This Is Framingham

Doug Stephan of Eastleigh Farm (used with permission)
According to their site, Eastleigh Farm has been okayed (again) to sell raw milk starting in March.
There are people who think it’s a good idea and those who think it’s a bad idea but what it comes down to is that it’s a choice people can make, just like people choose how well they want their burger done.
Personally I’m not a big milk drinker, but I do enjoy cheese made from raw milk and I know there are lots of people who prefer to drink raw milk. I think it would be great for Framingham to be known as a location where you can get raw milk and support a local farm. When I talk to people who don’t live in town they’re surprised when I tell them we have actual farms here – they think Framingham is just crime and shopping.
I had the pleasure of talking with Doug Stephan a few weeks ago and he said the milk will start off being available as milk shares and then in a few months most likely be available by the bottle and then move onto cheese, yogurt and ice cream as well.
Everything you’d want to know about this, like why people want to drink raw milk, and more about the farm can be found on their website: http://www.eastleighfarm.com

I was looking through the permit listing on the town website and noticed some recent permit action at 2 Beacon St. The photo above is when this location was Michi Kusa but it was last occupied by Green Tea II. Ethan and I loved a scallop dish of theirs and were really bummed out when they closed.
As of January 12th, there are permits approved for a liquor and victualer license under the business name “Green Tea 2”, so I hope this means they’re coming back. Stay tuned!

The completion of the steps are actually a few weeks old now but I haven’t been by the Memorial building since the last time I posted.
So, if anyone hasn’t been by, the front steps are done!  Nice and safe and with pleasant railings too. 
I missed the tree lighting but it’s great to see the front of the building all decorated and festive.  Of course, it’s always a welcome sight to see the old Shoppers World soldiers dusted off for another season too.
I tried to do some sort of holiday shopping while I was downtown but there’s not a lot of places to get gifts at (besides CVS) so I just got some smoked salmon for my mom at Skaska, which she asks me to get when I go there, so I gave that to her as part of a Hanukkah gift. 
I’m still hopeful someday downtown will be more of a destination to go to, but it least until then we don’t have to look at crumbling steps anymore.  Nice to see progress in town 🙂

Today Ethan and I too a walk down to look at the new bridge that was opened last week.
I think they did a nice job on it.  Not totally crazy about the baby blue paint but I really like the wood surface.  I guess it wasn’t necessary, but it looks nice around all the trees to have the wood planks and I feel like there is a subtle but nice difference in driving over wood than pavement. 

I do feel a little bad for the people who enjoyed having a quiet street because it’s a pretty and peaceful little area but while were visiting the bridge, a few cars seemed to be driving faster than they should have (speed limit is 25) and one guy totally wailed over it and was still accelerating as he sped off into the distance toward Ski Market.  I think if the town wanted to make some money, they could set up a speed trap there.  Anyway, it’s a nice bridge and I’m glad it’s open.

On the way we walked by Bowditch field.  It’s weird to see it with all of the bleachers are gone. 

I never went to a game or anything there but it sounded like the bleachers were in serious need of repair and crumbling so I think it’s great the town is doing something about it.  I remember voting for this project’s approval at town meeting, what seems like 2 years ago and forgot about it until they recently started working on it.  I’m looking forward to watching the progress on this.

I was walking down to the Salvation Army thrift shop this weekend looking for a random treasure (which I found) and saw the progress on the Memorial Building’s stairs.  Looks like it’s coming along and hopefully ready for the tree lighting ceremony in December (if they’re doing it, I don’t see it on the town calendar of events). ???? ???
It’ll be nice not only to be able to use stairs that aren’t crumbling, but also to have the building look more respectable to everyone passing through downtown. ?? ??? ?????? ??????? ????

I was walking by the Main St. bridge project and noticed that the chain link fences are down and the support arched on either side of the bridge are in place.
Also it’s been paved and looks like it’s is almost in business.

Here’s what it looked like a year ago:

From my records, I think this project was started 2 1/2 years ago but I think that’s just when I first noticed it.  Anyway, it’ll be strange and nice to have it usable again.

I was going by the old Bickford’s last week and noticed the “For Lease” sign was gone and some guys out in the parking lot with some sort of equipment, I forget if it was a table saw, but something like that.
I looked up the address to see if there were any work permits out for this location on the town website. Looks like this will be a Mexican restaurant called La Caretta.  Not sure if it will be related to the small La Caretta chain in New Hampshire but it’s something different and maybe a good (late) replacement for anyone missing Chi-Chi’s that used to be across the street. I’m glad to see it will be another restaurant anyway.