Visit to Farm Up the Road

 It's been over a week ago that I accompanied the two granddaughters on a visit to the farm up the road. Granddaughter #1 used my camera to take these photos.

Goats.

Sheep in pen one has three lambs.  Don't know if others expecting too.

Young cattle.

When we got back and downloaded the photos she played around with the exposure.

Here's the  8 year old photographer at work.

Winter Won't Let Go

 

We had snow overnight Sunday.  Almost 2 inches when we got up on Monday morning. As I write this on Tuesday afternoon the icicles are still hanging on and snow still sits on the ground where the sun hasn't gotten to it. It didn't get above freezing on either Monday or Tuesday.  Wind chill is 3º

Below was the strange sight on the roof of the barn on Monday afternoon - a checkerboard pattern.

Wishing for warmer weather.

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Haines Shoe House

 Ever since I was little and the family would travel from Maryland to Lancaster, PA I would see a very large shoe house on a hill overlooking US 30 - Lincoln Highway.  We never stopped to investigate what it was until last week.  On our way to meet Dan's brother for dinner outside of Reading PA we had time to spare so we went to find out what it was.

It is the Haines Shoe House built in 1948 by Mahlon N. Haines, the Shoe Wizard of York, PA.

It is modeled after a high topped work shoe and measures 48 ft long and 17 ft wide at widest part.  It's 25 ft  high.  It has 5 levels with 3 bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and living room.  I know all this from the brochure.  The shoe house was closed on this Monday.

There are shoes on the fence and the mailbox is a shoe!

Only in America!

Sibling Reunion

 The last time all my brothers and sisters were together was August 2018 when we gathered to celebrate what would have been the 100th year of my parents birth.

Saturday March 19th we gathered at my youngest sister's home in Northern Virginia.  It was a marvelous reunion. 

From left to right: Suzie, Marie, Steve, Phil, Bonnie and me.

My oldest brother turned 80 in January and we had planned to meet that month but Omicron canceled those plans. My other brother who lives the farthest was able to change his plane reservations from Arizona to come in March.

Dan and I drove 12.5 hours the Friday before and made it just in time for dinner. All of us but one sister arrived Friday and spent two nights there. The sister and her husband living near Charlottesville, Virginia arrived early Saturday morning and left that evening.

We would have been 12 gathering but my sister in law in Arizona chose not to travel.

We plan to do it again and my youngest sister is willing to host it.

On our trip home, which we did over two days, Dan and I stopped in Strasburg, PA to visit my parents gravesite.  Their presence in spirit was strong at our gathering.