Tag: Out and About

Romaine Tenney

    I visited the site of my sister’s soon-to-be homestead recently… a lovely six acre plot where she and her husband will build a house and barn for her horses and I’m guessing, his chickens and a cow or two if he can get away with it.  It’s a farmstead they’ve both dreamed of for some time now, located in a lovely town full of big old homes from the 1800’s and farm land that stretches across the landscape very comfortably, as it has for hundreds of years. Scattered here and there  are  dilapidated old dairy barns no longer in use, which  always saddens me.  It’s clear that a rich agricultural way of life has all but vanished in this beautiful place.  Development is imminent.  The lot my sister will build on is in fact part of a development that divides up an old dairy farm .. the barn still standing, although empty.

   Inevitable?  I suppose.   Progress! … after all.  And Hey… my husband is a home builder…we are able to own this farm because he builds houses for a living.  What a hypocrite!    But is it always  truly progress? Are we losing more than we’re gaining in some of these instances?  I, for one, believe this to be true.

  I read a piece the other night that will not leave me, the man and his story I will never forget.  Writer Howard Mansfield wrote a heart wrenching article in Yankee Magazine about Romaine Tenney.  If you’ve got the time, I urge you to read this article,  click HERE.    I wish I knew the man.  I wish I could have helped.  This should not have been allowed to happen.   And yet it’s happening again, all these years later in a project called  Northern Pass …. you can read more about that HERE or in the current Yankee Magazine.

Picture taken just a week before the end of Romaine’s story.. 

 In the telling of the story of old man Tenney, there is always present that ominous word… Eminent Domain.  What gives any one for any reason the right to take away the life and livelihood, the roots, the history… the love of THEIR land, land their family has worked and cherished and lived on and by…   all in the name of progress?   When we treat people in this way, we regress substantially. 
I’ve traveled I-91 into Vermont.   Several times we’ve tread just inches over the ghost of Romaine Tenney and his farm… unknowing.  Next time, I will stop the car and step off the highway at Exit 8 and pay silent tribute to the man who loved that land… and tell him how very sorry I was to hear of his demise …. how much  his life mattered, how his way of life is not forgotten, and how maybe, just maybe someone important will read his story and finally HEAR him…. and  LEARN from it. 

The Modern Dog

 After giving Frasier another of my home-spun haircuts,  (read – not groomer quality but good enough!)  I realized his leather collar was not softening the way it should and felt rough around his neck.  So I stopped at The Modern Dog on  Boston Post Road in Madison, CT to see if they had something easier on the skin.  

For pet lovers who like to pamper their pooch and want to find items
that are more unique than what you find in a Petco, this  is your place…

frasier’s new collar…

If I ever win the lottery…

 … I will buy a second home on Martha’s Vineyard among the lovely Campground Cottages in Oak Bluffs.  If you’ve never been, oooh, you’re missing something special.

Here I sit with a 90 year old resident who’s family has been
summering in this charming cottage since the late 1800’s.
For the history of the cottages,

I often browse the real estate ads, searching for that absolutely affordable
cottage that I might renovate some day.
A girl can dream.
My friend Joan, who shares my love for the Vineyard so much that her
entire blog is devoted to it…
brought to my attention this cottage highlighted in Coastal Living…

I’m in love.
And what’s not to love about the Vineyard itself?
Well, maybe the crowds in summer..
but it’s a small price to pay for living in my kind of rustic oceanside paradise.
There is something nostalgic about the place too..
When I get off the ferry and breathe in that air..
it’s speaks of *home* to me. 
Simple as that.

OK Joan.. for all your tough trivia questions and snippets, I have some for you.
What harbor is this above?
Where is this giant tree?   


What restaurant are we sitting in here?…..
…and where can this statue be found?

What town are we in? ….
Can you name my favorite breakfast restaurant?
Hint:.. it’s right across from our favorite coffee house. 
PS.. this was my blonde highlight poor hair decision making stage,
just hush.  
What beach has these waves?
Where is this dock located?  There is a tiny clue, but I know you don’t need it.
This is the only photo I have that might stump you, Joan.
The view is a scene as you travel down one of the main artery roads from one town to the other.
Can you tell me what two towns this lies between?  
Here’s one more view of the same area…
 Indeed.. what’s not to love.
Joan… I’ll see you in the comments section?
I’m guessing you’ll get every one right.


Blue Moon

    One of my favorite shoreline stores is Blue Moon Gallery in Guilford, CT.  I doubt there is a soul on this planet with an artistic or spiritual or humorous bent that couldn’t find 100 things to love in that shop.  The Mr. gave me a gift certificate for Christmas and today I spent it.   Here are some of my new treasures…

SERIOUSLY!!!…..
This is a Raku guardian angel, no bigger than your thumb.
You tell her your worries and fears and she works them for you,
while you leave them with her and go live your life joyously and pursue your goals..
I have no one to give this card to at this very moment…
however I couldn’t pass it up.

Sea Air

  I took the manchild for a check-up and removal of stitches yesterday. All went well with the wisdom teeth removal.   Afterward I took him to Wendys for a Baconator and fries, he deserved to bite into a big pile of cheeseburger bacon greasiness after four days of jello, pudding , cottage cheese and chicken soup.

 On our way home we drove along the shore just to breathe in the raw sea air. Do you know, even though we’re a few miles in….sometimes up on the hill behind This Old House, on a windy day we can smell the ocean.  It’s a beautiful thing.

 The water was churning from the  storm the night before.. sky the bluest blue…. wind still  blowing at a pretty good clip, the air  heavily laced with sea salt.  So very refreshing.  I swear, taking that crisp air into your lungs is like bathing your soul in a healing balm.

History among us

 One of the things I love about living in New England is the presense of history.  It can be found in the architecture, in the stone walls,  the remnants of fencing and foundations found in the woods seemingly miles from civilization. 

 One room school houses are among my favorites, no longer in use but preserved for tours…
According to Wikipedia – The quality of facilities at one-room schools varied with local economic conditions, but generally, the number of children at each grade level would vary with local populations. * Teachers  in one-room schools were often former students themselves.  During the winter months they would get to the school early to get a fire started in the potbelly stove.  On many occasions they would prepare a hot, noon meal on top of the stove.

A typical school day was 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with morning and afternoon recesses of 15 minutes and an hour for lunch.  The older students were given the responsibility of bringing in water, carrying in coal or wood for the stove. The younger students would be given responsibilities according to their size and gender such as cleaning the black board , taking the erasers outside for dusting plus other duties that they were capable of doing.

Transportation for children who lived too far to walk was often provided by horse-drawn  sulky, which could only travel a limited distance in a reasonable amount of time each morning and evening, or students might ride a horse, these being put out to pasture in an adjoining paddock during the day. In more recent times, students rode bicycles.

Imagine how many hands touched this doorknob over the years…

CK + RF?  hard to say….

 Another historical structure I come across sometimes when riding my horse through the woods are cairns…
These below happen to be right on the side of the road  where a subdivision was built, but the developer had to go around the cairns so as not to disturb them.

This one is a very large cairn, quite often they are much smaller.. sometimes just a small pile on top of a large rock in the middle of the woods… To give you an idea of it’s size… you could lay across the top of the one pictured below and not drape over the sides at all.

 Websters defines cairns as  “A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark.”  Cairns have served to memorialize people, locations or events.  They can be found throughout North America and appear to have originated here in the Northeast.   Cairns range in style from a few stones placed on top of a boulder, to enormous constructions containing hundreds of thousands of tons of stone. 

 Native americans used cairns as burial markers. When a fellow native american passed the marker, they would place a stone on the grave symbolizing their presence, paying respect to the dead.

Given the size of this particular cairn, I think it represents more than just a boundary marker.
I’m glad someone had the sense to preserve this bit of our native history.

A walk in the woods

I am determined to stick with my walking/yoga routine atleast four times a week. There is no doubt I feel so much better about just about  every.single.thing  when I am taking decent care of myself. When I slack off, I feel like I’m slogging through my days.  Something I have found useful –  A mantra I use when I’m about to eat something…. “Is this nourishing my body? .. or polluting it.”   
Yesterday, despite the dreary misty grey day that was supposed to be sunshiney and warm, I took Ben for a walk at my favorite State park. I am asked at least once on every public walk with this dog… How much does he WEIGH??… when I say 190 lbs… some folks back up a few feet, which is kinda funny. Yesterday a man said.. “but you don’t weight 190 lbs.”   Since this fellow wasn’t the friendly looking sort… I replied… “… I know, right?…” as if I wasn’t any more sure of controlling the beast than he was sure that I actually could.
 Enough said.
By the way.. if you have a dog that pulls when you walk him/her….
buy yourself an Easywalk harness… they are incredible.
Because of arthritis in my neck, I really can’t have a dog pulling on me constantly.
This is one of those simple products that works wonders, and it’s very humane…
no choking of the dog at the neck.

I love the old hardware on this cabin….

 

Walking is one of the easiest, cheapest and best forms of exercise you can participate in.
No matter what your weather, make some time for yourself and just do it.
I find that changing my location frequently gives me more motivation.
Even if it’s just a different route in your own nieghborhood. 
If you have state parks  within an hour drive, make use of them! 
Here in Connecticut we are very lucky to have access to many beautiful areas
for walking, hiking, biking…and kayaking!
But that’s for another post.
It’s a new day – make it a good one!

The New Britain Christmas House

   It’s been a sad few weeks around here – horrible tragedies in the news, and my Aunt’s passing in the season she loved most.  I needed something to remind me of the Joys in this world, and Christmas time for me is usually abundant. My cousin posted about a house in New Britain.. the Christmas House… and I knew I had to go.  My daughter accompanied me, with pasta and canned goods in hand for admission… see story exerpts, taken from last years Hartford Courant article, below…

  “Rita Giancola started putting up Christmas decorations in October. Transforming eight rooms, a hallway, a stairway and the front lawn into the region’s biggest Christmas shrine takes time. It’s a labor that Giancola has been doing every year since 1978, and it’s a tradition that she’s determined to keep going.  “I’m never going to retire,” the 87-year-old great-grandmother said. “If I’m 90, I’ll still be doing this.”

By the way… that’s Rita.. in red on the right below…
I didn’t know it till I came home and looked at my pictures.
I missed an opportunity to talk to this wonderful woman!!


Giancola’s rambling Lexington Street house is a landmark for generations of families who show up to see hundreds of Santas, Nativity scenes, plastic snowmen, red-and-green elves — all lit up by thousands upon thousands of holiday lights. The first floor of Giancola’s century-old, three-family house is covered floor-to-ceiling with Christmas décor, dancing angels, mechanical Santa models, ribbons, tinsel, bows and seemingly endless strands of garland.

To get the full tour inside, bring along some nonperishable food donations. Giancola runs an open house for five nights every December to benefit the Prudence Crandall shelter and the local Salvation Army, filling cartons with canned soups, pastas, cereals, paper towels, cleaning supplies and similar items.

Last night’s collection….



She’s lived in the house across from the New Britain Museum of American Art for more than a half century, and recalls that she decorated all the first-floor rooms every year. In 1978, she started the open house and has kept it up ever since. It’s been the topic of a New York Times feature and TV news reports over the years, but Giancola still frets about the chances of few people — and fewer donations.

(members of her family in the kitchen)


“The children’s eyes go everywhere. The grandparents are almost crying with joy,” she said. “People come through and say ‘My parents brought me when I was little’ and now they’re bringing their own children.”


Giancola’s children and grandchildren pitch in decorating the more difficult-to-reach spots, but she figures she still does about 90 percent of the work herself.


“I’m up and down ladders all days,” she said, “and this year I didn’t decorate the second bathroom. I
got lazy.” 

  What an amazing woman.  I have found my Christmas.
Thank you, Rita….

Rocky Neck State Park

  This is why I love coastal living – oh, it’s true This Old House is about five miles inland, but we’re just a short drive from many shoreline parks, open year round, free through the winter months. Perfect for hikers, shell seekers, dog walkers, etc.

   Today the guy and I put some effort into our better health regimen (read that as… holy cr*p, who put this spare tire here and what did you do with my waistline?)  We went for a walk at Rocky Neck State Park in Old Lyme, CT. 

“ Located on Long Island Sound in the town of East Lyme, 710-acre Rocky Neck is a popular recreation spot. The public now enjoys use of the park because of a few farsighted conservationists who secured the land in 1931, using their personal funds until the State Legislature authorized its purchase.”

  A big round of applause, please, for those farsighted conservationists…

This is the stone pavilion, built in 1931, which you can rent for special occasions..
View from the mouth of the stone tunnel under the pavilion

Next time you are walking on an overcast day…
notice that all the colors are so much more vivid.
We tend to hang on to the notion that it is grey and dreary,
but in reality if you look… you’ll see so many more hues
than when the sun is shining.
The same can be said  about life, no?  

It’s awesome to see the waters along our shores looking cleaner with each year…
Didn’t think it was possible.

We perched here to enjoy the view.. the silence!!.. was magnificent.
As a person who lives with chronic tinitus due to significant hearing loss,
I never “hear” silence.  Kind of ironic, isn’t it? 
There are 50 bells and whistles going off at all times..
hard to explain.
However… in this peaceful place, there were ONLY those bells and whistles,
nothing else competing with them…
serenity I don’t often experience.
PEACE… of mind.

I like this picture because it is me in a moment of awe…
feeling a real peace deep in the soul.  How often do we have that?
It is here in places like this that I find it… nature at it’s best,
away from the bells and whistles of todays world.

This was embedded in the rock outcroppings…..a surveyors mark

Do you know what this is a piece of?
They haven’t changed in 300 million years, that’s almost unimaginable.

Treasures for my garden….

In my opinion, the Hope Diamond is not as beautiful as this shell
and it’s barnacle adornments.


This…. is the sound of serenity…..



I spent the rest of the afternoon in soggy socks, just for you.
You’re welcome. 

Christmas at the Farm

Scenes from Parmelee Farm yesterday…
The Chamber of Commerce put together a lovely “Christmas at the Farm”
with  local artisans, vendors, wagon rides, Santa!!…
probably the best Santa rendition I’ve ever seen…


It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!…..
and I’ll leave you with this…
I hope my friend won’t mind that I’ve shared her living room.
Who wouldn’t love to come home on a cold wintery night and snuggle
up with a good book, glass of wine or cup of hot cocoa..
right HERE…
Those of you with rafters or beams on the ceiling…
isn’t this the most awesome decoration?
You’re thinking of doing it, aren’t ya.
It’s a brand new day, folks –
Make it a good one.