Category Archives: local interest

Apr15

The Royals of Monaco

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I guess Prince Rainier’s passing took ‘second place’ to that of the Pope’s demise. Most people know he was married to actress Grace Kelly, but they don’t know she grew up in Philadelphia. She had a fake snooty accent during her Hollywood days and as a Princess. Come to think about it, I guess it sounds better in the long run! Her daughter Stephanie use to come to the states to summer in the Poconos and she indeed did not sound as affected as her mother. Stef actually sounds like she is from Philly!
So I wonder how Prince Albert will do as the ‘royal in charge’? Maybe Caroline would do better in this situation. I believe Rainier had a stip in his will that she could take over the job if her little bro couldn’t handle it. Caroline has had an interesting past. She’s on her 3rd husband. Her sister is just as interesting with all the men in her past (though mom was a temptress too).
A few years back, we got to see Princess Grace’s wedding gown on display at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
It was yellowing, but still beautiful and very intricate and looked very uncomfortable. We also got to see Princess Diana’s ‘Elvis dress’-the white gown with the high collar that was covered with little pearls.
My grandmom’s first cousin was family friends of the Kellys and Kate went on the ship over to Monaco to the royal wedding. Kate was a neat lady and it’s cool to know there is somewhat of a long lost connection there. She and her daughter were well off, but they weren’t snooty. Kate’s daughter Gloria started the business ‘Dane Decor’ that sells imported Danish furniture. When Gloria came to my wedding, she gave us a teak tea cart that I still use. Gloria also told us that she looked in the phonebook for Hasselbergs in Denmark (on one of her buying trips) and there were only a few there. She looked in Swedish phonebooks and there were many more. Hasselberg is my grandmom’s maiden name. Don’t I think about that when I see Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Bette Midler who is married to a Von Hasselberg!



Princess Grace’s wedding gown on display at the Phila. Museum of Art (after it was restored). Posted by Hello

Apr15

The Gables at Chadds Ford

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The outside of the restaurant Posted by Hello

I like a nicely presented dinner once in a while. I get excited waiting for the food to come! Brian and I went to a place called ‘The Gables at Chadds Ford’ earlier this evening. We were the first diners there.
From their website:
The Gables at Chadds Ford, established in 1997, is situated in the heart of the historic Brandywine Valley. Located in a converted 1800s dairy barn, the setting is simple yet elegant. The menu offers a contemporary twist on traditional American cuisine, utilizing French and Asian influences.
I was looking at the menu on the website and it’s almost completely different than it was tonight. The only thing that was the same is the Caesar salad that Brian ordered. They didn’t even have it cut up which he would have preferred. I had a spinach salad with pecan fried goat cheese, marinated cherry tomatoes, olives and roasted peppers in a tomato basil vinaigrette (I brought a paper menu home). The flavors were intense and the presentation beautiful.
For our main dishes I wanted the pork tenderloin with a crusty pecan coating, rhubarb compote, etc., but they were all out of it. I did say we were the first diners of the evening, so that was strange. I ended up getting Salmon with English peas and pea tendrils (looked like watercress), garlicy new potato and lobster salad (skimpy on the lobster), with a cucumber dill yogurt. They gave me a huge piece of salmon. It was a little raw in the middle, so I didn’t eat that part.
Brian had the Red Snapper (Hawaiian) with mango barbeque and pecan fried rice. I was getting pretty full but the chocolate mousse on a brownie base with ganache sounded too good to pass up. It was like eating an elegant chocolate Easter egg. I brought half of it home.
Poor Sean didn’t have the car keys for the Taurus so he ate leftover pasta. Bummer. He had other food to work with though. Brian tries to make me feel guilty when Sean isn’t along, but he can fend for himself at 18.
All in all I enjoyed it there. We don’t usually treat ourselves that often.

Apr14

‘Helis’ from Canada

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This is the name of the white Beluga whale hanging around the Delaware River. Seems he’s a Canadian dude who’s about 30 yrs old with a propeller blade wound (how he was recognized). They are worried about him being in fresh water instead of salt water. Apparently the fresh water isn’t good for his eyes. I’ll keep you posted about what happens to ‘Helis’.
From WPVI.com website….
“Helis is a very distinctive animal, so it was easy to identify this guy,” said Robert Michaud, scientific director of the Canadian group.

Photos showed a scar along the whale’s dorsal ridge and other blemishes. Helis, pronounced ay’-LEE, is derived from the French word helice, or propeller. Experts believe Helis’ scar was probably caused by a propeller when he was younger.

Helis was first sighted in the St. Lawrence Estuary and was seen regularly until 1994, Michaud said. But since then he had only been spotted twice – in 2000 and 2003 – until he turned up in the Delaware River.

Apr13

Wayward Whale on the Delaware River

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As of yesterday (when he was first spotted), a 10-12 foot white Beluga whale has been swimming around in the Delaware River near Trenton. They say to get where he is, he had to swim by Wilmington and Philly. It’s a big deal around these parts and he made the news. They think he is headed south which would be good as he’s headed toward the ocean. If he doesn’t seem to be getting the idea about heading out to sea, guess he will get some help. Thanks to our local affiliate WPVI tv for the following map and photo of our new friend.

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4-14
On ‘The Daily Show’ (I watch the repeat from the night before the next morning), Jon Stewart mentioned that the Beluga was near his hometown of Trenton (I didn’t know this). He said the only reason anyone would go near Trenton is for condoms and cheap champagne-so you know what he said the whale was headed in that direction for-well… he said ‘a blow hole dance’.
I happened to watch the DVD of ‘Shark Tales’ last night. Talk about a tie-in to this current event! It was really a funny movie with Will Smith (another local boy) as the voice of Oscar the main ‘fish’ character.

Apr4

Flooded Bucks County

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One of my favorite spots in Pennsylvania is getting flooded for the second time in 7 months. They showed the Bucks County playhouse half under water. Main street in New Hope was a river. I’m sure the quaint inn that Brian and I stayed in back in 1999 was damaged as it is right on the banks of the Delaware River. Brian said he thinks that housing developments are causing the flooding. That may be one reason and they showed a nice looking condo type place surrounded by moving water. Many of these people just cleaned up from Sept. 2004 and some haven’t even received their federal relief yet. They will probably declare it a disaster zone so they can get more relief.
This is where Terri Schaivo is suppose to be buried. Just wonder if it’s on higher ground away from the Delaware River.

Mar31

Think first!

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You’d think that since I am a fairly intelligent creature that I would remember to use Flonase or my herbal nasal spray before I tackle the great outdoors! Well, I didn’t and not only is my brain foggy from PMSing but I am so stuffed up. As soon as I eat something, I’ll do the spray to see if it helps a day later. Even our friend Kathy says she takes Advil before she plays tennis to avoid the aches and pains that will probably settle in. Advil doesn’t like me, so I was popping a Tylenol at 1 am this morning. My body was like ‘hey toots, are you crazy? Manual labor and you do not mix!”

I heard that Terri Schaivo passed away today. Her husband is bringing her up to Bucks County, PA. to her final resting place. It’s beautiful there and we daytrip there once in a while. That’s where Terri and Michael grew up. I hope now that she is gone, that the story will vacant the news. We have to concentrate on getting our troops home. Mom was also saying she worries about her grandchildren being taken care of through social security when they are her age. I think people even my age have to worry! I don’t know what will happen in the next 20 yrs, but it’s not a pleasant thought to know that we may not get the help we deserve.

Feb28

Meeting Frank from Trading Spaces

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I don’t know if you watch ‘Trading Spaces’ on ‘The Learning Channel’. I love all the shows on that channel and today Frank Bielec, the senior decorator on TS was at the Fort Washington Expo center (about an hour away). It was the last day for the Suburban Home and Garden Show (very nice)! We decided to give the van a whirl and go up. What a nice 67 yr old man he is! So personable (was a 1st grade teacher at one time). We got there a bit late (the place was mobbed) and only saw about 15 minutes of his first talk (we stayed for the second). We happen to be standing stage left near the table where he would eventually sign autographs. Lucky us, we were about 4th in line! And as a treat, my mom was along too. I took one of my TS books and Frank not only signed it, he drew a picture of himself too. He got up and posed for a picture with both me and mom. : ) He said to my mom that ‘your daughter must be good at what she does.’ Not sure what he meant, I only mentioned his wife’s cross stitch company and asked where he got ideas for the designs. He said ‘Look around you’. (It was in 1989 that he finally combined his arts and crafts talents with his business acumen and co-founded the business “Mosey ‘n Me” with wife Judy, specializing in designing cross-stitch patterns). I told him I have a Learning Channel tribe too.
Sean came along and enjoyed it too! We will conquer that PA turnpike yet! (we didn’t get lost).

Jan30

Still pondering Paul

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So I watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition tonight and there was my old classmate Paul. Not remembering him is driving me batty. I wonder if he lived in Media his entire life? Was he inspired by the wacky shop teacher in junior high to decide on a career in carpentry? Who taught him guitar? Did he have any of the same teachers that I had that drove me crazy? At least I know he has the same red ‘leather’ bound diploma and he wore a black cap and gown when he graduated.
Sorry, I’m a detail person and I like to know things.When I find out, I will post. We do have a gap tooth in the front in common though.

Forgot to tell you that my mom looked in the local phonebook and a DiMeo was living on Revere Road in Drexel Hill, PA. That is the same address we had has newlyweds! We lived in the apartments over there for 2.5 yrs.

Jan28

Paul from Penncrest!

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Well this is totally freaky and without tribe, I wouldn’t have found out about Paul DiMeo coming from my hometown of Media, PA.

I joined The Ty Pennington tribe there and was going through their Ty links and went to the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show one. I had just told the gals there that my second favorite person on the above show was, you guessed it Paul! So I went to his bio page and lo and behold, the second paragraph said he was from Media! Now this is driving me crazy because I don’t remember him and I liked a lot of people in his class. I saw his name in the Penncrest alumni book and he graduated in ’76, the year before I did. Now I am hoping that the kid with glasses who touched the merchandise without asking in the stairwell at the old Media Jr high was not Paul! I told my son this and he got a good laugh. When and if I find the ’76 yearbook, I am scanning his photo and sharing!
A little update: Paul probably has a sister Dianne! Now this is getting bazaar!! I happen to be looking at a Penncrest Alumni page and saw a Dianne DiMeo B-something.