In Bloom

I've got my flower boxes planted. My yard is finally starting to look decent again. Things are blooming nicely, and with that, comes the dreaded allergy season. Some members of my family suffer terribly this time of year, so although it is gorgeous outside, we are inside, with all the windows closed. There is a prediction of rain for tomorrow, so maybe we'll have some relief.

in bloom

After all the rain we've had, spring has finally arrived! My Forsythias are in full bloom, the hostas are starting to pop up, daffodils are in bloom and I am even starting to see leaves on the trees. Pretty soon I won't be able to see the neighbors house or the lights of downtown anymore!

Happy Easter

I love Hyacinths, they are my most favorite of the spring plants.

Wallingford Fire Department

This weekend, the Volunteer Fire Departments here in town are having their Easter plant sales. Its a good opportunity to go buy a nice plant for the holiday and support our hardworking volunteers at the same time.

The Library

This is the Wallingford Public Library. As you can see, it is currently under construction. They are in the middle of a huge renovation and expansion project that is going to double the size of our already wonderful library. And yes, the prices you see on that sign really do say that the project is costing the local taxpayers $11.5 milllion bucks plus the state is contributing $500K.

Rehabbing next door

This is the building next door to the one in my previous post. From what I read in th paper, this building is currently 400-500 square foot tiny apartments. When the builder rehabs it, they will transform it into townhouses (similar to next door, presumably). The builder says that many of these units will be marketed as "affordable housing", which means they will sell for somewhat below market value to people within certain incomes (I think). No matter, I'm sure they'll look better than this looks now.

Time for Rehab

I actually looked at an apartment in this building about 10 years ago. I remember thinking at the time that they were very much in need of renovations. Recently, everyone moved out of these apartments (and the two neighboring buildings) and rehab work started on them. A local construction company is completely redoing them and going to sell them as condos, I believe.

This building looks much better already. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on the building next door, which started off looking worse. Its nice to see some of these unattractive parts of town being enhanced, its good for all of us.

Golf, anyone?

There is noone on thecourse at the Wallingford Country Club, yet. I'm sure that within the next week or two the orange snow fences will be down, the maintenance crews will be busy and the eager golfers will be on the course. But not quite yet...the ground is still too muddy from the winter.

blue skies

Today was a warm, beautiful day in Wallingford. Just a little tease though, it will be back to the low 50s for the next few days. Today's photos is of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church here in town. I like the way the sunlight is coming across the clouds in this shot.

The Dressing Room

This is one of my favorite things in one of my favorite parts of town. I love the area around the corner of Main St. and Center St. Simpson Court and the surrounding area are so nice (well, except for the ugliness that is the Post Office). The Dressing Room is a nice addition to the streetscape. The owner of the shop frequently changes her window displays and it always looks so pretty and pulled together. Every time I am stopped at the light there, I wonder, what will her window display look like today?

Rt 5 traffic

Okay, so I love shopping. I'm happy that I live in an area where I can easily get to most of the stores where I like to shop. But enough already. Route 5 in Wallingford is just crazy most of the time. When I moved to town in 1996, the traffic was bad, but now it is much worse than it used to be. Since the Super Wal-Mart and Home Depot opened, and now with BJs and the soon to open Lowe's, traffic on Route 5 has become a nightmare. Like everyone else in town, I usually take a short cut up North Main Street, but even that is congested all the time,

I think its time for the Town Council to seriously consider some sort of a moratorium on the larger retail projects here in town.

Welcome to Wallyworld

Hello, and welcome to my new blog, Life in Wallyworld. I'm a busy mom, living in Connecticut in a great town, affectionately known to many as Wallyworld. Most people just know it as Wallingford, CT. I've lived here for about 11 years, and have come to love this town for all its quirks and perks.

In this blog, I'm going to be commenting on the things going on in town that I like, that I dislike and that I think make this town so nice.