June 24 was Connecticut Historic Gardens Day. It also happened to be the day that P requested a ride to pick up his car from a repair shop. Sorta on the way during the drive was one of the fifteen historic gardens opened in Connecticut free just for the day. So the barter was that I would drive him if we could visit the garden. And so it was but we also needed to stop first for some lunch.
Blue Oar in Haddam, CT directly on the CT River.
view in front of our table
view from the side of our table. dock was only for boaters to park and eat at the Blue Oar
my lunch was a salad with seared tuna. on the upper left was a piece of blackened catfish from P. I’m having the catfish next time! (you can thank navajo’s inspiration for including a food photograph)
we moved right along after seeing this sign next door
Our next stop was the historic gardens of the Thankful Arnold House built in 1794 in Haddam, CT. The house remained in the Arnold family until the 1960s when it was donated to the Haddam Historical Society. (on the main section’s right side is the sunlight showing off the irregularities of the clapboard. I cannot describe how much I love these aged imperfections showing their authenticity)
perfection with the beautiful sky and house together
a portrait of Thankful Arnold. (is she giving us the finger? maybe she doesn’t like hordes of strangers trampling through her house)
the tour inside of the house with period furniture was wonderful. I was so taken with it that I didn’t take photographs. Now as to the historic garden, it was done extremely period with much research going into the plants and their uses for that time. Though it would not have been laid out as it was below. I expected more but it was a good size for the house and property. The volunteers that day were a wonderful group offering their famous rhubarb tea to all.
beautiful hollyhocks. the historic mustard paint color is great and seen around New England.
how many bees do you see?
We gave Thankful our thanks and then drove through two state parks along side the CT River. It was a good day to stay out of the grass because of ticks and below
We crossed the CT River over to East Haddam where the 1877 Goodspeed Opera House is next to the movable swing bridge. Only musicals are performed there now and I’ve been a couple of times. It is a fantastic building inside and out.
After crossing the river, we then proceeded to get a bit lost heading east out of East Haddam. Waze was trying to get us back on the right path when we ran across an incredible nursery out in the country. Ballek’s Garden Center was an absolute treat. The farm has been in the same family for over 350 years!!
I quickly bought a couple of plants while P stayed in the car on his iPad, not minding how long I took. Mrs. Ballek is 85 years old. She was beautiful and gave me a $5 coupon for my next visit. (little did she know how soon I would return) Below is her daughter who is a speaker at garden club meetings, talking about everything from stone troughs to garden trends.
Moving right along, our next stop was at an antique shop with this pond beside it. Notice the two vintage concrete boys sitting on the dock. What you might not notice is the old pedal car right behind them.
okay we were seriously headed to get P’s car now when by chance we ran across the dairy farm that makes extremely popular cheeses sold at Farmer’s Markets around the area, including New York City. (I saw them at the Union Square Farmer’s Market this past winter) Anyway their dairy has very limited hours and was OPEN!
we were allowed samples of any and all cheeses available that day
after the first sample, a type of Spanish Manchego, we stuck with it and bought a pound.
after picking up P’s car and later back home that evening, we enjoyed the cheese with some wine and these flowers that had been a dinner gift from friends the night before.
dinner was topped off with blueberries that I had previously picked at some neighbors down the road. a perfect ending to an absolutely beautiful day
now you really didn’t think I would end there did you? and now for the rest of the story ……… lol
At the garden nursery that day, I had bought the Stachys Bello Grigio shown below right. We were very impressed with how it shined that night. It’s a new type of Lamb’s Ear imported from the Netherlands.
Since you know from the last two diaries that I’m getting ready to retire (thanks Kishik), I have almost three months of sick leave saved up that I will only be paid ¼ of when I leave. The next morning, not feeling so well (cough) I called into work and drove 45 minutes back to Ballek’s to buy the other Stachys on the left. I had never seen these before and thought the pair looked fantastic in these old rusty zinc pots.
Being at Ballek’s on an early Monday morning with as much time as I wanted was a treat as this place is huge. I normally cover the outer edges of garden centers first then work my way into the center. When I peeked around the side of a barn, I saw an area with broken pots and statues with some having marked down prices. I inquired about the very heavy 22” x 13” x 8” trough below with the crack down part of a side. The lady said I should not be worried about the crack as it should be fine in winter. She said I could put some clear marine epoxy in the crack but she wouldn’t. Looking at the original $75 price tag, she said how about fifteen dollars? Sold and I also got to use Mrs. Ballek’s $5 coupon with my purchases!
the trough cleaned up nicely and is shown with its crack against the wall while holding new plants,
I am very happy with it
so that was a day or rather two that just started out with someone asking for a ride. I look forward to next years free CT Historic Gardens day. get out and explore your area this summer!! and in case you were wondering, there were five bees in the above photo.
and how is your garden growing?