Nashua, NH, is Blooming

Flowers in bloom in Nashua, NH

Early last month a blog post featured Nashua NH's Canadian ties largely due to the many mill workers who labored in the city's textile mills, including the re-purposed mill we call home, formerly Nashua Manufacturing Corporation and now Clocktower Place.

Clocktower Place Apartments, formerly the Nashua Manufacturing Company, Nashua, NH

That post highlighted a pocket park, Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Francaise (Renaissance Park) most often called the French Park. This park, alongside the Nashua River, is where we've been spending many afternoons. It's a great location to read, watch the river and talk to folks.

La Dame de Notre Renaissance Francaise (The Lady of Our French Renaissance)

The park's centerpiece is this bronze statue of a millworker and her son. Up until a couple of weeks ago, the area around the sculpture was barren looking. Since then the city has started adding flowers and other plantings and it's looking colorful. This is how it looked this week.

As noted earlier, the park also includes a flower garden that's maintained jointly by the city and some of our apartment neighbors. It's tended to regularly and is currently hosting a large number of mostly purple irises in bloom now. It's so nice to see my favorite color every day.

There's other colorful blooms, in addition to purple ones, and these are just as lovely.

This rhododendron plant while not actually in the French Park is very close to it near the we use daily to access the park. Its flowers are in various stages of buds and/or full colorful blooms. 

But the French Park isn't the only place that flowers are finally blooming in Nashua, NH, after a late start to spring. On our walks around the city, here's more blooms we've seen.

It's been a great way to unwind from the current world stressors. The past few months have been filled with corona news virus of deaths, illnesses, and shut-downs. The past week, has brought much racial tension, unrest and rioting in the U.S. and abroad. Let's not forget the political arena, as well. Such events are will not be ongoing blog topics herein. They will not be dismissed, but included as effecting ourselves and/or to our city.

Other bloggers have commented on these events in detailed posts. That's certainly their prerogative and they should do what feels right for them. However, as most people are fully aware of events happening now, my decision to post/comment on them has been far less. The news media has been, and continues to be, relentless even repetitive in its coverage, perhaps to excess. Do we really need to be reminded all the time, every hour? As always, different views are welcome and appreciated in your comments.

Seeing nature's beauty offers an escape and a way for us to truly appreciate and be thankful that we are doing well as are family, friends, and neighbors. We hope the same is true for all of you and yours.

To answer a blogger's question, collages in this post were created with the PhotoScapeX photo editor downloaded from the app store (Apple). I've been using the free version for a two months; this program and others were listed in a mid-March post. A paid upgrade ($40 USD) is available and offers even more features.

Last, but certainly not least, we remain grateful and appreciative for all comments from fellow bloggers. My husband, Patrick/Grenville appreciated the condolences many posted on the passing of his beloved Aunt Anita. Our deepest thanks to everyone.

Missing Family

Just checked the calendar date and it's June 1 — already 😲 

Like so many fellow bloggers and people everywhere we miss seeing others — which includes neighbors, friends but most of all family members, especially the youngest ones, including two we've met once and one we've haven't met yet. 

Two grandchildren live only 90 minutes away. Both are nearly completed with their school classes for this year. We're hoping to see them in July for granddaughter and grandpa's birthdays.

The youngest granddaughter lives 6 hours from NH. Her mother provided these photos of her opening a recent package from us. Colorforms are always popular even with parents. This package included a couple favorite Disney characters. 

Our great nieces, Autumn Rose and Savannah Marie, born 2 weeks apart last October, are 7 months old. Autumn and her parents posed for a series of portraits taken recently on the steps of their residence.

Autumn's headful of curly dark hair is definitely after both her parents. Her 7-month "stats" are visible on the chalkboard below; according to her mom, walking may be added in a future update.

Savannah lives in FL, with her parents, Jamie and Mike and her family is doing well.

The next celebratable U.S. holiday is Father's Day, June 21. Once again families will self-celebrate this day. 

We visited with our family members after Christmas 2019 via a post-holiday road trip and plan to repeat these multi-state visits once it's safe to travel. Some states, including our home state of NJ, still are requesting out-of-state visitors to refrain from entering. The same applies for some New England states.

When I started this post last week, we didn’t know that there was one very special family member who we would not see on any future trips. Last Thursday, Patrick's aunt Anita passed away in CT. Due to self-isolation/quarantine measures we were unable to visit in recent weeks. We kept in contact through phone calls, the most recent was days before her passing.

Anita (mother, grandmother, aunt) was the matriarch of her family and survived her parents and siblings. Family meant everything to her and she meant everything to family. She was a very special woman; her life was well-lived and well-loved.
She most enjoyed and dearly loved walking on beaches anywhere, especially those near her CT home. A celebration of life will be held there when family can meet together.

Until we can safely visit, we remain in touch through calls, emails and videos —everyone is doing well. 
We hope you've been able to do the same with your family. Always end a call with ❤️

Friday Funnies

Now here's a product many of us may need especially after months of self-isolation, home cooking and take-out meals . . .

Honest folks, I saw this come-on product for sale at a local retail pharmacy. Yes, I also wondered about the before photo if this was the after one. Also, where does the frozen fat go and what happens when it defrosts?

We also wondered how long that model had been wearing the devise to look like that, not that we thought she ever used it — think this was false advertising? 

This product was found near the vitamin supplements and health products. (The glare is from overhead store lighting as it was on a top shelf; several were in stock.)

Thinking about a purchase (maybe not)? It's not inexpensive and was not on sale. We decided to pass this up and opted for something else that's frozen and far more enjoyable, as you can see below.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

(Get some ice cream too; we went "local")

Dining Out on Main Street

Here in Nashua, NH, the holiday weekend brought a new look to the city's downtown as a lot many Jersey barriers were placed along both sides of Main Street. That's because as of last Monday, March 18, local restaurants were allowed to expand their take-out offerings and include outside dining (with restrictions). Inside dining is still not allowed.

This, of course, inspired the punster in Grenville to come up with several creative tag lines, for example, There's No Barrier in Coming Downtown or his personal favorite, Eat The Street in Nashua. 

This latest development came about as City of Nashua officials recognized that local eateries, which offered inside and outside spring and summer dining on city sidewalks, needed more space as inside dining would not be allowed because of the corona virus health restrictions.

To achieve that goal, city officials made the decision to convert Main Street into a two-lane roadway with a single line of traffic in either direction. So the Jersey barriers came to Nashua, NH this past Friday morning.

What’s a Jersey Barrier? (for those wondering)

A Jersey barrier, also called a Jersey wall, is a modular concrete or plastic barrier often used to separate lanes of traffic. Jersey barriers can reroute traffic and protect pedestrians and workers during highway construction. 

More recently, they’ve been used as temporary and semi-permanent protection against land-borne attacks like suicide vehicle bombs. The California Department of Transportation refers to a Jersey barrier as a K-rail, a specification for temporary concrete traffic barriers, or as a Jersey bump. There's always a Jersey connection even in CA.

Why it's called a Jersey barrier . . .

Because, just like Grenville and myself, Jersey barriers are native to to the state of New Jersey. 

The Jersey barrier was developed either in 1946 or in the 1950s (more on when and who later) under the direction of the New Jersey State Highway Department as a way to divide multiple highway lanes. In 1959, it was introduced in its current form when its usefulness as temporary barriers became more widespread. The barriers are now used in road construction as a generic, portable barrier during construction projects, temporary traffic rerouting for carpools, and for reversing busy highway lanes during rush hour traffic.

Earlier barriers erected in 1949 were put in to stop head-on collisions when cars crossed highway medians that were as narrow as nine feet across. Many of the original barriers built in NJ in the 1950s and early 1960s weren’t modular, like now, but poured in place, like curbing. Some early NJ installations were shorter, about 2 feet high. Dividers on county and local roads that replaced a raised concrete rumble strip intended to discourage, but not prevent, traffic from crossing to another lane, were even shorter. In time, these were replaced by higher barriers. Taller barriers had the added advantage of blocking most oncoming headlights. 

How large is a Jersey barrier?

It’s not small. The usual concrete barricade size is 10 feet long x 24 inches wide x 32 inches high and made of steel-reinforced poured concrete or plastic. Many are built with an embedded steel reinforcement on each end, and can be included in permanent emplacements when linked together by concrete. The weight of each is about 4,000 pounds when the construction is steel-reinforced concrete; plastic barriers are lighter.

Who invented them is less concrete (pardon the pun) . . .

The New Jersey Department of Transportation gives that credit to William Van Breeman, a state research engineer. An official account of the barrier’s history stated that Van Breeman conceived the original parabolic shape in 1949. Van Breeman was widely recognized for his contributions in improving basic pavement systems. 

A schematic drawing of an early Jersey barrier offered 

no clues to the design’s inventor

Van Breeman was widely recognized for his contributions in improving basic pavement systems. According to the NJ records, he conceived the barrier's design without modern engineering formulas, extensive testing and certainly without a computer or CAD (computer-aided design) program. 

Van Breeman has competition for the barrier concept too. There's another contender — Charles M. Noble, an engineer, who headed New Jersey's State Highway Department from 1946 to 1949, when the earliest version of the Jersey barrier was thought to have been developed. (I wasn't able to locate much online information about this claim compared to Van Breeman.)

Yet a third claim for the barrier's invention comes from the prestigious Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken NJ. The university claims that the earliest barrier versions were designed and developed at there in 1946, three years before Van Breeman’s design. 

Even if that claim is disputed, the NJ university, named for inventor Edwin A. Stevens, has other claims to fame. Stevens was the first major U.S. educational institution to require that students purchase personal computers for classroom use. It also lays claims to designing steamboats, locomotives, and railroad tracks. Stevens alumni invented IMAP (the modern form of email) and bubble wrap. Another Stevens graduate, sculptor Alexander Caldor is credited with inventing the kinetic mobile. Stevens has plenty of other bragging rights.

Whether Van Breeman or Noble fathered the Jersey barrier or if it was designed at Stevens Institute remains unclear even now. When NJ closed its state transportation library in the 1980s, many records were discarded. And, Van Breeman can’t be asked as he died in 1977 at the age of 75.

Who dubbed it a Jersey Barrier?

That’s not exactly clear as NJ state transportation records from the 1950s and 1960s refer to them as concrete median barriers, or center barriers. It’s thought that whoever termed it as a Jersey barrier wasn’t a NJ native but someone who named it after the state where it originated.

As stated earlier, there's always a NJ connection and now it's here in downtown Nashua.

Once restaurants started setting out tables and chairs from Water to Hollis streets, we and others could start enjoying many of our favorite Main St. Courses. And, as before,  that pun was another one of Grenville's creations.

It didn't take most of the downtown restaurants long to start expanding their serving areas after the barriers were in place. These two eateries, Casa Mezcal and Oddfellows Pub Brewery, are almost next door neighbors on Main Street.

Servers must wear masks at all times and customers must don them when entering the restaurant to use restroom facilities. Social distancing between seatings is to be enforced. 

Martha's Exchange is one of our favorite places to enjoy a burger, something we do not prepare at home. We dined there on the sidewalk last Monday, before the expansion.

Fratello's is a very popular Italian restaurant which has the advantage of a corner location. We have spent a number of Happy Hours inside with mill apartment neighbors.

Stella Bleu has a dual advantage of being on a one-way side street and also away from most of the Main Street traffic. We've never eaten at this restaurant which is on our dining out radar in the next few weeks. There's so many choices; we'll space out the dining out times.

The plan is to keep barriers in place at least through summer months and possibly into the early fall. There's no word on when restaurants will be allowed to permit inside dining.

Nashua's Department of Public Works (DPW) is expecting that the revised traffic pattern will cause more traffic. DPW has already recommended that motorists try to find another way around to get downtown.

Grenville has already staked out a seat at one of places we plan to visit soon.

UPDATE: Thanks for all your comments/feedback on what the City of Nashua is doing to help local eateries. There are very few retail stores located on Main Street now compared to years ago when there were clothing and furniture stores, a hardware store and auto dealers. Today, aside from two jewelry stores, banks, wine store, and two retail pharmacies, most of the downtown business consists of restaurants and/or breweries.

Friday Funnies

We went to the car wash last week for the first time in many months. This sign caught our attention at the entrance, aptly named ATTENTION.

It lists a lot of we are not responsible for items, but the one that caught our immediate attention (the arrow is my addition). Both our vehicles are over 5 years at 13 and 16 years "old" and both have over 100,000 miles. But then we were already in line.

After going through with my car (2007 Jeep Liberty) one day, we returned a day later with Grenville's car (2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee). Yes, both made it through without any issues.

Speaking of signs, doctors have it tough enough these days, but are some moonlighting?

There's always a sign that can be viewed in a humorous way, and not how it was intended.

This weekend celebrates  Memorial Day, considered the unofficial start of summer here in the U.S. More importantly, this U.S. federal holiday honors and mourns military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. 

This year, it will be not be marked with community events, parades or remembrance visits to cemeteries and memorials. Silent salutes and prayers will be offered by many, including ourselves. Grenville's uncle Bill died in WWI.

               Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone
Take time to remember/honor those who served and died.

Good Eats at Home

The post title partly refers to the title of a popular cooking show that we always enjoyed on the Food Network. And, describes what's been happening at out home during self-isolation. We've been cooking at home a lot more vs. take-outs from local eateries.

Good Eats is/was (not sure if it has returned) was created and hosted by Alton Brown. He explained how to create a meal, and included wacky teaching methods to explain how ingredients interacted when put together.  (Update: Good Eats Reloaded is available on the Cooking Channel. I watched a couple of new episodes online. It’s still a fun show.)

NH has thankfully been less corona virus impacted than some neighboring states. We've been in self-isolation mode since mid-March (how time does go by) and cooking more with favorite recipes. Home cooking isn't something new for us as we enjoy meal prep and working in the kitchen, just not at the same time, due to space constraints in our galley kitchen. And, clean-up is the least favorite part of the process.

None of our dinner recipes have been complicated ones. We like to cook but the easier and quicker the better for us. That said, one-pan/pot meals are huge favorites. (Did I mention we both dislike cleanup?)


Shown above are a few tried and true favorites — sheet pan roasted chicken and vegetables, stuffed peppers, and pasta e fagiola (often called pasta fasul or fazool). The last one is a traditional Italian pasta and beans dish commonly made using cannelloni beans and pasta, traditionally ditalini. The soup base includes olive oil, garlic, onion, celery, carrots with tomatoes. It's best served with chunky fresh-baked bread. Yes, we've been making bread too, hasn't everyone?  

The stuffed pepper filling was leftover meatloaf with added rice and tomato. Leftover meatloaf is good, but a different meal was better.

Yes, pizza has been on the menu quite a few times in many different varieties and toppings: sausage, pepperoni, extra cheese. The Lodge cast iron pizza pan purchased on our cross country trip 2 years ago has been getting a real workout. We've used store bought pizza dough in the past, but recently have started preparing our own dough, after all we do have the time and, lately, the flour and yeast too.

No recipes have been included in this post for several reasons — there's so many available online, everyone has a favorite recipe/method and, more importantly, space because who wants to scroll through several long recipes in a blog post? (No, I didn't think so either.)

Before and during meal prep photos also have been excluded since it's really difficult (and quite messy) to snap a pic when working solo in the kitchen (as mentioned earlier we work alone).
Now, at the risk of making you hungry, above are a few more recent meals and none were difficult. Clockwise from the top: sausage with peppers, onions and potatoes was another easy oven-cooked, one pan meal. Chicken pot pie was easily done using store-bought rotisserie chicken, a frozen pie crust and either fresh or frozen peas and carrots with spices and a cream soup base. The homemade sauce as done by sautéing garlic and onion, adding spices, and two cans of crushed tomatoes. The resulting sauce was used for pasta and pizza. Leftover meatloaf/stuffed pepper filling was re-purposed in a dinner omelet. 

Good news here is that NH restaurants re-opened for outdoor dining only this week with socially distanced tables of from 2 to 6 people, depending on the restaurant and outdoor space. Servers are masked; customers are not unless entering the restaurant to use the facilities. We're looking forward to outside dining as warmer weather is finally here and looks like it's staying around.

Aside from dinner, I've also been doing some baking, recently termed stress-baking and thankfully some neighbors have been willing recipients of my banana bread and soda bread. I've also made fettuccine using a pasta maker my late mother gifted to me over 30 years ago and which I recently started using — it was long overdue, details in a future post. Thankfully, flour has become more available in several local supermarkets.

How about you — cooking and baking at home more often these days?

A Dated Anniversary

Quite a long time awhile ago — 23 years to be exact.
Who's counting?

We are, but if you suspected a wedding anniversary, you're wrong.
No, this wasn't that anniversary date, which comes around in August.

So, what did we celebrate over the weekend?

Our 1st date anniversary — which happened in NJ after several months of emails. 
This was in the days before texting.

Here's a few pics of us back then in (ahem) 1997 when we were just a bit much younger.

These pictures were taken before digital/cell phones, when we still used cameras and are not "selfies" in the sense we didn't take them ourselves.

Here's ones from this year, the ever-popular selfies, all from our cell phones.

Masks off for our celebration ice cream from a local creamery. Yes, it was very good.

Followed that evening with dinner at home as all restaurants here remain closed. Outdoor dining is available this week for a belated dining-out meal very soon.

It's these special little celebrations that we enjoy, and since we’re the only ones who remember them, they’re very special. Now, more than ever, it's the little things that bring us joy (like ice cream).

Do you celebrate special occasions — no matter what the occasion ? 

Friday Funnies

These sights were seen in downtown Nashua, NH this week along Main St.

A new business was shut down before opening and a former Nashua businessman was given protection. Both reflect new realities and those responsible sought some humor.

The artwork is a bronze sculpture of former Nashua resident, Lawrence C. Elliott. It's dressed in a suit coat, tie, and dress shirt, with a pair of eye glasses, and is placed on top of a square brick base. The sculptor was Patricia Verani, a NH native. The sculpture is listed on a Smithsonian website which listed the subject as "a businessman and philanthropist."

Despite an online search, I didn't find more information on Elliott and his Nashua ties, except that he was formerly president of the now-defunct Nashua Beef Co. That scarcity seemed unusual considering the wording on the plaque beneath the sculpture. The lone exception was a front-page obituary in an archive of the Nashua Telegraph newspaper, which was available only at a cost. (I didn't need to know more to buy it.)

Thanks to everyone who posted comments on an earlier post about virus testing and steps being taken to reopen NH businesses. I appreciated reading the information you shared about what's going on in your state or country. These are very unsettling times.

Despite relaxed restrictions in NH this week, we stayed close to home. Our only trips out were for groceries and for several walks. Barbershops re-opened with restrictions. Grenville had an appointment. He had to wait outside until called on his cell phone; his temperature was taken when he entered the shop. I have a haircut appointment next week and the same procedure is to be expected. We wonder if this is the new normal going forward.

Enjoy Your weekend, Everyone.

Weather forecast is sunny & warm, we'll be outdoors

Testing and State Reopening

Drive-Up Coronavirus Testing, Nashua, NH

Testing, testing — and the results are negative for both of us, thankfully.

This is where we went last Friday after reading a recent news report that there were more COVID-19 testing supplies available in NH than people asking for the test. We showed no symptoms and didn't suspect any infection. But, since testing was available, we participated as we fall in the "certain age" group.

State health officials hope that more widespread testing will give a better picture of the extent of the outbreak here.

The Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services provided drive-in testing by calling a COVID-19 Hotline and by appointment only. After calling last Friday morning , we walked 10 minutes to the outdoor testing site at a nearby church parking lot. We were tested by late afternoon (think of a large Q-Tip being inserted up your nostril for the test), and received a call yesterday with the results. 

Only the humans in this car were tested

This week, state health officials announced promising trends statewide with an overall plateau and a lower percentage of hospitalizations. More than 34,000 people have been tested; the state has averaged 1,200 tests daily over the past week. There were 89 new positive cases of COVID-19, raising the state’s total to 3,160 with 1,231 recovered to date. There were no additional deaths; NH’s total is 133 deaths.

The percentage of those hospitalized has dropped; 318 people were hospitalized at some point, about 10% of the 3,160 positive tests. A broader range of people are being tested now, previously only those showing serious illness and corona virus symptoms were tested.

NH Governor Chris Sununu issued a stay-at-home order, March 26, for NH residents, in effect until May 4. The governor asked everyone to stay home unless absolutely necessary, especially those over age 65 or with chronic health conditions. However, people could still go outside for exercise, to work, and to buy essential supplies.

The stay-at-home order differs from a shelter-in-place order. Transportation services were not closed, the state border wasn't closed, people weren't prevented from leaving home, residents of other states weren't prohibited from entering.

This week, more closure restrictions were lifted as part of plan to reopen the economy while encouraging social distancing, a process called, Stay-at-Home 2.0.

State parks, campgrounds and manufacturing facilities have remained open, but with new guidelines. The state parks policy has reopening guidelines for inland state beaches, with limited occupancy and other restrictions. Seacoast beaches remain closed; NH is working with neighboring states on when/how to relax that restriction. It would be nice to take a drive to the ocean, but No Parking restrictions are in place along the seacoast routes.

NH businesses reopening this week included malls and outlets in Nashua, Salem, and Manchester. The Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua and the Mall at Rockingham Park, border MA, a state hard hit by COVID19. NH state officials are concerned about out-of-state visitors who come to shop here as NH has tax-free shopping. 

Retail store employees must wear face masks, follow sanitation guidelines, stores must enforce social distancing of six feet. Mall officials said employees temperatures will be taken at the start of their shift. Stores will operate with modified hours to allow for deep cleaning areas. Retail locations will only be able to operate at 50% of max. occupancy. Customers are encouraged to wear face coverings, order ahead or do curbside pick up. It's easier to stay home and shop online as no face covering or social distancing are required.

Next Monday, May 18, NH restaurants can reopen with outdoor food services, in addition to take-out and delivery. Servers must wear face coverings. Customers exempted as dining would not be possible when masked.

Only outdoor dining will be allowed; no indoor dining is permitted. Tables will be limited to no more than six people and set up six feet apart. Also, reservations will be required.

A walk downtown this week showed 3 local eateries (Martha's Exchange, MT's and Fratellos) are set up for outdoor dining in advance of nest week's lifted restrictions.

Barbershops and hair salons could reopen as of this Monday, and only see customers by appointment and must limit the number of chairs in use. Staff and customers must wear face coverings and only hair cuts and colorings are allowed. Grenville was lucky, able to make an appointment and get a haircut at his favorite barbershop. But, my hair salon has opted to remain closed until June 1 and I'll have longer (and by then grayer) hair. Thank goodness for Miss Clairol.

Golf courses will only be allowed to open for NH and/or current club members. Clubhouse use is prohibited; only personal equipment can be used. There's also restrictions on food and drinks. Luckily, neither of us participate in this sport; but our neighbor was glad for the lifted restriction.

As of Monday, May 4, hospitals could resume elective procedures previously on hold, such as time sensitive MRIs and CT scans, knee and hip replacements, biopsies and other invasive testing. Dentist offices were allowed to reopen and must follow the new restrictions. Our appointments were cancelled in April. We're waiting for reschedules.

Internet source: Northfield, NH Drive-In (2015) 

Did you ever go to to a drive-in movie theater? As a child, who attended the (long gone) Somerville, NJ Drive-In with my family, there was no better form of entertainment and in car dining on a warm summer evening.

Recently, I've read that people may be return to drive-in movies when they can reopen. Of course, there will be restrictions on food and beverages, and guidelines to prevent crowding, especially at restrooms. 

An online check showed that NH still has some drive-in theaters statewide:  Weirs Drive-In Theater, Weirs Beach; Milford Twin Drive-In, Milford; Northfield Drive-In, Hinsdale and Northern Lights Drive-In, Lancaster. Like indoor movies, it's now a costly outing as prices listed were from $30/car of 6 to $8/adult, but you can bring your own food and drink. We've never been to one here, but are thinking about doing it again as a way to get out in and social distance, maybe with a couple of neighbors too.

That's HOW virus-related things are looking in here in Nashua, NH and within the state.
How are they going where you live and are you coping OK?