More Selfies

As always the kids wanted to take some selfie pictures with me on my phone. It's become a regular thing. We had a wonderful week together with them staying at our house the whole time and of course it ended with a selfie session. We did individual ones and then some group shots.

Buffalo Zine Fest

We went down to the Buffalo Zine Fest down at Book Arts. It was the 4th annual event although this was the first time we probably even knew about it. That's because Todd's brother's wife was a participant coming in from California to attend the festival.

The festival was one day and went from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm. There were over 50 local and regional zine-makers, comic artists, poets and activists.  And at least one from California! Each participant had a table to display their self-published zines, booklets, stickers and other stuff which they shared, traded and sold across three floors in the building. There was also printing demos in the basement. 

We went down with Katie, Todd and the kids in the late morning. They had a great time and we spent almost two hours there. They were fascinated with all of the activities and of course the little things like rings, stones and stickers.

We saw Rachel at her table and hung out there for a little while with her. Iris was sitting at the table too. Rachel stayed with Dick and Iris while she was in town for the zine fest.

After the zine fest everyone was hungry and it was time to go out for a late lunch.

At the Zoo

We spent a few hours at the Zoo today. Becky and I walked over there with Katie and the kids. They had a wonderful time as usual. It is so nice having the zoo just a couple of blocks away. The kids have their favorite exhibits and they seem to especially like the reptile house and the rain forest building.

Today they also had some fun on the merry-go-round.

Pizza Time

Katie, Todd and the kids arrived today after a long day on the road. They drove straight through. After they settled in for a bit we ordered pizza and Becky and Katie went over to Romeo & Juliet's to pick it up. The pizza was delicious as usual. It always is.

We got three of them so that there would be plenty of leftovers to munch on over the next few days.

Sean and Andrew's Visit

Of course Andrew and I had to do one of our selfies while they were here.

They were in town because the Buffalo Bills held their first public event in the new stadium yesterday. Only people with season tickets were invited to this special practice session. Earlier in the week Sean had called us to let us know that he was planning to attend and to bring Andrew with him. He wanted to stay with us that Saturday night and then leave for home Sunday morning. We said fine although that was the day of Joe's funeral wake but we were not making it down to Philadelphia at that time.

They came by to visit and we had a good time although it was brief.

Sean and Andrew arrived in the early afternoon and we walked Andrew over to the zoo. Then they went down to the new stadium. They came back later in the evening.

Sunday morning they had some breakfast and then they were on their way home. Andrew was tired from the previous day's activities.

Dinner @ JT's

This evening Becky and I had another wonderful dinner at JT's Restaurant on Elmwood Avenue. The food was delicious as usual and the service was great. We got a nice table that overlooked the patio on one side and the crowded happy hour bar on the other side.

Becky wanted some pizza which was fine with me. She ordered their pepperoni pizza with green olives. I ordered the black spaghetti with shrimp and of course we split the dinners. Also had some of their wonderful bread too. I had my usual glass of Tuscan Red wine and then followed that up with a Peroni draft.

We wanted to go out for dinner and had decided on heading down to Cafe 59. We hit some really bad traffic on this Friday evening a little after 5 pm due to some construction work. Then we got onto too Allen Street and went down to Franklin Street where we usually park but there were no open parking spots. We drove all the way down Franklin to North Street but still no place to park. Then we decided to keep going north and head up to Coles. We don't go out to restaurants very much on weekends. Elmwood Avenue was crowded but not too bad. We drove by JT's and I saw that there were plenty of tables on the patio and just inside the restaurant so we thought that could be an option. 

The restaurant quickly filled up and by about 6 pm most of the tables were in use and there was no room at the bar. We enjoyed our meal and sat at our table for about two hours.

We enjoyed ourselves after having cleaned the house and prepared for the visit of Sean and Andrew tomorrow. They are coming into town to attend a Bills event at the new stadium and will stay with us Saturday night before heading home on Sunday.

High Chair Give-A-Way

This morning I put our grandchildren's high chair up on Buy Nothing North Buffalo. That is the Facebook group for giving away unneeded items to people who need them. I've used this site several times and most recently to gift our old rocking chair to a young woman who could use it. Our grandchildren have all outgrown using the high chair.

So today I had several people respond to my post and selected a young family who wanted the high chair for their parents. Well, this has been a grandparent's high chair. On my post I stated... To Give: High Chair. Ten years of occasional use for out of town grandchildren. Folds us and stores nicely. Removable washable seat cover.

It was picked up this evening and now it's gone. Reclaimed some space in a closet. 

Painting the Porch Again

Today I started painting the front porch again and it's another project. The blue paint from last Fall has been peeling away. It was just a quick temporary job back then and now it's time to do it right. So I started by scrapping off the old peeling paint and covered everything with a coat of primer. That's for both sides of the porch that had the wood replaced by Dietrich. Tomorrow I will put down another coat of primer in those two areas. It's going to rain on Friday and Saturday so I will wait until next week to put down the new Slate Grey replacement porch and deck paint. We need to get rid of that light blue which has really shown the dirt on the porch too much.

Joe's Obituary

Joe Berret's obituary was published today from the funeral home that is conducting his service. It included this photo of him. It has been very well written and tells his story. It's a shame he had such a long illness. We spent a lot of time together over the years and we all will miss him dearly.

Joseph C. Berret, of East Greenville, passed away peacefully on July 30, 2026, at the age of 78. Born in Lansdale he was the son of the late Charles and Marie (Strocko) Berret.

He graduated from Souderton High School and proudly served his country in the United States Navy. He then went on to build a fulfilling career as a supervisor at Hatfield Quality Meats, where he worked for many years before retiring. Even in retirement, Joe remained active, lending his time and skills at Haines & Kibblehouse and County Line Nursery in Harleysville.

Joe was passionate about the outdoors; an avid fisherman and outdoorsman, he served as a member and past president of Upper Perkiomen chapter of Trout Unlimited. His love for the outdoors extended to hunting for and collecting arrowheads and other Native American artifacts.

In addition to his outdoor pursuits, Joe was a classic car enthusiast. He took great pride in caring for his cherished 1967 Chevy Nova. He was also a devoted fan of Rock 'N' Roll music, with a vast collection of records and memorabilia. He co-hosted a weekly radio show at WDVR for many years, giving him an opportunity to play records from his collection. His creativity extended into carpentry as well; his hands were always busy with a project, as he never could sit still.

Joe held the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival close to his heart, volunteering many years backstage in the performer's hospitality tent, fostering his lifelong appreciation for music and community.

Most importantly Joe loved his family. He is survived by his devoted wife of 56 years, Elizabeth (Emery) Berret; his daughter, Sara Berret and husband, Erik Bortz; his son, Christopher Berret and wife, Kimberly; grandchildren, AvaRue and Eliza Bortz and Courtney, Chase, Olivia and Nolan Berret; his brother, Daniel Berret and wife Mimi; and his sister, Ruth DeLoach. He is predeceased by a sister Mary Berret. He leaves behind cherished memories and an enduring legacy of love and kindness.

The Blind Assassin - A Novel

The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood, 2000. While perusing the library at Canisius College recently I came across this Margaret Atwood novel from 2000. 

This was a fascinating and rewarding book of historical fiction that focused on the lives and manners of people in the 1930s and 1940s with many layers of stories within stories.

It took me awhile to read this because I had the book checked out of the library for six months. I still have my staff borrowing privileges. So I was reading other books from the public library that I had for three weeks as opposed to the amount of time I had this and another book checked out from Canisius. So I actually took almost three months to read this book because I kept putting it down to finish up some other book. I loved reading this novel but I took my time. It wasn't something so compelling that I couldn't stop reading it.

Becky is reading it now.

This is the ninth Margaret Atwood book that I've read.