A pair of Mason Bees taking a break from collecting pollen.
Bowchickawowow!!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Flowers and Insects
Our echinacea are in full bloom and very inviting treat to many a visiting insect.
A handsome Bumble Bee hard at work -
A pesky earwig -
A Green Sweat bee covered in pollen and sporting a good size pollen basket on it's rear legs -
A Hover fly taking a rest on this Black-eyed Susan -
A Couple of Mooches!
This is what these these two do whenever anyone is making or preparing food.
Oliver picked up this bag habit from Trixie-dog.
Roof Moss Removal
I've been helping a friend of my parents for a number of years now do odds and ends around her house.
During my last visit a couple weekends ago she asked me to tackle the moss problem that has begun growing on her garage and porch roofs.
The first two pictures you can see that I sprayed the garage roof with a mixture of bleach and water. I would have preferred more bleach but had to work with what I had.
Her porch roof is really a mossy mess, as you can see. This is on the list for my next visit. I instructed her to pick up four gallons of bleach, which I'll use to his this spot and revisit the garage roof with again.
I've not heard from her since apply so not sure how successful this exercise was. Time will tell. I also cut back a number of branches that were blocking the sunlight from getting through. Hoping this will help too.
One of The Most Popular Fruits
We have only two blueberry bushes but boy-o-boy are they loaded with berries this year!
They've been on my list to cover, however, I've not gotten to this page yet...
That being said, and even though I've seen Robins, Catbirds and Cardinals helping themselves there are still plenty. I find myself constantly eating some, as well as our raspberries when I'm out working in the yard. A little energy boost. Too bad Cheez-It's don't grow on bushes!
Happy 4th!
Pool, sun, fun, food, beer, roaring fire and entertaining fireworks capped out 4th of July!
Bass Pro Shop Walkabout!
Akin to the "That's Not a Knife" scene from the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee, the Frye's were on our own walkabout among the cranberry bogs at the Bass Pro Shop in Foxboro when we were captivated by this huge snapping turtle -
However, this other snapper swam onto the scene and dwarfed our "huge" turtle -
Hence, that's not a turtle, THIS is a turtle!!
Surf and Turf and Wings
The Frye family was up visiting from Miami a couple weeks ago.
Perhaps, a tradition has begun with as we trekked to Fresh Catch Seafood and Butcher shop in North Attleboro to pick up some delicious steamers and lobsters! The last time visiting we did the same thing. I hope they come up more often, as it's the only time I'm allowed to indulge like this...
I neglected to take a picture but we also purchased a scrumptious New York sirloin steak! Yeah know for the non-seafood, don't-know-what-you're-missing diners.
Almost forgot, we picked up a package of chicken wings too -
Friday, June 30, 2017
Tomaters Looking Good!
The garden is looking good!
Tomatoes are taking off and have had their initial tying. The broccoli and peppers are also looking good!
Thursday, June 22, 2017
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!
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.
Friday, June 16, 2017
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...
Tuesday, June 06, 2017
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...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)