Spring Thaw?

North Stonington, CT  2021

 

Bend in the Road

North Stonington, CT  2021

 

Old Barn and Stone Wall

Scotland, CT  2021

 

Weathered Bench

Stonington, CT  2019

Scenic View in Black and White

Somewhere in Vermont, 2016

The color version of this scene was first posted over a year ago and can be found here.

Vineyard

North Stonington, CT  2016

Back Roads

Uncasville, CT  2015

If I stopped every place I see a photo opportunity, I'd never get anywhere.  

Bull

Wolfboro, NH 2015

I'm not sure what variety of bull this is, but he didn't seem to mind posing for me.

More Sunflowers

Griswold, CT  2015

Sunflowers for Wishes

I'm a little late posting these pictures and for some of you they might look a little familiar.  Fellow Connecticut Blogger, Jack, who publishes the very fine blog Naples and Hartford in Season published photos from Buttonwood Farms and their Sunflowers for Wishes sales the very day I visited.  I guess great minds think alike.  We've been going to Buttonwood Farms for years, ever since I first moved to Connecticut in 2003.  For two weeks in July, the sunflowers are in bloom and they are sold to the public with all proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation.  It truly is an impressive sight to see acres of sunflowers in bloom.

There was a big crowd there when I visited and the lines were very long for taking hay rides through the sunflower fields, and for ice cream.  Buttonwood Farms makes their own ice cream and people come from far and wide, even as far away as Hartford for the ice cream.  There were walking paths through the fields which allowed for up close and personal sunflower pictures.

One thing I noticed as I walked around this field.... no matter what side of the field I was on, the sunflowers always seemed to be facing away from me.  You might see it in some of the photos above.  All the sunflowers were facing to the center of the field.  I thought they always faced the same direction.  

Griswold, CT  2015

White Mountains

Gorham, NH  2015

I spent a weekend recently in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire.  Early morning found quite a bit of fog towards the tops of the local mountains.  Mt Washington is not far from where I was staying.  

Old Barn

Stonington, CT  2015

I pass a lot of barns as I travel throughout southeast Connecticut.  There are many I would like to stop and photograph, but oftentimes I don't have a safe place along the road to pull over.  I passed this one a couple of weeks ago and there was a good place to pull over off the road to make some photographs.  This barn has seen better days.

Split Rail Fence

Pomfret Center, CT  2015

Adding to the colonial charm of Sharpe Hill Vineyards are these split rail fences.  They are also known as worm fences  or snake fences due the way they meander along.  This type of fencing must have been pretty popular in early New England and Connecticut.  They require a lot of lumber, something that was in plenty abundance in colonial times.  They are also easy to assemble requiring no nails or posts.  Anyone from Connecticut can tell you, that it's next to impossible to dig a post hole  anywhere in this state without hitting a rock.  Believe me, I've tried on a number of occasions.

Sharpe Hill Vineyards

Pomfret Center, CT  2015

The grounds around this vineyard had a distinctive colonial-style feeling to it.  It was almost like stepping back in time.

Vines and Dandelions

Wallingford, CT  2015

Taken at Gouveia Vineyards, a very nice family owned vineyard with fantastic views of the local country side. 

Chamard Vineyards

Clinton, CT  2015

With a free weekend, it was once again time to hit the Connecticut Wine Trail.  Some of the vineyards we visit are really very beautiful places to see, especially  when the vines are green and loaded with grapes.  It's too early in the growing season to seen much on the vines but there are other sites to see at vineyards, like this vintage Dodge pickup truck.  It might be almost as old as I am.  

Smallpox Cemetery

Preston, CT  2015

While traveling along some backroads in Preston, CT, this sign caught my eye.  It would have been very easy to miss, as it was hidden by some pretty thick brush.  I've seen many small cemetery plots along the roads here, but this is the first one I've seen designated as a "Smallpox" cemetery.  I looked around a little but could find no other evidence for the presence of a cemetery here, but I didn't venture to far into the field, since it was on private property.  I did a little research the site and found that it was a common practice to bury victims of smallpox away from others and that many towns had such "smallpox cemeteries".  

Spring Vines II

Preston, CT   2015

We got an early start this season on our trip along the Connecticut Wine trail.  We never quite finished the trail last summer,  Hopefully this year we'll complete the trail.  This is the Preston Ridge Winery, located in Preston, CT.  They've been producing wines since 2012.

Spring Vines

Preston, CT  2015

Jonathan Edwards Winery

North Stonington, CT

Followers of this blog know of my fondness of Jonathan Edwards wines and their winery in North Stonington.  I've featured many pictures from the vineyards here in this blog.  I always thought the tasting room/barreling/bottling building, which used to be a dairy barn, would make a great photo rendered in black and white.