Small Town Travel

This is day four of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery.  Today's topic is Travel.

Take a trip with me through Amish Country in Lancaster County.  It seems there are cornfields everywhere. One moment you are in town and you turn right, and left and you are in the middle of someone's farm. Some would say it's the best of both worlds.

Amish cornfield

Small towns often have interesting names, as seen on this sign. Thank you for calling Bank of Bird-in-Hand. My name is Robin.  How may I help you?

Are there two in the bush?

We spent the afternoon in Strasburg, and I got my first ever ride on a honest-to-goodness steam-powered train. It was a short 45-minute tour through Amish Country, and yes, more cornfields.

Choo-choo

Here we have some local artwork on display on an old railroad car.  Beauty takes many forms.

Local art

 On another day we visited the Town of Lititz. The heart of Lititz consists of two intersecting streets.  There are many restaurants and shops, including their very own chocolate factory (move over Willy Wonka). They also have a Wall of Remembrance to honor those who paid the supreme price for freedom.

Honoring their heroes

One thing you can always be sure of seeing in Lititz is ducks.  Below we have Duck Island. This is in beautiful Lititz Springs Park, which is over 200 years old.  Can you imagine how many ducks have lived here over the years?

Duck Island in Lititz Springs Park

This beautiful old building is located in Ambler, PA.  We were on our way from Ephrata to Horsham, Actually we were on our way to Philly, but reasonably-priced accommodations were not to be found, so we settled on the little town of Horsham, about a half hour outside the city and took the train.

Beautiful patterns in architecture

A newer building houses CVS, but I give them credit for styling the store to fit in with the small town surroundings, rather than the standard red brick of the ones in larger cities.

New fitting in with the old

Back in Ephrata, we visit the Green Dragon.  There is something there for everyone from fresh foods from local vendors, many of whom are Amish or Mennonite, to beautiful beeswax candles. Pretty and healthy too.

Local products

Look at all the colorful fashions. Want sunglasses, got 'em.  Need wind chimes, bird feeders, funny signs, just look around. You're sure to find something that strikes your fancy.

All the colors of the rainbow

Thanks for joining me on my journey through some quaint little towns. Every time I visit Ashley, I get to see another slice of the American pie - Pennsylvania style.










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The Secret Ingredient

This is day three of the January writing challenge hosted by P. J. at the 'lilhoohaa blog. Let's join in and share a month of reading, writing and discovery.  Today's topic is Willly Wonka's greatest candy making secret.

Image Source: Wikipedia

I saw this many years ago, but honestly don't remember much about it, so I Googled it. There are a lot of opinions ranging from those who think its a whimsical, fanciful movie for and about kids and that Wonka does no wrong, to others who are sure there is a dark, sinister sub-story playing out within the factory.  One reviewer went to far as to call it a "horror movie in disguise as a children's movie".

Apparently there is some secret ingredient or method that makes his confections superior to others. Let's use some imagination shall we.  It's 1971 and the Willy Wonka is offering factory tours to the children. Little kids flock by the hundreds, lured by dreams of endless chocolate...tempted by tasty treats offered by the master chocolatier himself.

So what's the secret?  Does he use the finest cocoa beans, or maybe his cousin's best friend's great-grandmother's recipe? Some folks even believe that it was the children themselves. Why else would he give special tours of the chocolate factory if not to steal their sugary goodness. You know they are made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Wait, that would explain the girls, but what about the boys? Snips and snails, and...oh no...not puppy dog tails.  That's just awful-all those poor, tailless puppies running around, all in the name of great candy. That definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth!



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Winter Comfort Food

This is day two of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery.  Today's topic is Favorite Winter Comfort Food.

Wow, who knew such a simple, straightforward topic would be so challenging?  There are a number of foods which fall into the category of "my favorites" and/or "comfort food", but they are not categorized by season. In fact, there are very few foods or dishes that I consider strictly seasonal.  It is not taboo for me to make soup in the summer or eat ice cream in the winter. 

When I think of comfort food, I think of dishes like mac and cheese, a plate of potato hash, a burger, pizza or anything with bacon, none of which I would relegate to the winter months.

That which comes closest to fulfilling both the winter and comfort requirements would be pecan pie. I only make this around Christmas and it is my favorite pie. While it is obviously food, and I only make it in the winter, it seems odd to call it my favorite winter comfort food.

What are some of your favorite winter and/or comfort dishes?









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Quote of the Week

This is day one of the January writing challenge hosted by P.J. at the 'lilhoohaa blog. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery.  Today's topic is Spilled Milk. Since today is Monday, it's time for my weekly quote, and most obvious is:

Don't cry over spilled milk. - Benjamin Franklin

This was also attributed earlier to 17th British historian, James Howell.  

Image Source: lunatheninjakitty

It is thought that this phrase stems from European folklore which holds that fairies like milk and will drink up any spills left behind.  I guess that's saying not to worry if milk is spilled because the fairies will clean it up.  I wonder if they had chocolate milk?

February 11, 2015 is "Don't cry over spilled milk day".  Who knew?  In celebration, let it serve as a reminder to not stress over things that have happened which we cannot change.  The past is just that...the past.  Let's not waste energy worrying about it, and look forward to a new day, and a new year, with a positive attitude.




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Out With The Old

And In With The New

Image Source: openclipart.org

Another year has run it's course, and we struggled rolled with the punches.  Was it a bad year?  Not entirely, but it was difficult at times.

Here are a few highlights of 2014:

Winter and Spring passed with barely a nod since hubby spent much of the first half of the year traveling for his job.  We did have a good snow storm and a bad ice storm complete with power outage.

On the home front, I continued with the routine chores and looking after the cats.  Part of those chores included yard work, which resulted with me doing a face plant into the neighbors wooden fence.  Let me tell you that smarted and left me with an awesome shiner. Amazingly, other than the bruised face, there wasn't another scratch on me.

We helped a good friend celebrate her 80th birthday.  She was certainly surprised when she was escorted to a dinner with 15 of her closest friends.

We traveled to Pennsylvania to visit Ashley and her family.  That was a week filled with fun, laughter and shared friendship.  We went to an amusement park, took a steam train ride and found a lovely small town zoo in which to meander about.

Insert more business travel.  Sigh!

In October we made our nearly-annual trek to Madeira Beach (St. Petersburg, FL).  There we ate copious amounts of seafood, went fishing at Ft. DeSoto, and took a dolphin watch cruise. My favorite non-seafood meal was DeLosa's pizza eaten on our balcony at sunset.

November brought the devastating loss of Dood at age 14.  He was always the healthiest of our cats, so his brief illness and subsequent passing a little more than a year after Rosie really rocked our world.

There are always holiday memories, whether we want to remember them or not.  I choose to remember them...even when one of them is of my feet going out from under me on the dance floor at a Christmas party.  That it was our wine club Christmas party is irrelevant, right? Sorry, no pictures or video. 

Now we have a new year before us.  May it be filled with hope and joy, laughter and friendship, love and peace!  Welcome to 2015.

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