so you don’t break things for the next person.

Hanging up throughout the store you will notice, much as is the case at places like the Smithfield Barn in Downingtown, there are also artificial Christmas wreaths galore. The wreath I found (plain and unadorned) was 25% off, and if you’re in the market for an artificial tree, they are loaded with them at Resellers – big trees, not the table-top variety.

Everything that went on my wreath except for the florist wire, came from Resellers yesterday. And yes, everything cost me $6.51. I also believe that I could make a wreath for just about the same amount if not less from fixings at the Smithfield Barn.

My point is simple: you can decorate for Christmas on a budget. There are enough people in this world that jettison Christmas decorations on a regular basis, that if you look at places like Resellers, Smithfield barn, thrift shops, church sales, and so on you can find pretty much everything you need.

The only thing I do not buy it any of these places are used or vintage lights. I am not an electrician, so I have no clue what is in good condition or not.

Decorating for Christmas just puts you in the mood to get a little holiday spirit. And yes, I have inside wreaths and outside wreaths and I don’t do it all every year, I tend to rotate my ornaments and decorations.

If you put your Christmas decorations away carefully, they can and do last. I put artificial and pinecone wreaths on hangers in my attic covered with big clear trash bags. If it is a year where I am making a natural wreath out of fresh greenery, I removed the ribbons and decorations that can be salvaged at the end of Christmas and put them away as well.

I am a fumble fingers with a hot glue gun, so the only thing that go on my wreaths are things that I can wire on with florist wire.

I don’t want to put specialty stores or craft stores out of business, but there are a lot of Christmas decorations that you can source quite reasonably and a gently used or vintage condition.

I like to do what I consider tasteful decorating for Christmas. I don’t do a million lights and inflatable things on the front lawn. I mean no disrespect to those who chose to do this Griswold Family Christmas style of decorating, but truly I do not need my decorations to be able to be seen from space!

Fun fact: I had an uncle that when I was a child that used to go to little overboard with Christmas decorations, including music being piped from the roof. Loudly. And this was before National Lampoon and Chevy Chase made overboard Christmas decorating so infamous.

You won’t find anything adorned in my home before December. Some years I get things up early in December, other years it’s a couple weeks into the month before I begin.

I also really try hard not to overwhelm my rooms. I look at it the way Coco Chanel looked at jewelry: she had a famous quote about taking one piece of jewelry off after you are dressed and about to walk out the door.

Have any of you begun decorating? What is your favorite thing to do?

Also if any of you know of any church sales or fleamarkets or Christmas festivals coming up with a gently used Christmas ornaments and other holiday things for sale, feel free to leave a comment.

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exploring and antiquing

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Today my friend Karen came over and we went exploring. I had wanted to take her to the Smithfield Barn but they weren’t open. So we headed to Spring City and Kimberton instead.

First stop was Samuel G. Hultz Antiques at 820 Pughtown Road in Spring City. They are the big old place on the corner of Route 100 and Pughtown Road. Their phone number is 610-469-9491 and they are open most Saturdays and Sundays noon to 4 p.m.

Like most of the old school country dealers I have come across since moving here, they were friendly and hospitable people. And their pricing was reasonable and fair.

Like my friend Dave told me it would be, their barn was loaded with kind of things I love to go through. They have some beautiful vintage and antique quilts, different odd lots of depression glass and china and furniture and all sorts of things. Old tools, linens, vintage kitchen items, candles, and Christmas ornaments too. Blue glass, milk glass, clear, ruby red, you name it.

Flow through blue plates and teapots and fabulous antique wash stands and an amazing black walnut farm table I wish I had the room for.

They had some neat old advertising pieces, and sort of a bargain basement downstairs where I found the most awesome hand quilted pillows to use on my bed as throw pillows as well as vintage heavy duty aluminum loaf pans to bake with. I also found the cutest handcarved folk art Santa to decorate with for Christmas.

And I also noted that this was a place where I could get antique lamp parts! As in oil lamp parts. Shades, globes, all sorts of things and complete lamps. I have a lot of converted oil lamps which are now electric as well as others which can burn lamp oil that I love the look of, and I never know where I can get parts. I am so happy to have discovered that I can get them here! You see, the only other place I knew to get so many parts before this was in Adamstown, PA.

Where the Hultz Barn is located is so beautiful and picturesque. We took a right out of their driveway, drove past the Agway and headed down Pughtown Road into Kimberton village. This weekend is also the Kimberton Antiques Show at the firehouse/fairgrounds. (The show runs tomorrow, Sunday, November 17 as well from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is $5.00. Don’t eat lunch at the antique show, go right up the road to the Station Bistro. It’s a fabulous little BYOB with a roaring fire in the fireplace and amazing food.)

The Kimberton Antiques Show is still one of my most favorite things to go to in the fall. I have been going for years. It is a show where I find a lot of my favorite antiques and collectible dealers who only do shows.

I bought some more vintage Christmas ornaments from a pair of cute little old ladies who were tough as nails and sharks in cardigans in the bargaining department! Sadly that was pretty much all I purchased, because the show prices this year were higher than ever.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love that show and have been going for years. But the problem is the prices of gotten high enough now that I just don’t really buy there anymore. I mainly look. This used to be a show you could actually buy at . But my late father always said that antique shows existed to educate your eye more than buy.

There was a dealer who had very reasonably priced vintage garden ornaments that I forgot to go back to, and that’s a real shame. His stuff was cool.

The Kimberton show is a great place to wander around for a few hours. It is two buildings on the firehouse/fairgrounds property loaded with dealers of antiques, vintage items, and collectibles. Some of the dealers had some truly amazing vintage and antique Christmas ornaments. I also love tole trays, and there were a lot of dealers with some gorgeous trays.

The lunch didn’t look outstanding one way or the other, so we opted to get lunch after we left the Kimberton Antiques Show. Boy am I glad we did!

We wandered into the center of the village of Kimberton and decided to try the Station Bistro. It is a cute little BYOB that is much larger inside than it looks on the outside.

You walk into Station Bistro and you’re greeted by a large country fireplace with two comfortable when chairs on either side. The dining room is not huge, but the tables are spaced nicely apart and the place is clean and bright and cheerful. As opposed to some places there is a feeling of space. Artwork of local artists adorn the walls. I saw a watercolor landscape of Chester County that I thought was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen.

The prices were moderate, the service exceptional, and the food delicious. Their address is 1300 Hares Hill Rd. Their phone number is 610.933.1147 and they do breakfast Saturday and Sunday too. The rest of the time I think they’re open Monday through Saturday for BYOB bistro dining between 11 AM and 9 PM.

Station Bistro was a completely serendipitous find and I look forward to going back.

Was such a beautiful day to go antiquing through Chester County. We had a great time. Of course it is one of those days I could’ve kicked myself for leaving my camera at home, because the scenery was spectacular.

We also did learn of a business closing today. Friends near Pottstown told us that the place that was the old tea room, and had been known in recent months are about a year or so as Tacie’s Café and Bakery had closed. It was located up on Ridge Road in Pottstown. The business was owned by soon to be former West Vincent Supervisor Clare Quinn.

We had a great time at the Kimberton Antique Show and found out that a lot of the same dealers will be at the Leesport Holiday Antiques Show in Berks County Saturday, December 7th.

We ran out of time and day so we couldn’t check out some of the other antiques stores in the area. Also on my list to check out are the Olde Knitting Mill in Spring City, and Inslee Antiques in Guthriesville.

I also want to get over to Conebella Farm on Chestnut Tree Road in Elverson. They are a fifth generation dairy farm that have over 15 varieties of cheddar and Colby-based cheeses and also sell milk yogurt and free range eggs.

I had so much fun today and part of it is because this is another one of my friends who also shares my passion for similar things as far as antiques and collectibles go.

My final note is I did feel like I was cheating on the Smithfield Barn today. And thanks to the Smiths who run the barn I actually recognize what a lot of country antiques actually are now!

Thanks for listening to my recounting of my rambling through Chester County today! If you have free time tomorrow, go check out the Kimberton Antiques Show. And definitely stop at Station Bistro in Kimberton!

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far and away but worth it: wölffer estate vineyard

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DSC_0578Long Island is known for many things – the glitterati who flock to the Hamptons, farming, beaches, lighthouses, and also vineyards.  My pretty much favorite is DSC_0665 Wölffer Estate.

Wölffer Estate is located in the Hamptons in Sagaponack. Their wines are good DSC_0661and to me something very important – they use all their own grapes.

A few weeks ago I made my annual trek to the vineyard. This time I tasted dessert DSC_0629wines and also had a marvelous time photographing the vineyard and stocking up on the rosé wines they produce.  A good rosé is my summer wine of choice and truthfully I enjoy rosés year round – I don’t drink very much and am allergic to many types of alcohol and never acquired a taste for beer, so I am pretty limited as to what I will imbibe.

You can find some Wölffer in the Pennyvania Wine and Spirit Shops (a/k/a State Stores) but not all the time. If you ever go to the Hamptons check them out and take the time for one of their wine tastings. So fun, lovely setting, terrific experience.

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no one here but us chickens

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You know me and my love affair with a picker’s paradise known as the Smithfield Barn on Little Conestoga.  (Of course I wish I knew what town it was officially in, versus betwixt and between Eagle and Elverson.)

I love depression glass.  Not all, but different things here and there.  I have always wanted white, not too large milk glass chickens.

Guess what I found at the barn last weekend? Chickens!  And they were bargains.  I am not telling you what, but trust me, you couldn’t even get such a deal on eBay.

They were loaded with stuff and a lot of people were digging.  I haven’t received an e-mail yet saying if Kris will be there this weekend or not, but if you drive by and the doors are open, it generally means they are too.

 

 

 

treasures found in my travels on memorial day weekend at smithfield barn

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So, I told you all about the Smithfield Barn on 425 Little Conestoga, right? How many of you took my advice and checked them out this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?  If you didn’t, you’ll have to wait until the end of June to do so.

We went yesterday.  I love the Smithfield Barn because the folks who run it are real pickers.  There is a little bit of everything, but you have to be willing to dig.  I circled through the barn a couple of times yesterday before I saw my treasures:

  • a leather box of unknown origin, just pretty;
  • some terrific vintage wooden spoons;
  • and a fabulous hand-made quilt

I got great deals, and no, I am not telling you what I paid – if you go to the barn, you can negotiate on your own.  I will tell you what, with places like this, if you don’t go in guns a blazing with attitude there is often some wiggle room on select items.  But if you insultingly low ball them, you deserve what you get.

I love the quilt.  I am a vintage textile queen as you can see from the 1950’s table topper that provided the background to the spoons and the box.  That was probably all of $5 at St. David’s Church Fair a couple of years ago.

Some people can only handle new, I know people who have to re-do the furniture every few years like Barbie’s Dream House.  That is their style, certainly not mine.  I like objects that tell a story, or might tell a story.

And as much as I love to photograph barns, I love even more to root around in them.  My friend Barb can tell you about a trip to Vermont where we made a side pilgrimage to New Hampshire and I had a swell time rooting around in a giant barm owned by a New England farmer who picked antiques and collectibles on the side.  I negotiated some fabulous pink tea cups for her that day that she still has.  But heck, I used to go to Adamstown, PA with my parents before it was Trendy Wendy to do so.

The barn had some cool stuff yesterday including a Hoosier cabinet and a pair of dressers  that were first half of the 20th century – rounded and kind of cool.  Not sure how old the cabinet was and you have to be careful when looking at them, because there are kits out there to make them again.  The cabinet looked newly painted and it was bright white, so not for me.  But it was fun to look at.  There were some terrific chairs there yesterday and some fun lamps worth re-wiring, and if you like slot cars and matchbox cars?  This would have been your barn!

Anyway, I am glad I decided to ditch the garage sale tour and go to the barn instead.

And remember, if you like this blog, you can nominate it for a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award with Country Living Magazine.

Winners will be featured in their December/January 2013 issue and will also  attend a luncheon in their honor in New York City on November 13, 2012. Nominations are open from May 15, 2012 until July 29, 2012. Please only nominate  once.

Read more: Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards – 2012 Blog Awards – Country Living.

The Gladwyne PA Memorial Day Parade – if you like traditional, old-fashioned Memorial Day Parades complete with antique fire trucks and horses, this is your parade!

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your long weekend.  I got up and got my watering done early, it’s going to be a hot one today.  In part I feel like Farmer MacGregor because some Peter Rabbit ate my baby lettuce this weekend. And I don’t know about you, but this crazy weather and no winter has many plants of mine ahead of schedule.

See ya!  And Happy Memorial Day!