What a day! I Can't Wait for 2011!

Wow what a day, woke up early, It's New Years Eve and our anniversary today so lots to do, got the four dogs fed and out, Started the coffee, sat to log in for a while.

We purchased a new shower head/sprayer combo a week ago,  I had the bright idea to install it before my shower this morning.  Overall it works pretty good, I need to tighten one of the connections a little tighter, it drips...

A little while later Magic and Gordon got into a knock down drag out fight in the front yard.  It was a pretty bad fight, Magic is blind so that didn't help either.  We checked both dogs, they appear to be ok, no major damage we can see.


I was watching some Twilight zone while Rose went to feed the cats (food and litter box is in the basement) she came back up saying "there is s pipe leaking down cellar."  Not the way either of us wanted to spend the day but... 

Pipe Repair Saga...

• Checking out the leak I found there was a pinhole leak in a pipe under the 1st floor bathroom, a tiny leak (you almost couldn't see the water spraying out)
• Got the water shut off, opened the faucets to relieve the pressure.
• Off to the workshop to get some parts and tools.
• Couldn't use a temporary clamp I had used a couple years ago as the leak was between two connections.
• Ended up cutting several pipe connections, installed a new "Tee", a shutoff valve, a coupling, and a 5" piece of pipe, hit it with the torch and an hour later all was well.

Temporary Pipe Repair Clamp.








Harley started pulling White Radio fence marker flags out of the ground today he brought several to the front porch this morning.  Maybe he figures if the flags are gone the fence won't work!

Off to the store to pick up a New Years/Anniversary dinner, Hannaford wasn't as packed as I thought it would be.   We got a Nice Eye Round and some new potatoes for Smashed potatoes  we forgot to get dessert.  Dinner was fantastic though!

Magic has an ear infection so we're putting drops in that this evening...

I checked my pipe repair, it's holding!

I can't wait for 2011!

So, how was your day?

Fun Toy Musical Squares

Fun Toy.  Click on some of the squares, make sure your speakers are on.

Squares Music

Resonant Chamber from Animusic

New Years Eve, Sunrise in New Boston.

New Years Eve,  Sunrise in New Boston.   

A Good Morning! 

  
Weatherman said it'll be 50 tomorrow in Boston.

RIP Kodachrome Film

RIP Kodachrome Film

Truly the end of an era as the last lab "Dwayne's" stops processing Kodachrome film.



As Paul Simon noted in his 1973 song —

“Kodachrome”
”You give us those nice bright colors, You give us the greens of summer, Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day.”

Nice slow week

Been a nice slow week for the most part, off to the vets, little bit of shopping, playin' with toys, I got a kindle and an Ipod touch, and an LED trouble light.

Today was office cleaning day, ugh, really needed it though, it's like a new office.   Now I have to do the same at work,  I am moving next month to the Derry location.

Oil company showed up today to fill 'er up, another $500.  Just 10 minutes before he arrived the house rumbled, and crashed as though something hit the house.   Of course all the dogs started barking, and generally creating a ruckus, I had my suspicions...  I ran out to see what was going on and sure enough several tons of ice had fallen off the North roof of the house crashing to the ground.  I told the guy that the Ice had all come off already, he said he watches for it and stands right up against the house if necessary.

Our Beagle/Golden mix Gorgon gave us a nice scare tonight, had a 2 1/2" stick wedge wedged across the top of his mouth between his teeth.  We thought it was a biscuit at first, he did real good letting me get into his mouth several times it was really stuck in there, I ended up prying it out of his mouth carefully with a rounded spoon handle. Don't let anyone tell you that dogs are not as bad as kids... they get into just as much trouble.

Boxing Day in Canada...

Dad and I were discussing Boxing Day Christmas eve... Here's what I found...

 

Boxing Day!

by Teddy Partridge

Boxing Day! I’m celebrating this day, also called St Stephens Day after the first Christian martyr, in Vancouver BC — where it is a really big deal. It’s the shopping equivalent to America’s Black Friday, although even our odious post-Thanksgiving tradition is rumored to have spread north across the border to keep Canadians from heading south to our big-box stores for deals.
What is Boxing Day? Celebrated throughout the British Commonwealth as an official holiday; Brits, for instance, get four days off work this weekend: Saturday, Sunday, Monday for Christmas and then Tuesday for Boxing Day!
You’ve probably heard it has something to do with boxing up all the Christmas decorations, or boxing up the unwanted gifts to return them to stores, or even actual fighting among families too tired of arguing with one another after “enjoying” the holidays together.
None of these are true. Here’s some generally accepted explanations of how Boxing Day might have got its name:

Some historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with gift boxes.
Church Alms Boxes
Another theory is that the boxes placed in churches where parishioners deposited coins for the poor were opened and the contents distributed on December 26, which is also the Feast of St. Stephen.
As time went by, Boxing Day gift giving expanded to include those who had rendered a service during the previous year. This tradition survives today as people give presents to tradesmen, mail carriers, doormen, porters, and others who have helped them.

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Fake video windows - best thing I've seen today // Current

Fake video windows - best thing I've seen today // Current

Crysis 2 Trailer

Crysis 2 Trailer


All I have to say is Wow!

Factory Balls: Christmas Edition

Factory Balls: Christmas Edition

Oh, Canada!

The drive to upstate NY was pretty uneventful, they are making snow on the mountains in Vermont.  Dry roads for the most part, a couple of 1+ foot snow drifts across the road at 70 mph was a little exciting.  They have roughly 8" on snow in the Ogdensburg area.  I saw a couple herds of 6+ Deer just before I got to Ogdensburg, NY the hotel manager there said 30 minutes West they had 2+ feet of Lake effect snow.

The Server room move went very well, we didn't even drop one.  We were moving a server room from one building in Ottawa to another building.

Just like we imagined, damned cold here in Canada.  My trip to Ottawa was pretty exciting this morning in the snow, slush and ice.  Snow and Icing is in store the next couple days, luckily it should calm down by the time I drive back.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, James and Jason work their suits and red ties. And promptly changed before the dogs got to them. Rose's Thanksgiving feast was fantastic, leftovers today were great too. Crystal made a greenbean Casserole that was great. There were pies, cookies, cakes, candy, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, I forgot to have cranberry sauce again...

Black Friday

Black Friday Ice covered the land, no shopping for you...

Seed catalogs in November, before Thanksgiving even...

Seed catalogs in November,  before Thanksgiving even...

   Yeah I couldn't believe it either,  Seed catalogs before the snow flies! Like an early Christmas for a gardener. They sat there unopened on the coffee table for a couple days, I didn't want to jump into them to quickly, wearing them out to early, the covers ink smeared off looking old before spring. 

  I think the marketing folks finally figured out that giving me 4 months to look at their offerings may be better than the usual two months in the spring when I am usually deluged with spring catalogs, that maybe, just maybe they'll get an early winter/spring seed order out of me.  They might be right, I am looking for spring seed, looking to add to the bean crops, diversify into some heirloom beans, some additional heirloom tomato, the Black Krim's of last year still memorable but fading fast and maybe some hops too.

This week I received:

• Stokes
• Pinetree Garden Farms

I'll let you know what I think shortly.

'Twas a dark and dreary night...

Well not so dreary, more blustery I guess.  Bright moonlit night when not blocked by spotty cloud cover. Out for a walk this evening, clouds whipping by at rapid speeds, trash bags all blown out into the street, the leaves wrestling as they tumbled up the road.

I fully expected to jump a deer out of one of the fields, felt like that kind of night,  guess they've all bedded down for the evening, at least until the wind subsides.

We're supposed to get a Leonid Meteor shower tonight (tomorrow) Friday morning 2am to 6 am were the times I saw.  (let me know how it was, OK?)

NH Reef Club - Index

NH Reef Club - Index

Topo maps - NH Fish and Game

Topo maps - NH Fish and Game

Chuck & Beans

Chuck & Beans

Noah turned "8"

Happy Birthday Noah!

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween Cupcakes at Nana's house.
James and Nana made some great Halloween cupcakes, while Papa and Jason worked on Nana's Computer, Jason removed Nine screws from the computer carcass all by himself.

How did Jefferson know?

How did Jefferson know?

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the
brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement:
"This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to
gather at one time in the White House with the exception of
when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Especially read the last quote from 1802.


When we get piled
upon one another in large cities, as in Europe,
we shall become as corrupt as Europe .
Thomas Jefferson


The democracy will cease to exist
when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson


It is incumbent on every
generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which if acted on would save
one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson


I predict future happiness for
Americans if they can prevent the government
from wasting the labors of the people under the
pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson


My reading of history convinces me
that most bad government results from too much
government.
Thomas Jefferson


No free man shall ever be debarred
the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson


The strongest reason for the
people to retain the right to keep and bear arms
is, as a last resort, to protect themselves
against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson


The tree of liberty must be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson


To compel a man to subsidize with
his taxes the propagation of ideas which he
disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson


Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
'I believe that
banking institutions are more dangerous to
our liberties than standing armies.
If the American people ever allow
private banks to control the issue of their
currency, first by inflation, then by
deflation, the banks and corporations that will
grow up around the banks will deprive the people
of all property - until their children
wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers
conquered.

Mural app is fun to play with...

Mural.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

End of the growing season is upon us...

The last of the cherry tomatoes are ready to be picked, the Roma's are really starting to come in now too.














The Basil is going to seed as is our Broccoli now, I could have kept it cut and had 3-5 more meals out of it.

We've dried several batches of herbs, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, yeah I know... Basil too.














The Morning glories are just starting to seed up too. So many volunteers around the yard don't know it it's worth the effort to save them.

Hopkington Fair 2010

James and the friendly sheep. A great time was had by all this year, the dust wasn't intolerable, James thought the sheep were pretty cool, Rabbits and few odd breeds of chickens with the feathers on their feet.

Texting is getting out of hand, Jason Texting...

Texting is getting out of hand, even Jason at the haunted house is Texting...

Listening to the Barking Dogs...

Sitting down reading the morning blogs and all of a sudden Gordon our (Beagle lab mix) starts barking and barking.

The usual banging on the window, yelling at him, threatening to bring him in, %&#$! dog expletives wouldn't stop him. Rose opened the window shade and saw Gordon with his hair all up on his back barking towards the neighbors property, and look what she saw...

A great Blue Heron just standing there looking back at us. You can see the dogs Kennel in the corner of the picture, so this is what he was seeing. We've seen them at our pond and flying overhead before, never just standing in the yard though.

Several rounds of Good Dog Gordon ensued!

Neighbor put in a small pond a year or so back, he was complaining last week that the water level is very low due to the dry summer maybe there was a good frog crop this year.

End of the season already...

The last of the volunteer Morning Glories were flowering this morning, the nights are getting cool, good camping weather.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are coming in, slowly but surely...

The Picasa 3.8 is available now...

The Picasa 3.8 ReadMe

Here there be Dragons

Dragonflies that is, as is typical for the 2nd week in August we had our annual Dragonfly day here on the farm, thousands of them doing there best to keep the mosquito population in check. And I might add doing a fine job, between them and the heat it's been a pretty good year bug wise around here.

Garden Picking

Looks like Broccoli for dinner tonight. The garden is coming in, the Summer squash, and Zucchini are about done and we'll probably pull the plants this weekend. We're picking Broccoli twice a week, we're still waiting for peppers lots of small ones.

Roma tomatoes have been coming in 2-3 a day but the pace is picking up now that the nights are getting cooler. Only one ripe red one this morning.

The "Black Krim" heirloom tomato we grew this year is fantastic, low acid, prolific and delicious on a tomato sandwich. They really are a blackish color inside too.

Surprise!

Rose was watering one of the large potted Petunias that sit up on the granite wall this morning and the plant moved... Can you see it?

A 16" Garter snake had somehow climbed up into the large pot and had nestled down in the foliage didn't take to kindly to being watered.

A good hunting spot for him I suppose, letting his dinner come to him.

Perseid, Mountian Lions and Bears oh my...

The Perseid meteor shower was a bust on the 12th due to the cloud cover last night Aug 13th was pretty good though, we saw ~20 streaks and a couple 1/2 sky long sparkler tailed meteors streak across the sky.  Rose and I, Crystal, James and Jason watched the sky from ~10 to midnight, the bugs stayed away for the evening, oatmeal pies, and popcorn was the preferred snack of the evening.

Rose and I went to get a haircut yesterday, talked to a neighbor there who said that our plow guy saw a Mountain Lion a couple days back.   Hmm, maybe that's where all the local deer went.  And maybe that's what spooked the fawn and had it tearing through our field in such a hurry a few weeks back.

We were driving home from New Boston Ctr on Rt 13 yesterday and had the good fortune to drive up as 3 Black bear cubs clambered across the road, 2 made it across easy enough as all traffic had stopped at the sight, the third cub decided to run back from where he came from and up a tree.  No momma bear in sight.  Not wanting to disturb them we drove off once the road was clear.  I had my camera phone,  there just wasn't time to take a shot, we were in awe of the spectacle.

Back Porch Visitor this morning

Off work today, boy it's hot...

Fred our farrier is arriving at noon today, so I've been down cleaning the stalls and barn in general. Picked the Broccoli and then some flat leaf Italian and curled parsley for dehydrating. We got the squash picked too.

Rose was out back watering and noticed this Leopard Frog just sitting on the back step.

To the Garden we go...

Thought I'd send a quick update on the 2010 Vegetable Garden...

This has been one HOT Humid summer, Rose talked me out of doing the big garden this year, probably a good thing.  The heat really is doing the gardens good as long as we keep them watered good they continue growing good.  Our well is holding out so far this year, today's rain will help little as the ground is so dry..

To the Garden we go...

Broccoli has been a constant producer we are picking twice a week and eating as much.  Cukes are going gangbusters,  Zucchini is just about petered out, going to have to pull it soon. Summer squash is still producing well 2-4 every couple days,  I do like my summer squash (Thanks Mrs. Searle!).  Cal Wonder Peppers, one so far, lots of small green ones and loads of oncoming promising looking buds.  Tomatoes, 5 or 6 so far, lots of small Amish Paste coming on and the Black Krim's are coming in too (I'll have to try one of these this weekend) .  The ones I've had so far "Mr Stripey" oh can you say mmm for tomato sandwiches, great taste, not a high acid tomato, perfect on a sandwich or just slicing and eating them.

No Aurora for us, how about you did you see any northern lights?

Fawn tearing through the back field

We were standing out back with Jarrod and Crystal last week and heard something crashing through the grass and brush, when we turned to see what it was a spotted fawn was tearing across the field is a big hurry.  It never stopped for the fence leaping straight through the wires like they weren't there.  Nothing else ran up behind it so we're hoping that it just got spooked or Momma called.

The sky grew dark

Quite the storm for some last night, not so bad here, we had some 30 or 40 mph gusts blowing leaves off the already parched trees, it rained hard for 15 minutes or so then let up over the next hour or so. Looking at the sky there was some serious potential in this storm, I don't know when I saw clouds moving in so many directions so fast. I heard this morning that Ashburnham, MA got hit pretty good, possibly a tornado.

Garden 2010 update

Quite the sunrise this morning, already humid too.

Zucchini squash are starting to come in had our first tonight for dinner grilled. We had our first Summer squash last night boiled in butter, oh was that good!

Bell Peppers our first they seem to be struggling this year, more compost and peat next year. This is a new variety we are trying this year so I haven't given up hope.

Tomato's are finally with the heat starting to grow out of the cages, several green ones can be seen. Still Moms tomato's are easily twice the size of these Roma, early girl and Big Boy plants. This heat, 2+ weeks of 85+ temps and almost no rain is something we havent had here in 2 or three years. It is supposed to rain possibly 3" tonight, good thing, my lawn is getting crunchy.

I did manage to pick 1/2 cup of blueberries and 1/2 cup of raspberries tonight. I'm thinking they'd be great on ice cream...

How's your garden doing?

Goldstar Mothers Friends and Families of Fallen soldiers - Block Party 7/11/2010

We were invited to a concert at the Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester, sponsored by the Friends and Families of Fallen soldiers - Block Party 7/11/2010

Jarrod thought it would be pretty good, so we thought we'd go for an hour or so because it was so hot out and ended up staying for the entire show.  Jarrod managed getting the band talent together,  managing the entertainment setup, tear down, and sound.  Busy day for him back and froth from the stage to the sound booth several times for each band.  

We called Crystal and the twins to come down and watch the show with us, she was just leaving to go to the Block Party. James and Jason had fun too.

What a great time, there were raffles for both goods and services as well as 50-50 raffles, (I Won $50.00, I donated it to the Goldstar Mothers Memorial fund.) There were clowns, hotdog vendors, and others selling various foods, there were 6 bands,  Best Not Broken a local Manchester favorite, Brooks Young Band,  Jimmy Lehoux Band was fantastic as well,  Mindset X rocked it out,  Ron Noyes Band, and the Scott Barnett Band.  The music was fantastic, young and old enjoyed the day!    The police presence was fantastic, there were officers on foot and on Segways taking the time to mix with all of the people on the field, handing out honorary Junior Police Officer stickers to the kids.

Well done All!  

I only wish we thought to bring chairs and a blanket for all to sit on, next time...