One of our worst?

The carnage after tonights lame dinner.

Is this worse than the "Bill takes out garbage"? Or the picture of our fan?

A typical Monday night in Newburyport

It may be a bit off the mainstream, but once you're here it's like being on vacation every day.

I think I'll create my own tourist campaign for Newburyport.

"Newburyport - It's way better than your crap town"

or "Newburyport - home of the best buffalo chicken wrap"

I'll work on it some more....

Poltergeist IV

My son is trapped inside the computer! Oh, well. He and his brother are smiling so as long as they are happy.

Bret, while since you are already stuck inside the world wide interweb, could you see about getting me a free download of Mad Men each week. Thanks!

I don't get it ...

Spent a nice day with missing son, Joey. He has had a great summer hanging with his fellow camp counselors.

We started off for Portland, hit ridiculous traffic, turned around and headed to Boston. We stopped into the Institution of Contemporary Art (ICA) to culture ourselves a bit. We didn't get it. Two exhibits. One was a guy who made miniature clothes. The work that went into this exhibit had to have been years of work. I felt bad that I thought it just looked like clothes for your cabbage patch doll.

The second exhibit was a guy who drew tattoos all over photographed people. Quirky-funny, but again, not quite a hit for me. Oh well, any time spent together is good stuff.

Udderly Amazing!

Ahhh...the sweet sound of fresh goat's milk squirting into a tin pan. There's nothing like the feel of a soft furry teat in your hand before your second pot of morning tea.

That's right - Laura is goat sitting and Jen is reporting live from High Road. As you can see, I was a natural on my first try.



Someone's done this before!!




Hard to believe that this is where my precious goat cheese originates. If only it came out of the goat that way - I would have brought crackers.

En Fuego

Bill may have added a little too much red pepper to his scallops & shrimp tonight...I was choking on the fumes of it and the fan over the stove went on by itself. Bill likes a spicy scallop.

New dresses fit for a (drag) queen

Jeff and I took Ptown today by storm. Found a fabulous dress shop called Wardrobe where I bought myself several treats. Then met up with Laura and her friend Bruce and went back to outfit her. Ended the day with a fabulous dinner at Jimmy's Hide Away (where we met our new friends Bruce #2 and Mark) and then back to back drag shows staring Varla Jean Merman and Miss Ritchfield 1981. Due to some camera confusion I couldn't get a shot until we got back to Osterville - post midnight!!! Luckily Bill covered the blog for the day and this is either a bonus or a jump on Aug 25th.

While Jen is away....

Same shit, different day .... cigar on the porch while watching Netflix .....

Come home, Jennie.

History Rewritten

Photo and write up have been removed to protect the innocent. Doesn't that make you curious?

Old people1, Grandkids 0

Jen and I outlasted Malikai and Wyatte this weekend. Their energy waned as the weekend went on, while we got stronger and stronger. Here's Malikai giving in to his stronger opponents, saying "no mas, I can't take anymore of your fun".

(ok, the truth is that the first thing Jen and I did after the kids left was hit the bar for a drink. I ordered a 9%, 750 ml import. We loved having them with us, their the best little guys. But let's just say that we crossed off "day care providers" as a potential career.)

How to entertain toddlers

Tractors and animals!! We spent an hour today at the Spencer -Pierce-Little Farm. Less than 2 miles from our house and Bill & I had never been there before.


Even I was aghast at the size of this pig. I wish the photo has something to give it scale because this thing was a mammoth!! Stacey - this shot is for you.

This is Schooner. A big hit with the boys.


And finally, the alpaca next door. The nice man who owned it even called the alpacas to the fence with some food so that the boys could see them. But I think I was much more fascinated - they didn't know an alpaca from a horse but I don't think I've ever actually seen an alpaca before. They were very cute and have no upper teeth and seemed to respond when he called them by name. Maybe Bill and I need a pet alpaca??

Who's the Boss?

Our first overnight with the grandkids. I don't remember bedtime being so violent....

It's a European carryall, dammit...

Don't judge me and my new man-bag.....

Don't let the smile fool you

Bill has been in Chicago since Monday and I miss him to pieces. Unfortunately the pictures where I'm making a pouty miss-you face were all blurry so the only one that worked is the one where I'm smiling.

Just went to see Winter's Bone with Laura. A depressing but good movie centered around inbred people in the Ozarks. Despite the lack of hygiene I did enjoy it. One great "Cohen Brothers" esque scene and a repulsive yet fascinating scene of a squirrel flaying. Not for the faint of heart.

Home Office

As a companion piece to yesterday's post, here is my home office. Nana's desk. Blue and white pottery holding my jewelry, MacKay originals, and my macbook. Picture me here every night blogging.

It's a Dilbert World

The view from Big Blue. Jen's seat in the cubicle farm. This is where I toil.



I want to specifically point out....the waffle picture (see earlier waffle post). Next to it is the calendar Bill made for me last Christmas. Each month represents one of my favorite books/authors with a "loved by all" picture of me inserted into the mix. This is a conversation starter for most people who walk by my cube.

And finally, words of British wisdom. If the waffle doesn't get me through the day, the queen will.

Good Bye NYC...Hello Nbpt!

The first leg of our long journey home....subway to Amtrack to Andrea's to home. Stacey and Dave stayed at our place and we had visions of coming home to find that the whole neighborhood was falling in love with them at a party on our roof deck. Cries of "why don't YOU two live here" would be heard from Federal to Lime. Meanwhile S&D claim to have moved things in the house. We have yet to figure out what....but was that an attempt at a cairn on the front of the house with a rock on its end?

Jen's Bounty

This NYC trip has been a good one for the local independent book stores.
Favorite: Three Lives & Co. A great little shop in the village that stocked a lot of British and lesser known writers. One of the sellers recommended The Dud Avacado which I instantly bought.
Second favorite: Strand. 18 miles of books! And I walked 'em all.
Last but not least: Shakespeare & Co. (I assume not related to the Parisian store of the same name?) The picture above shows all the excellent hours of reading ahead of me.
Lucky for me, book shopping equals cigar smoking for Bill so we are both happy without the stress of waiting for the other. It's the little things that really make a marriage work.

Art, Baseball = good times....

Before digital cameras you could never take an photographs in a gallery. I love that I have a picture of me with my favorite Monet's and Cezanne's. I also love that I have goofy photos of Jen with a beheading statue.

Joey and Derek arrived today. We're proud of them for navigating the bus schedule to get to NYC on their own. We strolled around town, bought new Chuck Taylor's and went to a Mets-Phillies game where we were one hit from seeing a no-hitter.

In Search of the Top 5 Waffles

I love waffles. Not the doughy kind you have for breakfast but the crispy sugar waffles that make for the perfect tea snack. These are not easy to come by and I have an 8 year history of tracking down these delicious treats.
#1 Best waffle moment - Windsor England 2002. Bill took a picture of me and my waffle so I will always remember the moment I discovered this tasty treat. I still have the shirt I was wearing and may never part with it due to it's association with waffle moment #1.
Waffle #2 - Paris on a bench at the base of the Eiffel Tower. I have a blown up picture of the monkeys sitting with my waffle at my desk at work. When things get hectic I can just think pack to the Paris waffle.
Waffle #3 - Le Pain Quotidien in NYC. The first time was last October when we came to NY to see John Irving and stopped to get tea before the show. The second time was earlier today at the LPQ near our holiday apartment. I don't think I should count this as more than one since the source is actually a chain so I can be fairly secure in the knowledge that it will be the same each time.
Waffle #s 4 & 5 are still in the making. Whole Foods does sell a packaged waffle that can almost help me through a drought but let's be real - it's not the same! It needs to be brought to me toasty warm with powdered sugar. Preferably by someone with a foreign accent. Not unwrapped from cellophane by my own hands.
Oh, Waffles 4 & 5, I eagerly await your acquaintance!

End of the rat race

We love New York City. Saw this dead rat on the tracks of our first subway ride.

This is me in NYC having tea. One of the nice things about New York city is that you can look like a complete dweeb (as I usually do) and you fit right in. We could have spent hours looking at people today. We would have but Jen found two book stores she needed to go to.

Tonight we are going to a tiny jazz club around the corner from our apartment, Smalls.

No one's cooler than us. (we'll be sleepy after two songs, but we can say we stopped in for a drink at a hip jazz club)

A night with the Goddess Sita

Goddesses Sita and Jen in New Haven. Bill and I arrived in time for dinner at Modern Apizza with Andrea. One large 1/2 eggplant, 1/2 cheese later we ended the night watching the Red Sox kick some Toronto ass. Tomorrow morning we take the train into NYC and get 24 hours of adult fun in before the teenagers arrive.

A slow day in blog land

Newsflash - I got a haircut. We tried to spice it up with a little cigar pose in front of the cigar wall. It's gotta be better than that post about the fan...and the one with the garbage can.

We don't have a photo but we did enjoy the world's fastest meal tonight - Taco Tuesday at Agave. I swear they must have those tacos already plated before we even sit down. I just have to think "one beef and one pork taco in the medium shell" and it appears in front of me. Packing for NYC - watch for travel pix this weekend!!

Etiquette 101

I have many friends who would never return a bowl or tupperware container without putting something yummy in it. I'm happy to say, I'm finally learning that basic etiquette - returning Laura's spatula with big black raspberries in the holes.

Thinking of Gramma

A day with Jen and you can't help but think about her.... I told you she's always fun...

Jen is always fun

Wyatte and Jen did four laps around the neighborhood, Wyatte on his bike, Jen close behind preventing a wipeout.

We had a great weekend with Bret. He and Joey slept in Joey's room and watched Fight Club.

Jen and I couldn't help but wax nostalgic. It was only yesterday that little Bret and littler Joey were playing Legos at 188 High Street, wasn't it.

Deck Living

We started the day with breakfast on the deck. Bret and I realized that we could Skype each other....and did, while sitting only 2 feet away.


We ended the day with cheese, wine, dinner and hats on the deck. Here we are - as mad hatters.

Puppy Love -Part II

Jen fell in love with Chowder the dog from yesterday's post, so we got a dog of our own.

We need a name for it.

And they called it - Puppy Love!

Christin is puppy training a friend's mini labradoodle named Chowder. Look at that adorable face with that little blond fro! For those not in the know, the Sheba Ishnu next to him is Ichi, the alpha dog of Christin's heart.

And while I'm posting, I want to give a shout out to Mrs Presti! Hi Shelly's mom! I hope you are enjoying the blog.