Author: Pat D

When the afternoon light filters through the trees and arches at Hammond Castle on Hesperus Ave, you are transported back in time. You really can’t help it. I took a little stroll around the grounds recently and it is a treat for the eyes. Visitors can purchase tickets for access to the inside and for the tours but the grounds are open for strolling as well during business hours with some restrictions you can find at this link. It’s always beautiful there and it’s in our very own backyard!

I had an afternoon to myself so I took a ride through the Crane Estate in Ipswich recently. I walked the gardens and took a stroll through the Great House on a gorgeous late summer afternoon. (*Free for Trustees members*) It’s a popular place for photo shoots as I watched two separate shoots in action. I don’t blame them for seeking the beautiful backdrops. It’s an inspirational place to wander about.

Pat D’s Photos will be at 95 East Main St today from 10:30-2 for a surprise Pop Up event in conjunction with Thirsty Seagull Gloucester Apparel. Pat D’s Photos will feature its 2025 Cape Ann Favorites calendar. Available now in limited quantities for $25. If purchased at Pop Up, you will also get a free reusable bag ($5 value). Swing in and say hello and check out the merch.

If the mums and the pumpkins don’t give you the fall feeling, then the apple picking surely will. Russell Orchards in Ipswich is all decked out and ready to go. I got a few apples from the orchard and a few cider donuts to seal the deal. I am ready for fall! How about you? If not and you’d like to be, take the short ride to Russell Orchards for a walk-around.

We took a drive toward Rockport yesterday and wandered down by Pebble Beach. Sometimes there’s not much going on at Chamborne Pond across the road, but yesterday was quite active there with ducks, a Little egret and a hawk. Normally I do not give a fig about ducks (I would have made rhyme there but you get enough of that on the podcast….) but these were ducks I didn’t recognize. I believe them to be American Black Ducks, which are relatively common but the spectacular blue coloring is very distinctive. Please correct me if my ID is incorrect. Maybe I do give a fig after all!

David Calvo’s Fall Carving Workshops are getting underway:

Set aside a moment to remember and reflect upon September 11 2001 and what it has come to mean for all of us. Never forgotten .

The Gloucester Elks on Atlantic Ave. are hosting an outdoor craft show Saturday Sept 22. Many of your favorite local vendors will be on hand (including myself and Donna Ardizzoni!) so you may want to save a little time for some advance holiday shopping next Saturday Sept 22. Event will be moved inside in case of weather, so come on down!

The Friends of Plum Island Lighthouse offered tours of the small lighthouse on Northern Boulevard in Newburyport a few days ago. What a great opportunity to get inside the well-kept lighthouse and interact with the volunteers. They offer occasional tours and host a limited number of events. The scheduled tour time was only 15 minutes which was both adequate and worth the ride up there. Perhaps you’ve seen this lighthouse and wondered about it……..for more info click here.

Jim and I had a chance to tour the newly renovated Gloucester Police Station a coule of days ago. Our host was Chief Ed Conley and he gave us an informative and thorough guided tour. Though we had never seen the previous state of the inner workings at the police station (including the infamous pink cells), Chief Conley explained to us some facts about the renovation, the improvements and the long process to get to the current stage.

The renovations keep public and employee safety at the top of the considerations. All the wiring and technology has been updated; the offices and lobby got a facelift; and extra safety measures have been put in place to all concerned. AND the women have their own locker room now! The Chief arrived in 2019 and then the pandemic hit slowing the entire process down considerably. But the GPD have been in the new digs for about 2 months now and everyone we ran into seemed pleased.

Renovations continue in the court on the floor above and are hoped to be completed by the end of the calendar year. A new training facility will also be added on the 3rd floor.

Residents should be pleased with the project and the state of the art safety facility built with the community in mind. Thank you Chief Conley for your time! We look forward to a tour at the end of the next phase.

Every summer, the crew at Felix’s Farm on Lowes Lane (next to Dairy Queen) in Ipswich plants a big and beautiful sunflower field with paths and animals for people to enjoy. And every year, Paul comes up with a new theme for your walkaround. This year’s theme is GRATEFUL. Sage reminders along the path include quotes about gratefulness and it’s a good reminder.

We purchased online tickets (very reasonable) and visited one afternoon this week. We were greeted by Paul’s dad who gave us the intro spiel and then welcomed by Paul. There were other families, couples, and seniors like ourselves in attendance so it’s appropriate for any age range. There are farm animals, camping and yoga activities also available there. It’s a short ride, the tickets are VERY reasonable and there’s more to do than you might expect. But the season is short so make your plans soon!

The amazing David Calvo submits the following information. Reach out to him if you are interested: (Spoon making is tomorrow!)

I hoping you can submit this to GMG for my upcoming workshops this fall. I have a poster and two videos The spoon making is for this Saturday and the second video is for my fall workshops. 

Warm Regards,

David Calvo

www.davidcalvo.com

235 East Main St. Gloucester, MA 01930

Tel. 978-283-0231

I got a tip from the lovely Kate C that there were many birds feasting at low tide on Little River yesterday morning in beautiful light and that I should check it out. So I did and she was absolutely correct. There were ducks, herons, egrets and gulls enjoying the meals that presented themselves in the low tide. The morning light shone on these birds along with all the parents and children waiting streetside for the first bus ride of the new school year. Great start to the morning. Thanks Kate!

Jessie Ralph was a well known actress who lived and died in Gloucester. She was well known as a character actress in several films you should recognize: David Copperfield (1935) and Camille (1936) among others. She retired after a leg was amputated and died a few years later in 1944. She is buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. I find it fascinating to think about her life span which started when she was born during the Civil War and died before the end of World War II. On a lark one day, I used the Sawyer Free Library online database for the Gloucester Daily Times and entered her name. Following you will find some example of articles written about her locally. Facebook also provides “10 Things You Should Know About Jessie Ralph” (honestly, you can find just about anything on Facebook it seems. )

The recent fog and forest fire haze gave Beacon Marine a special light. It’s beautiful on Cape Ann no matter the conditions.

This will be the final Margarita Monday post of the season, so it seemed appropriate to feature Minglewood on Rogers St since it’s my long-time favorite “regular” margarita! Finishing off the series with my favorite usual margarita topped off a great summer of Monday explorations to taste-test margaritas across the area.

And, we were not disappointed at Minglewood. Jim got sushi and I had the steak bomb to accompany our drinks. It’s always a treat to spend some time at Minglewood no matter the day of the week. Thanks Zach and staff for another great experience.

We enjoyed a little ride around Manchester on a recent summer morning. I thought you might like to see.

This aspirational bunny in the back yard is pretty inspiring. We have so many bunnies this year!

The 2024 Bluefin Blowout check presentation to the Alzheimer’s Association was held last night at the Beauport Hotel. I only took one photo as I was hoping Nichole could make it in time as this is definitely her area! With the schooners gracing the background, a groundswell effort was made in the room to raise enough to bring the final tally to $500,000!!! AND IT WAS SUCCESSFUL thanks to generous donations from the amazing group in attendance. So I believe this brings the total amount over the years to $2.2 MILLION!!! From our community. With your support. Thank you everyone. It’s not too late (or too early) if you want to make your own donation through Bluefin Blowout or directly to the Alzheimer’s Association. THANK YOU ALL. (**Nichole is so much better at this**)

We arrived on the dock for the Tuesday Schooner Challenge and were greeted by some recent acquaintances who took our advice to sail the Ardelle if they ever got the chance! We didn’t get to speak with them at the end since we were on separate vessels, but I hope Norma-Jean and her husband had a good time.

As you know, we have made an effort to participate in as many of these as we could over the summer and we figured this was the last regular Tuesday one, so off we went. The Ardelle passengers seemed to be mostly local folks along with a few visitors which was very nice to see. AJ, Elizabeth, Aaron and Harold did another great job getting us around the harbor with Lewis H. Story and Isabella. I hope this event continues next season. Great job by each of the interns all summer!