Nelsons in New York

That leaf blowing post has been up here for a long time. We should post something new. My parents spent two weeks in Connecticut recently. It was their first visit to this part of the country. We did a lot of sightseeing around the state but a highlight of the vacation was a trip to New York City. It's quite a contrast from home in the north west of Ireland. We drove down and parked near Columbus Circle. As it was Sunday there was a large public market covering several blocks along Broadway at Times Square.
Waiting for a train at Park Place subway station. We took the train and headed towards the south end of Manhattan. We visited the site of the World Trade towers and walked along the water by World Financial Center. We didn't have time to take a trip out to Liberty Island but we could see the statue in the distance.
Heading back up towards midtown, we decided to visit Rockefeller Center and the "Top of the Rock" observation deck. It was just starting to get dark so we were hoping to make it there in time to see the sunset over the city. It turns out that many others had the same idea. It was very busy on the west side of the tower as everyone watched the city lights brightening and the golden glow of the sun towards Jersey City.
We had dinner and then walked over to Times Square to see the space in it full glowing glory.We had someone else visiting for a few days. We did some dog sitting and this is Shelby. She's a very friendly little dog and goes a little crazy when she gets her teeth in to her squirrel.
There was a lot of leaf blowing that went on and my parents were a big help clearing the yard on about three separate occasions while Jen and I were at work. Even the gutters were cleaned out a couple of times.And why stop there? We had a slightly problematic spot in the yard that was draining rain water towards our foundation wall. In heavy downpours we could see some drops of water in the basement. Our solution was to install a french drain. Here's my dad digging a trench for the piping about 2' deep and 30' long towards a nearby storm drain. So far the drain has worked perfectly in a couple of downpours.What do you do when you're on vacation and you don't have work boots with you? Well you may notice the solution here. Simply take a couple of plastic bags, wear them over your shoes and tie them at the ankles.Disposable work boots now available at a store near you.