celebrations and mourning...

Life is like that.  

The good and bad...

the happy and the sad...

always seem to come at the same time. 

We had Celebrations book launch events over the weekend.

at Granville Island and in Victoria..

The heavy rain hardly dampened our spirits...

and we had such a good time.

A celebration.

 And we met the nicest of folk!

Though we came prepared with boots and umbrellas...

Friday night in downtown Victoria couldn't have been nicer.

The rain stopped...

and we enjoyed our walk in the city...

and our dinner with a view of the parliament buildings.

We had a lot of laughs over the weekend...

and you may even hear some of the stories one day.

But as we were returning from our most enjoyable weekend...

I received a text message that came as a shock.

Hubby's sister had just passed away.

 Now that was not expected!

Of all the days...

Elmer had decided he would stop in and pay her a visit on Saturday.

He arrived to see several ambulances parked outside her front door...

and a houseful of paramedics.

He never had a chance to say good-bye. 

Yesterday we celebrated our granddaughter's fifth birthday.

But at the same time we were sad...

at the loss of a sister.

A sister who will not be celebrating her birthday next week...

but instead will be rejoicing in heaven.

Laughter and tears.

Celebrations and sadness.

Such is life!

meanwhile back at the ranch...

Though I've been posting about faraway places that we visited this summer...

life on the home front has carried on as usual.

So I will leave Philadelphia for another time...

and share a few things from the here and now!

The grass fields were all mowed down on Wednesday...

and with a little lot of help from our friends...

the final crop of the year is now in the bunker for the winter.
The storms are on their way...
starting today...
so there was no time to spare!

Why does it seem the seasons come and go more quickly than ever?

It's fall.  

The sweet autumn clematis is in full bloom...

and there is fresh snow on Mt. Cheam peak this week.

The tomato season is about over for this year as well...

so I quickly made up a batch of salsa this week.

That should provide a little heat come winter!

 

I have a sweet grand daughter who is turning five years old this weekend...

and requested a treasure chest cake for her birthday party.

Since I'll be away the next few days...

(check out the book launch events in Vancouver and Victoria this weekend)
the cake got made and delivered in advance.

The years have flown by...
and I can hardly believe she is already five.

 But there she is...
quite fearless when it comes to rowing a boat on her own...

...or climbing a sheer rock wall!

But not quite so fearless when it involves riding the bus to kindergarten without mommy.

She is always lending a helping hand to her sister...
and looking out for her friends.


I treasure all the memories of the good times we have shared over these five years.
 Happy Birthday to our dear Maggie!


 

a few of our favorite sights and sounds from Pennsylvania...

Lancaster County...

where flowers are available at roadside stands and fields in bloom lure the butterflies.

We just enjoyed our drives through the countryside...

and that alone would have been enough.

But there were other things to experience...

things like a farmer's market.

We were told we had to check out the Lancaster Central Market on Saturday.

It has been dubbed one of the top ten markets in the world.

But we would not be there on Saturday...

...and so we took in the Roots Market in Manheim on Tuesday.

It began as a poultry auction in 1925...

and is still going strong.

It was a great experience...

and for seven dollars we left with enough fruits and vegetables to last us the rest of the week.

Since when can one still buy watermelons for one dollar?

And we drove to Hershey...

where we enjoyed 'Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour Ride'.

We had no idea Hershey was such  big deal.

We thought momentarily that we had arrived at a Disney theme park!

If you are ever in the area...

it is definitely worth a visit!

And since we happen to have a Ford/New Holland tractor on the farm...

we thought we should see where those are made as well.

New Holland is a borough of Lancaster County...

and New Holland agricultural equipment has been manufactured here since 1895.

Interesting.

We never had a whole lot of time to check out farm equipment...

since we had tickets to a show some distance away.

It was suggested that we visit the Sight and Sound Theatre in Strasburg while we were there.

Story, song and spectacular staging bring the Bible to life on a stage.

Every year more than 800,000 guests visit...

and leave inspired.

We saw Noah come to life...

complete with his family, trained live animals and fantastic music.

An unforgettable experience!

Thanks, Judy, for the recommendation.

We followed a buggy down the road toward our campsite.

What were the men and boys of the neighbourhood up to?

It turns out there was an auction right next door to our campground...

...so hubby joined the menfolk and went to check it out.

It seems auctions are the same everywhere...

though the dress and the mode of travel may be quite different.

Someone seemed rather disinterested in the auction and sat in the corner reading the paper.

And while the guys were busy looking for a bargain...

the women and children were working in the field.

Simple pleasures!

Next stop on the tour...

Philadelphia.

lancaster county, pennylvania

We spent the last few days of our road trip in Pennsylvania Dutch country...

Lancaster County.

It has been appropriately nicknamed 'The Garden Spot of America'.

Lush and green and beautiful...

we so enjoyed our time there.

Our home base for our stay was White Oak Campground...

near Strasburg.

When we made our reservations...

we had no idea how perfect the location would be.

It is right in the heart of Amish country...

...and we watched the horse and buggy teams clomping by as we sat at our picnic table.

Let me take you on a quick tour of the neighbourhood...

and I'll tell you more about our stay in Lancaster in another post.

The farms were all picturesque...

like calendar photos from yesteryear!

Just down the road...

we passed by fields with crops stacked up to dry.

What was it?

We did a little investigating.

Tobacco.

It is Lancaster County's largest cash crop...

worth about $22 million annually.

The shocks are brought in from the field...

hung from the barn rafters to dry...

and taken to market in the winter months.

We soon discovered that bicycles in this neighbourhood come without pedals.

Full-sized scooters...

is what they are.

And it seems no shoes are required to operate them.

Callouses would be an asset!

The houses...

which weren't built yesterday...

are all well-maintained!

Though in some ways it is a simpler way of life over here...

...we know that farming this way can not be easy!

Where we use machines for most everything...

they use horses.

Most every place had wash out on the line.

That is not something we see so often anymore.

 

Every few miles we would pass by another country schoolhouse...

complete with playground.

We so enjoyed our visit to Amish Country...

where an 18th century culture is thriving in our modern world.

Who said time stands still for no one?

Over here it has!

I'll be back with more...

about the friendly people...

their markets and auctions...

Hershey's chocolates...

and nearby historic Philadelphia. 

 Have a wonderful Monday!

say cheese...

I was gifted a lovely cheese basket...

by our son...

who likes rolling cheese more than eating it!

While we were road-tripping along the east coast...

he was involved in the Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival in Whistler.

It is the craziest and largest events of its kind in the world...

where contestants chase an eleven pound wheel of cheese down a steep mountain slope...

 with hopes of winning the wheel of cheese or season ski passes to Whistler Blackcomb. 

The event is hosted by Dairy Farmers of Canada...

promoting BC and Canadian cheeses.

Through his involvement with the BC Dairy Association...

Jeremy has been involved as both a roller and a participant for the past few years.

Yup...

that's him in the orange striped rugby shirt in the center of the pack.

He survived to tell of it.

The cheese wheel is sent on its way by the roller...

and careens down the slope at 60 miles an hour.

The racers chase after it.

No one ever catches it!

The cheese lands up against a barricade of hay bales...

and the first person across the finish line is 'the big cheese'.

There are men's and women's divisions...

and apparently thousands show up to watch the event.

It's just as well that I never knew about it until it was over!

 I do know that my cheese tray has something to do with his involvement in the cheese rolling event.

 The cheese needed to be shared...

and I found the perfect occasion to do just that.

We had some friends over earlier this week.

We nibbled on cheese...

 ...and celebrated a special occasion.

Having friends over is a good excuse for up-dating the decor. 

 

It's looking a little more like autumn over here these days...

in keeping with the weather.  

The corn is off the fields...as of yesterday.

It's all good.

on to new york's historic hudson valley...

Connecticut welcomed us. It is known as the birthplace of President George W. Bush...where Pez candy originated...where the song Yankee Doodle came from...and so much more.

We mostly passed through the state...with a detour or two through charming historic towns.  And then we carried on to New York state...where we set up camp just a little north of New York City along the Hudson River.  National Geographic listed the Hudson Valley as one of the 'best trips of 2013'...and we decided to see for ourselves.

We crossed the famous Poughkeepsie Bridge...which I told you about previously.  Closed for some years...it reopened in 2009  as Walkway Over the Hudson State Park and is the longest footbridge in the world.

From there we drove further up the river to Hyde Park...the hometown of Franklin D. Roosevelt... America's only four-term president.

We stopped by Springwood...his birthplace and principal residence throughout his life which is now a National Historic Site maintained by the National Park Service.  The original farmhouse was purchased by Franklin D. Roosevelt's father in 1866...and underwent many additions over the years. 

We took the self-guided tour of the gardens and trails.  The gardens are most beautiful and well-maintained.

Springwood is home to the Presidential Library and Museum...as well as a visitor center where one can learn all about this historic spot.

All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River.  FDR

Franklin and Eleanor can still be found reading books out in the gardens...overlooking the Hudson River. :)

FDR's favorite place was the rose garden...the place he chose as the burial spot for himself and his wife.   Franklin passed away in 1945...after which time Eleanor chose to live at Val-Kill...their smaller and more modest home nearby.

We toured that as well...and learned a lot about this influential woman.  John F Kennedy came to visit her here at her home...hoping to garner her support.  This is the only National Historic Site in the USA dedicated to a first lady.  She made an impact on the nation...a tireless worker and activist.  And in the end...she penned these words...
 

"The greatest thing I have learned is how good it is to come home again." 

Eleanor Roosevelt 

There was much more to see in the Hudson Valley...from farmer's markets and orchards to the famed Culinary Institute of North America.  But today...I gave you the historic tour.

newport, rhode island....

A New England seaside resort...60 miles south of Boston...was our next stop along the way.
 

It wasn't really in the plan...but plans sometimes change at the last minute.  Instead of  riding a gondola on the river in Providence...we opted to walk the cliffs of Newport a little further south.

The Newport Cliff Walk is a 3.5 mile public walkway that runs on an easement over private land along the shore.  On one side is the spectacular coastline...



...on the other are the famous gilded mansions of Newport.  In 1975 the walk was designated as a National Recreation Trail...the first one in New England.

The area was developed as a summer resort for the wealthy...who tried to block off the shoreline to prevent the public from sauntering through their back yards.   The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that property owners must allow access to the Cliff Walk.

And so the gate was open...and we walked.

Though the ocean views were beautiful...I quite enjoyed checking out the backyards of all the mansions we passed by.  A wedding party was posing for pictures...so I obliged. :)

Do you know who got married in Newport on September 12 sixty years ago?  I happened to read all about it in the Huffington Post a few days ago.  You guessed it! JFK and Jackie.

Just another summer cottage!

Some are open to the public...from the front yard...with a purchased ticket.

We came to a roadblock along the trail...and realized that was as far as we could go.  Hurricane Sandy caused considerable damage to the next section of the cliff walk almost one year ago and it remains closed.   We had no choice but to turn back.

If you are ever in Rhode Island...check out the cliff walk at Newport.  We were glad we did!