Thursday, July 30, 2009

Wedding scheduled for Saturday and Murphy's Law

The House and Yard
The  Mermaids View
Porch and Garden
 The Quarry off the back yard

A beautiful setting. A friend and I  rushed  to paint his  house, a wedding scheduled in just 3 days and then Murphy's law comes into play.


The groom, home alone and trying to get the house shaped up climbed just a few feet up a ladder to fix a broken eave ,  a bee came flying towards him. Highly allergic to bees, he backed away, lost his balance and fell from the ladder shattering his knee.


After crawling to a phone and calling an ambulance he was taken to a Boston Hospital where he has had 2 surgeries, pins inserted in his leg and  all sorts of other crap that he and his fiance were not planning to do for this wedding to take place Saturday, just 3 days away.

He has vowed not to cancel a thing and while I believe he may be at the mercy of some of his doctors right now, I kinda think he will make it, in a wheelchair, but he'll be there. 

I'm rooting for him !

The good news:

He's alive, which is far better than the alternative

He didn't get a head injury,  but his fiance may still want to inflict that one.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Waking up in Rockport , MA "Long Beach"

 Was up at 5am and waited for the sun to rise, on Long Beach in Rockport, MA
 
 The morning light reflecting off the cottages

 
A Panorama of the Long Beach at Sunrise
Little Jazzlyn
Jennifer, Jazzlyn and Raine

Haven with G-Tom,  that's Grampy Tom but G-Tom is just so much more stylishly Hip !!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

My Own Fish Tank

I just put a fish tank gadget on the blog. It's on the sidebar.

It's another gadget Google has come up with that you can easily insert easily on your blog page.

Try moving your mouse over the fish and they think you are going to feed them.


Please don't tease the fish too much !!


If you are getting this post in your email,
you will just have to click on
Here to see the fish.


Cherry-Walnut Scones I made, who wants the recipe??

Another gadget I added last week in the sidebar are recent comments that my readers have left.

Thanks to everyone who has left a comment recently , as always, your comments are truly appreciated.

If it wasn't for those comments I would feel like I am just talking to myself and if that was the case...
Well I might find myself getting committed to a psychiatric ward or something.

Might happen anyway, who knows.

Another Note...R.I.P. Walter Cronkite, he was the news, not the entertainer so many of today's broadcasters are. His concern was keeping people informed about the stuff that matters. He lived a good and memorable life.


Finally, it's been 20 days since my last cigarette and at least 20 years since my last confession....

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

New Music Source

Sad Steve

That's the place. I love music and it's even better when I can listen to just about anything I want, anytime. Since becoming a chronic web surfer I have found Last FM, Pandora, Limewire and many others. Recently I was told about Sad Steve and this site allows you to listen to songs from virtually any artist. It doesn't require you to install any software or pay a fee for listening or downloading songs.

They do have some songs that don't work or won't play, but I like the variety and often go to the page they refer to as "The Percolator" which plays a wide variety of music. They also have mixes for workouts, just chillin or world music.

If you are listening to a song you really like you can share it with others via email, posting it on facebook or just downloading it and putting it on a cd for your next car ride.

If you like music, like variety..check out Sad Steve

Saturday, July 11, 2009

It turned out that the weatherman was wrong !!


I had planned to wake up this morning and hear the all to familiar patter of rain outside my window, instead a blinding light woke me early and I saw the same thing I did yesterday.

THE SUN !!

2 Days in a row? What the hell is happening?? You might get the idea that it is summer around here or something!!

I was all ready to go over to my favorite Donuts Shop ( Last Post) and enjoy one of their tasty creations and now with all this bright sunshine I just didn't think I could hide away inside munching on those calorie rich delights and sipping my black coffee.

That damn weatherman..I want his job so I can be wrong most of the time and still get paid!!

The sunny day that greeted me, sent me straight to the coffee machine, a bowl of Raisin Bran and a healthy 45+ minute workout. The Treadmill, The Elliptical and some weights, if this sun stays out for awhile and I can avoid those sinful donuts.......

I'm going to be BUFF !!

No Cigarettes for 13 DAYS !!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Thoughts on Sunny Days and Donuts



The weather around here has been extremely wet. I cannot remember a June or July when it has rained this much. While it is good for the garden, the ducks and the local reservoirs, I am really getting tired of it.

Yesterday was beautiful and I was inside painting all day and really couldn't appreciate it.

Today looks like it's going to be clear and sunny all day with temps in the upper 70's F.

I will be at work all day and really won't get to appreciate it, but it is Friday. Looking ahead I see that there is a chance for rain both Saturday and Sunday. Nice, give us the nice weather in the work week and then let the rain come in on the weekend !!

Well with all this rain and the fact that I have quit smoking, really I mean you have to go outside and smoke these days anyway and I was getting soaked !!

This is day 12 without a smoke !!

Anyway, with all this rain and no smoking I have been thinking a lot about DONUTS.


Not just any donut, KANES Donuts. There is only 1 KANES Donut Shop and if you are going to go ahead and eat a donut, there is no such thing as a "diet donut" then you should really consider eating quality calories. Don't waste your time at Dunkin Donuts or any of those mass produced donuts shops...

Get up early and bring an umbrella. I am headed to Saugus, MA tomorrow morning and I am going to get me some donuts and sit in the house and watch it rain.



Have a nice weekend !!

Oh, and I don't get paid to promote or advertise anyone on this Blog. I just consider this a public service announcement.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Momzy is Back with the Million Dollar Brain!!


I have been a rather inconsistent blogger since about June 4th, 2009

That day I was filling up my camera with great shots of Cambridge and my youngest son graduating High School in Harvard Yard, I did post that good news, but just before Pat was to take the stage I made a call home to check with my sister to see how my mother..AKA Momzy..one of my faithful Trivia players and frequent comment makers here at Tom's Hideaway was doing as she had not been feeling well. Headache...Nausea and I had asked my sister to check in on her later!!

Well, I heard very quickly that things had taken a turn for the worse. Momzy was fresh out of a CAT Scan and had a large subdural hematoma, a brain bleed if you will. Her brain was being compressed in her skull from bleeding in her head.

She was rushed to Mass General Hospital in Boston. My daughter and I finished celebrating with my son at his graduation and a short subway ride from Cambridge across the river to Boston. We met up with Dad, my sisters and there husbands and went in to see mom before she went to surgery.

She was already on a breathing tube, totally unaware of anyone being there...Scary, that's what it was.

At 3am on June 5th they opened her head up and drained the blood , cauterized 2 areas that were bleeding and then put her all back together.

For the first couple weeks after the surgery, Mom made great strides and while the day after surgery she looked like she had gone 12 rounds with George Foreman, she quickly improved.

They shaved off half her hair and she looked like she might be the next lead singer for some new Punk Band but as I said each day she improved and instead of Blog posts I tried to keep the extended family up to date as to how she was doing.

I think she stayed in the hospital for about 4 or 5 days and then went to Rehab for another 5. By then her German had kicked in and if someone didn't take her home I think there was going to be a fatality. Luckily all the kids live close by and we were able to stay with her in shifts and now I'd say she's doing Fantastic!

I found her making her bed this morning and I told her that she should come over for dinner tonight.

She's coming!!

She scored a perfect 10 on Tom's Trivia Challenge today.

Momzy is BACK!!

Not quite ready for Beer Pong yet but she turns 80 this September, I think she'll be ready then !!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Mint Tins..A Starter Collection


My first real Mint Tin Find..Is that Dick Cheney in Pin Stripes ??


I love having mints handy and I am a real fan of Altoids the "curiously strong peppermints" from England.


I wonder if he will go after the Candy Tax???


I find that the original can was too big to fit in my pocket, but Altoids came out with a handy smaller version of their mints.



Crazy thing is they charge just as much for the Smalls as they do for the larger mints


These Manly Mints were made with me in mind of course..

I love the tins though, they can be pretty funny depending on your political persuasion or your general manliness given the last can that was given to me...

I still buy the Big Can of Altoids and I just refill all my small cans of mints...that's how I roll in these tough economic times..