wrapping up

it's time, and past, for me to finish with the east coast.
with both jacob and kate at work tim and i occupied ourselves with a drive along the coast, stopping to watch a fishing boat unload, hit the beach and lunch at voodoo grill in mystic.

this is the lighthouse museum in stonington.



we were able to walk along a public area, watching a boat dock and unload while several local purveyors were on hand to take the fresh catch away to their kitchens. we've seen several memorial sites in our travels. family names are often, sadly, repeated on these plaques.

romance aside, we do enjoy taking long walks along the beach. we clambored atop a rock pile, dodging the tide, trying to keep our feet dry. we laughed, picked up rocks, relished the sounds. a good day.
i was surprised by all the outside work being done. no pictures...
in addition to the fishing, we saw men shingling, painting, doing general construction. yard work. lots of leaves being moved and i should have taken a picture of the equipment - a large (waist high and wider than the guy pushing it)fan on wheels, a small pickup fitted with a tall wooden box and a hose unit that came over the top to the front bumper - think vaccuum cleaner on steroids!!

our flight to newark the next day was low and slow giving us plenty of time to ogle the estates of the rich and famous because we were on a prop jet. we swung north in a slow arc before making our way back south to jersey. i was surprised by the mountainous (yes, mountainous) terrain studded by open grounds surrounding mansions, compounds really. turrets, winding drives, tennis courts, it was all there. the pools ranged from simple rectangles to the more popular amoeba.

taking off from providence, the above-ground pool preference seems to be round (rather than oval). on my first trip, helping kate drive out to join jacob, i flew out of providence and at that time was amazed by the number of backyard pools i saw during takeoff. it hasn't changed.

i also saw a woman washing her windows, an ambulance with lights flashing waiting in someone's driveway and maymanymany people raking leaves.

do other people enjoy takeoff and descents as much as i do??

can you tell i had a great time??

more ct history

this was taken at the florence griswold museum in old lyme. what a fun stop!! we needed more time to do this justice.
florence was an impoverished gentlewoman trying to hold the family home so she opened a boarding house. a thriving art colony was established there by a man taken with the hospitality and atmosphere of the place. a friendly rivalry between tonalists and impressionists resulted in a unique creative setting. these people painted on door panels and the walls of the dining room. incredible work. i loved it. florence held exhibits using the main hallway as her gallery and sold paintings right off the wall.

catching up

this has been a long/short week. we had such a good time with jacob and kate in connecticut - thanks for everything guys.

we had lovely weather in connecticut needing only a sweater for the most part. working around kate's schedule we visited fort griswold in new london, the site of a revolutionary war battle lead by benedict arnold against his former command.
we enjoyed dawdling with jacob, kate and some friends at a downtown coffee shop before they had to leave so jacob's band could play their set at a local club on friday night.

we also visited galilee. a working port on the narragansett bay.


wandered along the beach (one of our favorite ways to spend time)at scarbourough point state park. we saw this old stone building and had fun speculating about it's origin and purpose.


we left from lincoln on thursday morning, planning to return monday. tim had a meeting in des moines on tuesday so we each drove and upon arrival back in lincoln i went west and he headed east to spend the night at his mom's and then on to des moines the next day. by this time i'm working on a cold and even though i have garden club at my house the next day i took it pretty easy monday night. tuesday morning i'm up early to get my dessert made and do the last minute floor/bathroom cleaning that i needed to do to have things ready for company at 2:00. and i find that my refrigerator has died. or it will shortly. things were still cool and mostly frozen though the ice cube trays were full of water.
you would wonder just how many things can be going on any given day in our little town but that day as i tried to track down the appliance person (there are actually 2 appliance stores in gothenburg)i found that they were both scheduled to their eyeballs!! i finally talked them into bring a refrigerator to my garage and dealing with the actual switch the next day. i wrote the check and went home to mix my cream cheese layer. i also took the time to vote then rather than make a another run after the meeting ended. i figured that time would be better spent napping. tim made his meeting and got home. wednesday the appliance lady came and made the switch. thursday she came back to try to quiet the dinging noise that was driving tim crazy. it took her over an hour to shim, secure and settle the fan but it's done.
i worked and napped those couple days because the cold had fully blossomed by that time and i hoped to avoid getting realllllly sick. tim went to omaha thursday night/friday. saturday was pretty lowkey for both of us. tim has talked to jacob, leslie and iva. i've heard form naphtali and my mom. tim cleaned up all the leaves from the yard. today we brought hoses and flowerpots in. covered the window wells. laundry is caught up. we've actually started some christmas shopping. the week ahead holds plenty to keep us both busy.