late summer in connecticut

friday morning greg and i drove up to connecticut.

 

we stopped at mazzicato's in middletown for sweet treats . . 

cookies and a broccoli/potato/sausage bread.

jam, sesame, almond, rainbow and powdered sugar wedding cookies.

i hadn't seen toby in awhile. it took her a moment to remember me. she's become a bit hard of hearing and sleeps very sound these days.

 

chives

basil and lettuce (red and green leaf)

begonia flowers

tomatoes . . 

kathy made so many delicious meals - lunch was chicken salad (with raisins, walnuts and curry), tabouli and watermelon.

 

and then the delicious cookies we brought - rainbow, sesame and butter with almond.

late afternoon rainstorm

we picked the basil and made pesto together with walnuts and romano cheese. it was especially good with such fresh basil.

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saturday morning spider web.

one of toby's favorite spots underneath the deck.

making breakfast . . 

morning writing . . 

slides from yesterday's photo show. we brought out my dad's old projector and tried showing a few slide canisters. the lamp grew a little too hot so we needed to take a break. i pulled these slides out to bring home and see about sending away for paper photos.

french toast with fresh strawberries and peaches. so good!

early afternoon bike ride along the rail trail.

 

passing through the marsh . . 

meeting a little furry friend along the way named abigail.

stopping for lunch . . 

which we soon had to abandon as the honeybees came out and kathy is highly allergic to their sting.

warren and i switched bikes for a little bit . .

there are turtles lying on the branch that is sticking into the water, and also a few cherry pits flowing by from the cherries we were eating . .

all the beautiful goldenrod . . 

 

late afternoon by the lake . . for a swim and rides on the paddle board and kayak . . 

watching his alma mater's football game . .

 

(thankfully, they won).

making guacamole . .

listening to a half time comedy skit . .

and listening to "dad" jokes on the radio . .

grilled salmon for dinner with two different marinades (citrus and spicy curry).

and more cookies for dessert (with vanilla bean ice cream).

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sunday morning . . 

egg, ham and cheese on a croissant with peaches and strawberries!

on the way to the lake for a town celebration . . 

the fire trucks are demonstrating how they draw water from the lake (and today they're returning it at the same time by a fun fire hose sprinkler).

kathy and i first participated in the tea cup raffle by sharing a bunch of tickets and putting them in the cups we were hoping to win (items from the bakery and a dinner at the local restaurant, plants that were offered from the local nursery and the grand prize: a paddle board).

we then went to hear the band whose musicians were friends of kathy and warren, and who happen to play a lot of kathy's favorite tunes from the 50's and 60's (the band has been together since high school, playing off and on over the years; more so now that several are retired from their professional jobs).

dancing to all the songs . . 

i also had fun photographing all the bubble making activity that was happening.

time to head back to the house for a late lunch . .

it was a beautiful day in the low 80's and the evenings have been so comfortable in the mid 60's. i know it's been a little hotter in the city.

first we lost track of each other in the supermarket where we picked up two fisherman's platter lunch specials . . 

 

after the meal, kathy and warren returned to the lake for the grand prize drawing of the inflatable paddle board (for which you had to be present in order to win) while greg and i packed our things up. we received two phone calls on the home landline while they were gone informing us that we had won the bakery's cookie certificate and the restaurant certificate . . i kept trying to call their cell phones to let them know so that they could pick up the certificates there, but kathy had left her phone home and warren's wasn't ringing for some reason . . so when they arrived back at the house they were unaware of our winnings . .

kathy was very happy about the restaurant win . .  (we didn't get the paddle board!)

on the road home . .

walking the bike back to the apartment after taking the bags up and parking the car . . 

it was nice to be back even though the city was definitely hotter and more humid than connecticut.

sunday morning poem

the depths of the grass

look in the early light,

down to the infinite

depths at the deep grass-roots;

where the sun shoots

in golden veins, as looking through

a dear pool one sees it do;

where campion drifts

its bladders, iris-brinded, through the rifts

of rising, falling seed

that the winds lightly scour-

down to the matted earth where over

and over again crow's-foot and clover

and pink bindweed

dimly, steadily flower.

by michael field

nala, flowers and summer squash

west broadway, 7:50 am

nala . . looking for a treat. i know now why she likes to curl up in this particular spot - it's right above the treat cupboard.

uniqlo's living flower wall on broadway between prince and spring.

the summer squash from muddy farm at the green market is so perfectly delicious right now. all i do is lightly steam cook it. no salt or pepper or garlic. just squash and water.

tales from the keys

the bike path to pigeon key.

chanda and adam went biking on the road to pigeon key which is a national historic district - and also a small island - in the keys off the florida coast (this was on sunday). it has eight buildings which are a remainder of the work camp of the florida east coast railway. currently, they serve as administrative offices and housing for educational groups and one of them is a small museum. you can read more about it here on wikipedia.

this is the florida keys brewing company cat. chanda and adam visited the brewery in islamorada, one of the key islands.

one of the raised wooden paths in the everglades park (look at those beautiful florida clouds!)

saying hi to manatee at the south visitor center and marina.

she arrived home last night and stopped by for dinner after work today. it was fun to hear about her adventures.

 

greg picked up some sausages which i sautéed with green peppers and onions from the green market, including a big bunch of basil for pesto.
 

before flying home yesterday, she enjoyed relaxing by the pool at her cousin's place. she said the water was cooler and felt more refreshing in the heat than the warm florida ocean.

adam's cozy home . . 

and his national park ranger badges (chanda filled out the booklet for one also).

primary day

i passed this construction site this morning and enjoyed watching the workers haul a bucket up and down on their pulley system.

do you wonder what was in the bucket?

i ran a bunch of errands this morning (shoes that did not fit needed to be dropped at fed ex and pants that did not fit needed to be returned to the j. crew store, and the tick that bit me needed to be dropped off at the doctor's office . . and thank goodness they accepted it this time; though the technician did call me to ask if the little speck in the middle of the damp paper towel was the tiny tick that was supposed to be tested. i said, "yes!") and then i met korrina at the elementary school to vote . . 

she came over for a little bit and we put together a nice lunch of leftover beet salad, mozzarella, tomatoes, prosciutto bread and salami . .

which was enjoyed with a lot of talk about knitting projects and knitting backpacks and knitting project bags.

 

after she left i was actually motivated to vacuum and straighten up which i hadn't done in awhile . . probably because i've been running around with a dead tick in my bag, going to eye appointments and shopping for new pants to wear (and knitting on the wave of change jacket which has only one sleeve to go to be finished).

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chanda sent a nice pic from florida this morning and hopped on a plane home in the afternoon. she's back now and is happy to reunited with pluto.

hmmm, melvin seems to be a bit persnickety, but then pluto is probably used to that from when madeline was alive when he was a kitten. she was always hissing at him. he probably thinks that it's normal cat behavior. povero pluto. we love you pluto!

pluto is a little christmas cat this evening with the streetlight shining in like the star of bethlehem over the couch.

it was a beautiful sunset and rainstorm over new jersey this evening . . 

and there was a crew rowing by. it is such a little boat moving out there on the vast river, but if you go to full screen you might be able to see it.

it's been humid lately, but not too hot. the mornings have been dark! it's also been cloudy in the mornings, but the days are getting shorter, sadly.

sweet dreams everyone . .