Picture Of The Day: Scooter Duo

One yellow

one blue,

perfectly parallel-parked from each other.

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Those New Self Service Checkout Counters At CVS: Annoying Or Progress?

The CVS at 395 Court Street has never been my favorite store in the neighborhood. I try to avoid it as much as I can. I know that others here in Carroll Gardens feel the same way. Many regret having lost such privately owned pharmacies like Renaissance, which closed just a few years ago at 331 Court Street. Their personal service just can't be duplicated in a chain store such as CVS.

Recently, CVS has chiseled away at their customer service a bit more by replacing their cashiers with electronic self-service check-out counters. Granted, the cashiers were nothing to write home about, but all too often, those self-service check-outs are out of service. Besides, the savings in wages did not translate into cheaper prices for customers.

My question to you, dear Reader is: how are you liking this new system?

Do you miss the human touch or do you prefer swiping and bagging your own purchases?

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Girotondo Italiano: A Neighborhood Language Playgroup For The Very Young

Girotondo Italiano At Arts Cetera on Smith Street

How about enrolling your little one in an Italian language playgroup this fall? Starting this September, classes for both 0-2 year olds and 2-5 year olds will be offered at Arts Cetera at 212 Smith Street in Boerum Hill on Mondays. The fee for the 10 1-hour weekly sessions is $250 with a one time $25 registration fee.

Classes are also given in Brooklyn Heights.

Sounds like a lot of fun for the bambinos...

For more information and to register, click here.

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A Moment In Time: Mannequins

Sunday afternoon on Court Street,

near Nelson.

Ominous clouds and gusts of wind announced an imminent deluge.

Quickly, she stripped the accessories off the mannequins

before carrying the 'ladies" inside.

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In Time For The First Day Of School, PS 58 Playground Now More Fun And Colorful

If the rainy weather and cooler temperatures in the last two days have not made everyone think that fall is just around the corner, a quick glimpse at the calendar confirms that summer vacation time is coming to an end, at least for New York City school kids. The first official day of school is September 8th, just a bit more than two weeks away.

Sorry, kids! There is always recess...

And for those children attending PS 58, recess will be a whole lot more fun, thanks to a newly spruced up schoolyard, complete with fun games, running track, planters and chess tables.

Returning to school isn't always fun, but this should make the transition from summer vacation a bit easier, no?

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Dog Days Of Summer 2010 Have Produced A Bumper Crop Of Brooklyn Peaches

During my five week absence from Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn, I mercifully escaped most of the 100+ degree days in the city. From the reports I got during that time from friends and neighbors, it must have been rather dreadful.

No surprise then, that much foliage has already turned brown. The street trees in particular look as though they have suffered in the heat.

Thanks to a soaker hose on a timer, my garden survived rather well during the time I was gone, though I do need to weed quite a bit. (I also know that I will get a shock when I see this quarter's water bill.)

The July heat wave did have at least one a pleasant effect: it produced a bumper crop of fruit on Carroll Gardens' trees. My neighbor's peach tree is so laden with delicious looking peaches this year, that its branches are drooping under their weight. They look absolutely perfect. The tree has produced some fruit in the past, but I have never seen it with such a crop before.

In my own garden, the ancient grape vine has also gone into production mode. Its branches are full of golden clusters of grapes. I will try to make juice out of them this year. Unfortunately, they aren't the sort which can be used to make wine...

Not to be outdone, this zucchini plant growing on the railing of someone's stoop here in Carroll Gardens was covered with blooms. Soon enough, it will be covered with squash.

How about in your garden, dear Reader? Do you have a bumper crop of fruit or vegetables as a result of this summer's heat?

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Postcard From France: Au Revoir, Paris

As promised, dear Reader, some of the photos I took in Paris on Monday and Tuesday, as my husband and I walked all around the city, from the Panthéon, to the Ile St. Louis, all the way to Montmartre and its hundreds of steps up to the Basilique du Sacré Coeur. The weather was cool and rainy, but Paris was as beautiful as ever.

We flew back to New York yesterday, so I am more than a bit jet-lagged. I am spending today looking through the mail, answering phone calls and unpacking. I quickly looked at my garden, noticed that all the plants survived the heat wave, looked at all the weeds that happily grew there as well, and decided to leave the weeding for another day.

I will take the next few days to slip back into my Brooklyn life, so I will most certainly blog about Carroll Gardens again by Monday. Will meet you back here.

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