Police Station

 Ridgefield is an old New England town.  In the downtown, many structures that were originally residences have either been moved or repurposed to make way for business and commercial uses.

On the hillside above East Ridge Avenue stands a large Victorian-era building that was once home to George Lounsbury, who had served as Governor of Connecticut.  In 1925 the mansion was bought by the State of Connecticut to house the Troop A Headquarters of the State Police.  The State Police moved out in the 1970s and the Town of Ridgefield bought it and renovated it to serve as the town's police station.

Westport

I took a day trip to Westport, a toney town on the Long Island Sound in the southwest corner of Connecticut.  The shopping district runs a couple of blocks deep on the east side of the Saugatuck River.

The high end furniture store, Serena & Lily, occupies a big house on the outskirts of the shopping district.

West Lane Inn

 West Lane Inn is the nicest place for travelers to stay in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

It was sold a year or two ago, and the current owners have made some much needed improvements.

Three Sisters

 

Three elegant homes sit side by side on the hillside above East Ridge Road.

Ridgefield, Connecticut. 

The Orange Tree

 The owner paints a dead tree.  Orange and black are the colors of the Ridgefield High School sports teams, so the tree's current color is orange.

Wilton Road West, Ridgefield, Connecticut.

A Patriotic House

A house with flags and bunting.

Wilton Road West, Ridgefield, Connecticut. 

Fairy Houses

 If I were a fairy, I wouldn't be able to choose between these two colorful houses.

Art

I admire someone who can turn a rotting tree stump into art.

Sedum

Sedum is a wonderful fall plant.  When other bee and butterfly host plants are in decline, 

sedum is just starting.

The XL Building

Reflected in a Hyundai. 

A Cormorant Goes Crazy

Cormorants usually float along serenely, slip under the water, then re-appear in another spot,.  Sometimes they have a fish, sometimes not, but they continue on at a leisurely pace.

This guy swam around in circles, diving fast with a big splash and a frantic beating of its wings.

Over and over again, around and around.  

.  

I can't explain it, but it was interesting to watch

A Final View of the Annual Garden

 

Maybe I will be able to visit Elizabeth Park's annual garden again this season, maybe not.  Before long, they will pull out the annuals and plant the tulips bulbs in anticipation of next spring.

But, despite a later start than in most years, the annual garden is finishing with a flourish.

DORO Marketplace

 Dorjan Puka is a talented chef and entrepreneur.  Albanian-born, he trained in several fine restaurants in Greater Hartford.  In 2010 Dorjan went out on his own, opening Treva, a sterling Italian restaurant in West Hartford Center.  Treva was followed by Avert (French) and Zohara (Middle Eastern), within sight of Treva in West Hartford Center.  Artisanal Burger (American, of course) is now in Manchester.

Recently I found myself near his newest place, DORO Marketplace, this time a breakfast and luncheon spot in the southern part of West Hartford.  I stepped inside.  It was packed!  (If a place with socially distanced seating and lines can be called packed.)  Dorjan's magic touch continues. 

The Hartford Courant ran an article about DORO Marketplace yesterday.

Dahlia Season

One of the last bloomers of the New England season.

Where else?  Elizabeth Park.

Rose of Sharon

 And visitor.

Canoeing

On the way out

And coming back

Blue Back Square

West Hartford Center's newest neighborhood is pretty quiet now.

A Recent Discovery

 I have been going down this street for decades, on the way from West Hartford Center to the highway.  But, I had never noticed this house before.

Does that happen to you?  We are in a place so familiar we don't even notice things.  Then, one day, we turn and -- bang! -- something finally registers.  Glad it did.

Hall's Kitchen

 

Hall's Market is a well-regarded market on West Hartford's Park Road.  

Next door is Hall's Kitchen, which offers cakes, pies, baked goods and other take-out food

LBJ

What a year for LBJs:  Little Brown Jobs.  Wherever I go I am surrounded by LBJs.

I rarely even lift my camera for them, but the barrel is getting empty.

Fairies

We have lots of small visitors in my West Hartford neighborhood.

Farmhouse

 

This farmhouse-style house is down the street.

It has long been one of my favorites.

Wet

Impatiens

Coleus

Japanese maple

Duck

 

I don't profess to be a birding expert, but I think this is a female blue winged teal.

Update:  Jennyfreckles suggested that these are mallards.  I always associate mallards with the bright green head for the male, and there are none of those in Elizabeth Park.  But, checking on the Cornell ornithology page, I see that the bright male coloration is for BREEDING males and the NON-BREEDING males look much like the females and have yellow beaks.  So, I stand corrected.  And educated. 

These, too.