Real Estate, Real Photography, Real Life, Real New Milford CT

Harrybrooke Park Creative Arts Festival, A FREE and fun event in New Milford CT Saturday May 14.

May 12, 2011

New Milford CT Real Estate Looking for something to do this spring weekend in beautiful Litchfield County? I have an idea for you…. The very first Harrybrooke Park Creative Arts Festival! And the event is FREE!

Many local area artists will be there, artists of all kinds, performing artists, musicians, painters, sculptors, photographers, films to watch, historical art, there will be much to delight the senses and I am certain, a variety of local art to purchase and grace your homes. The list of participating artists is very impressive and there is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy.

HARRYBROOKE PARK CREATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL
Saturday, May 14th
10 am to 5 pm
(Rain date is Sunday, May 15th)
64 Lanesville Rd, New Milford, CT 06776

Harrybrooke Park was given to the residents of New Milford by Mr. Frank Harden in 1965. It is a private park, run by a board of directors. The park is in need of repair, and a renewed energy to raise money is apparent by all the activity we have seen in the past few years for them to reach their goal of restoring it to its former beauty. It is a lovely spot, I have spent many an afternoon there with my children when they were growing up over the years, and look forward to the same wonderful times and memories with my grandsons. I do hope to see you there!

Bring a blanket, enjoy the performances, take a stroll through the lovely grounds, come and show your support for Harrybrooke Park AND our very talented local artists!

ActiveRainPhotoBloggerContest, and so it began…

May 11, 2011

The photo that started it all… my dreams ascended with the stairs that sparked my imagination and filled my soul.

Cape Poge Light House

I took this photo while on vacation while at a dear friends house on Martha’s Vineyard a few years back with my old Pentax point and shoot. Our spouses were both busy and couldn’t go, so we sadly said goodby to them and drove as fast as we could for a long weekend to his house on the Vineyard. The whole place is magical, his house is actually located within the confines of the Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge on Chappaquiddick Island. No electricity, unless you make your own, when the sun set we lit candles and oil lamps, drinking in the smells and sounds the ocean provides.

It was reminissent of my life, another life so many years ago on a ranch along the Verde River in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. No power unless we generated our own, no phone lines, miles to the nearest town, life was fantastic! Cape Poge might be thousands of miles and a different landscape from Arizona, and it had been many, many years ago, but the serenity and peace of the place brought back so many happy memories for me of a different time in my life.

One side of the house faces the bay, the other side the ocean, with the lighthouse framed by the kitchen and my bedroom window. With the peace and quiet surrounding us, the smell of the ocean permeating everything, waves lulling me to sleep and night and waking me up in the morning, it was a dream come true. No intrusions from the outside world. The only way in or out is along the beach at low tide, any trips to the store have to be planned around the ebb and flow of the mighty Atlantic Ocean. What a life!

Simple meals, a boiled lobster, corn on the cob, a glass of wine and all the eye candy you can take in. Or how about cheese and wine on the beach, watching the sun setting? Not one other person as far as my eye could see, only the birds running along the beach, darting back and forth with the lap of the waves. We ate on the porch for breakfast, lunch and dinner, one special meal we ate ourselves silly on the steamers I had dug up.

Then we took a walk over to the Cape Poge Lighthouse, my curiosity had been piqued after watching the light house from my bedroom window. I looked inside and shot the photo that made me realize how much I love to take photographs, how photography speaks volumes from one simple click. This is my most favorite photo I have ever taken, and I am sure it will remain so. I can sit very still and hear the waves, I remember the wonderful history of the lighthouse, the generations who lived a harsh life to tend the lights for the ships at sea, I wonder if they loved it as much as I did.

Within my simple photo I see both the past and the future, the hard work of those before me who sacrificed all to tend the flames, the promise of a bright future ahead, the inescapable truth of the past and the fact that our future is full of promise, all is within our grasp. Nothing is impossible. All one has to do is to climb the stairs!

My camera is not working right with ActiveRain….

May 11, 2011

If it were, these photos would be spectacular! I set it to the highest setting, I turned on all the bells and whistles… and nothing…. if it were working right you would not only see this….

Apple tree in spring New Milford CT

You would smell the faint sweetness of the old apple tree as I do…
Apple tree in spring New Milford CT

I had set it to smell-o-vision…
Apple tree in spring New Milford CT

I even got closer…
Apple tree in spring New Milford CT

I went up underneath it…
Apple tree in spring New Milford CT

But nothing… no smell at all! I tried to sit on the old chairs, but someone else was there, watching over all the birds overhead hiding in the branches…

Apple tree in spring New Milford CT

He just didn’t feel like sharing with me.

Guess you will just have to be content with the regular photos, sans smell-o-vision, until ActiveRain gets fixed. Then perhaps you can not only enjoy my old apple tree in the spring, but you will get to smell it too!

Short sales in the greater New Milford CT area, warning from CT DCP and CT DOB

May 10, 2011

short sales new milford ct Short sale negotiators (any debt negotiators) in Connecticut must be licensed by the CT Dept of Consumer Protection, unless the person doing the negotiations is an attorney or a real estate agent. These people are covered by the license they already have. A licensed debt negotiator in Connecticut is only allowed to collect a maximum $500 fee for negotiations on a secured debt at closing, from either the mortgagor or debtor, and only upon the successful completion of the debt negotiation.

A warning has been issued today to all real estate licensees by The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and the Connecticut Department of Banking that they are investigating complaints that short sale negotiators are entering into agreements with the consumer and the real estate agents who represent the owner of the property to receive portions of the real estate commission meant for the real estate broker. This is against the law!

Real estate brokers and agents are not allowed to, by law, share our commissions with anyone that does not hold a real estate license. This puts every one at risk. You can read more here from the Connecticut Department of Banking.

If indeed you are approached by either your debt negotiator or your real estate agent that this is common practice, please remember that all parties concerned can get into serious trouble and will be breaking the law. Home owners who are underwater, who cannot pay their mortgage, who owe more than their house is worth and are now finding themselves unable to pay their mortgage should consult with a qualified short sale real estate agent and/or attorney. If your real estate agent brings a short sale negotiator on board, make sure they are licensed, and that they are not asking you to help them break the law.

If you would like more information on short sales in the Greater New Milford, CT area, please call me at 203.460.1775, or send me an email at the contact below for a confidential interview.