As a person who grew up in Stonington, CT, if you choose one of the more popular tourist spots as your home, plan on it being overrun with tourists from May to September. It's kind of depressing. You wait all winter for the nice weather, and then when it comes, you can't get around easily. Beach traffic is another thing. If you end up in RI, plan on knowing alternate routes to places in the summer. Sounds like you're looking for more of the inland rustic places, so that's probably not a factor for you. As a gardener, I don't know if you'd want to factor zone into your choice. I currently live in Milford, CT. I'm near the sound and am usually putting in my vegetables and tending to my garden a good 3 weeks before some of the folks in the inland cooler areas. As far as CT towns go, I've lived in the following ones. Stonington - beautiful town, big time New England charm, salaries do not keep up with home prices, about a 15 minute drive to get to shopping, and it's crowed with tourists in the summer Bethel - (up by Brookfield/Danbury area) Very nice rural town, plenty of shopping just around the corner, but you're pretty much in NY. The stores carry Yankees and Giants stuff. Stamford - If you like traffic, lots of ordinances, and a hectic lifestyle, this is the town for you. Plainfield - Deliverance country. Very quiet and a lot of house and land for your buck, but you're far from everything. They don't call it the quiet corner for nothing. I like the Litchfield hills area for visiting, but again there's not enough shopping around there for me. It's beautiful in the fall and close to plenty of good skiing, but I consider it a visit place rather than a live there place. I'm actually liking Milford despite it being a little south of the Williams/Dimagio line. The town is zoned in a way that most the residential areas are separate from the shopping areas. I'm on a nice quiet street, but only 5 minutes from 2 major highways and all the shopping I could ask for. The people are nice, but again it's affluent folks mixed in with blue collar folks who park their cars on their front lawns. It's also on the sound and has very nice beaches. It may eventually turn into a Fairfield county suitcase type of town, but so far it's retaining a New England feel. I went to college in NH. It was just way too slow for me. There was nothing but deer and snow where I was. I haven't spent much time in VT or ME. I've always liked Massachusetts, but some of the towns have since lost their industry and many are shells of their former selves. The mill towns in particular are still fighting to stay afloat. I like the area near Foxborogh. There are a lot of very nice towns around their that have retained their New England charm, but still have a large city not too far away for jobs. By the way, Mets fans are perfectly welcome We've got no problems with them.

I was on a cruise and we spent a day in Istanbul. Blue Mosque, I remember we had to remove our shoes, but we were allowed to wear socks inside. We threw them away as we left. I wore a jacket to cover my shoulders. Be sure and go to the here: My travel companion bought an oriental rug, from a store right up the street from the Grand Bazaar. She had it shipped back to the states. Great bargains in the bazaar. We toured the Topkapi Palace and had lunch there, plus the museum. Beautiful view when we lunched. Outside of Istanbul is the land bridge that connects Asia and Europe.

in my experience.. wild bird sown bramble is rarely worth the space it will eventually take over ... world domination is in its genetics.. lol .. if you want to grow berries... go buy a named cultivar .. and enjoy it ... there is no down side.. if you just observe this one until it fruits.. and then remove it if they are the usual crunchy seedy useless berries ... ken

I’m not a designer, just bumping this up for you and hope you get some replies! Your home is gorgeous