Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Good morning.

Turning out to be a beautiful day here in Massachusetts. It was overcast earlier, but now the sun is out. We are planning to go to the beach. I say planning, because for many of the beaches here on Cape Ann, it takes an Act of God to get on the beach. Ipswich is home to Crane Beach, regarded as the best beach in the area. If you are an Ipswich resident, you can buy a pass, one per household, a fixed to your car so you can't pass it around. My Aunt had one, but they only have one car, so we don't want to borrow it. You can buy a visitor pass, but you have to purchase at least one day in advance, $40, non refundable if its bad weather. But even those are hard to get, because they sell out fast. Another famous beach, Singing Beach in Manchester by the Sea, you can buy a visitor pass for $30 on weekdays if you get there early enough, but not on weekends. We're going to try Plum Island Beach, when we visited on Friday, they seemed to have a lot more space in the day pass parking.

Anyhow, I'd better get our picnic packed and be on our way! Wish me luck :)

Best of luck getting into the beach! Hopefully on a Tuesday it won't be too difficult. I hadn't thought I had been to Ipswich but I did go to Cranes Beach when I was young so I guess I have been there after all. Enjoy!

Travel was totally smooth yesterday and this little tiny home is the most adorable place. Fully updated and functional for 2. And the view is just spectacular. What a find on AirBNB! We had a great visit and dinner with my brother and family yesterday afternoon. His grandson gave me hugs and kisses when we left at 6. After not sleeping Sunday night and just cat-napping on the plane I crashed at 6 and went to bed immediately when we got back. I slept heavy all night for almost 12 hours, only interrupted by about 20-30 minutes when we watched the fireworks from the deck. It was a spectacular view with the local ones right in front of us and backup fireworks at towns all along the river. I am glad I didn't miss that!

We will get together with the family a little later but are just enjoying our coffee and the morning view right now. Even the coffee, creamer, water, and snack type foods are in the home. So much better appointed than any place we have rented previously via AirBNB or VRBO. Maybe I will eat healthier today than yesterday's cheeseburger and potato salad??? At least I didn't eat a lot...

Have a totally great Tuesday!

Beach passes - I remember those from my time in Greenwich, CT. I have mixed feelings about those things, but I kind of understand the purpose - to preserve beach access for the actual residents who pay the taxes for the upkeep of the city beaches...But in places like Cape Cod and Cape Ann, Essex, Ipswich, P Town, etc... I find the day passes to be a touristy, money making scam.... Kind of like getting food at Disneyland - No other options so you pay whatever you have to pay to eat.

We had a relatively nice 4th. Had a few over for a cookout. (This is one of my east coast adoptions - cookout! Everyone in CA calls it BBQ, but very few people really BBQ - they grill. So I've always liked cookout. Liz's use of it several years ago reminded me of the term and I've used it ever since!). Anyhow, BF, Auntie Kathryn, my brother, father and his GF all came for burgers and dogs and sausages with the appropriate side dishes. It was a fun time.

Only had to dose 2 of the dogs with CBD last night. Blitz didn't really need it, but I thought, oh what the hell, if it helps him relax and not worry, why not. Dinah did need it. She's been hormonal since weaning the pups and she was in and out of being stressed when the noise started so I gave her a good dose of CBD (with THC which is what gets them stoned). All the dogs ate their dinners even with the popping and cracking and booming.

Went to bed sometime around 1:30 - 2:00. Puppies got me up at 5:40 for breakfast. Went back to bed at 6:00. Was up again around 7:30 and then dozed until about 9. Not enough sleep for me these days. I think it is time to consider moving the pups to the living room. Perhaps with 14 puppies it's par for the course to have some awake and playful at any given hour!

After a week of fluid retention it was nice to get on the scale after a holiday and be back down in my "acceptable" range.

Still working on GOAT v3.0.... It is my addictive personality. I get fixated on problem solving and I'm like a pit bull... LOL... a blessing and a curse all wrapped into one character trait!

Sigh, not the best Fourth of my life... I went to my friend's house. She was kind of checked out. Her parents were there and I like them. Her brother was there and is seriously anti-social. After a few polite questions and uninterested one word responses I was done with him. He left to be by himself in another room most of the time. His wife was nice, but almost as uncommunicative. They brought their 3 year old, who became the center of the gathering, which I sort of understand as I was the family gathering interloper, but it's so boring when you don't know the kid! Everyone just sat around watching what the toddler did and not interacting with each other, letting him bang on the piano endlessly so no one could hear or talk, hovering the whole time trying to get him to eat. I finally just asked, what happens if you just let him not eat?? Blank stares as if that was unthinkable. And then no one had bothered to check if the fireworks were still on... and they were not. Canceled as they are rebuilding the high school parking lot. So I left while they were all watching YouTube fireworks in Japan on the tv. Not sure why.

Today I got my hair colored and need to do some book weeding out and email the consignment shop.

That's all for now!

CC, what a less than stellar evening. I feel what you're describing deeply, when you're sitting there thinking, why am I here, and when can I leave?

Like wanting to gnaw your own foot off like a wolf in a trap...

Greetings all

Its cloudy and sprinkling today like it was yesterday with some actual rain. Its unusual for rain here on the 4th as the dry season has usually started but we will take rain.

So yesterday we went to friends for a COOKOUT. Hamburgers and hot dogs on the rill which I agree is NOT a bar-b-q. Thats when you burn bigger hunks of meat all day with sauce. I made the roasted sweet onions with bread crumbs and bleu cheese. It was a hit and tastes great! Nothing but onions roasted in olive oil. Omit the bread crumbs and its a low carb dish.

Today was scrabble day and I rocked it with all wins including a score over 500! 3 bonus words. This group is fun and today I defeated the super player that I rarely beat. Then it was studio brief visit plus visit to coffee stand. Then I had to go buy my coffee plus half and half and a pot pie. These last two days I had no half and half and coffee without it seemed absolutely primitive!

CC sorry you had a boring fourth. My friends and I used to compare notes on who had the worst new years eve. One time at the death bed of a complete stranger and another being yelled at by creepy guys in a bar. There is no requirement that you have to go to someplace on a holiday to have fun. Being home with a book can be wonderful.And yeah the 3 year old won't die if he does not eat.

We did not see any fireworks and thanks to Peps, I dosed our one fearful dog with CBD. I am hoping the puppy does not become fearful. so far so good.

Beach passes - how unpleasant. I invite you all to the land of the redwoods where beaches are free. Of course its colder than a witches tit but oh well.

Liz love the tiny house. Perfect indeed.

No thoughts on weight today. I have not eaten a lot but thats a relative term...

diane s

Your death bed of a stranger would always win a game of Worst Holiday!

You're so right, the kid was not in danger of starving. And what a lesson to be teaching - eat when you aren't hungry because everyone else is eating and everyone is food pushing... I was thinking, what a blessing to not be driven to eat by anything other than true hunger and they were trying to override it!

Yep as kids I bet we all ate when we were supposed to and not due to hunger. Ds

I love talking about the vernacular of our different home bases. BBQ is definitely like Diane said, a huge hunk of meat for a long time. I've heard cookout, but in my neck of the woods we mostly say grilling or grill, as in come over tomorrow evening, Joe is grilling. Or, we're going to grill this weekend.

Passes for beaches: I understand the preservation aspect, and hopefully allowing the locals room to enjoy their own beaches. I do love that the city owns all the beaches in Minneapolis (of course we're talking lakes, but it is still a lot of beach front) and any kid, no matter their economic status can swim. If they can get to a beach, walk, bike, bus, car, it's free. I guess no easy solutions. So in California, the public beaches don't require permits/passes?