The Amaryllis I got for Christmas is a bursting!
Three of the four flowers are now wide open, with the fourth not far behind.
What a nice contrast to the cold and snow we have up to our eyeballs...
Friday, February 13, 2015
Monday, February 09, 2015
Enough Is Enough!
What a difference six months makes -
This photo was taken before this last (current) storm, which had dumped an additional 12 to 14 inches on top of the ~3' already out there!
I took the below picture today, Wednesday 2-18-2015, after another 12+ inches fell -
NO MAS!
Sunday, February 08, 2015
To My Little (Teenage) Girl!
Happy Birthday Emilie!
Wish I could slow the hands of time, the past thirteen years went by too fast. It's hard to believe that you're now a teenager. I'm VERY proud of you and LOVE you VERY much!
Wishing you a VERY Happy 13th Birthday!
Saturday, February 07, 2015
You're a Teenager!
Happy 13th Birthday to my terrific Niece Alyssa!
Hope you have great day on your special birthday!
Monday, February 02, 2015
Congratulations New England Patriots!
Our New England Patriots are
WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!
Thanks for an exciting season, and another trophy for Title Town!
Sunday, February 01, 2015
Hopefully It Will NEVER Be Needed...
But just in case it's cleared!
The town relocated all of the fire hydrants along our stretch of Lincoln Street this past Summer. This proved challenging after blizzard Juno, as I was unable to locate the hydrant following the storm.
I went back out Friday afternoon, located it and dug the dude out!
Stephan's Gardening Tip: Snow-Manure Tea
Before -
After -
I made six trips trod-ding through twenty-plus inches of un-shoveled snow while carrying two-five gallon buckets full of chicken and rabbit droppings/bedding (manure) up to the garden. I then proceeded to spread the manure atop the snow, atop the garden.
My rationale is that more snow will fall and cover said manure. As each day passes they'll get longer with more day light, eventually giving way to warmer weather and melting. As that process takes place I'm counting on the melting snow-manure mixture to create a manure-tea of sorts and seep into the garden soil fertilizing and softening it.
Eventually, when the ground thaws and planting season arrives, I'll till the contents into the ground and plant. Then sit back and watch the vegetables take off!
Snow Covered Sidewalks
Two days after storm Juno -
Five days after storm Juno -
Astonished that it takes the town of Franklin five days to clear the sidewalks of snow! Two school days with kids unable to get by unless they ventured into the street. One excuse after the other but sadly this is an all too often issue.
"Roll-Over" Thursday!
I passed two rollovers on my commute to the office this past Thursday morning.
The first one, pictured below, occurred shortly before I passed. Fortunately, I wan't affected traffic wise but many others were. However, the second was approximately 20 miles further North from this one and I sat in traffic to get through.
People are idiot dipstick and just don't think or care about anyone but themselves. Thank goodness the above accident didn't include any other vehicles. Of course I have no idea what caused this but since it occurred in the center median, I'm guessing speed was to blame.
Negative ...
It's warming up outside...
At least the bone chilling winds have stopped.
Baby it's cold outside, SUPER cold outside, BRR!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Dinner For One, To Go...
This Grey Squirrel did a little pre-blizzard shopping.
He's been pilfering our compost pile of pumpkin and butternut squash. As you can see he brought a squash end piece up to a safe place in the crux of this Boxelder tree.
Have I Got An Investment Opportunity For You!
Here is a snapshot of what my "junk" email folder looks like at any given time.
The number of investment-type scams seem endless.
It's hard to imagine that in this day and age people fall victim to these.
Like they say, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is"!
Deflate-gate Faux Pas
Came across this interesting Twitter post from Ryan Leaf, retired NFL quarterback.
Well said in my opinion!
Blizzard JUNO 2015
We're in the record books for Boston being the snowiest January in history!
There's mountains and mountains of snow piles all over -
Being light and fluffy snow, along with super high winds, there are snow drifts like the one against our deck slider everywhere. Many three, four feet high and more.
In the end we're lucky. Had this been a wet snow there would have been so much more damage and power outages throughout the area.
The only concern now is future snow storms this season and where to put that snow when it falls.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Storing Eggs
Why Should Eggs Be Stored Pointy End Down?
The Fresh Eggs Daily blog has a pretty informative article on why eggs should be stored pointy end down.
Click here is you're interested in learning more -
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Mr. Murphy...
Friday nights snow storm was a good precursor for what's to come. It also allowed me to take the snow-blower out for it's first spin of 2015 and a good thing too.
Started right up on the second pull, however, when I began using it she'd conk out. This happened several times when all of a sudden "Murphy" appeared.
The pull cord snapped on one of the restarts - of course it did, UGH!
Fortunately, this model has an electric start, so I was able to get her running again. However, the conk outs continued, which was challenging as I needed to lump the machine back to the garage to plug in and restart.
Ah, but "Murphy" wasn't done, nope. He was still hanging around. This time he worked his magic when the snow-blower blade hit the corner of a railroad tie, which caused the shear bolt to break (by design), ALAS.
So, in anticipation of the Nor'easter heading our way I spent a couple hours this morning on the machine. Fortunately, I had a spare shear bolt and a brandy new spark plug, so I replaced them both. Checked the fluids and tires and we're ready to roll!
Looking at the spark plug picture, old vs new, I'm hoping this explains why the machine kept conking out.
Let It Snow, Let It Snow Let It Snow
Snow covered windchime
Flipp'n town plow! First real snow storm of the season and they've already knocked our mailbox over. VERY frustrating to say the least, and we're not the only "victims", as other neighbors suffered the same fate.
Even Trixie-dog was struggling. We need to take her outside to do he business via the basement when it snows. She does not like to navigate the deck stairs when they're snow covered.
BIG Nor'easter heading are way! Anticipated to begin tomorrow (Monday) evening. Upwards of TWO FEET predicted, UGH!!
TBGFE
Pardon my language but what the &%#$ is this?!
Came downstairs Saturday morning to find this item on the kitchen counter.
What gives?!
Either JoAnne has a boyfriend or Emilie has a boyfriend.
I don't care for either option but hoping it's JoAnne's...
Take A Deep Breath
All too familiar with this exam room.
Went to see my doctor earlier in the week about this nagging cough I've had for well over a month now. I don't typically have to wait too long before being seen but this visit was different. She's been inundated with all the sickness and colds going around.
She took a couple chest x-rays and all looked good. To be on the safe side she prescribed cough medicine and antibiotics, neither of which appear to be working.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Vroom vroom vroom
Went to the Northeast Motorcycle Expo the other day.
It was held in Boston at the Seaport World Trade Center.
It was a good take.
My friend Valerie Cormier was there too. We met at last years expo.
Licenses and Registration
Franklin's finest have stepped up their speeding limit enforcement!
Yes sir, they've setup some speed traps near our house and as you can see in the above photos they nabbed a couple speeders.
Really would like to see them here and doing this on a more regular basis to keep the speeds down.
The Beer Can's Birthday!
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
*** ding ding, ding ding ***
Although, I am neither a town crier or a bellman I am here to announce the following -
*** ding ding, ding ding ***
(waving my imaginary bell)
The beer can turns 80 years old this coming weekend!
*** ding ding, ding ding ***
I for one will honor this milestone and celebrate by throwing back a couple.
Read more Foxnews - Beer 80
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Kinda Like Jacks Magic Beans
Shhh, please keep this to yourself and do not tell anyone.
I snagged myself some donut seeds!
I knew they existed but they're extremely rare and hard to find but I now have some.
Can't wait till the Spring growing season gets here. So curious what kind of donuts we'll get from these. Already salivating!
Baby It's Cold Outside!
And it continues...
This is without the windchill added in, which drops us into the negatives.
Minimal snow though, so that's a good thing.
Unexpected Furnace Repairs
Our furnace overflow began doing what it was intended to do, overflow.
Came home to a wet basement floor including shoes, sneakers and boots, in and around the furnace.
The good news is that the furnace and heat continued to work. The bad news is that it cost and arm and a leg to repair, UGH.
The expansion tank (grey in the above picture) needed to be replaced and the system purged, as well as several other pieces and parts.
Fingers crossed she continues to chug away.
Friday, January 02, 2015
Lucky Lucky!
A year of good luck.
Congratulations to Ms. Emilie Frye!
Her piece of this New Year's Day Vasilopita (dime cake) contained the baked in dime!
Thursday, January 01, 2015
Vasilopita 2015
The 2015 Vasilopita has been baked.
JoAnne spent yesterday afternoon mixing and kneading and kneading and kneading, then baking the Vasilopita for our New Years day tradition.
It looks delicious and smells wonderful. Brings back happy memories of my mom.
Happy New Years to one and all!
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