
This is the main house at Batsto Historical Village. Originally built in the 18th century, businessman Joseph Wharton added unto and renovated the house. We received a tour of the large, spacious house, but no pictures were allowed, similar to our tour of the house at Allaire State Park. If you want historical homes in New Jersey where you can take photos, try Longstreet Farm or East Jersey Olde Towne.

This old-fashioned stage coach seems to scream: I want to be in a Ruby Tuesday post!

Pictured in the little museum in the visitor center are Batsto village owners William Richards (early 19th century) and Joseph Wharton (second half of the 19th century). The man on the left may be Charles Read of the 18th century. See history of Batsto Village.

Pure Turkish emery was one of the items advertised for sale in the Batsto shop. Note the crescent moon on the advertisement. This was from the days of the Ottoman Empire.
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:


There is a lake at Batsto Village in the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. There one can see all sorts of natural elements, like wildflowers and a pretty butterfly.

This star-like lavender flower (spotted knapweed – thanks to EG Wow) was also growing next to the lake. There is a nature center at the village, but we didn’t get a chance to visit.

This cattail is situated in a man-made pond created by 19th century businessman Joseph Wharton.
For more nature notes (and this week’s post about lawns) visit:


On Sunday we headed down to the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey and visited the Batsto Historical Village. The village was built around the iron industry in the late 18th and early 19th century. When the ironworks was abandoned for more profitable iron in Pennsylvania, it became a glass blowing village for a few years. Then Joseph Wharton, a Philadelphia businessman, bought it in 1876, fixed up the main house and built it up as an agricultural area. Today it is a fun place to visit for both history and nature lovers.

The top photo, with the roof and chimney, is of the village store. I took the store photo with the sepia setting on my camera. The bottom one is of some storage building in the village.
For more sepia and/or doorways, visit:



We haven’t gone on many trips this summer, as it has been quite hot, other than to the pool. Here’s dinner at the Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, New Jersey as it may have been in the 1890’s. Looks like they are having ham, asparagus, grapes, lemons and — is that challah?— a twisted bread, served on delicate blue china. We are planning to go on a family trip today.
For more Summer Stock photos, visit Robin’s Around the Island:


It’s a wonderful time of year in New Jersey: the peaches are finally available in the farmer’s markets. These are the best tasting peaches…um, yum, de-de dum. It was even worth traipsing off during the heat wave last Friday to get yet another bag.

The peaches are beautiful to behold as well as eat. Can I have my peach and eat it, too?

Small tomatoes in my garden are finally ripe. I also have some garden grown cucumbers (my first year growing cucumbers). I saw one of my bigger tomatoes finally turning red. How long will I hold out before picking it?
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
