Memorial Day Weekend Plantings

This past weekend I got my vegetable gardens going!

I planted some seeds and some plants already started, that I picked up from a local nursery.

(8) California Wonder sweet peppers

(4) Broccoli

A row of bush green beans &

A row of carrots -

Last falls garlic plants, doing awesome -

Installed a temporary fence to keep the darn deer and rabbits out -

(4) Brandywine Red tomatoes

(4) Jet Star tomatoes

(50) White sweet corn seeds - I'll plant two more batches, each about 2-weeks apart

A row of mixed sunflowers

Now I water and wait...

A Tree

Leaves, Branches, Roots

A person's true colors will always show in time, so remember what Maya Angelo said, "When someone shows you their true colors, believe them."

A sad but true and difficult lesson to learn; very painful!

#Blessed

Say AAHHHHH!

It's that time of year when the I battle with the critters that look to get into my gardens.

The deer, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks do the most damage and have more of a hanker'n for my veggie plants and veggies.  

I installed a temporary fence around my raised beds to keep the deer out but for the smaller critters I use live catch traps, which I pulled out this past weekend and set them out.

My first capture, just yesterday, was this beauty, a female opossum.  The picture doesn't show them but she had several babies clinging to her belly!  As you can see she was a bit agitated, so I didn't want to bother her too much.  I opened the gate and left her alone to back out and move along, when she felt comfortable.  Most other critters dart out as soon as the door is opened, not opossums.  

I will reset the trap and battle on...

Opening Day!

I removed my pool cover this past weekend, a last minute decision really.

I've mastered both opening and closing the pool doing by myself.

Mixed emotions both when opening and closing.  Of course, when closed there is no maintenance needed, which is nice.  As you can imagine, it's the opposite when opening not to mention the expenses to maintain and operate.

I added about a dozen gallons of liquid shock.  Although, the water itself is crystal clear, the algae makes it look a lot worse than it is.  Keep in mind I took this pic shortly after I removed the cover and before I added the chemicals, it looks a lot better today.

The next step is to vacuum to waste all the yuck that remains.  When that's complete and things are a bit cleaner I'll fire up the pump and start to filter the water.

I used to scrub the pool cover with dawn liquid soap and a push broom but have since given up on that.  Instead, I let the cover sit on the driveway in the hot sun to dry, then I use my gas powered leaf blower and the push broom to clean it.  Works just as good.  Once dry and clean, I fold it, but fold it like an accordion so it's a breeze to unfold and install from one end, then tie it up and store in the garage till closing time.

Let the fun begin...

Way To Go Emilie!

It's Official!

Emilie is a college graduate, earning her bachelor of arts degree in education.

URI spread their eight commencement ceremonies out over three days, which was nice, kept the ceremonies smaller and made for a more personal experience for all.

Following the ceremony, we had a delicious diner at The Gas Lamp Grill in the heart of downtown Newport, RI -

We stayed at The Wellington Resort, in downtown Newport, which was right on the water -

The four years of URI flew by, for me anyway, and started out challenging with covid but certainly ended on a positive note! I'm sure Emilie made lasting memories and friends at her time there. I couldn't be prouder of her accomplishments and can't wait to see what the next chapter has in store for her.

The graduation was terrific and the couple days spent in Newport was made all the more special getting to share it with my oldest Stephanie and her fiancé Audrey! 

MANY thanks!

2024 College Graduate!

Congratulations Emilie Frye on graduating Summa Cum Laude from URI's College of Education!

An outstanding accomplishment!

I am SO proud of you!

Front Yard Sitting

It's that time of the year again and the Adirondack chairs are in place -

Ms. Trixie and I doing a little front yard sitting after a long day.  Enjoying the warmth, the sun and taking it all in!

#Blessed

Tow Zone

Those darn bikers are at it again.  Honestly, I don't think they know how to read...

Would You Ever?!

It's that time of the season, so it would seem based on what I've been seeing out of the 27th floor of my office building - external, high-rise window washing season, YIKES!

You'd NEVER get me in a basket dangling over the side of a skyscraper, NOPE!  Truth be told, I have a hard enough time walking to the windows inside and looking down without getting a tad queasy!

I circled some of the cranes and the baskets in the above pics -

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

How is this for a cool idea!

We walked into the URI campus bookstore yesterday and this t-shirt caught my eye - the names of all the 2024 URI graduates -

Lo and behold upon closer inspection, looky there, the one and only Miss Emilie Frye -

Yes, of course I bought one!

*** UPDATE ***

I framed the t-shirt myself and used a pink arrow sticky note to point to Emilie's name -

Both Wonderful and Haunting

💔

Weeders Needed

Even rooftop lawns in the big city, about 20+ stories up, have to deal with the dreaded dandelions!

Pesky little buggers -

No Regrets Here!

Roll Up Your Sleeves!

I completed another Power Red blood donation this afternoon!

Getting closer to the 7-gallon milestone!

Here is the Power Red apheresis machine -

Here I am squeezing my squishy football -

I've even already scheduled my next donation appointment, Thursday 9/12!

I'm Eating My Veggies

I'm on a green bean kick lately.

Here is last nights meal I whipped up, garlic and butter green beans and chicken.

So yummy!

When You Gotta "Go"!

The South Station Air Rights Project is well underway with noticeable progress being made weekly, from my vantage point on the 27th floor of my neighboring office building.

What they completed, both inside and out, looks nice so far.

Since I get on and off my commuter train at South Station, I'm looking forward to it's completion.

If you've ever wondered about where high-rise construction workers do their "business"...now you know!

Flying porta-potties, several of them -

I shit you not 😂

Stop Overthinking

If it was only that simple...

It Must Be Me...

For the love of god, what is the deal with product packaging, is it me?!

I bought a package of emery boards from CVS the other day and what should have been a simple task of opening the package to remove a single item, turned into a major event, WTF?!

They're emery boards, why so frick'n difficult to open?

Dew, Dogs And Deer

My early morning weekend walks are the best!  So quiet and peaceful; an ideal time to go.

The lawns were covered in dew this morning.

I came across a couple different groups of deer; one pair who crossed the road in front of me as I approached and the second pair calmly keeping an eye on me from a distance as I walked by.  Oh, I saw you both standing statuesque trying to blend in.  You gotta get up earlier than that to fool me.

A handful of dog walkers, and their 4-legged companions, were out this morning too.

Happy 99!

Happy Birthday Mom 🎂!

Miss you each and every day.

Boxed H2O

This is the water that my company has available in the conference center.

Whether it's "better" or not, you be the judge, however, I will tell you that drinking it offers me a sense of relief that, hopefully, there are no micro plastic floating around inside.

The City Is A Bloom!

Here are a few pictures of the flowers planted outside my Boston office building -

They do a terrific job and usually have flowers or flowery-type displays all year long, which always match the season.