Every now and then I enjoy a fine, large Shakespeare production with elegant costumes or a novel interpretation. But the Shakespeare that comes to me in small batches, crafted by local talent and staged practically in my own backyard – well, that is something to be savored.

If you’d like a taste of micro-Shakespeare, grab your picnic blanket and head to the “upper” part of Wallingford Playfield tonight for a 7 pm double-feature of Shakespearean comedy. The Backyard Bard (a subdivision of Greenstage) will present All’s Well That Ends Well and The Comedy of Errors back-to-back in our backyard. Each …

I have a love affair with Little Free Libraries. To the point that my children now try to distract me whenever we walk near one (“Look Mom! Over there!”). Despite my offsprings’ best efforts, I have located three more nearby LFLs since I last wrote about them (see below).

Apparently I am not alone in my book lust, as Little Free Libraries are riding a wave of popularity that has crossed the globe. And now, the local architect/ humanitarians at Architects Without Borders bring us Libraries on the Loose, an LFL design contest with the ultimate goal of making LFLs …

As many enterprising young Wallingford residents have already figured out, the hoards of fireworks-watcher who descend upon our neighborhood each July often arrive thirsty. And since it’s bad luck to walk past achild without purchasing anything, there is room for many neighborhood lemonade and goody stands. Here are three we know about.

1. Seb and Sofi’s Sixth Annual Lemonade Stand for the Whales. We wrote about these two charitable young people a couple of years back, and it turns out they are still at it. This year, their stand will feature lemonade and homemade brownies. All proceeds will be donated …

This afternoon, my family headed to the Wallingford Library is replenish our supply of summer reading material. We were enthusiastically greeted by librarian-in-chief Heather, who immediately registered the kids for the library’s Summer of Learning program. They were handed a free book (Minecraft for the 9 year old and Rainbow Fairy Magic for the 6 year old) along with a chart on which to track their summer reading and activities. Between now and August 4th, every time they log 10 activities they can be entered into a raffle for the library’s Breakfast of Champions at the Space Needle. Plus, the …