August 2022 – Hatchetation

Been Making New Additions

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Markman

There hasn’t been too much updating lately partly because it’s been busy here getting a new bathroom put in the basement/man cave part of the house(!) Also been working on getting the new appliances for the kitchen finally and working on some upcoming tasks for a major party blowout coming up. More updates on these exciting subjects as the month of September rolls on through.

We did find some time this afternoon to spend a little bit of time at the beach. Although the water was a little bit chilly it wasn’t too bad once you were in. Unfortunely we didn’t stay as long as we would have liked because these annoying flies kept trying to bite our legs, even though we doused in bug spray, the little bastards! I got a bunch of little itches on me but thankfully the itch is starting to fade away on them already, but it was really annoying trying to deal with it there.

For dinner tonight a cooked up some Burundi along with some lemon infused potatoes and side of Greek salad. Now that’s not something I make/eat everyday!

Love Waking Up to Early Morning Sunsets

Posted on August 28, 2022August 31, 2022 by Markman

High point today was watching LD work on her swimming strokes over at the pool at the gym, doing laps and such. She’s become quite the expert! So proud of her! Enjoy this lighthouse pic of the Nauset that I took a little while back as the sun was starting to rise in the early hours of the morning.

Sugary Saturday

Posted on August 27, 2022 by Markman

Went down to a place that had a bunch of food trucks today. One was a soda truck and I got a drink called the Unicorn, which was basically Sprite, watermelon, strawberry, cherry, blood orange all topped with whipped cream and candy pieces and it was really good. We also got fries from a different food truck that specialized in various mixtures. I got one with Crispy Chicken, Buffalo Sauce, Blue Cheese Dressing and Blue Cheese Crumbles. It was good. We went with another couple that we’ve done a bunch of things with before. After all that ( we ended being there for a couple hours when all was said and done) we did a little looking around for a couple of new kitchen appliances.

“Udderly” Fun

Posted on August 26, 2022August 27, 2022 by Markman

Hibiscus 🌺 slush with vanilla ice cream on top…YES! 🍦 Plus the Fox Point neighborhood is sooo cute! Yes, LD wanted to do a quick trip to Providence RI to check out this dairy free ice cream and bakery type place. Truly delicious, and truly 100% vegan ice cream shop. You can’t tell the difference that there’s no dairy, at least I couldn’t! The nice part is that we were able to get down there, do the stuff, and get back just in time as the skies were starting to darken and the rainstorm was about to occur. The timing of everything could not have been more perfect.

A Couple of Rainy Day Activities

Posted on August 23, 2022August 24, 2022 by Markman

Going through some of my archives and I came across this picture I took of the Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport, RI that I thought was pretty cool so I thought I’d post it up and see what folks think of it.

Heading over to the supermarket this morning I noticed some chips that I had seen mentioned on the Phantom Gourmet the other day in my channel surfing. They are Lays chips but with flavors taken from other snacks, such as Lays chips with cool ranch Doritos flavor, and one with Cheetos. I picked up those two. They also have Funyuns and Fritos flavors but I didn’t see those. These are supposedly only available for a limited time. I’ve thus far tried the Doritos flavored and it’s pretty good, especially if you like cool ranch flavor.

Like I mentioned in the previous post I started reading a book about the two kids really (at the time) who created Doom and basically started the first player shooter sensation. It’s a pretty amazing read and I highly recommend it. It came out in 2003 so it’s not pricey. Having lived through and experienced many of the same things at the time growing up that these kids did made me really soak up this book. Brought back memories in the 80s of buying computer magazines at the time that had program code in it’s pages that you’d have to type in in order to play the games. And of course, I’d always make a typo somewhere so it wouldn’t work and I’d have to painstakingly try to find where it was, and the code was always a confusing mess of letters and numbers. Anyone remember that? I had totally forgotten all about doing that back in the day!

A Case of the Mondays

Posted on August 22, 2022August 22, 2022 by Markman

The picture says it all. More later? Since today was a rainy day finally I got off to finishing The Gift of Rumi: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master. Now I’m off to read Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture so as you can see my reading tastes are quite varied!

Night Grilling, Women’s Basketball, and a Date with Mr. Do

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Markman

Had some friends over for a BBQ cookout last night. We decided to do kabobs with some shrimp, chicken, and veggies. LD had forgot actually how much work it is to prepare all the food and our guests arrived a little bit early but it was all good as they helped out and everything actually came out really good. I was a little bit nervous trying to get the timing of everything right, but it all went swimmingly. Maybe I’m really getting the hang of this style of cooking! Ended it all off with a chat around the firepit.

Today I planned to really take it easy. Watched the Dallas Wings (a WNBA team) this afternoon as they’re in the playoffs and the mother of one of the star players is actually LD’s trainer, so we’re rooting for her. They forced a game 3 this afternoon over Connecticut and I like to root for the underdog so that was neat to see. It’s pretty cool that they even got this far and that we know someone connected to that organization. They’re playing on national television this afternoon for God’s sake! Next game is on Wednesday to see if they can advance to the 2nd round. Wishing them luck!

Gametime: Lately I’ve rediscovered an arcade classic from my youth. Mr. Do! It’s like Dig Dug only harder. You have to collect all the cherries while avoiding enemies. You have a ball you can toss to knock enemies out and get bonuses but while the ball is out of your hands you’re vulnerable. Just like in the arcade I can never seem to get past level 5. I think I might have had this for my Colecovision console back in the 80s along with another classic, Ladybug. Both were designed by the same man.

Buzzards Bay Part 2

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Markman

Went down for another trip to hang out on Buzzard’s Bay this afternoon. The water in the background of these shots is where we swam, I’m calling that Part 1. Had some nice subs for lunch and some good conversation and like I said, a bit of a swim, although the water did seem a bit cooler today than last time. I’m glad we went because even though all the weather reporters said we’d mostly get rain, it appeared to be no rain and all and the sun even stayed out for us, so that was a win.

My Only Tax Free Weekend Purchase

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Markman

This weekend was the weekend that the state of Massachusetts decided to hold it’s sales tax free weekend, so people generally use it to buy up some things to take advantage of the savings. I could have went with a new sound bar that I’ve been eying, or this moon globe lamp that I thought looked really cool, or the beach cart that I think would be useful. For me though, my only purchase was going down to the Home Depot to buy a new Carbon Monoxide detector, and that was only because last night the old one started chirping (had to first figure out which machine was making the noise, très annoying!!) and it said it had basically reached the end of it’s life. Not so exciting, huh? Strangely the store wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be. Perhaps I just happened to be there at the right time, around four o’clock in the afternoon. I did also try looking for some furnace filters to have a little bit of a stockpile on hand but they never have the size that the one we have uses, so I struck out there. Is the tax-free weekend even really worth it that much? Maybe a little bit, but I don’t think it’s really all that big a deal, especially since it’s capped at $2500 and can’t be used on the certain items that really would make a big difference.

Calling to Me (Sun’s Out, Hot Dog Buns Out)

Posted on August 13, 2022August 14, 2022 by Markman

Firstly, here’s another pic of the Nubble from earlier in the week. A classic Lighthouse destination and one of our favorites.

Saw this hot fog food truck was around that I wanted to try. Ended up going with one that had grilled corn, queso cotija, crema mexicana, with some chili lime salt on top, and it was pretty good! Then it was off to Wellesley for a mail pickup where I ended up eating some cod. Guess I was a little hungry this afternoon!

I also spent a bunch of time nodding off in my gravity chair out on the back deck in the sun. Totally relaxing!

Finished the day off with a night by the fire pit. Ah! Finally ended out the evening by watching the documentary “I Just Killed My Dad” on Netflix.

Plug 🔌 time: Smooth Sailing now available for purchase. Wouldn’t it look so nice on your wall?

Buzzing Around on Buzzard’s Bay

Posted on August 11, 2022August 11, 2022 by Markman

Got to hang out in Fairhaven with friends yesterday and pretty much made a day of it, swimming in Buzzard’s Bay, having tacos for lunch, and a great dinner outside as the sun started to set and a beautiful full moon rose.

Good hang and good food with good friends, you can’t ask for anything more. Thanks for having us!

Birthday Shenanigans in a Treehouse

Posted on August 9, 2022August 14, 2022 by Markman

Too many things to say about my birthday getaway right now. But the highlights were hanging in an Airbnb in Dover NH that had an actual treehouse overlooking the scenic Piscataqua River, watching baby robins being fed by their mother in another tree in the back yard, getting clean in the shower that had two showerheads almost opposite each other which was really cool, grabbing burgers at the BRGR Bar in downtown Portsmouth, getting some shots over at the Nubble, hanging out and swimming at Long Sands beach, eating clams at Bob’s, and getting a gravity chair that I wanted and a book about Rumi that I also wanted to read! It was really hot outside but it is Leo Season as they say! Naturally I must thank LD for making my birthday amazing and every day, as always!

I’ll need to expand upon this at a later date, but all in all, totally amazing!

Love to Sail

Posted on August 6, 2022August 7, 2022 by Markman

Went to a farm today, picked up some fresh produce to cook on the grill tonight. Ended up taking a nap in the afternoon, for some reason I felt tired and the map for an hour really helped pick me up. Dinner ended up being excellent though: salmon, corn, carrots, and a delicious peach and nectarine salad. Top it all off with this shot of a sailboat moored in Cape Cod bay at sunset. Perfection. Ended up watching a documentary on Netflix called The Girl in the Picture. My heart aches for that girl.

Friday Frolics For New Kicks

Posted on August 5, 2022August 5, 2022 by Markman

Watched this documentary last night which was about the debacle that was Woodstock ’99. Crazy crazy! This afternoon LD and I went down to the New Balance Factory Outlet and bought matching sneakers. She thought it a little ridiculous but I think it’s cute. Maybe we’ll both wear them at the same time! Haha!

Here’s a flashback photo of me visiting one of my favorite places along the eastern seaboard, Pemaquid Point in Maine.

Running with the Sunset 🏃‍♀️

Posted on August 3, 2022August 4, 2022 by Markman

Spent the day at the beach today. It was, in a word, glorious! One cool thing was watching all the piping plovers run along the shore. They are so small little creatures, but they can run on those little legs of theirs pretty fast. Anyways, by the end of the day for whatever reason (perhaps it was the sea, the sun, lunch, and eating a huge lobster roll) we were pretty zonked. I mean, I could not keep my eyes open. When we went to bed we slept the whole night solidly.