first snow in Stamford, for reals

It snowed here in Stamford over the weekend!

I can't help but get excited. I thought it was beautiful. Here's what it looked like out our living room window.

Compare to what it looked like a few months ago:


I'd heard we'd just be getting a few inches, but at the end it turned out to be closer to 6. Maybe even a foot??



The och didn't seem to notice. Or I couldn't tell if she noticed a difference. She's got quite the poker face. She must notice how different her world looks.

Another comparison shot from a few months back:

Who knows what goes on in the mind of this one?


M and I went for a walk in the falling snow around our neighborhood. We live across the street from a park and it was cool to walk around it deserted for once. It was just a mite too windy so that there were flurries in your face when we walked into the wind. But it felt refreshing.

And totally unrelated: a beautiful sunset from last night.

perks

This summer I've been working part-time at an arboretum. I figured it's a nice way to meet people in my new town while making a few bucks on the side. Also I'm enjoying the low-key non-profit atmosphere.

One of the perks of my job is that there is an organic garden on site that the master gardeners' tend. The past few days our botanist was tsk-ing at all the vegetables going to waste unpicked. So today I had my buddy, one of the interns, show me where the garden was* and headed out with a grocery sack.

Just look at all that yummy goodness!

Someone else picked the parsley and there was so much of it that I decided to bring some home with the vague notion of making some sort of pesto-type sauce for bread.

And these guys were my absolute favorites from today's bounty. I asked the botanist what kind of tomatoes they are and he wasn't sure but thought they were some sort of heirloom cherry tomato that one of the gardeners planted by seed.

I think they are the product of joy and love. You pop one of these babies in your mouth and it's like an explosion of joy. So good!

*Embarrassing fact about me at my job: I haven't taken a tour of the grounds yet. I kept meaning to when I first started and then got scared off when I heard about the tick infestation around these parts. And then I never got around to walking through the display gardens because it was just too darned hot. And here we are near the end of the summer and I still didn't know where the organic vegetable garden was until today. Sad, but true.

daily commute

I keep forgetting to mention my commute from work to home. We still have only one car so in the mornings m drops me off on the way to his office. And in the afternoons I take the bus home. The bus stop is about a mile away from my office and getting there is the best part of my day. I work at a 91 acre arboretum and garden so we are sort of out of the ways. Our property has walking paths/trails and since we're adjacent to a nature center, I cut through their trails to get to my bus stop. If I didn't cut through I'd have to walk on a curvy mountain road with no sidewalks and crazy drivers who honk at me. I learned that the hard way.

Here are some photos that I snapped along the way. It was an overcast day and I had trouble keeping my hands steady with mosquitoes buzzing around me.

I loved the colors of this plant (can't remember the name) as the afternoon sun hit it. It's part of our gardens at work.


Picturesque stump complete with mushroom.


The stream that leads to skater pond.


Skater pond. It's lovely even with pond scum covering most of it.


The trickle of a waterfall going from skater pond to the stream.


Why are teeny mushrooms so dang cute?


And why do we call them toadstools? Such an ugly sounding word for such a cute looking thing.


A comparison shot with my boot to give an idea of the size.


Not sure what this was but there were a few of them shooting up through the dry brown leaves in only one area of my walk.


The vernal pools are tricky to shoot. Lots of mosquitoes around them.


This fungus makes me think of frilly trim on a retro tuxedo.


And one of the last things I see before I get to my bus stop is a swan. I thought there was a couple, but I only saw one that day caught in the undignified looking activity of fishing. I think he looks like he's drooling a bit. Undignified.

teenaged bunny

Our apartment/condo is on a big property with lots of green lawn and trees. The landscapers do a really nice job of keeping it looking pretty. There are borders of flowers that have bloomed and died to be replaced with other seasonal blooms.

And right along this border (which is sandwiched by the walkway on our property and a busy street) I've discovered the cutest neighbor I've ever lived next to.

You can't tell his size from this photo, but he's quite small. Not small enough to be a baby bunny but too small to be full sized. At least I don't think he's a dwarf bunny.

Every day when I come home from work I see him hanging out in the strip of lawn next to a border of ground cover. That's where I think he lives. Anyways he hangs out on the lawn, having a little snack and watching passerby's warily. Most folks don't even seem to notice the little guy. But I wonder about him. Why he's alone and without his mum or brethren bunnies is a mystery. I don't think of young bunnies as being the types of animals who hang out by themselves. But then again, I have limited knowledge on the habits of wild rabbits.


This admittedly is just filler content until I can get more crafting and cooking going on chez c+potion. Things have kind of slowed down since wee+potion came on the scene. But I'm supposed to be less tired these days so maybe I'll be more productive with my crafting too. Here's hopin'.

let's talk about the weather

I'm finding that New Englanders -- or anyone who lives in an area of the US that gets to experience regular-ish seasons -- are serious about their weather. It's the number one topic of conversations, the funnest thing to complain about. As a Californian married to a Bostonian, I learned a while back that you have to be careful with the way you mention the weather to the in-laws. They'll call up to chit-chat and the weather always comes up as a topic of conversation.

"How's the weather over there?" They'll ask.
"Beautiful," I'll answer truthfully.
"I hate you," they'll respond.

I'm confused as to why they ever expect a different answer. True, with the current freak out of global climate change some days I would answer "Beatiful. But hot." But come on. I lived in L.A. It was 78 degrees and sunny pretty much every day.

Sometimes the non-Californian that has engaged me in this weather conversation will try to find the dark side to my response. Like yesterday when I was chatting with a receptionist who found out I'd just moved here from California.

"What's the weather like over there?" She asked me.
"Beautiful," I answered truthfully.

And in an effort to muffle the blow perhaps, she returned with, "Yeah, but when it comes round to the weekend and you have plans, it rains."
"No," I said without thinking, "It never really rains in L.A. Especially with the drought conditions we've been having the past few years."

I ducked to avoid the daggers in her eyes.

I hear the locals endured a pretty long and harsh winter so it's no wonder they feel as if their day is ruined by any chance of cold or wet. I haven't yet adopted the local custom of checking the weather forecast twice a day to see what tomorrow's weather will be like and if today's weather is supposed to change (again).

We've been here since the middle of March and we've experienced light snow, rain, gusty winds and balmy sunny days. Perhaps the novelty of our environment is still enchanting us, but we're not much disturbed by any of it.

I hope I haven't just jinxed myself.

2nd 35th

Today I am thirty-five. It seems a bit surreal. So much so that taking off my shoes to step into wet grass so I can photography my pretty toenails against the pink blossoms seems like a natural thing to do, just cause I felt like it.

Connecticut. Yes. Connecticut

(stuck in a traffic jam on the Merritt Parkway)

M and I are in CT (I grow tired of spelling it out)! We got here a month earlier and scouted out apartments to rent. We found one we liked and moved in today. Between our arrival to the east coast and now we have been busy with work and visiting family and taking care of other moving related projects. And somehow I have lapsed in posting photos of our trip across the country by car (with two cats no less) and just general blogging and internet surfing. I sort of miss it but it's also been good to be away. At this point I really don't know when my trip photos will be sorted through and posted, but I really do think I ought to do it. So stay tuned.

Cooking has also been a bit scarce with all the travel and staying with family who feeds you non-stop. But I'll be getting back into that too with probably more photos to share.

This week we are going to unpack and get settled in and familiarized with our new city. Blogging may be light for a spell but I've been posting photos a wee bit more frequently at flickr. And of course there is always Facebook.