Adventures in Philadelphia: The farm life

Lately I've been craving a more rural life—perhaps a few quiet, private acres; a vegetable patch; a sprawling lawn for the girls and their dogs. Something close to good restaurants. Close to good schools. Far from traffic. Ahh, I feel relaxed just imagining it...

I'm not sure if or when we'll be able to make it all happen, but in the meantime we enjoyed that slice of life at both a friend's farm and my in-laws' place on our recent trip to the Philadelphia area. (See New York photos from the trip here.)

I thought Cricket would get a kick out of the animals, flowers and vegetables at the farm, but she fell asleep in the car on the way and slept through the entire visit. Luckily, I got a full tour. I was camera-less but Instagrammed my way around.

Above: Barn with sunflowers.
Below top left: Popcorn!
Below top right: More sunflowers.
Below bottom left: Guinea hens.
Below bottom right: Peppers.

Below top left: Zinnias in the cut-flower bed.
Below top right: Eggplant flower.
Below bottom left: Hot, hot peppers.
Below bottom right: Frizzle chicken.

My in-laws have a stunning yard, too. Immediately behind the house lies a pool surrounded by flower beds. Beyond that, leafy trees and raspberry bushes speckle an acre of lawn.

Below top left: My little swimmer girl.
Below top right: Peaches at Linvilla Orchards, where we also visited horses, goats and chickens and bought fresh apple cider donuts. Yum.
Below bottom left: Purple cone flowers.
Below bottom right: Bleeding hearts, which remind me of my yard growing up.

P.S. Happy 50th blog post to me!