This shirt embodies how I feel (occasionally!)
I did take a ride down to the Chicken on the Road food truck yesterday and it tasted just like I remembered it. Then I watched the Valkyries game and was pleased to see them play so well. Fun game.
Category: Art
Free Donuts
Today was National Donut Day so I made use of the opportunity this morning and got my free donut. (Is it really that free though? You did have to purchase a beverage first). Anyways, I went down to a local CVS to pick up some LD meds but they weren’t in stock yet, even though they said it would be there last night. Annoying, I’ll have to go back later tonight. Anyways, there’s a DD across the street from the pharmacy and that’s where I picked up the D. I ended up going with a maple glazed, which I had not seen at other DD establishments.
More Garden Stuff and Fence Installations
Been a crazy 48 hours between a work dinner and some other pressing things, but after it was all said and done I decided to do some lawn maintenance before the supposedly rains come again. The fence panels arrived yesterday ready to get in the ground soon, and I noticed some new things while I was out there, including new blooms of blue irises and the rosebushes out front in bloom. They aren’t fancy roses by any means but they are resilient.
Tonight I’ll chill out by getting a massage which is sorely needed and maybe grab some take out tonight as I watch the Suns try to get their first win of the season. Playing Indiana tonight but no Caitlin Clark as she’s injured.
The Garden So Far (Late May 2025)
Currently Reading: No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson
How many specimens can you name above?
Swinging into the Weekend Like…
I was able to find a book of some of Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous stories in a little library while I was hanging around, It’s been a while sine I read those. This version looks to be nicely put together, with illustrations and editorial thoughts in the margins. Afterwards we picked up some more plants, which we’ll get into their pots this weekend, along with a stone cat figure that reminds of of Carson. Probably put it near where the bunnies lay their nests in the pot as he is the protector of the baby bunnies!
Hope All HAd a Good Mother’s Day
A Little Back Yard Love going On
Yesterday was a pretty busy day! In the morning some guys we got to replace some of the falling fence panels in the back yard came by to remove the worst of the offenders. These panels are just so old and waterlogged, one even fell down. Those will be getting replaced piecemeal as time goes on. By the end of a week or two they should be done with the work. Good thing I had finally mowed the lawn a few days ago. We then had our previous massage lady come by and pick up the supplies she had left here, by now a few years ago, like her table and heater and bolster, and it was fun to reconnect. Maybe we’ll do a lunch or something in the future. We then hit the town’s garden flowers sale, something that we do every year. It wasn’t as big this year and it was a bit rainy but we got a few things. LD had a bunch of things to do while caught the Celtics game and then we planted the plants we got earlier, but then the sun had come out and it was a nice day.. We then cooked and baked some things as well, and I ordered a pizza. That’s that, a typical Saturday around here.
May the 4th Be With You!
Started out the day walking a trail in Wellesley that I’d been meaning to do for quite some time but never got around to it until today. We had to be in the area so I decided to take the oppurtunuithy to get some steps in. The Fuller Brook Trail is really beautiful. Such a lovely trial to walk and enjoy.
After that I decided to treat us brunch over at The Cottage.
It was also Somerville Open Studios weekend so I decided to relive visiting the Museum of Modern Renaissance.
Make For For Ducklings with Umbrellas
Another one from yesterday,
The Museum of Ice Cream
Not generally a place we would normally check out, but we do like to shake things up and try something different now and again. This place surely was that. This was the kind of place you visit just once.
![](https://hatchetation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/491839867_10233678197792149_1307572033211940647_n.jpg "Lobster "flavored" ice cream. Meh.")
Currently Reading: The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty. I happened to see the author of this book doing a talk on C-Span after just flipping around the dial in a moment of boredom and it sounded interesting. I mean we all know the story but this traces the history back to the great-grandfather and all the previous fathers leading up to Alex. Come to find out, they’ve been pretty corrupt all along! When I saw how big it was I started to get a little daunted but the style is perfect and it’s easy to read. I recommend it, especially just to see how corrupt this family was from the start,
Mr. History Post #9: Mourning Victory
Concord, Mass. In 1897, the Boston businessman James C. Melvin had commissioned a funerary monument from Daniel Chester French to honor his three brothers who had died in the Civil War. French was a famous sculpture who has stuff all over, including Lincoln sitting in his chair in the Lincoln Memorial and the Minuteman Statue in Concord among others. The massive figure of Mourning Victory emerges from the block of stone projecting two moods: melancholy, in her downcast eyes and somber expression, and triumph, in the American flag and laurel she holds high. French captured the sense of calm after the storm of battle, which must have referred to the pride, after the sorrow of grieving, felt by the surviving brother. It’s a pretty impressive tribute.
Since I was here I also checked out Author’s Ridge which has a bunch of famous authors buried there. The list of names of famous authors who died while living in Concord is impressive. There are Thoreau and Emerson, but also Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott and her family, and William Ellery Channing, all interred near one another.
Mr. History Post #3: I’ve Got the Whole World in my Hands!
Mr. History Post #3: The Babson Globe. I figured I’d do another one of these posts. Maybe I should rename them more as curiosities than history, but what the hell, plus being a cartographer for almost 30 years, this one speaks to me. Weighing 25 tons and with a diameter of 28 feet (8.5 meters), it was the world’s largest rotating globe when it was built in 1955 but now it’s 2nd place. Still pretty freaking big though! The last pic is me being Atlas helping them move to globe to its current location a few years ago (jk!)
Mr. History Entry #2: Spin Me Right Round baby!
Mr. History post #2! I promise these posts aren’t all going to be about houses. It was just that I happened to be in the area. Anyways… This is the Robinson Round House located in Somerville Massachusetts. It was built in 1856 by hardware manufacturer Enoch Robinson and is considered an offshoot of the octagon house-style popularized by phrenologist Orson Fowler because who needs corners anyway!
Mr. History post #1 here , the oldest still standing house in America, if you missed it… stay tuned for more!
Bonus!
A pic of me exploring the colossal colon circa 2003. I was just passing through! Bringing awareness to colon cancer.
Finding Colorful Turkeys in Town
Went into Brookline today to go check out some of the turkey sculptures! After finding some of them we went to Legal Seafoods and I bought LD lunch as part of this thing I’m doing for her birthday month which is everyday I do a little something, could be big, could be small, like yesterday’s corn muffin. Sort of like an Advent Calendar of the Ladydoc! Haha! We made use of the restaurant participating in Boston Restaurant Week so that was cool. After that we got some vegan ice cream and a place next door called Van Leeuwen. I ended up getting a hot chocolate while LD got some delicious vegan ice cream flavored treats.
Seeing John Cusack Live and In Person!
As one of my xmas gifts, LD got us tickets to see John Cusack down at the Emerson Colonial in Boston. Never actually been inside that theater before although I must of passed it tons of times. There was a showing of his movie High Fidelity and he was going to talk about it after the screening. Of course my all time favorite Cusack movies are Serendipity, Say Anything, and my All-time favorite, Better Off Dead.
Was thinking it might be cool to try this beginner’s pottery wheel (one time) workshop, either with just us or maybe another one of our couples friends. Anyone out there game? Speaking of games….
Gametime: Dungeons of Deadrock (demo). Pretty cool little game. Also Part 2!
Historic Papermill Playhouse and Drumming
Finally got to check out the historic Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ and saw a great show there called “Mystic Pizza” which as you probably guessed is based on the movie/book. I could easily see this show eventually ending up on Broadway. And we can say that we saw it first, haha! I also got to play some electronic drums which I was surprised at how good the kit actually is. Kind of amazing. I also want to explore Millburn more when the weather gets better, it looks like such a cute little town.
We’ve actually been to that pizza establishment a couple of times. Might do another outing to check it with some friends sometime in the future.
The Writings on the Wall….
Currently Watching: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. So poignant, and yet uplifting in a way as well. Well done.
Love Bunnies Hopping Over a Cookie Plate
Took a jaunt over to Andover early this afternoon to pick up our latest addition to the collection – this pottery cookie plate. We don’t see this one very often, if at all, so had to grab it, and at a good price too. It’s also heavy as hell! Also dropped by a little library in the area and found a cute little book about the Velveteen Rabbit for LD. When I saw that, I knew I had to grab it for her. We’ve also been filling the libraries up with a book purge around here.
Gametime: Bash. Finished all the levels but it took me quite a but to solve the Bonus one. Felt very satisfied once I got it.
Currently Reading: The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson. I’m liking this one, such a unique concept. The author comparing and telling the story alongside another author who wrote about the incident over 100 years ago.
So Meta, An Artful House Begets an Artful House begets…
I don’t remember where I first heard about this location but I’ve driven by it at least once a week for years. More info on the actual house here https://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/93191. It seems like during open studios you can actually go inside and take a peek at everything inside. I think I want to do that come May!
The house is home to a unique display of creative splendor, lovingly rendered in glass and found objects . Anyway a while back they added this little Friend Smithsonian Museum to house different art projects. At this particular time one creative artist decided to replicate the actual house including all it’s various artworks in miniature form. It’s really quite amazing. If you look in the bottom right corner, there’s a copy of the museum with a model of the house again ad infinitum!
Here’s a better picture actually that I didn’t take with the covering taken off: https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/01/26/miniature-masterpiece-detailed-replica-brings-martha-friends-house-to-life/
Listen to the Lady
She was made by me in AI.
An observation: When you’ve been walking around in the cold in 4 degree weather all day, 20 degrees feels downright balmy!
Ahhh….Refreshing!
When you want something refreshing, check me out on Instagram!
Winter Doldrums
We are definitely in the doldrums of winter, and I am feeling it every day now. I am getting very tired of this bitterly cold stuff, and it is getting old. The weeks seem to go on forever, and it’s only Thursday? But I am getting excited to visit my old pal Lenny on Friday! I am looking forward to seeing him again – wonder if he remembers me? It has been quite a while.
Here’s a pic from about 10 years ago when the weather was a lot warmer!