Susan Gets Native asked for pictures from the street I live on, but I felt a little funny taking pictures of my neighbor’s houses, so I decided to extend my search for snapshots to the whole neighborhood. The purple mums are decorating my front stoop (yes, my parents were from Jersey City, NJ – does anyone else call it a *stoop*? 😉
This is a view from the street beside our pond. Fairly boring, but we have lots of old trees and lots of kids in the neighborhood now. The older people are downsizing and moving closer to their adult kids and young families are moving in.
Our newest neighbor on the street is our family doctor. He bought this house for 1.9 million dollars. Can you imagine? A few houses on the street have been rebuilt lately – this house used to be a ranch, like the one you can see the corner of to the left, but the prior family bought the house for $600,000 and tore it all down, except for the garage. They rebuilt it to this and less than five years later sold it for more than 3 times that amount.
This is our church, technically in the next town, set on a hill. I love the steeple, and on quiet days I can hear the bells ringing.
I think this is considered a creek, but it seems too wide to be called that. It borders our town and the next and often hosts ducks, herons, egrets, and terns. It’s a popular crabbing spot, but isn’t our usual place. Just to the left of the pic is the local army base and all its communication equipment, which I was afraid to photograph.
Around the corner from our house is this little farm field, usually planted with raspberries and blackberries. The deer fencing is new. Buddy and I often walk the edge of this field to look for the red-tail hawks that like to hang out in those trees in the distance. There is a little creek and farm pond down there and it’s a nice spot for warblers and frogs and mosquitos. And an occasional fox.
My favorite place to shop, just down the street. It used to be just a little farm stand surrounded by fields and orchards, but now it’s a gourmet market that sells beautiful plants and fresh, mostly local produce, plus anything else imaginable related to flowers or food. There’s soccer and baseball fields and a playground, and a wonderful old farmhouse that has been preserved by the town.
Susan also suggested that I take pics of the house I grew up in and the schools I went to, which I think would be kind of fun. I may take a drive to the old neighborhood this weekend to share some memories of growing up.
Thank you, Laura!
What a neat nighborhood you live in. The mums look good enough to eat. The “creek” definitely looks like a river.
I was a little taken back with the car and the kid on the bike. It looks like the kid is about to become a hood ornament!
🙂
Thanks for taking on my request!!!
I may just have to do this on my blog.
How lovely! It all reminds me very much of Connecticut. I think I’ve been missing out by not dropping by NJ when I’ve been up that way.
Thanks for the education. Sometimes it’s a lot of fun finding out you’ve been wrong about a place! 🙂
Your mums are gorgeous! And yup, I call it a stoop, too.
What a cool idea to document your neighborhood / area in photos and words! But I, like you, would feel really funny about taking photos of the neighbors’ homes.
Don’t worry Susan, that car was parked! Hadn’t realized how it looked until you mentioned it. You should try it – kind of fun – although I felt a little nutty today taking pics from my car on the way from work.
Bunnygirl: Haven’t been to much of Conn, but what I’ve seen does look like here.
Naturewoman: Why not try it? Have a look at my post from 9/30 and consider joining in. Would love to see your neighborhood.
I really enjoyed the tour, Laura. Thank you for the warm welcome into your world.
How beautiful. It’s nice having a “vacant” area (except for the wonderful potential of fruit bushes, of course) nearby.
Housing prices are insane, aren’t they?
In my internal dictionary, a stoop is a small concrete porch – often with steps leading down. If it’s larger, or made of another material, it magically becomes a porch.
What a pretty neighborhood you live in. Thank you for sharing.
That color of purple, in a certain light, seems to glow incandesently.
How convenient to have a market like that close by. Fresh, local produce is so much better that supermarket fare, even if it costs a little more.
What a lovely walk around your neighbourhood. And yes, I’m jealous of your market and even more of your creek. I did some of my growing up in D.C. We called the steps up to front doors in front of row houses “stoops.” Some in Southeast D.C. and lots in Baltimore. I guess that fits in with jenn’s defn.
Lene: You’re welome to visit anytime. 😉
Madcap: I’m glad someone was shocked by the price of that house besides me!
Jenn: Yes, I’d agree. I’d really like a porch out there, rather than just a stoop.
silverlight: I like to plant purple and orange mums together and pansies this time of year, too.
ruth: they sell all sorts of wonderful food there; they’ve just started getting in some heirloom apples which are really special.
Pam: Did people sit out on the stoop in the evenings and chat with the neighbors?
You live in a beautiful place, Laura! What a lovely neighborhood!
I would love to take a walk around your neighborhood! I would love to see the photos of the house you grew up in and the schools you went to!
Sonia: Thanks! Would love to see pics of your Brazilian neighborhood.
Hi Laura, you are very welcome to Enseada Azul where I live in!