Pumpkins? Yeah, We've Got Pumpkins!

Lots of pumpkins for sale at Jesse Lee Church.

A pumpkin judging contest at Ballard Park.  Though they didn't win, I voted for #3 and #4.

Don't like pumpkins?  Let's cheer for cupcakes and cookies.

Hudson River School

 

A quick visit to the New Britain Museum of American Art.  One room held numerous nice paintings from the Hudson River School.  The feature was Frederic Church's 1849 painting, "West Rock, New Haven."

From the sign beside the painting, I learned that Church often inserted a small church steeple into his works as kind of a signature.  Here it is above the trees on the right.  Church added a field next to the river as a wink to his friend and patron, Cyrus Field, who had commissioned the work.

Westport

Clothing, furniture, home decor and cosmetics retailer Anthropologie occupies a Bedford Square building originally built for a director of Standard Oil.  The Tudor-style building was later occupied for decades by the Westport/Weston Family YMCA.  For a long time it housed an indoor swimming pool.

We passed Anthropoligie on the way to dinner.

And in the other direction afterwards.

Wilton Hindu Temple

My head snapped to the left as I passed a red and white striped building with onion domes and animal statues.  So, I pulled in, of course.  It is a four year old Hindu temple.

Ferguson Library

When I was in Stamford, the Ferguson Library grabbed my attention.  At its core is a classic colonnaded building, wrapped by a beautifully designed modern addition.  At the left side of the library addition is a new coffee shop, Winfield Street Coffee, with a well-frequented patio.

 In the sidewalk there is a structure decorated with book themes.  What is it used for?  I don't know.

Taste is Personal

Someone decided to design, build and occupy this building in Stamford, Connecticut.

The Piano Project in Stamford

 25 upright pianos were painted by artists and placed around downtown Stamford.  

"LucKEY Chops" by Sooo-Z Mastropietro is in Veterans Memorial Park.

Wooden Figures

 

Someone in Wilton creates Americana from tree scraps.

It is Fall

One way to tell.

Only at an Art Museum

In the parking lot of the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art.

We Are All in This Together

On the side of Tusk and Cup Coffee in the front and Clark Construction above and behind.  (Don't overlook the elephant at the far left end.)

Click here for more murals on Monday Mural.

Renovations

This former church on Route 116 has undergone a nice renovation into a residence.

Back at the Aquarium

 

No school on Yom Kippur and rain was threatened.  Where else?  The Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk.

Ridgebury

 Ridgebury is the northern part of Ridgefield, the part that adjoins Danbury.  RIDGE-field, Dan-BURY.  It is the part of town through which the British troops traveled south in 1777 on their way to the Long Island Sound after burning the munitions stored in Danbury.  

A Congregational church dates to 1760, though the building is from 1851.  George Washington stayed in a nearby tavern in 1780.  

6,000 French troops under le Comte de Rochambeau met Washington in the vicinity and traveled south through southwestern Connecticut and New York.

The road at the side of the church passes some big houses and the north side of Ridgefield Golf Course.

There are numerous horse farms in Ridgebury as well as across the state line in New York. 

I caught a glimpse of a rider behind a stone wall.

On the way back to Ridgefield proper, I took a detour that allowed me to befriend a couple of horses.

Kindness

My kind six year old granddaughter wanted to brighten the moods of people who were feeling sad about the 20th anniversary of September 11.  She made signs with happy messages.  Her mother took her along Main Street, where she taped the messages.

Old Houses

 Houses from the late eighteenth century are all over.  Most have been expanded over the centuries and have renovated living spaces within their historic shells. 

 

This one in the southern part of Ridgefield is from 1780.

Captain Olmsted's house from 1790.  On Olmstead Lane in Ridgefield.  They changed the spelling.

Across the line into Wilton, a Keeler barn from 1800.  Converted into a home.

Two on Millstone Road in Wilton are from 1800 (top) and 1790 (below).

The Abijah Wallace House in North Salem, New York.  Circa 1760.