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7r0773r · 1 year

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Foster by Claire Keegan

When we get home, the hound gets up and comes out to the car to greet us. It's only now I realise I've not heard either one of them call him by his name. Kinsella sighs and goes off to milk. When he comes inside, he says he's not ready for bed and that there will be no visitors tonight anyhow, on account of the wake — not, he says, that he wants any. The woman goes upstairs and changes and comes back down in her nightdress. Kinsella has taken my shoes off and has put what I now know is the boy's jacket on me.

‘What are you doing now?’ Mrs Kinsella says.

‘What does it look like? Couldn't she break her neck in these?’

He goes out, stumbling a little, then comes back in with a sheet of sandpaper and scuffs up the soles of my new shoes so I will not slip.

'Come on,' he says. ‘We'll break them in.’

'Didn't she already break them in? Where are you taking her?'

‘Only as far as the strand,' he says.

‘You'll be careful with that girl, John Kinsella,' she says. 'And don't you go without the lamp.'

‘What need is there for a lamp on a night like tonight?’ he says, but he takes it anyhow, as it's handed to him.

There's a big moon shining on the yard, chalking our way onto the lane and along the road. Kinsella takes my hand in his. As soon as he takes it, I realise my father has never once held my hand, and some part of me wants Kinsella to let me go so I won't have to feel this. It's a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be. He takes shorter steps so we can walk in time. I think about the woman in the cottage, of how she walked and spoke, and conclude that there are huge differences between people.

When we reach the crossroads we turn right, down a steep, sloping road. The wind is high and hoarse in the trees, tearing fretfully through the dry boughs, and their leaves rise and swing. It's sweet to feel the open road falling away under us, knowing we will, at its end, come to the sea. The road goes on and the sky, everything, seems to get brighter. Kinsella says a few meaningless things along the way then falls into the quiet way he has about him, and time passes without seeming to pass and then we are in a sandy, open space where people must park cars. It is full of tyre marks and potholes, a rubbish bin which seems not to have been emptied in a long time.

'We're almost there now, petal.’

He leads me up a steep hill where, on either side, tall rushes bend and shake. My feet sink in the deep sand, and the climb takes my breath.

Then we are standing on the crest of a dark place where the land ends and there is a long strand and water which I know is deep and stretches all the way to England. Far out, in the darkness, two bright lights are blinking.

Kinsella lets me loose and I race down the far side of the dune to the place where the black sea hisses up into loud, frothy waves. I run towards them as they back away and retreat, shrieking, when another crashes in. When Kinsella catches up, we take our shoes off. In places, we walk along with the edge of the sea clawing at the sand under our bare feet. In places, he leaves me to run. At one point, we go in until the water is up to his knees and he lifts me onto his shoulders.

'Don't be afraid!' he says.

'What?'

'Don't be afraid!'

The strand is all washed clean, without so much as a footprint. There's a crooked line, close to the dunes, where things have washed up: plastic bottles, sticks, the handle of a mop whose head is lost and, farther on, a stable door, its bolt broken.

‘Some man's horse is loose tonight,’ Kinsella says. He walks on for a while then. It is quieter up here, away from the noise of the sea. ‘You know the fishermen sometimes find horses out at sea. A man I know towed a colt in one time and the horse lay down for a long time before he got up. And he was perfect. Tiredness was all it was, after being out so long.

'Strange things happen,’ he says. 'A strange thing happened to you tonight, but Edna meant no harm. It's too good, she is. She wants to find the good in others, and sometimes her way of finding that is to trust them, hoping she'll not be disappointed, but she sometimes is.'

He laughs then, a queer, sad laugh. I don't know what to say.

'You don't ever have to say anything,' he says. 'Always remember that as a thing you need never do. Many's the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.'

Everything about the night feels strange: to walk to a sea that's always been there, to see it and feel it and fear it in the half dark, and to listen to this man saying things about horses out at sea, about his wife trusting others so she'll learn who not to trust, things I don't fully understand, things which may not even be intended for me.

We keep on walking until we come to a place where the cliffs and rocks come out to meet the water. Now that we can go no farther, we must turn back. Maybe the way back will somehow make sense of the coming. Here and there, flat white shells lie shining and washed up on the sand. I stoop to gather them. They feel smooth and clean and brittle in my hands. We turn back along the beach and walk on, seeming to walk a greater distance than the one we crossed in reaching the place where we could not pass, and then the moon disappears behind a darkish cloud and we cannot see where we are going. At this point, Kinsella lets out a sigh, stops, and lights the lamp.

‘Ah, the women are nearly always right, all the same,' he says. ‘Do you know what the women have a gift for?’

'What?'

'Eventualities. A good woman can look far down the line and smell what's coming before a man even gets a sniff of it.’

He shines the light along the strand to find our footprints, to follow them back, but the only prints he can find are mine.

‘You must have carried me there,’ he says.

I laugh at the thought of me carrying him, at the impossibility, then realise it was a joke, and that I got it.

When the moon comes out again, he turns the lamp off and by the moon's light we easily find and follow the path we took out of the dunes. When we reach the top, he won't let me put my shoes on but does it for me. Then he does his own and knots the laces. We stand then, to pause and look back out at the water.

'See, there's three lights now where there was only two before.'

I look out across the sea. There, the two lights are blinking as before, but with another, steady light, shining in between.

'Can you see it?' he says.

‘I can,' I say. 'It's there.'

And that is when he puts his arms around me and gathers me into them as though I were his own. (pp. 60-67)

#Claire Keegan #book quotes

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ladysquigglebones-nature-rolls · 4 years

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Lady Squigglebones’ Crip Survival Tip #1

So like, navigating the wilderness/shitty backroads in a wheelchair is frickin hard sometimes. And nobody seems to acknowledge that that’s a thing people do? Like, disabled people can like the outdoors, you know? So anyway, hiking is all I can do during quarantine, so I decided to fill that void with some half sarcastic half totally serious advice.

Tip #1: No sand is trustworthy (and it’s probably full of deer’s spines)

Yeah.

A week ago I was on my way home from my trek. The sun was bright, my dogs were covered in marsh sludge, and no bees were trying to fight me for the honeysuckle vines I draped over my chair. A perfect day. But alas, some jerk decided to go 65 on a curvy 1 lane road. To get out of his way, I tried turning onto this sandy abandoned driveway. It looked pretty stable, so I thought I could make it. I couldn’t. My ass got stranded for like fifteen minutes. And then I saw IT. A whole fucking deer spine was like six feet away. Still stranded, I had to also divert my mental energy driving out of the sand and to convincing my dogs not to eat the damn thing.

So, stay away from creepy driveways made of sand. PSA over.

#im sorry if this is traumatizing #rip #deer #never trust sand #nature #what the fuck #nature walk #im sorry #quarantine #disability #wheelchair #disability rights #fuck ableism #cripple punk

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intubatedangel · 5 years

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Barista’s Bad Heart - part 9

(Long part here, a lot of exposition, but it’s fairly important as Anna Swift and the team at Memorial are going to be the main characters of many of my stories going forward. Like a TV medical drama, you’ll see these guys often, but the patients will still get their own introductory part or parts. Hope you enjoy.)

Part 1: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183302348002/baristas-bad-heart-part-1

Other links at the bottom.

***

Advanced Nurse Practitioner Anna Swift leaned against the counter in the centre of the main triage room. She signed off a chart, dropping it into the discharged pile, then picked up her tea. She was young enough, only 26, that she hadn’t lost enough taste buds to handle the grim brown liquid that passed as coffee. She sipped the warm tea and turned to look around the room. Laid out in a hexagon, it was the hub of the emergency department, where patients were initially assessed then shifted to the relevant ward. There were a dozen cubicles in this central room alone, with portable beds to allow patients to be shuffled around easily and efficiently.

Wide sets of double doors led through to additional cubicles for varying degrees of severity. Each set of doors had large painted panels denoting their intended patients. The blue doors were the minor injuries ward, though most of the staff referred to it as HC, hypochondriac central. Small cuts, basic colds, pretty much anything that could have been sorted by the patient themselves, went through those doors.

Yellow doors led through to the main treatment ward, simplified to TR by the staff. Simple fractures, bad cuts, sprains and illnesses, anything actually needing treatment or observation went through those doors. It was the biggest of the wards, capable of accommodating over 40 patients without any body sitting on a bed in a corridor.

Red was the High Severity Unit, HSU. This was for patients that were in potentially serious trouble and needed close observation. Badly broken bones, head injuries and the like. Things that had a chance of suddenly becoming life threatening. 20 patients could be treated, and crash carts were scattered across the ward in case a patient deteriorated. It had its own set of elevators to the radiology department and an internal corridor to the next ward. The ward that had black panels on its doors.

The Resus Suite was where the life and death action happened. It had access to the ambulance bay to get patients in quick. It was the crowning glory of the Trauma Centres reputation. 12 fully equipped rooms, ready to handle anything the city had to throw at it. It even had a pair of Trauma Theatre’s, and a surgical team on standby. A helicopter pad on the roof had elevators directly to the Resus Suite.

The Resus Suite was Anna’s primary domain. She would cover the other wards when it was quiet, as she had been doing today, but as soon as that red phone rang, she could drop everything and go to where she thrived. Her gaze fell upon it. It sat on the central column behind the circular counter. It hadn’t rung all day. Somehow, the bustling city had avoided grinding anyone up over the last 8 hours. A couple of minor car crashes, one stabbing and an old lady who tripped over thin air and broke her hip, but nothing that set that phone ringing. Every patient had been conscious and stable as they were brought in.

“You’d better not be hoping for that phone to ring Anna.” Said a voice behind her. The words were a reprimand, but the tone was friendly, almost playful. She turned to see Doctor Carl Teague, 30 years old, with sandy hair a short, sculpted beard. He was like Anna. They were both young for their positions, he was already an ED consultant, leading their team. Anna had been working with him for two years now. They’d been sleeping together for 6 months.

“I’m thinking nothing of the sort.” She replied, a look of mock outrage on her face. “I was merely considering that my skills might be being wasted over in HC.”

He rolled his eyes, filling his current chart in the discharge box. “Think of it this way,” he said quietly, leaning over the counter towards her, “a quiet day, means we have more energy for fun later on.”

Anna checked that no was watching. “Easy boy. Remember, not at work.” Despite seeing each other for six months, no one at the hospital officially knew they were in a more than professional relationship. It was starting to become a point of contention between them, and she saw him frown slightly. “Soon. Okay. I just want to make sure everyone knows I’m leading because I’m good enough. Not because I’m entangled with the ED’s golden boy.”

“You’ve proved that time and again already.” He said. “I just…”

The red phone rang.

***

Anna stood in the ambulance bay, bristling with that nervous energy that always filled her when a hard case came her way. Excitement wasn’t quite the right word for it. It was tension, focus, determination all wrapped into one. There was also an undercurrent of concern and fear, that they might fail. But she had enough experience to keep that buried deep enough that it wouldn’t impact her performance.

In the six minutes since the red phone had called them, Anna had gathered up her team. Like a well-oiled machine they knew their roles and could have probably run a code in silence, such was their experience together. Carl had grabbed his current shadow, a young F1 junior doctor. She was clearly nervous, her fingers tugging on the hem of her head scarf.

They all knew the rough details, mid 20’s girl in full cardiac arrest, sudden onset, no trauma. The sirens broke through the air, the ambulance rapidly approaching. Carl gave his orders.

“Ok guys, let’s run this same as always. Anna, I want you straight onto compressions. Kirstie, take the ambu bag. Jess, IV. Roger, you’ve got the record. Zee, this is your first time, so stick close, listen and try your best to keep track.” Zainab nodded. “Good. Everyone else, I want her inside as quick as we can, so make sure nothings tangled and get ready to work them legs.”

There were murmurs of understanding, the approaching sirens beginning to drown them out. The ambulance raced onto the street, forcing the traffic to yield. It swung into the emergency lane that led up to the assemble resus team. They all stepped back, just off the road, as the ambulance approached. The tyres squealed, a hint of burnt rubber filling the space in front of the doors, bringing the ambulance to a stop.

The team sprang into action. Two of those who had no specific job wrenched open the doors, stepping out of the way. Anna was greeted by the sight of Lucy working the young woman’s chest. A younger man was sat at the head of the gurney, his eyes sparkling with tears. The squeal of the monitor spilled out, and Anna could see the streaking flatline on the monitor. The moment passed, and Anna sprang into action.

She stepped forward, placing one foot on the back step of the ambulance, then sprang forward. Gripping the sides of the gurney with her hands, she swung her legs down, landing on either side of the girl’s bare legs. She grabbed the monitor off the shelf as Lucy continued her compressions, and pulled it across the lifeless body to clip it onto the gurney’s rail.

“On 3.” Anna said to Lucy, who nodded, as she shuffled her knees into the right position. “1…2…3” Lucy pushed down once more, then snapped her arms away. In the same moment, Anna brought her interlaced fingers down, pressing down straight away. There had been no break in the rhythm of compressions, Anna’s thrusts taking place of Lucy’s with a slick efficiency.

The gurney shuddered, Anna compensating automatically, as it was pulled from the back of the ambulance. There was a slight pause as bits of equipment were handed off and Dave made his way round from the cab. Hands grabbed the gurney and began pushing it head-first, towards the doors. Anna kept up the perfect compressions as they travelled towards the Resus Suite.

Carl was near the girl’s head, opposite Dave. Roger was trailing just behind Dave, clipboard and chart in hand. “What have we got?” Carl asked.

“Amelia Preston, 25. Sudden V-tach arrest after altercation with a customer. No signs of injury, infection or drug-based influence. Suspected prior cardiac complaint. She was wearing a 3-lead monitor at the time.” He nodded over at George, who held out the monitor. Zainab took it off his hands. “CPR started immediately, and AED was on scene within 90 seconds. Shocked 3 times before becoming asystolic. First round of Epi administered after 10 minutes. Resulted in a shockable rhythm. After 2 shocks we got a sinus brady rhythm, with multifocal PVCs. Deteriorated back into V-fib, then asystole again after 2 shocks. She’s been flat since then. Total downtime of 22 minutes.”

The team had gotten the gurney inside and were now turning through the extra wide door into Resus 1.

“Ok. Let’s move her over and get her on our monitors. Let’s run a tox panel, and get someone from cardiology down here, I want the data from that monitor.” The gurney had pulled up next to trauma bed and everyone was waiting on Anna to move Amelia across. Anna checked the team was ready to move, then shifted across both beds, slipping over the side to land on the step that protruded from the trauma bed. The rest of the team had lifted Amelia across and arranged her on their own CPR backboard, allowing Anna to resume compressions as soon as she landed on the step.

Lucy handed over the blood sample to one of the nurses, Trish, who rushed out of the trauma room towards the lab. Another nurse was over by the phone, calling the cardiology department. Others were quickly connecting the equipment to the monitors, one attached to the bed, with a repeater feed to the TV sized monitor on the wall.

“Let’s double check everything.” Carl ordered. “I want an echo and let’s confirm that airway.” Anna counted off the compressions as the ultrasound probe was pulled over to the side of the bed.

“3…2…1…” Anna pumped down Amelia’s chest once more, then pulled back. She scanned the room as Carl held the probe to Amelia’s battered chest. Lucy and Dave were standing in a corner, along with the young man that had accompanied them. He looked physically and emotionally exhausted. She looked down at the lifeless body before her. With a few moments to actually look at the girl, Anna was struck was by how similar she was to their patient. They had the same body shape, were within a couple of inches of each other and both had hair that curled gently in waves, though Anna’s was maybe a shade darker. If they’d been weighed, there would probably be a good difference, given the muscle tone Anna had developed lifting patients and performing life saving efforts. But overall, they looked similar enough that a stranger might comment on them being sisters.

“No cardiac activity.” Carl commented, gaze locked on the screen of the echo. “But the pericardium is clear.” He handed off the probe and grabbed the stethoscope from around his neck. “Good bilateral air entry. Airway’s fine.” He looked up at Anna. The realisation of the similarity between her and Amelia must have been showing on her face. “You ok?” He asked.

Anna shock her head quickly. “I’m fine.” She said, motioning for him to get out of the way. As soon as the head of the steth was out of the way she resumed compressions, with a slightly more desperate effort to them.

Carl shrugged to himself. “High dose of epi, let’s see if we can kick start something.” Jessica acknowledged the order and proceeded to inject the drugs into the central IV, confirming the time with Roger. “Sarah! Anything from cardiology?” He called out to the nurse by the phone.

“They’re saying at least 15 minutes. They’re all in the cath lab or out for lunch.”

Carl cursed under his breath. He placed his fingers against Amelia’s neck, feeling the solid compression generated pulse. Then he checked her pupils. “Pupillary response is diminished.” He sighed, pondering his next move. “Ok, let’s get the LUCAS and combo pads on her, and initiate therapeutic hypothermia, I want to keep as much of her brain function intact as possible if we can get her back. She’s definitely a small.”

Anna focused on completing her fourth minute of compressions as the rest of team unpacked the specified equipment. Being a nationally recognised centre of excellence in the field of resuscitation, Memorial had been given several grants for research projects aiming to improve patient outcomes. One of those projects was Carl’s pet project. Still a prototype, the Intra-Arrest Temperature Management Vest was a relatively simple idea. The goal was to rapidly induce mild-hypothermia to reduce potential brain and organ damage, without interfering with efforts to resuscitate the patient. In practice, it looked almost like a bulky long winter coat without the sleeves and a few strange gaps.

Anna watched as the team spread the vest on the bed next to Amelia. They’d practiced the procedure repeatedly, on manakins and each other, but Amelia was only the second patient to be in the right situation for the vest. Kirstie and Sarah took up position on the opposite side of the bed from Amelia, while Jessica come up beside Anna. With Trish still on her way back from the lab, Carl directed Zainab to the head of the bed, while he went to the end. His longer arms allowed him to reach out and grip underneath Amelia’s thighs. Anna waited until everyone had sounded off their readiness before stopping compressions.

“1…2…3… Lift.” Carl told Zainab. Together they lifted the lifeless Amelia a couple of inches clear of the bed. Anna’s arm shot underneath her, grabbing the vest. Next to her Jess was doing the same. They pulled it through, Kirstie and Sarah making sure they didn’t drag it too far, then guided Carl and Zainab in lowering Amelia back down so that she lay with her shoulder blades on the reinforced section of the back of the vest. That was where most of the pressure from the compressions would end up.

As soon as Amelia was down, Anna went straight back into compressions, keeping the blood flowing while the others finished arranging the vest. Amelia’s chest sank underneath Anna’s hands, her abdomen distending just as it before. The vest offered no interference with the process. As Anna hammered away on her near-doppelganger’s chest, Sarah reached around her hands to remove the shiny orange gel pads, replacing them with the large foam squares of the Quik-Combo electrodes.

Jess and Kirstie threaded Amelia’s arms through the large holes, then folded the top half of vest over her body, securing it with the Velcro straps. It didn’t interfere with Anna, as one of the large gaps was located right on Amelia’s sternum, providing the perfect gap for Anna’s hands. The pair of nurses then moved further down, wrapping parts of the vest around Amelia’s thighs, another large gap left between her legs, allowing access to her vagina and femoral arteries.

The small cooler attached to the vest began to hum as it pumped refrigerated water through the tiny tubes in the vest, and within seconds Amelia’s temperature began to drop. Anna continued her professionally brutal compressions as the team then began to unpack the Lucas. Carl was injecting another round of drugs in, as the monitor continued to show the complete lack of electrical activity in Amelia’s heart.

The backboard of the Lucas was brought over, Anna stopping for a moment as it was slid under Amelia, it was a perfect fit for the reinforced region of the vest. Anna did a few more compressions as the team made sure the Lucas was ready.

“Ok, step off Anna.” Carl ordered. She complied, stepping completely off the bed, rubbing some feeling back into her arms. She glanced at the clock. 6 minutes and 30 seconds of near continuous compressions. It was a personal best. Though she didn’t feel particularly proud at the moment. It meant that Amelia had now been in cardiac arrest for 29 minutes.

Anna returned her attention to the patient who look so much like her. The Lucas had been clipped to its backboard, Amelia’s wrists tied to the top. The large puck, fitting perfectly in the gap in the cooling vest, began to force her chest down. At this point, all Anna could do was watch. Watch, and hope.

***

Part 2: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183345519857/baristas-bad-heart-part-2

Part 3: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183380872877/baristas-bad-heart-part-3

Part 4: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183471507287/barristas-bad-heart-part-4

Part 5: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183491865107/barristas-bad-heart-part-5

Part 6: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183594682567/barristas-bad-heart-part-6

Part 7: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183658697742/baristas-bad-heart-part-7

Part 8: https://intubatedangel.tumblr.com/post/183678245687/baristas-bad-heart-part-8

#cpr #resus #resus writing #cardiophilia #dark cardiophilia #medical drama

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

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How NYC Bartenders Are Building Pandemic-Proof Businesses

The days of sidling up to a bar in New York may feel like distant memories. But bartenders and business owners are fighting to bring them back by building imaginative solutions for the beverages, and the hospitality, that have been in such deficit over the past 11 months.

Some of these intrepid ideas involve new ventures and virtual bar experiences, while others pivot from traditional bar service entirely. One upstart is resurrecting an ancient technique to sell shelf-stable libations to-go. Another sees safety — in the form of rapid tests for Covid-19 at the venue entrance — as the new luxury.

In every story told here, there is resilience and a reimagined future. Here’s how a handful of NYC’s bar owners, workers, and newly minted entrepreneurs are attempting to survive and succeed in this pandemic.

Speakeasies Out on the Street

When Raines Law Room opened in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, it was the perfect example of the speakeasy style that many cocktail bars were emulating in 2009 — unmarked, hard-to-find door, tin ceiling, the works. With no standing room allowed, it was not easy to get in, which was the icing on the exclusive, hidden bar cake. These are not the sorts of places that thrive with indoor seating restrictions.

“Something that’s unique to all these frontline industries — and I hate to put us in the same category as health care, but we’re also some of the most affected — it’s like, ‘Come up with genius ideas while you’re kind of broke and uninsured!’” Meaghan Dorman, bar director of both Raines Law Room and Dear Irving, says. But bar people are immensely resilient, so Dorman opened up the bar’s intimate backyard and worked to obtain a bike lane permit in order to seat even more guests out front, in plain sight.

Though Dorman never thought she’d see a concept like Raines Law Room with a patio, it’s an increasingly common phenomenon in the streets of NYC. Even Attaboy, another infamous and elusive bar of New York, is now serving cocktails right out in the open on Eldridge Street.

“We’ve just really had to rethink how we can translate our philosophy into the only business we’re allowed to do right now,” Dorman says. For all of her bars, this entails not only in-person service, but a focus on to-go cocktails and virtual class offerings as well.

Paying for Safety is the New Luxury

In order to enter City Winery’s flagship location at Pier 57 in Hudson River Park on the West Side of Manhattan, both guests and employees alike are required to take a rapid Covid-19 test.* On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, patrons are responsible for the cost of a $50 test — a fee whose full amount goes directly to the testing company — and can spend their 15-minute wait for the results sipping on complimentary bubbles. Those who test positive for Covid-19 are sent home after being offered a follow-up PCR test with 24-hour turnaround, but they are not permitted inside. A negative result is rewarded with entrance to the restaurant, where all other safety protocols, such as social distancing and mask-wearing, are still enforced.

Michael Dorf, founder and CEO of City Winery, believes that offering tests at the door is “not just a scientific and social responsibility to keep people safe,” but an example of an expanding definition of hospitality. By ensuring that everybody inside what he refers to as “the bubble” has acquired a negative test result, City Winery is able to add another layer of comfort to the hospitality his restaurant venue provides. “And at some point in the not-too-distant future, we’re going to start to see [the need] to check people’s certificate of vaccination,” he says imaginatively.

Dorf believes there are “a lot of psychological considerations” to take into account to make guests feel as safe as possible, “and that’s our job,” he says. “Just like providing good bathrooms, we need to provide a good, comfortable situation for consumption. If people don’t feel safe, then they’re not going to come.”

Since City Winery is usually also a live-music venue, Dorf foresees thorough safety measures carried over for concerts when gathering restrictions are lessened. Until City Winery can host shows with an all-inclusive, test-and-ticket price for revelers, it is offering virtual concerts through its CWTV exclusive streaming series. Dorf says he is open to using it as an incremental offering for audiences who are unable to attend live because of logistics, “but we don’t see that at all in any way as a substitute.” As with its virtual wine tastings, he sees this more as a temporary bridge to connect people in a very solitary time, but also feels pushback on virtual gathering “because there’s so much of it,” he says. “And what we do really well, which doesn’t work in a Covid world … is bring people together.”

The Rise of the Salon

“My apartment, a brownstone with a large parlor, fireplace, and view of the Chrysler Building was my metropolitan dream. I was gutted at the thought of having to leave it,” recalls Georgette Moger-Petraske, a freelance food and drinks travel writer who lost her work last March. When her roommate moved out around the same time, keeping the apartment didn’t seem likely. Then she stumbled upon an 1860s perfume counter from Louisiana in an antique store during a day trip upstate. “I fell hard at first sight,” Moger-Petraske says of the beautiful bar-like structure. “Taking into consideration how much everyone was really missing bars and restaurants and attempting being home bartenders, I hatched a plan.”

The plan was to teach the fundamentals of classic cocktails like the simple yet elegant ones served at the storied speakeasy Milk & Honey, which was arguably the first of its kind in New York City to gain rabid popularity in the early aughts. Late owner Sasha Petraske and Moger-Petraske’s book, “Regarding Cocktails,” is filled with recipes for the at-home bartender and a fitting touchstone for any class. And so, with a little help from a PPP loan and a friend on the North Fork of Long Island with the Yennecott oyster farm, “Regarding Oysters” was born.

Moger-Petraske’s unique salon brings small groups into a Covid-safe learning space. During a two-hour session, guests are welcomed into her Murray Hill apartment with hand sanitizer and temperature checks before being treated to a class in cocktail-making and oyster-shucking at the little antique bar that had caught her eye so many months ago. “The salons are very intimate and there’s always a celebratory feeling in the air,” Moger-Petraske says of her small, reservations-only classes that will gather in honor of birthdays, engagements, and date nights.

Between the roaring fire, crystal clear Hundredweight ice cubes, and vintage barware that she has collected over the years, Moger-Petraske is able to present the feel of a curated bar to her students. The essence of hospitality is palpable. “Our favorite NYC dining rooms and bars put just as much consideration and passion into their establishments,” she says. “From the fold of a napkin to the charm of a miniature salt boat, the clarity of the cube chilling your Penicillin, to the delicate Depression-era coupe your Water Lily is served in. It’s my hope that in the absence of our beloved bars that my guests feel inspired to create some of this magic in their own homes.”

Your Friendly Neighborhood Grocer

St. John Frizell, owner of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, tried to make his restaurant function as a delivery and takeout business for a short while back when nobody knew how long the shutdowns would last. Since sending out quality meals in to-go boxes is no simple feat and can require menu changes and more, “it was a question of how much investment,” says Frizell.

“Is this the best way to invest the money that I have left? And I decided it was not, so we closed the restaurant in late March,” Frizell explains. Not long after, he reached out to family-owned organic farm co-op Lancaster Farm Fresh to see about obtaining some of its CSA boxes. He found that enough people in town were interested in claiming one of their own to set up an online store on Fort Defiance’s website. Getting a box of beautiful vegetables through contactless pickup outside the closed restaurant was a popular notion in a time when nobody knew how Covid was transmitted and the supermarket was to be avoided. Business grew and soon people began asking for other items. “And I wanted other things too, like, cheese and milk, and eggs, and bread, and just started to build from there,” Frizell says.

It was decided then that the change for Fort Defiance was going to have to be permanent, not just a temporary closure until things got back to normal for restaurants. “That was an important decision because you can’t really ride two horses at the same time,” says Frizell. “You have to make a decision and just go for it with your whole heart.” The new iteration of Fort Defiance as a general store has since gotten into the mail-order and holiday catering business as he and his steadfast team roll with the punches of what their neighbors in Red Hook might need.

“I don’t want this to come off as corny, but [what] we went through, you have to ask, ‘How can I help?’ Like, ‘How can I be of service here?’” Much like when Hurricane Sandy flooded Fort Defiance and most of the neighborhood in 2012, “we were all kind of in the same boat as we are now. We all had problems, but we were all very ready to help each other at the same time,” Frizell recalls of his community.

As another way to reach out, he started a newsletter called The Fort Defiance Gazette with announcements of new items in the store, promotions, and more. “It’s also filled with the same kind of bullshit I would talk to people about across the bar. They’re still getting the content from me, whether they like it or not,” Frizell laughs. “But it’s another way to connect, and then people email me back all the time. So there’s this dialogue happening, it’s just happening in a different space.”

Room-Temp and Ready To-Go

“Our business really came about as we were watching our industry fall apart around us and feeling really sad and helpless about that,” says Blake Walker, co-founder of drinks delivery service Day and Night Cocktails. He and fellow Amor y Amargo alum Sean Johnson mitigated grief with conversations about possibilities for projects, contemplating styles of cocktail to best suit a pandemic hellscape. They settled on the “Scaffa” — a room-temperature and undiluted mixture of spirits found in Jerry Thomas’s 1860s “The Bartender’s Guide.” Recently appearing on menus at bars like Amor y Amargo and the late Pegu Club, the Scaffa also boasts the at-home allure of being shelf-stable, so it won’t take up space in the refrigerator.

Unlike many to-go models that can arrive alongside complicated instructions, Day and Night’s drinks are poured from their bottles without fuss. “What you get is exactly the way we would serve it to you if you were sitting across the bar from us,” Walker explains. Each menu features a fresh, bright “Day” cocktail alongside a deeper, richer “Night” mixture. For those not sold on the warm drink concept, think of cold as a flavor inhibitor and know that the professionals have layered some very indulgent ones in there.

Refreshingly, Day and Night isn’t only about the drinks — like bartending, it’s about taking care of people. “We decided right off the bat that we’d do a donation for each sale to an organization called Bushwick Ayuda Mutua, which is a mutual aid organization in Bushwick that I was volunteering for,” says Walker. After the murder of George Floyd, all profits for the month of June went to the Movement for Black Lives. Because of the smaller scale of the venture, Walker is also able to have an encounter with every customer. “I don’t take that for granted at all,” he says. “Having that personal interaction [is] the closest that I can get to the across-the-bar experience that I’ve missed so much about my job as it was a year ago.”

By the time Walker and Johnson’s workplace reopened to tackle outdoor dining, they already had their own regulars at what was becoming more than just a side hustle. “It made us turn towards Day and Night as a potential alternative because, at least for us, the experience of going back to work was not pleasant.” Less money for more effort with the added bonus risk of catching a deadly virus is a hard sell.

Instead, Walker started working full time on Day and Night Cocktails in December, quickly finding a way to make it a fully legal enterprise. He can now pursue an LLC and, with that, the potential of permanence. “We also are open to the possibility that this is meant to be a to-go concept,” Walker says. “It’s impossible to know exactly what drinking culture is going to look like on the other end of this, and I think that there may be some kind of a liminal time where both the to-go and physical bar spaces coexist.”

The Future

Are all of these innovations and modifications to the classic bar experience worth it if they don’t somehow improve the way hospitality workers are treated or protected?

For Day and Night Cocktails, the commitment to supporting good causes extends to its own hurting community. “Something that remains incredibly important to us is that whatever our participation is with this industry, on the other side of Covid, we just want to make sure that we’re working towards an industry that takes care of its own better,” Walker says. “We want to be a part of that rebuilding process.”

The real pain of newly vacant real estate where beloved bars once were is hard to ignore and important to acknowledge. There will be more empty storefronts as time trundles on, with plenty of talent waiting in the wings to fill them with new concepts. “It’s going to be a really opportunistic time,” Walker observes. Hopefully, the entrepreneurs jumping at these opportunities will have more than just profit in mind.

“Our guests need to understand that we’re not expendable and disposable, and our government needs to know that, too,” says Walker. “We need to remind each other all the time that our work is important and valuable and we shouldn’t be [a] disposable commodity that’s part of this gajillion-dollar industry. We have to do a little bit better [of a] job taking care of each other.”

As creative as bartenders are getting with side gigs and business-wide pivots, many want to get back to the bar as much as patrons do. “It’s all just so antithetical to what we love to do that I just can’t wait to serve someone at the bar again,” Dorman says longingly.

Despite everything, I do detect enthusiasm when speaking with these hospitality professionals about what the future holds for bars. I want to believe that fantastic transformations lie ahead, because perhaps it’s not a return to “normal” that we should crave, but a hope for an evolution. Dorman gets it right when she says, “It feels like the music has definitely changed at our party or something.” Here’s hoping for a better playlist on the horizon.

*At the time of publishing, City Winery is temporarily closed.

The article How NYC Bartenders Are Building Pandemic-Proof Businesses appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/post-covid-bars-nyc/

0 notes

fandomfansie · 11 months

Text

If Tom from Sandy Lane Stables met Lisa from the Saddle Club:

Tom: So, you’re the most popular character from your series? And you got a TV show, right?

Lisa: Yeah, my book series sucks but my TV show was awesome even if I was the punching bag.

Tom: That’s what we popular characters tend to go through. I got knocked unconscious in my first book and got appendicitis in my second.

Lisa: Oh, yeah, I had appendicitis, too, almost died and it sucked. I also got bitten by a venomous snake and almost died, got embarrassed by my little sister all the time, was treated like shit by my mom, and was knocked into a coma, all in the first season. So yeah, not that big of a deal.

Tom, visibly horrified: I’m sorry what the

FUCK

Is wrong with your writers

#sandy lane stables #usborne #horse lit #saddle club

6 notes · View notes

storybrookeofold · 3 years

Text

Main Street

Council/town hall

Archives

'Far off places' bookstore & library

'Emperors Retreat' Spa

'Magic Milkshakes' shakes & dessert

'The Clubhouse' restaurant & theatre

'Blizzards' ice cream parlour

'Potty for tea' café

Secondary school

'Granny's' Diner

'Conscience be your guide' therapy

Basil's PI

Storybrooke Law Firm

Bluejay Row

'Bibi's Boutique' clothing store

'Tangled hair & beauty' salon

'Madam's tailors & emporium' store

'Crowning glory' dentistry

'Star quality' jewellery store

'Secret world' Laundrette

'Fairest' body beauty shop

'Just right' bakery

“Modern Mode” clothing store

Lunar Lane

'Dodgers Deli' Deli

'From the heart' art supplies

College

Park of miracles community park

Hiro labs

Police department

Brothers shelter

Scat cat records

Cathedral

“Laughs-a-lot” comedy club

Pearl Shores

Sandy's sea shack, seafood restaurant

'Zero to Hero' gym

'Treasures untold' thrift store

Surf and Scuba shack

'Bare necessities' grocery store

Activity Centre

The new grill

Hospital

Fire Department

Glimmer Road

Tina's Place restaurant

Storybrooke Graveyard

'Next chapter' funeral service

'Underworld' nightclub

Mags lotions and potions

'The Classic' lounge and bar

'Enchanted' music store

'Shadowman' tarot and fortunes

'Fate' wax and threading bar

'The Big Cheese' dining

Green Village

'Heart of roses' florist

'Moving and Grooving' thrift store

'Rabbits veggie garden' veg restaurant

Storybrooke Motel

Primary school

Jenna's Stables

Zen's Pool and spa

Inksville

Flo's Diner

Matt's garage

Mr Ree's Furnishing store

'Fix-its' mechanics and repairs

Storybrooke postal services

Ralphs arcade

‘Sparky’s’ electronics

Al's toy barn

Pizza Planet

Woodpeak Hills

Clip n Tails vets and groomer

Oaken’s trading and hiking gear

Hunter’s Pub

Storybrooke Oracle Magazine office

#sbo town #sbo about town #sbo town map

0 notes

karingudino · 3 years

Text

Mousehole property with clear sea views and THREE homes is yours for £1.5m

Mousehole close to Penzance is a magical spot: a village gathered round a sandy cove, set within the sweep of Mount’s Bay.

It’s well-known for a few causes: one is the well-loved kids’s story concerning the Mousehole Cat, a story of fishermen (and cats) from days of yore.

The opposite is its fantastic Christmas lights, a novel show within the harbour of nautical themed lights, from ships to a whale to a sea serpent.

You would overlook the entire spectacle from Treen Fields, set on the prime of the village in three acres of land. It’s bought fabulous views down over the village and out to sea.

One of many three properties on web site (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

Set on Love Lane, this property has three dwellings. Treen Fields is the three-bedroom essential home; Treen Orchard is a indifferent cabin with one bed room; and The Flower Shed is an extra one-bedroom outbuilding which has a profitable letting historical past with Air B&B.

Non-public drive (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

This Love Lane property is described as a “substantial indifferent bungalow”, nevertheless it has a pure really feel, with wooden and slate used to good impact all through.

The distributors have labored exhausting over time to create a beautiful three-bedroom household residence with loads of character. It’s a superb residence for the eco acutely aware, nicely stuffed with lamb’s wool insulation.

The primary home (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

You strategy Treen Fields down a non-public driveway. Alongside the home is a indifferent double storage and workshop with energy and electrical energy, good for pottering away at hobbies.

Open plan sitting and eating room (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

The spacious lounge is filled with gentle, with attractive panoramic sea views in the direction of St Michael’s Mount and past. This room has a characteristic forged iron log burner, uncovered A frames and floorboards.

The lounge flows naturally into the eating room, additionally nicely positioned to reap the benefits of the attractive views. This room has underfloor heating and double glazed doorways resulting in the backyard.

Kitchen (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

Within the kitchen are a spread of cabinets with stable wooden work surfaces and a breakfast bar, in addition to plumbing for utilities.

Treen Fields has three bedrooms, one among which is loosely divided into two areas, and would additionally serve nicely as one other sitting room or examine.

Treen Orchard sitting room (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

The household rest room has a white suite with granite hand basin. There’s additionally a bathe room with a white suite and double dimension bathe cubicle.

In a helpful utility room, are plumbing for a washer and built-in airing cabinet.

Treen Orchard bed room (Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

Treen Orchard has a beautiful rustic feeling with a lot of uncovered wooden: the very best characteristic right here is the 20ft lounge. There’s additionally a kitchen space, bed room, and loo.

The Flower Shed is completely positioned to deliver revenue as a vacation let: the property is nicely positioned to entry the South West Coast Path, the native pub and the wealth of lovely seashores within the space.

(Picture: @ Marshall’s property brokers)

Exterior, the grounds are primarily laid to garden, with mature shrubs and timber providing privateness. Eager gardeners will recognize the polytunnel, the place you would develop your individual veg or a couple of particular crops.

A coated veranda provides to the aesthetic – you would sit in a rocking chair and watch the world go by. To the entrance of the home is a raised solar terrace – that is maybe probably the most lovely spot of all to reap the benefits of these beautiful views.

This property is on the market for £1.5 million with Marshalls, Mousehole, (01736) 731199, see their web site here.

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The post Mousehole property with clear sea views and THREE homes is yours for £1.5m appeared first on Fikiss Permaculture.

source https://fikiss.net/mousehole-property-with-clear-sea-views-and-three-homes-is-yours-for-1-5m/ Mousehole property with clear sea views and THREE homes is yours for £1.5m published first on https://fikiss.net/ from Karin Gudino https://karingudino.blogspot.com/2020/11/mousehole-property-with-clear-sea-views.html

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thechasefiles · 4 years

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 8/6/2020

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is your daily news cap Monday 8th June, 2020. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

BID TO STAGE PROTEST MARCH SATURDAY - THE TWO MEN who organised a picket outside the United States Embassy on Saturday to protest racism and injustice against black people, but which was cut short by police over a numbers violation, will be going at it again this weekend. This time, says president of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, David Denny, who organised the event with attorney Lalu Hanuman, they will be applying for a permit to conduct a march, instead of just a picket, near the embassy in Wildey, St Michael, on Saturday. Denny said on June 7 that he would be seeking to be allowed 200 protesters, with the march starting from the old Banks Breweries building and ending just in front the embassy. He said all interested people should wear masks, be prepared to practise physical distancing and follow other protocols the Commissioner of Police might point out. (DN)

ONE DEAD, TWO INJURED IN SUNDAY SHOOTING - One man is dead, another is in stable condition and a third is undergoing surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after two separate shooting incidents on Sunday. Police spokesman acting station sergeant Michael Blackman appealed to members of the public for information on the incidents which occurred at Pioneer Road, Bush Hall and Country Road, both in St Michael. The body of an adult male, who has not been named, was discovered at Pioneer Road after police responded to reports of shots being fired. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Meanwhile, one man is said to be in stable condition and another is undergoing surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in a separate incident at Country Road. Police say they were among a group of men who were liming outside of a residence there when they were reportedly attacked by a group of men wearing masks. The two injured men were transported to the QEH by private motor vehicles. Anyone who may have information that can assist with these investigations is asked to contact Police Emergency at 211 Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIPS (8477) District ‘A’ Police Station at 430-7242 or any Police Station. (PR/SAT)

GUN AND AMMO MATTER RESUMES –The prosecution will respond tomorrow when the gun and ammunition matter against David Wayne Harper continues in the No. 2 Supreme Court. Harper, 49, a painter, of Bibby’s Lane, St Michael, was back in court last Friday before Justice Randall Worrell after he had pleaded guilty, in May, to having a 9mm semi-automatic firearm and seven bullets on May 26, 2017. “I apologise for the offence,” said Harper, who has spent 1 094 days on remand. Attorney Sian Lange told the court her client made a bad decision in taking up the gun. However, she contended the offences showed no sophistication, that Harper had no previous convictions and had apologised for his actions. “Mr Harper went above and beyond to get his matters before the High Court. He cooperated with police and he was assessed as having a low risk of re-offending,” Lange said. (DN)

PRAISES IN CHURCH AGAIN –While most denominations did not open their doors on June 7, at least two churches welcomed their members back. New Dimensions Ministries in Barbarees Hill, and Covenant Life Teaching Centre in Green Hill, both in St Michael, held in-person services. However, neither was taking any chances as there was strict enforcement of temperature checks, physical distancing, hand sanitising, mask wearing and information gathering on each member and visitor. Government recently issued a list of restrictions as part of the Emergency Management (COVID-19) Churches Directive 2020, some of which rubbed church leaders the wrong way, especially as it came to communion. After meetings and consultations some adjustments were made, but most churches opted to remain closed for now and only have online streaming services as they said they still needed time before they could reopen fully. (DN)

CHANGES IN PETROLEUM PRICES TO TAKE EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT - The retail prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene will decrease, effective midnight, tonight. Gasoline will be adjusted from $3.09 per litre to $2.80 per litre, which represents a decrease of 29 cents; the price of diesel will drop by 23 cents, from $2.52 per litre to $2.29 per litre, and kerosene will go from 73 cents per litre to 63 cents per litre, a reduction of 10 cents. These price adjustments are in keeping with Government’s policy of allowing retail prices to be reflective of those on the international market. (BGIS)

UPDATE: BWA COMPLETES REPAIRS TO BELLE GULLY BURST MAIN - The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has completed repairs to the burst nine-inch main in Belle Gully, St Michael. BWA has reminded customers in the affected areas in St Michael and Christ Church that “even though the repairs are complete, it will take some time for the water pressure within the distribution network to return to normal”. “The Authority’s personnel will also be monitoring this particular main (an older main) closely should another rupture occur,” according to a statement from the BWA.Water tankers will continue to assist residents in the affected areas. BWA also said customers in parts of St Michael, St James and St Thomas who are supplied by the Shop Hill, St Thomas section of the network may experience low water pressure or outages. This is a result of BWA having been forced to stop pumping from its station at Lodge Hill, St Michael due to low reservoir levels. (DN)

RESCUED DOG RECOVERING - A dog that was rescued on Bush Hall Main Road, St Michael, a week ago, after being involved in an accident is recovering at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). The small brown canine had been rescued by a police officer and Nation photographer Sandy Pitt from the middle of the street last Sunday. It was taken in by the RSPCA’s Chief Inspector Wayne Norville.During the week, Barbadians were active on the Nation’s social media platforms trying to ascertain the dog’s condition after its rescue was posted. The Sunday Sun visited the RSPCA on June 6, where clinic manager Charmaine Hatcher said X-rays on the dog’s shoulder and leg showed there were no broken bones. Though limping and keeping her right front leg lifted, the dog is expected to make a full recovery, the veterinary nurse said. “It’s doing really well, and very nervous to the point she just wets herself every time we try to have physical contact with her. She is still favouring her right leg. There are no breaks, but she definitely will not use it at this time. Whether she was abused prior to the accident, we have no idea, but she is very nervous when it comes to human contact, which is changing rapidly,” the clinic manager said. Hatcher said that for the first two days, the dog wouldn’t allow people to pick her up, but that changed as last week progressed. “No one has come forward for her, but if no one does, we would love to find her a beautiful home,” Hatcher said. (DN)

REUTERS: COVID-19 DEATHS GLOBALLY TOP 400 000 – Global deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic topped 400 000 on Sunday, as case numbers surge in Brazil and India, according to a Reuters tally. The United States is responsible for about one-quarter of all fatalities but deaths in South America are rapidly rising. The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 in just five months is now equal to the number of people who die annually from malaria, one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases. Global cases are approaching seven million, with about two million, or 30 per cent, of those cases in the United States. Latin America has the second-largest outbreak with over 15 per cent of cases, according to a Reuters tally. The first COVID-19 death was reported on January 10 in Wuhan, China but it was early April before the death toll passed 100 000, according to the Reuters tally of official reports from governments. It took 24 days to go from 300 000 to 400 000 deaths. The United States has the highest death toll in the world at almost 110 000. Fatalities in Brazil are rising rapidly and the country may overtake the United Kingdom to have the second-largest number of deaths in the world. The total number of deaths is believed to be higher than the officially reported 400 000 as many countries lack supplies to test all victims and some countries do not count deaths outside of a hospital. (Reuters)

The world is facing the rapid spread of the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. As we continue to do our part in Barbados please remember to stay home but on the days you have to go out wear your masks, practice social distancing (stand 6-10 feet away from each other), practice good daily hygiene, eat healthy, exercise and keep your mind active. There are 207 days left in the year Shalom! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell #coronavirusinbarbados #nationalresponse #dailynews #thechasefilesblog

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ultra-sandy-things · 4 years

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INSPIRATION

The meaning of the word ‘Inspiration’ as per the Oxford Dictionary is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

Inspiration transforms the way at which we look at things, it awakens us to new possibilities by allowing us to transcend our ordinary experiences and limitations. Just by seeing the other person performing a certain task or his/her behavior inspires us to improve and bring out the hidden talents inside us.

Inspiration is a feeling of enthusiasm you get from someone or something, that gives you new and creative ideas. ... If you describe someone or something good as an inspiration, you mean that they make you or other people want to do or achieve something just by watching them. Inspiration is external, it is dependent on someone else. But that someone else plays a very major role in carving our life.

Some people are very energetic they have a high level of energy. You feel very positive when they are around you. When you observe, then you will find that they also had a lot of shortcomings in life but they faced it courageously overcome their shortcomings and have become a role model for many.

This article I would like to go down my memory lane to remember a special person in my life who has been an inspiration to me throughout my life. She has been my role model. Whatever I am today it's all because of her. I owe my entire life, achievements to her, any guess…….. who else can it be other than the person whom I admire the most …….. MRS. SAVITRI …… MY BELOVED MOTHER.

She is a very strong woman, who has always stood by her children whenever they wanted her to be beside them. At the same time, she has been very strict wherever it was required. She has maintained all the relations so wonderfully, yet not compromised with her way of life. She is a dynamic lady who has her ethics and values in life. She refuses to leave her independence and dares to live life in her terms.

At the age of 75, when we hear people say that they are very old, unable to do anything, dependent on children, my mother prefers to be independent. She is very consistent. She always says that Consistency is the key to success. She is regular in her Pranayam, Yoga. She enjoys gardening, she is a poet, a great orator, a writer she has written a Hindi storybook. She enjoys music. She is a great fan of Mohammad Rafi. The best thing is that she remembers all the old songs. By just hearing the name of the film, she will be able to tell the name of lyricist, music director, and singer. God has gifted her with a beautiful voice.

If I sit back and think, we all go through so many emotions, sometimes happy, sometimes irritated, angry but not a single day we have found that she is influenced by her emotions, she has always been very stable. Hats off to her .

She inspires me so much that whenever I feel tired, worked out, irritated, sad, I remember her face or call her if I can and just by speaking 5 minutes to her, get re-charged. I feel that we should aspire to become such a human being in life that we become an inspiration to others and create such an energy level for us and for all the people who are associated with us.

SANDY’S HAPPY WORLD

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worldtravelingsisters · 6 years

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MEXICO

Happy New Year! On January 1, 2018, after a 1200+ nautical-mile sail from Guatemala, we arrived this morning in Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The tender taking us to our tour arrived at a special dock just for cruise-ship tenders, and once again there was no immigration process at all. The guide led us along a crowded promenade flanked by a marina with rank upon rank of vessels from rowboats to yachts on one side and restaurants, bars like the famous Senor Frog's, and permanent vendor stands on the other. Behind this busy tourist area was a lot for parking buses. It worked very efficiently so my first Cabo impression was that they are well prepared for large numbers of tourists. I was also impressed with how clean the streets and sidewalks were and with how few run-down or primitive houses or shops stood along the streets our bus traveled. I'm sure Cabo has its poor, but overall the city is in much better condition than I expected.

The other surprise was the desert landscape. I knew Baja wasn't jungle but did not expect it to look so like Arizona. We drove on the major highway that extends the length of the peninsula for almost an hour, then turned onto a much smaller, older road. In a very short distance we turned again onto a dirt road. The transition from four new, smooth freeway lanes to dirt and sand in such a short time was jarring. We stopped soon at a headquarters building with a parking lot full of UTV's to take us to the camels we would be riding. We climbed up ladders to board the vehicles, 16 of us seated in each on long benches along the sides. Fortunately, the bed was covered so we had time in the shade because there would be little of that ahead of us! We met our guide, Hector the Protector, a charming and knowledgeable young man with 9 years experience at the preserve and an impressive commitment to the animals from the camels to the sea turtles. Our ride through the desert was jolting and jarring and up-and-down and really fun. The setting was beautiful with all kinds of cacti and desert flora in rocky and sandy terrain leading gradually down to a beautiful white beach and the blue Pacific. I'm glad we chose the morning session because even with a reasonable temperature in the low 80s, the sun was intense. Obviously, the afternoon session would be less comfortable!

After arriving at another complex of buildings, we walked to the stable where the camels live. There were 15 of them, 8 originals from a circus in Oklahoma and 7 rescues from miserable conditions in zoos and circuses in Mexico. They seem to have a good life with their keepers. They are well fed and groomed and live in groups in large corrals. They work every other day with one day a week off when they are turned loose to wander around as they please. We found one later on lying down among the UTV's watching all the activity and another wandering along the beach. The entire four-kilometer beach of the property is a sanctuary for four species of sea turtles. Scientists come every year to live here while the turtles are laying their eggs in the sand. They collect the eggs and take them to a safe place until hatching and then return the baby turtles to the sea. Last year 150,000 were released. That sounds like many but the survival rate is only 1 in 100.

Near the stable, four camels awaited us at a mounting platform. First, however, each of us was fitted with a helmet covered with a shoulder-length white cloth, and our pictures were taken. If a person actually fell from one of these very tall animals, I doubt that little loose helmet would do much good. Nonetheless, we climbed the steps onto the platform in pairs to mount our camels.The camels do not kneel to take on riders because it's hard on camel knees and the lurch when they stand is dangerous for inexperienced riders. Polly and I were assigned to ride Powder. He was fitted with a metal frame, padded on both sides to protect both camel and riders. Riders must swing their right legs up and over the frame and then kind of hop onto the camel's wide back. Polly and some of the others really had a hard time doing this.

We moved out in a line of four camels, the first led by a keeper. The other three simply followed along. Since camels are so long-legged, the ride is hardly smooth. I did decide after a bit that it's similar to riding a horse, just with more exaggerated movements to react to. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, first through the desert and then onto the beach, even though it was an odd combination of an alien animal and a familiar landscape. Along the way, both photographers and drones took pictures, which we would of course be able to buy. Dismounting was another struggle for Polly and others but they finally all managed with the assistance of the guides and staff.

Next we went to meet Louis the kissing camel. This was a silly, hilarious treat! We were not allowed to use our cameras but staff took lots of pictures of us. Hector and Francisco presented Louis and showed us how to get him to kiss our cheeks and take slices of apple and jicama from our mouths. I took the first turn of our group. First I petted his neck and he leaned down and nuzzled my cheek, knowing that he had to do his part to get the treats. Then I held the food between my teeth and he neatly took it in his big teeth, barely touching my mouth. The others asked me if he slobbered, and no, he did not. As I told them, I'd kissed men who were sloppier. After we all took our turns and the next group wasn't ready for Louis, Hector and Francisco let us continue to pet Louis and answered our questions about him. They said that Louis was one of the chatty camels and demonstrated it by talking to him in a certain tone of voice so he responded with lots of grunts and groans. One lady wanted to see the underside of his hoof, and Francisco tried to get him to lift his foot. No way! He bared his teeth and grumbled and complained loudly.

Our next adventure was a walk through the desert to learn about some amazing desert plants. Cristian joined Hector to guide this part of our morning. First he showed us a 250-year-old Cardon cactus, a relative of the saguaro with a more tree-like shape of huge trunk and many equally sized branches. Cristian then showed us several plants that have been used since the indigenous peoples and are still used in folk medicine. Finally he explained how barrel cactus can provide liquid to save one's life and even be used as a stove or oven.

At the end of our walk, we arrived at a vine-covered outdoor kitchen completed with long picnic tables. Here we would have lunch. The buffet included three different salads, especially one with fresh ripe tomatoes and chunks of excellent Mexican cheese, a tasty rice and vegetable dish, black beans, and a delicious chicken mole. The stars of the line were two ladies making fresh tortillas from scratch and frying them into quesadillas. They brought them to us as they finished them. Beer, wine, and fruit drinks were included. It was by far the best tour lunch of the cruise. After lunch, Cristian presented a tortilla-making demonstration on an old metate. He started with maiz, or corn, and showed us the entire process. Hector finished with tequila tasting in tiny terra cotta cups. I don't care for tequila, even the premium kind, but I did discover a tequila liqueur called Damiana that was good. Finally we reboarded our UTV's and retraced our route back to Cabo.

In the afternoon we boarded another bus to drive to the neighboring old city of San Jose del Cabo, about a 45-minute trip along the beautiful ocean, past gorgeous hotels and resorts. On the way our very informative guide Libby told us of the history of the area and the two cities. We parked near the city square and walked there. Libby gave us some basic information about what was available and turned us loose. The old church is lovely, and we enjoyed the art in several shops. I bought a Day-of-the-Dead Talavera figurine and Guatemalan tourmaline jewelry and a turtle charm. This was definitely a place to return to with time to explore.

We returned to the ship in time to enjoy a gorgeous sunset before we departed for Los Angeles.

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easyobsession · 7 years

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Weaver of Dreams

Choices: Endless Summer Book Two

Pairing: MCxJake

This is set between the arrival on Sharktooth Isle and the appearance of Yvonne. Just an FYI- it’s been a while since I’ve sat down and actually written anything, so I’m pretty rusty and have no doubt this piece will show that. But I’ll give it the ole college try anyway. My MC’s name is Taylor.

It was somewhat mind blowing just what people were capable of when forced into crisis mode. Taylor had always been a take-charge person, a natural leader with distaste for authority. Her parents often deemed it due to Only Child Syndrome, the lack of built-in playmates growing up combined with a desire for the spotlight pushing her to always stand at the front of the pack. But since their initial arrival to La Huerta, the gang of radically different personalities had shifted their varying focuses almost instinctually to the same target.

They’d been in their exile of captivity only a few hours, mostly spent catching up with the recovered trio and exploring their newest living quarters. It felt unreal to see Diego again, and Grace and Raj, all safe and relatively okay, considering the multitude of possibilities. Nothing was perfect by any means, but they were all together again, and that alone gave Taylor more hope than anything else lately. Whatever happened, they’d face it together.

It was after the initial commotion had died down that she found herself strolling along the shore of Sharktooth Isle, staying a respectable distance away from the monster-filled sea while remaining within visibility of the group, just in case. It went without saying that no one went out of sight alone, but she needed a few moments to collect her thoughts after the insanity of the day’s events. To say things changed quickly these days was the understatement of a lifetime.

Plopping down into the sand Taylor let out a sigh, her eyes scanning across the endless water before her as a million thoughts ran through her head.

“I have to give credit where credit’s due: you’re playing the damsel role to a tee.”

The young woman’s head snapped up, twisting to see the familiar smirk of her favorite sandy blonde.

“A damsel implies being a commoner,” she replied, a smirk of her own appearing, “Which means I don’t qualify, seeing as how I’m already a princess and all.”

“On the contrary, a damsel is defined simply as a young, unmarried woman,” Jake countered with ease, “And unless you managed to forge my signature after I passed out last night, you fall into the damsel category. Sorry Princess.”

Taylor grinned. “Who said it was your signature I’d forge anyway, Top Gun?”

For a split second Jake’s face went blank, confirming her suspicion that the possibility truly hadn’t crossed his mind despite the joke, before the glimmer returned to his eyes.

“Not like I got much competition,” he said easily, dropping down into the space next to her and offering the glass bottle he held. “You and I both know this thing we got is inevitable. No point in pussyfooting around it.”

Taylor stared at him for a minute, realizing the truth of his words. He wasn’t wrong. Sure, a few of the others in the group were appealing, and it wasn’t like there were no options back home. But whatever was happening between them was unlike anything else either had ever experienced, and it was clear that it extended far beyond just being trapped in this unknown circle of hell.

Taking a pull from the bottle, she finally let out a small sigh.

“Fair enough,”

“But going back to your damsel façade,” Jake spoke again after a few minutes, “You’re looking like maybe the weight of the world you got on your shoulders is starting to cause a cramp,”

A humorless laugh escaped her lips.

“I have no idea why,”

“You need a break,” he stated, receiving an eye roll in response.

“Jake, while I’m sure Raj has managed to somehow scrounge up enough alcohol to put us all out of our miseries, I’m really not in the mood tonight.”

“Is that really all you’ve come to assume from me? Answers in the form of all night ragers and large amounts of booze?” he shrugged, then echoing her earlier statement, “Fair enough. Not what I had in mind though.”

Taylor squinted at him for a minute. “Alright, I’m intrigued,” she finally relented. “What do you have?”

“Take a second and think back to when you were a little kid,” He instructed, “When life was simple and all you did was run around and pretend. Where did you go?”

“Where did I go?” she repeated slowly.

“We all had that one place we’d always wind up in our minds- the place we always picked when it was our turn to make up the game, no matter how unrealistic it was. Because we were kids and it didn’t matter,” he elaborated, “For a long time I was the red Power Ranger defeating Master Org from conquering the Animarium.”

“Wild Force?” she smiled fondly, instantly recognizing his reference to the children’s series. “I was always the Yellow Ranger. Mostly because she looked like me and we had the same name.”

Jake paused. “You do look freakishly similar,” he realized, staring at her for a moment before regaining his focus. “Anyway, where did you go?”

Taylor glanced down at the sand between her toes, feeling a blush creep onto her face. The answer came to her without any effort at all, but that didn’t mean she was eager to share it.

“Nowhere spectacular,” she muttered, causing the pilot to study her intently.

“God damn, I knew it,” he said quietly, realization crossing his features. “You were totally a princess, weren’t you? Holy shit,” At her crimson cheeks darkening, he let out a howl of laughter and threw back his head. “Hot damn, you were a princess! I was on point. I bet you had a castle and everything, didn’t you? I knew it.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can stereotype and have a weird obsession with nicknames. We get it, Red Ranger,” she retorted, eyes rolling at his shit eating grin. “Was there a point to this trip down memory lane or are you just too drunk to realize how little sense you’re making?”

“Easy now, I’m not trying to get myself locked in the castle dungeon,” he needled, raising his hands in surrender before getting back on track, “Alright, seriously though, I want you to close your eyes and go back there.”

Seeing her look of doubt, Jake stared at her with no trace of amusement on his face. “I’m serious. Put yourself back in that place. This beach is the palace courtyard,” he decided, gesturing to their surroundings, “You’ve got the whole nine yards: a castle, a whole court of servants and nobles- Count Drunkula would be the perfect jester, you can’t deny that. Buff and Buffer would be your guards. Lady Einstein is totally your woman in waiting, or whatever it’s called. Thank about it, it’s all right here.”

For a moment, Taylor couldn’t help but listen to his words, seeing the images appear before her vey eyes. Everyone did seem to perfectly fill a role. Diego would undoubtedly be the court adviser, with his infinite wisdom, and Michelle and Quinn, one with the skills and knowledge to heal and the other filled with tenderness, would tend to the fallen soldiers. Estella would fearlessly lead the fiercest pack of warriors to protect the kingdom. Even Furball, her trusty steed, fit right into the mold.

“So I’m guessing that makes you Prince Charming that sweeps me off my feet?” she finally mused, though Jake quickly shook his head.

“Nah, that’s way too boring.” He declared, “The prince is great and all, but too predictable. And you don’t want that life anyway. Too stuffy.”

“Oh really?”

He nodded confidently. “You want adventure and excitement, which is why you ditch the prince at the ball and go with the ruggedly handsome stable boy.”

Taylor stifled a chuckle. “And that’s you?”

“At your service,” Rising from his seated position and abandoning the now empty bottle, Jake gave an exaggerated bow before extending his hand. “May I have the honor?”

Letting out a laugh, the blonde quickly froze when he didn’t drop the act. “Are you seriously asking me to dance with you right now?”

“Well I wasn’t offering to bake cookies,” he retorted, wiggling the fingers on his still offered hand. “Don’t leave me hanging here, Princess. We’ve all seen CSPAN. Parliament ain’t the party it used to be in the 90s.”

Letting out a sigh, Taylor tossed aside the ridiculousness of the situation and took his hand, allowing herself to be pulled up from the sand and into his arms.

“There’s no music,” she couldn’t help but point out, causing him to roll his eyes.

“Seriously, work with me. I’m doing my best here, Your Highness.”

“Alright, alright.” She slipped her arms around his neck while his slid around her waist, smiling softly as their bodies pressed together and began to sway. “Thank you, kind sir. I’m quite impressed that a commoner such as yourself has such exquisite dancing skills.”

“Well, you observe enough of these royal events, you pick up a thing or two,” Jake replied. “Besides, I had to be prepared in case the opportunity to display my talents to Her Highness ever arose.”

“Been dreaming of this day a while, have you?”

Jake nodded seriously. “All my life,”

Taylor allowed her forehead to rest against his, a small breath escaping her lips. “This is nice,” she murmured, momentarily dropping their little charade and speaking sincerely to the man in front of her.

“Sometimes you just need to escape the real world,” Jake spoke quietly, “Hell, it‘s why I became a pilot.”

“I get that.” Lifting her eyes to meet his, she smiled softly. “So after this epic dance of ours, what happens next?”

“Obviously we ditch the party,” he remarked. “Maybe have a romp in the stables since we can’t contain our passion, then we saddle up and get the hell out of here.”

“And go where?”

“Wherever we want. Anywhere in the world. Just name it.”

For a moment Taylor paused, her mind racing over the endless possibilities spanning the globe- Paris, Spain, Brazil, China… If she had the power to go anywhere, the entire world at her disposal, where was the one place she most wanted to be?

“Home,” she finally announced, her answer falling softly from her lips into the warm island air.

Jake sighed, his eyes tired and showing no surprise. “Yeah,”

“Not my dorm at school though,” she continued after a beat, the words coming easier now as the answer cleared in her mind. “Or even my parents’ place. Somewhere new, that we could make our own.”

“We?” Now there was a clear display of shock across his features.

Taylor shrugged, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks. “You know that saying: home doesn’t have to be four walls. Sometimes it’s a person.”

“And that person is me?”

“If you want it to be.”

Jake stared down into her eyes as she looked up at him, silently challenging him and making it clear she wasn’t backing down.

“Home’s kind of a foreign concept to me,” he said quietly. “I’m not really the type that likes to settle down. Never had much of a reason to.” And then, just as her face was about to fall, he murmured, “But finding a place to stick around doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world. Given the right circumstance.”

“Oh yeah?” she challenged, “And what circumstance would that be?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. But it’d have to be pretty good to get me to change my nomad ways.”

“You can have roots and wings, Jake.”

He frowned suspiciously. “Was that a quote from a chick flick?

“How would you know?” she grinned widely, letting out a giggle. “It was though. One of the best chick flicks, as a matter of fact. I’ll make you watch it some time.”

“I’ll sleep through it,” he warned, making her shrug indifferently.

“Fine, that means I’ll get all the popcorn and wine.”

“You mean beer.” He corrected. “And none of that Light shit, the real stuff. And I want extra butter on the popcorn. None of that natural, vegan crap is allowed in the house.”

“Fine. I want a dog.” She demanded.

“What kind of dog? Because I’m not living with a yappy little shit. If we get a dog it has to be something legit, like a lab or a German shepherd.”

“I don’t care, as long as we rescue it from a shelter.”

Jake nodded. “I’m good with that. We’ll have to have a big yard though, so it can run around.”

“I’d love to have a big yard. Anywhere with open land. Maybe near the beach. Or a farm. We could have all kinds of animals and a barn!”

“And a big ass house.” He added. “Two stories, huge open floor plan. Shit ton of bedrooms.”

“Oh yeah?” Taylor smirked. “And how exactly do you plan on filling those bedrooms up, McKenzie?”

“How do you think?” Matching her grin, he leaned forward to press his nose against hers, cockiness radiating from his eyes, “Gotta keep the human race going, don’t we? It’s our duty. We’ll make our own little army.”

“Gonna change my title from Princess to Baby Mama, huh?”

He shrugged. “I’d make an honest woman out of you first. I’m a stable boy, not a complete heathen.”

“Of course,” She snickered. “My mistake,”

“Plus we gotta have room for when people come to visit, since I doubt we’ll ever really be able to get away from them after this. Not to mention a room for the Robin to your Batman.”

Taylor pulled away abruptly and froze. “Diego?”

“Mhm.” he nodded easily. “Don’t act like he won’t be around 24/7. I know you guys are close and all, but he’s not bunking in our room.”

“A room for Diego.” She repeated. “In all of your plans for a future and a house, you’re including a room for Diego.”

“He’s your best friend,” Jake frowned, unsure of why this wasn’t obvious information. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I love you.” The way the words left her lips were almost out of her control, falling into the air as easily as if stating her name. The fact that he cared about her was one thing, but that he unquestionably accepted and actively made an effort to include the single most important person in her life left no question about her feelings for the man standing before her.

For what felt like an eternity Jake looked down at her, brow slightly furrowed as he seemed to work through a million different thoughts, until finally his features relaxed into a small smile.

“Good. ‘Cause I love you too, Princess.”

The kiss they shared, for just a moment, allowed an escape not just from the island, but what seemed like the entire world. Lips pressed together in a passionate frenzy, it felt like nothing else in the universe existed.

“It’ll never be a fairytale with me.” The air between them shifted as they eventually broke apart and his tone went serious. “I’m not the prince. We’ll never gonna live in a castle. There ain’t gonna be a happily ever after. And you deserve that- the whole package. That’s not who I am and it ain’t gonna change.”

“Maybe I don’t want the castle anymore. Maybe I want to watch chick flicks on the couch and have wine and popcorn in a farmhouse with a million kids and animals running around. Maybe that’s my home. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter as long as I’m with the right person.”

“And that’s me?”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I have a thing for stable boys.”

Jake leaned down and captured her lips in another kiss.

“So,” He murmured after a moment, looking down at her. “Home, huh?”

“Yeah,” she echoed. “Home.”

That definitely sounded like something worth fighting for.

end.

I didn’t realize I was referencing TRR until after I did it xD My bad. #drakethestableboy And the movie quoted was Sweet Home Alabama, in which the love interest is coincidentally also a blonde dreamboat named Jake and Reese Witherspoon does, in fact, look somewhat like my MC. Wild.

#endless summer #jake x mc #jake mckenzie #choices: stories you play #choices fanfiction #wodff

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frowncod73-blog · 5 years

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Living in Phoenixville: A Neighborhood Guide

Neighborhood Guide

A new, livelier community has risen from the ashes of this old steel mill town's past.

For most of its history, Phoenixville’s fortunes relied on the Phoenix Iron Works steel mill at the town’s heart. That mill and most of its buildings are themselves history now, but the National Register-listed original foundry survives. It’s now a catering and function hall. | Photo: J. Clear via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Like the mythical bird that gives the town its name, Phoenixville has risen from the ashes of deindustrialization.

For most of its existence, the borough and the company that began life in 1790 as the Phoenix Iron Works and ended it in 1987 as Phoenix Steel Corporation rose and fell together. The decline of Pennsylvania’s steel industry did not spare the pioneering foundry and bridge-maker, and in 1984, the original mill in downtown Phoenixville shut its doors for good.

The original Phoenix Iron Works foundry has since been converted into an interpretive center and a catering facility. The repurposed facility serves as a symbol of how this gritty community reinvented itself and became a popular place to live, work and play for a new generation of residents, many of whom have probably never gotten their hands dirty in their entire lives.

Affordable, attractive houses, a lively Main Street that houses more brewpubs per capita than any other community in the state, and a year-round calendar of cultural events have all drawn visitors and residents alike to Phoenixville and environs over the last quarter century.

And some of the credit for this turnaround goes to a gelatinous creature from an alien planet that nearly ate the town alive in 1958.

Phoenixville Housing Prices at a Glance

Median single-family house value: $242,000

Median condo/co-op value: $183,000

Median monthly rent: N/A

What You Can Buy in Phoenixville

(including surrounding communities in zip code 19460)

Bright MLS image via Keller Williams Realty Group

“Vaux Hall,” 1776 Greek Revival Mansion Designed by Noted Architect John Haviland

1248 Pawlings Rd., Audubon | 7 beds, 4 full, 4 half baths, 11,377 square feet, $2,790,000

Bright MLS image via Keller Williams Realty Group

1980 Contemporary House Wrapped Around an 18th-Century Farmhouse

116 Oakwood Lane, Schuylkill Township | 5 beds, 3 full, 1 half baths, 6,400 square feet, $849,900

Bright MLS image via Century 21 Norris – Valley Forge

Victorian Duplex Near the Center of the Borough

201 Starr St. | 5 beds, 2 baths, 2,464 square feet, $425,000

Bright MLS image via Davison Realtors

New Construction Craftsman on North Side, Ready Spring 2019

515 Rhoades St. | 3 beds, 2 full, 1 half baths, 2,100 square feet, $389,000

Public Transportation in Phoenixville

SEPTA Bus Routes: Bus Route 99 connects Phoenixville with Norristown Transportation Center via the pharmaceutical companies outside Collegeville, the corporate center and exposition center in Oaks, the Valley Forge Corporate Center and the King of Prussia office park and mall. Bus Route 139 passes through the borough on its way from the King of Prussia mall to the shopping centers in Limerick, also passing through Valley Forge National Historical Park along the way.

Transit advocates in the community have been advocating for restoration of Regional Rail service to Phoenixville. Don’t hold your breath waiting for this to happen.

Food Shopping in Phoenixville

Supermarkets: Acme, 785 Starr St.; Giant, 700 Nutt Rd.; Redner’s Warehouse Markets, 202 Schuylkill Rd.

Specialty grocers: The Foodery, 325 Bridge St.; Foresta’s Country Meat Market, 1098 W. Bridge St.; Kimberton Whole Foods, 2140 Kimberton Rd., Kimberton; Latino Mini Market, 317 Bridge St.; Phoenixville House of Jerky, 10 S. Main St.

What a Real Estate Agent Says About Phoenixville

“The downtown has thrived and now is known for the most brewpubs per capita in the state. There are great food establishments, plenty of First Fridays to enjoy, and all kinds of street festivals, food truck events and one-of-a-kind events like Blobfest to enjoy. If you’d like to look inside some of the amazing homes here, we also offer the Phoenixville Candlelight Holiday Tour with homes decked for the holidays. 4th of July fireworks and the Firebird Festival are also things that make Phoenixville’s community come together.

“The Phoenixville area market is hot today. Prices range from around $150,000 for condos to McMansions in the millions of dollars. Homes can go as quickly as one day if they are in good shape with a good location and priced right. Sellers who bought their homes in the past have been very happy with their investment in this community.

“When Phoenixville was growing, we would get people coming here for the value. We were known as West Chester’s complement, but cheaper. Now that Phoenixville is getting pricey as well, the communities around it are benefiting from Phoenixville’s success. I feel Mount Clare and Spring City are the next two hot spots because of the similar style of homes, quiet communities, and proximity to the borough of Phoenixville.

“The diverse people of the town make it a wonderful place to live. work and play. We have a diverse amount of religious worship places as well as breweries and pizza joints! The other treasures of Phoenixville are our historical society and the Colonial Theater, both with long-running histories. We are still in the process of developing the remainder of the steel property, with more development on the way.

“I was born and raised in the borough and grew up in a seven-bedroom Victorian within walking distance to the downtown area. I have seen the changes as they have come. and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for Phoenixville.”

—Dan Phillips, Springer Realty Group

Photo: J. Fusco for Visit Philadelphia

Local Color

The hub of Phoenixville’s performing-arts scene is the historic Colonial Theatre on Bridge Street in the heart of the borough. Built in 1903 as a vaudeville house, the theater has hosted plays, musical performances and silent and talking films over its century-plus history. It gained enduring fame in 1958 as the site of one of the climactic scenes in “The Blob,” a cult science-fiction horror classic that was filmed in and around Phoenixville and starred a young Steve McQueen.

Chester County’s last surviving classic movie theater was purchased in 1998 by the Association for the Colonial Theatre, which restored the theater’s faded glory and turned it into a performing arts center that has since expanded into a former bank next door. The highlight of its year-round schedule of programs and events is “Blobfest,” a weekend-long celebration of all things scary. Established in 1999, the festival has featured horror-film showings, including one of “The Blob”; a street fair; live music performances, and a Friday-night reenactment of the scene where everyone runs screaming out of the theater after the Blob starts oozing out of its projector.

They don’t brew beer at the Bistro on Bridge, but they serve plenty of it: it’s one of the pubs, restaurants and craft breweries located on the beeriest street in Pennsylvania. It’s also an example of creative adaptive reuse. | Photo: Sandy Smith

More Local Color

Whether it’s per capita or per square foot, as Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer World claims, Phoenixville is the sudsiest community in the Commonwealth — and maybe even the country. The distance from Stable 12 Brewery (368 Bridge Street) to Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant (130 Bridge Street) is about 2,000 feet, and in that distance you will encounter four craft breweries, one brewery tap house, three wine tasting rooms, a craft distillery and at least two brewpubs. Another craft brewery is just off this crowded stretch on Main Street, and a sixth opened in the Westside shopping center on the borough’s west edge last year. This may be one reason so many people are buying houses in Phoenixville: after a pub crawl here, you will absolutely be in no shape to drive back home.

Joseph Scott McArdle with Leo Scoda, mayor of Phoenixville when the Townhomes at French Creek were built. | Photo courtesy Joseph Scott McArdle

Did You Know?

As the later additions to the historic Phoenix Iron Works foundry got torn down, people actually camped out to buy the houses that replaced them. Agent Joseph Scott McArdle of Keller Williams Realty pins a Sunday in March 2004 as the date that Phoenixville’s housing market really took off. A dozen intrepid buyers spent the preceding night camped out in 40-degree temperatures and light rain in order to get a good deal on the first units at the Townhomes at French Creek on Vanderslice Street. The first buyers saved $10,000 to $20,000 on the homes’ purchase prices, which ran from $169,900 to the upper $180,000s.

By the time the first houses went on sale just before noon Sunday, 50 people had lined up to buy. Those who did made out like bandits: the Phoenix Reporter & Item reported one year later that the value of the happy campers’ homes had risen by anywhere from $55,000 to $61,000 in the intervening year.

Source: https://www.phillymag.com/property/2019/02/28/phoenixville-neighborhood-guide/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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