Just a little quick update in some photos to explain the week.
First up is this picture I took of the Nauset Light. Now since it’s September, it’s the time of the year that my Duxbury photo is featured in their official calendar . Green Harbor is closing for the season on Monday so we had to get in one last lobster roll for the summer. These two hawks better leave our bunnies alone!
Planning on doing a firepit tonight so there could be an update to this post afterwards and there’s something big happening tomorrow.
Gametime: One Many Nobody – cool puzzle game where you need to clone yourself to escape the levels.
My photo is featured this monthEnd of summer lobster rollHawk babies!You can click these for a larger look.
We heard sounds this afternoon of something flapping around in the fireplace. This had happened once before years ago and it was a crazy time with a bird flying through the house in a panic, smashing into windows and scaring the cat as I hit the floor as not to be divebombed. We tried calling various agencies but they were pretty much useless. By the time we decided how to go about trapping the bird, getting Carson squared away, and trying to figure out our plans it became too late. When I opened the grate to access the fireplace (which we don’t use and am pretty sure the flume is closed), I saw the little bird stuck underneath the metal thing that holds the logs. I scooped it out and it was breathing but it didn’t look good. We put it outside and I cleaned it off but the bird basically was a goner in a few minutes. At least I was there as it took it’s last breaths and I petted it’s little head (I was wearing gloves of course) so at least it didn’t die alone. We feel terrible but that’s the way of the world sometimes. I ended up burying it and saying a prayer.
We had so much fun the other day, we had to go back yesterday and do it all over again. This time the waves were better and we basically ended up staying there until closing, Once again, thanks to LD’s friend for allowing us to use her resident pass so we could access this private beach. For lunch we munched on a Jersey Mike’s but one thing I learned is you have to eat there kind of with your food hidden, because the gulls are pretty aggressive. In fact on Thursday before I knew this I was divebombed by one of them trying to get the sandwich out of my hand! It basically crashed into my head but ended up empty handed.
I have so much yard work and gardening maintenance to do today and I want to do it but my body is tired and I don’t feel like it. Two beach days in a row apparently take a lot out of me these days. I’ll try to force myself in a little bit, at least to do a little.
I think we saw two squirrels having sex this morning in the back yard. I mean, they were rolling around each other in a display that we have never seen before in our lives. I suppose they could have been playing but I don’t know. It was quite a scene.
According to the weather reports, it was supposed to rain all day today, however it’s been nothing but sunny here. Which is good, because I purchased a bunch of new firefly lights for the back yard. I think I’m going to have them line the back fence. I think it’ll look pretty cool. I also bought some more ink for my photo printer. I do like to print out a lot of my photos and place them in sort of a portfolio.
Well, I forgot to mention yesterday another thing going on over at Earth-1. Contractors are ripping down the old industrial laundry building behind my mom’s house. What a giant mess that is! They’re making space for, what else, some new condos. I saw the skeleton of the stairway exposed that led from the front door up to the old iron pressers on the 2nd floor. I remember going up and down those stairs many, many times when I was a wee lad bringing those ironed shirts down from there and across the street to the dry cleaning operation, which is now gone and also replaced by a condo. Interestingly as a side note, before it was a dry cleaner building, it used to be a Dairy Queen and I can remember being 4, 5, or 7 and my aunt coming over and giving me a dollar to go get an ice cream from there back in the day. Eventually the prices started the climb and I’d still get the dollar, but my aunt didn’t seem to realize that a buck didn’t buy as much as it used to. I appreciated the gesture though!
Some of the tiger lilies are staring to bloom in the garden, What an explosion of color! I need to do some more weeding around that area though. It’s on my to-do list! Also can hear another baby hawk squawking all day long again! You might remember from last year, all the adventures I had in dealing with those creatures!
Busy day at the mansion here today. The new countertops are installed and what a day it was seeing how the process goes. They look super awesome and they even got the muted veins to match the slabs where they cut Amazing. It’s really going to look sick once the backsplash tiles LD selected go in. Anyways, every day it’s something happening! The plumber is set to come tomorrow to get the new sink up and running and get the dishwasher all back online and integrated into the new cabinetry.
I saw the two mourning dove babies still hanging around yesterday. They are getting so big already. They were walking along the sidewalk pecking at things in the grass while what I believe was a parent keeping watch nearby. It’s amazing that they seem pretty self sufficient now but that the parents still keep an eye our for them. Nice to see.
Kitchen remodel is coming along great. A LOT of progress yesterday. Today and possibly tomorrow Ceiling Guy will do his thing!
Afternoon:
Ceiling guy is done! Now just waiting for the dust to clear so to speak. And I forgot to mention that today is Carson’s Birthday!
LD also went out and looked at some quartz countertops, I think it’s been narrowed down to the one to get.
I’m dedicating this post to LD, who’s going through a procedure this week. I hope everything goes well. I’ve been visiting her throughout and helping as much as I can. I have a dinner function to attend tonight though so I had to leave early today in order to make that commitment, which maybe I should have cancelled but it’s a once-a-year thing celebrating the team so I decided to go, with her blessing of course. I’ll be right back to it tomorrow.
We actually made it past midnight and got our names into the Lowes freebie which we’ll be able to pick up later in May. They did something like this a couple years back where there was a different free gardening thing every week but you had to register at midnight and the site would always be blocked up with traffic so it would be hard to get access, but this time I was able to get in no problem.
Today was spent cleaning out some of the kitchen cabinets in anticipation of the new work going to be done soon. Basically making three piles, stuff we keep, stuff to give away, and stuff to trash. We need to go get some newspaper though to store some of the glass items in for protection. Might go out and do that later today. While we were in the process of doing that, LD noticed that a mother rabbit was creating a new nest for babies over on the side deck. Not the greatest place to put one since we come in and out of that door all the time, but momma is going to do what momma wants!
We’ve taken to naming this mother bunny Katherine. I’m not sure why but LD came up with it and we’re going with it. Hopefully she’ll go along with this nest and maybe we’ll be able to see some bunny babies again soon. They are so cute!
Momma bunny in action!
Yesterday we got some pizza from Bertucci’s because we noticed we had some pretty good coupon deals that we needed to use since it was expiring today. I’m definitely loaded up on carbs this weekend, getting two large eggplant topping pizzas!
Currently Watching: Pretty Baby on Hulu, the Brooke Shields story.
This bunny was born in one of the pots you see in this photo on the back deck.
Been getting a bunch of spring things done this week. Got my ride’s oil change done yesterday – it was a little overdue, so it was good to get that done. I’ve been slowly moving things out from basement storage over to the shed for the summer and fall to make room for some stuff going on down there. I also need to get ready to replant the yearly tubers this week. Speakimng of that, I think we have to take a ride down to a nursery soon to get some plants that are on order.
I think I want to do a firepit over the next few days or so too, just to get it going for myself right now. Also, I can see that it seems like a switch was pulled this week and now the grass is growing by leaps and bounds all of a sudden. Amazing how that happens after being pretty dormant all winter.
EusticeThe black peddle boat swanhanging with Belle
Spent a little time yesterday afternoon at the Sanctuary. They weren’t open but we have a special relationship with the owner so she let us in and could mosey about. It was a bit chilly but not too bad considering. Part of it was a visit in remembrance of LD’s mom, it’s something she wanted to do. A bit of a somber day full of reflection.
Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem.”
It’s that time of year again! Just a little gratitude can unlock the great fullness of love. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday full of love and plenty. Happy Thanksgiving!”
It’s a bit chilly outside today so we decided to lay law, take naps, and get caught up some things. The squirrels outside are working themselves pretty hard decimating the various pumpkins. I can see they’ve dug into at least four of them, the somewhat smaller ones of the group. While the large pumpkins and gourds have yet to be exposed I have noticed bite marks on those as well. I suppose those are harder to dig into so they are going after the smaller ones first. Also, we had 4 tiny white pumpkins which have seemingly just disappeared, I could find no sight of them. My theory is that they took off with them to their lairs for the winter.
Currently Watching: The Keepers on Netflix. Seven episode series going behind the murder of a nun and all the secrets that were uncovered tied into it. Pretty disturbing stuff actually. I’ve also been watching Hip Hop Homicides. Kinda crazy how many there actually have been.
Gametime: Mike & Munk. Pretty cool little puzzle platformer where a boy and a squirrel must work together to escape the traps.
Breakfast Buffet this morning apparently! (click for larger)
Later in the afternoon I was able to discern that this little guy has dug his teeth into at least three of the smaller pumpkins that were around. He apparently is moving them from all about, somehow removing them off the back stairs and moving them onto the concrete patio floor where he can gorge himself.
Here’s a pic from the Chatham Fish Pier. Now this is a working pier so during the day they really don’t want you hanging around here because the fisherman are trying to do work, bringing in their haul and all that jazz, and there are signs all over to that effect. However, if you go, like after 5 pm, you can just go into the lot and take a look around. This is a great place to see seals for free. Since this is where the fisherman unload their stuff these guys think they may get a free meal out of it, and a lot of times some of them will just be milling around hoping for some grub. Naturally you can’t find them, that would be a bad idea, both because it’s not good for them and also that they could bite you. Anyways while we were there these three seals were swimming around and this particular one seemed to be having fun literally swimming on his back just breaking the water line. He was putting on a little free show for us! So, if you don’t want to pay for a seal tour and hope to get a glimpse of these guys just head down to this pier. Sooner or later you’re bound to see them!
This guy needs to eat but not on my watch! Sorry, pal!
Just what the title of this post says. I just happened to glance out the window and I see the baby hawk on the fence post out back, wings outstretched and looking rather interested at something. When I went to see what he was tracking a saw a squirrel scrambling up the fence only a foot or two away. I grabbed my camera and went out there and this distracted the bird long enough for the squirrel to hop into a nearby tree. The hawk itself meanwhile seemed to notice me and was wondering if I was a threat to it or not perhaps. As I got closer, he finally decided to fly off to the next street over. The squirrel safe, for now anyway.
Focused!Inquisitive?
The basement is for all intents and purposes, finished! And it looks amazing. Moved things around too so that there’s more room and it flows better. For example, all the games are in their own “room” so to speak, and on the other side is the couch, chair, fireplace etc. providing a comforting space to relax. I had to do a little bit of maintenance on the Ms. Pac but it’s working like a dream. That and the jukebox are probably the best things we ever got off folks, back when we used to do those sorts of things. I then went ahead and cleaned out the firepit since we burned stuff the other day. I was going to mow the lawn but I think I’ll do tomorrow since I need to get some gas for the mower and I just wasn’t feeling it today after doing all that basement moving work. I do water all the plants every night though unless it’s raining. Like to keep them all healthy and lush.
I was so impressed with the experience of converting that old Windows 8 laptop over to Chrome OS Flex that I decided to do it to my old laptop that crapped out on me. My intention was to just have another machine around for backup and it would never replace my new Windows machine, but I like to tinker around. Anyways, it wouldn’t install which leads me to believe that the disk drive in there is really crapping out. For fun I may decide to see if I can replace it if I can get my hands on some really cheap hardware, but probably not. Anyways, it’s good to know that I really did need a new laptop, and I have the Windows 8 machine that I converted to Chromebook the other day, and that one is working like a charm. I even used it today to print some things and help LD out with some work she was doing.
Before I took on that task however we took a trip over to pick up some groceries and decided to check out a new Little Library that was on the way. I ended up getting a new book to read that was there – Johnathan Living Seagull: A Story printed in the early 70s. Looks like an easy read and I needed something new to read and occupy me. Apparently all my jabbering was getting LD annoyed as she was trying to read her books. Sheesh!
Anyways on the way to the location, LD noticed this very cool traffic sign of a Bunny Crossing. Probably not a real traffic sign, but cute and apropos nonetheless.
We grilled some salmon outside on a cedar plank this evening. It wasn’t that hot for me to do it and I didn’t mind. There actually was a rather nice breeze blowing as the sun started to go down. It went good with some fruit salad, both items obtained from the earlier grocery run.
I learned that Harvard Square’s “pit” was being destroyed. Like the Garage, which I discussed a week or so ago, here is yet another piece of Harvard history that is vanishing into oblivion. I can tell you some tales about the pit, but perhaps I’ll save them for another time. Although I used to frequent Harvard Square frequently in the 1980s and 1990s, I now only go there rarely, if at all. Although the original character of the square has essentially vanished or is in the midst of doing so, change seems unavoidable, and so it’s kind of a bummer to see those iconic places go away.
You all remember Heb, right? I had to do a double take this afternoon when I was walking around the back yard. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Is it possible that we had a rabbit garden statue that I had forgotten about? Nope. I recognized it was Heb after a few seconds. Oh, my, has that little bugger matured. In fact, I used to think Heb was a male, but after seeing it observing two other smaller bunnies frolicking around in another part of the yard, I’m not so sure. Is it possible that Heb is a mother? Already!? Wow, they grow so quickly!
Other news: I’m really like this new laptop; it’s much faster than the one I had before, and it’s also much cleaner. There’s no bloatware, and there’s nothing like a Windows laptop with almost nothing on it to slow it down. Also, the screen is way better.
Last night, because neither the Celtics nor anything else worth viewing was on, I ended up watching a PBS documentary about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. He’s a fascinating individual. Genius. I pretty much think his brain doesn’t work like most peoples. They say all the great artists are a bit mad. On Friday, I’m looking forward to seeing Amber Heard on Dateline, although I’m not sure why. I suppose it’s like watching a train accident.
I ordered a desk mat from Amazon to rest my new laptop on but had to return it because they sent the wrong one; I’m waiting for a replacement. They do make it pretty convenient to return items, I just bring it down to the Whole Foods down the road. After that I went in the basement and packed up all the neon pacman lights that we have. I wouldn’t want to guys who are installing the flooring to ruin them in any way. They came from a guy in Hong Kong who I’m sure is no longer creating these wonderful neon lights. Once everything is done, they will go back to surrounding the Ms. Pacman machine we have. It’s an original MsPac machine, created by Midway in the 80s and we have it set to take quarters. (We’re listed on the VAPS!) I kind of use it like a bank. I’d like to get this rug to place in front of it but that might be a bit much.
For dinner tonight I decided to fire up the grill and do some chicken, corn cobs, and some dogs. My stomach was a bit wonky over the last few days but I’m back to normal now. I think I just overindulged a bit last Friday (I ate too much pizza and drank too much soda probably) so I think I need to make myself be more mindful. Last night I fired up some roasted shrimp with tomatoes and onion topped with feta and complimented it with a side of orzo. That came out pretty good.
Yesterday we went to celebrate a cow’s birthday, of all things! Dudley is one heck of a beautiful cow though, there’s no denying that. It was hosted at a sanctuary in Sherborn and we also got to see a bunch of other animals, and some vegan vendors. The highlights were Dudley, of course, and a llama that kissed LD and I!
Some other quick news, as you can no doubt tell, I’m finally doing an update, and that’s because I set up my new laptop today. I decided to go with an Asus Vivobook. Not the top of the line but it’ll get done what I need to. I decided to not go with Acer again. Some of the plusses are that this machine is way faster since it’s newer. I’ve been slowly getting all my stuff back up. So far it’s going pretty well.
Finally some other small updates over the last week or so. I had my CPR training so I’m certified in that for another year. I’ve adjusted to my new glasses pretty well. We cleaned out the basement pretty much entirely and got rid of a lot of things. The great part is that a lot of the items were taken by some folks that they could use them, instead of them ending up in the trash. There were some items that needed to get scrapped and for those we had these two teenagers who are trying to run their own company come and get the stuff. They were wonderful to work with. We picked out the vinyl flooring and that will hopefully be getting installed soon. Speaking of installing, we finally got the new blinds up all over the rest of the house, the ones that can open from the top or bottom. They look great! With all that stuff gone I was able to rearrange and get all the shelving in to where it needed to be. Things are getting done! Still need to figure out what to tell the mason about the front steps but that’ll be coming forthwith as well.
“After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.”
Christian Dior
Meet HEB, The Hosta Eating Bunny
I like that quote. Anyways, it’s a bit of a chilly, raw one out there today. At least the rain held off for the most part. Looks like tomorrow will be much better, and then it’s on to the sweltering weekend. One thing that this particular weather day seems to have appealed to was a little creature we noticed today for the first time. It’s name is HEB, titled by LD, and standing for Hosta Eating Bunny. He/she is, nevertheless, adorable. I also believe this is the tiny baby who has been nibbling on the leaves of one of the lilies in the back yard’s center rock garden area. The top stays untouched since I believe it is unable to reach it! But like I said, cuteness overload! We’ve been fortunate to have many bunnies born here over the years. Most folks would probably be annoyed by their garden presence eating things, but I don’t mind. If it needs some nourishment, I say go for it. Growing up in the city as I did we didn’t get any bunnies (strangely enough they are showing up now though). True story, I never saw a wild bunny until I visited Cape May in NJ and saw one by the lighthouse. Isn’t that crazy? I went over 40 years not having seen one hopping around in people’s yards. Now, of course, I see them all the time. We did used to get frogs though. I don’t see those hardly anywhere anymore, and don’t ask me how a turtle ended up in our backyard once growing up as a kid. Must have a pet that someone just deserted or it escaped, I know not which.
Today’s main picture is of the Fuchsia we have growing in a hanging pot. We love Fuchsia’s and get one every year but we find they do seem to require a little bit of work. Still, watching a hummingbird flit around it and grab a drink from the cones is a really cool sight.
Started out the day by checking out a local artisan popup grouping of shops over at the Norwood Space Center. Found some pretty cool items there. Then it was off to Carver to see another popup but this one was being hosted by an alpaca farm in the area, so we got some more things and got to hang with some alpacas – the stars of the show, as it were! I got lunch off of some food truck that was there. On the way back we went to Home Depot to pick up some cinder blocks. We’re planning on designing a corner cinderblock garden up along the fence, or latest project. Something along the lines of this image. We have most of the flowers and stones, it’s now just a process of deciding how we want to stack it and how we want it to look. I imagine we’ll be working on this over the next few days. Also got some mulch for the patio area to help spruce it up a little bit more.
I was going to replace the glass panes in the doors with the screens but I heard tomorrow is actually going to be a bit on the chilly side so I decided to postpone that a couple of days. Carson likes to have the doors open so he can look outside at all the various things but he also likes the smells. He’ll be able to enjoy that better once I have the screens in for the season.
For dinner, even though I’m beat, I cooked up some rosemary infused pork tenderloin with sides of mashed potatoes and broccoli. Anyways I may hit the rack a bit early tonight.
Gametime: Rock Forest – a not too hard cute game that I found.
The highlight of the day was a brief visit to the Sanctuary. Despite the fact that it was closed to the public today, the owner let us in because we’d been regulars for a long time and were dropping off some produce for the animals that LD had kindly procured. While wandering about, I came across a flock of roosters who were just hanging out and thought it would make a good photo. So there you have it. We sowed lavender seeds in a lot of seed trays earlier in the day, which I later placed on a ledge in the house to germinate. We’re hoping to be able to transplant them into the garden in a few weeks. We also have some butterfly mix, stargazer lily bulbs, and some gaillardia to plant. I’ve also been hydroponically growing some garlic bulbs in a big glass jar contraption I had set up as an experiment of mine. The green tendrils of leaves are starting to sprout up out of the jar, pretty fast growing.
Because the dianthus pot outside appears to be empty, it appears that the surviving baby rabbit must have fled sometime last night. After all, they were almost ready to depart, so I don’t feel as horrible as I did yesterday. I couldn’t really tell if any of the lettuce we left had been eaten, but maybe since the pot I laid in in seemed to be moved this afternoon. I guess we’re going to have to leave it as I’ve now designated it as a bunny nursery since this is at least the third time that a rabbit has placed it’s babies in it to develop and grow. Who knows how many others we may have had in there without knowing!
Figured I’d try to give my favorite puffin photo I ever took some more exposure. Would make a great gift for a puffin bird lover – just saying. Support local creators!
I finally got around to digging out the tubers from the garden and bagged them into storage for planting next year. Got to make the most of the weather this week. I even decided to plant some garlic bulbs to go along with the onions I planted last time. We also hung some more icicle lights inside the house – they do provide a nice warm glow to the rooms that they’re hanging in.
Finished watching the 10 weeks of Impeachment: An American Crime Story. I thought it was really well done. The actress who played Coulter was uncanny – like, exact. And yeah, Tripp was one crazy lady. I also finally finished reading about Dewey. It ended up being pretty good after all. I haven’t really read all that much this year – nothing really has caught my eye too much or made me interested enough sadly.
Yesterday afternoon we headed out for another beach trip since the weather was so nice, especially after 5 consecutive days of no sun and one of the days producing a nor’easter which produced a lot of wind damage around the area. We took a walk along the shore and came into this rocky outcrop where a bunch of birds like to have lunch apparently as I saw many gulls eating clams and crabs and we saw this little birds scurrying about. I originally thought they were piping plovers because they were white and pretty tiny, but after looking them up in my bird book, it appears they were just little sanderlings. Still pretty cute though!
Lunch time for the birds!
In the early evening we set up shop in front of the house with candles, the candy we had all placed in goodie bags the day before and a skull on the table while we sat in chairs behind. LD dressed up as a witch and me as a, well, I’m not sure what I was but I did have a boa. There were a bunch of kids, the high point being between 5 and 7 pm. At close to 7 it started to rain with a think may have cut things short a little early but I think it was all pretty much over by then anyway, so it worked out pretty well. A kid who got some candy recognized me from my time being out and about in the neighborhood and gave me some props, which was nice.
This morning LD had an appointment at Faulkner so I tagged along for the hour or so. Afterwards we headed to JP and got some breakfast an Ula café. We hadn’t been there in quite a while. Got it to go and had a nice breakfast! In the late afternoon I decided to mow the lawns – not so much to cut the grass because that wasn’t really necessary but more to suck up and mulch a bunch of the fallen leaves. Fall clean up season is starting up. Finally I used up the last of the propane in the gas grill to cook up some steak tips and marinated chicken for dinner. Stuff we had to use up before it goes bad and all.
