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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!ErikIf 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!
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 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
BirdyWallyMorganLewey
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!
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.
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!
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.
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 RiverBass RiverBass RiverBass RiverBest DonutsCheck out the descriptions!I got the PB&J Doughnut! Yums!Hanging out at Nauset BeachFound time to grill!Spectacular sunset tonightSuch a large vista of beauty
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 creekRocks, marsh and sunThe sun peeps outThis cocktail got me buzzed!The sun sinks below the horizon
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 alleySome of the alley’s artworkAnother alley shotThe entrance to the alleyI’m Portuguese, these are my peopleThe old Lobster PotThe 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.
Checking out some sunset locations and finally deciding on hanging out at Skaket Beach tonight with great friends and then grabbing some burgers at The Knack (place we never tried, two thumb up!) and getting ice cream at the Ice Cream Café. What could be better?
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.
A very rare collector’s edition with a print run of only….one issue? Just being silly. Anyways, onto today’s stuff. Also, I’ve been playing around with the fonts on the site, have you noticed? They may be changing again so just a head’s up.
I learned of some new places today that I might want to check out over the next few months. A bunch of them are over at Earth-1 in that Bow Market place, which unfortunately I find it very hard to park anywhere around there, but there’s a roast beef place and some pinball place there that I’d like to check out someday. Also over in Ball Square is some new Neapolitan pizza joint that looks pretty cool. Speaking of pizza there’s also a pizza cupcake place over at Legacy Place which I’ve been meaning to check out, to see what weirdness that is all about.
I’ve done baby goat yoga, alpaca yoga, piglet yoga, and now I heard there’s puppy yoga where the puppies are shelter pups which you could also adopt later. Might need to explore that one. I’ve also been meaning to do the free yoga class outside down at Assembly on Saturday mornings but never get around to it. Not that I’m really into yoga, just something to check out. Some other things that I’d like to do is check out the Elephant Migration statues down in Newport, RI, maybe some axe throwing over in Foxborough, Minigolf in Dedham with some pals. I looked into taking a glass blowing class here at Earth-2 which I thought would be fun to do with others as they show you have to make your own blown glass ornament, but it is a bit on the pricey side. There’s also an old style arcade in the area which might be fun to check out.
Capybaras Rule and I learned today that it was Capybara Appreciation Day I had to make a post about it. I adore capybaras! My very first encounter with seeing these creatures was actually many years ago when we visited the Cape May Zoo in New Jersey, which is an awesome zoo and free to the public. Then years later I saw one on display in NYC when we were visiting the Natural History Museum. I recall seeing the bones and such and a write up of it’s jaws and a short history. Little did I know, that years later I would be enamored with these guys!
Today I went to the beach for a few hours in the afternoon, but I didn’t go into the water. LD, on the other hand, went swimming. We didn’t feel like cooking last night, so we ordered this giant pizza from a local place we love. We only discovered this jumbo-sized pizza last month when LD’s friend from the south was here. It’s so big and impressive, I had to take a picture of it, but it really doesn’t do it justice; you have to see it in person to get the full effect.
Yesterday we also finally got around to looking at those Hoka sneakers at Dick’s. I liked how they felt, but they didn’t have my size in the color I wanted. So, we took a picture of the tag and ordered them online. They should arrive by Tuesday. LD didn’t like the feel of them, but I do. You’ll probably be seeing me in those later in the week.
Later on tonight, we’re going to see Inside Out 2 at Chestnut Hill. It’s a movie LD has been wanting to see for a while now, and today’s as good a day as any. When we get back, I’m going to grill some salmon and cod and maybe some zucchini with sliced cucumbers on the side.
We had a wonderful time at my LD’s friend’s beach cottage in Fairhaven. We celebrated the summer and the Fourth of July with a cookout and a nice hangout. The wind was blowing hard, but it felt great blowing around me. We relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. One of the most memorable parts of the evening was the fireworks. The town of New Bedford and the surrounding communities and private homeowners light off fireworks in the bay, and we had a great vantage point from the back deck of the cottage that faces the waters of Buzzard’s Bay. It was beautiful to watch the fireworks light up the bay and reflect on the water. As the night went on, the wind died down, and we continued to enjoy the beautiful night.
Hammock Swinging in the BreezeSparkler City
Hanging at the Airbus
I went to pick up a piece of pottery this morning, and I’m thrilled with it! Yesterday, I noticed someone selling another Dedham pottery piece that I had never seen before, a napkin holder in the shape of a bunny. So naturally, I had to get it and add it to our growing collection of Dedham pottery. I drove over and picked it up this morning, and I’m really pleased with its size and quality.
Currently Reading:Mass Murders: Bloodstained Crime Scenes Haunting the Bay State. This book has a slight bent about the paranormal which I don’t really care for, but I thought some of the crime stories might be good.
So much fun! I was surprised at how fun it actually was! Then it was an afternoon by the pool, a night of grilling and doing a fire pit. Beautiful day!
Group Shot! (I’m holding the bunny!)
Gametime: Tongue Tied. Help the frog reach the stars! Pretty cool game.
Currently Watching: Brats. A doc about the Brat Pack of the 80s headed by one of them.
Just got back from a weekend in New Jersey. It was LD’s college reunion so we attended. She got to get together with some old freinds, some she hadn’t seen in quite some time.
It was a fun outing. The weather was nice. Before the actual dinner they had a mass at the connected chapel to the college. What a beautiful chapel, I had never actually been inside before. Picture doesn’t really do it justice. You have to be in there and admire the high ceilings and stained glass and sculptures. Excellent attention to detail. We then took a little tour of the campus and the girls reminisced of their times there. It was cool to hear the stories.
The actual event itself wasn’t run too well, too many little things for listing now, but one funny story is this woman who joined our table and I guess was part of their class except she was like not a regular student, more like a weekend college kind of thing. She kept getting in all the pictures and interrupting but I suppose just wanted to be a part of the festivities. She said she was some sort of couples counselor but when you pressed her on certain things, it just sounded weird and off. There’s a lot more, like the time I handed her a photo prop that had the word Princess on it and she looked at me like I had three heads. (she had said her name was Princess, like I said, a bit strange). Anyways there’s way more to be said about these various encounters but better to tell it in person.
We had pizza at a local place by a train station and got to hang out with another friend who decided to come down and meet us, which was nice. We stayed at The Madison, a place we used to stay at often before the pandemic (since the pandemic we never use hotel rooms anymore, mostly Airbnb’s now) but for this particular trip is was convenient. Except the place is kind of going downhill, which is sad. I mean, it always had it’s foibles but now with it being sold to some company and not run by a family anymore, you can tell the difference. The food’s not the same, the service is definitely not the same, they even removed the pool to build another space for weddings (since that’s it’s main gig these days) and having a pool was one of the main reasons for choosing that place – for us. We didn’t check the reviews beforehand because we thought it would be like it always was. Won’t be making that mistake again!
The next day he hit the town center and met up with two other friends from LD’s graduating class at a diner called The Nautilus. Another place that I probably hadn’t been to in over 10 years if not more. That was pretty much the same. Again, fun meeting them and listening to the stories. Then it was off to grab some Jersey Boy bagels for the road and head on back.
The Verizon guy finally came this morning and upgraded everything, including a new set top box, which is what started this whole rigmarole. But now we are blasting with giganet speeds so access quality should be really good now.
Currently Reading: Staying with the computer future for the moment: Quantum Supremacy (review).
