Category: Memories

Small Business Saturday with Goats!

Posted on by Markman
Meeting Pascal
Hello Friend!
At Salvage Angel’s Popup Event
Check the cat in the window!
City boy at the farm

We did a few things for Small Business Saturday. First we took a ride out to Holliston to this little farm that was doing some kind of SBS event. With a purchase you got to hang with the goats for free so that’s what we did. We also got some amazing catnip there that Carson really seems to enjoy. I don’t know what it is about this particular stuff but I’d never seen him go after catnip like he does when encountering this concoction. They also had this cool light up goat like the reindeers we have but it was a goat and large! Can’t seem to find it anywhere online – would definitely get one if we can find it. After looking around the town a little bit (truth to tell there really isn’t a heck of a lot there) we headed over to Salvage Angel’s pop up event. Salvage Angel is like a place that sells antique and kitschy type stuff but every so often they have other vendors come by and set up tents outside to sell their wares. Got some stuff there too.

After all that we had to pick up some stuff at Target and Wal-Mart. (I know, Small Business Saturday?) The Target pick up was uneventful. You just go into the spot, let them know on the app, and they bring it out to you. The Wal-Mart run was a different story. The same basic concept except they seemed to be overloaded and couldn’t run it effectively. After waiting for long after a half hour we finally bailed and may attempt it another day. There was one point where the Ladydoc in utter frustration yelled out “Where are the workers!?” in typical LD fashion. I thought it was pretty hilarious but she was right and had a right to be annoyed. By this point we were getting hangry so we hit the local deli and got a sandwich to nosh on and some stuff to make for dinner tonight.

Return of Peng

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Had a great time yesterday. Everything went well, everyone had a good time, and there was enough food for everyone. Carson even said hello and got in on the fun at times.

Today I was tasked with beginning to set up the Xmas stuff. I got the reindeers out of storage and set them up this afternoon. These are the new ones that we got last year to replace the decade ones that we had before. I actually prefer these ones better – seem to be built better. Also brought out Peng, Carson’s Christmas buddy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thankful for the food before us, the friends beside us, and the love between us.

That time of year again! Just a little gratitude can unlock the great fullness of love. Wishing you a wonderful holiday full of love and plenty. Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and also, Happy National Jukebox Day! Maybe we’ll blast some tunes this weekend and wake up the neighbors!

Tuesday before the Turkey Day

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Game time: Connect-4 game.

After work today I drove down to Marshfield to pick up some of Thursday’s delectables. I was a little concerned about how the traffic would be since I’d be going in the late afternoon, but aside from the usual Braintree split awfulness of Route 93, it wasn’t all that bad. I was really pleased to see that the place where I got the stuff didn’t appear all the busy. I remember when I went last year there was a line out the door and we all had to wait in the cold until we could get inside. That wasn’t the case this time – guess it was a good time to go after all! Then I came home and did laundry and cooked dinner. I still need to hit the grocery store tomorrow morning for some last minute ingredients for some other items we want to cook, but that should be no big deal. The real nice part is I’m booked a massage in the early evening, which is going to be great because I could use one.

At the Half Time Show

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At the half time show? Not really, but did spent a lot of time on the phone with insurance companies today. What a royal pain. Also picked up some home baked pies from a local place in town here for Thursday’s dessert festivities. This year we are having my family over so that should be interesting, to say the least. I had to run a bunch of errands today so I was a little busy. I did go out and buy some blue daisies for a vase in the kitchen. I thought the blue would match really nicely.

Busy Little Beaver

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Today I took advantage of the wonderful weather to complete my winterizing duties and prepare for the season. After mowing the front and back lawns, I raked/bagged the leaves, cleaned out the shed and organized it a bit, switched out the tanks for the grill and the outdoor heater, got the grill put away for the season (probably won’t use the grill anymore, but we might use the outdoor heater! ), pulled the remaining flowerbeds from the raised boxes, they were done after the frost, stored away the power washer, brought out the shovels and roof rake for when it snows, put the patio umbrella away and reorganized the basement. Whew! Not sure why I’m telling all this, just proud of my accomplishments I guess.

Gas Guys Finally Show Up

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The gas folks showed up this morning (unannounced, of course) to connect the old gas line to the new one they dug out in the front lawn a few weeks ago. I wish they could have done it while it was warmer, but I believe the most important thing is to have it done as soon as possible. Actually, it wasn’t all that horrible; it was only a couple of hours in the morning, from approximately 9 until around 11:30. The meter is now closer to the front of the home, which works out better than where it was previously, which was down around the side deck, where leaves always accumulated and had to be kept free. Basically, better access and fewer impediments. This should a;; make fall cleanup a bit easier as well. Also the chimney guys are supposed to arrive on Friday to inspect and get a cap on that. Might need some masonry touchup too but we’ll see what comes out of it.

Currently Watching: Quiz Lady on Hulu. Mr. Linguine was my favorite.

Our Happy Friendsgiving 2023

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Had a nice time yesterday at our yearly little Friendsgiving get together. The food and company were superb. Good friends are where it’s at. Consider this our proof of life after today’s food coma.

Now today is the day to just sit back and relax and begin thinking about the actual Thanksgiving Day festivities planned!

Fall is Shot Time

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Gametime: Fall? A nice little puzzlescript game to distract me as I recover from getting my Covid shot this afternoon. Took me a little while but I was able to beat the game. Now back to my reading….

I forgot to mention that yesterday I went and picked up some nice Dedham Pottery placements and pot holders from a local woman who was looking to part with them. They look so cute with the rest of the kitchen décor. And speaking of that we finally hooked up the new drapes against the picture window to the kitchen dining area and it matches perfectly. Everything looks really nice, if I do say so myself.

Currently watching: Daisy Jones and the Six, NYPD Blue Season 3.

Making the Urban Look Beautiful

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And they say you can’t find anything beautiful in Somerville anymore…well, they’re wrong. I took this on Friday afternoon before heading back to Earth-2. Figured I’d take a walk around the old stomping grounds to see if I could get any good shots. I’m pretty pleased with how this one turned out. For those who don’t know it’s Powderhouse Park over by Tufts.

Currently Reading: Three books just came through on my docket: Eve, How the Female Body drove 200 million years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon, Making It So by Patrick Stewart, and Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz.

Yesterday we went to the Sanctuary to drop off some food. I made a new goat friend. Her name is Dansa and she was very friendly. We then took a little jaunt to Jordan’s to look at chairs. Nothing really caught the eye although we did end up having some Jordan Marsh famous blueberry muffins. One home we cooked like mad people, a casserole, and two ground turkey dishes. I was prepping all the ingredients like crazy. It was a busy little afternoon.

Monster Mash

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We had some friends over Saturday night and ended up actually playing some board games, Golden Girls Clue and Sorry. Ended up being pretty fun. For some unknown reason the GG version of Clue seemed unnecessarily complicated. Perhaps because the directions were not well written at all and in some instances didn’t not seem to make any sense. We trudges on and got the hang on it eventually and we learned that Stan stole the cheesecake in Blanche’s Bedroom absconding with it in Sophia’s purse. Hardly ever play board games anymore these days. LD won at Sorry and they won at Clue. Yes, I did not win any games. It was a good night for that kind of activity though because it was a rainy dreary day.

On Sunday I went solo to check out the Somerstreets Monster Mash. Basically just a thing were everyone gets dressed up and there’s vendors, artisans, musicians, etc. Like a street fair basically.

At a music stage
This girl was amazing swirling inside this hoop
A bunch of animals?
A pair of juggling witches
Spidey came by!
Been meaning to take this forever. The strangest advertisement ever. What’s up with the kid’s face?

The utility guys are out front of the house this morning, tearing up the lawn and jackhammering the street out in front. Joy of joys.

Been watching old shows lately since nothing’s really on anymore. Kicking it with some classic NYPD Blue. Remember that show? I also am a little proud of myself after making a nice shrimp succotash gemelli for dinner and it came out pretty good!

A Couple of Real Close Calls!

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Yesterday driving home a red tailed hawk swooped right down in front of my car as I was driving down the street. It stopped on the curb of the sidewalk and I stopped to look at it, as we both looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Then the hawk dug it’s beak into the grass and pulled out what appeared to be either a small field mouse or a vole or something. Then it just threw it neck back three times and swallowed it whole and alive. I’d never seen anything like that and so close to me to. It flew off right after before I had a chance to catch any snaps. We’ve also been hearing what appears to be an owl hooting at night nearby as we go to bed.

Last night while watching tv we heard a pop and then running water. I started freaking out, did the sink just decide to turn itself on full blast. I raced upstairs from where I heard the noise and into the bathroom. Water was covering the floor and a bit of spatter on the walls but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I quickly closed the valve on the floor to shut the water off and then I saw it. Apparently the connection from the wall to the tank somehow just blew. Thank God we were home to stop it, could you imagine if no one was here and it just kept running? It would have flooded the house and run down the stairs and everything. The plumber came today and fixed it though so we all good now, thankfully.

And Even More Annoying Now

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Just when you thought the utility crews closing down every street couldn’t possibly get much worse, they start digging up people’s lawns and driveways to install new piping. In fact, they just notified me that they intend to dig up the driveway here and relocate the gas meter to the front of the house. That should be interesting to say the least, and also quite disruptive. We all want to hear jackhammers and backhoes all day in the driveway, which we found out they want to do on Monday, and then in 2 weeks or so they’ll need to come inside the house to hook up the new pipe to the existing infrastructure which will shut us down for 5 hours or so. I’ll need to go down there and move some of stuff out of the way temporarily for them to have room to maneuver. And, of course, the traffic around here is terrible now that someone had the brilliant notion to do all of the neighboring streets at roughly the same time instead of rotating the schedule around more.

In happier news, I’ve been replacing the screens in the doors with the glass panes in anticipation of colder weather, and getting some stuff put away for the season. The kitchen and adjoining area are all done now, although we do need to get a new wired door bell chime to match the new décor. It was probably time for an update to that old system anyway. Maybe we can get one that has a better sound too. I also want to purchase a saw to take down on more stray tree that sprouted up over time and just grew. I still haven’t pulled out the tubers or addressed the sump battery yet. Maybe I’ll get to to those tomorrow. sometime.

I’m having great fun playing through Katti. I mentioned this game in the last entry. I’ve been able to get to the second set of levels called “The B-Side”. Excellent puzzle game.

Meeting Some New Pals

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Yesterday was a cooking day! We were on fire, in the morning cooking up all those apples – an apple crisp and some apple bread. In the afternoon we went to check out some of the recent arrivals at the sanctuary. Plus we had some canned corn and cat stuff we wanted to get over to them for some time now. In the evening we made a chicken dish and turkey meatballs.

The new paint on the adjoining kitchen room looks beautiful! The second coat will go on today and then it should be all done!

Gametime: Katti

Getting Some Apples for Autumn Goodness

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Yesterday morning I went out and did some yard work on the other side of the house. Apparently I discovered another one of those vine-like invasive rose-like tendril plants and had a nice little home for itself so I got the pruners and went to town cutting all the arms down the base of the stalk. This was an offshoot of that giant rose that I spent two days over last month cutting down that monstrosity, so I was glad to get to this one before it got unmanageable. That reminds me that I need to cut the dahlias and bring them in and put them in a vase. Soon I’ll need to dig up their tubers for winter storage.

In the afternoon LD wanted to take a trip to get some apples so we went to Stow and other surrounding areas for a drive. We ended up getting two bags of apples – we didn’t pick, just bought, and plan to bake some today in something. Also got some cider donuts and hot cider. We visited a couple of places and they were packed solid with people. We ended up at a little place that was quieter off the beaten track and got our donuts and cider there, but we did get the apples at Honeypot Hill.

The room directly abutting the kitchen is finally getting painted to match the adjoining kitchen, using the same colors as the kitchen walls so it will match nicely.

If I Was a FunkoPop Figurine

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This is me if I was FunkoPop figure.

Unfortunely today I accidently broke one of our ceramic/plastic ornamental pumpkins. We have one with a “P” on the front, and one with an “M” on the front, and guess which one fell out of my had and smashed to the floor in a bunch of tiny bits? Yup, the “P”. We got these years and years ago at the Christmas Tree Shop and have had them for probably close to a decade now. But now one is sadly gone forever. I’m not sure if I’ll ever find the exact replacement again, so I’m a bit bummed about that.

Is It Going to be One of those Days?

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You ever get your day going and you just seem to think it’s going to be one of those days were everything just seems to be a little off kilter? That’s what I’m feeling today.

I woke up a little late this morning and when I went to get the clothes out of the dryer this morning I noticed that the drum had been running all night and none of the controls would work. I’d encountered this problem before so after morning shift I went to work, removing the control panel and getting into the guts of the controller. There’s a relay that on occasion will get stuck in there so it just needs to be shaken loose a bit essentially. I then reassembled the control board and put everything back together. Once I did that the dryer was back to working normally. It’s apparently a common Samsung dryer problem.

Another pain in the butt thing that was going on this morning is that they decided to close our street and continue to do more underground utility work, thereby closing off most of the street. Uhmm, a little heads up would have been helpful. Plus, didn’t they finish this area a couple of months ago? Why the hell are they back here again tearing stuff up? It’s super annoying – especially all the rerouting you have to go through to get to anywhere.

Some kids passing by yesterday said hello to me and one mentioned that I was so kind. Not sure where that came from but it made my day nonetheless. Also attended a wake in Medford yesterday morning, just a quick pop in and out to pay respects, for a pal of LD’s. I made a nice risotto last night too as well for dinner. But why am I talking about yesterday?

Quick Update for the Masses

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Just a quick update. Had the old landlords over for a BBQ on Sunday – it was actually pretty nice. Even helped make some chili for later as well. Yesterday I spent a bunch of time over at Earth-1 getting the chainsaw fixed, getting some Portuguese soup from this local place that’s part convenient store that makes it really good and authentic – a hidden gem only us locals know about, paying some bills, and getting my Mom’s cats to the vet for their nail cutting. Today after handing out my usual complement of tickets to scofflaws, I took the AC out of the window. Starting the get chilly these days!

Enjoy this pic of two of the Three Sisters Light Houses down in Eastham. Nauset Light replaced these gals years ago.

In a Thick Pea Fog and Pumpkins

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The Pumpkin we grew named “Roger”
“Regina” on the left, “Ruru” on the right

Wow, it was thick as pea soup out there this morning. It all cleared up by about 10 am though and turned out to be a pretty good day. So I used it to get some things done that I’d been dragging my feet on the last couple of days. First,

  • Added some gas to the vehicle, was starting to get a bit too low for my liking.
  • Mowed the front lawn. It’s amazing how fast it grows. Got bit by some bug too which was unfortunate as it itches on my arm. Little f*cker.
  • Finally picked “Roger” the pumpkin off the vine. Proud that we grew this variety of pumpkin called a “Hot Chocolate Pumpkin”. Why is it named Roger? After Roger Moore, who played James Bond after Sean Connery. A Pumpkin we grew previously was named “Sean” in the same vein, so just keeping the line going. I suppose Regina should have been named Timothy after Dalton but I decided on Regina instead as it’s Roger’s “sister”. Not sure if Ruru, another pumpkin starting to form on the same vine, will make it, probably not, but Regina has a shot I think.
  • Helped LD set up her new Gravity Chair. It’s the bomb, now we can both relax the same way in our chairs!
  • Went down and had the propane tank to the gas grill refilled. Grilling season isn’t over yet!
  • Still need to refill the sump pump battery with distilled water, making sure not to douse myself in battery acid. Hopefully I can get to that sometime tomorrow.

Fall Cambridge Bike Ride in the Books

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At the start
Somewhere near Kendell Sq.
Pause for another selfie
Not the most strenuous ride ever

That time of year! It was time for the fall Cambridge bike ride again so I figured I would partake as it turned out to be a beautiful day. If I find other pictures that people had taken of the ride I’ll be sure to put them up and update this posting. There was one guy that we sort of know through the power of the internet that was also there and appeared to be filming it on his mounted GoPro so naturally I sidled up to him and a couple of times pulled in front just to see if I’ll be in his video later. First time I’d ever seen this dude in person – it’s a long story. I couldn’t help noticing some of the bikes these folks had, they looked really nice. Kind of makes me want to buy a new bike, maybe even an E-bike someday. Speaking of E-bikes, there was one guy there that made his own E-bike tricycle which was impressive enough but he also brought along his two pet bunnies that ride with him. Originally they were in the basket in back but at one point he took one out and placed it in front of him as he was riding. They seemed to like it.

Then when I came back to Earth-2 this afternoon I borrowed my mom’s chainsaw (Yes, my mom owns one!) and finally chopped down this tree that was part of the group of awfulness that I cut down a couple of weeks ago. There’s still one more to go but I think I’ll buy a hack saw for that. Chainsaw seems like overkill plus my cables don’t reach that far anyway.

Scaries Season

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It’s scary season, or just about. The cat and I are in charge of ourselves for a few days as LD hangs out with her friend down by the southern coast. We did have a nice get together the day her plane landed. We cooked dinner together, made a really good potato gratin actually, and hung out by the firepit (this was on Thursday). But now they’re away so it’s all about getting lit and eating sh*t! (not really). I’m really digging this new watch – it’s amazing at how powerful it is. Now I can never go back.

Oh, I’m Just Going to Hang Out for a Spell

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Woke up to see this creature just hanging out on the back patio this morning!

I’m really digging my new Samsung Smartwatch. It’s really cool how it integrates so seamlessly with the phone. I suppose it’s similar to what the Apple Watch does with the iPhone.

Been playing around with some more AI image generation tools. Here’s a cute thing of Carson I was playing around with.

Going on a Hayride with Baby Goats

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It may look like I’m walking a goat, but Ralphie here was actually walking me!

Going on a hayride with baby goats? And then walking them after? Hell, yes! Thankful that all the rain we were supposed to have pretty much held out for most of the day up in Georgetown, Massachusetts! Good memories were made this day my friends! You can click on any photo below for a bigger look.

Giving Snowball a trat
Walking Ralphie and Snowball
Ralphie walking me
Ralphie
Selfie Booth!

I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 so the Fitbit is out. It just arrived so I’m off to mess with it now and see how it compares and what other cool things I can do with it.