FRONT PORCHES IN MILFORD, PA

A lot of the houses here are old, and just about all of them have front porches.  Let's take a tour of New Milford.

Most of the porches are cozy with flowers, chairs and things to make sitting out enjoyable.

This is an old house!  There are lots of nice old houses here.

This house is made of cobblestone and the lady who owns it says her taxes are higher because of it.  She has her Daisy Basket Shop behind  it.

These are row houses--old, but not as fancy as some of the big houses.

This is a really old house on Main Street.  It needs some repair and paint, but it is still beautiful.

One of the creeks that runs through town.

Morning fog.  I took the picture from my front porch.  More later.

THIS IS WHAT GROWS IN NEW MILFORD, PA

I try to walk as much as possible in this little town, and take my camera along to get some shots of the green landscape.  The town is full of beautiful flowers.  So far I haven't had any irate natives run out of their houses to stop my photography!  So, here are some things I see as I wander around  in New Milford, PA.

 This cautious fellow wanted to be friends, but we didn't have time to get together.  I just couldn't stand in the folks' yard and coax him for 15 minutes.

I don't know what they are, but they do well here.

Looks like a cotton bloom and even has bowls like a cotton plant.  Someone--please identify it!

I am amazed that sunflowers do so well since there is so much shade.  They are a favorite.

Beautiful flower gardens grow with such ease!

Many homes have a flag!

This huge flower garden is at Gibson right beside one of my favorite antique stores.

This is a bed and breakfast home.

Many mail boxes have flowers  around them or have pots mounted behind them like this.

I don't think this is yarrow.

Wheel barrows serve as planters.

This is the only honeysuckle I have seen, and believe it or not it does well in West Texas.  Love it!

Plants even grow in the crotch of trees (it's that wet here).  I haven't seen a sprinkler since I left Jayton, Texas..

Flowers grow in old dead tree stumps.  The petunias aren't as pretty here as they are in Montana (my opinion).

Barn quilts are very popular here.

So are outhouses.

And so are other wooden things.

Just one of the beautiful yards on a side street that I walk. 

Looking down toward Main Street.

 The only wild animal I have seen here (other than road kill).  Fall is on its way; leaves are starting to turn, and I can feel it in the air--you know when the sun is shining brightly but not burning you up.That's what I mean when I say I can feel it.  The colors will be gorgeous.

BLUEBERRIES IN NEW MILFORD,PA

I am always ready for a new experience and there are blueberries just about 3 miles up the mountain from New Milford.  I missed the blueberry festival here, but got in on some good picking at the Hilltop Farm.  

Hilltop Farm is really set up for individual pickers like me.  They have a four wheeler to haul people to the place designated for picking.  So, here we go!

 There were lots of people picking every day that I was there, and then the commercial pickers came in--mostly Vietnamese folks from Binghamton, New York.  I picked for 4 hours and made $16!

Blueberries grow in clusters sort of like grapes, but they are so tender you can't just strip the branches.  You have to pick them.

My first bucket.  They are in the freezer, and they are delicious.  The season is over, and I am sad about that, but plenty happy about all the  berries I froze.  Rabbit eye blue berries are supposed to grow in our area at home and I want to get some bushes whenever I can settle down and tend to them.

FROM MIDLAND TO NEW MILFORD

Bobby flew in to Midland on July 27, and we spent an exciting night and most of Saturday with Rhys, Robert and Marina.  We played, ate good Mexican food, and played some more!  Then we went to Jayton, and got things ready for our trip to Pennsylvania.  There was so much to do before we left that I did a horrible job of packing.  Bobby had things to do too!  Here he is backing the jeep in under the car port with Arnulfo Hernandez steering.  Bobby tore the license plate holder off  the pickup doing this.  That was the only mishap that day!

Tommy Stanaland is holding the rifle.  Lots of getting stuff gathered together that day, including guns.

Then we drove to Houston for four days of training on a new program that Troy Construction is going to use.  It is a lot like RSCCC that we used in school.  This is the headquarters for Troy in Houston.

 Lawn decoration at Troy. 

  Troy is expanding a lot.

Then we headed for New Orleans, and got there late in the afternoon.  This is some of the swamp in Louisiana.

We drove into the French Quarter, checked on motels, nothing available, so we got a place on the interstate.  I am proud to say we didn't get bedbugs or roaches from our stay.  I didn't get any daylight pics in the FQ because I was driving about 5 miles an hour, trying not to run over anyone.  The place was crawling with people and there are no lights, so you have to wait for an opening in the swarm of people before you can cross an intersection.  We hired a couple of foreign cab drivers to drive us down to the French Quarter so we could eat.  There was lots of action--too much for me to really get pictures of in the amount of time we had.

 Lots of places to eat, and so little time!

Bob and I ate here because the cab driver said it was the best, and it was delicious.

Bobby decided on the New Orleans Special. and I had the etouffee (yummy).

You can see the sweat dripping off my face!  Such heat and humidity!  Thanks, Becky for the vest.  I have had lots of inquiries and compliments on it.

The streets are packed, and people are constantly milling around, going from one bar to the next.  There are scammers and beggars throughout the crowd just like this man who had the usual line--"I need to go buy some milk and bread (code for booze or drugs) at the grocery store down the street.  Can you help me?"

Bob gave him $1.00 and he kept coming back, so Bob gave him $5 and told him that would take care of the bread and milk.  Well, maybe if he works the crowd he can get the money for some wine or a bottle of cheap whiskey.  The night was young so he still had time to reach his goal.

These fun loving lovelies had just got off the cruise ship and were doing the town (without husbands).  Trouble #1 and #2 are twins, and # 3 is a friend from California.  Trouble #1 is from New Mexico and knows where Abilene is, because she and her husband go there to hunt. 

More water and miles of bridge to cross it.   And finally, here we are in New Milford, PA!  This is where I ate breakfast every morning and got lots of information about the area too.  Now, we have an itty bitty apt. for me to cook breakfast, supper, lunch or what ever and clean too.

The Parkview Hotel with dining, dancing and a bar, of course.  Nice porch for the smokers to sit, smoke, eat, drink.  I am waiting to see what they do in the winter.

The Pratt Library in New Milford.

Very impressive front door to the library, and what I like is the friendly atmosphere and how easy it is to become a member.

I have many more pictures, but I have to go get sweet corn and then go pick blueberries.  Stay tuned for more about PA!