Down on main street

down on main street, originally uploaded by jahansell.

A peaceful shot from Upper Main down towards West Main (not to be confused with North Main, around the corner towards the shopping center - before it turns into Gay Street! Got that?)

Project Troubador 2008

ribbons, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I almost didn't go - too tired after 3 nights in a row out at Jacob's Pillow and Tri-Arts (if you haven't see The Full Monty, GO!) and a day at the Farmer's Market and volunteering for the Historical Society. I just wanted to lie on the couch, sip wine and play Scrabulous. But if I'd done that, I'd have missed one of my favorite events of the year - Project Troubador, the music festival at the Grove in Lakeville. It seems like everyone I know goes, and the performers are fantastic. Of course it's at the beach, so there's plenty to keep the kids busy when they tire of culcha, and you can get in your wine-sipping (and get away from scrabulous for a change!) Here, the Nai Ni Chen company teaches children a ribbon dance - check out the little guy on the far left. By George I think he's got it! A few more photos here - mostly I was too busy dancing!

Stone Cave

stone cave, originally uploaded by jahansell.

This mysterious creation, by Karl Saliter, is part of the Sharon Historical Society's artist studio tour fundraiser today and tomorrow. I volunteered today at Jim Meyer's studio - other artists who participated included Donald Gummer, Ellen Griesedick and Eric Forstmann - just a few of the very distinguished painters, sculpturos right here in and around Sharon.

Deer in the yard

deer in the yard, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Looked out the window, there was a deer standing in my lettuce and bean patch. I don't have much lettuce nor beans - can't spare any for a hungry deer! Went out to discuss the matter, but the deer was adamant - he or she liked it right where he or she was, and wasn' t in the mood to vacate. Went to get my camera, and the deer off strolled down the driveway a bit (but not before posing a little). "I'll be baaaack" the deer said, probably, in deerish.

Wishing well

well, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I don't know if it's a real well or not - come to think of it, it doesn't look like it, unlike yesterday's. I think it's just decorative! This is on Sharon Valley road, across the street from the cemetery there.

well

well, originally uploaded by jahansell.

From time to time I come across what I assume are old defunct wells. This one has a tree growing inside it! The one I'll post tomorrow is in a little better shape - but I don't think it's still in use.

Not where the lake is supposed to be

rules no floods allowed, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Supposedly we got four inches of rain yesterday (not to mention terrifying hail at 3am), after many days of rain before. The lawn at the beach has become another pond. Poor Little Rascals - our town summer rec program. They spent the whole first day at the firehouse, and today, who knows - it's pretty dark out there at 9am!

graveyard 6:30am

graveyard 6am, originally uploaded by jahansell.

This is where the owl was found on Saturday morning. A peaceful spot for a morning nap, no?

Escape to the city!

gus, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Just for the day, we went to Manhattan to visit my sister. The Central Park Zoo was the perfect short outing, and I couldn't resist this photo of old Gus, the notoriously strange Polar Bear, who spent at least 20 minutes while we were there hanging out in the window of his enclosure, surveying his adoring fans.

Owlet, out of place

owlet, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Driving past the graveyard at 6:30am, someone crouched on the path caught my eye - he looked like maybe he was trying to feed a kitten. Of course I had to go see, and it turned out to be our neighbor, Peter (proprietor of the Pink Cloud Gallery) watching this tiny (6" high, maybe) baby owl, sleeping on the path. I'm sure it shouldn't have been there and would be easy prey to any 4-legged carnivore, so I made a call to try and have someone come rescue it. Anyone got an ID for me? I'm thinking screech owl, but maybe Barred Owls start out tiny? They're the two most common around here. UPDATE: ThatBirdGuy, aka Nature's Notebook author, says Great Horned!

A Front Door of Their Own

habitat playhouse, originally uploaded by jahansell.

My daughters are helping show off a very innovative advertisement for tomorrow's fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity of NW CT. Volunteers built a full-size play house and displayed it at various sites around the area, including, for a while, the Sharon Green, where we encountered it. Habitat has built several houses over the years for working class folks, the backbones of the community who might never be able to buy a home, even now when spiraling prices have at last started to fall off a bit, and these fundraisers help them carry on this important work.

The event is tomorrow afternoon at Lime Rock Park, and features an art show with the work of many interesting local artists, and a live auction. More info here!

Just one more front door

front door, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I love the stone walkway and the fact that the trees cover the entrance - you really have to be intending to look in when you walk by, or you won't even notice this sweet house.

Allium garden

allium, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Another pretty little house - the allium, looking like fireworks, caught my eye.

Front door

front door, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I think I'll do a mini-series on the front doors of houses - people take so much care with their plantings to present a pretty facet o the world. This one just seems so harmonious and lovely, doesn't it? The essence of a small country town.

petite hay bales

petite hay bales, originally uploaded by jahansell.

At least they seemed smallish from where I was standing. It seems unusual to spot the rectangular bales - most often I've seen the big round ones. But these must be easier to stack!

Early morning fog

farm in the fog2, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Driving through Amenia at about 6:30am, the old falling down farm that I've photographed before (here and here) really caught my eye! I'm not sure which picture I like best, the one I have posted, or this one.

Go Team!

go team, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Today is the last game for the Sharon Rec girls' softball team. They are scrappy, tough and talented, but they are also small - mostly third-graders and most of their opponents have been fifth grade or above. So sadly, they haven't won a game. (A few recent games were canceled because of weather, including a giant storm that knocked out power for days to thousands of people.) But today they play North Canaan, which, we hear, is also made up of littler girls. So we have a chance to end our season on an up note! And either way, there's lots of great life lessons to be learned. (Not that I'd know what they are - I never played team sports myself - it wasn't an option for girls back in the stone age!) And, next year, they'll be a year older and stronger - that much more able to throw the ball ALL the way to first base!

new mown hay

new mown hay, originally uploaded by jahansell.

It's haying season - everywhere I go I see the tractors doing their thing, and either mounds of fresh -cut hay, or newly formed bales. The funny thing is, I never notice the hay BEFORE it's cut. I finally realized last year after living here for a decade that hay just looks like - grass. Duh. So there's nothing much to notice. (I don't know if all grass is hay, or all hay is grass - I better take to Wikipedia!)

In the Lane...#2

in the lane, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Looks a little different than it did six months ago, doesn't it! Maybe I"ll add these two to my printed series of views of the same spot in different seasons. It will work best if I can get a great fall-color shot in October.

Red shirt green water

red shirt green water, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I'm always trying to find just the right fishing shot - this is as close as I've come so far!

Weird weather

not snow, originally uploaded by jahansell.

On Saturday, the air was filled with some kind of fluff from trees - it was piling up like snowdrifts in the streets! It was localized - this shot is in Millerton - and very strange!

come no closer

come no closer, originally uploaded by jahansell.

It's an annual tradition here at Sharon Daily Photo - every June, the snapping turtles cross the road, and every June, I leap out of the car to shoot them when they do. So once again I pose the question: why did the turtle cross the road?*

Closeups here - but don't get too close - as the man in the back of this picture said (and he kept his distance) - those buggers can take off an arm!

*JN just offered the best answer to this riddle I've gotten in three years - it's definitive, I think:
"To get to the Shell station!"

Pancake breakfast

pancake breakfast, originally uploaded by jahansell.

You can tell this picture is 100% fresh - look at the article she's reading - it's about yesterday's Belmont Stakes. Usually we get to the breakfast later in the morning when it's less crowded - today it was packed and we got to see lots of neighbors! I'm definitely getting up earlier on Sundays from now on!

Wethersfield

between the lions, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Last night we got to hobnob with the fancy folk at a Bard Music Festival preview at Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia. I'd been there before but only in a rainstorm so I hadn't seen most of it - I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it in person before. It's very formal, with boxwood mazes (15 feet high!), allees, unbelievably perfect and lush flower beds, peacocks wandering freely, and expansive views of rolling hills and fields. It's open to the public so if you enjoy wandering around such places, this one is only minutes from Sharon.

Here is a brief description (as far as I can tell they don't have a website.)
"A country gentleman's estate consisting of over 1,400 acres, with more than 10 acres devoted to formal gardens. Enjoy the Cutting Garden, the Arborvitae Allee with the Naiad Fountain, the Peacock Walk, the Belvedere, the Rose Garden, and several water gardens." There is a museum there too - the New York Times mentions its " colorful array of 30 European and American carriages: from turn-of-the-century hansom cabs to phaetons raced by Chauncey Stillman, the conservationist, philanthropist and National City Bank (now Citibank) heir who bought Wethersfield, his 1,400-acre estate, in 1937 and turned his attention from hunting foxes to driving carriages."

I'll post a few more photos shortly and link to them here.

glowing iris

giant iris, originally uploaded by jahansell.

They're not my favorite flower, honestly - sort of blocky shape, no scent, something kind of pushy about them, muscling in with their big shoulders. But yet they are spectacular when they are the tallest thing in the garden and glow this intense blue!

ancient stones

ancient stones, originally uploaded by jahansell.
Another view of the cemetary I showed yesterday. I wonder if those little stones represent children?

St. Bernard's

stbs, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I thought I'd seen all the cemetaries in Sharon, but I had never been in this one, right in the middle of one of Sharon's prettiest residential streets, Sharon Valley Road. It's an interesting area - a mile long, and the only relatively flat, straight, densely populated street in Sharon - it feels most like a real "small town" as opposed to spread out rural village. The cemetery is filled with some of the most familiar names in the town, too - I recognized almost all of them.

Rolling fields

rolling fields, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Simply put. This is from Coleman Station road looking towards Northeast. (the town, not the direction - I think I'm actually looking southwest at this point!) There are lots of views like that around here these days - lush green fields, trees, blue skies. It's feeling a lot like summer!

Farmer's Market Day 2

It's such a delight to spend a Saturday, even a stormy one like this past weekend, at the Millerton Farmer's Market. But now I have Farmer's Market envy - I took a trip to Rhinebeck on Sunday - theirs rivals Union Square Greenmarket in size and diversity. I walked around handing out cards and inviting vendors to come join us, but most have previous commitments on Saturdays and probably won't be able to. But we'll grow - come check it out!

Theme Day - it's June!

Today's theme is "My corner store." I'm violating the rules - pretty soon I'm going to be kicked out of the City Daily family altogether. I no longer post daily, or even weekly (though I have a nice new batch of photos to share, now that I've gotten my camera back from the repair shop), I rarely visit or comment on other blogs (very bad behavior!) and today, I'm going to post not one, but three photographs. The one above is from the outside of the quintessential modern corner store - the convenience store at the gas station in town (and yes, that's waht gas cost here today. Seems like a lot to us Americans, but it's only half of what Europeans pay. (Of course most Europeans drive shorter distances and have better public transportation options!). Anyway, the ExtraMart is open late, has milk and eggs, but that's not the only thing people like about it:

It's a palace of junk food (and all shiny and new after a recent renovation) but even that's not the best thing about it. On a hot summer day like today, it's the best, the only place in town, for this:

Ice cream!
And cigarettes, raffle tickets, caffeine drink and lots of other odds and ends. But I'm sticking with the chocolate-vanilla swirl, thank you very much!


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