Summer!

I do enjoy summer; it's my favorite season.

One of the magazines that I subscribe to featured some summer eye candy on its cover:

Too bad, but neither one goes to my gym.

Awbrey Arboretum

We visited the Awbrey Arboretum this weekend, where we saw this Mountain Laurel:

The $19.95 U-Haul

We recently rented a U-haul van to transport items to the local Goodwill donation center. Indeed, we filled the van with excess clothes, furniture, and other household goods, many of which were too large to fit in either of our cars.

The side of the van noted the $19.95 daily rental price. With insurance (required by U-Haul), the mileage fee (over sixty cents per mile!), the gas, taxes (city and state), the total exceeded seventy dollars. I hate hidden fees.

Pretty Battlefield

Last Saturday, TBH (The Better Half) and I went to the Brandywine battlefield, a Pennsylvania state park that was the site of a revolutionary war battle. The park was disappointing, from the movie that displayed a visually incorrect and sanitized version of the war to the reconstructed house that had no resemblance to the one that Washington, Greene, and many of the other prominent American generals had used as their headquarters for the battle.

But the trees were in bloom and looked wonderful. :-)

Classic Books, Classic Prices

When unpacking some of the old paperback books, I noticed several purchased when I was in high school so many years past. The price of each was a whopping $1.25.

Another Outing

Yesterday, we explored two more Philadelphia attractions: the Civil War Library and Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In route to them, we encountered a group of Hillary Clinton volunteers as well as a lone Barack Obama volunteer.

Visiting the Civil War museum was like visiting someone's attic; it was located in an old row house with a quirky collection of items donated through the years. They had the spectacles from Army General George Meade, along with his boots, and the stuffed head of his horse. (I'm not kidding!) One word best describes the museum: quaint.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was our second destination. Not as well known nor visited as the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is housed in a spectacular building:

It contains artworks by many well-known American artists, such as Winslow Homer, Charles Willson Peale, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, and John Singleton Copley. Here is Venice by Thomas Moran:

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts delighted us. It is Philadelphia's best kept secret!

Stolen Sunglasses

Earlier this month, my better half found his driver's side window broken. Bits of glass were everywhere - on the dashboard, carpeting, center console, passenger seat, even on the back seat and floor. The contents of the center console had been dumped onto the floor. The vandal was bleeding, and we found blood on the steering wheel, door, and some of the contents.

The only item missing: a plastic, neon green pair of sunglasses. The window cost several hundred dollars to replace, as well as the time required to clean the car. All for a pair of sunglasses worth less than a dollar.

New! Improved! Please use!

The mail brought a replacement credit card, a Visa card from one of the big issuers. The accompanying letter said the card now was no longer limited to a dollar amount. The inner light bulb lit up; they must expect me to use this credit card when filling the car with gas! LOL.

Native Plants

Douglas Tallamy was recently interviewed on one of the local public radio stations (WHYY, my favorite radio station here). Tallamy is the chair of the University of Delaware's department of entomology and ecology and the author of the book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens.

Tallamy talked about the importance of native plants to wildlife. Only insects that evolved with plants are able to eat them, so the native insects are unable to eat non-native plants. Many of our favorite plants are not native. Initially, I was thinking that this would be a great way to avoid insects eating the plants without using pesticides; however, wildlife (particularly birds) depend on insects for food. He thought one reason for the declining bird populations is the decline in the insects, because of non-native plants. Since we're having to landscape our small yard, I'm hoping we can use native plants -- which has the added benefit of attracting wildlife by providing them with food.

Abby Moves In

My better half observed that our last cat (Samantha) "owned" the house immediately after she arrived. Our latest pet, Abby, has only just now moved in. She had previously claimed only the area beneath the beds, although she would emerge for food and playtime.

Now, Abby has claimed places throughout the house. One of her favorites is the top of the radiator cover (this house uses hot water radiators for heat) in the hall bath, where the heat from the radiator (and the sunbeams from the window) lull her to sleep.


Downstairs, one of her favorite spots is the top of the wingback chair, where she can view three windows as well as the living and dining rooms:


And in our bedroom, she likes to perch on the dresser near the bathroom sink, so she can supervise our morning preparations (although this picture sees her somewhat distracted):


If we sleep too long, Abby starts dumping everything stored on the top of the night stands onto the floor.

Abby has definitely moved in. :-)

Philly Destinations

The Academy of Natural Science was one of our recent destinations. I love dinosaur fossils, and theirs were no exception. Many of the skeletons had huge teeth making me glad they were extinct. They also had a visiting display of the hair of former Presidents (including Jefferson and Adams) which made me marvel at the things some people collect.

The Philadelphia Flower Show was our destination on Saturday. Filling the convention center, it was well attended. They had a Louisiana theme, so we were familiar with many of the flowers, shrubs, and trees (such as daffodils, azaleas, camellias, and dogwoods). They had beautiful displays, but my better half had as nice a display in the garden at our Atlanta home.

We ate at the Reading Terminal Market, which is filled with shops and restaurants and conveniently located across the street from the convention center. The best food was a slice of double chocolate triple layer cake from a Mennonite bakery. I'm already planning a return trip for another slice!

A Blur of Activity

Not only do we get to unpack, but we're also undertaking various projects: mounting medicine cabinets, toilet paper holders, towel racks, adding shelves -- and when all else fails, calling in the professionals. The plumber found the reason the drain was glacially slow was that someone had dumped grout into it, which hardened.

Meanwhile, Abby was coughing so we took her to the vet, who diagnosed it as asthma and noticed evidence that she had fleas. That meant washing all the bedding, throws, etc., as well as treating Abby.

We also moved items from the temporary apartment that my better half had, and culled the duplicate furniture.

In my spare time, I got my Pennsylvania drivers license, vehicle registration, and voter registration.

Abby, Our New Addition

My better half wanted to visit one of the animal shelters yesterday, so we went to the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) where we looked at cats and adopted this one. Like Samantha, Abby is a female calico. She's only six months old, is excited about her new home and people, and purrs almost constantly.

Certainly, she's already making our new house seem more like home. :-)

Philly

This past weekend, my better half and I walked to the Manayunk main street, a collection of shops that include restaurants, coffee houses, ice cream shops, and home stores. We found an excellent pizza place where we ate dinner. Philly has lots of these small main streets, which used to be separate communities before being annexed in the 1850s.

The spare bedroom, office, (the entire third floor) and workshop (basement) are still disasters, but the other rooms are mostly ready. Here's a picture of the office, where this entry is being typed:


Obviously, we still have some unpacking to do. LOL!

A "Sweet" Gift

Our real estate agent in Atlanta was a delightful person and became our friend. Sherry gave us a present before we left Atlanta, a jelly bean dispenser from Jelly Belly along with a big supply of Jelly Belly candies. We placed the dispenser in the living room, where we've been sampling the fifty different flavors of jelly beans.


One of my favorites is the bubble-gum flavored jelly beans. Delicious!