Weirs Beach Laconia 2017

This is my fourth summer riding.  We typically ride on secondary type roads, often going no faster than 40ish, and seldom in a rush.  It's not about getting to the chosen destination for that given ride but rather about the ride itself.  These roads are more scenic and the rides are more relaxing and enjoyable.  During these ride there have been times we've jumped on the highway for one reason or another, hit speeds upwards of 60ish, but they're few and far between.

Laconic motorcycle week runs from June 10-18, so it was time to hit the highways for the 300+ mile round trip ride and Tuesday 6/18 was the day.

The fastest way to Laconia from Franklin is the highway and off we went!

It was a long day of riding.  A somewhat stressful day of highway riding.  A satisfying day of riding and one which I'm happy to have experienced and completed.

"What about these pants I got on, think they're okay?

UGH!!

Woke up to this today!

A visiting deer.

The little bugger ate three of our newly planted strawberry plants.

Of course I am NOT please but fortunate that only three were eaten and not the whole lot of fifteen. 

This looks like the only damage done on this visit.  Our other vegetable gardens were spared, thankfully.  However, many of our hosta plants along the back lot have been eaten down to nothing.

There's just no stopping them...

"What about these pants I got on, think they're okay?" -  My Cousin Vinny Deer Scene

A Boston Work Day!

I worked out of the Boston office this past Tuesday.  The humidity let up and there was a nice breeze, so we headed out for a lunchtime stroll down along the harbor, near the New England Aquarium. 

On the other side of the harbor from where we were several tall ships were still docked at port, as well as a the USS Whidbey Island, which is an island class dock landing ship - impressive!

A nice stroll!

Great harbor views!

A chicken curry rice bowl eaten outside under the shade in PO Square!

People watching!

Topped off with a free blueberry Noosa yoghurt!

Orange You Jealous?!

Our asiatic lilies just opened!

The sea of orange is "O" so impressive! 

It's the Garlic Scape Time

Our garlic is loving this hot humid weather we've been having!

The garlic scapes seemed to have appeared overnight.  I've cut some and brought them to work for coworkers to enjoy, however, there's many many more that need cutting which is on my list for this weekend.

Garlic scapes are the flower buds of the garlic plant.  I remove them in late June, now, to encourage and put the effort into the bulbs versus the flower and to thicken them up.

Open Sesame!

This dude was patiently waiting for me to open the garage door the other morning.  Kinda like a crazy shopper waiting in line for a store to open on black Friday.

Not sure when this dude made his way inside.  He looked a tad skinny, so perhaps he'd been in there a while, but that'll learn him.

With a little nudge, out and off he went.

Now get to work on ant and slug control...

The Frye Homeowner Go-To

Being a Frye I was taught that tar and flashing will fix just about anything around the house.  Therefore, it's no surprise that I have a gallon can of Henry's FlashMaster at my immediate disposal.

This past weekend I pulled out the ladder and up on the roof I went to inspect the flashing and tar where the roof meets the chimney.  It's been about ~10 years since we had our roof replaced, so I wasn't surprised to see that the existing tar had dried and there were noticeable cracks already visible.

Before I -

Before II -

With my can of FlashMaster in one hand and a handy putty knife in the other I went to work.  Smearing and spreading, smearing and spreading until the old tar and cracks were covered in new and sealed nicely.

After I -

After II -

Bring on the rains...

The Circle of Life, Perhaps

While making my lunch this afternoon this hawk, perched atop a post in the backyard, caught my eye.  I quickly ran and grabbed the camera hoping to get a pic before she flew off.  What I witnessed next was Mother Nature and the circle of life at play.

 Clearly, something had her undivided attention.  She stayed motionless for what seemed like forever, then all of a sudden she hopped off the post and dropped straight down into the flower bed, talons first.  The noise that followed was the distinct, eerie, cry and screech of a rabbit in distress -

She slowly emerged from behind the chives, clearly a hold of something -

She tried to fly off but her spoils were too heavy and she only managed to move a couple four feet.  Again she tried, another four feet, this time making it atop the pile of leaves and grass clippings -

There she stayed, for close to twenty minutes, feeding on her lapine.  She was eventually driven off, with hare in tow, by a pair of nesting Common Grackles -

Mean while all I had to eat was a can of split pea soup...

MOO To YOU Too!

Three Hereford cow enjoying some fresh cut grass!

Critter Bath Time!

Oh there's little joy around here on bath day...

Shades of Green...

We removed the pool cover this past Memorial Day, YUCK!

I don't recall the water ever being so disgusting.  Worth mentioning is that back in April I pulled the pool cover corners back and poured in (8) bottles of liquid shock.  I can only imagine just much worse this would have looked had I not done that.

Mr. Toad

This rather large toad has been hanging out in this same area for close to a month now.  The first two times I saw him were close calls for he and the weed whacker.  Thankfully, my aim isn't too good and I missed him.  Instead, as you can see in the above picture, I whacked a section of a beautiful, flowering Columbine plant, UGH.

He backs himself so he's just about under that piece of wood there facing outwards. Must be a prime spot seeing how big he is.  Hoping he's dining on slugs...

A Rainbow of Colors

My farmer friend Tim has out done himself once again this year!  With cramped greenhouse space, and after tending to his critters all day, he found the time to plant all the seeds that have produced this awesome flowers, and veggies too!

As with every visit, I leave his place with oodles of plants and endless hours of work for myself once back home.  This last visit was no different and two weeks later I still have some plants that need to be put in the ground.

Our Raised Beds Already At Work!

My raised garden beds are ready and most in used already!

I built and installed a replacement 2"x 8" x 8' strawberry bed. Unfortunately, the extremely hot and dry weather of last summer, coupled with the damage the deer did, I lost all but a lone single strawberry plant.  I took advantage and added some rich compost to the soil as a part of the replacement.  Letting it all settle before planting new plants, which I'm picking up tomorrow from my farmer friend Tim.  I don't think we'll see any berries this season but if all goes well, we'll have them coming out of our ears!

As you can see the garlic is doing FANTASTIC!  Already looking forward to harvesting!

I took advantage of some open space in the bed below and planted (16) Red Onions!

To satisfy my early New England gardening itch, I planted a six-pack variety of lettuce.  They're hearty and can withstand the chilly spring nights.  Just hope the darn wild rabbits leave them be.

Show Me The Money...Plants

Lunaria Annua, also known as Money Plant and Silver Dollar. I've read that the Pilgrims brought them to the colonies on the Mayflower, and that Thomas Jefferson grew them in the famous gardens of Monticello. Many gardeners consider this plant a pest.The purple flowers in the photos below illustrate how some might consider these a pest. 

This patch of ours has grown in just a couple years from a single plant. Now there's all over the area, popping up here and there. It's on the edge of the lawn\wood line so no worries. They look nice too, now and even when they're all dried.

Happy Mother's Day To All!

"You've Got Mail"...

I had enough and finally tackled our mailbox project yesterday!  Although, nice to have a mobile mailbox during snowstorms, it was very unsightly.  The biggest challenge with mailboxes on our street is snowplow damage.  I suspect a combination of angel and speed, mixed with heavy wet snow, and many a mailbox is destroyed.

Before -

Step 1, cut the black top sidewalk -

Step 2, dig the hole.  Three feet down and add a couple bags of concrete -

Step 3, fill the hole mount the mailbox and add some reflectors -

Step 4, have Emilie customize my finish concrete work - 

Hoping the slim, narrow pole will be less of a target and will withstand what's thrown at it.  However, the heavy plastic mailbox is another storm but one that's now easily replaceable if\when necessary.

BBQ for ME!

On my way home from running errands Friday night I finally stopped in at Commonwealth BBQ in Wrentham, MA.  Had heard a lot of folks raving at how delicious their food was and I was not disappointed.  It's a takeout type restaurant where you order your food through a window from outside.

I went with "The Commonwealth" sandwich - pulled pork, see above, with slaw on the side and Cowboy beans, YUMMY!

HBD 2017

Happy Quarter Century Birthday to My Oldest Daughter!

Love you!

Cedar Fungi

Mowing the lawn today I noticed something unusual and something I've never seen before growing on one of our Red Cedar trees.  Well, I stopped the mower, grabbed my phone and snapped a handful of pictures.  The weirdest...

In researching I came across this interesting article from Mass Audubon that explains what these interesting orange globes are - 

"What's Growing on That Red Cedar" 

"Tom" and Gerry Perhaps...

A terrible cell phone picture with the glare from the window, however, I didn't want to miss this couple frolicking the other morning.

From what I've seen the hens typically are running from the toms but not this pair.  She was content to hang around and slowly forage all the while completely ignoring his advances.

Our 2017 Tulips

Here are the few tulip that have graced us this Spring -

Most of the ones we've planted are long gone now.  I'm sure there are many reasons but I suspect chipmunks and deer played a role in their demise.  As a matter of fact, the red tulip picture above shows some of the deer damage.  They arrived as the tulips were beginning to pop through the soil and ate the tops off.  Fortunate, it was just leaves that were damaged and they;ve since bounced back nicely.

Looks like I'll be planting a slew more this coming fall.

Post-Dental-Cleaning-Commute-To-The-Office Lunch

Stumbled upon a new favorite lunch sandwich - turkey, bacon and cheese on a toasted Asiago bagel, YUMMY!   To die for delicious! 

Already looking forward to my next dental visit!

Find The Critter

Find the critter -

Can you find the critter in the above picture?!