At Camp

I'm surprised to see how long it has been since I posted.  We continue to be very busy.  We stayed in PA through last Saturday, the 15th, because I had a family reunion in the area.  And we had wanted to spend some more time in our new community before heading for the Adirondacks.  So we drove up on the 17th and are so very happy to be here.  We really don't like the summer heat and humidity in Pennsylvania.  In addition to the chores required to get our place in the Adirondacks up and running, much of the time we have been here has been involved in the Stitchin' B's quilt show.  We help take down the show tomorrow.  We have a long paddle with our group scheduled for Thursday, so we figured we needed to try paddling on the Flow, to be sure we can still get in and out of our boats.  It seems to get harder every year.  I still love the view from the shore of our wonderful lake.

We are having trouble remembering that it is already July.  So the pickerelweed is already blooming.

Longwood Organ Competition

We went to the first of four preliminary tryouts of the international organ competition at Longwood Gardens today.  What a treat.  We will go to another tomorrow, and the final on Saturday.  The organists and the judges are from all over the world.  And of course at intermission one just has to walk over to the orchids and take photos. 

My Garden

 

Trip to Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

My daughter and I had a great trip to Heinz today.  I got photos of a great egret, lots of turtles including a tiny one, and barn swallows that live under the boardwalk.

Alumni Day

We were at Swarthmore College today taking a couple of tours provided to alumni.  First we toured one of the green roofs.

From up there you can see where they are drilling wells for their new geothermal project.

Here is another view from the ground.

Snapping Turtle

We knew there was at least one snapping turtle that lives in the pond, but we were surprised to see this one headed across the grass behind our place, quite a way from the pond.  A neighbor eventually scooped it up on a piece of cardboard and carried it down the hill because it was headed for his flower bed.

Mushroom Farm Tour

 We toured one of the local mushroom farms today.  Great fun.

The ones in this tray that are not picked young will become portobellos.

I saw this sign on one of their trucks and asked what it meant.  Since we are in a quarantined area, their truckers have to be certified that they check their truck for insects and eggs before going in and out of the area.

Longwood Gardens Fountain Display

We went to Longwood to see the fountains last evening.  What a great show.  And only a 5 minute drive away.  What a great place to live.

 

Baltimore Oriole

 I didn't really believe that if I put out a half orange, it would tempt a Baltimore Oriole to my feeder, but it worked!

Philly Orchestra Concert

Today's concert was the Philadelphia Orchestra at Kimmel Center.  It was great, though our seats - Tier 2, Box 77, seats 1 & 2 - were a bit too far forward so we couldn't see the entire orchestra.  The acoustics were wonderful.

We had planned to take the train, but it was pouring rain and we didn't want to walk that far in the rain.  So we drove in instead and that worked well.  For future reference:  Rt 322 to 95 north; exit 20 then north to Spruce St; Spruce just past 15th to the Parkway parking garage on the right; then a short walk to Kimmel Center.  We went home via Lombard St west to 76, then 291 to 95.