Birthday wishes and a challenge

On Thanksgiving I had a piece of pumpkin pie; on Friday it was apple pie ... but on Saturday we ate cake!

Had to post this photo so I could say Happy 22nd Birthday to our Cameron!

I was thinking of giving up all things sweet until Christmas Eve. Who's with me?

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Holidays are here

Yesterday I visited the Osborne Homestead Museum in Derby, Ct. to write a story for the newspaper. 

It was the lifelong home of businesswoman and philanthropist Frances Osborne Kellogg.

Each year area garden clubs do a wonderful job decorating the 19th-century house for the holidays. The house opened for the season Friday.
It's my own tradition to go there each year the day after Thanksgiving and check out the decor.

This year's theme is "Holiday in Bloom." 

I didn't have my camera with me but I managed to get some photos off of a video I recorded.

In the living room one club set up a retro display. It included a "Charlie Brown tree" and a tabletop tree made from white toothpicks, as well as this tinsel tree. Remember them? I do.

In the background is a display of illuminated ceramic trees placed on the piano.

 
Here's a better shot of the ceramic ones.

This beautiful fireplace with its decorated mantel is across the living room from the piano.

 

The formal dining room decked out in greens and golds.

Ralph saw shadows in these photos and urged me to use them here. So I did.

See lots more shadows from around the world at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors ~ Sterling

Once again I took a photo of the historic Sterling Opera House in Derby, Ct. I love this building!

Last month I posted a photo of the cupola of the stately structure for Whimsical Windows, but this is the first time I've taken a photo from behind  the opera house.
The building was constructed in 1889, and the cupola was replaced in February, 2011.
I had a medical appointment the morning that the cupola was raised up onto the building and missed the ceremony and the photo op!

A Whimsical Windows post I wrote on the opera house in July can be read here.

Join in the fun and see other interesting architectural details from around the globe at Toby's I Wish I Were a Photographer blog.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ getting in the spirit

I used this photo on my blog for work yesterday to promote a story that has not been published yet. I covered a talk at the library and got this photo off the video I shot.


This is Dan Rivera of Seymour, Ct., founder of Connecticut Old School Paranormal. He is talking about an investigation he and his team members conducted at the same century-old library where he is giving the presentation.
Did they experience ghostly happenings there? Possibly ...


~ ~ ~

Join in the fun and view shadowy photos from around the globe at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Wow, another week gone by

A brief recap of last weekend, 'cuz I'm succinct 

Where goes the time? I cannot keep up with anything any more. Between work and going for rehab for my somewhat swollen left arm the days are flying by.
I have lymphedema, but I'd say it's not a severe case of it. The swelling has been coming and going for the past year. The treatment feels sooo good.

Daughter Allegra and I did find time to have fun Sunday. We met up with Linda, her daughter Amanda, Linda's friend, Paula, and The Visitor from England, Claire.
Linda has already written about our get-together; I didn't even try to post before she did. ;-)

We traipsed over to Norwich where Linda lives then to Canterbury to get Paula, and headed in two cars to Mrs. Bridges' Pantry in South Woodstock, Ct.

The place was packed. It turns out it was featured on a local news broadcast earlier in the week.

That brought a lot of people to the tea room. The owner said Saturday was even busier.
We enjoyed a proper British tea time with scones, soup, sandwiches, and the like. Claire had beans on toast. 

Linda and Amanda pose

But I can't show you a photo of Claire. She doesn't let people take them, which is too bad. She is a lovely woman with a great smile.
And she's really young. I felt old. Oh well. Age is just a number, right?

On Saturday Allegra volunteered to be a docent at an open-hearth cooking demonstration at the David Humphreys House in our town.
I wrote the post below for my View from the Valley newspaper blog:

Derby Historical Society docents and junior docents demonstrated cooking the Colonial way Saturday at the David Humphreys House in Ansonia.

Junior docent Jacob Hokanson, 13, of Ansonia, above, works hard at whipping cream to serve with homemade pumpkin pie.
The menu also featured roast chicken, potatoes, a mix of carrots, turnips, and parsnips, cranberry sauce, Johnny cakes and freshly-churned butter. The food was traditional Thanksgiving dinner fare.

Jacob said he has been a junior docent for the past three years.
Below is a photo of our docent daughter, Allegra, gazing at the fire in the parlor after we finished our meal.

She loves the Humphreys House, as do I. She gave several tours of the house as others prepared the meal.

My mother and I enjoyed ourselves and the food we sampled! And it was good to see so many young people involved as junior docents. 

 

Here junior docents Lauren Fadiman, left, and Quentin Salgado, both 13 and from Shelton, wave to passing motorists Saturday in front of the David Humphreys House, 37 Elm St., Ansonia. 

~~~
That's about all I've got right now. I managed to mention some stuff about lymphedema, so I can say this is another of an occasional series on my breast cancer journey.   

November 7 storm ~ and so it begins

Thursday morning in our backyard.

Oh look! Icicles. How fun.

Everyone is posting snow photos on Facebook this morning...I thought I'd be different and post mine here.

Wednesday evening at our house.

 I have more, but you get the idea.

That 4-letter word that begins with S - it's back

It's not *flurrying* as I had hoped...it's snowing.

I really don't want to listen to the forecast. I want to hide somewhere in the blogosphere but I have too much stuff to do. Boo hoo.

Other than that, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Halloween was hectic, but fun

We had 142 Trick-or-Treaters! Whew! 
They were cute, though. And polite. They said thank you and many of them even said Happy Halloween.


On Friday the school where Allegra works as a tutor held its belated Halloween celebration, since the storm forced schools to be closed through Wednesday.

School marm

The costume theme for the staff was the 1950s. Allegra found this skirt and blouse at a thrift shop and went as a school marm.
The art teacher attached a white poodle to her skirt, to make a "poodle skirt." It worked!

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ bloomin'

Christmas in November

About the only good thing that happened during Hurricane turned Superstorm Sandy earlier this week was that a Christmas cactus a friend gave me last summer started to bloom.

Here's a photo from this morning. I daresay she has outgrown her pot. Must take care of that soon!


See lots more shadowy photos from across the globe at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Re-post: Fund-raising walk a success

*I posted this yesterday on my View from the Valley blog for the New Haven Register.

Naugatuck resident turns her dream into a reality

Jamie DeCicco accomplished her goal, and then some.

The Naugatuck mother of four who organized Saturday's breast-cancer walk at Linden Park in Naugatuck raised almost $2,000.

She told me was thrilled with the turnout, and plans to organize another walk next October to support The Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness at Griffin Hospital in Derby.

 

As a breast cancer survivor and patient at The Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness I'd like to sincerely thank DeCicco for her hard work and dedication, and congratulate her on her successful event.

My daughter Allegra and I walked the track and husband Ralph was there to cheer us on. Even
though the pre-Sandy skies were overcast, the foliage along the Naugatuck River was pretty.

These girls, all dressed in pink, were ready to sell baked goods, pink wristbands, and rings. Pictured from left are DeCicco's daughter, Carmen, 10, her niece, Naomi, 9, and Emily Fanzutti, 16, daughter of Mary Fanzutti, a breast cancer survivor.

Griffin Hospital Community Outreach representative and Valley Parish Nurse Maggie Sessa provided participants with information about breast cancer awareness and prevention, as well as info on other health-related topics.

Participants walk the track along the river amidst the foliage at Linden Park in Naugatuck.

 

 The mighty Naugatuck River.

Kids enjoyed bouncing around, thanks to Bob Allen, owner of B Bounce ‘N, LLC in Naugatuck, who donated use of a bounce house for the event.

 Daughter Allegra strolls along.

 

 Our cheerleader, Ralph.

And of course there were beautiful cupcakes for sale, baked and decorated by one of DeCicco's relatives. I got there too late to take a photo of the full amount. They looked delicious!

Congrats again to DeCicco and her husband, Sebastian, for making this a fun event.

I'm looking forward to next October's walk, when the Valley Goes Pink once again.