Saturday, October 31, 2020

Gonna Miss This Place

It has been wonderful being across town from my daughter, son-in-law and two little granddaughters and being able to see them often.  But, it is getting cold and it is time to go south again.  

Yesterday I started the drive to Florida.

 I'm going to miss being in Ridgefield.  But, I will be back for Christmas, assuming the pandemic situation in Florida and Connecticut makes travel a sensible option.



Friday, October 30, 2020

Town House

Lewisboro is a small New York town on the western border of Ridgefield, Connecticut.  The "Town House" (or town hall) is a blue-and-white block with a mansard roof.  The Town House sits on a country road just off the main road between Lewisboro and Ridgefield. 

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Some More Local Places

Peaceable Street.  Can you think of a more calming street name?

 Lions, pumpkins and a sturdy gate guard a fine estate on Silver Hill Road.

This blue house is on a prime location on Ridgefield's Main Street, just four doors south of the downtown.  It has a carriage house behind and a pool.  Like it?  It can be yours.  It is for sale

And,  I was driving in North Salem, one of the New York towns in the horse country just across the state line from Ridgefield.  I came across this place. What is it?  A riding stable?  An estate?  A gentleman's farm?  So, of course I googled the address.  It is just a house (but one with space for six cars in the garages) and it is for sale.  At a price just a fraction of what it must have cost to build it.

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Yellow

A house.  A carriage house.  And the trees and leaves on a gorgeous fall day.

Main Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Halloween

 Halloween is popular around here.



Monday, October 26, 2020

Covid


 Lots of people feel this way.

On the rear of the Ridgefield Guild of Artists building on Halpin Lane, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
There was a stylized signature something like Vr3Y, but I don't know who that is.

Sunday, October 25, 2020

At Books on the Common Again


 I spoke with Carol . . .


. . .  and Jackie to tell them how much I enjoy this independent bookstore.

The books in the window are always so interesting.  I want all of them.  Local students have painted the windows of participating merchants with Halloween-themed images.  I did that as a kid.

One window display shows a current political book behind a pile of humorous books co-authored by Roz Chast, a New Yorker cartoonist who lives in Ridgefield.

And a decorated scarecrow is on a tree outside the store, with its decorations inspired by a children's book, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson.

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Lounsbury House

 Lounsbury House was featured here before.  Twice, in fact.  No doubt it will be here again.

Today it is here as a photo on a perfect fall day a couple of weeks ago. 

And again as a water color created with the Waterlogue app.

Which do you prefer?

Friday, October 23, 2020

An Autumn Classic


 There should be a guy in a plaid flannel shirt raking the lawn and smoking a pipe.

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Fishing


 A cat and a heron are hoping she loses her concentration for just a moment.

New Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Country Ways





I like this new neighborhood.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Mushrooms

 I am getting used to a very different environment around my new house.

One tree has a crop of unusual mushrooms around its base.

And a single tall mushroom rises from the grass.  

There were mushrooms back in West Hartford, but these are quite different.  I'm not going to eat any.

Monday, October 19, 2020

One Block

I like the bird house that mirrors the house itself.


The owners of this house line their stone wall with small pumpkins.


 Good bones, a nice paint job and an appealing front garden.

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Light and Shadows

 I stopped my car and turned around because of the bright morning light on the leaves in the lawn.        Then the sculptural shadows on the country road got me excited.

Later, I thought the image might be a good one to put through Waterlogue, to get a painterly effect.

I'm happy with the result.

Saturday, October 17, 2020

The Aldrich

 Though relatively small, Ridgefield has its own art museum, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.


A current show features Frank Stella.  Stella is known best for his big, colorful and geometric paintings.  The Aldrich is displaying a series of star sculptures, some big ones outdoors and many more inside.  The stars are also geometric but quite different from the paintings for which he is best known. 


This huge star sculpture is one of Stella's recent ones, made from carbon fiber.


One room shows a Stella star painting, the kind of work for which he originally derived his reputation, contrasted with a colorful star sculpture. 


Stella is now in his 80s.  The Aldrich included one of his paintings in an exhibition early in his career and has shown other works in numerous other exhibitions.  This is its first exhibition devoted solely to Stella.

Friday, October 16, 2020

Big and Little Brothers

 

I have seen several versions of this double-gabled house in Ridgefield.
Wilton Road West.


A tidy little brother is on North Street.


A big brother is on Wilton Road East.

The biggest brother is on High Ridge Avenue, where the big kids hang out. 

Thursday, October 15, 2020

In the Mood for Fall

 On Main Street, one of my favorite Ridgefield houses is decked out for the Fall.

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Good Living

Many big and beautiful houses line Main Street in Ridgefield, south of the downtown commercial district. 


One of my favorites is across the street from The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

The architecture is quite nice but the best features are the lovely landscaping and the huge greenhouse.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Books on the Common

 Sure, I buy some books on Amazon or in a Barnes & Noble big box store, but my favorites are locally owned independent bookstores.  R.J. Julia in Madison, CT.  Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT.

Ridgefield has an indie bookstore that matches up with the best.  Books on the Common is on Main Street, across from the Town Hall.  I have never left empty-handed.  My family knows that when they need a birthday or Christmas gift for me, Books on the Common is the place to go.

Monday, October 12, 2020

Downtown

Frugal New Englanders didn't waste much of anything. 

 In Ridgefield's downtown, lots of the commercial buildings were originally residences.  

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Jesse Lee Methodist Church

The Methodist church has a prominent location on Main Street south of the downtown.  

Jesse Lee was an itinerant Methodist preacher who founded more than 30 Methodist churches in New England.  He preached in a different location in Ridgefield in 1789.  The church moved here in 1968.