Show Me

Find The Critter

Can you find the critter in the below picture?

She didn't think I saw her, as she did blend in nicely. However, I am always on the lookout for critters when I am out on my walks and this is one of the encounters I enjoy. I suspect most folks would be clueless of such encounters and miss it completely, as they're too engrossed in their phones.

 Also, full disclosure, I've see her in this same dead-end road spot a handful of times the last couple of months.

Click this link to see the critter and where she was hiding - "Oh, Deer"

Boy Was I Flushed!

I thought it a good idea to replace the water supply hoses to each of my (3) toilets.  I have replaced them all at some point but it's been years now and even though they are the recommended braided supply line hoses, I still wanted to replace them.  After all how much could it cost?

About the same time as this urge hit me, I found that my kitchen sink is leaking, UGH!  It's leaking around the strainer fitting, plus there's a cracked plastic PVC nut that's also leaking a tad.

So, I reached out to the plumbing company that recently replaced my gas boiler and scheduled a time for them to come out and give me a quote.  I have a service contract with them, which includes discounts on parts and labor.  Since they were coming out to give me an estimate, I asked them to quote out replacing the three toilet lines and two outside spigots.  Figured why not, I'll have someone here doing a repair job, I'll let them address the preventative maintenance items too.

OH BOY, was I wrong!

They quoted me $110.00 to replace ONE toilet hose, ONE!  And to replace all three, multiply the $110.00 by 3 - $330.00 and that's with their "discount"!

Like the bible thumpers that come knocking, I told them to piss off!

I am more than capable of replacing these hoses myself but again, I just assumed while I had them here...

So, instead I took a drive to Lowe's and picked up three brandy new 12" toilet supply line hoses.  They were a whopping $5.30 each, so for three new hoses, including tax, it cost me $16.89 -

Here are the new hoses I purchased -

It took me about 30 minutes to replace all three hoses this morning and test them to make sure they're working fine and not leaking.

Here are the old hoses I replaced -

I understand that they're running a business and need to make money but c'mon.  If this isn't price gouging and taking advantage of people I don't know what is!

Let me tell you, once my maintenance contract is up, I will be taking my business elsewhere!

Shame on them!

Oecanthus

With the cold weather upon us these days run-ins with insects and critters are few and far between.  However, we had a few days of above average temperature to end this past week and this dude, a male Common Tree Cricket made an appearance.  Perhaps, out sunning itself one last time before it crawls back into its winter hiding place -

Just Being A Homebody

This should surprise no one but I spent this past weekend at home and in the yard, taking care of this, that and the other things.

Saturday, I lowered the deck on my ride mower for the final cutting of the season.  I like to cut it short for the winter, plus being short the leaves don't get snagged in it as much and blow on by.  I did a first coat of painting on a new inside project I started, to be revealed here later.  Ended the day with a relaxing soak in the hot tub!

Sunday, I changed my flags, from Halloween to Thanksgiving -

Moving the clocks back an hour had me up at my regular time even though the clock displayed 4AM.  Once daylight arrived, and even though a brisk 38ish degrees, I made my way outside to do some more raking!

Replenished with a plethora of leaf bags I tackled the sidewalk side of things and filled up (10) more bags and rest assured that they're FULL!

My new full leaf bag total stands at a whopping (41)!

Okay, so before heading out to rake on Sunday morning, I spent about an hour readying my crockpot with the fix'ns for beef stew.  Loaded with tender beef, garlic, onions, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, peas and potatoes.  I'm not a braggard but I gotta say, I nailed it! Nice and thick, as it should be, and super tasty!  It was ready by half time of the Patriots games and went well with a glass or two, okay half a bottle of Merlot, with plenty of left overs for a couple days AND I froze some for a later time.

#Blessed

If Even Healed At All

"Welcome"

I have a dream or perhaps an idea is a better way to describe it...

To add some color and pop to my front door.

So, I reached out to my signage consultant Gregory Frye at Fastsigns of Cutler Bay, FL, who by the way is a savant when it comes to all things signs related and I HIGHLY recommend him for any job small or large, and this is what we came up with.

We chose the farmhouse font, Abigalside, and Greg created the following options -

Which do you prefer?

Options #1, which is magnetic -

Option #2, which is magnetic -

Although, I am partial to option #2 above and feel this is the most appropriate to address the religious zealots, the solar panel pushing sales folks and the requestors of contributions\donations that come knocking, AND quite honestly how I feel about people in general these days.  However, I chose to air on the side of caution and instead went with option #3 below.  This option fits in well with the house color scheme, does add some pop to the door and flows betta -

Option #3, which is a decal -

So, if you are NOT one of the above mentioned visitors, then you're all "Welcome" to stop by!

Now, whether I answer the door when you ring is an entirely different thing...

A Plague Of Birds

Suppose it's just that time of the year, migration time.

Birds are on the move, many in masses too.

Admittedly, I am slow on the draw with the camera but in fairness I've not had my camera on me, so by the time I run to grab it and get back the flocks have often moved on and I miss out.

One exception was the flock of grackles that took over my front yard the other afternoon.  There were easily three times as many birds than the pic below shows.  They were in the trees above and on both sides of the house.  It's quite impressive to see SO many all together, especially when they take flight.  How they don't bump into one another is amazing.

While making diner the other night, I looked out to see about (15) wild turkeys making their way into my yard.  These birds have tremendous eyesight, so when they saw me watching they picked up their pace.  By the time I grabbed my camera and returned, this is the best shot I could get, which only shows five birds -

I am not into Ornithology, nor am I an Ornithologist or even a Twitcher for that matter but I do enjoy watching the birds that visit my place all year long.

Bag It!

Yesterday was a beautiful day!  Sunny, not a cloud in the sky and near 80 degrees.  A perfect day to spend in the yard and banging out some raking, UGH!

Clearly, I didn't think things through back in 2002 when I planted these maple trees. At the time they were no bigger around than ones wrists but fast forward 22 years and they're monsters now.  With their size comes leaves, seemingly endless amounts of leaves!

As you can see in the pics below the ground is covered, deep too, AND there's equally as many still to fall, ALAS!  Keep in mind that this is just one section of my property, my front lawn has just as many leaves, if not more, so I still have a lot of raking to do...

Before raking -

After raking -

(29) leaf bags jam packed full -

The town does leaf pickup one time in the fall, which is scheduled for me on Monday, November 11, so right around the corner, which is really what's driving me to get as much raked and bagged as possible before pickup day.

Which reminds me, need to sign off now and make a BJs run to purchase more bags, as I'm all out.

Happy Halloween 2024

Of all the Halloween decorations I've seen this year, and there are many creative ones, this witch\scarecrow is my favorite.

What A View!

One last posting from my visit to Chicago last month.

We took in the 360 Chicago Observation Deck at the John Hancock Observatory, which is on the 94th floor, a mere 1,030 feet above Chicago, YIKES!

One of the offerings is called "TILT", where you stand against floor to ceiling windows that slowly tilt outward towards the city below.  Um yeah, I passed on this option but there were many people doing it.

The views were incredible in all directions -

I found the below signage funny, which were posted outside of a pub we went to.  Based on the news I've seen, Chicagoans don't seem to follow the "no gun" directive.

A Google search returned the following, "as of July 7, 2024, there have been almost 1,200 total reported shootings in the city, according to the Chicago Police Department."

Looking forward to my next visit to the windy city!

 

Spanakopita (spænəˈkɒpɪtə)

I picked myself up this box of Spanakopita from Trader Joe's the last time I was there.  I had a hanker'n for spinach pie and thought this would be the perfect Patriots game kickoff snack.  Truth be told I miss my mother's spinach pie 😢.  Being the fussy eater that I was back in the day, I didn't appreciate this Greek dish, alas.

Although, not even close to my mother's version, it didn't disappoint!

My brother suggested a iPhone app called "Trash Panda", which identifies potentially harmful ingredients in your food with a quick scan of the products bar code. 

While waiting for these delicious treats to cook I took a peek at the ingredients listed on the back of the box and immediately knew this was NOT a healthy item.  I knew this by a quick look at ALL the ingredients shown.  Healthier items have minimal ingredients, so ones that have more than a few typically are bad, which turns out to be the case.

So, I used the Trash Panda app to scan the code and sure enough it was confirmed! A couple potentially dangerous ingredients flagged - canola oil and cellulose gum AND a warning that this product "may be bioengineered"!  

Good Grief!  Seems the FDA is how you say, "as useful as tits on a bull"!

Since I've been watching what I eat and have been good in general, and since I was already committed with the purchase and the tasty aroma wafting from the kitchen, I ate these, burp!

However, and sadly, this will be the last time I purchase this item.  We all need to do a better job at checking the ingredients on these items, as most contain bad $hit - bad oils, bad chemicals, bad dyes, etc.

Food for thought (see what I did here 😉)!

Bridges Not Walls

Instead of running and hiding and ignoring issues, address them!

Understand that walls don't just keep people out, they also prevent love from getting in...

Whatcha Doin Down There?!

My little shadow keeping a close eye on me and wondering what I'm doing in the basement.

She was welcome to come down to inspect and hangout but chose to keep an eye and ear from above -

 

#Blessed

So, I Sowed Not Sewed, So There!

You can't tell from these pictures but I planted my Winter Rye yesterday.

I sow it like I'm feeding chickens, just toss it around, then lightly rake followed by a good watering and now we wait.

Wanted to take advantage of the nice weather we've been having, so the rye can get established.

Doesn't look like much but I will post some follow up pics once it starts to grown and then again in the spring when it really takes off.

The Grand Finally...

Tonight's pizza and the last of my home grown tomatoes.

It was SO delicious! I'm gonna miss my fresh tomatoes, they make all the difference!

Trixie approves too!  She is also a BIG fan of my tomatoes and pizza in general.

A Life Lesson

It's a difficult thing to do, especially when you're a genuine person with a BIG heart.  However, if you can do it, you'll save yourself a lot of pain and heartache.

As the saying goes, "A leopard never changes its spots"...

One Last Tomato Hurrah!

These are the last of my home grown tomatoes, alas.

They were the remaining green tomatoes on the plants, when I pulled the plants out for composting.

They've been sitting here on my counter slowly ripening!

Looks like tonight's homemade pizza will be the end of these, as they're starting to go bad.  However, I'll use what I can and savior each bite.  Can't wait!

#Blessed

Another Halloween Appropriate Insect

This cool looking dude was visiting my deck the other afternoon.

I see these critters out in yard occasionally but they're usually hiding on flowers.

After a bit of research I determined this is a Jagged Ambush Bug and to be honest, it's one of the cooler looking insects I've seen here at the ole homestead.

Best I can explain is that they're similar to Praying Mantis, at least in the sense of how the patiently sit and wait for an unsuspecting insect to visit and then they strike.  Like a mantis they use their hooked forelegs to immobilize their prey.  However, where these dude differs from the mantis is it's use of venom, which is injected, that turns the prey’s insides into a buggy milkshake that the ambush bugs drink up through their straw-like beak.

The circle of life...

I Don't Care For This Getting Older Thing

It was another beautiful day, so I took a drive to the Westwood cemetery.  I stopped, grabbed a sandwich and ate it grave side.  It was so peaceful and quiet.

I went prepared with supplies and plans to cut back and thin out the hostas and wash the headstone, both accomplished.  I split both hostas clumps in half and intend on planting them here at the ole homestead.  Then I turned the soil in front, as well as edged, then scrubbed the headstone with soap and water.

The finished and cleaned up product, looks much better -

The cemetery has done a bit of expanding and with it, mom and dad have a new wide open view, as you can see below.  I preferred it the way it was but we can't stop progress, so I'll accept it for what and how it now is -

It's always comforting to visit.  Since I was in the area, I drove by our old house too.  It looks pretty much the same but a bit overgrown, otherwise no changes by the current owners.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two.

I miss them both each and every day.

We All Have Our Struggles

and the hurt they then inflect, even though unintentionally, cuts DEEP!

That's A Wrap!

I harvested my carrots on Saturday!

I would have preferred to let them go a bit longer, with nice weather predicted for the coming week, but something started eating the tops, so I opted to dig them.  That officially closes out my vegetable gardens for the season.

This was my third planting of carrots.  My previous two didn't have much of a chance with the darn wild rabbits, however.  As you can see, still not the greatest harvest, as most are tiny with the bigger ones still small but no worries.

I washed them, cut them up and into the crockpot them went on Sunday morning with other veggies and a nice turkey breast!  A terrific early afternoon meal!

A little hanky-panky going on with these two but they did form a lovely heart -