I had lovely adventures in Tioga & Potter counties (PA) this weekend. Here are some cell phone shots - some very nice real camera photos to be posted soon.

On my way to Blossburg Thursday evening, both the sunset and moonrise were amazing.


Hung out with Andy and Brenda (best bartender ever) at the Bear Ass Thursday night.


At the office Friday, Kelly & I checked out the chickens they've been raising. (see hatchings & babies e:heidi,48491 and e:heidi,48889) The chickens are living in deluxe chicken coops and roam around the back yard of the office with roosters as guards. Some have just started laying eggs.



Kelly's special chick Silky








A shot of Nisha chasing a chicken from about a month ago



Uncle Dudley & Nisha


A had a gig in Germania, Potter County, PA last night at the Germania Hotel, built in 1859 by some guy from Buffalo. It's been in use as a hotel/bar/restaurant ever since. A ballroom was built on in about 1900. We spent the night in the hotel and then went to Germania Old Home Day, the fire company's big fundraiser. Marci, the bar owner, told us it's a big day of drinking and gambling - bingo, pull-tab tickets, and raffles ranging from $1 to $20. The event sign said they had discontinued the $100 raffle for the 2009 event. (Map of Germania)

Germania Store. Rooms for rent. I've got some great real-camera pix.




Tractor pull at the Germania Old Home Day


The event poster - $5 raffle tickets are for a 46" Sony LCD tv that will first be used to show the NASCAR race live at 4:30 pm.
6:00 pm is "Pig chases for women and children" Unfortunately we had to leave before that and my real camera battery had died anyway.


A enjoyed his hot sausage. The fresh-dug, fresh-cut french fries were really good.

Like e:carey, i have a photo backlog, but only since end of July, not last year!

I went to several Infringement Festival events... really enjoyed them. Such a crazy mix.

Albright-Knox - poetry slam in the courtyard. Photos of people reading poetry are not very exciting so I didn't post any.


This little girl posed for me as I took about 10 shots of her. She loved it.



Bellydancing in the theater





Firedancing in Days Park - awesome to watch, hard to photograph.

The queer women's meetup group took a hike at Zoar Valley in August with Albert Brown, an excellent tour guide who has been involved in the successful conservation and preservation efforts.

The foot of the "Pyramid"



Trail



Scrambling down the pyramid



I'm fascinated by the shale formations

(third post of the day)

Well, it's not really Uncle Dudley's museum, it's her boyfriend Bernie's coal mining museum.

Silver tea set for e:Matthew



Miners' lunch boxes


Old telephone, radio, lamps and bottles


Helmet with headlamp, lantern, sitting on a dynamite box


Five different trivets poured by Ward Manufacturing to celebrate Blossburg Coal Festival and the 75th anniversary of Ward Manufacturing a square nail (there's a word for this - penny nail? it's more of a spike but not big enough to be a railroad spike), a coin bank from Miners National Bank in Blossburg, beer chips from the Duncan Tavern in Antrim, PA (still exists!) and from the Bloss Hotel, which my great aunt & uncle Jack & Vera Reid owned, glasses, and an employment card from the mines. There's an old brass plumb bob in the background.


Bird cage for canaries the miners would take into the deep mine shafts. When the canary died, they had to get out of there quick - there wasn't enough oxygen.


Better shot of the bank with some kind of oil can.


Whiskey, moonshine, and other jugs


Business card from Jones & Brague Mining Co., the last of the coal mining operations in Hamilton Township. My grandfather worked for them washing coal trucks. He also worked for Ward Manufacturing.


Telephone directory for Morris Run Coal Co. Bernie couldn't tell me an approximate year, but it was really early - no numbers, just dashes like Morse code. (Sorry for the glare with my reflection - I tried a couple different shots - I would have had to move it to get a decent one.)


I'm trying to get a good picture that conveys the luxurious summer lazy feeling of Uncle Dudley's back porch. It's latticework covered in old olive tree branches.

We're still in the backlog of photos from August... it was a very nice month for taking pix. (fourth post of the day)

This time we're at Fallbrook, PA, (map:) formerly a thriving town of 1,400 people with an opera house and a railroad that connected to Corning, NY. (wikipedia:) It's now a ghost town. The cemetery is amazing but I haven't shot it yet.

Eventually the spot I photographed became a state park with a big picnic area including a pump well, a pavilion, and guardrails along the cliff above the creek. The park has been abandoned. I'm guessing it was abandoned because of the severe acid mine drainage from all the mining (see Uncle Dudley's coal mining museum e:heidi,49799). Although the Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee has been working on AMD remediation for about 20 years now, there's still a lot work to be done for the stream to support aquatic life and be rid of its sulfuric smell. I'd love for this to be a usable park again with fishing, swimming, camping and hiking. Fall Brook is part of the headwaters of the Tioga River which runs north into New York state and then turns back down into PA becoming the Susquehanna, eventually feeding into the Chesapeake Bay.

The entrance bridge. I'm guessing it was built by Civilian Conservation Corps members but I don't know that for sure.


That bridge is so beautiful!


A and Nisha on the trail


Nisha checking out a mushroom


Mushroom on the trail


Settling in for the nice view.


We sat up there for a while... and then I dropped the hood to my telephoto lens 20' down the cliff on the bank of the creek. A thought he was going to scale down the cliff and I said absolutely not! There's a trail down. Nisha was the first to give up hiking from the base of the trail to where the hood landed. she was pretty upset that she couldn't figure out how to follow any farther. Then A had to stop - he boosted me over a pretty big rock & tree combo so I could finish the trek. I know I'm making it sound very arduous, and it was, but it's all within a very small area, just a couple acres.

A little way down the cliff trail looking up


part of the cliff


River, waterfall... The orange tint is real - it's from the acid mine drainage. TCCCC does educational events with schoolkids where they can tie-dye white t-shirts in a concentrated version of the orange water. It's pretty gross.














Back at the top we checked out the cement pad where the picnic pavilion was.

Blackberries. Yum!


Pump for the well


Spider & web

(fifth & final post today!)

I got some fancy greens from the coop this week.



The first time I had them, I insulted them by using Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk dressing (and sunflower seeds! Just like Pizza Hut!) The greens wilted in disgust.

The second time I had them, I used Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette. The greens weren't offended but they didn't perk up, either.

Tonight, I got it right. I made lemon garlic dressing, sliced up some grape tomatoes, added goat cheese and sunflower seeds. Wow!



4 T. olive oil
4 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
2 T. finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt & pepper to taste.

(From _Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa_ ISBN 9781566563987 p. 14)

Still back in August...

Lisa, Miriam & I had a wonderful time with the Buffalo Queer Women's meetup and the assorted e:peeps who ventured out Friday night at Adonia's. Saturday, we went to the Towne for breakfast and then to the Falls.







And then we went to the Anchor Bar because Lisa LOVES wings. I had the pesto ravioli, which was pretty good. Lisa said the wings were "eh" and expensive but she was happy that she got to do the tourist thing at the Anchor Bar. (See e:heidi,49673 for a picture at Anchor Bar.)