While awaiting the word to leave for Italy, David has been assigned to a job near Reading, PA. Muffin and I are accompaning him, enjoying new sites and smells. (The latter is Muffin's input!) Some of the houses and buildings around here are so wonderfully old, many of them constructed of native stone. Just beautiful! One of the "perks" of traveling is trying out different restuarants. Tonight we ate at The Speckled Hen, which is an authentically restored log house built between 1755 and 1760, located on a corner in downtown Reading. It is modeled after the country cottage pubs of the British Isles, complete with food and libations of that area of the world. Indeed, tonight we had Shepherd's pie washed down with smooth ale that sets the British beers apart from the American counterparts. There was a fire burning in the fireplace creating a warm and cozy ambience. If you can't be in England ...
this makes a good substitute! 
