Ahoy-hoy

The "Wall Street Journal" had an amusing piece about people who still use their "ancient" (meaning, maybe seven years old) cell phones, whether for thrift, because of inertia or even by preference. I'm enough of a pack rat to save my old phones, even though they don't work anymore, so I pulled them out this morning and had a laugh thinking of how trendy I felt with each upgrade. That one on the left isn't even my first -- that honor went to a classic clunky Nokia, whereabouts unknown, that did yeoman's duty back in 2004.

Also in the drawer with the phones were about a dozen charging cords, instruction manuals and I think even some old landline jacks. Definitely time to do some spring cleaning!

Four Dogs

I  had a nice lunch outside on the patio at Four Dogs in Marshallton yesterday, but it was still chilly enough to enjoy their delicious French onion soup. Marshallton, which has always been a charming town, is looking positively rejuvenated after undergoing a streetscape makeover, with nice brickwork, sidewalks and parking spaces along Strasburg Road.

Beep beep beep

Thanks to John and Anne Moss, Blow Horn once again has a Blow Horn sign. The old sign, painted on the corner of the mill at Routes 82 and 841 here in West Marlborough, was either painted over by the new occupant or eroded away (take your pick) last fall, prompting something of an outcry from tradition-loving locals. The Mosses, who live across the street, have erected a beautiful replacement sign in their yard.
(Thanks to Jackie at Country Properties for alerting me to this wonderful news!)

Found Money

When was the last time you saw a $2 bill? It was yesterday, for me. I (or, rather, "Current Resident") received a snail-mail letter asking me to participate in some kind of an ongoing survey called "Screenwise Select Panel." "By participating, you will help Google understand how people like you use media by watching TV and using computers, tablets and smartphones."
It seems they're going to pay people for giving their opinions, and as a token of their good faith enclosed a $2 bill, which I promptly pocketed.
Two days later I got another letter from these people, this time with five brand-new $1 bills. They enclosed a brochure with more details about this "exciting and very important" and "path-breaking research." The more I read, the more appalled I was. They want to install a wireless router that keeps track of your Internet, TV and smart phone use, including what websites you visit, so they can share the data with "university researchers and Internet and advertising industries."
Naturally, they pledge to keep all information confidential -- "in accordance with our privacy policy." No doubt.
Thanks for the seven bucks, guys, but I have absolutely no intention of exchanging my privacy for pocket change.

Nearer my God

Why, you may ask, am I seeing so many articles about the "Titanic"? It's because April 14 is the 100th anniversary of that North Atlantic tragedy, which killed 1,517 of the ship's 2,240 occupants. I'm reading a book called "Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats, and the Worlds They Came From" by Richard Davenport-Hines and I highly recommend it: it's beautifully written and thoroughly researched and I've found only two typos so far (and, oddly, in the same line: "Meadeville, Pennylvania"). As you might guess from the title, the author focuses on the lives of the people involved in the tragedy and also does a riveting job describing the night of the accident and the short- and long-term repercussions it had around the world.
"Downton Abbey" fans will recall the pivotal role that the sinking of the "Titanic" plays in the plot: it kills off a key heir. Appropriately enough, there's a testimonial on the book jacket from Julian Fellowes, the creator and executive producer of "Downton Abbey": "An astonishing work of meticulous research, which allows us to know, in painful detail, the men and women on that fateful voyage. Even now, a hundred years later, Mr. Davenport-Hines finds a new and heartbreaking story to tell."

Tick ... tick ... tick

"Ticks: They're Back Big-Time" reads the headline in the Wall Street Journal. I can vouch for that. I was on the phone Monday evening when I felt something little and hard stuck to my scalp. Sure enough, it was a tick, but fortunately only a dog tick, not the tiny Lyme-carrying variety. I pulled it out, stuck it between two pieces of tape, and daubed some alcohol on the spot. Friends have reported pulling ticks off their horses and dogs all winter: it just didn't get cold enough to kill the little pests.

Cheshire

People who stayed home from the Cheshire Point-to-Point Races because of the cloudy sky and the 47-degree temperature on Sunday morning made a really regrettable decision. By 1 p.m. the temperature started rising toward 60, the sun broke through and it turned into a beautiful afternoon at Plantation Field.
The inclement weather of the morning even gave a member of our party a chance to display her hunt-field hardiness. Yes, she admitted, it was certainly chilly, but at least there were no hornets buzzing around the trash cans! And one of the jockeys told me the weather and the footing were perfect for racing.
The jockeys are without a doubt the rock stars of the day. A friend said that seeing them getting ready for the race reminded him of watching astronauts walking to their rocket before a space shot: "Oh! Look! Is that one of them?"
I loved seeing the adorable kids on their ponies in the first two races. One little boy crossed the finish line but then started leaning precariously in his saddle, tilting a little further with each stride. Fortunately an outrider was right there to help him.
It was the first steeplechase for one friend of mine, and she was thrilled at how the spectators are right there on the course. (In fact, the outriders have quite a job keeping people out of harm's way.) I heard from her afterwards and she was exhausted from both following the action on the racecourse and wandering from one tailgate party to the next. (Props to Hood's in Unionville for some excellent subs and the best macaroni salad I've ever had.)
Great job by the entire race committee for organizing this lovely event.

On the move

Unionville Feed & Pet has purchased the Ace Hardware store in Pocopson and will be moving there by the end of July. I saw Ed at the Cheshire races on Sunday and he told me that they'll have much more room there and a bigger selection of products.