Boston Here We Come!

We spent the day in Boston on Tuesday, 8/23.

We took in Faneuil Hall with a Regina pizza lunch outside over looking the waterfront.  A stroll along the waterfront to the Northend.  An even longer stroll through Downtown Crossing to the Boston Common and a couple photos in front of the State House.  Then ended with a pleasurable boat ride on the historic Swan Boats

Another terrific day!

So True!

Mr. Franklin sure was a wise man...

Full Day of Fun!

Emilie and I spent this past Monday, 8/22, at Patriots Place in Foxborough.

We had lunch outside on the upper patio at CBS Scene.

We could watch as the transformation (to the left of the tower) was taking place.  The turf field was had been removed and the staging being erected for the Kenny Chesney Spread The Love tour that was scheduled for the coming Saturday 8/27

We bowled a couple games at Splitsville using the BIG balls!

Then took in The Hall at Patriots Place for a historical walk down memory lane for our New England Patriots.

We had a terrific day!

Find The Critter

Can you find the critter in the above picture?

Go Rev's Update

Well, unfortunately the Rev's lost the game 2 - 0, boo

However, we ended up sitting and watching the game in the Putnam suite, not the club house as I originally thought.  The suite is a private room that holds maybe 30 people or so and is on the top level of the stadium with it's own bathroom, seating, tables, etc.

Suite B24 -

The view looking out and down from the suite -

New England Patriots and Putnam Investment partnership pic -

A Robert Kraft and Tom Brady signed football -

A Tom Brady, the GOAT, signed official helmet -

A good time was had by all

Go Revs!

I'll be back at Gillette Stadium tonight to watch the New England Revolution take on the Columbus Crew.

Soccer games at the stadium are not as crowded or chaotic as football, so it's a good take.  Plus we'll be sitting in the Putnam Investments Club house with VIP parking included.

As an added benefit, it's Diego Fagundez bobblehead night.  However, I must be honest and tell you that other than knowing Diego is a midfielder I have no idea who this player is, as I typically don't follow soccer too much.

Always a good people watching event.

The Sphingidae Family Perhaps?

I came across this very interesting looking caterpillar last weekend residing on our Grapevines.

It's not very long, about 3/4".  Yellowish brown in color with a horn on it rear-end and what looks like an over sized (foreskin type) collar, which allowed it to retract it's head into.

It has since gone into it's chrysalis stage, so we'll see what type of butterfly emerges.

I'm guessing it's one of the following: Darapsa Myron, Achemon Sphinx or Pandorus Sphinx.  Hard to tell as there too many to choose from, yet I wasn't able to locate an exact match on the Google machine.

Interesting non-the-less!

Beneficial and Welcomed Insect

Emilie took this terrific picture of a Red Dragonfly taking a rest.

I'm gonna take a guess and say it's an a type of Meadowhawk dragonfly.  Perhaps the Autumn Meadowhawk...

In Attendance I Was!

I received a surprise phone call Wednesday evening from my neighbor asking if I'd like to go to the New England Patriots vs Chicago Bears preseason game at Gillette Stadium and I said YES!

Although, I've been in Gillette Stadium many many times, this was the fist time evah attending a Pats game in all my years.

It was a perfect night for the game with free parking just outside the entrance gate and our seats were terrific.  Plus, and of course, the Pats won the game 23 to 22.  Unfortunately, the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), Tom Brady didn't play, nor was he in attendance.  Thank goodness the Patriots Cheerleaders were on hand...

Ticket in hand -

Pats vs dah Bears -

Here comes the players with a beautiful sunset backdrop -

And of course a complimentary cheerleader pic -  

And Another One...

Well HELLO!

Look who stopped by this evening around diner time for a quick, or so he thought, snack.

Set Sail...

The handy work of my brother!

Really need him to visit more often. When he's here my to-do list gets smaller.

The sail does a nice job keeping the sun off the deck and out of the kitchen through the slider.

Bell Pepper Feast!

The good news is our peppers are doing fantastic this summer.  I guess they've been enjoying our hot and humid weather.  Of course the hand watering and pep talks have to be helping too!

JoAnne's planning on making stuffed peppers for dinner one night this week.  She'll be using my mothers recipe, which is delicious but also brings back may fond memories. 

We're Back On The Air!

After several failed attempts we finally got the pool plumbing repair completed!!

It was a difficult repair due to the location and small space to work in.  However, it could have been SO much worse.  At least the leak occurred in the one small area that isn't cover by concrete, PHEW!

Seems like there's now more pressure being pushed out.  I suspect the leak, although tiny at first, has been there for a couple years.  Again, thankfully it was in a spot we could get at.

Now I have some catching up to do to get the pool itself sparkling once again.

It's on my list!

P U!

Yuppers, another pesky critter who's curiosity got him in a bind.

This little dude built a mote around the trap in an effort to get free.

Little stinker let loose a little take-that-stink when I open the trap and nudged him out.

August Blood Donation

Another double-red blood donation this past Saturday.

The blood drive was almost cancelled due to the heat. The AC at the donation center wasn't working.  They were able to eventually get everything taken care, so after an hour delay the blood was flowing.

Purdy Petunias!

Here's a sampling of our Petunia flowers -

They're showing their appreciation for the daily watering and TLC. 

Here We Go Patriots!

Oh yeah, gameday!

2011 Syrah-Merlot

I don't know what any of these means but it tasted very good and complimented my tilapia and shrimp dinner.

Post Office Square Boston

Took the commuter train into Boston on Tuesday for a meeting.

It was a beautiful day in the city, so the walk to and from South Station to our office was enjoyable.

Had lunch at a terrific pizza place called Regina Pizzeria.  I grabbed a couple slices, a cold water and grabbed a bench outside in the shade to do some people watching.

"Holy Heart Failure, Batman!" - Robin

Check out our middle-of-the-night-inside-the-house-flying-circles-around-first-the-bedroom-then-the-living-room-visitor!

Yuppers!  This little guy made his way inside the house in the middle of the night.

I grabbed our fishing net and caught the little booger.  He wasn't too pleased either, not at all.  For such a little guy he sure could carry on and put up quite a fuss.

It was difficult to get this bugger untangled from the net but fortunately I was able to.  He was set free with a stern talking to and with specific instructions to continue riding our ole homestead of the pesky mosquitoes.  Time will tell if he listens.

The Open Road...

We had a terrific 154 mile round trip ride this past Sunday!  We drove south to Mantunuck, Rhode Island and had lunch at The Ocean Mist Beach Bar

It was a hot and humid day but cooler and beautiful at the ocean!

Above are our four bike - 

The Ocean Mist Beach Bar -

My starting and ending odometer readings -

What A Stinker

The latest critter to stay the night.

This youngster was too temped by the smell of delicious Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal bread.

Uno, Dos, Tres

Sadly, here are our cucumber spoils so far this season.

It's difficult to tell in the picture but these are only about 3" long.

It's been SO dry here in the Northeast that all plants are hurting.

Hoping for a couple more but from the looks of the plants I'm afraid I have a better chance of hearing a turtle fart...

Find The Critter

Can you find the critter in the above picture?

Split Ends...

Frustratingly, here's an example of the quality in many of today's products.

This is the end of a 45' long vacuum hose for our pool.  It's NOT supposed to have the slit\vertical cut in it, NOPE.  The hose is less than two months old, bought online brand new, and has only been used 3 times and this is the result.

The end is permanently fixed to the end of the hose, so it's not like I can remove this one broken piece and return.  Rather the entire 45' hose, broken end and all, needs to be boxed up and shipped back to the manufacturer for replacement.  Which means I'll be without a vacuum hose and the ability to clean my pool until the exchange is completed. 

Sadly a sign of the times today...

Our Walker Stalker Con Boston Fun

Emilie and I attended Walker Stalker in Boston this past Saturday and had a fun time!

Many of the Walking Dead actors and actresses were on hand to sign autographs and take selfies with -  of of course at an additional cost...don't get me started on this!

Emile chose to take a selfie with Christian Serratos, aka Rosita Espinosa in The Walking Dead.

Note:  I was yelled at for taking the above picture of Ms Serratos because I didn't pay the $40.00 to do so - true story.

Looks like we've started an annual trend, as Emilie is already talking about next years show.