Three things I love about Niantic, CT

  Yesterday I headed north to pick up my first born so she could spend a weekend at home recharging. That happens less and less as campus life becomes more interesting, but I”ll take the crumbs 🙂   When I’m tired of the craziness that is the I-95 drive I take a detour through a little town called Niantic.  It’s one of those quaint New England towns without any pretentiousnous right along the Sound. Funky old buildings, houses and waterways make up the overall feel of worn-in and welcome.

Niantic is a village in the Town of East Lyme, CT. The population is approximately 4,000. Niantic Bay is located on Long Island Sound and is popular for fishing and boating.  The only bummer is The Millstone Nuclear Power Plant, which looms nearby in Waterford.  Rocky Neck State Park is a great mile-long beach with views of Long Island Sound and a handful of offshore islands.  The park also has some great hiking trails in the fall.

 According to Wikipedia : Once famous for its Niantic River scallops, the scallop population has been in decline for a number of years. Attempts to revive the scallop population have not met with much success, most likely due to increased pollution from the heavy traffic of motorboats on the river.

My three favorite places are on the same stretch of road running right through the middle of it all on West Main Street…

Smith’s Acres, a totally rock’n garden center with everything you can think of for your gardening needs and an abundance of selection too…

Plants on the roof!..
It was love at first sight for me and this truck…
If he ever needs a new home, I gave them my address.

…then it’s a lunch stop at Niantic Diner for a menu of food that offers more than a Diner suggests..

Coconut Chicken with Sweet & Sour sauce… awesomeness.

  …and right around the corner sits the Book Barn, a really funky place famous for it’s 350,0000 some-odd books housed in seven different buildings on the property. The main barn is jammed from floor to ceiling and there is no subject that isn’t covered.  This is an awesome adventure for avid readers, and if you’ve got young children, it’s a great place to stock up on children’s books very inexpensively.  They buy and sell used books and have everything from the newest releases to 17th century editions.  This is what I ESPECIALLY LOVE about them… found on their website: 

We would like for everyone who visits The Book Barn to have as enjoyable a time as possible. Therefore, not only do we provide complimentary coffee, tea, water and snacks of cookies, crackers and doughnuts, we also have several picnic and seating areas for our guests to bring their own picnics to enjoy outdoors. Just remember that we do employ 13 cats that all believe in taste testing our guests’ food, you know, just to make sure it’s safe, of course. If you’d like to buy lunch from an area restaurant, we can provide menus for you.

Our goats live in a fenced pen next to The Last Page, and they truly love to get treats from everyone. There is a coin operated cracked-corn dispenser where you can purchase a handful of corn to share with them.


We provide kitty food to all of our feline employees, but you are always welcome to bring them snacks, or share your lunch with them.


There are always plenty of milk bones on hand for you to share with our dog Zoey. Zoey is a 3 ½ year old, black and white Border Collie and Whippett mix. She absolutely loves to play ball. She plays soccer, basketball, and will chase a tennis ball for hours!

If you’re so inclined, there is ample seating outside under the many trees surrounding the building. They encourage you to sit and read.. or play checkers or chess on the many boards available. The building behind the tree is yet another book “annex”.  Honestly, I think this place used to be a petting zoo.

This is the main barn… see the gourds that are growing on the vine up to the roof?
On another note.. we’re heading to the Durham Fair tonight to see REO Speedwagon… remember them? 

Fire & Rain

Two years ago I stepped out of my life’s box and started a small artisan gallery with a friend. She and her husband had just purchased a large building in town, formerly a christmas shop, and she was in the process of moving her toy store business into a portion of that building.  Off to the side, there was what we used to call “the ribbon room”…and the natural light wood floors and beams in the ceiling would lend itself nicely to a warm and inviting gallery. We jumped in with both feet, creating Fire & Rain Artisan Gallery & Gifts. 

The name … Missy and I both love Martha’s Vineyard and music.  We were looking for words that embodied elements you use to create things.  One day while humming James Taylor’s Fire & Rain, we realized it just fit.  Never mind how many times I’ve had a customer come in looking for fireplace equipment or James Taylor memoribilia.

Two years of  meeting wonderful local New England artisans, and some as far away as California. Two years of Gift Show trips to New York, daily chatter with friends and neighbors, heartship, parental worry, triumphs and tragedies shared over morning coffee (and multigrain bagels with cream cheese from Dunkin Donuts!)  and.. ok sometimes a baked potato pizza.  If you’ve never had one, you’re missing sumthin. Two years of wonderful.

The media would have you believe the recession is over, but I beg to differ. Five shops in neighboring towns have closed down in the past few weeks…and I see vacant store fronts everywhere.  A nearby KFC is now empty.  If the colonel can’t even sell chicken, we’re in trouble.

So it is with heavy heart that Missy and I have made the difficult decision to close the doors. She has invested five years (and a hefty mortgage!) in her toy business, and together we’ve run Fire & Rain for the past two. Both were housed in the big barn, such an awesome space.  There is simply not enough business to make a case for staying open, and the near horizon doesn’t show promise for change any time soon.

It’s time to turn another page.. but I’m sure going to miss the previous chapter.  Thank you to all who have made it such a wonderful journey, and to my family who have given their unwavering support.

 I keep telling myself  “When one door closes, another one opens”… I just didn’t want to close that door.

Soap Floats

…Ivory soap, that is. I’m willing to bet you already know that if you’re as old as I am.  *ahem*

My dad worked at Procter & Gamble on Staten Island along with several of my Uncles for many years. College bound  family members were able to get summer jobs in the P & G warehouses, which was way cool… because we made ALOT of money during those summers.  I believe I took home about $300. a week.   We either worked on conveyor belts righting upturned bottles or boxes, made boxes with glue guns, or climbed on top of MOUNTAINS of soap… I’m talking mountains. And we scrapped them. These were defective soap, and so they needed unwrapping and then chucking into bins. We had a grand old time on the piles of soap, singing Van Halen’s JUMP at the top of our lungs. Whenever I hear that song it brings me back…
 
(If OSHA or P & G are reading this, I’m lying about all of it.)
Upon returning home thoroughly exhausted after my first day of work, I got into the shower and lathered up without ever touching a bar.  That’s how COATED I was with the stuff.  It didn’t thwart my love of soaps though… especially the funky and unique.   I steal all of those little tiny microscopic   soaps from hotel rooms… and forget about a box of chocolates or a fistfull of flowers. Bring me a delicious soap!  Well, chocolate’s good too.
 

   This is what got me going on the soap subject today…. look what I found at the grocery store…

Money Soap Jackpot and Florida Water Soap…. huh?… for $1.95 I bought a bar of each because my curiosity was getting the best of me.  What the heck is money soap for, cleaning money? Is it MADE out of money?  And we all know Florida drinking water is TERRIBLE AWFUL NO GOOD AND VERY BAD. (sorry Florida peeps,  but you know it’s true). So do you use this soap to wash your mouth out after you’ve swallowed some?  I had to google it.  Notice both bars unwrapped say Complexion and Toilet – New York.  So if you’re in New York you can use it on your complexion or the toilet? Would I want to use one product that specifies both?

Here’s what Amazon says:  FLORIDA WATER SOAP – Thought to bring a youthful glow to your complexion.  Enjoy the refreshing scent of Florida Water in this delightful soap.    

MONEY SOAP :  Believing Makes It So!  Luck Brings More Luck! Wash off the Bad Luck!
If you don’t get lucky…..  at least you will smell lucky!

Ok then.

Chicken with Garlic, Rosemary & White Bean Stew

This recipe is awesome for a chilly fall evening, my picky family loved it.

 Garlic bread is the perfect side…

Ingredients:
2 tbs olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into stew sized pieces
Pearl onions (I used jarred)
I bag shredded carrots or three carrots diced
5 garlic cloves, chopped
4 oz. canadian ham, diced
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
2 cans (19 oz each) canellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried
2 cups chicken broth

Warm olive oil, salt & pepper to taste in large non-stick soup kettle over high heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Add pearl onions, carrots, garlic and canadian ham/bacon, saute until onions are lightly browned. Stir in balsamic vinegar and wine or broth; bring to boil and then simmer over medium-low heat until liquid is reduced by about a third.  Stir in beans, rosemary and chicken broth. Bring back to simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt & pepper, ENJOY!     Serves 4

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

 It’s the book I’m reading right now… (love it) … but it’s also the overwhelming need I had today  to recognize and truly appreciate the day before me. 

Right now in this moment… I need to appreciate that my kids are healthy and happy in the direction their life is taking.. we are not losing our house (yet!) to foreclosure, we are not struggling with a catastrophic illness, we still have jobs.  I went for a ride through the beautiful  early autumn woods on my horse.  MY HORSE! Something that was only a dream as a kid growing up in the shadow of the big city.  I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up food for a refrigerator that is always stocked.  Then I took my other horse, ben, for a walk down the street in our neighborhood, admiring old homes and fading gardens without fear of being hit by a bullet.  There’s a guy sitting at home watching football who gives a damn whether I’m hit by that bullet.  Tonight we will go to the birthday party of a good friend and we are praying that he has many many more birthdays to look forward to.   

It’s not a perfect life – never judge a book by it’s cover and all that –  but today I have the gift of an ordinary and extraordinary day.  Life is good.

Doe anyone know what this is?  There are about twenty of these growing up out of the pine forest floor. They are not together.. but scattered about five feet from each other.

Life As A House

 
I saw this movie for the first time last night on PayPerView, although it was originally released in 2001. What a wonderful film… full of real and imperfect characters, the gutwrenching twists and turns of true life, humor, humanity… something for everyone, and several clear messages we can all come away with.  I absolutely loved it…

Storyline

George Monroe is a lonely and sad man. Divorced for ten years, he lives alone on the Southern California coast with his pet dog in the same run down shack he has lived in for twenty-five years, the shack which his father passed down to him. In the intervening years, ostentatious houses have sprung up around him. He’s been at the same architectural firm for twenty years in a job he hates, which primarily consists of building scale models. On the day that he is fired from his job, he is diagnosed with an advanced case of terminal cancer, which he chooses not to disclose to his family. In many ways, this day is the happiest of his recent life in that he decides to spend what little time he has left doing what he really wants to do, namely build a house he can call his own to replace the shack. He also wants his rebellious sixteen year old son, Sam Monroe, to live with him for the summer, hopefully not only to help in the house construction… Written by Huggo

This description is only the beginning… 

CAST:  Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hayden Christensen,  Jena Malone,  Mary Steenburgen

FUN FACTS: The featured house had to be removed after filming, but costume designer Molly Maginnis led a group of parents that had it dismantled, reconstructed, and enlarged to become a library for the Kenter Canyon school in Brentwood, California. The new library opened in April 2004.
The video of George and young Sam playing in the surf was shot by Kevin Kline’s wife, Phoebe Cates. She videotaped Kevin and their son Owen on the beach in Bermuda.
Lindsay Lohan, who was 14 years old at the time of production/casting, was strongly considered for the role of Alyssa and even screen tested for it. While the filmmakers were impressed with Lohan, they ultimately gave Jena Malone the part, deciding they wanted someone a little bit older.

Mystic Pizza

 Today I  took my girl  (who apparently STILL NEEDS ME on occasion!  I won’t dwell on the fact that it usually revolves around replenishment of funds and stuff )  to Mystic Seaport for some retail therapy and Mystic Pizza – Do you know, they still play the movie in the actual joint? We had the Mediterranean and Buffalo Chicken specialty pies…  I will say, their pizza is OK… but it doesn’t compare to what we get at Modern or Pepe’s in New Haven. Of course, even in New Haven you can’t get the pie I grew up on in New York.  

 All over the restaurant there are photos of Julia and the cast, scenes from the movie…and other Hollywood icons as well.  Speaking of Julia… I have always loved her movies and she’s one of my favorite actresses.  I just don’t get the Eat Pray Love thing.. the book didn’t grab me and the movie didn’t either, although anyone could admire the scenery.  Am I the only one?

 

Winds of Change

I’ve been at odds lately ….
Stevie Nicks, one of my all-time favorites, 
 asks the question in one of my all-time favorite songs -.Landslide
“Can I turn with the seasons of my life”
Easier said than done.
The thing thats tugging at me the most right now is simply this..
This job…the one I’ve held the longest,
the one I’ve cherished the most
is slowly being outsourced.
Meaning…
 my kids don’t need me so much anymore.

They are slowly but surely getting what they need and want

from the outside world… as it should be.
But… that leaves me slightly at odds. I’m a little lost in that knowledge.
The not needing..you know.
And the what next?

Caramelized Apple Cake

 Got this recipe out of a magazine, delicious and not too hard to make.  I used a cast iron skillet (oven proof is necessary).

Caramelized Apple Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 5  tbs  Butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large granny smith apples – peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Heat oven to 375.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl, set aside. Use electric mixer high speed to beat 1/2 cup of butter in large bowl until creamy (1 minute). Add granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla, beat until blended. On low speed blend in flour mixture and then sour cream.

Melt remaining 5 tbs butter in ovenproof 10 inch skillet. Add brown sugar , stir 2 minutes. 

Add apple slices to the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tender.  Let cool 5 minutes.

Spoon batter over apples and spread to edge of pan. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack for 20 minutes, run knife around edge and carefully invert onto plate.

Not to change the subject, but I’m changing the subject….
The first week of Catholic High School has been a success!
I don’t know who they sent home after the first day in my son’s clothes,
but whoever he is has been doing his homework
without being asked
Neatly! Organized! and with enthusiasm!!!
He’s even waking up after the first bugle call every morning..
instead of the 56th.
Holy Crow.
Literally!
 And to those of you who recommended ditching the ironing of the shirts and just snapping them right out of the dryer… Eureka!.. it works!
  I’m doing a happy dance, can you tell? 

Where were you?

…my sister and I were talking on the phone. I was folding laundry, piles all over the bed.  Then a news flash on CNN.. a plane had hit one of the twin towers.  My first thoughts were “Oh, a pilot error, how terrible.”   Now riveted to the TV, my sister and I watched in horror as the second plane hit…and it was instantly clear this was no accident.

 Of all the images you can view with a google of the numbers 9/11, this one haunts me the most. This is the very instant when the world would change forever in a twisted and horrible way.  It brought clearly to the surface all the anger and hate that lies beneath. Until this time my generation lived in a relative time of peace.. too young to have been a part of Vietnam, old enough to have been around a while without the experience of living in war time.  I was so naive. 

  And then there was the time of rallying together.  We were One Nation again…flags hung from highway overpasses, doorways, bumper stickers…. waving from car antennas, worn on clothing.. we were again a proud nation standing strong together, caring for each other.  For a while.  We’ve drifted again -yet another tragedy, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Since the time he could walk he was taking things apart and actually fixing them as he got older.  He was aloof and sarcastic and funny at the same time.  When we were 10 years old  playing in the yard, I tangled with a bees nest and had three stuck in my hair. As I went running and screaming for my mother… his mom yelled out her front door “Arthur,  what did you do?’…..
When friends began settling down and he was invited to a housewarming party, he’d bring a large quantity of toilet paper and beer as a gift.
 He also made his own brew.
 He loved his dog, buddy.
Time went by.. he became a fireman in the tradition of his family.
And he was a good one.
On that day..that day…
he had the day off. 
But.. his station needed a tool to fix something and he happened to have it
in the back of his truck and he also happened to be the most capable fix-it guy.
So he crossed the bridge and went into the city…
Arthur T. Barry
We all have stories of that day,  where were you?