summer days

we spent a relaxing and fun weekend in connecticut with my sister and brother-in-law. korrina and chanda hadn't seen their aunt and uncle since christmas of 2019. i had wanted to zoom with morgan in london, but the timing didn't work out due to rehearsals for a current theatre project there.

it felt great to swim all day, and the lake water was as warm as the ocean in florida.

i always think that the sleep one does by the sea or a lake is the most restful.

playing a game of pool before dinner . .

my sister tried a new delicious recipe: a greek stew with chicken and onions over rice pilaf . .

cleaning up . .

and here are the cookies from veniero's . . we were all tired by 9:30 pm after so much sun and swimming, so all trooped off to bed.

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we had a lot of rain during the night . . 

 

the hydrangeas are a vibrant purplish blue this year. i wonder if it's from all the rain we've had . . 

a slow morning . . 

we played four rounds of may i which grew a bit lively when greg was dealt two hands in a row that allowed him to go down right away. we stopped before the party grew too rough, but the scores are recorded so the game can be continued during another visit.

we visited the local country barn where korrina found two vintage mixing bowls which kathy and i picked up for her as an early birthday gift . . then we walked home past the lake . . 

warren grilled burgers and hot dogs for our dinner, which we had with broccoli salad and tomatoes.

the little vegetable container garden . . 

it's doing very well . . 

 

 

someone is keeping us company . . 

here's one of the bowls . .

dessert was vanilla ice cream with blueberry sauce . . everything was delicious.

a group photo before getting ready to leave . . we used to spend two weeks every summer here, doing swimming lessons. now it takes lots of planning around people's work schedules to get together. i'm continually overwhelmed by life's transitions . .

homeward bound . . driving across the whitestone bridge to queens to drop off korrina . .

that iconic nyc skyline silhouetted by the setting sun . .

the kosciusko bridge . .

the connecticut life

a view from the car window along route 66 when greg and i drove to connecticut, saturday morning. this hot dog stop is new. i've never seen it before on our travels to and fro . .

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the view from my beach chair later that day . . at the lake . .

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the view of dinner preparations from the second floor:

  my brother-in-law's style of grilling . . he's a little better now at not turning all the food into charcoal for me.

 

 i'm sorry i missed filming his first foray out to the grill, as he was singing along with the recording of a new favorite song.

my sister sliced the zucchini in half and marinated it in paul newman's italian salad dressing and then placed it on the grill. combined with the chicken, it was delicious. i didn't have salad this evening, as i was too cold! after weeks of heat and humidity, the temperature dropped to the upper 60's and i had to borrow a sweatshirt. i also slept under a light down quilt with socks on!

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this morning:

 toby . . 

 and this is toby too . . 

my brother-in-law received an award from the national alliance on mental illness, farmington valley branch in early june.

 he's done such wonderful work for the community and helped to keep the institute for living open when the hospital board tried to close it as it wasn't "making a profit." can you imagine!? doctors have come from as far away as australia to see how the institute works with schizophrenic patients on an outpatient basis. the institute managed to stay open with the help of NAMI. when families come together to form a national coalition, they can have a lot of clout in the community.

my sister said that both he, and the woman on his left, gave very moving speeches.

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at noon, greg and i had lunch with my mom . . 

 roast beef sandwiches and four different salads from a market in town: beet salad, black bean salad, potato salad and four bean salad. i finally had to put the last one away as after four helpings, i was worried that my mom would start complaining that she had eaten too much. she has been doing that with me lately!

 plus, i wanted her to have room for dessert!

 the after lunch excursion to the gazebo.  

 we were fortunate that the weather was so beautiful today.

and then we took her in again and said good-bye. we left her listening to frank sinatra in the activity room. she recognized his voice and asked to be pushed closer to the film of him singing. whenever i hear him now, i'm reminded of how a neighbor in dyker heights would blast his music in the backyard adjoining the apartment building we lived in (this was in 1987).

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we got home around 7 pm and found chanda there. her plane had gotten in at 1:30 and she had taken the A train home . . we watched the darkest hour on her computer while knitting (she's finally knitting again) and when the movie ended and the credits were rolling and gary oldman's name rolled by, i exclaimed, "what role did gary oldman play?" bwa ha ha!!!! (the movie was about winston churchill's first twenty days as prime minister, and he played churchill.) i really did not recognize him and wondered who was playing churchill throughout the entire movie. i guess his oscar was well deserved.