Teddy Painting Living Room - Photograph

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I decided to paint my Living Room, but the project is taking longer than I expected. There are a lot of nooks and crannies that require cutting, in addition to roller painting. My muscles and joints are very sore from the physical activity, so I've been offline while I've been working on this project, and I'm behind on blog posts, approving comments, and emails. Teddy claims he has been doing all of the work.

"T Stands For Teddy, Butterfly Picnic Quilt, Bee Hives, Tea Biscuits, and Tea" - Photograph

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I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this week's T Stands For challenge found here.

This is my summation of the past week:

Teddy will be serving double duty as my main image plus as my "T-Day ticket" for my T-Day posts.

Last week, Teddy said he wanted some type of washable fabric kitchen table placemat to use as a mini-picnic blanket for him to sit on during our outdoor photo shoots. My sister Mary saw that, and said she would make him an 18" x 18" butterfly quilt, to use as a little Teddy Bear's Picnic quilt.

We were grateful for her offer, and thrilled when we saw what she made, which arrived Monday (Aug 31, 2020). Not only was the butterfly on the front beautiful, but the fabric on the back had birds, bird houses, lady bugs, butterflies, flowers, bees, and bee hives on it, which is why I included the close up detail photo. Teddy was beyond belief with joy, at this lovely gift she made for him. She is very talented, and has her own blog here.

Last week, we had some wild weather here in Connecticut (CT) again. Thankfully this time I was spared the brunt of the storm damage, which hit hardest in central CT. On Thursday, August 27, 2020, there was an EF1 Tornado and Microbursts Confirmed in New Haven County CT. The path length of the tornado was 11.1 miles (17.8 kilometers), which started as 75 yards (68.58 meters) wide and ended as 500 yards (457.2 meters) wide (imagine five US football fields lined up in width). When the tornado ended, it fanned out as microbursts, which continued to cause destruction until they exited the land and went over water in Long Island Sound.

A short time later that same day, there was an EF1 Tornado in Montgomery, NY. This part of the US normally doesn't get tornadoes, so it is very scary when they happen. The CT tornado crossed two major highways (Merritt / Route 15 and Interstate 91 / I91), and the microbursts crossed Interstate 95 (I95), which had to be closed briefly in the southbound direction in Branford, CT, due to debris on the road. Many lost electricity, large trees came down, and some trees fell on houses and automobiles. Fortunately no one was injured.

We seem to get more wind than rain, so Connecticut still has D0, D1, and D2 drought conditions. (United States Drought Monitor - Connecticut)

And in news of the weird here in CT, on Friday, August 28, police sent out an alert to the public about a "highly aggressive" beefalo that has been on the loose for almost a month, in northwestern Connecticut. Apparently the beefalo (a cross between a bison and domestic cattle) escaped from a processing plant, when it was being offloaded from the trailer that brought it there, and has been terrorizing the countryside ever since. Yes, this is a real story, and not Teddy telling a Teddy Tale (except for the "terrorizing" part). Police are now using a drone, to try to find it, and have warned people not to try to approach it.

I went out on a walking trail this past week, but my muscles were still more worn out than I realized, so the hike turned out to be on the strenuous side for me.

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Clouds and Sun Rays Two Hours Before The Storm - Photograph

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I took those photographs about two hours before yesterday's (August 27, 2020) severe storms arrived in my area of Connecticut. Thankfully I was spared the brunt of this storm, after having just finished three weeks of storm damage clean up from Tropical Storm Isaias. Unfortunately, other parts of Connecticut suffered severe damage from the strong line of thunderstorms that went through, which may have included a tornado. The Governor activated the National Guard to help with storm clean up in hard hit Branford, CT.

Trail In Woods - Photograph

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This is 1 of 2 posts of photographs that I took on the trail located at the intersection of Wilson Rd and Beers Rd in Easton, CT this past week. This trail is part of the Centennial Watershed State Forest. The official trail map must be carried as one's permit for access to the area.

With regard to why a permit is needed on these particular hiking trails: they are on land that the public water supply flows through. So they have rules for what you can and can't do there, and if you get caught in there without a permit (which is the trail map), you can be fined / arrested.

I started on the south end of this trail, which goes north to Westport Rd (Route 136) in Easton, CT (at approximately 41.232782, -73.314774).

Approximate GPS location for parking: 41.223626,-73.288416

Trail Views - Photograph

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This is 2 of 2 posts of photographs that I took on the trail located at the intersection of Wilson Rd and Beers Rd in Easton, CT this past week. This trail is part of the Centennial Watershed State Forest. The official trail map must be carried as one's permit for access to the area.

With regard to why a permit is needed on these particular hiking trails: they are on land that the public water supply flows through. So they have rules for what you can and can't do there, and if you get caught in there without a permit (which is the trail map), you can be fined / arrested.

I started on the south end of this trail, which goes north to Westport Rd (Route 136) in Easton, CT (at approximately 41.232782, -73.314774).

Approximate GPS location for parking: 41.223626,-73.288416

Waxing Half Moon - Photograph

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I took that photograph this past week.

"T Stands For Teddy Holding Chainsaw, Week 3" - Photograph

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I am joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth for this week's T Stands For challenge found here.

This is my summation of the past week:

Teddy will be serving double duty as my main image plus as my "T-Day ticket" for my T-Day posts.

After almost three weeks of clean up efforts, the work is finally completed. Back on Tuesday afternoon, August 4, 2020, Tropical Storm Isaias toppled five trees on my property, in a domino effect, but fortunately they didn't hit anything.

Before (showing trees across driveway):

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After (showing left side area where trees fell from):

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Teddy said he did all of the clean up work while I sat inside eating bon bons. Teddy said those photographs of him with the chainsaw are his proof. He also said if you look closely, you'll see the bottle of water he drank from during the final day of work (Saturday, August 22, 2020), which was very hot and humid. If you're wondering what the yellow thing is, Teddy said he didn't want to sit on yet another sawdust covered, potentially bug and sap covered tree stump, so he made me use a plastic grocery bag as a mat. (He's also now demanding that I get him some type of washable fabric kitchen table placemat to use as a mini-picnic blanket for him to sit on during our outdoor photo shoots. I told him I'll try to find one for him at Walmart or Christmas Tree Shops.)

Despite Teddy's claims about who did all of the work, I have a lot of sore and strained muscles, including my right hand, so my artwork and online activities will be limited for awhile, until I'm feeling back to normal.

This year has been an unusually hot, humid Summer that has gone on, with no relief, since about early to mid June to August 14, 2020. Then the heat and humidity returned August 22, 2020. Because of that, Connecticut has D0, D1, and D2 drought conditions. (United States Drought Monitor - Connecticut) So between the drought, bugs eating all of the plant and tree leaves, and Tropical Storm Isaias, I picked the wrong year to decide to plant grass seed and try to regain control of the flower beds, which had become overgrown with weeds / vines / etc.

This week I'm the guest host at Sunday Postcard Art, and I chose the challenge theme "Train." Fortunately I had already made the art piece awhile ago, because right now, my right hand hurts too much to do any creative work.

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