tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82398772009-10-24T22:15:19.476-04:00assorted travels and eventsdeannoreply@blogger.comBlogger228125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-6757386603493478662009-10-24T22:08:00.002-04:002009-10-24T22:15:19.485-04:00

Just traded in our cars (2000 Subaru Legacy and 2004 Subaru Forester) towards a brand new 2010 Outback Premium with the cold weather package. It was the heated seats that got Debbie's attention. Nice car, although it's now considered an SUV, and just won Motor Trends SUV of the Year (we didn't know this, we just like Subies).

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-65636822304718606952009-09-12T23:24:00.003-04:002009-09-12T23:47:11.354-04:00

It's raining like crazy, but that didn't stop us from driving down to Duxbury for the Island Creek Oyster Festival. Lots of chefs cooking up bite sized treats, and tons of oysters. It got a little crowded, but I think if the weather was better everyone would've been more spread out (outside of the tents). Check out "A Geography of Oysters" by Rowan Jacobsen if you're interested in learning

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-21567630440178757822009-08-24T20:15:00.003-04:002009-08-24T20:35:53.356-04:00

It's been a rainy summer (more like springtime). Tomato plants got blight and had to be pulled out. Got lots of salad greens, will plant some more for the fall. Cucumbers are doing well, the Zucchini has wilted from the heat, and the eggplants are looking good. Might have to water them, but it's still raining pretty regularly. Somewhere amongst the wildflowers are blueberry and raspberry

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-89416996287412809562009-07-01T21:50:00.002-04:002009-07-01T21:55:17.975-04:00

Tickets = 10 dollars each. Beers = 10 dollars each. I guess that the seats would've been empty otherwise, so the Bank of America Pavillion was selling cheap tickets to this show (available if you were already inside the venue at a previous show). Fun, nostalgic, I may have had the fullest head of hair of all the men in the audience, and if not the fullest, the darkest (not grey).

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-10594689410167436482009-06-23T21:03:00.005-04:002009-06-23T21:52:31.415-04:00

I was perusing the interwebs and came across the website for Otow orchard, http://www.otoworchard.com/. I remember visiting the farm as a kid, so reading about it brought back pleasant memories of food, running around the fields, putting wood on the fire, and bags full of dried fruit. I knew that dried persimmon was special (it takes a lot of time and effort to dry), but who would've thought

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-14607210908639305242009-06-15T20:11:00.003-04:002009-06-15T20:12:43.685-04:00

Saturday night at the Bank of America Pavillion, with an orchestra backing up the band. Sunday night at the Providence Performing Arts Center, just her and the band. Excellent shows both.

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-24433976550902390742009-06-09T17:19:00.005-04:002009-06-09T18:20:35.249-04:00

Spent (in all senses of the word) a long weekend in Las Vegas. We got an offer in the mail for 3 free nights at the Bellagio. Well, we did end up paying for the room but out in the gaming area instead of at the front desk. Sat by the pool the first day, great weather, a little windy but not too hot. Walked through Siegfried & Roy’s Lion and Dolphin Habitat. Saw the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-90697888428694168392009-06-09T17:03:00.006-04:002009-06-09T17:19:15.027-04:00

Went to a wedding in Newport, RI at the end of April. There were two professional photographers and lots of other people with cameras so I didn't take a ton of pictures. Besides, it's hard to hold a camera when you have a drink in the other hand :-)The Photosynth view from the beach outside our room: http://photosynth.net/userprofilepage.aspx?user=deanstravels (you may need to download and

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-43401685716253393712009-04-09T23:41:00.002-04:002009-04-09T23:55:30.586-04:00

Saw The Derek Trucks Band at the House of Blues in Boston last week. Lousy venue, great band. Trucks is an awesome musician, no muss no fuss just great guitar, and the band is equally talented. His wife Susan Tedeschi sang a few songs too. Funny thing is that I'd have a hard time naming one of his songs, yet we've seen him play a ton of times, sometimes as the headliner, sometimes opening

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-7156718307569013192009-03-29T12:59:00.002-04:002009-03-29T13:07:03.551-04:00

Article in the Boston Globe today about the comeback of 80's styles, including acid wash jeans and harem pants. Apparently this guy knew about the trend ahead of the rest of us...maybe his grandma works in the fashion industry?

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-83314782177029967492009-03-22T21:04:00.002-04:002009-03-22T22:04:23.766-04:00

Went to the Tour De Champagne a couple of weeks ago. Tried bidding on some of the auction items (to benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank) only to lose at the last minute. So this weekend when we were at the Heroes in Healthcare fundraiser (for the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston) I hung around and made sure my bid was the last on the list. Ended up the high bidder on a 36"x36" acrylic by

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-71585203265369733352009-02-16T22:05:00.006-05:002009-02-16T22:49:05.555-05:00

The joys of home ownership. Bookmark http://www.toiletology.com/, it will come in handy some day. I've now replaced the innards of two toilet tanks with help from the site. A few things I've learned, either from reading or experience:Clean the toilet thoroughly before you work on it, you're going to have your hands all over it.Check the shutoff valve before you do any work, if it's tight

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-25532378949127953112009-01-12T21:47:00.005-05:002009-01-12T22:11:28.737-05:00

"There's no such thing as bad weather... only inappropriate clothing." (but it sure is nice to walk barefoot on the beach). Back in the snow and slush, forecast says temps in the 20's this week. But my feet will be warm in my Sorel boots. Kind of overkill, but I can walk right through a snowbank, no problem mon! We were discussing how Fur coats are no longer popular, I think that Gore-Tex

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-8291196140870864802009-01-11T21:00:00.005-05:002009-01-12T12:16:23.700-05:00

Just returned from a week at the Sandals in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Beautiful location and close to the airport. You get used to the planes taking off right overhead; the noise forces you to take a pause in any conversation so it becomes part of the rhythm of the day.If you're using Internet Explorer or Firefox, check out my "synth" picture of the main patio at the resort. You'll probably need

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-26160815372984066982008-11-30T14:25:00.010-05:002008-11-30T16:43:45.737-05:00

Hugo is generally pretty mellow, but he has lots of energy to burn off. If we haven't taken him for a walk or played in the yard, he likes to play inside.In a frenzy (click to launch video)

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-57124499030417552882008-11-06T22:04:00.002-05:002008-11-06T22:08:23.464-05:00

Just fixed my dishwasher, lots of helpful advice and diagrams on fixitnow.com Funny thing is, the only Torx driver I had around was in a computer repair kit, and I perched my laptop on the counter top nearby to see the site. High tech meets low tech.

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-35382156856398722008-11-01T20:44:00.003-04:002008-11-01T20:53:34.828-04:00

Back in the day I'd use the last couple pictures of a roll of film to take pictures of the dog. Film is no longer a limiting factor, but out of habit I still take a couple of pictures of the dog after using the camera for something else. Here are Debbie, Anthony, me and a bunch of friends and acquaintances at a Halloween party. Then a few pictures of Hugo perched atop the couch.

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-80104784629105697772008-10-29T22:26:00.007-04:002008-10-29T22:49:05.759-04:00

It's not all planting trees and traveling. During the workweek (and occasional weekend) I'm an IT person. Although it's not usually the default web browser in corporate environments, I'm a fan of Firefox. A relatively new add-on that I use everyday is Foxmarks. It keeps my bookmarks and passwords synchronized between my PC at work, my desktop at home, and my laptop. For my aging eyes,

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-53013618797366739372008-10-29T21:58:00.000-04:002008-10-29T22:26:46.301-04:00

The City of Boston is running a program to encourage residents to plant trees, Grow Boston Greener with a goal of 100,000 by 2020. I planted ten in my side yard last year, and either planted or transplanted about 70 plants (not sure how many were trees) when we did the landscaping. Oct. 18th weekend I helped out with plantings in the wetlands behind our house, and Gretchen from the GBG program

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-67587066458290200342008-10-05T10:22:00.003-04:002008-10-05T11:08:28.424-04:00

The Big Dig cost 22 Billion Dollars to improve traffic flows in and around the city. Another result was the creation of the Rose Kennedy Greenway along the areas formerly occupied by the raised roadway. http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/ It's a great improvement, and they had some festivities to celebrate it this weekend.Saw Madeleine Peyroux perform at the Orpheum, she was opening for

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-69501416182186688612008-09-03T21:11:00.002-04:002008-09-03T21:14:53.235-04:00

There are lots of good restaurants in Roslindale, but the dogs seem to like Geoffrey's Cafe. Here's a link to some pictures taken on the patio there.

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-53409633960494341752008-07-21T19:07:00.007-04:002008-08-20T08:34:49.128-04:00

Visited with family and paid a visit to the west coast office of GMO. No, not Genetically Modified Organism; GMO is the asset manager I'm consulting for. We probably did see a lot of the other kind of GMO's driving though the farmlands, but that's a whole different topic.

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-76604151011997217442008-07-06T18:29:00.006-04:002008-07-10T21:26:22.347-04:00

New living room furniture, replacement of a concrete walkway with a stone walkway, resurfacing the steps. Hmmm, about the same amount of dough we spent last year traveling up and down the East Coast, but on home improvements instead. For July 4, we stayed in Cambridge at the Royal Sonesta, had a fancy schmancy dinner, and watched the fireworks from the street, then walked back in and retired to

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-73110831959307796452008-05-11T16:14:00.003-04:002008-05-11T16:33:12.386-04:00

Sunday May 11 was Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum, close to where we live.

deannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8239877.post-31054090132940532332008-05-09T22:57:00.004-04:002008-05-09T23:59:16.453-04:00

Relaxed and listened to a ton of great music the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Music Festival. We're going to try to go back, but our friends are getting married that week next year; so we're trying to convince them to go there for their honeymoon if the dates work out. Met some really nice people there from Metairie, LA, an area hard hit by the flooding from Katrina.

deannoreply@blogger.com