Philadelphia Flower Show- Photos

The theme for the Flower Show was Hawaii: the Islands of Aloha.

Floral wedding setting

Pink flower pineapples

Hawaiian arrangement

Hawaiian Display

Hawaiian pool

pink tires

front porch display

fruit stand

white orchids

The Ocean Wave

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Snow Geese Migration at Middle Creek

March is the time when thousands of snow geese stop by Stevens, PA on their migration to Canada. Tundra swans, herons, bald eagles and visiting bird watchers can also be spotted at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. The snow geese can fly up to 50 miles per hour and can live for more than 25 years.

Middle Creek

Middle Creek viewer

Geese

geese close up

Visitors Center

Visitors Center

View from visitors center

bird display

even more bird eggs

bird eggs display

more bird eggs

ostrich egg

swan

Here is a Reading Eagle newspaper article for more info:

At Peak Migration, This Hiker Prefers To Stand Still.

 

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The Philadelphia Flower Show

Opening on Sunday March 4th, the Philadelphia International Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center is a gardener’s dream. The theme this year is ‘Hawaii: Islands of Aloha’. The flower show is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society. The last day to see the show is Sunday March 11th.

You can read about the exotic flowers, the 25-foot waterfall, and the largest collection of white orchids in this newspaper article here.

PA-flower-show-poster

 

 

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The Tree House Restaurant

Loxley's Restaurant

Loxley’s Restaurant in Lancaster, PA is built around a tree.

Tree at Loxley's

You can eat in the treehouse,

treehouse at Loxley's

where kids can make their own pizza.

view from second floor at Loxley's

Afterwards you can feed the fish.

Fish in pond

Nearby is the Dutch Apple Theatre

where Pinkalicious The Musical returns this summer

back by popular demand July 6-31, 2012.

 

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Fun for Kids and Grownups in Columbia, PA

What do cows and clocks have in common?

Columbia, PA in Lancaster County

where you can visit the Turkey Hill Experience

and the National Watch and Clock Museum.

Turkey Hill sign

At the Turkey Hill Experience,

you can learn about different types of tea,

Turkey Hill cow

make up your own ice cream flavor,

design the packaging and film the commercial,

cow - indoors Turkey Hill

or milk a mechanical cow,

how to milk a cow sign

and eat in the cafe.

Cafe at Turkey Hill

At the National Watch and Clock Museum,

you can view the largest clock collection in North America.

Read about it here: A Day Away at the National Watch & Clock Museum.

Nearby is Hinkle’s Pharmacy and restaurant and gift shop,

which opened in 1893, and made and sold the first paint-on Easter egg dye.

Doc Hinkle’s Egg Dye is still available there.

 

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The High Line Park in New York City

High Line view

The High Line is a trail built on an old freight rail line that is elevated above the streets of the West Side of lower Manhattan. The first section, from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, opened in 2009, and the second section to 30th Street opened in 2011. A third section to 34th Street is planned.

High Line Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High Line view

Click here for a printable map and brochure of the High Line.

Birds' nest sculpture

Read more about the High Line in National Geographic’s article:

Miracle Above Manhattan: New Yorkers can float over busy streets in an innovative park.

End of the High Line

 

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Jane’s Carousel in the Brooklyn Bridge Park

Jane's Carousel

The recently opened Jane’s Carousel in the Brooklyn Bridge Park of the DUMBO section of Brooklyn combines the Youngstown, Ohio charm of Idora Park (where the merry-go-round horses came from) with the skyline vistas of New York City.

Jane's Carousel

Jane's Carousel

Jane's Carousel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Author Kathryn Stockett of The Help

Kathryn Stockett spoke in West Reading last week at an event sponsored by the Friends of the Berks County Public Libraries. “The Help” has sold 5 million copies, is being translated into 40 languages, and has been adapted into a movie.

Kathryn Stockett said she loved to read as a child but the school librarian limited her to a shelf of books for her grade. So she read her sister’s books and then her mother’s which led to her being expelled in 6th grade from the First Presbyterian Day School for reading Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying.

She said she received 60 rejection letters from agents and wondered what would have happened if she had given up after 40 rejections, or even after 60. She began writing the book in the voice of her family’s maid Demetrie. Then when her character Aibileen started talking in a sassy voice unlike Demetrie’s personality, she created Minny. Finally she added the character Skeeter. She said her New York editor hired a copy editor in New Jersey who edited out the dialect from the book. Then she found a copy editor in New Orleans who got it.

She said the first idea for the bookcover which she loved showed a small white hand in a black hand. She said after several months the painting with birds was chosen for the bookcover because it had nothing to do with the book, although she said she gets fan emails analyzing the meaning of the cover as it relates to the characters in the book.

The Help bookcover birds

She said the British edition “The Color of Feelings” has done well but in Amsterdam where the title was translated into a play on words “The Maid’s Lacy Apron” sales have lagged.

She said she does not plan to write a sequel and is instead working on a book about women living in the 1920’s.

Kathryn Stockett

To read more about the event, click on the Reading Eagle newspaper article here.

Kathryn Stockett autograph

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Apple Picking at the Orchard

Weaver’s Orchard Farm Market

apple

apple signs

apple tree

weavers stand

gourds

pumpkins

more gourds

goose gourds

indian corn

scarecrows

pumpkins for sale

scarecrow

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Reading Reads: The Greater Reading Literary Festival

The Reading Reads Literary Festival schedule of events is located here. Kathryn Stockett, author of the bestselling novel “The Help” will be speaking on October 7th. The Alvernia University calendar of literary events, which features authors Tracey Kidder and Alina Fernandez among others, can be viewed here.

The festival includes numerous literary events in the greater Reading Pennsylvania area all scheduled during the month of October. The events are held at libraries, universities, bookstores, and restaurants, such as The Wise Owl Book Store, the Speckled Hen, the GoggleWorks Cafe, the Nolde Forest Environmental Educational Center and, of course, at the Pagoda.

 

Padoga

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