Chocolate y Churros

Today was one of those days when there are too many stories to tell with just one photo. I went to Fairgate Farm this morning to see the Community Garden that Bill Callion set up three years ago. I wanted to get as much information as possible to pass on to Green Towns, because several people have approached the latter, asking if there was a community garden in Stamford. And there is.

Bill, Paula and Sheila were extremely friendly and said they could always do with having more volunteers. Bill pointed out various sections of the farm and said I should take a wander. It really is pretty expansive and has the right support in so many ways: funding and geography-wise.

I have much to learn over the Summer as I start to help out on the farm. Sheila was a lovely lady who showed me inside the greenhouse and explained what they were doing. It really is advanced: proper irrigation, electricity, generators etc. And hot! I made myself useful and brought up a couple of wheelbarrows from inside the greenhouse and placed them at the farm entrance along with their six siblings. Eight wheelbarrows standing in a row, all of them waiting for the Stamford Boys & Girls Club to arrive for a four-hour session.

I so wished I could have stayed but I had some Yerwood work to do. However, I promised Bill I'd be back with a bunch of volunteers. Armed with all this great information and heaps of photos of this oasis, I headed back home. But not before stopping off at the Mill River Park to meet Al.

Al and I connected yesterday. I want to work on the Mill River Park and Al figured I could help on the weekend of the Park's official opening when they're doing Sakura Matsuri, a Japanese themed event at the playground. We agreed I could help set up and work at the event. How much fun is that going to be? I look forward to meeting the Japan Society of Fairfield County and hope to see some Samurai swords up close.

On Sat June 1st Mill River are doing the CT Trails Day Walk, so I can come by and also do some work then. After I had a wee chat with Al and his colleague Vince, I started home and felt really, really happy. It was as if a big breath of fresh air had filled my lungs and my eyes could finally see open spaces, fresh air, hear birds singing and rivers flowing. I didn't need a garden because now I have two major ones now, both in the city and both a part of the community.

So, filled with Leenie joy, I headed up Bedford Street and thought I'd try out a cafe I've been meaning to go to for months. Lorca is supposedly different because it sells Churros (a Spanish breakfast food which is a thick coiled fritter made from deep-fried unsweetened dough and sprinkled with sugar). My memory of Churros goes back to when I lived on the outskirts of Madrid for six months. Juan Ma', Manolo and I would take the train into Madrid every Friday night and we'd come back on the first morning train. But not before having Chocolate y Churros in some early morning cafe.

Lorca does a great job. Their Churros are pretty damn good and this was certainly a Saturday brunch with a difference.

Viva Lorca!