Month: April 2021

You Never Know How Short Life Can Be

Posted on by Markman
Aren’t we all just Magnolia leaves in the wind to touch and give beauty for a little while?

I was saddened to learn this afternoon that a colleague of mine that I’d worked with for over a decade had passed away suddenly within the last day or so. I heard he was found in his car in his driveway by his youngest son as he was going out for coffee. Heartbreaking! After hearing this news it got me to thinking back about all the projects and even the fun times we all had. I can remember when he started at ADL where I had already been for a few years at the time and then as we transitioned over to the other company that eventually ended buying our group out. Working together on the pot project for the state when they were first exploring how to do it is the one that stands out in my mind, but there were also other smaller projects that we all worked on together over the years, like some old base in PA that had a bunch of contamination and a mapping project for an Army base that would never seem to end. I remember he, I and another guy would play Quake 2 deathmatches long into the evening after work. He even made and designed some of the levels that we played on – and they were good! I always hoped we’d get together sometime and maybe play another match or two but I guess that’s not to be. We would watch his guitar playing and singing videos on Facebook and YouTube and laugh because he surely couldn’t sing, but he tried and his guitar playing wasn’t actually all that bad. I have so many stories and they bring a smile to my face. I just remember that this guy would work himself to the bone, getting by on a few hours sleep for weeks, always working. He really put a lot into his work. And for what? I remember one time at work he just collapsed in the office and 911 and the EMTs all came down and gave him tests and all that. He refused to go to the hospital of course even though the EMTs thought it would be a good idea. I think he was embarrassed but we were just glad he was ok. Just goes to show that you really never know how short life can be. I’ll miss DNO (his moniker on the videogames). He really was a good person. Hearing the news today really brought me down and I feel for his family.

This morning I took my mom for her first ever Covid test. Drive up right to Assembly Square where CHA has a nice little tent set up there. You drive in, the nurse takes some notes, and then the swabs go up and in the baggie. All in all, the process maybe took about 9 seconds once it was her turn. Pretty painless. Now to await the results, which I’m sure will be negative. Just a formality they put you through. Her surgery’s been pushed off to 12:30 in the afternoon on Monday which I find a lot more convenient that the earlier 6 am time they had said. I hope it all goes well. I know it’s a pretty common procedure these days but I still worry.

The Beauty and the Pain

Posted on by Markman
Minot Ledge Light on a foggy morning.

The story behind the photo: Here’s a shot of Minot Ledge Light, also known as the 1-4-3 (I love you) lighthouse because of it’s light flashing patterns. This is a great lighthouse off the coast of Cohasset but for all it’s beauty, it’s also in a very dangerous place and lightkeepers have died there trying to keep the light lit back in the day. I think that’s why I like this one so much, it’s in such a beautiful place surrounded by the ocean but also an extremely dangerous place. Like two sides of a coin. Can you imagine being one of the guys who had to even build the thing where it is? Superior engineering for sure. It was foggy on the day I took this and these cormorants where trying to dry their wings as it had rained earlier. I remember having to climb up on some slippery rocks and use the maximum zoom my camera had at the time to try to get a shot of this. If you’re new to reading my blog this is essentially the place where I talk about what I’m up to day to day and to showcase some of my pictures from my various adventures throughout mostly New England. Prints of some of my photos are available for purchase at my shop , if you’re interested, so peruse it if you like any of my stuff. Anything could help my future endeavors into photography, plus it’s really heartwarming to make a sale. But enough about plugging.

The gas company folks came by again to take more readings. Uhmmm, why are they sending out more people when it’s already been checked out. Maybe they’ll get around to fixing the problem sooner rather than later.

In the afternoon I got a frantic call from my sister that she and my mom locked themselves out of the house at Earth-1 so I had to make the trek over there to let them back in. I’m also going back over there tomorrow to take my mom to her covid test appointment so she can have her hand surgery on Monday. She’s fully vaxed but they want the test anyway. I’ll be taking her to the hospital on Monday early as her surgery is scheduled at 6 am. Fingers crossed that it all goes well!

I’ll Always Love Coming Back to You

Posted on by Markman
Approaching Whaleback Light

The story behind the photo: This particular shot was actually taken by me from land zoomed in. I saw this sailboat in the water and in the distance Whaleback Light so I tried to juxtapose the two and this is what I came up with. I also lightened it up considerably from the original snap. I find I prefer ship or boat scenes surrounded by white – just a preference of mine. I wished that the boat would have its blue sails unfurled as that would have looked great, but it was just not to be. Another thing I like about the photo is the lighthouse is serving it’s purpose, guiding the boats around (even though this particular one was just sitting there at the time) but that’s the sentiment I got and was going for.

Yesterday I noticed this car in the parking lot and thought it was interesting. Looks like it caught the ‘Rona. Looking a bit more into it it’s some kind of service that deals with people getting flu and covid shots. This was parked over at Assembly Square near the TJ Max and Trader Joe’s. Not sure if it’s still there but if you’re in the area it may be worth a look if you’re interested.

Gametime: Pâquerette down the bunburrow. A fun short game where you have to catch the bunnies. You know how we love bunnies around here!

The Loss of Rango

Posted on by Markman
Rango

We left late morning into the town of Wellesley because LD had to pick up some things. While there we perused the local bookstore and I got a new book to read, The Gardner Heist. It’s been back in the news lately because there’s a new documentary on it out but I’ve been looking for something to read and this sounds up my alley. I was surprised to discover that I actually haven’t read a book since December. My Goodreads reading statistics for this year are woefully behind.

After that we decided to go the sanctuary to drop off some food for the animals. It’s something we like to do every now and again and LD loves to pet the goats. The place has been closed for most of the winter and spring but the owner seems to like us and lets us have somewhat of a VIP status for which we are eternally grateful. We were saddened to learn however that Rango, a Nubian goat with very soulful eyes had passed away from a heart attack just last week and so sudden. What makes it even sadder is that Rango was one of LD’s favorites, if not her favorite, goat there of all time.. We did learn that some of the other goats did get to say their goodbyes though. We saw pictures of Rango wrapped in a shroud and some of the goats would pass by or sit with it for a while, to pay their respects, just like in a human wake. They just know things we think they don’t, but they do. We could probably learn a lot from them if we only took the time to listen. We did get to brush the goats that still remain there. It’s been a tough several months for the sanctuary.

It sucks not to be able to have said goodbye to Rango, and LD and I and everyone at the sanctuary is pretty devastated by the news. But as Queen Elizabeth said, “Grief is the price we pay for love.” And we cannot and will not stop loving. Fully, deeply, and courageously. Rest in peace Rango. You will be missed.

When we came home I decided to mow the lawn out front. The rains the other day was really making the blades get long so I chopped them down.

Free Tile, Free Style

Posted on by Markman
Nubble Light
Nubble in the distance. One of my happy places for all time.

Prints of some of my photos are available for purchase at my shop! And now on to today’s minutia!

Started off today by LD getting a tip from a FB group about some new bathroom flooring tiles that somebody wanted to get rid of for free. So we arranged the pickup and drove over there and got the tile. Not bad looking tile at all, plus tile is pretty expensive so this was a good pop. Good chance they may be incorporated into a future home project. After that it was back for another trip to the Home Depot. First to return some paint that we never used for the table project, and then to get some pulls for the table (it has faux drawers on the sides) and some gardening plants and things. I finally got around to planting the tree sapling. I had a thought to use the old pot that our pine tree came in when we first got it last fall. I figure it can grow in this pot until it gets too big for it and then we’ll transplant it to wherever we decide it should go. I also ended up buying some wood glue for the butterfly house we’re going to build and a hanging plant. We also got some grass seed and seeded some of the barer areas of the lawn along with a couple of other supplies for the house.

While all that was going on, LD’s computer took hours to update Windows 10 but thankfully it eventually did work. Also about a week ago my email client on my phone stopped receiving emails. I could still use the webmail but I got so used to using the Samsung email client for one of my primary email accounts. I finally decided to just delete the entire account and try to re-add it, set it all back up from scratch. That worked. Seems like the email provider changed the address of the smtp email server but I never got a notice about it. Anyways it all works now and I have more space on this still-ass phone because I could never erase the over 5000 emails I had sitting in the trash. Deleting the account removed them all at once. Learn something new everyday. I really do need to get a new phone though. Also, the gas guy technician showed up again. Looked like he was taking some more readings in the street, Maybe they’ll get to this job sooner than I thought. He left after about an hour futzing around out there.

I was a bit surprised that it didn’t seem to rain as much as I thought the forecasters were anticipating. It was somewhat advantageous as it allowed me to get some of the stuff done outside that I wanted to get to. However, with the rain we did have I think I may need to mow the lawn again tomorrow. I also finally cleaned out the Keurig, running the white vinegar through it, etc. I hadn’t cleaned it in probably a couple of years but I’m the only one who ever uses it anyway. To be honest it was a lot cleaner than I thought it was going to be. You just have to make sure to get all the vinegar out of the system by flushing it through over and over or else your drink will taste like ass.

I also got an email today saying my second Covid shot location is being moved from Amesbury to Newburyport. Like, really? Well NBP is a lot more scenic than Amesbury anyway.

Spring is the Time of Plans and Projects

Posted on by Markman
April Spring days rising.

Does anybody really care what I write here? You can leave a comment if you really do, I’d appreciate it.

Above is a picture from a few days ago that I took looking up from the ground, with the trees and the daffodils in bloom. On a separate note, I don’t know if anybody watches the news channel NECN but lately they’ve been showcasing some of my photos on television, the latest being the rocks and sea scene from Salisbury where I got my first Covid shot. It’s always nice to see that folks think some of pics are worthy of that honor.

Friday was a day of basically just running some errands and cleaning up the house a bit, doing some runs to CVS and the ATM and getting ready for today’s (Saturday) festivities. Today looked to be a somewhat packed day.

It all started with making a strawberry salad with our own homemade strawberry dressing, which came out very tasty. I sautéed up some spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, and pecans as well for various side dishes. This was all in preparation for an outdoor gathering we were having with a friend and her new boyfriend, first time meeting. Then it was off to Wegman’s for a grocery pickup for some more items for the outing. Put together our own turkey burgers from scratch imbued with some spinach and feta to also cook on the grill. It was a good little get together and I think we all enjoyed ourselves. We finished off the afternoon with some s’mores using the fire pit and the spits that we got as a gift a little while back.

In the interim we had the gas company come out because there’d been a gas smell up and down the street for a couple of weeks now. Eventually it lead to some underground pipe that the smell was coming through a catch basin across the street. They deemed it a Level 2 decision – meaning they may have a crew come out in the summer to deal with it. Not a high priority but put on a list to be looked at at some point, no danger.

After our guests left (they wanted to see the tulips in the Boston Garden and maybe catch a sunset there) LD put the finishing painting touches on her table project. It’s almost done! My Butterfly House parts also came delivered today, we might try to put that together tomorrow, along with planting that free tree sapling I got a few days ago.

Now we’re pretty wiped so I think we’ll relax with some leftovers and some television and reading.

Things I Did on This Years Earth Day

Posted on by Markman
Rough seas in Salisbury/Amesbury last week.

Things I planned on getting done today, cleaning the Keurig because it’s been way too long, getting together the parts for the butterfly house I plan on building, and getting to watching that documentary and heading down to Lowe’s later to get my free tree sapling.

Decided to clean the coffee maker on Saturday morning, so that’s on hold for now. I ordered the parts for the butterfly housing I plan on building. Lowe’s: went done after 5 pm and picked up my tree sapling. Looks to be some kind of pine tree. I’ll have LD decide where to plant it somewhere tomorrow sometime. We already have a nice pine tree growing but this new one is just a baby.

I finished watching the Last Lightkeepers documentary. It’s pretty good. A lot of the lighthouses are beautifully shot at sunrise and sunset, really majestic sights. I recommended it if you have any interest in New England Lighthouses. I knew some of the stories already having visited many of them and read about them. In fact, now I want to reread my books on lighthouses!

Happiness is a Way of Travel, not a Destination

Posted on by Markman
Stud.

Ok, the website has been updated to PHP 7.4.15 and all appears to be running fine! PHP is the web language that the site is based upon, if this site was a car then you could think of PHP as the engine, so it’s pretty important for the functioning of the site. So that’s a relief. It should provide better security and maybe even be a bit faster. Here’s a pic from yesterday while I was cruising around in Malden running some errands, taken in a parking lot before heading off to my next adventure. (I always wear my seatbelt). I’m rocking a shirt from PA that LD was kind enough to get me when she visited the area a few years back that honors my grandfather as he worked in a Bethlehem Steel mill for decades until he retired. Ironically I believe the plant was formally at the location that the office that I worked in currently resides. The city removed all the old industrial buildings and railways and replaced them with office buildings at some point, probably in the 1980s I’m thinking, and nowadays more and more luxury apartment complexes. Also under my cap, I got a pretty short haircut yesterday, I feel a whole hell of a lot lighter!

In other news, LD started repainting the coffee table the other day with the legs a darkish grey and the top an eggshell grey chalk color that can actually be written on with chalk. It may need another coat or two but it’s basically looking good and is a good use of repurposing an old piece of furniture that we found on the side of a road for free for the sunroom a few years ago. (sort of like this but in grey colors). While that was going on we also planted some more things, moved around some planting hangers so they’re more visible and could get more sun during the day than where it was and trying to get this place looking good for spring and summer. We are discovering more and more that you have to do things that make you happy, especially these days that we’re living in and the circumstances that befall us. The rain coming over the next day or two should do them all a world of good. Toward sundown I grilled some chicken and salmon last night on the grill for dinner as well, which we ate while continuing to get through a bunch of 21 Jump Street reruns. We’re almost done with the whole series at this point, and so was Johnny Depp considering that he shows up less and less in the episodes. I also want to watch that documentary on lighthouses over the next day or so.

I’ll be adding more to this post later…Never mind, I feel asleep, which sucks because it means I missed the Lowe’s final registration for next weeks butterfly house kit, and I’m really mad at myself for allowing that. I’m making amends to myself by taking on a project to make my own, I’ll just buy all the parts. Tomorrow I’ll be picking up my tree sapling for Earth Day. I’m interested to see what that is going to be.

Blossom by Blossom the Spring Begins

Posted on by Markman
Wellesley, Ma. (4/18/21)

Woke up with a sore arm from the injection yesterday, but as they day wore on it bothered me less and less and I imagine by later tonight all the soreness will be gone. Took a jaunt over to the Home Depot this morning to get some paint and to see some various plants that they had that we planted later. After that we went over to Wellesley because LD had to pick up some stuff and while there we went for a walk and I thought there might be some good photo ops of some of trees blooming in the area, one of which is at the top of this post. Then we went to Michaels and got some chalk paint because we have a project where we are going to convert an old coffee table by giving it new life, by painting it and having the top be like a chalkboard. In the late afternoon LD planted a bunch of what we bought and we also spread some hummingbird/wildflower mix into some of the deader areas near the patio which will hopefully take and provide some nice flower cover going forward.

I just finished cooking some zucchini, shrimp and pasta dish and ate it. Now I’m going to zone out and relax for the rest of the night.

Vaccinated and Powerful Waves (part 1)

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Salisbury.

Just before getting my first Covid shot this afternoon we headed to the beach where the waves were crashing on the shore. I guess the storm from yesterday was still churning up the waves out at sea and made some big waves over at the reservation. Plus the clouds kind of looked cool. Took a bunch of pictures but here’s one for now. The process of getting the shot itself was amazingly simple and the place was extremely well organized. I was in and out of there in no time at all. In three weeks I’ll be going back there for the 2nd dose. So far, so good!

Doses and Mimosas

Posted on by Markman
Springtime in the Boston Public Garden

CVS cancelled my vax appointment so it’s on for Amesbury tomorrow afternoon to get the first dose of Pfizer in my arm. Despite the pleasant spring scene above it’s actually raining and snowing today – what a difference a day makes in New England!

Wednesday Vibes On

Posted on by Markman
Rockport Motif No.1

Tried Wendy’s $5 Biggie Bag for lunch yesterday. It wasn’t bad. I would get it again. LD also set me up for a vac appointment for this coming Saturday but it was for the J&J and soon after booking they announced a halt on those. I would prefer to get an mRNA vaccine anyway, preferably Pfizer but Moderna as a second choice. Even though the chance of a problem with the J&J would be most likely rare for me, I’m not going to get that one. If they don’t switch it out I’ll just cancel and try to find another opportunity. LD did find me another appointment for Pfizer but its up in Amesbury, I’ll probably just do that.

Fun little article on Little Libraries in the latest edition of the Somerville Times. I’ve been to a few of these in the past. I need to go revisit them, since I haven’t really read anything since the end of last year. Jonesin’ a little bit for something good to get into.

Today was the first day of the year that I mowed the front lawn! Might have a guest or two over the weekend outside so it would be good to make it look nice and neat. Took a little longer than usual because I had to charge up the edger, but it’s done so we should be good to go!

The site is being upgraded to PHP 7.4 on 4/21 so hopefully everything will still work. It should, but we all know how computers can be, Keep your fingers crossed!

Monday, Monday, So Good to Me

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Monday, Monday

I went ahead and finally got around the repotting the tubers from last year this morning, we’ll see if anything sprouts out of them. If not, I’ll just pull them out and plant something else later. I planted some zinnia seeds I got free from Lowes as part of their free garden kits in one of the raised boxes just to see what happens. I wanted to get these things in before the rains, if it even happens, although it looks like it might, at least for a little while. I need to sign up for next week’s free haul, I was too late for this week so I lost out on that as they’re already “sold out” of the free kits for this week. Other than that, today was all about cleaning up a bit, catching up on some things, and waiting for the weather to get nicer again.

Good Luck Shiloh!

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This fourth baby bunny stayed under a flowerpot for a couple days after all its siblings left days ago. We decided to name it “Shiloh” because we felt it may be a bit on the shy side. We were hoping it’s mom would appear to help and somehow give it the bravery to go on. We left some lettuce and water out for him the other night. Come the next morning the lettuce had a nibble or two taken out of one if the leaves, but Shiloh was gone. Good luck and be safe little friend.

Love Me Like Saturday Night

Posted on by Markman
Nubble Light stay bathed in shades of grey

Today was a beautiful day and so today was more or less dedicated to gardening activities. LD even had a great idea to use a part of the middle of the lawn that’s always been a problem and had some kind of a sinkhole like situation and so we converted it into a planting bed with a bunch phlox we purchased and some new dirt and placed some stones around. It looks pretty amazing and really produces a nice accent point. She also split a bunch more hostas which we then used to replant at different areas around the fence line that seem a bit bare, hoping they’ll take (which I believe they will) and fill in those areas nicely. I moved all the remaining pots out of the shed for planting things as well. Let me tell you, I am dog tired now. Also hooked up the hoses and some worked on some other round-the-house activities.

It would appear that little Shiloh has moved on. We left some lettuce and water out for him and come the next day it looked like there was a nibble or two, but he was gone. Good luck and be safe little friend!

Early Riser Gets the Goods

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Nubble lit up in blue.

I got up at 5:30 am to get this picture.

That fourth bunny is still hiding underneath the flowerpot. When I looked for it this morning I couldn’t find it and figured it had left as did all the others. We have decided to name this bunny “Shiloh” because we feel it may be a bit on the shy side. I’m hoping maybe it’s mom will come by to help nudge it along.

Bunny Business

Posted on by Markman
A pretty spring bouquet.

It would appear 3 of the four bunnies have left as of today. The fourth bunny is still hiding underneath the flowerpot all by itself. I hope its momma comes by to give it a little encouragement. An orange cat showed up and wanted to clamber up to the deck where the bunny was but luckily Carson happened to be keeping watch and started doing this weird scream he does when another cat from the neighborhood comes to close. After hearing that I dashed outside and chased the cat away.

This afternoon I took a quick jaunt down to the supermarket and picked up some flowers for the vase. Something pretty for us to look at, since the flowers I bought a while back finally bit the dust.

I drove down to Lowe’s late this afternoon to pick up my first kit and I was pleasantly surprised about all the stuff I got, including a free plant!

I think I want to watch The Last Lightkeepers documentary on Amazon Prime. This kind of stuff is right up my alley and it looks beautifully shot.

This Flowerpot Must be Full of Love

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Baby Bunny coming out of the flowerpot for the first time, April 7, 2021.
Baby Bunny coming out of the flowerpot for the first time, April 7, 2021.

The highlight for today was definitely the scene that greeted me this morning as I literally went out onto the deck in just my underwear to get this shot, as I had just woken up a few minutes before. Can’t believe it but it is true. It’s happened again, second year in a row! This little baby bunny was born in the same flowerpot that maybe it’s mother was born in. It popped out of the nest on its own this morning. Be safe Baby Bunny, have a good life, and don’t forget to come back if you decide to someday have children of your own.

Three of the four baby bunnies huddling underneath the flowerpot.
Three of the four baby bunnies huddling underneath the flowerpot. The fourth stayed in the pot.

I’ve discovered late this afternoon that there are actually FOUR baby bunnies! One is still hiding in a pot, but the other two or hiding underneath another pot! I also noticed what I think is Mother Bunny hopping around the backyard over by the picnic table.

Love Blooms at the Nubble

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Nubble Light at Sunset
Nubble Light bathing in the light of sunset. April 4, 2021.

First a bit of website housekeeping of note: I’ve added a new category to the posts called “lighthouses” which will group all my lighthouse photo posts moving forward.

All in all it was a pretty amazing trip and I had a great time. It was a little getaway to celebrate our anniversary this year, LD and I. The place we stayed at was really neat too and had some amazing views of the Nubble, as you can see from this photo. Not sure if this place is new because I’d never heard of it – most likely it was the site of a former private property that is now this inn. (Leave me a comment or email if you are interested in the name of the place). The Nubble lighthouse seems a lot bigger and nearer when you’re there than what this photo shows. You can also see Boon Island Light way in the distance from this location. Before all that though we wandered around parts of the Cliff Walk (a bunch of it was actually closed) but the beach there was really nice and we did a bunch of walking there along the shore. After hanging there for a while we shot over to the Wiggly Bridge and walked across it. We grabbed some takeout from a place that was part of some other hotel in the downtown area. The evening was spent by taken hundreds of photos and hanging out as the sun went down while we settled down at a viewing area down at the base of the property. Nice part was nobody else was there but us so we had that viewing area all to ourselves. I would definitely sat at this place again. Due to COVID protocols you don’t even have to see anybody – it’s all through text and everything is ready for you ahead of time. It’s pretty awesome for people who might have social anxiety, like I do at times. We had a nice evening by the fireplace and ended up watching a show on television about a female lion although to me, it seemed pretty rough and I could see kids being a bit traumatized by it, although it is reality. It’s tough to try to live in the jungle. Lots of enemies just waiting for an opportunity. Once that was over we watched the news for bit (Dustin Bonk can’t get the weather report right at all, and yes, his name really is Dustin Bonk – I chuckled at that). Finally we undressed, retired to the bedroom and eventually we fell asleep.

Stud Puffin

The next day I woke up at 5:30 am to try to get some sunrise shots as I believe the sun rises almost directly behind the Nubble, but is was not to be as it was overcast. I still got some great shots though and the thing about overcast days as the rain starts moving in is that the waves get big, loud, and majestically dangerous as they crash over the rocks. I was also fascinated by this other private estate next door that must have amazing views and is easily a multi-million dollar property, It appeared empty but I couldn’t help wondering about it, who could own it, etc.

After we checked out, we met one of LD’s former colleagues who resides in the area off and on. We walked along the shoreline of another beach from one end to the other, even though by this point it had started to rain, but a little wind and water would not deter us. It was a fun visit nevertheless.

After that we ended up getting breakfast takeout from this fun little café that had a Parisian décor and vibe and was really good. They have this hot chocolate made out of chaga mushrooms an tastes a-maze-ing. We’re going to look into this more and see if any places around here have it. We’d never heard or seen it before. Finally before leaving, LD hit a couple of shops to get some stuff for Carson and herself. Then I drove back and we arrived back home in the late afternoon. For some reason parts of 95 coming back were atrocious. Thanks traffic.

Our relationship might not be perfect, and certainly has its ups and downs, but our love for each other is still strong and is wonderful all the same, and that’s all anyone could ever ask or hope for. We were truly blessed to have found one another.

Now, how am I going to decide which of the other 314+ photos I am going to post?

Temporary Update

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I’ll do a proper update later, but right now I’m a little tired from my trip to Maine for our anniversary with all the hiking on the beaches and wiggly bridge, and getting up at 5:30 am today to get some sunrise shots over the Nubble (even though it ended up being overcast) but I think I got some great shots anyway and we really enjoyed our time at this really cool property with pretty amazing views, And then today’s activities with another walk on the beach while it was raining while catching up with a collegue who resides there frequently, etc. etc. Had a great time away though!

Love is the Flower You Have to Let Grow

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Among the blue

Today was all about the BBQ. Pleased to say it all came out well! Steaks, Chicken, Steak tips, some dogs, and chocolate bunnies homemade for dessert! Also, the bunnies are still in the pot! I saw the top of the nest moving so they’re still under there although I think they’ll be wanting to get out of there and start exploring life real soon!

A while back I received a message that someone wanted to do a painting of Nauset Light based off of a picture that I took. Well, he finally sent it to me and here it is! Sort of cool that my artwork/photography inspired someone else to create it in another way.

Roses of Sharon Dancing in the Sea Breezes

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Roses of Sharon dance among the coastal sea breezes off of Buzzards Bay.

What will today’s adventures be? What is the story behind this photo? Are Roses of Sharon are a Portuguese family thing, and why would I think that? What is the latest update on the baby bunnies being born in the flowerpot, and what about that hawk keeps coming around?

Well, it was a pretty quiet day actually. This photo was taken down in Fairhaven and a friend’s beach house where they have a lot of Rose of Sharon growing. Growing up my family always had Roses of Sharon. Maybe it’s a Portuguese thing because every Portuguese family I’ve ever visited, including my own, had some.

Haven’t seen the baby bunnies and I’m leery to remove the top covering to see if they’re in there. I think they still are. I did have to chase a hawk away that was hanging on a branch in the yard. Don’t want him getting any ideas.

Did get caught up on some shows last night, the SVU crossover, 20/20 dealing with the Menendez Bros on TikTok of all things, and some other shows.

Vinca

Posted on by Markman
Vinca vines.

The Vinca vines (also known as Periwinkle) groundcover are starting to flower out front and the little flowers are so cute that I wanted to capture it somehow in a photograph, so that’s what this is. I noticed my dahlia tubers all dried out in storage but I read that they could still be viable even in that state so I might try repotting them and see what happens.

I tried getting on the Lowe’s website today for their free garden kits but naturally the website is down at the moment. Gee, what a surprise. Free stuff makes us all come out of the woodwork. It was advertised in USA Today so you think they would have been expecting a rather large turnout to the website on the day it goes live. I’ll try again later. I don’t particularly care for the first week goodies but weeks 2, 3 and 4 look promising with seeds, tree saplings, and butterfly garden supplies. Update: I was able to register and will get my first kit next Thursday.

I did notice that some Johnny-jump-up wild pansies self seeded themselves in a pot on the deck, which was a nice surprise.

Went to the grocery store this afternoon and got a bunch of stuff in anticipation of the weekend, plus we just needed some stuff so I went to get them. On my now almost daily DD run for a medium hot regular and medium ice tea for LD, the drive thru one I always go to said they had run out of ice tea. How does that happen? Luckily there’s another DD a little up the road from that one so I went there. That one does not have a drive thru so I went in and ordered. But naturally it’s on the other side of the highway so it’s more of a hassle, but sometimes it’s what you have to do. Traffic on the way back seemed a little heavy, so that kind of sucked. Things getting back to normal apparently.

Looking forward to Stabler returning to the SVU universe tonight. Can’t wait to see what Liv does, maybe she should slap him for disappearing like that?