Plantation Field

You don't have to go far to attend a world-class eventing competition this weekend: the Plantation Field International Field Trials are being held at Plantation Field, along Route 82 between Green Valley and Tapeworm Roads, west of Unionville.
Katie Walker compares the sport of eventing to "a horse triathlon." The competitors participate in three phases over 3 days:

• Friday, Sept. 16, is Dressage ("ballet for horses")
• Saturday, Sept. 17, is Cross Country Jumping ("gallops across vast acres and jump whatever is on the course! BIG OBSTACLES - EXTREME riding, like the X GAMES of riding")
• Sunday, Sept. 18, is Stadium Jumping  ("also BIG jumps but more traditional in style and contained in a ring or arena")

Going to an eventing competition is really lots of fun for spectators because you can get so close to the action. Plus, Katie notes, there are also shops and food and "great vibes." And all in a beautiful Unionville setting! For more information see http://www.plantationfieldhorsetrials.com/

Rainy season

So that's what they mean by "flash flood."
I was at my desk working all afternoon and heard the rain pelting down occasionally, but thought it was just a lot of rain.
Then I heard the dog barking like crazy, looked outside and saw a motorist backing up -- because the tiny creek in front of the house had flooded completely over the road!
I've never seen it like that. The water was flowing so fast that it looked like one of those infinity-edge pools, or the Eye of Water at Longwood Gardens. The drainpipe under the road where just days before, during the power outage, I had collected buckets of water to flush the toilet was almost completely submerged.

But the waters receded just as quickly; by the time I left home for dinner even my low-to-the-ground car made it through with no trouble.

Purple traps

A neighbor asked me to re-post the information that I ran earlier this year about those purple kite-like contraptions that you may have seen hanging from trees around here. They are traps for the emerald ash borer, a destructive insect that is moving east across Pennsylvania. The sticky traps, which are purple because the insect is attracted to the color, will enable wildlife officials to keep track of its spread.

Men at work

Workers have removed all the stucco from the office building on the southwest corner of Routes 82 and 926, revealing the stone work underneath. It should be beautiful after being repointed.
Further west on Route 926, in the village of London Grove, a handy construction guy has been completely replacing his front porch (his sign reads "A Touch of Class Construction," and the phone number is 610-268-0476). The other day I stopped for a moment and told him that I'd been following his progress and thought he was doing a really nice job. He grinned and thanked me and said to call if I ever had a project for him. I love a person who does a good job and takes pride in it.

A seedy story

A kind reader passed along the following: "Local sunflowers grown by the Hicks Brothers can be bought at Embreeville Mill. I get them and the birds love them!"
Most of my sunflowers got knocked over thanks to Irene's winds, so not only the birds but also the ground creatures are feasting on the seeds. But you can still see gorgeous fields of yellow and brown along Route 926, east of Willowdale, and on Wollaston Road, between Route 842 and 926.

Litterbugs

I just received a tip about some local workers who "sit on West Road in the morning to eat their breakfast before they head to work and then proceed to throw all of their trash out of their cars right on the road. I've had my ideas in the past of who was doing it but I actually caught one of them this am on my way to work! Just a thought...maybe if they are called out they will at least take their trash with them and we can maintain our beautiful surroundings."
Consider it done!

Watch out for Redcoats

The presidential stride, the distinctive nose, and the neat gray ponytail were unmistakable: I was sharing the track at the Kennett Y with General George Washington!
Or, at least, Carl Closs, the Kennett Square man who portrays our first president at presentations for schoolkids and business and community groups. According to his website, "Carl is a former educator and senior business executive who has dedicated his retirement toward helping children and adults discover George Washington."
Yes, he was wearing a uniform, but not his dashing military one: only sweatpants and a gray Y T-shirt.

Role models

My friend Betsy Ward Cagle was reminiscing the other day about a truly remarkable human being, the late Averell Penn Smith Walker (Mrs. Joseph Walker), who was Mrs. Hannum's sister. She writes:
"She was an amazing woman who was paralyzed in a racing accident in 1960, and there is not a day that goes by that she doesn't cross my mind. Someone asked her why no handicapped sticker for car and she said, "the only thing I can't do that you can is walk." I never once heard her complain about her situation." "She loved her sons, racing, her broodmares and her Norwich terriers. She called Dave [Leinhauser] and me the day before she died and I had the final opportunity to tell her we loved her and I'm so glad I said it. There will never be another Mrs. H or Mrs. W. Amazing women."

Birthday cake

For my birthday over the weekend, my family and a couple of special friends had a wonderful dinner at Floga Bistro and then went to the home of the senior Tally-hos for dessert and presents. Imagine the laughter when my mother and sister-in-law presented me with a chocolate-frosted birthday cake that read "Happy Birthday Tilda"!
A younger member of the family saw this and immediately knew what was coming.
"You're going to write about this, aren't you," he said.
You bet!
By the way, the cake was from Giant and it was delicious.

Strasburg Road trip

On Tuesday I had an errand to run in West Chester and some spare time, so I decided to take Strasburg Road all the way into town, because for the first time in seemingly ages there are no road closures.
So I took Route 82 to the Triple Fresh Market (spiffy new signs), made a right and just kept going.
There were so many interesting sights along the way that next time I'm going to have somebody else drive so I can just goggle. I crossed the new Mortonville bridge and passed through Mortonville, the former home of Dugal's Inn (only the sign remains) and a long-closed bar on Creek Road that's now completely overgrown with vines. I saw one property where the homeowners apparently got fed up with mowing and replaced their entire lawn with dark-brown stones. A church's sign said it was offering a "backpack blessing" to mark the beginning of the school year. The abandoned brick buildings of the former Embreeville Hospital are boarded up and crumbling.
For once you can drive all the way through Marshallton, though the road improvements still aren't completed. At least I hope they're not, because the rumble strip that's supposed to run down the middle of the road is, instead, right where your driver's side tire is.
I spotted a couple of beautifully maintained old houses, right on the road, and I saw a few historical markers along the way but didn't get out and read them because it was pouring. Next time, definitely.

How true!

A local gentleman told me that while on vacation, he was offered the chance to take several "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"-type tours, but he declined.
"If I'd wanted to see that," he said, "I'd've stayed home."