Friday, September 30, 2011

RED LION AND YORK, PENNSYLVANIA

A couple of blog entries ago, you read about our trip to Red Lion, York County, to visit the Family Heirloom Weavers. They were willing to make a sample of cloth in the colors and style that Susanne liked. Soon we got a call that they had made not just a sample, but a queen sized bed cover! We ran down to Red Lion and brought it home to try it out, but I really did not care for it, so we decided to take it back.

Our friends Debbie and Bill had been wanting to go to see the "weavery," too, so we decided we'd all go together. Debbie taught school with Susanne, and she and Bill are a great couple, funny and laid back. We always enjoy our time with them. So we arranged to pick them up at their place. They invited us in to see some recent redecorating and to visit their collection of auction purchases that they are transforming into snazzy shabby chic painted furniture. They're busy getting it ready for an art show and sale coming up.

Soon we were all buckled into the van to set out for the York area. Since we had enjoyed time together at home, it was now almost lunch time, so before heading out into the countryside, we high-tailed it to a cool deli that Debbie knows from taking art lessons in that area once a week.

We ordered sandwiches and drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I was seated near a display case loaded with tantalizing desserts. I had to put up my magical carbohydrate shield, which worked well (this time, anyway), and I got away with just a picture of a big white cake in the front of the case. (I may print out the picture and eat it later, though.)

Listening to the lady who lives in our steering wheel and tells us where to go, we got back on I-83 and went about two feet to the next exit, the road to Red Lion. Soon we were turning onto a side street that led out that little town  and into the country, passing woods and streams, a farm with all sorts of animals grazing, and then a small group of houses and a church. The "weavery" is just beyond the church.

We looked through the show house, where the ladies made their choices, and then we stopped in the factory/office to settle the bill. Everyone there is really nice, and no one was concerned that they had made the whole cover but we did not buy it. They knew someone else would buy it one day. I felt sort of bad, knowing that these weavers had made authentic reproductions of fabrics and carpeting for Presidential homes and other famous historic sites. And here I was rejecting their work!

On our way back up I-83, we stopped in York at Refindings, York's architectural warehouse, where remnants of great old buildings were rescued and saved before demolition. Debby had seen examples of this kind of place but did not know there was one in central Pennsylvania. She was convinced they existed only on HGTV. When the back doors to the van rolled open, she made a bee-line to the closest display, the one of antique fencing and garden ornaments. It was all poor Bill could do to keep up with her. She left him in the dust.

Needless to say, we all enjoyed seeing the goodies inside, and Debbie especially was eyeing things with the thought of how she could put them to use. Susanne liked a bunch of shutters she thought we could screw to the outside wall behind the house -- you know, where no one would ever see them.

Finally we called it a day and headed home sans purchase, crossing the river on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to avoid the congestion on I-83 during rush hour. We took the back way to our friends' house, passing horse farms with those beautiful long-legged creatures gamboling about in the emerald green grass. Next we passed an orchard and Debbie and Bill's house came into view.

 Bill and I await the women outside the "weavery."

The deli cases were loaded with exotic cheeses.

This evil cake kept calling my name.

I liked these Palladian windows at Refindings..

There was a lot of good stuff to see.

This charmer must have been from a hair salon.

 More treasures.

 Something for everyone.

As we pulled into the turnpike plaza,
we were greeted by a rainbow,
sign of hope and renewal.

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