New Adventures

Yesterday morning I was out on the deck and I noticed how many birds were flying from tree to tree in the backyard. Until I sat and watched, I hadn't realized what an amazing assortment of birds is out there! So I grabbed my camera and tried to get some photos. Here's one of a bird that appears to be some sort of Jay, but I don't have my bird guide book unpacked yet so I'll have to identify him/her later. Anyway, while I was out there, a man appeared in our driveway and he turns out to be the farmer from across the road. He asked me if I had seen his seven cows, which had broken down his fence and gotten loose. I couldn't help it, I laughed, and told him I surely would have let him know if I'd seen cows in our yard! He apparently knows his cows well enough that he wasn't too stressed over the fact that they were missing, as he stayed and talked for quite awhile. I got to learn the history of the neighborhood, as he's lived here his entire life and most of the houses in the immediate vicinity were once part of his family's farm.
Allie is a very happy dog in Connecticut. I worry that she doesn't get the long walks she once got in Shorewood, but with the fence set to be completed this weekend, she will get to be outside as much as she likes. Already, she loves getting to spend time outside on the deck. She has always loved the outdoors and never got to spend as much time outdoors as I think she would have liked.
Kia is also happy here. She prefers it inside by me, but she also likes being out on the deck. They both still protect our property, but with our house being more rural than in Shorewood, there are fewer people and dogs walking by and so they seem less stressed. Maybe they are country dogs at heart?!
Here's John at his summer digs at Tufts. I drove him to Boston yesterday, as he started work today. He has an on-campus job. We left here around lunchtime, and were looking for a quick place to get lunch off the side of the freeway. A few miles out of town, we saw one of those "Food - Phone - Gas - Lodging" signs, so we took the exit. After driving for a couple of miles and seeing only a couple of sit-down restaurants, John noticed a big building at the end of the road so we decided to go that far. Little did we know it was the Emerald City of Connecticut, otherwise known as ESPN headquarters! And HUGE satellite dishes! So, while we didn't find lunch, it was well worth the detour.
I ended up spending the night at Tufts, as we arrived late (bad traffic coming into Boston) and after a nice dinner out with John, and both of us being tired, we both decided to get to bed early. He has two beds in his room, and no roommate, so it worked out great. Here's a photo of where he's living for the summer. During the school year it's a women-only dorm, but in the summer the kids who work in the office he's working this summer get to live there.

When I got back to Woodbury I stopped at the garden store to get one herb I still needed. I left with two types of herbs and eight varieties of plants for the garden. Oops. I wasn't going to garden this year, but "just one tomato plant" turned into "why not try two to increase my odds" which turned into "pumpkins would be fun" and then, well, eight varieties later you get the idea. It's kind of late to get started on a garden, and I won't be ready to give the bed the TLC it needs, but I will be happy with whatever yield I get. Oh, so while scouting plants, I stopped by a hardware/garden supply/farm supply store, and saw something that I'd never seen before, city folk that I must be, which is baby fowl in the window. Yes, a picture window filled with all sorts of cute little fowl. So now I know where to go when it's time for the baby chick, duck, guinea hen, turkey, pheasant, etc. Phew, knock that one off my to-do list.