We enjoyed the warm weather today by driving out to the Glastonbury location of the Connecticut Audubon Society. I am a new member of the CAS and I wanted to check out their lending library and get a map of the bird sanctuaries in the state. In the library I found a Sibley bird guide (which I have been considering buying) and a book about birds that frequent birdfeeders.

Then we had our picnic lunch at a shady spot, and took a walk through Earle Park to Tom's Pond. The pond level was pretty low, but there was quite a bullfrog chorus today. I wish I'd remembered to bring my camera!

On our way home, we stopped at a farm stand on route 17 and I bought some local plums, cherry tomatoes, and blueberries. I can't wait until the real tomatoes are in -- should be soon.

Random update

This year's Blogathon is coming up soon. No, I'm not planning to participate. I'm a little too lazy for that. But! My friend Rana of Eclectic Mind is going to be doing her part, raising money for a good cause. Check out her info about it here.

Marty's on his way home from Colorado right now. He won't be in until late tonight, but I'll be glad to see him when he gets here! It's lonely around here without him.

I had big plans to make vegetable lasagne today after work, but I haven't gotten motivated for it yet. I expect it's not too late, I could still put it together and get it done before too late... but then I still have some of my delicious quiche left over and that would be a lot easier. We'll see.

One thing I do think I'll make though is a slimmed-down version of Mamie's blueberry cobbler. I got some gorgeous blueberries yesterday and they are just dying to be used in something sweet. I even bought vanilla ice cream to make the entire experience complete.

Oh, here's something great for those of us who live in Connecticut: a listing of "pick your own" farms in Connecticut. It even tells you what produce they have at different farms. I can't wait for the tomatoes to come in! (And all you folks who live in other places can check for your own states and countries, too.)

The folks back home in Georgia have been putting up canned goods this summer -- fig preserves, blueberries, lots of vegetables and soup. I wish I were there so I could help them... eat it!

End of July Update

Can you believe Ziggy is 13 years old this month? I can hardly believe it myself. He and I are home alone this weekend, so we're getting up to all the mischief a 13-year-old and a 36-year-old can.

It's a gorgeous day in Connecticut today. High of 85, though it's not there yet -- at noon it's still right around 79 degrees. I have the air conditioners off and all the windows open. I can hear the birds from every room in the house.


Speaking of birds, here's what I've been reading this month. The Field Guide to the Birds belonged to my grandmother, and it has her notes in the back in her distinctive handwriting. I've been using it to identify the birds that come to my birdfeeder outside the back door. The other book is a new one, which I mostly picked up out of curiosity. It is really interesting! And maybe it'll come in handy someday. You never know!

I also read the new Harry Potter book, which I enjoyed very much. I actually enjoyed it a LOT more than the previous one. Also, I watched Moulin Rouge again, which is an old favorite, and two movies I hadn't seen before: Calendar Girls and Immortal Beloved. Calendar Girls was fun, and I love Helen Mirren and Julie Waters. I didn't think much of Immortal Beloved, which is about Beethoven. Compared to Amadeus or even Impromptu (about Chopin) it seemed heavy-handed and obvious. Maybe you have to be a Gary Oldman fan to appreciate it. The soundtrack, of course, was exceptional. (Duh -- it was all Beethoven.)

As often seems to happen, July has gotten away from me without many updates to Raspberry World. We've had a nice month, though we were both pretty busy with work. Marty got the chance to go to a seminar in Colorado to learn about solar energy, a topic he's very interested in. I worked on a new website for my chorus (I'm not finished with it yet -- when I am, I'll link to it). We are planning a short jaunt to our old stompin' grounds in Pennsylvania in a couple of weeks, which should be lots of fun.

And yesterday I made a yummy deep-dish quiche with broccoli and tomatoes. It turned out great! See?

Haveli India

Haveli India

Last night we had dinner at an Indian restaurant near our house, Haveli India. A few people had recommended it to us, and boy, were they right! It's great!

It's situated in an old lodge-style restaurant, red brick on the outside and dark paneling on the inside. We sat right in front of a huge stone fireplace in the large private dining room (which was open for regular diners last night). The service and food were excellent.

I had dal soup, followed by chicken tikka masala. Marty had the "chef's special" platter, a selection of items including mulligatawny soup, lamb samosa, Tandoori chicken, sag paneer, and a bunch of other things. Everything was delicious! The naan bread was also wonderful.

Upon checking out the Haveli India website this morning, I discovered that this place has some affiliation with Darbar India in Branford -- another Indian restaurant with a great reputation. When I worked near New Haven, I heard people raving about Darbar India all the time. How lucky that we have something similar near our house!

End of the Week

For such a short week, this one sure has seemed long. The news from London yesterday was a terrible shock, and it made me very sad.

The good part of the week was that we had a nice visit with my mom and our friend, who were visiting since last Friday. We drove up to the Berkshires and visited Stockbridge and the Norman Rockwell museum, we enjoyed a great fireworks display on July 4, and we ate a bunch of peaches that were brought directly from Georgia. We also went to IKEA and visited with Amanda. I even worked a few days this week, if you can believe it! It's been busy.

On the weekend I need to catch up on some work and do some things for my chorus. Otherwise, it should be pretty quiet.

And finally, let me put in a plug for Jul's 40-4-40 project. She's collecting new books to give to children. My life has been so positively shaped by reading, especially the reading I did as a child, that I think this is a wonderful and worthy project. Check it out!

DEAD SQUIRREL UPDATE

When Marty got home, the squirrel was gone. Maybe this is like when you take your car to the mechanic because of that terrible rattle it keeps making, but as soon as you turn onto the street where the auto shop is, the rattle stops.

Where did it go?

Did it wake up from its nap, pop the top of the birdfeeder open, and scamper off?

Did someone steal it? (And WHO would steal a dead squirrel???)

Again, I have no idea.

But I think I am going to ask to have a latch installed on that birdfeeder roof. Because I can't deal with this kind of stress on a regular basis!

Aaaaack!!!

I am traumatized.

I think there is a DEAD SQUIRREL in my birdfeeder.

HOW did it get in there? I'm sure it wasn't there yesterday afternoon -- and I don't THINK it was there this morning. But it's there now.

The feeder (which you may remember from an earlier post) has a hinged roof that lifts up so you can fill it with birdseed. This week the birds and squirrels have been going completely bonkers for it -- especially the squirrels. They were tearing through the food at rates I had not yet seen. I would go out to chase the squirrels off and they'd be right back up there, not a minute later.

I guess one of them got too greedy for its own good. And I am very upset and freaked out by it. I don't like that the squirrels eat all the food and make such a big mess, but I am not anti-squirrel at all in general. I certainly don't wish them any harm. It makes me very sad that one appears to have died in my bird feeder!

Did it somehow open the lid and climb in there, then get bonked on the head when the lid fell back down?

Did it get in there and eat all the food and die from gluttony?

I really have no idea.

I went out and opened the lid with a broom handle, just in case the squirrel was simply snoozing. But it doesn't seem to have moved at all.

Boy, I can't wait until Marty gets home.