Pay Station

This is the new way you pay for parking in certain lots in Port Jefferson that used to be free. Call me an old fogey but any system that requires so many words of instruction is a Big Bother and a system I am not likely to use. I'll just park and take my chances.

Forsythia

I cut some twigs last week, stuck them in water and look what happened. Oh, there's life in them thar dry sticks.

Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption

You're driving along a backroad in Port Jefferson. You come around a corner and--wow! there in front of you is this huge Byzantine style church. Have we been transported to Greece? No, we're still in Port Jefferson. This impressive church was completed only a few years ago. Doesn't the buttery yellow of the hosta add a warm touch?

Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption

(This is a repeat of my 11/06/08 post)

What's in a name?

Poquott is an Indian name meaning "cleared land". This village within Setauket was originally named George's Neck. (Was that King George? No, it was for George Wood who kept the tavern.)

More info

A sign of the times

The sign tells us that three locations of Aboffs have been consolidated into two. Hope the new tenant likes art--The mural shown on my January 24 post is just around the corner on the wall of this building.

Good, nobody told the miniature daffodils to stop blooming.

Hello!

Nice old Plymouth with a rumble seat, spotted on 25A.

Progress report

An early stage of this project was the subject of my 11/22/08 post.

Slowly and steadily the work goes on.

Playtime

While waiting for your chicken-and-broccoli you can amuse yourself by riding the bike or swinging the hula hoops. Oh, who's that in the mirror?

More of Caroline Church

The view from Bates Road

The past is always there

The parish house is connected by a breezeway to the church

Front entrance


Ramp leading to the back

Entrance

The back of the carriage house

My post of March 8th did not do justice to this historic property in Setauket so I am adding a few more pictures. The ones with snow were taken a few weeks back, the others yesterday.

A lawnful of crocuses

On this bright day myriads of crocuses were sprinkled over a front lawn on Main Street, Setauket, adding welcome color. (You'll just have to take my word for that as the color was washed out by the sun.)

Saturday morning regulars

At this busy corner of 25A and Bennets Road every Saturday morning the demonstrators take up their positions facing each other. It would be too simple to say the liberals on one side and the conservatives on the other, but they do seem to represent opposing opinions. Yes, it's free speech, but think how many man-hours (and a few woman-hours) are wasted here, hours that could be used for such things as picking up litter, tutoring kids, reading a book, taking a walk, etc. What good does all this do?

Litter in a beautiful spot

Well, you can't blame that one on Canada Geese.

(You're thinking, she's run out of pix from the archive. Hmm.)

Three Village Church

On 25A in East Setauket is the Three Village Church.

Three Village Church

Emma Clark's grave

At the Caroline Church by the entrance are 19th century gravestones. Emma Clark's name is very familiar to us here in the Three Village area because the public library was named for her.

Emma Clark

Stone wall

I love stone walls. This one on Van Brunt Manor Road was built recently. I'll be posting other stone pix as there are quite a few interesting ones in our area.

No Hunting

You wouldn't think a No Hunting sign would be necessary in suburbia, but it is. Private property extends right to the water line even if a road separates the front lawn from this patch of land on the Cove. Hunters apparently disregard this. Last year on a Sunday afternoon in January I heard shots coming from this area--I was birding on Shore Road not too far from here--and every duck, swan and goose in Setauket Harbor took off in fright. Someone told me this was legal in hunting season. I was astounded. In suburbia? This owner is making sure there is no confusion about it.
(I happened to be at Port Jefferson Harbor an hour after the shots and saw a small boat come in with three men in camouflage clothing with a sure-nuff hunting dog and the putt-putt boat was covered in straw. Macho men.)

Ready to go

At Poquott beach

Mussel colony

At low tide the living young mussels are exposed to air and sunlight. Taken at the Poquott beach off Van Brunt Manor Road on 3/7/09.

The Caroline Church

Organized in 1723 and built in 1729, the Caroline Church of Brookhaven (Episcopal) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It looks onto the Setauket Green where the Battle of Setauket took place in 1777. A bullet from that battle is visible just inside the front door.

The Caroline Church

Unseen

You can't see them but the redwinged blackbirds are back and singing away like mad in the rushes on Shore Road.

Potholes

It's that time again, pothole time.

Philadelphia Flower Show

Yesterday I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show. It was fantastic and I don't use the word lightly. Acres and acres of beautiful gardens and the very finest specimen plants. There were about 400 vendors in addition to all the displays following the theme "Bella Italia": Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Milan, Lake Region, Riviera, and ancient Rome. It was over the top. Too much to fully absorb but I saw and smelled hundreds of memorable floral treats. Here is a taste of what was there.

The entrance and resting place. People came out and sat on the carpet when they needed a break.

Succulents are so photogenic

It seemed everybody had a camera and it looked like they were making a salute to the floral excellence as each person raised his/her camera and clicked. I went through 3 sets of batteries.

Opera singers in costume entertained us with Italian arias from the height of this pavilion, which was a cafe. The crowds were thick but after 4:00 it was much easier (Most tour buses left at 3:30; ours left at 5:30)

The lighting was dim in many areas and it's amazing any of my photos came out.

Classical statues stood in many of the gardens and fountains splashed delightfully.

I wanted to walk right into this one

The Bonsai were breathtaking. This tree is 275 years old.

Ikebana

It was a brighter orange than the picture indicates.

So many kinds of cactus. They pick up the pot with pincers.

It will take me a while to go through all my pictures--I snapped over a hundred. This is the first batch of several I will post. There was so much to see that after 6 hours I was numb even with 3 rest breaks. The flower show of a lifetime!

(I meant to post this on my other blog, Winged Words. Guess I was still bleary-eyed as it ended up here. Oh well, all of us on the bus were from the Stony Brook area, so that fits.)