Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival

E's Pond

Last weekend N and I took the boys up to PA to visit his grandfather's quintessential Cabin in the Woods.  N's grandfather, E, built it himself and created a fishing pond and a deer stand nearby.  In its glory days N says the cabin was a really fun place to visit, but a tornado a few years ago knocked several nearby trees down; one of them took out a shed full of wood and another broke the central beam of the cabin's ceiling.  Since E died earlier this year there is no one nearby to take care of it.  The idea of going this weekend was initially to get some work done around the cabin, but when N's brother arrived ahead of us he found that a bat had gotten in and guano was all over the inside.  He and two good friends got a little work done inside, but once the dust started really flying N's uncle called it off until someone could go in with a respirator and clean up the guano.

So, instead we went to the PA renfest.  Why does this make the gardening blog?  Because the entire "village" in which it is staged is beautifully landscaped.  Beautifully.  There are tiny little pots of gorgeous flowers I've never seen tucked into little nooks and corners in front of shops, a drooping tree cut just so in front of a large boulder to form the perfect little sitting spot for a tired mommy and her baby, gorgeously shaped bushes, and everything apparently chosen to bloom during the festival.  I doubt everyone notices, but it is a masterpiece.  If you're in the area, check it out.

(Oh, and festival was really nice, too.  It was historically innacurate in other great ways, like flush toilets and paved streets!  Don't get me wrong, I like historical accuracy, but porta-poties are not my idea of history.  There were some really interesting demonstrations by someone from the KareDan Farming Initiative - e.g., cheese making and wool spinning - but sit close if you get to see one as she is not really a performer, just someone who knows what she's doing.)