Lancaster County: Wolf Sanctuary - Lancaster Farmer's Market - Wilbur Choc Factory

Something rotten's going on in Bloggerland. Google Blogger changed their format and I can't figure the damn thing out. What's gonna happen is that I'm gonna make mistakes, as I always do, but I don't know how to fix them! Every time I leave the page, I can't find my way back.

Dan Stoltzfus is a retired 70-yo Amish farmer who knew an awful lot about diabetes when I told him I couldn't buy his wife's jellies n jams. His now-36-yo son contracted it when only 18 mos old. Joe himself is a friendly talkative guy and walked me out to my Hagey bus so I wouldn't get lost. I bought a jar of dill pickles from him plus a book he fetched from a friend of his: Fresh from Central Market Cookbook. In other words recipes from the selfsame market where I was. I read it on the bus on the way home.

Central Market is the oldest farmer's market in the country. Altho I purchased many things, I only ate one food item: a Thai spring roll.

Mary Mellinger sells goat cheese at the market. She and husband Andrew own a goat farm in Ronks, PA. I bought several types of goat cheese, some for salads, and some for our weekend pizzas.

Wolf Sanctuary T-shirt, mug, calendar, wolf earrings. I spent my entire allowance so I had to ask my dad if I could borrow some money. He died 32 years ago. Between you and me, the new format SUCKS!!! But onward ho!

Potholders suitable for framing. Anna, an Amish woman, sold them to me.

An amazingly delicious snack for a person w diabetes: Green bean crisps. They have the crunch you seek from a pretzel or potato chip and they're delicious. Marian, a young and b'ful Amish woman in cap sold them to me. Did u know there are romance novels written for Amish teenagers? They're published by "Good Books," same publisher as the cookbook. Cookbook author Phyllis Pellman Good and husband Merle own the publishing company.

Here we are at the Wolf Sanctuary. Our guides were Patti and Rosemarie, who's originally from NY.

Wolves are AFRAID of people and withdraw when they see em. To encourage the wolves to meet the visits, the keepers feed them raw meat, including deer roadkill which they love.

Visitors are kept well away from the wolves. Two 12-ft high fences separate us. The refuge center was founded in the 1980s by the Darlington Family. Mrs. Darlington, now widowed, names the wolves. The wolves do NOT recognize their own names, tho they do respond to tone of voice. Their keenest senses are smell and hearing. They can sniff a dead deer from 30 miles away. (Don't quote me. All this is from memory. And I am hard of memory.)

Hello handsome! Worldwide there are two types of wolf: the gray and the red. All these are gray wolves. Many have bred with dogs. To be considered a wolf in PA, you must have 65 percent wolf DNA. I am part wolf. I was named after my deceased Aunt Rose Wolf. Her husband was called simply "Wolf." They were Hungarian wolves. The above wolf is a Timberlake wolf.

Watching the wolves. The terrain was extremely hilly.

Son of Watching the Wolves.

Below is the soda fountain at the Tomato Pie Cafe, where I stopped to buy a bottle of water. Dallas told me they didn't sell bottles but offered to give me a glass of ice water. In exchange, I told him to take as many Wilbur Buds as he wanted. 

Rita Polish last name beginning with Cz, 75, of Holland, PA, will celebrate the 15th year of her HEART TRANSPLANT on September 15. Her antirejection meds are Cyclosporine and Cellcept. Her tplant was at University of PA. She was in the hospital for five months waiting for a heart, which is the way they used to do it. Unlike me, her antirejection meds did not give her diabetes.

We're headed toward the Wilbur Chocolate Factory in Lititz, PA.

As you approach the factory - celebrating its 125th anniv - you can smell the deep aroma of chocolate. Inside, you can watch two women making candies, but the real factory is in an adjacent bldg. I asked for the tiniest slice possible of fudge. It was the best ever since it was newly made. They import their beans from warm climes such as Africa and South America.

Hey, Hagey Bus! Wait for Ruthie! Bus driver was Sanford. Didn't bring his son.

Upon exiting, we all thanked the Boss - Michele Langanella.

Farmfields on the way home, with fire hydrant.

Nice house w/curving sidewalk on way home.