Save the date!

Things always get so busy in June with graduations and weddings that you might want to put this on your calendar Right Now: Saturday, June 4, is this year's Home & Garden Day, which as always benefits children's and literacy programs at the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library.
"The focus will be the southeastern corner of Chester County and a sliver of Delaware," reports Stefanie Jackson, who is a member of the Library's Special Events Committee, which always does such a splendid job organizing this marvelous tour.
More details will be available soon -- in fact, Stefanie is busy preparing the tour program -- but I wanted to let you know the date as soon as I could.

Border line

The other morning some friends were discussing what they've dubbed "the Great Wall of Kennett," and I just had to drive by on the way home and see it for myself. It's a VERY long (and doubtless VERY expensive) stone wall that somebody's building along the east side of Mill Road, across from Dr. Kenneth Barnsley's Kennett Square Veterinary Hospital. The photo shows only a small portion of it, sitting at the crest of the steep roadbank.

Apparently the construction work has been going on for months, and in all weather. It ends at the farm's barn, where you can see the stone pieces being affixed to the wall.

Anticipating spring

The next time you are on Route 926 near New Bolton, check out the deep-green grass-like stems sprouting along the sides of the road. It's a wonderful perennial called Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), and it spreads like crazy. In the next couple of weeks each plant will be sending up its flower stalk, and there will be a beautiful sea of white flowers.
And don't miss the striking yellow-brown color of willow and forsythia branches, just getting ready to sprout. The color is so distinctive against the still-brown late-winter fields.
I haven't heard the pond peepers quite yet, even though I was outside at dusk today with my head cocked toward the marsh, listening really hard, like the Grinch on Christmas morning.

Flood alert

What a storm! The heavy rain and howling winds that swept through our area last Thursday sent the Brandywine over its banks at Pocopson, Chadds Ford and Northbrook, closing Unionville schools on Friday. (My ear-to-the-ground sister-in-law knew about the school closing even before it hit cyberspace -- well done!)
Here in West Marlborough, Doe Run flooded across Route 82, detouring motorists up Wilson Road, where a big tree had toppled across the road. The spillway at Rokeby Mill held, though water was still pouring over the waterfall well into Friday afternoon. The two ponds at the Stone Barn on Upland Road merged for a while. Downed branches littered Routes 82 and 926, and there were stubborn power outages throughout our community.
One friend who lives in Marshalton had to cross the Brandywine to join me and a few others at a breakfast meeting at the Country Butcher's Cafe in Kennett on Friday morning. Northbrook was flooded ("absolute whitecaps," she said), but she was able to get across at Embreeville.

Constituent service

As something of a local-government junkie (which I don't need to tell my regular readers!) I greatly appreciate what I call "The Blue Book" -- the resident's guide that State Rep. Chris Ross sends out each year. It's got heaps of useful information about local government: names, e-mail addresses, websites, phone numbers, and so forth. And, amazingly, I have yet to find an error in it.
There aren't many actual hard-copy publications on my once-crowded reference shelf anymore, since so much information is available online, but The Blue Book is still one of them.

A hearty appetite

Tilda and two dear friends, a married couple, were ordering breakfast at Longwood Family Restaurant on Sunday.
Husband: "I'll have an omelette, with mushrooms, onions, peppers, Cheddar cheese, bacon, sausage--"
Wife: "Uh . . . Honey?"
Husband: "OK. No sausage."

Adios, Lindo

Say good-bye to Cafe Lindo, the coffeeshop on Broad Street between Cypress and State Streets in Kennett. Its last day was Saturday, March 5, and the windows were now covered with brown paper.
A letter on the door from "Cafe Management" announces the closing and thanks customers for their patronage.
It's a good thing a friend e-mailed me the news; otherwise I would've showed up for a committee meeting that was scheduled there.
It was a nice, bright space to meet a friend or two for coffee, and it was right there on a main street so you could see folks walking by. I'll miss the place. It was the second coffeeshop to occupy that location in the past few years.

Paul got married!

This item has little to do with Unionville, or Chester County at all, unless you saw me grinning ear to ear and floating about two feet off the ground all day Saturday as I ran errands around town.
Why was I so happy? That morning my friend Paul had announced to his friends and family on Facebook that, secretly, he had gone and tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend, Janet, in the Seychelles Islands. He posted a photo of the two of them beaming on the beach, Paul in a sport jacket and non-jeans and Janet in a lovely white strapless dress.
May the two of them enjoy many years of happiness, health and prosperity together, on the road and at home.

Double date

Court reporters are going to be busy next week! Tony Young's sentencing for his money-laundering conviction is scheduled for Wednesday, March 23, in federal court in Philadelphia. Aggie O'Brien's trial on extortion charges was scheduled to start Tuesday, March 22 (also in federal court), but it's unclear whether that will actually happen.
UPDATE: The O'Brien trial has been postponed for 45 days.

The Whip South

If all goes as planned, a southern branch of The Whip is going to open this summer in Odessa, Del.
The new restaurant, to be called Cantwell's Tavern Restaurant, will be located in the former Brick Hotel (circa 1822).
K.C. Culp, the operating partner of the popular Springdell tavern, told me that he is involved in the new venture thanks to a Whip patron, Donnan Sharp Jones of West Marlborough, who is vice president of the Historic Odessa Foundation. The Foundation, dedicated to preserving the small town's 18th- and 19th-century buildings, was considering opening a restaurant to raise money and attract visitors, and Donnan asked K.C. if he'd be interested in running it.
K.C. said he has been assured that there will be ample parking for patrons.
Here's what the site at Second and Main Streets looked like back in February when I took a little road trip south of the C&D Canal (love the magnificent Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge!). That's the future kitchen that is being built behind the Brick Hotel.
According to Historic Odessa's website: "Cantwell’s Tavern will offer lunch and dinner Wednesday through Saturday, and will be open on Sundays for brunch and dinner. Furnishings will reflect an early 19th century American Tavern including six rooms with fireplaces and a reproduction of a period bar in the tavern room. Menus will reflect the culinary history of the region and change seasonally to feature traditional American tavern fare and locally grown and organic produce, meat, and seafood."

In bad shape

The vacant Red Rose Inn continues to deteriorate at Baltimore Pike and Route 796. As I was driving by on Wednesday I noticed that a second-floor window on the south side of the historic structure is broken, which means creatures and the weather can now get in and wreak further havoc. I know a group of public-spirited citizens got together last fall to try to "do something" about preserving the inn, but I haven't heard anything from them recently.

Brunch

Lynn Sinclair's Sunrise Cafe & Tearoom, 127 East State Street, is featured in the March issue of "County Lines" magazine. "The way Sunrise Café devotees devour Sinclair’s poached egg dishes, sandwiches and gourmet whole grain pancakes shows just how much this small town loves her back," says the writer, Laura Muzzi Brennan.
In the magazine piece Lynn shares her recipes for Ham, Asparagus and Asiago Quicha-dilla; the Bayard Taylor Hunt Sandwich; Huevos Ranchero Sauce; and Rosemary Polenta.
The website is http://www.countylinesmagazine.com/; click on "Articles." Or, for that matter, you can just go to the cafe's website: www.sunrisecafe-tearoom.com/

Goodbye to Ted

Family and friends gathered at the Chapel of the Christ Child at Christ Church Christiana Hundred on March 5 to celebrate the life of Ted Marvin, who died unexpectedly at Dunleigh, his beloved East Marlborough home. After the service, which featured a moving tribute by his sister, Ann, we shared Ted stories and watched a video of him playing Ravel on the piano for his mother and his cat. Rest in peace, Theo.

Milk

This is welcome news for folks who love Baily's locally produced milk. It's available at three new locations: (1) the Triple Fresh Market in Ercildoun; (2) Spring Run Natural Foods on Route 1 between Bayard Road and Route 52; and (3) the Westtown Meat Market on Route 202, just south of where High Street and Route 202 meet outside West Chester. In addition, of course, to the dairy itself at Pocopson Meadow Farm, 1821 Lenape Unionville Road; Archie's on Newark Road south of London Grove village; and the Northbrook Marketplace on Route 842 at Northbrook Road.
You can find out more about Baily's, its products and its people (and animals) at http://www.bailysdairy.com/.