Category: Selfie Love

Sunday Full of Pool, Goats and Kittens

Posted on by Markman

What a full weekend this was! I think we might need to lay pretty low next weekend. After heading to the office to drop off some things it was off to the north to visit old G-town again. LD had seen that they were doing something with kitten so we said why the heck not. Since our friends also live in town, they were kind enough to let us have some of their pool time, so we floated there and hung with them and Mollie for a couple of hours. Then it was off to the farm. First there was some baby goat hang with some live music out on the lawn area which was actually pretty fun. After about an hour or so of that it was into the barn we went to do some yoga (which no one really does because you really just want to hang with the animals, at least in our case) although I did do some. I’m not as flexible as I used to be I am learning. Ouch! Oh, and then the kittens came out, so cute. Must only be a couple weeks old I’d imagine. Did you know that LD had never in her life held a kitten before? She had cats, but never from being a kitten, so this was pretty special in that way in that she finally got to interact with the little creatures. At then end we watched their mother nurse them as they were probably getting hungry and sleepy. So precious to see. We took well over 200 pictures from both events but I’ll just provide a sampling here for now.

Life’s Pretty Gourd Right Now!

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Three highlights from Saturday. We finally got out to Lexington to check out the annual pumpkin wall over at Wilson Farms (something that I had been wanting to check out for a while) and while there we even purchased some goods, like pumpkins and mums and various treats. Then if was off to Revere Beach where we hung out for a few hours. The beach was warm but there was a constant sea breeze which felt cool. I also had a Kelly’s lunch there. One interesting thing was watching the seagulls get these mollusks and fly up into the air with them to then drop them to let the fall help crack them open. Every now and then a different gull would grab one’s hard work. Finally came home on grilled in the early evening. Burgers and some corn that we got at the farm. Today we’re going to get some friend pool time in before checking out some kitty and goat experience. We’ll see how that all goes!

Sure as a Trip to Sherborn

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Haven’t updated in a while. Time flies! Saturday we had a nice lunch in the park after a quick visit to the office to figure out lamps and various décor. Then yesterday we visited some animal friends. LD had found out somehow that the town of Sherborn was having a thing where participating farms could be visited for free for a time so we decided to check it out. As a bonus our friend Em came along (sort of a out-of-the-blue-last-minute-want-to-hang-out for the afternoon thing, to which we naturally said “Of Course!”. We do like hanging out with Em, she’s super cool.

Tallest cow I ever saw!
Dudley!
Dudley is a special cow
Geese face off
Two guys
Dudley!
The boys
Finished off with an ice cream

After all that we hit a Trader Joe’s and got a bunch of things, then we were pretty fried so we got some take out and settled in for the night with some television watching. We finally finished watching every episode of the Shield (amazing show!) and are now starting to look for some good things to watch.

Currently Watching: Under the Bridge on Hulu.

Gametime: CubeMerge

Hanging It Up

Posted on by Markman

Currently Reading: The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI Ray Kurzweil

I went into the gym this morning that has an outside pool and large hot tub so I could use the hot tub. Ahh, that felt pretty good. It was a beautiful morning too so that adds a lot to it. Then it was off to Staples to return some Amazon things. They make the returns so easy now, just pop in and they scan a QR code and it’s done. Afterwards we headed to the office to hang up one of my photographic landscapes. This particular shot is a little old before I really knew how to shoot scenes better so there’s a newer shot that I want to do and hang, at least for myself. When I get around to having that done I’ll post that here as well. Finished off the afternoon with a short nap in my gravity chair on the deck (maybe that hot tub took more out of me than I thought!) and then some light grilling of burgers and salmon. A pretty standard Labor Day weekend thing to do.

Pool Time to Enjoy the Tail End of Summer

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Drove up to Beverly in the morning to pick up some more unique and somewhat large Dedham Pottery for display. It just so happened to be on the way to our planned destination of hanging out in our friends pool up that way, that is just about complete. All the hardscape is in, new deck, incorporated grill, firepit, etc. Just need to seed the grass areas so by next season it will really shine. Actually it’s a quite beautiful setup. I was in the pool for quite some time and had a blast just floating on the “Chill Chair” as can be seen in the photos. We were afraid at one point that it might rain, but thankfully it never did and ended up being a spectacular afternoon! Lucked out again!

Later in the afternoon we grilled. We brought up some shrimp and we had prepared some veggies and local sweet corn and brought up some of our tools like these grill cages to make kabobs. Mollie, their super cute dog, is getting bigger but she is still a handful. Of course she is still just a puppy but training her has been a bit of a challenge. She’s quite sassy, but I like that about her. She also needs to be a little more chill, which for her is kind of impossible, because her leg has a joint that can get out of place and then it needs to be massaged basically to slide back into place. Poor thing! She just doesn’t seem to know her own body yet, or maybe she gets so excited that she doesn’t even think of any consequences of her actions. We ended up staying so much longer than anticipated. Time just went by so fast! We got home just as the sun went down, all in all, another perfect day.

Visiting an Old Friend in a New Place

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Finally got around to visiting LNU’s new location in Providence, RI this afternoon. It’s a more direct shot now to get to, but in a somewhat busier part of town and not as quaint, but the new digs are more spacious and the food is all still great! Also nearby was a mural with a message that said, “Most of Us Live Off Hope” which we thought was great.

Beach, Dog Snuggles, Art, Family, Nothing Better

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Family came to visit this weekend. Sort of an impromptu visit but it was a good one. Friday night I grilled and we did a firepit as everyone got settled. Saturday we went to the DeCordova Museum in the afternoon to check out some sights, get some photo ops, etc. The hearts are the best thing there in my opinion but that slanted house which is a newer installation was also pretty cool. Naturally we had to pose with it, along with some other installations. Had pizza in the afternoon at the hotel, and then headed to the beach in the late afternoon for some swim time. I think the dog had the best time of all!

Sunday was another low key day, breakfasts and then I watched the dog while everyone went to the pool to cool off and/or exercise. I will say the dog was extremely well behaved and such a pleasure to be around. Such a sweet dog. Not sure how Carson felt about everything but he got through it. Late afternoon was another grilling session, LD and one guest helped with some amazing sides, and even had the landlady down the street over to join.

All in all it was a pretty amazing time! Go figure!

.I will admit, I am a little fried at the moment. Geez, it’s tough to get older!

World Goat Day Wednesday Morning

Posted on by Markman

Got another good lead on some dollhouse stuff. Amazing detail – like a 1940s radio with a dial that actually works, and Campbell soup cans and musical instruments, even a pool table, are you kidding me!? – the detail of these tint little things is amazing. You can tell some of it is pretty vintage. They’ll be great additions for the kids to interact with.

Spent the afternoon doing a bunch of weeding since it’s a bit on the cooler side today, but pleasant. The weather, not weeding. Weeding is not pleasant.

We watched the Connecticut Sun rip it up at the Garden last night. So cool that LD’s trainer has a daughter that plays on the team and another one that does the sportscast! Women’s Pro Basketball has really exploded in the last year or so! It was great to see so much positive energy on display. It’s a really good thing.

I heard today is world Goat Day so here’s some Goat pictures to celebrate!

Karson and Kennedy Ice Cream Social

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Today’s little mini adventures were that we had a nice lunch at a steakhouse that was participating in Dine-Out Boston. As today was the last day it made sense to try to take advantage of the deals they were having.

Later in the afternoon Karson and Kennedy were having an ice cream social to help support a local hockey team. To be honest, I really had no idea who these people were but apparently they are some pretty popular radio personalities around these parts so why not check and out and help support a good cause? Plus it was literally right down the street.

You can learn more about why and the “karens” etc. here.

I finally got around to planting the irises we picked up last night. Hopefully by next spring they will be blooming and brightening up another part of the yard. Lastly, planning on going to light a fire pit tonight! It’s appearing to be a great night for one.

Doing the Ziptrip Thing and Minigolfing

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Woke up early this morning to check out the final Boston Fox25 News Ziptrip of the year. It ended up being over in the next town so I figured why not check it out. I got some free swag while I was there (I had gone one time before probably ten years or so ago – I actually got on tv that time and people watching in their homes actually recognized me!). It seemed a bit smaller this time. In all honesty once you get over the novelty of actually seeing the people in person that you see on tv every morning it’s a little boring. There’s a lot of just standing around as they just film in-between the news segments. One cool thing is they had all the ducks there. Scroll back in time if you want to see them all individually when we went to check them all out.

Now on to the main event of today!

One of our couple-friends were coming over today and I had suggested we do an activity. Originally I had wanted to do a glass blowing class but that sounded too expensive and somewhat of a time commitment (might still do it some other time though!) or axe throwing but one of our guests threw out his back a few weeks ago so that was out for now (still want to that that though too!) . Eventually just settled on playing a round of Minigolf. There’s a great course over in Dedham – supposed to be one of the best which is good because a lot of the mini golf courses around here are ass.

Finished off the day with a lead on three small Dedham pottery bunnies so we picked those up and then someone in town was getting rid of a bunch of their bearded irises so we went and picked those up and I’ll try dropping them in the ground tomorrow.

Surfing Ahead Into the Week

Posted on by Markman
A surfer heads out with the Narraganset Towers in the background.
Don’t Worry, Be Capy!

Fri: I really enjoyed my first time trying out Reflexology (I would definitely do it again and at the place where we got it done) and then after we had a terrific lunch at a great little Turkish place called Cafe Mangal. Maybe a little pricey but the food is truly excellent. Sat: I got around to installing the new firefly in the back and they work and compliment the other ones flawlessly. We took advantage of some down time and finished up the night with my barbequing some salmon which we made into salmon burgers and then we did a little firepit and had some s’mores. Sunday: Took a ride to pick up something LD saw on the marketplace that will come in quite useful and happily we’ve tried it out and it works wonderfully! I’d mention what it is tomorrow sometime but I’ll leave it a surprise for right now. Also picked up a pasta dish of eggplant parm from Comella’s (a place we’ve been wanting to try) to prepare at home tonight.

Trolls and Elephants and Fun, Oh My!

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For my Birthday yesterday I got to check out some amazing sights in the beautiful coastal areas of Rhode Island. First up, was a drive down to the charming community of Charleston, RI, a place we had never been. We were there to see the trolls Greta and Erik. There’s a bunch of these trolls up in Maine at the Botanical gardens, which I may get to check out and some point, but these two are newer and closer. I had a little bit of a hard time finding Greta, but LD, with her mazing tracking skills, was able to locate her pretty quickly. A nice woman who works at the senior center there nearby gave us some great tips on where to go and find them! (Each picture below is clickable to see a larger version).

Greta!
Erik
If you’re a troll park here

We were going to eat at a local place in Charleston but after a while that didn’t seem like the greatest idea so we headed over to Narraganset and ate at a place called The Coast Guard House, which amazing is literally right next to the Towers in a building that used to be a Coast Guard Life Saving Station back in the 1880s until the 1940s. The views there are amazing and the food was excellent, also the prices weren’t that bad! (I did get a little tipsy again on some drinks).

tipsy!

Then it was off the beautiful town of Newport to check out the installation of the elephant migration. We ended up going to the ones at Salve Regina University, although there’s some at the Breakers and a couple of other locations. The amount of detail on the elephants is truly amazing! We spent quite a bit of time there, plus it’s right along the cliff walk which is beautiful.

We finished off the day with a giant pizza! What a great day! Today I’m off to my very first ever reflexology appointment – we’ll see how that goes!

Oh, I almost forgot! I got some great gifts too! A Dunkins gift card from our friend Em, a foot massager, some capybara socks and a capybara shirt (I love capys!) , and some more fireflies to help light up the night in the back patio!

Happy National Lighthouse Day and Pizza Cupcakes to Boot!

Posted on by Markman
Pemaquid Point

I’ve always loved lighthouses, just everything about them, their location, their various looks, their history, the people who lived in the them and tended the light, their bravery. I just think it’s pretty cool. I’m sure many people feel the same way. I’m very lucky to live in new England where there are so many. Boston was home to the very first lighthouse in America after all (and it’s still there!)

I really lucked out with this shot – just as a storm was getting ready to roll in. That’s exactly what a lighthouse was built for! (also mad props have to go to LD for taking the shot and getting me there! I love you so much!)

Got to try something of a novelty today! Finally went down to try this place called Boston Pizza Cupcakes.

I ended up trying the ones with Buffalo Chicken topping and double pepperoni! We also considered getting as s’mores topped one but maybe for another day. Definitely a novelty item but fun, in a way.

The Duck Hunt Was On!

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The Ladydoc had heard that there were painted ducks all around the town of Walpole, so we wanted to check them out. There were only five, so they were easy to find. Plus, they’re in different parts of town so it’s a great way to see some of Walpole. These ducks were designed and painted by a group of students from Walpole High, and they’re a fun way to celebrate the town’s 300th anniversary! The ducks names are Maggie, Lewey, Wally, Morgan, and Birdy. I never expected to be checking out ducks this afternoon but spontaneity can be fun!

Hanging with Maggie at the Aggie
Birdy
Wally
Morgan
Lewey

You can learn more about the ducks as well as some Google map links which I used to find these guys at this website.

Even though it rained later in the afternoon we went ahead and grilled some chicken, shrimp, and salmon. I dodged the raindrops as best I could!

Catching Summer Beginnings of August

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Enjoy another shot from our Cape trip above. Today in the late afternoon we hit Revere Beach because it was so hot out today. I even went into the water which even though I go to Revere quite a bit lately, I actually had not gone into the water there since I was a kid, if you can believe that! The water was a little on the cold side which I wasn’t expecting, but refreshing and cooled me down as I sat on the beach chair afterwards. Finally went to check out the sand castles there. The two that caught my eye were cat-inspired ones.

I Like Big Flips and I Cannot Lie!

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Took a quick jaunt today over to Bow Market in Somerville this afternoon. Luckily I was able to get on street parking right across from the place because parking down there is brutal, assuming you can even find a spot. There was a roast beef place I wanted to try called The Hotbox, which I had read about in a magazine that I was perusing whilst waiting for LD at a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago. It was pretty good – I ended up getting a junior three way. The sauce is a little spicy but not bad at all, perhaps that’s why they chose that name? anyway, the whole area has a bunch of little local shops and a very cute outside seating area, which I partook of. Also while there I saw they what appeared to be a small pinball parlor, so I went and played some of those classics, the machines range from from the 70s through the 90s, and I guess they swap them out with other ones every so often. Pretty cool little place.

Finally, toward the end of the afternoon I had to hit a grocery store and they had these cute little roses on sale. I couldn’t resist and picked up one that had light purple flowers.

And finally, to close out the afternoon I went to see this band play over at the local gazebo playing some pop hits from the 70s and 80s. They sounded really good!

Creating a Vibe Though Unintentional at the Time

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Yesterday was such a good day to take it easy. I hung my gravity chair on the back deck and relaxed, maybe even dozed off for a bit. Then I hit the local market and bought fresh zucchini, chicken, and salmon to grill. I was able to finish it all just as it started to rain lightly. Otherwise, I would have had a fire pit outing, which would have been nice. It was a pretty chill Sunday.

Here’s another shot I took from my outing to Grey’s beach in Yarmouth down on the Cape. I love this span, it’s so long and the names and sayings on the boards are really nice. Anyone can have their own for a price. This shot is sort of giving me vibes of The Scream, the painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch!

I have a bunch of things that I’ve been wanting to check out coming up soon. Some of it historic as I’m always trying to learn new things about the places that we live at – a little bit of hidden history you might say, along with some what may be interesting food choices and the usual fun stuff.

So Lucky to Experience the Best Sunsets!

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Really enjoyed our time down here. Some of today’s highlights .. getting massages early in the morning to start off the day and they were good. Then off to Capt. Baker’s Donuts – amazing unique concoctions! Went to Nauset Beach and did some shopping too for a few, and then jumped in the pool for a bit before they told us to get out because it was going to rain. It rained but only for like 10 minutes after which time we grilled some burgers on the charcoal. Then we noticed the skies actually clearing up as sunset approached (!) so I suggested we hit Skaket and it was a good call as it was a spectacular sunset tonight – we didn’t want to leave! Even after it went down you could still see so much cotton candy colors in the sky and clouds. Finished it up with a trip to the Sparrow again! I’ll have to flesh this entry out better later but you get the gist!

Bass River
Bass River
Bass River
Bass River
Best Donuts
Check out the descriptions!
I got the PB&J Doughnut!
Yums!
Hanging out at Nauset Beach
Found time to grill!
Spectacular sunset tonight
Such a large vista of beauty

The Best of Times and Tides

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It turned out to be a pretty good sunset over at the Creek after the day being mostly cloudy and overcast. We had dinner just before at a place called the Blue Island Crab and it was delicious! I think it may now be my favorite place to eat down here, the food was extraordinary! Great drinks too, one which actually got me pretty buzzed, which is not something I usually do.

Anyways, in the photo above you can see people way out in the distance. During low tide, you can walk out there for about two miles, which is crazy. When the tide does come in it can rise to a height between 9 and 11 feet in certain areas!

So, this has been a great time over at Earth-3 so far. Let’s see if I can quickly recap some things so I can remember all these times later on. So far, there’s been Rock Harbor sunset, two trips to the Chocolate Sparrow (as of yet), had a quick dinner over in Sandwich harbor, Checked out the General Store, checked out a famous crafter in Dennis, Eat Cake 4 Breakfast for some great pastries, swimming in the pool, some clams over at Mac’s in Chatham, Hole in One doughnuts a couple of times as of yet, Snowy Owl for coffee, Joe Mama’s for the best breakfast sandwich that I love, The Knack for burgers, Chatham beach a couple of times, went down to the dock to see seals, traipsed around Chatham’s downtown for the shops and the whale art, did the Eddy Trail, stopped over in Wellfleet for a bit, checked out Ptown’s Commercial Street and the library. Whew! What else? I know I’m missing stuff!

Entrance to the creek
Rocks, marsh and sun
The sun peeps out
This cocktail got me buzzed!
The sun sinks below the horizon

Not Everyday You See a Boat in a Library!

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We took a drive this morning out to Provincetown, to drop off our guest at the ferry and while there I decided to do some quick recon and grab some shots of this very flamboyant place. First thing to check out is the famous alley. The alley takes up the exterior wall of Shop Therapy, stretching nearly three shop lengths. It isn’t terribly wide, but it is big enough for a couple of people to walk down the alley at the same time. Wooden books depicting illustrations of Alice in Wonderland are found on one side, along with wire bugs and metal flowers coming out of the ground. The other side features pictures on pieces of wood. This artwork ended up a bit controversial, and probably not what you would call family-friendly. The edgy paintings range from Greek mythology to scenes from the Bible and Alice in Wonderland. Some of the artwork is a bit provocative and is made to capture your attention.

However what I really wanted to check out was this schooner that’s actually inside the public library. I had never heard of this before and just recently found out about it so I had to see it. The library itself is actually pretty cool as the building started life as a church in 1856 and the church origins are still very apparent. Go up a flight of stairs and there she is. That’s where a 55 foot replica of the schooner Rose Dorothea dominates the area. There is even a hole cut in the ceiling to accommodate the mast!

Hey sailor…
The backside of the alley
Some of the alley’s artwork
Another alley shot
The entrance to the alley
I’m Portuguese, these are my people
The old Lobster Pot
The Squealing Pig

Then it was off for an afternoon back at Harding’s beach in Chatham. It’s sort of become our favorite beach because it’s warm and quite wavy. Today was a little rough but still a great time was had.

Hanging with Some Serious Beachie People

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Revere last night was spectacular. We had so much fun with some friends for a meet up that we all ended up staying past 9 p.m.! We got off to a pretty late start due partly to all the construction going on in the basement, partly for other reasons, but by late afternoon everything looked better and so we decided to go to the meet up!

LD actually ended up spending more than an hour in the water! I guess it wasn’t really cold at all. I still have yet to go into the water, but I think that’ll definitely be changing by the end of the week!

I tried to get a viewing of the Oscar Mayer Weiner mobile today but it just didn’t work out – maybe next time it swings by.

Currently Watching: Eric, on Netflix.