Sunday Blessing

September 29th - Sunday -

Off to church and hope all of you are doing the same thing.  I am the scripture reader today, reading from I Timothy 6:6-19

Taking Advantage of the Beautiful Fall Weather

September 28th - Saturday - Beautiful Fall Day

We have had a beautiful week here in Northern Pennsylvania and Lou and I have taken full advantage of  every day.

Isn't this mum just beautiful?  Our granddaughter brought this down to us last Sunday.  She always remembers her mother and me when it comes to the fall and how we always purchase mums to decorate with and this year, she bought us huge mums.  It is so nice to have her at home and attending college close to home.  She has been helping me do an album through Shutterfly.  She gave up her Sunday afternoon and then again her Wednesday afternoon, but by golly it is all done and has been ordered.  She worked this into her school schedule along with her play practices and her studying.  I am a fortunate grandma!!  Lou and I went to see the play tonight and she did a very good job playing Effie Goodwin.

Michelle working on the Album

Lou and I have washed the house down and washed the windows along with washing the garage down on the outside using a power washer.  Once that two day project was completed, I set about getting my fall decorations out and now it looks a little more like fall at our home.

 Faux window decorated

Display in the back yard that is lite at night

Front Entrance

Back Deck

We have been eating lunch on the back deck with this view.

Lou was finally able to get the grass cut, we had let it go to get repairs done to the barn in preparation for the painting job.  I have also cut down some of the spent flowers and need to get the ones on the other side of the driveway.  Hopefully, will be able to get that done this week.  

We spent one day with Donnie trying to get a couple of his jobs out of the way and decided that he would have to hire someone to complete one of them.  Now to get someone to do the work, that seems to be a problem for everyone.  Krista and Steve met us at the barn to install new wipers on the RV and I just had to snap a picture of Matthew as he perched on a block of wood

He is telling us the sound the tractor says........

a Little More on Woolrich

September 22nd - Sunday

When I did the post yesterday about our tour of the Mill at Woolrich  I didn't include any pictures that I had taken during our short walk to the factory.  I had not realized, or even thought about how the town of Woolrich developed around the industry that Mr. Rich had started in 1845, when he expanded the industry to the present location.

The Factory that is used today.  This is where the tour took place

They had everything they needed within a city block.  This is a picture of their church and it is still used today.

Behind the church are a bowling alley, recreation center and something else that I don't remember.

This was the original store, you can see the additions  that were added over time.  We were told originally the front of the store housed an appliance store, grocery and clothing.  Purchases would be deducted from your weekly paycheck.

The School that was used, not currently in use

The store today houses the regular store, an outlet store and a cafe.

Woolrich Store today

Our Tour of Woolrich

September 21st - Saturday -  Rainy

Today was the day for Lou and I to tour the Woorich Woolen Mills.  Lou had noticed a blurb in the Williamsport Newspaper where they were going to conduct tours today for the last time and asked me if I would like to go, that was a "no brainer" for me.  At one time, I was secretary/treasure for the Tiogo County Sheep and Wool Growers and Woolrich used to buy our wool, so I was all for watching what they would do with our grade A wool.  I called immediately for tickets and was able to secure two tickets so we were off this morning.  It was a rainy day, but that didn't dampen our spirits.

Woolrich is the oldest continuously operating vertical woolen mill in the USA.  Starting in 1830.

I am going to post pictures that I took with an explanation of the pictures, after a little explanation.  Woolrich's tradition of custom-designed woolens dates back to their founder, John Rich.  In 1830 he constructed his first woolen mill in Plum Run, PA.  From his mule cart, he sold his quality fabrics to loggers, miners, rivermen and trappers.  By 1845, he expanded the mill and moved to what is now Woolrich, PA.

Over the years, eight generations of his family have lived and worked amidst the same rural landscape of north central Pennsylvania, not two miles from where John Rich erected his first woolen mill.  We were able to see that bales of raw wool still come in one end of the mill and after a good deal of work, exit as superior fabric.  We were able to see first hand why the products that are made here in Woolrich cost much more than products made in China or elsewhere.  We were very impressed by the hands on.

Raw wool as it enters Woolrich, the lanolin has already been removed.

As we moved down the line we could see how they dyed the wool in huge pots of dye, they called it cooking the wool, although they were careful not to boil the wool, as they would then have felt.

Dye pots

Then on to the point where they would dye huge skeins of wool and they did it about the same way, with the exception the yarn was on spindles or spools

They could do up to 150 spools of yarn at one time.

Cone Winding

Here the spun wool yarn is placed on cones.  Cones are conical shaped bobbins made of plastic or paper.  The speed of the bobbins is controlled so that a yarn with a soft even slub is ready for weaving.

Spinning Machine

It was hard to get a picture of this machine to show how it worked, this machine was very long and it takes the raw wool and "spins" it into a single fiber.  Note the red fiber.  This will be used for the USA-Marines.  All of our Marines have Woolrich fabric on their uniform.  All of the red is from Woolrich, PA  I thought that was very interesting.

Plying

During this process a single yarn is formed by twisting together two or more single threads.  This yarn is then wound on a twisting tube in preparation for the next process.

This is called Warping:

This is the  front of the picture where the yarns come together

The cones of the various wools that are going into the blanket above

The warp is the yarn that runs lengthwise in a woven fabric.  During this process the yarns are arranged in parallel order on a beam in preparation for weaving.

Warp Tie

During this process yarns are prepared to be placed on the loom for weaving.  The yarns are combed and straightened so that the proper weave is produced.  This process is used when new warp with the same weave pattern is p lace onto an existing weave loom.   Red going to the Marines.....

Fabric awaiting Burling/Mending

Burling/Mending Station is the removal of loose threads, knots, slubs, burs and other extraneous materials by means of the burling iron, a type of tweezers.  The trick is to remove the impurity without damaging the fabric.  After weaving and prior to finishing any lumps, or burls, knots and loose threads are removed by hand.

One of the many foot operated sewing machines placed throughout the factory

We asked what model the machine was and we found that all of the equipment in the factory had been made in the USA and the sewing machines were made in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts  We all applauded!! 

The Pulling Machine




This step really surprised me, all of the wool fabric is pulled and stretched, washed and dried before it is prepared for us.

Napping is a finishing process which raises a nap on the surface of the cloth.  The wool is stretched rightly and passed over rapidly revolving cylinders covered with wire which prick the treads thus raising the nap.

Napping

 

Shearing Machine

Shearing machine is used to mechanically trim fibers from the surface of the woven wool.  The cutting action is  provided by a roller which has several spiral mounted steel cutting blades attached.  Shearing is practically always done on woolens and the amount of shearing can vary depending on desired finish of the fabric.

I hope I remembered the facts and haven't made too many goofs, it was a very interesting day and Lou and I enjoyed our day.  After the conclusion of the tour we had to go shopping, each of us were given a coupon for $10.00 off any purchase and Lou found a rain coat to replace one that was about 30 years old from Woolrich.  I was able to find three blouses in XS that will be perfect for the south this winter, all of our items were on sale.  Like I said a great day.

Washing the Motor Home

September 19th - Thursday - Another beautiful day

We were up early and ready to get the RV ready to go into the barn for the winter.  Lou tackled changing the oil in the generator and while he struggled with getting the filter out, I started cleaning out the compartments.   He just couldn't get the filter out and finally he asked me to call Steve and see if he could come down and help him.  Steve and Kris are always so good to jump in and help at any time we need help and Steve came right down, even though he had to be at work at 12:30 PM.  They both tried different tricks but were unsuccessful in getting the filter out.

Lou trying to get the filter out of the generator

It came time for Steve to leave for work and Lou decided that he would go to his barn and see if he could find a large "Ford" wrench to see if that would work.  So while he was gone, I started washing the RV.  That was not a simple task, as I can't use my right arm, so I did all of it with my left arm.  I was partly finished when Lou got back, the wrench didn't work, but he decided to make holes into the filter with a sharpened spike and see if he could turn it a bit with the spike, he could turn it an eighth of an inch and so that is how he did it, made holes in the filter and turned it an eighth of an inch at a time, until we could finally get it out.  A very slow process.  We ate lunch at 3:00 pm, then he spent the rest of the afternoon looking for a filter, no one in  Wellsboro or Mansfield carried it, but a friend of Lou's in Mansfield ordered it and promised him he would have it for him at 7:00 am tomorrow.  Steve did get him new blades for the windshield and will install them for us tomorrow.

Thankfully, I was able to get the RV all washed, wheels done and windows washed by 6:30 pm.  Hopefully, tomorrow we can get it winterized and into the barn before it rains.  I may get the outside of the house washed down and the barn painted before it snows and I still have a garage to clean inside and washed down on the outside and the lawn needs to be cut again.  Hope the weather holds off.

Krista had to take Matthew back to the doctor today, he was vomiting again last night and he has lost three pounds.  Dr. Guelig doesn't know what is wrong.  Bland diet tonight hopefully gain a pound back and see him tomorrow.

I did hear from the King Dome technician today and we are supposed to get three satellites on our Dome at all times and he will work with us here at home to try and remedy the problem, as soon as we can get to a location where we can get service.  Once again the man at Syracuse didn't know what he was talking about!

The saga continues

Our Last Trip to Camping World in Syracuse, NY

September 18th - Wednesday - Beautiful Day - Not a cloud in the sky.

We were up before the sun this morning and on the road at 7:00 AM to keep our appointment at Camping World in Syracuse, NY.  This appointment was to have our Dome connected correctly so we could have the use of all of our satellites.  This had been trouble shot by the technician at King Dome at our home and we notified Camping World of the problem, as it was their mistake, they had connected the Dome to the auxiliary cable and not the main cable.  A problem that should have taken at the most a couple of hours.  We were assured that the spring for our awning would also be on site and it would be replaced at the same time, as when we were there on the first of August, we were given the excuse that it had not come in yet.

We arrived at 10:10 AM reported to the desk and the girl that normally takes care of us was not at work today.  The spring could not be found and when they checked with the man that does the ordering, it had never been ordered; however, this was not done until 4:00 pm, when I started asking questions and we asked to talk to the foreman.  The dome problem, we were told was not installed properly by the factory and that upset me, as I knew that was wrong, as it did work at one time prior to Camping World taking it off and returning it to King Dome.  To make a very long story short.  We still only have two satellites working and they tell us that is all we will ever have.  End of story.  We told them not to order the spring and not to bill us for any of the work that was done today, as we were told we had a 90 day guarantee on their labor and as long as they didn't replace any parts, today was on them.  We spent over $700.00 on it the first of August.  We have made six trips to Syracuse for the same problem with no resolution.  That is a three hour drive one way for us.  The foreman is aware that we will not be returning to their establishment and the  reasons and many of the reasons are documented in previous e-mails in her possession.

We had hoped to stop at one of the winery's for dinner on our way home, and as it was we stopped at a chicken house in Watkins Glen and asked for something we could eat in our hands and kept driving, as it was it was 8:30 when we arrived home after dark.

It was a beautiful drive up and back and we did enjoy our outing, if we had accomplished anything and if it hadn't cost so much for the gasoline for a days drive.  They were harvesting grapes and we wanted to stop and purchase some grapes and apples to bring home, but by the time we came home, all of the places were closed.

We were so pleased for the farmers, as last year when we made our trips up their corn fields were so sparse it wasn't worth cutting and this year all of their crops were very bountiful.  The Amish were cutting corn with their horses, always a pleasure to watch, as their barns and countryside are so beautifully groomed.

Horses and driver ready for a day's work

 

At the end of a work day

The falls on route 414 - before Hector, NY

Happy Birthday to our First Great-Granddaughter

September 16th - Monday

Yesterday was a pretty day, and you can see that our trees are beginning to show the signs of fall fast approaching.  My very favorite time of the year and I do think we are going to have to hurry to get everything done that we want to accomplish before it gets too cold to work outside.

Our church attendance was very low today with only 19 people attending.  Lou's sister was away so it was left to me to collect the monies and to make all of the notations in the books, so it was a little late when we got out of church.  We met our friends at George's for breakfast and caught up on some of the happenings on things that we missed while we were away.  George and his wife had been in Greece while we were away, so there were a few stories to be shared there.

We were off to Shawn and Maegan's house for dinner this evening to celebrate Abby's 13th birthday.  A full fledged teenager.  She told me that she is now 5'2".  I had been telling her for sometime that she was going to be a lot taller than me, well she has hit that point.  She had a cute black and white skirt on tonight with a black top and she really looked nice.  She is so good to help her mother with the tasks at hand.  She even asked to make her own dessert - no recipe, just her own creation and it was really tasty and enjoyed by all of us.

I always look forward to the parties at their houses, as we get to chat with Maegan's parents, my cousins, Joe and Deanna Powell along with Deanna's father, my first cousin Ted Compton.  It is so nice when we are all related and get to visit and catch up on what is happening in all of our families.  We were chatting about family history tonight and the need to date and put names on all of the photos that we take.  One reason that I enjoy looking back at my blog.  If Kris and I want to remember something, we find ourselves looking back.

You will notice the pictures that I took at the party, really don't show the faces of the girls, and that is at the request of Shawn and Maegan and I have tried to honor their request.  Tonight the baby was dressed in blue jeans and she looked so cute.  I didn't get a picture of her to share either.

It was good to have Noell and Wyatt with us tonight also.  We are just waiting for Travis to get moved up also.  Noell told me tonight he is still waiting for one more signature on his leave papers and he will be on his way to Pennsylvania.  Work is progressing along very nicely on their home in Stony Fork.

Project - Barn

September 15th - Sunday - Sunny - Beautiful Day

We have had a few busy days and interesting days in our family.  Poor Matthew has been sick with a bug and his family has had little sleep, but Michelle has had good news, she is going to play the part of Effie, the murdered wife, in the upcoming play written by Thomas Putnam titled The Trial of Walter Goodwin. This is going to be performed at the Mansfield High School next weekend.  Our family went to see the production the first time Hamilton/Gibson presented this play to the public back in 2001 and it was presented to us in the Tioga County Courthouse, which made it all the more believable.

I had heard this story all my life, as Daddy told of his father seeing the wagon go past his house with Mr. Goodwin's body in it on its way to the Hills Creek Cemetery.  Effie was the sister to our Uncle Charlie Copley and of course my maiden name was Goodwin.  Daddy also told us that the Taylor lady confessed to the murder prior to her death and if that were so Mr. Goodwin was hanged innocently as he had said all along.  Needless to say Michelle is excited to have a part in the play and she will be the ghost.  Lou and I had purchased our tickets before we knew she was going to be in the play, so we are all set.

Michelle also had the pleasure of singing the National Anthem at First Arena prior to a sports event on Saturday and she was pleased with than experience and felt she was able to do a good job at that.  As a grandma I am glad to have her use one of the gifts that God has given her.  She is back in college and back to her busy schedule.

Now about our barn - Kris and Steve were scraping the paint and found some Tl-11 that had some bad spots, so Lou and I felt we had better replace some sheets.  I called around and found the best deal on lumber was with Russ Giles in Wellsboro and found that he would even deliver it, so we figured out what we needed and ordered it and he brought it right over and we went to work.  I had helped Al build the barn and felt I could help Lou with the repairs, but my arm is really causing big problems again, but I did what I could and I was surprised at what I remembered on how we did originally, we worked all day yesterday, replaced some 2x4's , 1x6's, and got a sheet of T1-11 put in, still have more to do, but have a good start.  Have more scraping to do, but hopefully, we can get it painted before it gets cold.

The Fall Work Continues

September 10th - Tuesday -  Cloudy and Misty Rain

I must have heard the weather forecast for another country, as I thought it was supposed to be in the 90's, and I awoke to misty rain and clouds, I had planned on continuing my outside work, but had a change of plans.

Lou spent the entire day yesterday with Steve West at his body shop while Steve worked on the front end of our car trying to repair the damage that was done by towing the car over the rough roads on our way to Prince Edward Island.  He also painted a couple of spots that needed attention.  Car looks great; however, we still can not hook it up to be towed.  I told Lou we could always buy a bike rack and put it on the back of the RV, he didn't like that idea, so now Lou is going to have to go back to Steve and see what else they can try.

On the positive side, Cole and Burd have finally figured out why our cruise control and our brake lights haven't been working correctly.  We need a new control module, and they have ordered it and will have it installed on Friday.  This has been an ongoing problem for over six months, so we are extremely glad to have that mystery solved.

While Lou was gone, I continued to cut off my iris, peonies, and other spent perennials, seems like an unending job, but always looks good when I am done, about the time snow flies.  Lou hauled it away after he cut the grass last evening.

Krista and Steve have been scraping paint on the big barn and we want to paint it now that we have electric now, but found some bad T-1-11 boards, so called around to get some prices, and need to have Lou finish measuring to find out just how much we need and get it ordered and delivered so we can make the repairs and get that job finished before it gets cold.  Hopefully, it won't be too complicated.  Al and I built the barn, so Lou and I ought to be able to repair it.

Our fall garden is doing great, we had beets for dinner last evening and the green beans are getting ready to bloom.  The lettuce and spinach are ready to eat, am really glad that I decided to plant a late one.

Grandparent's Day

September 9th - Monday - Beautiful Day- Cool with blue sky

We have had a very busy few days.  Remember I told you we were going to stay with the great-grandgirls and we did and had a wonderful time.  The hours went so quickly and I took my camera with me and never thought to take it out of my purse.  Maegan had our dinner all ready for us and what a treat to sit at a huge dining room table with four girls and listen to their stories of school and their activities of the day.  They are all good eaters, so their was no coaxing to finish their dinner, they all picked up their dishes and took them to the dishwasher.  The new baby even sat in her swing and had a snooze while we dined.  Was a nice evening.
The next day Shawn and Maegan took the girls to the funeral and Lou and I also attended Teddy's funeral, which was very nicely done by his pastor with his daughter and brother taking an active part in the service.  His sister played the piano and his brother-in-law led the singing.  I think Teddy would have been pleased with the service.

On Friday afternoon my favorite electrician/plummer, Rex Fuller came to finish the electrical project that he had started while we were away.  He has put in complete new service for us, it had been done in 2005, but had failed and he suggested some changes, so now we will not have to be concerned about it.  Rex has always been so good to help me in any way.  He worked with Al to install our well and pump initially and then any time we have had a problem he has been right here to take care of any problem.  A good Christian man that we can depend on.  Krista has had to call him when we have been in Florida, and he has always been there, besides that he and his wife are just good people.

The finished Project

 Saturday Lou spent the day with his friend Donnie doing his check book and doing odds and ends that he needed help with, which had really piled up with us being gone for a month.  I worked on food that we needed to have ready for Coffee Hour at church.  It was a good thing I did, as it ended up I was sick all night on  Saturday evening and wouldn't have been able to have done it.

Sunday we went to church and enjoyed our Coffee Hour, didn't have many folks at church, our church is suffering from the loss of our pastor and the arrival of our new pastor.  I know several people are going to other churches.  It is always hard to get used to a new pastor.  After church, Lou and I went to Perkins and I enjoyed a bowl of chicken noodle soup while Lou enjoyed pancakes, bacon and eggs.  After our meal we went for a ride and stopped at Walmart and picked up some bulbs to plant at the cemetery and we wanted to check on a friend's house that they are building and on our way back I saw something that I have never seen before.  A plum tree with fruit on it.

Can you see the plums?

We came home after our ride and found a sweet message on our machine from Michelle wishing us a Happy Grandparent's Day and telling us that she had gotten us a card but hadn't found us at home, so later on Matthew came in the door with an envelope in his hand and a big smile on his face wanting us to open the card.  It was nice to be remembered on our special day.  I think I can honestly say that Michelle hasn't missed this special day since she was old enough to know what Grandparent's Day was all about and she is teaching her brother about the finer joys of life also.  One of the joys of growing older!!

Repairs to Towing Bars

September 3rd - Cooler and Cloudy

Today we were up early and I had an appointment in town, so I was off as quickly as I had breakfast.  Lou worked on our laundry and ran the sweeper for me while I was gone.  I stopped at Dunham's Hardware on my way home to get a new outside garbage can, RV antifreeze and a couple other items that were on sale.  That is one of my favorite places to shop, Marge is a terrific help and a good friend, always a good choice all the way around.  Prior to my retirement, it was a weekly stop.

Krista and Matthew were down this afternoon for a few minutes and we chatted with them, then Lou decided he would tackle the job of repairing the tow bars that had been damaged during our trip.  I had ordered replacement parts from Roadmaster and they arrived today.  As Lou went to the garage to work on his project, I tackled the ironing.  I had just finished when he came in and asked me if I would be willing to help him.  He had gotten part of it apart, but found that he could not get the old bushings out, so we tackled that job and what a job it was, finally I suggested taking a hack saw blade and see if we could saw through the old bushing enough to pull it out, darn if that didn't work.  Lou finally put it back in the brace and was able to pull it out after he cut through it with the blade.  One bushing done.

I was going to bake a fresh peach cobbler for dessert tonight, but think Lou needed my help more than we needed dessert.  We are enjoying sweet corn that Maegan brought to us yesterday, it is yellow corn and just delicious, she was so generous, she picked enough to share with us and with Krista and her family.  Tomorrow night Lou and I are off to Shawn and Maegan's house to stay with the five little girls while they go to the funeral home.  We have had so many deaths in our family in the last few months and with school just starting we thought this would be helpful for them.  Then we will go to the funeral on Thursday.  We are looking forward to spending time with the great-granddaughters.  Remember the newest one was born while we were in Prince Edward Island.

See the hole where the bushing came out and the bushing that we took out laying on the top all twisted up.

Sunday Blessing

September 1st - Sunday

Anything more beautiful than a red rose?