Royersford Is Famous!

So lately we've been noticing an awful lot of commotion about our usually sleepy little town. There have been police barricades blocking off parts of Main Street, and some shops have undergone a remarkable transformation.





Yesterday we finally found out why.



See that guy in the green jacket, down with a bunch of other people, directly in the center of the picture? That is none other than Peter Jackson, of King Kong and Lord Of The Rings fame. Turns out he's filming a new movie called The Lovely Bones, starring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, and Susan Sarandon.

To be honest, it's been a little bothersome from our perspective, since our travel through town has been completely impeded. Just tonight, it took my wife almost half an hour to go the ~2 blocks between the river and our house, due to multiple detours. The center of town looks like a football stadium at the moment, with bright lights all over the place. I'd go down and check it out, but there are police everywhere!

So I guess for the moment, we are living in a movie, literally!

Note: thanks to westmontcopa.blogspot.com and mommyblahblahblog.blogspot.com for the pictures.

A Much Needed Break

Last weekend Amy and I took a much needed break from the rigors of home ownership to go for a hike along the Appalachian Trail in nearby Berks County. It was a wonderful reprieve from the endless project list that always sits in wait for us.



For anyone who hasn't visited this lovely spot, I highly recommend it! The views were gorgeous, despite the alarming lack of fall color. It's known locally as "The Pinnacle", and is located just east of Hamburg, only a few miles of I-78.


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My only suggestion is to arrive early (we started our hike at approximately 8:15am), as it is a very popular place. We encountered two groups of scouts, numerous school groups, and even a few through hikers that had come up all the way from West Virginia.

This weekend, we're looking to get back on track with some paint in the back bedroom, as well as finishing up some electrical work. We had a friend do a good bit of the work, including ripping out most of the remaining knob and tube. He also found evidence of old gas lines in the ceiling above the second floor, leading us to believe that this was the original source of light for the house. Pretty amazing what you can find out when you rip up a few floorboards!

Two Local Shoutouts

For those of you who live in the Spring-City / Royersford area, I wanted to let you know about two great family businesses Amy and I have discovered nearby. I'm a big fan of supporting little Mom & Pop operations over the big chain stores when at all possible, especially when their offerings are as good as these two.

The first is called "GreenWorld Farmer's Market", and it's just over the river from us in Spring City, next to the car wash on Bridge St. Now despite it's name, I wouldn't really call it a farmer's market in the local sense of the word, seeing as the produce I've bought has sticker saying "Grown In Canada." But regardless, they have some really nice food for dirt cheap. Red peppers for $1.69 a pound, romaine lettuce at $0.99 for 3 heads, etc. I got all the food shown in the photo to the right for less than $15! Already it's saved us a ton of money on our weekly grocery trips. I will say that you have to pick through the stock at times, since some of the food appears a little bruised. But for as little money as we're paying, a little digging is fine with me. They also sell a really mean batch of wasabi peas at prices way cheaper than the local Giant, for those of you with adventurous taste buds.

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The other local standout is Renninger's Farm on 2nd Avenue, just south of where Royersford is. All summer we've enjoyed their wonderful peppers, peaches, and tomatoes (I especially recommend the peaches, they are amazing). Some of their tomatoes have been the size of large softballs! They also sell fresh herbs and flowers. As fall approaches, I'm excited about seeing what their squash offerings will be.