I’ve just received word that one of my photos has been selected as winner for the Duxbury Beach Reservation! In addition to being featured in their 2023 calendar I’ll be getting some prizes. (although now that I think about it, 2023 is a year away, so it’s going to be a while!) Still, this is fantastic news and I’m pleased that the vision I had for this particular photo resonated with the judges!
Thank you for everyone who has supported me in this endeavor!
Why was I not notified that today of all days was National Pizza Day? How could I let something like that slip by me? It may come as no surprise that Pizza is actually my favorite food and always has been. I can’t remember the first time I ever ate pizza but I guess my earliest pizza memories were probably going to a place called Speedy Pizza in Davis Square back in the day with my grandparents. (It’s no longer there but another pizza place currently sits in it’s space). If I can remember properly, which I usually cannot, I think it was like a Friday night thing, sort of weekly though not always. Later on I remember going out to pizza with them on Fridays down at the old Assembly Square Mall back when it existed and they had a Papa Gino’s in there. I do remember it was usually after a Friday night trip to K-Mart. For some reason this became kind of a treat for me, to go with them, and I mean hey, pizza! As a matter of fact in elementary school, and I suppose even all the way up through high school, when I went the lunch I had was always pizza. Maybe it wasn’t, but that’s all I remember eating. Back then, children’s nutrition wasn’t a big a thing as it is nowadays. Plus that pizza was like the Ellio’s – not that good but provided the required sustenance. Well tonight I plan on making salmon with broccoli and some Delecata Squash Gratin but maybe come this Friday, I’ll go order up a nice large cheesy pie and raise a couple of slices to my grandparents in heaven and Remember When.
Ended up being a rather productive Saturday as we did a little reorganizing of the home office here and cleaned up a bit. To relax we ended up watching the story of The Tinder Swindler on Netflix. In between all that I happened to notice Carson just hanging around on his cat tree and was lucky enough to grab this picture. Such a handsome, sweet and cute boy. He really saved us during this pandemic.
Making Kindness the Norm. LD found out about this thing where you color this image and then submit it and you get a sticker and maybe some other things if you’re lucky. Seemed like a good thing to do on a crappy weather day. My particular entry is on the left here using colored pencils. You still have time to get your own in if you’re interested and let’s face it, kindness should be the norm in this world of ours. Last night we also binged watched just about every episode of “Unbelievable” on Netflix. It’s really good, definitely recommend.
Think I’m going to attempt to make an Irish Beef Stew tonight. Perhaps I’ll update this entry as to how it all turns out.
On a day like today, really nasty, icy sleety freeing rain what’s a better thing to do than come up with another website redesign for the ol’ Hatchetation? We’ll see how long I stay with this one. If you have any particular thoughts on this deign please feel free to share them with me. I would be interested in your input. I also went ahead and purchased my resident parking sticker online. Unbelievable that they charge 40 bucks for that nowadays. I can remember when it was a dollar, then it went to 5 (it was at that cost for a while), then 10, then 20, and now 40. I can also remember when you could get them over at a building in Powderhouse Park, but those days are long gone now. I’ve also been starting to get all my tax documents together little by little. Planning to go over that probably by the end of the month. I don’t like to wait too long on things like that, just one part of a somewhat rigid personality trait that I possess. I was feeling pretty accomplished last night as I made this amazing chicken and gnocchi parmesan which actually came out really stellar. It even looked amazing but sadly I neglected to photograph it. Just the way the mozzarella cheese was bubbling was browned ever so slightly on top. Mmmhmmm.
Sometimes when you lose your way in the fog, you end up in a beautiful place!
Update: Currently Playing: Checkpoint – I completed all 26 levels – feeling accomplished!
Currently Watching: Been watching the Secrets of Playboy documentary series on A&E. It’s not bad.
Currently Reading: Fighting Time by Banks and Knapper
Currently Eating: Using the lettuce we’ve grown hydroponically on burgers we made.
Currently Listening: the Jukebox naturally! Another Loaf record has arrived!
Currently Don’t Care: Tom Brady Retiring – enough already.
Looking forward to some really cool stuff coming up real soon so stay tuned for that!
Quite the day. Over 2 feet of snow. Did a little shoveling out the driveway tonight so we could move our cars, for the plow guy to give us a huge help tonight. However today we did do a lot of cooking and baking, A whole chicken in the Instant Pot and then Chicken Soup, a bunch of baked goods like banana bread and peanut butter oats. Big cooking day here. I spent a good part of the day preparing all the ingredients and LD did most of the actual baking. 🙂
“Certain houses are so exceptional, so unique, and they affect the lives of so many people, that they are no longer merely houses—places where people live and eat and sleep—but something else altogether. They have become icons. On the idyllic Ocean Avenue that winds out of Kennebunkport’s Dock Square, there stands just such a house.
Built on a tiny neck of land jutting into the ocean, and constructed to appear as though it is growing out of the rocky shore, the summer cottage—known to many as the Stone House—has inspired hyperbole of impressive proportions over the years. Residents and tourists alike have created and perpetuated myths about the house, which many see as the archetype of a coastal Maine residence. Many make the unverifiable claim that the house is the single most photographed and painted house in the state. One popular legend would have us believe the house is the same that appears in silhouette during the opening credits of the late-1960s vampire television soap opera Dark Shadows. And, perhaps stemming from that gothic association, the home is also rumored to be haunted.
But beneath the fog of folklore and hearsay, the Stone House—or Bayberry Cove Cottage as its architect actually named it—is a real home with a real history. And it is inhabited by a real family that has owned and revered it for three generations.” – Maine Home and Design
And to think you can actually rent out this 6 bedroom stone mansion on the Atlantic Ocean in Maine for a measly 17,000 a week! I bet it would be pretty amazing though. Fun Fact: LD has a colleague who grew up in KBP and knows the family and actually has been inside. Uhmmm, can we get some access one of these days!?!?
Woke up depressed, but later in the afternoon decided to take a walk on the beach and saw this scene, this particular rock just sitting there as is. Figured it make make a good picture. Ups and downs in life. By the afternoon I was feeling much better. It’s not always sun and roses these days but I try to make the best of it and move on. We had a nice late lunch at Sung Harbor before heading back as the sun was beginning to set. Memories to cherish for sure.
And yes, now we have jumped on the Wordle bandwagon. I think the fact that I’ve done thousands of crossword puzzles makes me pretty good at this game.
I got my replacement sprout for the hydroponic garden to replace the one that didn’t take. All the other 5 varieties are growing super fast now, I’m going to have to prune them soon, maybe even eat some!
“Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal.”
– Samuel Richardson.
Here’s a pretty good Mahjongg type game I’ve been playing lately. I especially like the various board layouts you can try out. My current fav is the Snake layout but it’s all good. Shanghai
Things are starting to get back to normal around here which is really good and provides me with a sigh of relief. LD is finally back and doing well. I did take a tumble down the stairs this morning but thankfully it was my left buttcheek that took the brunt. Thankfully not on my tailbone because that would have been really problematic. I’m alright, maybe just a teeny bit sore in the affected area. The stupid railing finally gave, I had a feeling it would sooner or later and I guess today was the day. Going to have to get new brackets and reinstall since that’s the part that snapped, they’ve been there since forever. None the worse for wear though so no worries. I’m a pretty tough cookie.
On a positive note, the hydroponic garden we’ve started is performing nicely. Real soon I’ll be able to remove the little domes on the sprouts and they can grow freely. I also checked on the pine tree out back that showed signs of distress this summer but I’m pleased to see that it has mostly recovered on it’s own. It even has two pinecones on it now.
I disabled comments on posts that are greater than two weeks old moving forward. Seems spammers just would add stupid comments. It’s really a waste of their time since every comment has to be registered and approved which theirs never would be but I got sick of seeing the notifications about it, so that ought to curb that.
Things I do to pass the time lately these days, playing around with various filters to entertain myself. I thought this one was kinda cool. Let me put a spell on you with my magic hands. Actually I don’t need a filter for that, but speaking of doing things with hands…
I went down to an antique dealer this afternoon and picked up a couple of drawer craft cabinets to store craft supplies for LD that she had ordered. These will go with another hand crafter cabinet that a carpenter must have built for someone a couple of weeks ago using solid wood, not any of that particle board crap. That one is so cute looking, plus you can’t beat the price and I think there is just something about some hand crafted woodworking. Carpentry was one of the things that I was interested in as a child but I never pursued it. I think having to sand down a project we had to do in shop class for what seemed like 5 billion times in high school burnt me out on it. However, my sister is actually really good at carpentry believe it or not. She can build or repair just about anything. Also, I saw you rolling your eyes regarding my hands comment.
Not looking forward to being outside at all tomorrow, but those are the breaks!
Woke up to the first snow storm of the year. We got about 13″ in this area but at least it was mostly fluffy. I’ve been going back in forth to the hospital that last couple of days and probably for next few days to visit LD (thankfully it’s not Covid related, but still the sooner she can leave the better – caring thoughts appreciated, things are looking good but I still worry!)
The plow guy came after I was pretty much done so I didn’t need his services this time (my own masculinity remains intact if my back is a little sore – lol). I’ll be on the heating pad tonight! I’m only half kidding – it really isn’t that bad. Just want to get LD home as healthy and as soon as possible.
You may notice that I’ve moved this site over to a https URL instead of the less secure http that I’ve been using. So you may need to update your bookmarks but probably not. I’m not collecting any information from visitors, not doing e-commerce or anything like that, it’s just a prudent thing to do.
I just heard my New Years Eve skating photo from a few days ago was featured on NECN. Pretty cool. For some reason they don’t seem to be notifying anymore, just showing on tv. I wouldn’t have known about it but a woman I used to work with back in my AutoCAD drafting days saw it and commented the news to me.
I just picked up and finished reading Fauci: Expect the Unexpected. Easy read. That’s my first book on 2022. Hopefully I’ll be able to do more reading this year. I was horrified to learn that according to my Goodreads I had only read 5 books in 2021. Is that right? My average is around 25-30 books a year.
Spent a part of yesterday getting things set up. For one, I finally got the AeroGarden up and running. Pretty cool how it uses hydroponics on a desktop type scale. What we didn’t realize is that the super bright light it uses to imitate sunlight will be on for 15 hours a day. I woke up early today to try to sync the lighting time with our daily schedule. We also set up LD’s professional website, the URL is up and we’re still working on the design and content style but all the admin stuff is installed and ready to go.
Spent a little bit of yesterday checking out the New Year Festivities down in the local town. I think this shot captured the night pretty well. LD helped me direct this shot btw! Ended the night with Starbucks’ hot chocolate, looking at some lights on people’s houses, watching television, eating shrimp cocktail, and just laying low. Strangely yesterday didn’t really feel like any particular special day to me, just seemed like a regular day in the end. Fell asleep on the couch but did wake up in time to see the ball drop in NYC, then right to bed. Been that kind of a year I guess, I think 2022 is going to be the year that we’re going to be back to normal going into the spring. High hopes!
A picture’s worth a thousand words they say, so here are some of the highlights from the past year. 2021 wasn’t totally terrible, and there were some really high points, but 2022 looks to be really special and hopefully will also be better in so many ways. We can hope!
Photo Descriptions:
More in-depth notes on above:
There were so many beach walks and hangs this year I can’t remember them all. Most of them were either to Duxbury or Marshfield, usually on a weekend day. Just to hang and walk mostly. A couple of times we used our chairs to sit out in the summer or even actually went into the water but many of the trips were just to walk.
The main lighthouses that we hug around this year were at Nubble Light in Maine (always a classic – staying right across from it away from the tourists was also a treat) and Nauset Light in Eastham down on the Cape. It was really cool this year to stay in a cottage right next door to the light and the beach was literally across the street. It also helped that it’s on a private dirt road so there weren’t many people around in that particular area. 10-10 would do again. Plus the place was so cute!
Getting our shots was big this year, for me it was a couple of trips up to Amesbury because that’s where I could get an appointment at that time, so we made the best of it by exploring the neighboring sights afterwards like Salisbury Reservation and Plum Island.
It was cool that baby wildlife decided to grace us with their presence, baby bunnies born in a pot for the second year in a row and didn’t mind Carson watching them. I think he was more their protector than an adversary if you can believe that. Baby hawks too, very majestic, but hopefully never found Shiloh and company. Shiloh, the last baby bunny that was scared to leave after all his siblings did. LD was kind enough to put out some water and a lettuce plant for him. The next day, two nibbles off the plant, two little poops, and he was gone to live his adventures. I do admit to having empty nest syndrome every time they leave us.
Staying on an Alpaca farm was pretty cool, in rural Connecticut with family. Learned a lot, also a bit of fly swatting which can be annoying. And got to hang with baby goats which is always a pleasure.
Celebrated my birthday on the Cape. Special times there and stayed in a pretty cool Airbnb called the Osprey Nest because it feels like its up in the trees. Although the place was a little small, it literally had everything you could possibly need. Plus they had this cool booth that I would use in the kitchen area. 10-10 would stay again. I feel I get some of the best pictures I ever take down on the Cape for whatever reason. It’s a beautiful area but there’s something more that I can’t place why.
Our one outing to New Jersey this year was at another BnB (BnB’s were big this year for us – expanding choices) in Lavalette, a cute little beach town. It was a bit downcast and windy while we were there but it was still pretty cool. I enjoyed the area so much that it’s my #2 of my fav places in that state. It just seemed to have it all to me, easy access to whatever you need, a beautiful beach and boardwalk, not really busy at all (and if you want that you could drive to the next down over – Seaside Heights). That particular trip didn’t exactly work out as planned but I enjoyed it.
The last BnB and most recent was in Arundel, Maine. Stayed there because the town of Kennebunkport was doing it’s annual Christmas Prelude. HGTV featured the annual Kennebunkport celebration as the “#2 Christmas Town in America.” Plus we got to meet up with one of LD’s former colleagues and met the dogs Pippa and Boomer, and Boomer left quite an impression! Sailing up and down the Kennebunk River in a lobster boat while sipping coffee brandy on a sunny day was also rather enjoyable.
But as much as we enjoyed the few times away (choose to keep it rather low key due to the virus circulating, and were neurotic about being careful) staying at home was just as much so, whether with firepit outing with friends or just ourselves. Carson was also a really big help in that department as our mutual love him and for eachother kept us all sane.
I know I’m probably forgetting a bunch of stuff but these are the moments that I think were some of the high points, at least for me personally. I’d like to give all my love and thanks to LD for making it all happen and making me feel like the luckiest man alive every year.
After running a bunch of errands early in the afternoon we had decided to lay low for the rest of the day. But then we got a call from a couple we know asking us if we’d be up for a firepit hang. So after some debate we said ok and we had a nice fire outside and we got to use the new heater for a second time and have learned that it actually throws really good heat and no one was cold. We also got to use up some of the alcohol that we’d purchased on xmas eve so that helped as well. With the last two outings now I’ve gone through all the wood so I’ll have to get more in the next day or two. It was nice to have some social time.
In the evening it was more season 3 of the O.C. binging. Approaching the end. However I’ve learned that there is now a podcast being run by two of the stars that discuss various classic episodes and have some of the actors and writers/producers on discussing various episodes and what not so I may tune in to that at the end just for fun (search for It’s the OC Bitches on YouTube or any podcast thing you use). I never saw this show back in the day, and the high point for me was the first half of season 1, but it’s still a good show that holds up even today.
Spent the afternoon walking along the beach and trails in Marshfield. Felt we had to get out of the house, get some fresh air, and maybe a little bit of exercise. After doing a little internet research I’ve discovered that all these various benches along the trail are actually dedicated after dogs. I don’t know who Sammy was but I can see that they were much loved by their owners.
Had a nice quiet holiday yesterday. We opened our gifts (and even got a surprise! – Thanks L+D!) and baked cookies and watched some shows and ate meals. Carson made out quite well and I think all his excitement got to him as he ended up sleeping for most of the day after playing with his cat toys. It may not have been the usual holiday that we do (we didn’t see the littles this time around) but you have to make do with the best you can. And of course we missed those we could not share the holiday with.
So it looks like we have a little bit of snow on the ground today – looks good with just a little bit of white on the ground. LD had an acquaintance former trainee over this afternoon outside which gave us a chance to use the firepit again and to finally break in the outdoor heater. Ended up spending about 3 hours out there but even though it was a bit cold out we were actually quite toasty. Plus it was nice to have some company.
After that was all done we went out and got some takeout that had been pre-ordered a few days ago. Just feeling the Italian for a change instead of the usual ham blah blah blah. What a nice day! Merry merry to all!
I awoke to a strange sight outside the house as I was getting ready to get in my car to go to work. There was a rather large package waiting in the driveway which for a second thought might be ours but upon further inspection was not, It appears to be some kind of water filtration device after googling the company name listed on the box and appears to be quite expensive. Anyway the address is nowhere close to ours (the number and street are nothing alike) and upon further investigation I believe it may possibly belong to someone either in another part of town or a different town altogether. Looking up the tracking number I’ve noticed someone put in a ticket to investigate. LD contacted UPS later to tell them about it (UPS is the WORST btw). I’ll just leave it where it is for now and see what happens.
I went vegetarian tonight and cooked up a white bean and swiss chard stew along with some parmesan garlic bread. Now swiss chard is not normally something as part of my repertoire but this actually came out pretty good!
Finally a fun night out in Boston! Down by the seaport! Meeting up with a friend and having a dinner by the water! (same friend we hung out with in Kennebunkport a little while ago. She lives in both places). In an igloo which was warm, ventilated, spacious, and fun! Would def. recommend and do again. It was cold outside though but nothing a New Englanders like us couldn’t handle (the eggnog cocktail warmed me up pretty good as well – as evidenced in pics #1 and 3 above – must have had something to do with the peanut butter whiskey). It did throw me for a little bit of a loop! Yeah, I was feeling pretty good by this point. The food was also quite tasty, I happened to go with the pumpkin ravioli and I really enjoyed it. The seaport is a really cool area now. Totally fun night!
