Lancaster Ohio Trip

I had 3 things I wanted to do on our recent trip to Ohio. I wanted to drive some country roads among the fall foliage. I wanted to visit an antique store in Zanesville which advertised it had lots of pottery. I wanted to see the picturesque town of Granville.

It was cold with occasional rain on our first day of travel. I didn’t find a salt-glazed crock small enough to buy. Because Zanesville historically has been a center of pottery production, the antique store did indeed have lots of pottery. I enjoyed seeing pieces by potters I had heard about and seen on ebay. I ended up buying a small Hartstone pitcher. I will have to keep looking for a smallish salt-glazed piece in consignment and antique stores.

We stayed at Rock Mill Cottage in Lancaster, Ohio. I don’t remember what internet link I used to bring up this lodging, but the reviews were so positive I decided to book it even though it meant going through the rigors of registering with Airbnb which we had never used. The cottage is less than an hour’s drive to Hocking Hills and even closer to Columbus.

The cottage was adjacent to an 1847 house where the hosts lived. Across the street was an old grist mill which has recently had the workings reconstructed.

The covered bridge was blocked so only pedestrians can travel through.

Friday was a mostly sunny delightful day. We drove east on U.S. 22, then once on Ohio 37 we let the GPS take over to direct us to Burr Oak Park. I knew from the map that there were few main highways going from Lancaster to the state park, just small country roads. I wish I had a camera mounted on my car so you could get a sense of what we experienced. We were on Jerusalem Road, then Van Horn, then Marietta, and after being on high ridges and down in hollows we came to a numbered road. The trees often formed a canopy of gold and red. My husband was a good sport; taking these routes meant lots of twisty roads with ups and downs and sometimes while on the crest you couldn’t see what was on the downward dip until you had in faith gone over. What towns we saw were small and somewhat rundown. For what it’s worth in these days of sophisticated surveys, we saw maybe 200 Trump/Pence campaign signs and only 2 Hillary/Kaine signs.

Not far from Gloucester on flatter land we saw this decorated barn.

The lake at Burr Oak didn’t have the color I had hoped would reflect in the water. We took a picnic lunch with us and ate at a picnic table near an empty cottage overlooking the lake under a gorgeous maple tree. We did some hiking but didn’t find the trail we thought would go along the shore of the lake.

Our cottage in Lancaster had a good TV. We rooted for the Cubs but alas the Buckeye State (Cleveland Indians) was the happy winner. We consoled ourselves with chocolate cake.

Our b and b hosts worked during the week. The lady had stocked the refrigerator with eggs, bacon, milk, orange juice plus there were English muffins and cereal and a Keurig coffee machine. She also had baked a chocolate cake. On Saturday she prepared the breakfast in the main house and brought it to the cottage. We filled out our menu choices on Friday night. We chose banana pancakes and sausage. Along with that she brought a fruit bowl of black grapes, huge blackberries, and bananas. All very tasty.

After this hearty breakfast, we had a quick tour of the old house which is still being restored. We were told how they took borings out of the cellar beams to determine the date the house was constructed by counting tree rings. Apparently, the practice was to use fairly recently felled timber to build.

Granville was north of Lancaster and on our route home. Saturday was lively with a farmers’ market. A policeman directed traffic on Broad Street so pedestrians could easily cross. We were lucky to find a parking spot just across from the market. Granville promotes itself as a New-England-type of village. Part of the campus of Denison University borders Broad Street, but the main section is built on the hill overlooking the town.

The Granville farmers’ market was maybe 4 times bigger than the one at home in Warsaw and had more diversity of products.

Granville had little shops and several interesting restaurants. We used the restroom facilities in the public library.

It was unusually warm so folks made good use of the outdoor seating of food venues drinking coffee. The main street had lots of benches for resting, too.

Because of Halloween and fall, many homes had special decorations.

Being pretty close to Columbus, big-city activities and venues are easily accessible to the residents and students. (BTW here we saw only Hillary campaign signs.)

As you can tell from all the photos, I found Granville very picturesque.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operation Christmas Child 2016

I have my box packed for a girl 10-14 and turned in at my church. How about you? Just a few weeks until they go to the intake distribution point.

Subdued Autumn

 

I finally did my walk on the Winona Trails. Lots of people out there today walking, biking, running, walking dogs, even one lady in a wheelchair.

 Though there are yellow, red, some orange leaves, the colors seem subdued this year. At the church potluck today someone mentioned the foliage seemed to be falling off quickly as well. It was mostly the golden yellow standing out on this afternoon.

I took the tripod that my sister-in-law no longer wanted on the walk. It isn’t very heavy, but it is kind of awkward to carry around and put the camera on and take off. I would say the scene of the creek and the berries would have been blurry without the tripod.

If I were going to a flower show or botanical garden where close-ups would be quite likely, the tripod would be a must. Otherwise, probably not.

The Heritage Trail/Greenway has several art installations.

The fences add color.

Not a lot of interest to photograph really, but it was a pleasant day with wind rustling the leaves.  I didn’t walk the trail section from the Miller Athletic Complex to Grace College Campus. Maybe another time yet this fall though I guess the window is getting narrow for leaf peeping.

Brisk Autumn Day

 

I had hoped to walk on the Winona Lake trails this afternoon, but though we have periods of sunshine among the clouds, there is a brisk wind. The internet temperature says it feels like 50 degrees. I am a wimp. I will try on Sunday afternoon when we should be mid-sixties.

I put my electric blanket on the bed yesterday. I had it on a low setting last night; it felt so nice. I had trouble leaving its warmth to get ready to go out for breakfast with my husband this morning. It is still dark at 7 a.m., and I am not a morning person anyway.

I went to a book sale at Grace College library on Monday. I bought 4 books. I went back today, and the books are now half price. I bought Thoene’s All Rivers to the Sea for $1, the last book of the Galway Chronicles series, and the only one Grace Village library needs. I have been busy weeding to make room on the shelves again. I think I may look at my series desiderata list and withdraw books where we have only a smattering of a long series. I have very little money left, and the chances of finding the books to fill the gaps at a cheap price aren’t very high. However, I am tired of the constant need to get rid of books. That is an aspect of my library work that brings no joy.

There is a smattering of moss roses, but I will need to clean out that bed in another week or so. The slow descent into cold weather has started. I see the prediction is for wetter and colder for winter 2017 for the Midwest and Great Lakes area. That forecast also doesn’t bring joy.

Climbing Hills

 

As I read Diana Trautwein’s recent post about her view of the San Gabriel Valley (California), it stirred memories of not only that location where I grew up, but other hills where I have been gifted with scenes of beauty.

When we buried my father at Rose Hills cemetery one windy December 10th, we could see all the way to and beyond downtown Los Angeles since the smog was gone. Driving to my sister’s house afterwards for lunch, the snow-capped mountains in the distance shone. Such an achingly picture-perfect day at a time of great loss.

My husband and I rented a cabin in Arkansas at a state park during the week when it was quiet and uncrowded. We hiked to a rocky outcropping. As we sat and rested, a small drama played out below in the valley. We heard a hound’s barking and finally focused on it chasing a deer, the deer leaping over fences and keeping well ahead until the hound gave up.

When we served as library consultants to the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem, each morning I woke to the grinding of gears as trucks climbed the highway and heard the call to prayer from the minaret. We were living on Mount Zion. I hiked with the students to Bethany on a fieldtrip and on the descent we stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane where spread out before us was the Holy City.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that I wrote and led a Bible study at my church in Dallas about the mountains in the Bible as places where God communicated with man. Mountains create new perspectives for us. Having spent many summers in the San Bernardino mountains, mountains always speak to my heart.

Kercher’s Sunrise Orchards and Farm Store

 

I went on a Grace Village outing with 5 other ladies on the bus to Kercher's Sunrise Orchard in Goshen Indiana today. Our trees are a little slower to display autumn color than last year. I had a donut and a cup of cider; watched as the hay wagon came in with visitors carrying their big pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.

There is a u-pick apple orchard, but most of us just bought apples and/or cider from the farm market.

These were hefty pumpkins.

Lots of gourds and squashes.

Other decorative items included mums and Indian corn.

The store has aprons, apples, baked goods, cider, and other household items.

Bins of “seconds” were available and popular with those planning to make pies and apple sauce.

The wagons carried pumpkins, baskets of apples, and kids. One little boy did not happily leave the toys in the wading pool.

Kercher’s is geared for family and school outings. This apple had questions with flip-up answers.

 A nice autumn outing on a Friday afternoon.