Blueberries

Don went blueberry picking today. This is the season for them and he went about an hour away where he picked for a few hours and came home with the biggest blueberries I had ever seen. All together he picked eighteen pounds which made ten quarts to put in our freezer. We'll take some to Ryan to use in his blueberry pancakes. Some will be made into cobbler. And some just eaten or put I yogurt parfaits or fruit salad.

 

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Rules

 

Thomas Jefferson...now there was a smart man. He set down some common sense rules that are just as applicable today as they were back then.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

Never spend money before you have earned it.

Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.

Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.

We seldom repent of having eaten too little.

Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

How much pain the evils cost us that never happened.

Take things always by the smooth handle.

When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

Do you have any common sense rules that you live by? Old sayings your mom taught you? Quotes that guide your life? Here are some from the web.

 

 

 

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Our town....Bradford PA

We love in a small northwestern Pennsylvania town about a hundred miles south of Buffalo and a hundred miles east of Erie. Once a great oil metropolis Bradford now is a cozy town nestled in the valley amid hills.

Our biggest employers are Zippo which makes the famous lighters, Dresser Manufacturing which makes couplings, the Medical Center, and the school system.

In August every year we have an Italian festival which celebrates the heritage of many people in our town. There is Italian food and lots of entertainment.

 

The bell tower building is our old city hall.

This wood cut is the Option House which used to be an oil exchange back in the day. Then for many years a restaurant and bar. Currently it is Kabob's, a Greek restaurant. It had been recently remodeled and is beautiful inside.

I love living in a small town. Everything is five or ten minutes away. There is very little traffic. All the waitresses know your name. You can always chat with someone you know in the grocery store. News travels fast.

 

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The watch story

When my father passed my sisters and I kept some of his things. I inherited two watches.

I didn't give them much thought until this year when I was cleaning out a closet and rediscovered them.

One had an art deco face and I liked its style so I took it to a local jeweler to have it restored.

Little did I know that it would take months and months.

There were parts that had to be ordered since watch repairing is becoming a lost art.

They finally had to end up sending it to a Rolex dealer in Buffalo to repair some of the inside parts.

I thought I would never see it again but yesterday I finally got the phone call that it was ready

I bought a new band and now I will proudly wear it.

I couldn't get very good pictures of it.

 

 

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Br-br-Bradford summer

We had a very cold spell today..down to sixty two with rain and wind. I used the time to catch up on indoor chores and read the Daniel Silva book...The Heist. It felt like Autumn and reminded me that the cold weather will be here before you know it. All the more reason to try to do things outdoors. And enjoy the beauty while it lasts. Are you a carpe Deim kind of gal?

 

 

 

 

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Sadie in the summer

If only Sadie could talk. She has a way of letting you know exactly what she wants that’s for sure. She loves to sit on the porch swing with me while I read, of course with her head on the pillow.

She’s always snooping…just looking for trouble. We fenced in our back yard a few months after we got her. That is after she ran away clear up into the woods and I thought she would never stop running.


The fence didn’t exactly keep her in for long. Daily she checked the perimeter and if a gate was accidently left open out she ran.

Or if she found she could squeeze her body through the openings in the railing of the porch…bye, bye.


So we have to be careful and make sure Houdini has no way of escaping.  One night near dark I heard her barking viciously and checked to find her outside the fence. I couldn’t see her but I heard a commotion and thrashing like a big animal was tearing down the weeds.  Then across the back of the fence ran a little bear cub. I think Sadie had tangled with the momma.
  Oh yes, Sadie is a sweet dog. But Jack Russells can’t be trusted to make good decisions. So we check the fence like the Wichita Lineman.

CREATIVE WOMEN WORKSHOP

For the first time our Landmark Society sponsored a Creative women Workshop at Crook Farm. We are so lucky to have this beautiful setting right outside the town.

Visitors can enjoy a walk back in time as they tour the nineteenth-century restored farm house, barn, one-room schoolhouse, tool house, train depot and outbuildings. A beautiful herb garden grows on the premises. Open from Mid-June through September, a variety of historical activities and programs are offered including: historical tours and demonstrations, luncheon tours, meeting grounds, a living history program for high school students, church services and weddings. The Crook Farm Country Fair held annually in August features entertainment, food, craft demonstrations and artisans.

I had a wonderful time taking classes in photography, pencil drawing, and making appetizers.

I took some beautiful shots of their lovely gardens.

Crook Farm

One of the classes offered was about raising chickens and this big chicken showed up.

 

Here is the drawing class. That's my picture in the empty chair place.we were drawing the farm house.

 

The Zen class made gardens of sand and rock. There were quilting classes, knitting classes, bead making, wood burning and many others.

A lovely lunch was served.

 

 

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In the garden

One of the surprises in the garden is that perennials come up in the middle of summer to provide a show. Today we feature ......

Lilies

And phlox...

And the coneflowers..

And don't forget the faithful daisies..

Isn't summer wonderful with its display of color?

 

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