No scanners?

After this year's Unionville High School used-book sale I wrote about the problem of the for-profit book resellers who clog up the aisles with their wheeled carts and assistants and generally aren't very considerate of other customers (obviously, not all of them fall into this category). I saw an ad for the Quarryville Library's annual book sale (Oct. 23 through 26) and it looks like they've had a similar problem. Their solution: they don't permit scanners at the preview sale on Oct. 23 or until noon on Oct. 24. Interesting idea.

Palm-A-Bagel

I know I'm risking outraged cries of "You went to the bagel shop and didn't bring any back to my home/office/barn/garage/studio?!" but I simply have to put in a plug for Palm-A-Bagel in the Marlborough Square Shopping Center on Baltimore Pike between Kennett and Longwood (the same shopping center where Floga Bistro is). I stopped in early Friday morning, and my toasted poppy-seed bagel with cream cheese was just delicious. They make them fresh from scratch every day, and it was absolutely the best bagel I've had in a very long time. I will definitely be back!

Love and sunflowers

My friend Doug sent a belated comment on the sunflower fields on Route 1 at Longwood Gardens, but it's so poetic that I'm going to share it anyway:
"The beauty of the flowers was obviously apparent, but so was the love and kindness of the people stopping to view them! I saw elderly couples holding hands and many others, all helping one another navigate the uneven ground. There were moms and dads holding their children close as they walked among the blooms, young adults jumping up between the flowers catching the evening light while a friend captured an action photo.
And there were those just standing close, shoulder to shoulder or face to face, admiring the beauty of the sunflowers or each other.
It was a pleasure driving by the field each evening."

The key to great customer service

Stephanie Anderson of Kennett Square shared this sweet story about how Officer Johnathan Ortiz of the Kennett Square Police Department saved the day for her on Monday, Oct. 14:

"I am the mom of 2 girls, ages 5 and 2.5. My oldest daughter was off from school, but my youngest still had preschool in West Chester. Not only was it Monday, but we had also scheduled to have our carpets cleaned that day. So, in the midst of kid chaos and carpet cleaning, it occurs to me that I cannot find my keys. I check the usual places, and decide to glance in the car. Where I find my purse sitting in the front seat. The purse that contains my keys.
[Insert FACEPALM here.]
I frantically call my husband, who is a teacher in West Chester. He is unable to help, as he could not get leave from school. I then call a locksmith, who said they could send someone within 30 minutes. Although I was not happy to pay that kind of money, I needed to get my daughter to school. Shortly after, the locksmith calls back to say they cannot send someone for several hours.
I am getting more desperate, and under the advisement of my husband, I attempt to stick a wire hanger in the car myself. You can imagine this had a 0% success rate.
I decided to text my brother-in-law, who is a police officer outside of the city. He was sympathetic, and said he would normally come help but his kit was in his bag at work. I asked if he thought it would be bad to call the Kennett Borough PD. He said it was worth a try (because not every police department is willing to conduct these services).
I call the dispatcher and (sheepishly and apologetically) explain my predicament. She said she would contact an officer, and someone would call me back to let me know if they could help. I never got a call, as moments later a police cruiser pulled up to the front of my house.
An officer steps out of the car to assess the situation. He is all smiles and did not once openly poke fun at my idiocy. I signed a waiver and Officer Ortiz got to work. While chatting congenially, he adeptly used his kit to quickly unlock my car. I rescued my keys and thanked him profusely.
Officer Ortiz truly saved my day!"

A great party

Whoever throws the next big party in Unionville has a tough act to follow: the Buck & Doe Trust's Oct. 12 event was fantastic in every way. The food, much of it locally sourced, was great and plentiful; I had a delicious buffalo burger from Rubins' Buffalo Run Ranch on Chapel Road in West Marlborough. The dessert table was laden with all kinds of goodies. The pumpkin-filled swirls came in for special praise, although my eyes lit up when I spotted the dishes full of candy pumpkins.
The atmosphere was relaxed and casual, with a delightful sense of camaraderie, and I got to catch up with plenty of friends and neighbors.
Tables! So often there are not enough tables at parties. Not here: you could sit down and actually eat your meal without balancing a plate and a drink.
Toward the end of the evening the host put on some tunes and there was dancing, which my friends and I joined in with some enthusiasm.
The venue was magnificent: no speeches were necessary about the value of land preservation when you could look out and see the beautiful rolling  hills of the unspoiled Chester County landscape.
Best of all, I think, the party was held in October, not December. The Buck & Doe board decided that things are just too nuts for everyone in December, so they morphed the traditional Christmas fest into a more casual autumn party instead. The acclaim for that wise decision was universal.
Four days after the party I went out to dinner with some friends and we were still talking about how much fun we had. Thank you to everyone at the Buck & Doe Trust for a wonderful evening -- and for all the work you do year round.

Livin' large

On Sunday a Unionville friend and her husband headed to the big city -- well, King of Prussia -- to see "Gravity" at the IMAX theater. They stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and sat at the bar while waiting for a table.
My friend was dazzled by the lengthy menu of exotic drinks (she settled on a pomegranate mojito) and made a remark to that effect to the smartly dressed, impeccably groomed older woman sitting next to her.
Realizing that perhaps she sounded like a bit of a yokel, my friend explained, "I don't really get out very much."
"What, do you live on a farm?" the lady asked in a teasing tone.
"Why, yes, actually I do!" replied my friend.
That's doubtless not a response the elegant woman often hears on the Main Line.

Frank talk about stink bugs

An eminent Unionville veterinarian (but really, is there any other kind?) came up to me at a party over the weekend and urged me to write an item about stink bugs, which he said had invaded his house. I told him that fortunately for me, they are not bad at all at my place. Sure, I get maybe a dozen a day, and yes, they seem to like getting inside my pillowcases, but that's nothing compared to the infestation we had two years ago about this time.

Early bird

Do you wonder why the garage-sale ads often specify "no early birds"?
Some East Marlborough friends of mine held a sale on Saturday starting at 8 a.m. Sure enough, somebody showed up at 7:30. He told my friends that yes, he realized 8 was the official opening time, but "at least I waited until the sun came up!"

The more things change...

The "Blow Horn" sign is back. And now there's a new Springdell tree!
On Wednesday morning I got a text that there was some activity going on atop the hill on the north side of Route 841 near Springdell, where that beloved lone hickory stood until it was blown down back in June. I headed over immediately, just in time to see a large sugar maple being slowly raised to an upright position and settled into its new home on the crest of the hill.
The 15-year-old sugar maple, from Tuel & Tingle's nursery in Unionville, was chosen to replace the hickory because it seems hickories don't transplant well. I'm told that the landowner, Dick Hayne of Doe Run Farm, requested the biggest one the nursery had. It was transported to its new home by Gene and Dan Glomb of Glomb Services Inc., using one of those special trucks with giant claws for moving really big trees.

Country roads

In last week's column I wrote about how the West Marlborough Township supervisors are trying to discourage motorists from making the 90-degree turn from southbound Newark Road onto Route 926 at London Grove village. Instead, they want drivers to take the little cut-off (on the east side of the old blacksmith's shop) and stop at the stop sign.
I heard from one reader who hopes the supervisors rethink their position. Here's her argument:

"I’m one of the people who turn left directly onto Rt. 926, but not because I’m impatient or in a hurry ... After too many falls from horses, it’s really hard for me to turn my head to look over my right shoulder to see if someone is coming from that direction. Also, the sightline to the left is often obscured by cars parked in front of the London Grove Apartments, and with traffic approaching the stop sign way too quickly for my liking, I’ve barely escaped being hit from the left many, many times."

"I’ve been told by people who have lived near the village longer than me that the reason not to make the 90-degree turn is that one used to be in danger of being rear-ended by fast-moving trucks, but since the stop signs were erected on Newark Rd. (yay!), that danger has pretty much passed."

 

In other "country roads" news, I was lucky enough to attend a (fabulous!) party this past weekend on Frog Hollow Road and had to take a lengthy detour to get there (up Route 82, a right at Ercildoun, a right onto Strasburg Road, then a right on Frog Hollow) because the covered bridge over the Buck Run is still closed at the East Fallowfield/West Marlborough border. It was a nuisance just doing it once; what a daily hassle and waste of gasoline, time and money it must be for those residents!

 

Lots of rain

The heavy rain last week (I've heard we got five inches) filled up the normally inconsequential little retention pond at Newark and Line Roads, and on Saturday afternoon I was delighted to see a half-dozen mallard ducks, males and females, paddling around. I've always been especially fond of mallards. At Anson Nixon Park in Kennett, the heavy rain pushed some of the algae to one end of the lake, and dozens of Canada geese were enjoying the clear area. The creeks that run through the park were back to their normal depth but were still far more turbid than usual. And on Saturday evening I drove by Rokeby Mill on Route 82 and water was still pouring over the whole width of the spillway.
"Road May Flood" reads the new yellow sign along Walnut Road south of Route 926 in East Marlborough, and it did: the intersection of Walnut and Longwood was completely underwater on Friday, and Po-Mar-Lin was called out for a water rescue. By Saturday, though, there were just some minor puddles along the roadside, and across the way golfers were putting undeterred.

Barnard's

I urge you not to let October go by without stopping in at Barnard's Orchards on Route 842, east of Unionville. They have tons of pumpkins of all sizes, from Jack Be Littles to behemoths, as well as Indian corn, gourds and their terrific cider and apples. My companion-in-errands was delighted to find his very favorite apples in stock: Staymans. And their fresh cider puts supermarket cider to shame. Barnard's also has wonderful produce (a friend particularly adores their spinach) at the best prices around, as well as fresh flowers, cheese, and variety of relishes and other goodies. They always have samples at the counter too: I finished a delicious little Bartlett pear by the time I got back onto 842.

Quilts

Ellen Endslow, Director of Collections and Curator at the Chester County Historical Society, will be presenting a slide lecture about Chester County quilts at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the monthly meeting of the Southeastern Chester County Historical Society at the Friends Home on State Street in Kennett. I've heard Ellen speak before and she does a great job.

Litter pickup

If you see a bunch of people picking up litter along Route 82 in West Marlborough the morning of Sunday, Oct. 27, they're not convicts doing their community service; they're volunteers from the Buck & Doe Trust doing their part to keep our  countryside beautiful. You are welcome to join them; assemble at 8 a.m. at Doe Run Village. The cleanup takes no more than 90 minutes, it's a pleasant walk and it's always interesting to see what bizarre stuff people have deposited along the roadside.
You also get to experience just how fast people drive along Route 82. I frequently cross the road in front of Hood's, and I'll be curious to see if the forthcoming 30-mph limit through Unionville village (reduced from 35) slows them down at all.