Saturday, July 24, 2010

A familiar name!

We just picked up the August issue of "Main Line Today" and were delighted to read an article by our friend Cathy Quillman, a writer who lives in West Chester but might as well be a Unionville resident, the amount of time she spends here at art galleries and the polo field. Cathy wrote about the grieving process and offered some sensible, practical advice to those who have lost a loved one.
Cathy, who specializes in writing about the arts, has a new book coming out in September, "100 Artists of the Brandywine Valley." We saw a mockup of the cover and it looks absolutely beautiful.
http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Brandywine-Valley-Catherine-Quillman/dp/0764336746
http://quillman-publications.com/

Kyoto

Had an excellent lunch at this place the other day with a friend! Really wonderful sushi. Very good service. It's in that new-ish shopping center tucked away east of the Wal-Mart.
http://www.kyotojc.com/menu_pa_main.html

On the bright side...

In this extreme heat, clothes on the line sure do dry quickly!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Right place

What a lot of localized storms we've had this summer!
Usually this blogger and neighbors are the first to lose power. Not this year: our neighbors in more populous areas to the north -- Exton, Uwchlan -- and their trees have gotten absolutely clobbered during the storms, while we get naught but refreshing downpours and breezes. The most recent storm the other night hit "downtown" Unionville and knocked downed some trees along Route 82 toward the Kennels, but there was no damage here. Unless you count a sodden hammock pillow.

America at Work

Spend five minutes filling up at the gas station in Chatham and you can watch a whole parade of the economy going by on busy Route 41: motor homes heading south, dump trucks on their way to the landfill in London Grove, petroleum tankers, tractor-trailers carrying fruit and produce, bottled water delivery trucks, a truck from "Angelo's Soccer Corner," fancy cars and cars that sound like they're not going to make it to Avondale....It's the whole spectrum, right in front of you.

TMI

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Harold Brubaker has done such a great job covering the Tony Young story that I hesistate to raise just one objection in today's story: I would've liked more detail on the actual court proceedings rather than what type of suit and tie Tony wore.
According to the Inquirer, Judge Juan Sanchez will be passing sentence in October. Small world! He used to sit on the Chester County bench.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Arbor non-vitae

The sycamore on on the west side of Kennett Borough Hall (the former Smaltz House) looks moribund. Attention, Street Tree Commission! Maybe Kennett needs an Urban Forester like West Chester's Denise Kesterson.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Rambling

Harp-player Gillian Grassie of Unionville is traveling through Russia this summer, teaching English with the help of folk music and, from what it sounds like, being an all-around excellent ambassador for America and Western culture. Here's her fascinating blog: http://www.gilliangrassie.com/blog
Thanks to her Mom, Babette Jenny, for the tip.

Wild party

On a recent sweltering Saturday afternoon we drove past a large party to which we weren't invited. Balloons on the mailbox, rows of cars lined up in a pasture. We Googled the Cochranville address and found that it's the home of a fellow who (a) donates a significant amount of money to U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and (b) has a corner-office management position with a local bank.
But I suppose it could've been just a pool party and family BBQ.

Newlin emergencies

Newlin Township is creating a system to contact residents via e-mail in case of local emergencies. Send your e-mail address to Township Secretary Gail Abel at info@newlintownship.org, subject line “Emergency e-mail list”.
According to the township's June newsletter, this comes in response to "the recent escape of a resident from the VisionQuest facility and subsequent break-in and police chase. The man was captured and sent to a more secure facility."
This isn't the first time that inmates have broken out of this facility, which is located at the former Embreeville State Hospital. From the May newsletter: "Vision Quest had two escapees last Saturday. They allegedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to steal a car from Embreeville Mill."
The township also plans to send out alerts about "flooding, road closures and snow emergencies."
Who wouldn't sign up for that?