/

It’s been over a year since I updated this blog. We had a really mild winter so the winter went by very quickly. It is now SPRING, just waiting for the warmer weather to come in.

This past Saturday was scary. We had gone out to Costco like we regularly do. We got back around 12:30. I could smell smoke when I got out of the car but couldn’t see any. A firetruck was further up our street so I figured they were taking care of something. During the afternoon, I noticed many large SUV’s coming and going. Most of them were unmarked.

Around 5:00, just as we were finishing dinner, Michael looked out the back door (on the deck) and noticed flames next to Eric’s house, big flames. The woods were on fire and was spreading. Another fire truck came up the street but quickly turned around. I saw smoke over by Judith’s house. A few minutes later, the 2nd fire truck pulled up to her property. Eventually the flames were put out. I guess the Fire Dept came back yesterday to check on things. Pretty scary. I was making mental notes during that time in case we had to evacuate.

Earlier in the week, they forecast a big storm to hit New England by the end of the week. It was supposed to start Friday night around midnight and last until midnight Saturday. The Blizzard of 2022 arrived. In the end, it beat out the Blizzard of 78. At least this time, it was a Saturday, so the roads were empty and the DPW crews could keep the roads plowed.

About 3am, I heard the sound of the plow. I looked out but couldn’t see much but it certainly didn’t look like there was a lot of snow.

By the time the sun came up (around 7am), the ground was barely covered. All you could hear was the wind. Starting around 8am, the wind picked up. I heard there were gusts up to 70 mph. All I was hoping was that the lights didn’t go out. So, for the rest of the day, I just watched the wind swirl what little snow had fallen. In the afternoon, more snow and even more wind. At one point I couldn’t see the phone pole and Anita’s house through the thick wall of wind driven snow.

I went to bed just after 6. I had kept the house warmer than usual all day, just in case we lost power.

When I got up on Sunday morning, I was amazed at what I saw. The deck had about 2 feet of snow on it. The entrance to Mr Duffy’s (the house behind Anita’s) was completely blocked. There was a wall of snow in our yard. The cars were barely covered and most of the driveway was clear except for the 3′ wall of snow from the plow.

Michael spent Friday night and Saturday in Nashua so he could clear the driveway there. He finally got to Gloucester a little after 10am. We had our church service via Zoom which included our annual congregational meeting. The whole service lasted until 12:15. Michael then participated in a Sunday school session and finished that at 1:45. We went outside to clear the rest of the snow. The sun was out and the sky was bright blue. I cleared the deck with the battery powered sun blower. A little bit later 2 of our neighbors showed up to help. My thanks to Rita, Chris and Joe for all their help. I still need to clear some snow from front of the sheds. Good thing I didn’t need the generator.

Gloucester got about 24″. The South Shore (Quincy, where I grew up) got 30″, The Cape got closed to 30″. Nashua got 9.5″. At least it was the light and fluffy snow. We didn’t loose power.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. We had a fantastic summer with lots of parties (all all the deck). Then Fall came, absolutely gorgeous. Then Winter and the holidays. We had 16 people for dinner in Nashua for Thanksgiving. For Christmas, we just had a couple of close friends in Gloucester. New Years Eve/Day came and went and everything is back to normal. Covid came back with a vengeance, especially when people got together for Christmas and New Years.

The other day it was 4 degrees with a wind chill of -20 to -25. Yesterday morning it was 3 degrees and not as serious a windchill.

Last night a storm coming up from the south, after dumping snow in Atlanta and the Carolinas, set it’s sight on New England. The winds howled with gusts of 50 – 60 mph winds. Fortunately, Cape Ann only got rain. Interior sections of MA got several inches. The ski areas were supposed to get 1-2 FEET of snow. They need it, we don’t.

So today, high tide was at 10:45am so we decided to take a drive out Atlantic Rd, going by Little Good Harbor Beach, Good Harbor Beach and then to Rockport. The ocean on the Annisquam was high but not as angry. Got back to the house around noon, the sun came out.

It’s Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. We’ve already had 2 90+ degree days in May. The AC works great. This morning it was 51 degrees and very low humidity so I opened some windows.

In the past month, we’ve started working on the house again. We ordered 3K pavers and 100 40-lb bags of sand. It took the guy from Home Depot to deliver the 6 or so pallets using the biggest forklift I’ve ever seen just 10 minutes. Michael had already dug the path for the pavers. He rented a compactor one day to pack the dirt back down and then started laying the pavers. We used these plastic paver bases which is supposed to provide a more stable foundation for the pavers and use less sand. Altogether, I think it took him 4 days or so to lay them all down. We just ordered the edging to secure the pavers in place and then sand will be added and brushed into the crevices.

Michael bought a drone for work so he could take pictures of the water storage tanks. He brought it out one weekend and got some fantastic pics of the house, the area around our house and a view of the bay and Plum Cove. He got a couple of 360 degree views but all you can see is trees. Just due east of our house is Rockport, just 4 miles away as the crow files, as they say. I’m thinking of getting a drone for our use anytime.

We have the sails up on our deck. We added a 3rd one to cover more the deck. It gets really hot in the afternoon and the sails help. He also has 5 barrels to collect rain water. We divert water from the downspout into the barrels. When he first hooked them up, a small rain storm filled one of the 55 gallon barrels.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It’s been 2 months since my last post. Nothing much has happened, it was winter. It wasn’t a bad winter in Gloucester. I used the snowblower twice, the other times I just waited for the little snow we got to melt. This past week, we’ve had more spring like weather. Temps in the 50’s and low 60’s. Last weekend we had friends out and spent the afternoon on the deck. It was really bright and sunny and with a light jacket, just warm enough. We need to put the sails back up. We got a 3rd sail to put up.

Anita showed me a picture of a trolley that used to run down Washington St. At one point, you could get from Rockport to Nashua, NH. That must have been something. Probably took all day with many changes of lines but it probably only cost a nickel. I’ve seen pics of trolley tracks in Nashua. We even had a trolley that came down one of our side streets (Park Ave) so that people could get to the park at the end of the street, Fields Grove.

Anyway, once I go the picture, I started to google it and I found a blog from Halibut Point. In there site, was the picture, a much better picture. There were also pics of the trolley line leading to Rockport and a trolley like that crossed Good Harbour Beach. I sent the black and white pics to Amazon to blow up to 8×10. I went out today and took pics of the same locations. I want to blow them up and put them in the hallway. I also took a pic from Plum Cove of our house. Soon it’ll disappear once the leaves come out.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

As I’m writing this (Tuesday, February 2 2021) we are at the end of a 2 day Nor’easter. It started yesterday afternoon and howled all night long with gusts of wind of up to 60mph. This morning I got up around 3am to check on things but the screens were covered in water so you couldn’t see out. I checked out the front door and the deck. All we got was a lot of rain. Other parts of New England weren’t so lucky. Nashua got 11.5″ of snow, Dracut, MA 18.5″ of snow, Wilmington, MA 20″, Lowell, MA 24″. I just stayed put and hoped the lights didn’t go out (they didn’t). Network stayed up, cable stayed up, I’m good.

We haven’t done anything on the house since the last post in December. It’s winter. Last weekend we had windchill temps of -9F. Today it’s 34F.

Included in the pics are an attempt by National Grid to put a new pole in to bring power to Mr Duffy’s. They drilled the 1st hole and then spent a 1/2 hour peering down the hole. Then they drilled another hole about 3′ from that one and installed the pole and connected power to it. When they drilled the 1st hole, the tore into the power and control cables for the septic system of 5, 7 and 7R Hillside. We have are own septic system so we weren’t effected by it. They worked on the problem for the rest of that afternoon and half the day the next day to fish new cables from the house to the septic system located near the rear of Mr Duffy’s.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Well, it’s less than a week before Christmas. Last Thursday we had a snow storm. They had predicted it a week before. Just a couple of days before it was to hit, the snowfall estimates started to change. Originally, Gloucester was in the 4-6″ range and southern NH was 1-3″. Well, the day before, it all changed. We were now in the 12-18″ range. It started in the early ours of Thursday, coming down as much as 4″ an hour. The plow coming up the street sometime after 3am woke me. It was so dark, I couldn’t tell what was going on. The wind was fierce and water and snow covered most of the screens. Even my cameras were blind.

By the time sunrise came (a little after 7am), it was obvious we were in for an all day storm. Last year we bought a snow blower for Gloucester but didn’t bring it out. We did this year and I had it all setup in the basement, ready to go.

I had made arrangements for someone to plow our driveway but by 3pm, I hadn’t heard from him so I decided it was time to use that new snowblower. I opened the basement door and was amazed to see more than a foot of powder. Fortunately, it was all powder and not the wet, heavy stuff. So, I make my way out the door, up the side of the house and started to clear the driveway. Most of it had drifted in much large piles. In about 40 minutes, I had cleared most of it away. At least here, we have several places to throw the snow. Just as I was finishing up, I ran out of gas. So, I dragged the heavy piece of equipment back into the basement.

Sometime in the early morning hours of Friday, the plow came by to do the next door neighbors driveway. I’m glad I finished it myself and saved the $75 (I did text him that I wouldn’t need him for this snow storm). So, we got 1.5′, Boston got more than 13″, Nashua around 12. Some parts of middle NH/VT got more than 40″.

So, the attached pictures are from during the snow storm and then some taken today.

I can’t believe it has been 2 months since I last posted. Given the pandemic and the coming of winter, we’ve been limited to what we can do. The outside will wait until spring. We need to landscape and add some bushes to the front. I had 8 cu yards of dirt delivered a few weeks ago. This is to fill in the dark side of the house (the left side). Michael wants to put in pavers next year to make getting to the deck easier. At some point, I’d like to put a ramp in.

The weather has been crazy. During a couple of weeks in November, the temps were in the 60’s and 70’s. Now, in December, they are more seasonal. It was 23 this morning. We had 1/2″ of snow the other morning and most of it is still around.

Last year, we didn’t do anything for Christmas. This year, I got a small tabletop tree from Costco and have that decorated with red ornaments. Michael added a fresh pine garland going up the stairs. I added lights and he added more of the red ornaments. We have candles in most windows. I’ve ordered some more for the other windows.

Upstairs, you saw the blue furniture. We’ve added a 43″ TV so that we can watch videos. There’s cable there but there’s no need for another cable box.

The snowblower we bought last year is in the basement, ready to go. Then it goes into the shed. I just got some locks for the shed.

The pics show the snow on the deck, the big wreath for the door and the 2020 ornament that typifies the year 2020. We had a nor’easter last week and the next day we went out to see how the ocean looked. The breakwater is in Lanesville Cove. Every once in a while the waves would crash over the breakwater. I’ve seen the ocean angrier before. We also had a little water enter the basement near northern corner of the house. There is a gutter but there’s a small piece of roof that has no gutter, so I think the water just fell off the roof. We’ll add some plastic and do more in the spring. Maybe add a small gutter to that roof.

This is Columbus Day weekend also known as Indigenous Peoples Day.  Leaf peeping locally is at it’s peak except near the coast.  We still have lots of green leaves.

On Saturday, we went to Quincy to visit a friend of Anita’s.  She lives pretty close to where I grew up from birth to age 21.  We stopped where 234 Quincy Shore Drive is (used to be called Morrissey Boulevard…imagine learning how to spell that in 2^nd grade).  We went down Bay State Road.  Both sides of the road were packed with cars.  I missed one if the driveways to get into where we used to live.  When I found it, I was shocked?  More cars, but worse, the area that had been all tar and clotheslines were now packed with sheds and fences.  We quickly left. I couldn’t even think of taking a picture of that.  We then went on to Hovey St where I lived from age 10 to 21 when I moved to W Quincy.  Hovey St was pretty much the same except cars on both sides.  We used to play on that road, now you can barely drive down it.  We stopped in front of the old house; it has been kept up quite nicely.

We then headed to Marina Bay, on the way to Squantum.  We passed the elementary school, Myles Standish that I went to from kindergarten to grade 4.  It is now a senior center.  We got to Marina Bay, a complex of many tall apartments/condos.  Anita’s friend’s condo is on the 1^st floor but not the ground floor.  She has a massive patio that overlooks Boston Harbor.  When we got to the building, we had to get a parking pass.  While Michael put the pass in my car, I spoke to the woman behind the desk telling her I grew up there.  I mentioned going to school there and then moving to Hovey St.  She asked if I new so-and-so, and I said yes, and I asked her if she knew some other people there and she did.  Turns out she grew up on Ocean St (2 streets away), moved away and then came back and purchased their family home.  Small world.  I grabbed some screen shots from the dashcam videos.

We had a friend out for lunch on Sunday and took him for a drive around Gloucester and Rockport.  Michael found some roads we hadn’t seen before in Rockport that hug the coastline heading to the downtown area.  After passing Long Beach, we took a right turn and followed.  We ended up on Penzance Road, then Eden Rd passing the Eden Pines Inn.  We stopped a little after that to look at the twin lighthouses on Thacher Island.  I wish I had taken my binoculars but know that I know where it is, I can add this detour to my weekly shopping trip when I return through Rockport.  We continued onto Marmion Way and Old Garden Road.  Lots more to explore.  We stopped in downtown Rockport while Michael and Matthew walked around a little bit and then headed back to the house.

On Monday, we attempted to fix a problem that’s been there since day 1.  The hood over the stove is incredibly noisy.  Michael took the screws out and we found out they had installed the damper (which opens and closes) and used screws to attach the exhaust pipe.  Only problem, the screws prevented the damper from opening.  Put it all back together and the noise returned, so took it down again and taped the damper open.  We have a flap on the part the exits the house so cold air won’t feed back through.  Took 4 hours and a trip to Ace Hardware for some parts.  But it now works and you can actually talk when the vent hood is on low.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

During the last 2 weeks, I’ve had the heat on sporadically and also had the A/C on. It’s now Fall in New England. The leaves are starting to turn and we’re supposed to get some much needed rain. It’s humid today and the rest of the week so I’ve got the A/C running just to get the thickness out of the air.

Not much has happened in the last 2 weeks. We visited a church friend and her daughter a couple of weekends ago. We hadn’t seen them since March. They gave us these 2 gorgeous vases. I had one of them for a short time but they ended upstairs. Michael brought out an old rug and cleaned it up. I remember spending a lot of money on this rug. He also bought a console table. We believe it’s made out of Travertine. It must have weighed close to 100 lbs. Michael took it up the stairs, one step at a time. It fits nicely in between the 2 upstairs windows.

I had an idea of making a stew for dinner for Friday night. We had bought this dutch oven at a kitchen store in Merrimack, NH sometime last year. That store has since gone out of business. I knew where the dutch oven was but had moved it not too long ago. I looked in the basement, every closet, it was no where to be found. Then I remembered a place that I hadn’t looked, that big chest of drawers upstairs. Sure enough, it was in one of the drawers. This pot must weigh 40 lbs and had a list price of 189.99 although we didn’t spend anywhere near that amount. The stew was excellent. Going to making more.

We had some friends out on Saturday and sat on the deck. The sun had just come out and it was just warm enough with a slight breeze. Pretty soon we’ll be putting the deck furniture away and getting things ready for winter. I was surprised as we drove back to Nashua on Sunday at all the color now showing. It’s supposed to be a fantastic leaf peeping season.

• 

• 

• 

•