I was playing around with taking some photos of some flowers that had raindrops on them and the result of one of them is the photo above. Raindrops on things, especially plant life, always seem to make a good picture, don’t you think so? Also please continue to vote for my other photo, you can do it once a day, and it would mean a lot to me personally. (You have to scroll to the bottom of the page).
A bunch of little small updates for y’all. I was jonesin for some new content to put up so I was going through my archives and found this picture I took from the seaport back in 2019 so I put that up today. Must have made some buzz because it became featured on Fox25 News’ Insta , so that made me surprised but happy.
In the early afternoon we took a ride out to this Hosta farm that we saw advertised a couple of months ago but finally decided to take a ride down to Mendon and check it out. They’re only open a few select Saturdays of the summer. Amazing selection of Hostas species and daylilies varieties and also a lot of Lotus. Pretty cool place actually. LD ended up getting two Hostas, two lilies and a cone flower, all of which we’ll be planting in the yard later this afternoon, along with some other potted beauties that we’ve had on the patio for a few weeks now.
The other day I swung by Earth-1. The house next door is completely gone now, and there’s a guy there with a small backhoe just picking up all the debris so that the foundation guys can come in and do their work. It’s weird, if you didn’t know it from before it would seem like the house that was there never existed. I do feel all this condo development is destroying the old neighborhood. Just doesn’t look or feel the same anymore, losing character, Kinda sad.
I while back I mentioned how my old ass Kindle died and I was considering tinkering with it and maybe replacing it’s battery but I’ve since did probably what most people do and just downloaded the Kindle app to my phone. Now all the books that I purchased on that old Kindle are available on my phone for rereading. It might be fun just to try to explore the innards of that old Kindle anyway just for my own hobby knowledge.
The cargo net for my truck finally arrived today. I installed that as soon as it came. I’m pleased with it and I think it will come in quite handy for my needs. I also bought a USB-C back up drive to backup all the photos from my laptop. Seemed like a good idea to have another place for backups besides just the cloud. I was amazed at how tiny the device itself actually is. 500Gb capacity. You could put it on a keychain although I never would. One of the old dehumidifiers in the basement finally died. It was quite a workhorse getting through various floods and powering through for days but it appears to have finally met it’s end. Not that they are still needed as this point but for the future it probably is time to get a new one. I tried finagling with it for a bit and I was able to get a couple more hours out of it but then it would just die again. Time to put it to rest. The other one we have down there is still cranking anyway, although like I said, I can probably shut those down at this point.
We still can hear that baby hawk squawking outside all day. Is it ever going to get the message? You would think the thing would have a sore throat by now. I don’t think it’s starving though because when I saw it the other day it looked quite healthy and was flying into the trees really well. I did see some white fur in the driveway as I was mowing the lawn yesterday as if from a smaller animal. Not saying it was from him but who knows.
Been using the grill a bit the past few days. Cod last night and steak tips tonight!
Please continue to vote for my photo (you can do it once a day, which I know is a big ask) . Super appreciated.
Stayed in a wonderful 4-bedroom 200 year old farm house for a few days that is located on a working alpaca farm which is connected out back to the alpaca pen in the southeastern Connecticut town of Bozrah – very agricultural part of the state, lots of Native American history to the area as well, and the folks are very friendly if a bit odd at times. Interesting factoid for you: Bozrah CT is the only town in all of the United States with that name, never duplicated anywhere else. As to how it got that name, there is an interesting story.
The community, according to the legend, really wanted to call itself “Bath” after the famous spa in England. The local man chosen to carry the parish’s request to Hartford had a somewhat eccentric manner of dress, however, and when he appeared before the Legislature he was dressed in loud, parti-colored homespun so odd as to bring to the mind of one amused legislator the query of Isaiah 63:1: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?” Overcome by the humorous appropriateness of this verse, the Assembly decided to name the town “Bozrah” when it incorporated the place. Or so the story goes. Like I said, it is a bit of an off-the-beaten-path kind of place.
I’ll go over some selected moments from the trip. We learned how to care for the animals as well as what makes them tick and we saw how they use their fur to make things at a mill where they process the sheared fur of the animals . The farmhouse had a nice firepit that we used the first night there to relax and make s’mores with. Also discovered and played a new card game called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza which is my favorite game right now and will be playing it again with more friends soon.
We did what was called a private goat snuggle event on Sunday at a farm in Richmond, RI. Actually a woman’s house with her young daughter. You really can’t judge a book by its cover because as we approached the place we started to feel a bit trepidatious but low and behold, it was actually pretty amazing, It ended up being one of the best, if not the best, goat experiences we ever had. The property was I think really made for goats as they could climb on various things and climb hills and try to reach pine tree needles, it was really cool, trust me. A nice part of the trip was that the rains held out for every event we tried so score there! They had so many goats and such cute babies and so sweet. One goat mama there named Moon we gave a little extra TLC because she had recently lost all four of her babies but she sure did love to be scratched on her neck. There’s lots of pictures from our time there but I don’t want to upload them all. Also that evening we met up with an old friend of LD’s from her grad school days and ate on a beautiful patio at a restaurant in another part of Connecticut. We ended up staying there past closing!
Last day before heading back we went to beach named Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, RI. We actually were in Watch Hill before that but that place was a zoo today so we bailed on that. LD swam in the water while I watched from my beach chair and enjoyed the ocean breezes, and even though the beach was packed today we enjoyed our time there.
Got up early and went down to the local Dunkins’ which had just been remodeled to see if I could be picked to win free coffee for a year, being a random customer to be chosen. Sadly, I was not one, but I did order a morning coffee anyway. Place looks nice done over though.
Here’s a fun throwback photo I found. Don’t remember where it was taken but that castle in the back is pretty cool. Props to anyone who can figure it out and tell me what place would models of castles like this. It may be long gone by now for all I know.
I imagine the castle was a model of some real one someplace in Europe.
That’s my mom behind my sister and I.
If you like this picture I would appreciate a vote! You have to scroll to the bottom of the page, which is dumb. If I win, I promise to make good on your contribution to me in some way!
https://www.visitma.com/state-of-wonder-contest/#g1899161
Also I may go ahead and convert this site from http to https. Stay tuned on that one.
This hawk just keeps hanging around still. Maybe it still hasn’t totally gotten the message that he needs to be on his own and start feeding himself. Actually according to MassAudubon that’s exactly what it is! He looks pretty healthy to me though, so I don’t think he’s in any distress. Maybe he’s making this area his home base, which is true, might not be good for Shiloh! Better leave little Shiloh alone!
Meanwhile, at Earth-1 the takedown of the house next door is coming along little by little, floor by floor. The roof is long gone and yesterday it appeared that most of the second floor had been removed as well. I should mention the reason for the teardown is to build, you guessed it, another new condo. I took a couple of pics but they don’t really do the magnitude of the work justice in my mind.
I ended up putting up some more shelving in the basement. The idea is to become more organized and not have anything on the floor that wouldn’t need to be. Mostly though, it’s for neatness and organization moving forward. I also inflated all my car tires using the portable. Believe it or not it actually works! Not a bad purchase! You can blow air from it either thru the car lighter plug or via the stored energy after charging the device itself through USB, which is what I’ve been doing. Next thing I want to get for the back is a cargo net, They’re cheap and I think it would help in keeping any groceries or such that I put back there from sliding all around the back when making turns.
Yesterday I got new some new sneakers from the New Balance Outlet in Brighton, after destroying my previous pair working down in the basement. Ended up getting the Fresh Foam 880s in Light Aluminum/Black/Steel. Pretty sharp looking!
Today’s major activities. Yesterday LD saw this juvenile hawk across the street just squawking and moving around the driveways. Today it came back and brought what we think might be his sibling, I think there’s a male and female but who knows. They sure have been squawking a lot. All day actually. Now we definitely know what a hawk’s call is. LD actually took all these shots with my camera and I think she did a great job. We actually have many more photos but I personally think these are some of the best. After that we both, along with a friend of ours, went ahead and ripped out all the carpet and padding from the basement. What a job! We were a great team and we were done in about 2 hours which is really great. The cellar is just about dry now and it’s just a matter of running the fans and humidifiers and various drying tools. That should be done fairly soon, then it’s a matter of going through things, organizing, and getting rid of all the crap that accumulated over the years that are really just taking up space. So all in all, I think we are in really great shape, although every muscle in my body has been getting quite the workout over the last couple of days. Maybe I’m not as out of shape as I thought!
I was getting a bit concerned with the drain out back to the cellar as the stairwell that surrounds it was beginning to retain water as it couldn’t keep up with the rainfall and we don’t need a flooded cellar. We put on some dehumidifiers just in case, and I watched it over time. I even bailed out some water with a pail earlier but not sure if it helped at all. It all ended up flooding anyways as the day wore on. I must have wetvacced to pump out the cellar 5000 times but I got it somewhat dry. Moving forward, just going to rip out the carpets – done with this crap. Fortunately most things down there appear fine, it’s really just the floor. Almost every bone in my body hurts a little but I got a lot done and what a way to gain over 400 active zone minutes according to my Fitbit!
Hopefully my mom’s cellar at Earth-1 will be ok, it tends to flood a bunch, even with the sump pump. Hers is an unfinished basement but there’s a tendency for pilot lights to go out and if that happens I’ll need to head over there and relight them. Update: I have to go over and relight afterall. Also I forgot to mention that they are starting to dismantle the house next door to her. Apparently the roof finally came off yesterday. They seem to be doing it with a crew of people rather than a wrecking ball, starting from the top and working down to the ground,
I think I am going to pop on that e-bike but I’m going to wait until after this next trip we have planned coming up. The fact that it folds up and will allow me to just pop in the back of our trucks makes it very appealing to me to be able to ride on trips and such. I’ve been watching reviews and everything and for the longest time I’ve been on the fence about it, going back and forth, but seeing as my birthday is coming up, this could be my yearly “gift to myself” purchase. I did just order a portable air compressor however as I’ve been wanting one for some time to inflate things.
Here’s a pic from earlier this year that I felt like reliving. Would definitely stay there again.
Started today by watching some old ST:TNG episodes, some good ones too, like the one where Picard lives a whole lifetime as someone else, and the one where he gets taken prisoner by the Cardassians and they try to break him by making him believe there are 5 lights instead of 4. Classics. I’ve seen them bunches of times. Maybe I should try to watch that new Picard show that came out a year or so ago.
Later in the afternoon I finally got around to mowing the backyard, refilling the bird feeder, making hummingbird water, grilling hot dogs, steak tips and veggies, I ended up eating three of the dogs for lunch, I was so hungry. Usually the most I can eat is 2. If I try to have more I end up feeling sick for whatever reason, but today I had 3, and so far all is good. Must have been all that work I did mowing and such, worked up quite an appetite.
We dropped off some produce at the Sanctuary for the animals but made it back for the late afternoon festivities of having some friends over for S’mores over the firepit visit. That was fun, and lasted about 3 hours, although it didn’t feel that long, time flies when you’re having fun as they say, so not so bad.
Unfortunely earlier in the day I kind of ripped my healing thumb again–owwwww! Is this thing ever going to heal!? Not if I keep ripping it open, right?
Enjoyed a nice quiet Fourth. Did a bunch of gardening things ion the morning, weeding, new plantings etc. Cooked up burgers for lunch. Chilled until evening when LD wanted to see a firework show that the restaurant Bay Point in Quincy does yearly. We found a good spot in a Nissan dealership parking lot and got to watch them from there. Was pretty good! At least 20 minutes, which is pretty good for a private entity to do.
It being so wet and rainy these last few days gives us a chance to catch up on some entertainment viewing. The latest go to was a documentary called Class Action Park, detailing the history of an amusement park in New Jersey in the 80s called Action Park, where basically “you controlled the action.” Basically the owner let drunk teens practically run the place and the rides he created were unsafe. Many people got hurt there, some even died, and yet the place was allowed to continue for years. It became sort of a badge of pride and courage if you made it through alive. That’s how it got the nickname Traction Park by all the kids. So Jersey! Definitely worth a view if you have Amazon Prime Video. Another movie I heard about that I might want to see is called The Fare. I read it’s a trippy time loop sort of movie with some major twists toward the end. Update: We’ve watched it and it was weird, not bad, bur I thought it would be better. Very Twilight Zone-ish vibe. Also tried to watch a bit of the series called Hunters, an episode of Booker, a old 20/20 episode and a show about Jodi Arias’s cell mates.
I finally set up the sound bar to the smart tv. Sounds good! It can also be used to stream sounds from our other devices as well. Get ready for booming bass and theatre quality sounds! Think I’ll hook up a Bluetooth keyboard we’ve had hanging around here as well since typing letters through the little remote gets tedious. Ahhh, technology.
In the afternoon after running an errand to the bank and LD getting us some hot chocs from Starbucks, I happened to take this photo of the fire lilies all in bloom with the raindrops all over them.
Quick recap on the last coupe of days: On Tuesday I got my brakes done, ay curumba, that was a bit pricey but I should have expected it, plus I don’t mess around when it comes to something important like that. I went for the whole thing – pads, rotors etc. for the truck – front and backs. I had a minor stomach ache most of the day and I was really hot and sweaty from the oppressive heat all day. In the evening when I was starting some meal prep I ended up slicing my thumb. I saw the knife go in as I was trying to halve a Brussel sprout and then I freaked a bit when I saw the blood come gushing it. I wrapped it tight and thankfully it eventually stopped bleeding. (LD also helped me out a bit although she was pretty busy at the time so I do appreciate her coming to my aid to check it out for a bit).
Yesterday we went down to the beach house and got to enjoy the day in the water. We were determined to be in the water before July and it happened on the last day of that month. It was a good day to be in the water too because it was the last of the oppressively hot days up here. I’d like to thank our host for their generosity in letting us come down to her beach house to enjoy the waves and the breeze and the meals and the company. While there I also got to see one of those electric bikes in action (might have actually been this model in fact), which kind of makes me want to buy one, assuming I can find a way to afford it – looks pretty cool. Once again, birthday’s in August people!
I’m going to try to complete the meal I started Tuesday before I injured myself tonight and hopefully this time I’ll be more careful. My thumb does hurt a bit now and then and it hurts to directly put pressure on it but overall it’s not too bad. Also something bit me yesterday while I was in the water and now one of hands seems to be swelling up. Going to watch that, I think it may be beginning to subside actually.
The story behind the photo: Here’s one of our Fire Lilies from our garden that had some raindrops on it from an earlier pop up shower passing by. <plug> I think it makes a pretty good photo! As mentioned above, it’s available for your wall or on other things as well. </plug>