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.