Author: Nichole S.

My morning routine before heading out the door each day. Fill the giant YETI with coffee, take a mason jar of overnight oats out of the fridge and add a variety of toppings, and then fill my little Blend Jet (check out link here as I think it’s pretty cool!) with some smoothie fixings. Both of my boys have their own Blend Jets as well and will often fill theirs to drink on the way to school or, for Finn, at school as his morning snack. Once they are charged, they are perfect for on-the-go and can be used several days in a row before you need to charge them quickly again. They come apart easily and are a breeze to clean. Short video included of the cordless mini blender doing it’s thing on my desk at work.

Good Morning, chickens. One of the things that I love most about my job as part of Harborlight Montessori school’s Admin team is that, along with my normal responsibilities, sometimes I never really know where the day will take me. Lots of times I’m just plugging away in my office, but sometimes it takes me to Wachusett Mountain as our 6th-8th graders ski all day every Friday during the winter, sometimes I find myself hopping on the train at the Montserrat station to accompany a group on a field trip to Boston, sometimes I cover in a classroom, or go skating at Endicott’s rink with the younger elementary students, and….often….I find myself in the chicken coop. Last May we hatched chicks in one classroom and ducklings in another. Unfortunately, the campus isn’t properly equipped to house ducks, but we were super excited to make the decision to have chickens. We raised the chicks for several weeks after they hatched before sending them off to the farmer who gave us the eggs. Once they were old enough and we were back in school after a summer break, we welcomed the chickens back to campus. Having them on campus has been such a wonderful learning experience for all our students. In better weather you’ll always see families or our youngest toddlers/preschoolers visiting the hens on our greenhouse lawn. Older students will often eat lunch outside on the picnic tables near the chickens or open a book on the wooden swing right next to the coop. The Middle School students gather the eggs….and either use them to cook or hand them out to teachers to take home. Good stuff.

The Gloucester Stage Youth Program presents Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach Jr. When young James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers magic crocodile tongues that launches a journey of enormous proportions. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of the gigantic peach, among human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities, but after it falls from the tree and rolls into the ocean, the group faces danger, sharks, and plenty of disagreements. Thanks to James’ quick wit and creative thinking, the residents learn to live and work together as a family. The dangerous voyage is a success, but the adventure takes a whole new twist once the big peach lands in the Big Apple.

PERFORMANCES Saturday, February 12 2:00 & 7:00 p.m. Sunday, February 13 2:00 p.m. TICKET PRICES $15 Adults $10 Students Perfect for families with children ages 6 and up. Approx Run Time: 55 min, no intermission All attendees over the age of 12 y/o must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent COVID-19 Negative Test and all guests are required to wear a mask while indoors. Visit GloucesterStage.com to learn more about our production of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach Jr.

This view off Grant Circle over what I think is called Green Landing changes as quickly as the weather. Sometimes it is great for birders, or those wanting to watch boat traffic under the train bridge, or for sunsets….and sometimes, well, for this.

Do you ever drive by those windows and find yourself thinking, “How do they come up with new and relevant phrases every single day? I always look forward to seeing what is in the windows at Howard’s Flying Dragon Antiques. Some days write themselves….but, surely other days they must have to dig deep to find something to spell. Must kind of feel like doing blog posts each day.

Seeing these fishing boats out on any winter day always tugs at my heartstrings a little bit. While it looks like a bright, sunny day….the temperature in my car was 5 degrees when I snapped this photo. Bless all who work hard in conditions like that.

Congratulations to David Ortiz! #34 will be the lone inductee to Cooperstown this year. The soon-to-be-hall-of-famer was always #1 for me to photograph during my years at Fenway Park.

Exuberant or crazy? I snapped this photo on that crazy cold, day we had a bit ago. What this photo barely shows….off in the distance, near the Adventure….is that someone was whipping across the inner harbor in a very small boat (that did not appear to be a police boat or Coast Guard). At the time I took the photo it was about 6 degrees. Nuts.

Reed between the lines. These reeds blowing in the wind on the back shore always catch my eye.

Freezing temps and no scheduled hockey game made for a perfect day for some team bonding on the pond on Saturday. Not only did both of my boys enjoy pond skating over the weekend, but I smiled as I drove by several different ponds and lakes and saw so many skaters enjoying the ice! Do you have a favorite place to skate? Or did you when you were younger?

We enjoyed a night in Boston on Tuesday and had dinner in the North End before the Bruins game. While the final score of the game was fairly horrible, a night in the city is usually a good cure for the winter blues.

When I looked up at City Hall I immediately noticed the reflection in the windows and I had to pull over for a quick photo. Lines, geometric shapes, and light always catch my eye. This would be great in a classroom. How many different shapes can you find? Pretty intricate!

I took a little time yesterday to drive by the boulevard and around the back shore. Here are some of the photos I took of the waves and surf from Windy Izzy. Debris was all over the roads from the previous high tide and early morning winds. While we dodged the snow the ocean sure was stormy.

It was freezing, but beautiful at Niles the other day. The one seagull mid-flight was super brave.

The sushi at Minglewood Harborside is definitely one of our go-to meals. And, if I’ve said before how good it is, it is worth repeating.

We did a couple of drive bys, but the ponds weren’t quite ready….the hockey nets had to stand by ready to go for another day. Luckily, today’s frigid temps should help.

The first man to sail single-handed from west to east across the Atlantic Ocean. 66 day passage from Gloucester to Liverpool.

The Essex Tech Hockey teams including my son, Thatcher, are looking for local businesses (players come from 15 different cities and towns in our surrounding area) to advertise in their hockey program book. They are also collecting items to be raffled off at an upcoming fundraising event. This is a nice opportunity to advertise with a pretty decent reach and support some hardworking players! Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School Hockey (ENSATSH) is a non-profit high school ice hockey program for high school students.  The team has approximately 55 players on our Varsity and Junior Varsity teams from approximately 15 different communities.

Our mission at ENSATSH is to provide support for a positive hockey experience for all Essex Tech hockey players.  We strive to enforce fair play and sportsmanship from each player as well as to foster an appreciation of ice hockey and skating that will last a lifetime. Our coaches, parents, and players are extremely dedicated to the program. As a non-profit 501 (C) 3 corporation, fundraising is critical to the success of our program.  We are collecting Ads for our Program Book and hosting a comedy night in February 2022 for which we are looking for donations of food or raffle items.

Please reach out to me via a comment or at nicholeschrafft@comcast.net if you would like to learn more. My #18 would really appreciate the support!

Glimpses of our rich fishing history and current working waterfront can be seen everywhere you look. Reminders of the hardworking people who are trying so hard to keep it alive and who head out to sea even during these frigid winter months.

Caught this crew mid take off from the marsh the other day.