This Is Framingham

The other night at Town Meeting there was something different about Nevin’s Hall.  The “holiday”lights were up and looked nice, but there was something else…something that has long been overdue for replacing.
The faded tattered stage curtains have been replaced! 
The new curtains look great and make such a difference. Sometimes during TM I would just stare at the old curtains in amazement that they could even still hang. 
This is really a nice treat and brings some pride to all the events that will be held here. 

We were driving down Rt 9 this weekend and noticed the signs at this year’s location for the Halloween outlet at the old Saab dealership.
From the east-bound side:

I thought it was slightly interesting that they chose another Tudor style building like they did 2 years ago at the old Border’s Books building. I think they skipped a Framingham location last year, maybe because we got Halloween Express (which was awesome) but glad to see they’re back and interested to see what they do with the space inside.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the summer.  I like out-door swimming, waking up to daylight, ice cream at the beach, not having to bundle up when I leave the house, etc… but as some readers know, Halloween is my favorite holiday and I get a small thrill out of seeing the first appearences of Halloween products for the season.  Such as this simple display at the Stop & Shop on Old Connecticut Rd. I saw last night.
Not full blown Halloween but we see some nice autumn colors and the m&m’s suggest a little creepyness.  No bad for mid-summer.

 As a quilter, it’s such a treat to have Fabric Place in walking distance of my house.  I really like that it’s a business near me that I can use and has a wide variety of anything sewing related.   It’s also a business that brings people who normally avoid downtown, down here so I consider it a shiny gem of the neighborhood.
They have bolts and bolts of all sorts of fabric, all kinds of threads, notions, books etc…  It’s two levels of sewing paradise!
 

They also offer classes, designing services and make custom draperies.  This summer they are offering a free class every Saturday of various topics, you can check out the schedule here.

The other day I was working in the yard and realised I’d need some grass patch stuff.  My first instinct was to go to White Hardware, conveniently located a few blocks away but the pain set in when I remembered that they recently closed.
For some reason I had it in my head that Monick wasn’t open Sundays (but they are) so I was weighing my options.  I really don’t like going to mega-store Lowes or dealing with all the traffic lights and the whole atmosphere of Home Depot so what came to mind was taking a trip “up north” to lovely Saxonville and going to Robinson’s ACE.

When I first moved back to Framingham (3 years ago now) I was bummed that Lincoln Discount Drug was gone ( I just had a “thing” for Lincoln Drugs, particularly the Milford store) but I have to say that Robinson’s uses the space well and it’s kept up nice.  The few times I’ve been here, I found that the place is well organized and the staff is really helpful and friendly.
Such was the same for this visit, it might have been a little further to drive to than Lowe’s but the pleasant shopping experince was worth it. 

The plaza parking lot is probably just as big as Lowe’s but it’s not an ocean of cars and there’s not a frenzy of people trying to find a good spot.  I just parked and went in, got what I wanted, walked up to the register, paid and left.  No lines, no wandering a warehouse packed to the ceiling, moving out of the way for an employee riding through the store on a motorized forklift- just a simple, straightforward shopping experience.

I’ll place Robinson’s Ace in the coveted “yay” category.  It’s worth a trip up north any time!

My friend Yana told me about “Boneoke” on Wednesday nights at the Chicken Bone on Waverly Street.  It’s Karaoke but with 2 musicians and no screens to read the words from.  It sounded interesting so I went with her to check it out.
Scott Damgaard is the guitarist and runs the show every week.  I got to talk with him last night and he’s also one of the nicest guys around.   He has a book of 500 songs that you can pick from, but he’s also open to suggestions and may know a song you’d like to sing that isn’t listed in the book. 
Somehow I didn’t trust myself to know all the words to any of these songs, I couldn’t believe it - but I know now what I will study for next week.  Although, you don’t have to study as some people brought a lyric sheet or read the lyrics off their cell phone.

It’s a very comfortable atmosphere, even I (who hates getting up infront of people) wanted to get up and release my inner rock star (although it doesn’t exist, but I really wanted to try!).   Scott will even let you take over the guitar if you’re so inclined:

Here’s some more pics of Boneoke:

We had so much fun, I’m so glad Yana told me about this and I’ll definitely be back (probably with a  lyric sheet).  I’ve always loved the Chicken Bone’s wings but this gives me a whole new reason to this gem of downtown.

For more info on the Chicken Bone, check out their site:
 http://www.thechickenbone.com/
 and Scott Damgaard: http://scottdamgaard.com

The other day, the Metro West Humane Society was kind enough to let me come in and take some pictures and tell me about their cat shelter.  They run a no-kill facility and have set adoption hours on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.   This is right on the Framingham/Ashland line on 126.  Technically it’s in Ashland, but again, this is a “very special” TIF post : )

Before I came here I was afraid I would be depressed seeing a bunch of cats in cages and meowing to be let out, but this wasn’t the case at all.   I was surprised/impressed with the free roaming space for the cats.  Some cats were just walking around in the halls and other cats are kept in community rooms.  Only those cats that have to be, are in cages but even then the cages are very roomy and are like a double-suite rooms with a bed on one side and a door they can walk through to get to the other “room”.

The cats here seemed so content and comfortable and the MWHS does such a great job at keeping the rooms clean and supplying them with multiple food/waterbowls, litterboxes, toys and beds that the cats that share a room do not have to fight over anything.  In fact it was interesting to see so many cats getting along.  Maybe it’s just because my cat hates other cats and won’t let us get a new one, but it was nice to see so many cats getting a long in the same building.

Here’s some pictures from my visit:

There is also a gift shop where manufactured and hand-made items are for sale and all profits go to the shelter of course.

There is also a wall you can buy a tile in memory of a pet and it have their name up on the Cat Walk wall.

They always welcome financial donations but are just as grateful for any dry and canned food donations as well.

And finally, I’d like to mention their event on Saturday, June 7th.  The 11th annual Walk for Animals

For everything you would want to know about the Metro West Humane Society, including adoption hours, cat profiles and other events please visit their website http://www.webpaws.com/mwhs