DANGEROUS WATER

 
Tariffville, CT - This is a section of the Farmington River just below Tariffville, CT. There a signs all around this area warning you to not swim. You can see where the bubbles are being pushed deep into the water, I would not want to swim here myself. But, just north of where I took this photo you can see where whitewater gates are setup. 

CAMERA MAGIC?

 
I tried something different here. This is a drainage ditch on the side of the road that I tried to make look like a mountain stream. Well, maybe if you squint real hard and have a few beers. 

STORM WAS A TURKEY

 
I was listening to two guys talking yesterday that are big skiers. They were talking about how we were supposed to get this big storm yesterday and it turned out to be a big bust, just a dusting of snow.

While you are reading this, why don't you stop over to some blogger friends of mine site, they threatened to discontinue it if they don't get readers. So stop on by to TWO SISTAS AND A DUDE and leave a quick comment. 

SUNSET BARN

 
I pass this set of barns everyday and I keep telling myself that I should stop and take a photo; so today I did. I will take another of these barns soon to catch the sun on the barns, that is when they are most beautiful. 

NOAH WEBSTER HOUSE

 
West Hartford, CT – This is where Noah Webster was born on Oct. 16, 1758.

Here is a segment from the Noahwebsterhouse.org website:

When Noah was 43, he started writing the first American dictionary. He did this because Americans in different parts of the country spelled, pronounced and used words differently. He thought that all Americans should speak the same way. He also thought that Americans should not speak and spell just like the English.

Noah used American spellings like "color" instead of the English "colour" and "music" instead of "musick". He also added American words that weren't in English dictionaries like "skunk" and "squash". It took him over 27 years to write his book. When finished in 1828, at the age of 70, Noah's dictionary had 70,000 words in it.

Other things that Noah did:

Attended Yale, was a teacher, help start Amherst College in Amherst, MA.

The Noah Webster House can be toured, see site for details. 

104th INFANTRY MONUMENT

 
Westfield, MA – This is a monument for the 104th Infantry for service in the Lorraine from November 8 – December 11, 1944. I just loved the glow of the metal, possibly brass. 

ALLEN'S CIDER MILL

 
North Granby, CT - I could not find too much aout this building except it is on the Register of Historic Places, due to the architecture. I just thought it was a great looking building.

Enjoy! 

SUN ON THE MILL

 
I caught the sun coming over this building through the ice encrusted trees. 

STAN THE VEGETABLE MAN

 
Stan the Vegetable Man says I'm been standing here too long, my corns are killing me. 

IN SEARCH OF BUGS FOR DINNER

 
I'm off on one of my tangents today. I took these photos of trees that have been worked on by birds in search of bugs. So I guess you can call this, "A Study in Pest Pecking". This just goes to show I will photograph just about anything. You just never know what people will find interesting; I thought it was kind of interesting. 

 
This tree looks like a woodpecker had a good time with it. If he was looking for a soft spot I think he had a hard time on this oak. You can see the peck marks all around the tree. 

 
This tree has a very large hole in it and the hole is closer to the ground. I'm thinking that maybe a racoon or skunk had something to do with this one. 

TOO EARLY FOR THIS

 
These are my daffodils popping out of the ground; I took this photo Feb. 17th. With all the strange weather we have been getting lately, the plants are getting confused. Today, Saturday, the temperature is supposed to get down to 3 degrees. It’s going to be a rude awakening for these plants. 

MARK TWAIN HOUSE

 
Hartford, CT – As promised, here is Harriet Beecher Stowe’s neighbor, good old Samuel Clemens. His house is a 19 room mansion decorated by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Sam and his family lived here from 1874 – 1891. I’ve toured this house many years ago while I was in school, (just after he moved out LOL). A few things I remember were the very ornate billiard room and the telephone. If I remember correctly, he had the first telephone in Hartford. My question is, who did he call?

This is the back of the house but I think the right side is the front, its all good.

You can tour this house as well as the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.

Info: www.marktwainhouse.org 

 
One side of the Mark Twain House. 

 
Another angle. 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE HOUSE

 
Hartford, CT – This is the house that Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in from 1873 to her death in 1896. She had already written “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” while in Brunswick, Maine in 1851. Stowe was a writer, social reformer, painter, gardener, and astute participant and observer of the changing American culture. She was born in Litchfield, CT on June 14, 1811 to Lyman and Roxanna Beecher. (Click) She was married in Cincinnati, OH on January 6th 1836 to Calvin Ellis Stowe.

The house can be toured, for more info go to: http://stowecenter.org/.

Info: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center pamphlet.

Tune in tomorrow for info on her famous neighbors house. 

 
View of the back of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. 

TARIFFVILLE POST OFFICE

 
I pass this post office almost everyday on the way to work. The the thing that catches my attention, other than the gold lettering, is the one postal truck(in back of the building). I guess they are big time compared to Granville since we don't have any trucks, just rural route carriers in their own vehicles. 

ST. THOMAS SEMINARY

 
Bloomfield, CT – St. Thomas Seminary was founded by Bishop Michael Tierney in 1896. The first building was in Hartford in a building that formerly housed Chinese students. The building opened it’s doors on Sept.7, 1897 with 37 students.

In 1928 the cornerstone of this building was laid in Bloomfield. The structure combines both French and English Collegiate Gothic motifs, was designed by Architect Louis A. Walsh of Waterbury, CT, and was constructed by W.F. O’Neil. It took two year to complete the edifice which is faced in random rock-face granite, with limestone trim.
Info: www.stseminary.org 

SNOWY SUNDAY

 
This is a photo from my house looking across the street. Dave from Florida was expecting snow photos so I did not want to let him down.

We lucked out, since my snowblower is in the shop, we only got 6-8 inches; the worst part of the storm just missed us. So my wife and I did not have that much snow to shovel. 

 
A snow covered bench in front of my house. 

WIDOW OF A SOLDIER WHO DIED IN THE WAR OF JENKINS EAR

 
War of Jenkin’s Ear, also called King George’s War (1739 – 1743). The name comes from an incident where a Privateer Robert Jenkin’s was stopped by a Spanish Sloop of the coast of Havana in 1731. The Spanish found no evidence of privateering but they repeatedly tortured Jenkins and Lt. Dorce sliced off his ear with his cutlass and told him to take it to King George as a token of what they had in mind for the King. Seven years later Jenkins was invited to display his pickled ear to Parliament, inflaming the British and American colonies against Spain. The government of Hugh Walpole declared war against Spain. The press could not resist naming the war for its theatrical beginnings.

By the way, “relict” written on the stone means widow.

Info: Regiments.org 

BLOOMFIELD GREEN

 
Bloomfield, CT - I took this photo of the Green in Bloomfield yesterday. In the background is a church that was built in 1858. On the forground is a statue that I photographed in August. 

SPARKLING GRASS

 
I stopped along the Farmington River and took this photo of the ice which formed on grass that is growing in the river.