Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Emotion!

Sweet Emotions.

I had a million of them driving home from work tonight. I felt kind of like all the 7 dwarfs and then some!

Leaving work = Grumpy

Stop at store to shop = Warm and fuzzy after seeing one of the sweetest guys ever and getting a hug (and I hate to shop...)

Stopped at the Daily Bread food bank to investigate where to drop off our condo association's food drive booty on Friday = Grateful that I can afford food as well as all my other bills

Stopped at local Quickie Mart to buy lottery ticket = Lucky - i think this is the BIG WINNER!  (Of course when I remember to buy a ticket, I always think it is a lucky winner).

Home Sweet Home = Relaxed, while unwinding doing some things for myself for a bit

Watering the Renegade Garden = Nostalgic, thinking of all the time I have spent out digging in gardens and fields over the years, with the best, like my Poppa Moone, and all my tree farm friends.

And now..... Hungry! Time to eat!

So,,,, the Aerosmith concert continues in my head....
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Emotion,
Well, you talk about things that nobody cares,
You're wearing out things that nobody wears
You're calling my name but I gotta make it clear...

I am a Putnamaniac because it inspires Sweet Emotions in me!

Someplace Special is aptly named!

I love to go out to eat. It relaxes me, which is a rare thing, and if I had endless money, I think I would go out to eat quite often. I don't think I'd get sick of it or ever take it for granted.

Putnam has quite a few great places to dine out! I am lucky to live so close to so many delicious places!

Recently I had the pleasure to enjoy a lunch, on a sunny day, on the patio of Someplace Special, with a very nice coworker.

There are a few other places right in this stretch of Putnam that also have these great patio areas. I highly recommending coming to dine in Putnam. I recommend even stronger that you come and pick me up so we can enjoy it together!

I am a Putnamaniac because I love to have lunch (and dinner) on the patio at Someplace Special!

Would you like some wine with your Putnamania?

If your answer is "Yes, I would like some wine with my Putnamania", then Taylor Brooke Winery is the place for you. It is just down the road from Putnam, on Rt 171 in Woodstock.

I have sampled many of their labels, however I've never had the pleasure to visit. Time is always quite short for me it seems. However, if someone wanted to go to a wine tasting there sometime, I would always make myself available to go with you!

This weekend, June 25 & 26, Taylor Brooke Winery is hosting their 7th anniversary, with live music and other nice surprises to help celebrate. I found out about this fun event because my friend, talented owner/designer of Down to Earth Gardening is going to be there as a vendor. (I just made a nice slide show of all her work, set to the peaceful music of Andrea' Bocelli that she can show off to potential customers while there).

So, if you are bored this weekend, and are looking for something to do, head out to the Taylor Brooke Winery and enjoy!

I am a Putnamaniac because I know that someday I will get to Taylor Brooke Winery!

I'm having the time of my life...

So, I just caught the end of Dirty Dancing - that last great dance scene with Patrick Swayze's "Johnny Castle" and Jennifer Grey's "Baby Houseman" dancing it up.

Of course I fought back the tears...Dirty Dancing's last scene gets to me just like the National Anthem played at sporting events and parades, just like watching little kids' school performances, just like at weddings, just like when I see a little old man doing his grocery shopping all alone....these things and similar type things get to me and make me want to cry.

Then I started thinking about how music gets to us all. Just a few notes can take us back in time in a flash; for memories of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The song "I've had the time of my life" can apply to so many situations, and I really started thinking about how danged busy I've been lately - no time to write a quick blog, or even enjoy Putnam the way I love to. So this song really meant something to me tonight, more than ever. I dedicate it to Putnam!

You're the one thing
I can't get enough of
So I'll tell you something
This could be love because

I've had the time of my life
No I never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you 

Thanks for being such a great place Putnam! 

I'm a Putnamaniac because I have the time of my life here, and plan to have many more good times!

No "Doubt", Bradley Playhouse always stirs emotion

I've said it  before, and I'll say it again; I love the Bradley Playhouse!

Always an appreciative season ticket holder, I get to see them all.
The musicals, the comedies, the dramas... the classic and the new.

I always leave singing, laughing, or close to tears.

The current show is Doubt.
Set in the early 1960s in a catholic school and parish in NYC.

It featured just four actors/characters;
1) nun/principal of the catholic school - very suspicious, strict and all those things you'd associate with an old school nun
2) nun/teacher - young, innocent, trusting, full of hope
3) priest - seems like a caring man, you know what suspicions will befall him
4) mother of a school boy - the first black child in the school, and the only one to this point, who was befriended by the priest. Principal nun assumes the priest sought more than friendship...

Boy did Doubt make you think, wonder, get mad, and even Doubt. Well, obviously that was the point.
It brings into question many things... I'd have like to take an exit poll of everyone on the way out the door to see if they thought that Father Flynn was guilty or not. What would their vote say about them and their thought processes? Why did they vote guilty or not? Past experiences, prejudices?

Go see the play and tell me how you vote. I vote innocent!

Go see any play at a local theater in your area, and you are always welcome to the Bradley Playhouse in Putnam.

I am a Putnamaniac because I love to take myself to the Bradley Playhouse!

TGIP!!!!

TGIP!!!

Thank goodness its Putnam!!!!!

Why, you ask??

Where else can you wake up to the sounds of the river in your back yard?
Go for a nice, safe morning jog?
Listen to great local and FUN  radio, like WINY?

Of course the majority of my day is then spent in Chepachet. I'm not a big fan...most enjoyable part of that place is when I am on the road and headed back to Putnam at the end of the day! LOL.

But seriously folks, driving back into good, old Putnam, where you can stop in at the fun WINY Radio and request "More Manilow" by holding signs up to the window of the DJ booth, then go to a great show at the Bradley Theater later!

So, yeah TGIP!!!!

I am a Putnamaniac because every day is TGIP day here!

$25 bucks, some edging, a handful of worms = Happy Land!

We all need a "Happy Land" or a happy place to go to.

I have a friend that can tell by the look on my face if I have left the real world behind and am in my Happy Land.


Tonight I spent $25 to get edging for my Renegade Garden, named such since I am not supposed to be doing anything outside of my condo. I am a Renegade Gardener! However, I trust my ability to beautify the small area in my backyard much more than those hired and paid to do it.

Well, mums the word to the condo cops, because I went out and put that edging in, found many handfuls of worms, and found myself a happy old lady residing in Happy Land once again.

It is a choice to go to Happy Land. Sometimes you feel a bit beaten down and might actually start to forget that Happy Land exists... DON'T FORGET! Go there as often as you can.

I am a Putnamaniac because my Happy Land is there!

Neon green helmet, wiffle bat, and a field full of waist high weeds!

I think the next Super Hero might actually be living  down the road from me in the form of an 8 year old little kid's body.

Picture what I saw tonight driving home from work:
A small boy, wearing a lime florescent green helmet, carrying a wiffle bat, headed out to the overgrown field behind his backyard, where the weeds were at least up to his waist....

His mission: I am not sure, but it seemed very official and quite top secret, and urgent.

I think he is training to become this neon green helmeted super hero some day. I'll call him the Neon Sabin Slayer for now....

I am a Putnamaniac because a foolish little kid can make a rotten Monday into a great day!

Particle Accelerator 5, today's concert in the park, for a great cause!

As usual, something is happening in Putnam today.

The 5th Particle Accelerator Concert is going on now, from noon till 11pm.

The cause is a great one; to raise awareness of suicide and depression and to raise funds to aid those that need help with these issues. This group's goal means a lot to me, since I lost a brother to suicide and that is something that can leave you with a lot of questions.

Particle Accelerator's annual concert is full of music and creativity, allowing folks of all ages to express their feelings through their music.

If you get a chance to stop by Rotary Park, check it out today or tonight. If you want to see what this is all about, but can't make it, check out the Particle Accelerator website.

I am a Putnamaniac because folks in our area try to increase awareness, and make things better for everyone's future!

Manny was on duty this morning on Sabin St!

Manny the cop is back on duty! Manny is actually short for mannequin, because that is what Manny is. Putnam PD places him strategically around town in order to keep drivers on their best behavior. It works like a charm, and everyone loves Manny! He was parked on the street outside my condo development this morning, and I gave him a big wave when I jogged past.

I feel very safe with not only Manny, but all the fine officers of the Putnam PD on duty.

I am a Putnamaniac because we have great cops of all kinds!

Dark skies and heat lightning

What a treat I had tonight.

I was working at a friend's house, in her home office. She lives in beautiful Woodstock, CT, which is right next to me in Putnam. So although I am a Putnamaniac, Woodstock sure ranks high up there on my list of favorite places as well, since it is about 2 miles from my house to her's.

Leaving her cozy home, I entered into a more cozy summer evening. Peaceful, pitch dark, quiet, heavenly.

As I started the short drive home, the skies lit up with heat lightning putting on a show somewhere off in the distance.

So gorgeous, so peaceful.

I hope you all love where you live as much as I do. Please let me know if you do, and why.

I am a Putnamaniac because even a dark, quiet night lit with heat lightning make it exquisite!

Even compared to the Portsmouth, RI waterfront property, Putnam is my home sweet home!

Today I had to go with a coworker to a few beautiful sections of RI; Tiverton, Bristol, Portsmouth. Scenic, peaceful, right on the water. gorgeous landscaping, scenes worth coveting, very relaxing...it felt like we were in some vacation dream land, although we were canvassing neighborhoods looking for homes that used propane, and trying to reach out to them with our company's information. (Ferrellgas)

This is a sample of where we were. These 2 places were for sale, and I must say that they are priced at ridiculously fantastic deals during these hard time of the ecomony...you can see that real estate bargains are still easy to find. Definitely a buyer's market.

459 Windstone Dr, Portsmouth, RI 
54 William St, Portsmouth, RI

So although we enjoyed scenes such as this all day long:

...we both really appreciated our own places.

I had a few minutes to actually sit on my patio tonight and just listen to the birds twitter, the river bubble, and look a nothing but the woods. I'll take my home sweet home in Putnam any day!

I am a Putnamaniac because it is my home, and I love the view every bit as much as the views I enjoyed today in Portsmouth, RI!

Great volunteer, and a young one at that!

Ferrellgas had a few items that they were looking to donate. I mean, good stuff. Brand new 50 gallon hot water heaters, a new fireplace insert - that is the thing where the fire actually burns in the gas fireplaces, lots of ductworky looking stuff, etc....

Ferrellgas knows I volunteer for the Habitat ReStore, so the connection and the donation were made!

Of course when I arranged this donation, I thought that the Habitat ReStore would have a few guys and a pickup truck to go down and get the items with me.

Alas, they had the skinniest kid in Putnam and his Ford Explorer. So...since I am usually a good sport, the two of us headed out of Putnam to RI to pick up the donations.

It took us two trips down to RI to get it all, and the use of our combined muscles. We even managed to get the fireplace insert on the top of the Explorer. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Safely and slowly we headed our convoy back to CT and to the ReStore. Luckily there were some helping hands there to help us unload.

So, although I can't even remember the young, skinny man's name that was so helpful today, I want to send him a gigantic thank you. I don't think it would have been a successful mission if  they sent anyone else but him to help me. He will do well in this world.

I am a Putnamaniac because I get to meet some surprisingly great people all the time!

Fields of dreams....plentiful in Putnam

If you build it, they will come.....

Field of Dreams. 

A rare tear jerker movie that I watched, because it had a great cast, and I figured it wasn't the first time nor would it be the last time that baseball would make me cry in my life, being a Sox fan and all.

Tonight I drove by all the familiar town fields on my way home from work, and the people did come to them.

Owen Tarr park did not have a game going on, but there were tons of walkers enjoying the weather.

The soccer field on Recreation Park Drive had 2 sets of teams practicing; a  little tiny girls team all swarmed around the ball, and some teen boys doing very skilled and disciplined drills.  It reminded me of bringing my sister and brother to their games when they were little kids, with all the bags of cut up oranges!

Next I passed the little league fields. Two tiny teams were playing, and daydreaming, and watching the clouds fly by, all at the same time. That reminded me of the days of cheering on my little brother's little league team. I also remembered all those games of wiffle ball we played in our neighborhood...until way after dark... just one more pitch...just one more at bat...

 

Do some things just make you so happy when you see them, and they bring back the memories? Don't those memories seem just like yesterday? Enjoy the memories you make every day, because someday you will look back fondly on them. 

I am a Putnamaniac because we have many fields of dreams here!

Hole in the wall

I always get a nice surprise - every day - it never fails. That is why I can stay so happy no matter what - I know something good is always right around the corner, and I never give up hope that it will arrive. It always does!

Today I got home from work and in the mail was a nice "thank you" postcard. It was from a local guy, Norm, who'd run in the Boston Marathon as part of "Team Hole in the Wall".  I was lucky enough to hear about his goal to run in the marathon during his interview on WINY radio. He was looking for donations, and since I can pretty much donate every spare cent I have for others not so lucky as I have been in my life, I was happy to do it.

"Team Hole in the Wall" raises money for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which is located just down the road from Putnam, in Ashford, CT.

Paul Newman started this Hole in the Wall Gang Camp years ago. He built it in record time and dubbed it The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for the rag tag bandits from his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Like Butch and Sundance, The Hole in the Wall is a place where our children find a refuge from the outside world and the care and worry of serious illness.

It is a great feeling to know that although my funds are a bit smaller than Paul Newman's were, I can still reach out and help in my community, and for a great cause, as so many others are doing the same.

I am a Putnamaniac because the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp is just down the road and doing lots of good!