EVERYTHING is on sale for 15% off!
Sale Begins Tuesday, the 21st through Sunday, the 26th.
~ EVERYTHING! ~
Category: Chickity check it!
Huge Bear Surprises Film Crew
This just in from GMG reader Kate Young. Thanks Kate!
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Decadent Desserts!
I am planning to sign up for Chef Matt’s “Decadent Desserts” cooking class. I’ve never taken a cooking class before, but based on how much I learned and truly enjoyed Savour’s “Become a Wine Expert” series, I know it will be tons of fun. Besides, I tried making Apple Tarte Tartin from the original 1800s recipe (not successful) and would love to have Chef Matt’s recipe!!
P.S. It’s not that I am obsessed with Apple Tarte Tartin, the thing is, that at the end of the summer when our peaches and pears ripen, I would love to make Peach and Pear Tarte Tartins!
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Oh Yeah Baby!!!! ‘Wicked Tuna’ Season 3 Preview: Hook It, Harpoon It, Repeat
‘Wicked Tuna’ Season 3 Preview: Hook It, Harpoon It, Repeat
“Wicked Tuna” returns Sunday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel.
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Kathleen Erickson Writes About Savour’s Super Healthy VB6 Program
Greetings!
I am writing from San Francisco, where it is sunny and 72 degrees! I have been searching out some wonderful eating spots that focus on fresh, healthy, and often, vegan or vegetarian dishes. I took all of these photos with my phone, and they are all vegan (no meat, no dairy) and delicious! It is my husband’s birthday today and we are going to Greens, a gourmet vegetarian and vegan restaurant with a view of the Golden Gate bridge, for dinner.
This inspired me to finalize the options for our “Vegan Before 6” prepared foods and fitness program we plan to launch next week.
Many of you have expressed an interest in participating in our exciting VB6 program to lose weight and/or get healthy in 2014. I have enjoyed hearing from you and have worked to make the program accessible to anyone who wants to be a part of it. I have written a full week of sample menus so you can get an idea of the spectacular food you will be eating, which even includes wine and dessert on the weekends! Just click the link below.
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So – here are 4 options that should work for everyone:
1)12 week program, 7 days a week, 20 meals and snacks – $299.00
(This will get you the best results)
2)12 week program, 5 days a week, 15 meals and snacks – $229.00
3) Dinner only, 6 days a week, with bottle of wine – $189.00
4) Interrupted Program for Travelers
Some people need to take a break for travel. You pay for the weeks you participate.
The program requires that you pay the first two weeks up front. We will charge your credit card each week thereafter. Pay the whole program up front and save 10%. (Please note that because these are prepared meals, the state requires us to charge tax, which is not included in the price).
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Obviously, we cannot guarantee results, especially since all participants who follow the program will have access to other foods outside the program. BUT – we are here to give you the highest quality food that supports radiant heath, exercise suggestions, a stress-management program, cooking instruction, and support.
We have worked very hard to put something together that will make you the best you can be in 2014. I hope several of you that have been “on the fence” will find an option that will work for you. I know of no program anything like this. We will offer it once a year – so sign up now!
I will be back in Gloucester to sign you all up on Friday, January 17., but you can call John at Savour anytime. We will have a simple contract to sign that tells us which option you will be following and allows us to charge your credit card to “pay as you go” according to your instruction. We need at least 8 people to make a go of it and will take at least 12 full participants with a few doing a modified program, according to their individual needs. We need to know ASAP – we have a lot of shopping and cooking to do!
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VIDEO PREVIEW: Cape Ann Winter Solstice Concert on Cape Ann TV Sat & Sun @ 8PM
Cape Ann TV’s Jim Capillo has edited the historic Cape Ann Winter Solstice Concert on Dec 21, 2013 at the Gloucester’s Meetinghouse into a 2 hour special that will premiere on Cape Ann TV Channel 12 this Saturday and Sunday (Jan 18 & 19) at 8PM. Jim organized a 3 camera shoot using his wicked cool crane and film crew Roger Ward and Tina Greel from Local Music Seen. The result is a gorgeous production that you truly don’t want to miss.
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Bear Pooh!
I love it when friends and readers ask what bird or butterfly (and moth and caterpillar), and am only too happy to help them learn more about the creature they have found. Very funny though is the wide range of nature-related questions that I am asked. At a job site recently, the crew could not wait to show me the above humungous pile of pooh. Should I be flattered or dismayed?
Three times as large as the largest Great Dane pooh that you could possibly imagine, and not the right consistency for dog poop, it didn’t take much searching to determine that it was Black Bear pooh. We double checked with our friend Richard from the Department of Conservation and Recreation and sure enough, it was confirmed to be bear pooh.
As an alternative to what was suggested by the MSPCA in their “co-existing with coyotes literature,” which is that kids be kept indoors and that we keep donkeys and llamas as coyote deterrents, we instead perhaps should repopulate Cape Ann with bears. After all, bears were here before the earliest European settlers (think Bearskin Neck).
JUST KIDDING!
Willowdale is located within the Bradley Palmer State Park, which borders the towns of Ipswich, Topsfield, and Hamilton, which border the towns of Essex and Manchester. Has anyone in recent history spotted a Black Bear on Cape Ann?
Cape Cod’s Resident Black Bears Gets Evicted
Excellent link provided by GMG reader artbev on Animal Scat Notes. Thank you artbev!
American Black Bear Images courtesy google image search.
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He’s BACK! Save the dates 1/30 – 2/9
This just in from Gordo!
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
STARRING THE ORIGINAL CAST
Come and see what all the talk was about this fall with the return of CRAZY MOON, Gordon Baird’s original musical, also starring John Hyde and Kathleen Brown. 8 Shows Thurs. Jan. 30 ~ Sun. Feb. 9.
The show is very exciting and fun and runs only an hour and fifteen minutes – (so even a guy can enjoy it.) Curtain is at 8 pm (thu-fri-sat) and 5 pm (Sun) at The Rocky Neck Cultural Center on 6 Wonson St..
All opening night ticket proceeds (1/30) go to benefit the Gloucester Writer’s Center.
Tickets for all shows are $15, 2/$25 ~ kids $5. Free parking in the town lot a block from the theater.
Here’s what viewers of its September debut are saying?
Mayor Carolyn Kirk said: “I was entranced by Crazy Moon and the intimate setting of the Rocky Neck Cultural Center. Also knowing the Writer’s Center benefited made it a wonderful evening out.”
Linda Amero called it ” charming and poignant “.
Jimmy T said: “Incredible energy and talent, a thought-provoking roller-coaster ride through your own reality.”
John Steiger said: ” Gordon Baird takes us on a wondrous journey to mysterious places, his imagination is contagious.”
Jay McLauchlan: ” I would like to see this tour de force again! What a perfect vehicle for the multi-talented Baird, John Hyde and a terrific feature performance by Kathleen Brown, an extraordinary journey, inspiring . . .”
Robert Crandall: ” A creative one man songfest in the best tradition of seafaring story telling. Enjoy. “
John Bell put it: “Gordie at his best. Well worth the watch.”
CRAZY MOON RUNS 8 nights Jan.30 through Feb 9. – Thurs-Fri-Sat shows at 8 pm – Sunday at 5 pm at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center – 6 Wonson St.
Tickets can be bought at the door at showtime. 978-283-0390 for info.
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Sign Up for My Column on Habitat Gardening
Bird Food! ~ American Robin and American Holly (Ilex opaca)
My regular readers are aware, as are my fellow GMG contributors, that I write a monthly column/newsletter on gardening, with a focus on designing welcoming habitats for birds and butterflies. My readership has grown steadily, I think largely based on the fifteen or so habitat garden design lectures that I give each year (See the Lecture Program Page on my blog) and the newsletter is now read mostly in New England, but also throughout the US, England, Canada, and Mexico. As does my book, the columns contain a wealth of information on creating habitat gardens, how to attract birds and butterflies to our gardens, and stories about local wildflowers and wildlife. Oftentimes readers write and I find it wonderfully gratifying when they share their success stories with what they are feeding and planting to attract birds and butterflies to their gardens.
The newsletter began awhile back while I was writing a bi-monthly column for the regional newspaper the North Shore Planet. Reader’s who lived beyond the area of distribution of the newspaper became interested in the columns and it was easy to send the columns via email. The columns are in the process of being archived and they will eventually be featured on a page of their own on my blog. If in the meantime you would like to receive via email my monthly column, please email me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com.
Winterberry (Ilex verticilatta)
Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden is available through my publisher’s website at David R. Godine, Publisher.
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Free Saturday Family Movie Matinee at the Sawyer Free Library: Monster’s University
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Juni VanDyke ~ Shout Out to a Beautiful Lady!
Juni VanDyke and Her Son Sean ~ a beautiful lady, in every sense of the word!
The very talented, yet never self-aggrandizing, Juni VanDyke sent a hand written thank you note for a brief recent little post that we did about the Rose Bake Senior Center’s quilt project-in-progress, “Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods.” I don’t ever want readers to think that we expect thank you notes, ever, it is just always very sweet and much appreciated when it does happen. Thank you Juni!
To find out more about “Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods,” read here:
Simply Stunning Work in Progress
Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods Quilt Project Featured at Inauguration 2014
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A few highlights from last night’s Golden Globe Awards 2014
Hosts Amy and Tina Crushed It!
Margot Robbie in Gucci
Cate Blanchett in Armani Couture
Daughter Liv and I watched together the Golden Globes Red Carpet last night–via texting–she in Brooklyn and me in Gloucester. Cate Blanchett, winner of best actress in a motion picture drama, and Margot Robbie won hands hands down for best dressed!
Cate’s Armani dress was made from the most exquisitely delicate black lace you could possibly imagine, with subtle shimmer sprinkled throughout. From the front view, I loved the dramatic contrast of the high neck and then softly flowing lower skirt; the sparkles caught the light when she walked–and the back was equally as stunning!
U2’s Tribute to Nelson Mandela wins Best Song Golden Globe!
To hear the song, click the above photo, which will take you to the U2 website.
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Birds of Cape Ann: The Majestic Mute Swan
The extraordinarily powerful wings and torso of the Mute Swan ~ click to view larger
The above photo is a lucky capture as I was actually filming the Gadwalls behind the swan. When the swan began to lift out of the water I quickly turned my attention toward it. The first two photos are the same; the first is cropped, the second uncropped so that you can see the tremendous scale of the swan’s body and wings in relation to its environment. The Mute Swan is the second heaviest waterfowl, second only to the Trumpeter Swan. In observing swans, I marvel in nature that a creature this heavy can soar majestically through the clouds and swim so gracefully through water.
Mute swans feed primarily on submerged and emergent aquatic vegetation and a small percentage of their diet also includes frogs, small fish, and insects. Because swans feed in deep water they do not compete with smaller waterfowl such as ducks. It is thought that food is made more readily available to ducks because the swans do not eat all the food they pull up. This seems logical and factual from my own observations at our local ponds and marshes. I very often see a wide range of waterfowl congenially feeding with the Mute Swans.
Mute Swan feeding on submerged vegetation at Niles Pond
Note ~ Mute swans, which are a nonnative species, do compete directly for food with North American native Trumpeter Swans, in regions where Trumpeter Swans are indigenous (Trumpeter Swans are not native to Cape Ann).
For more photos, information, and video see previous GMG posts about the Mute Swan:
Where Do Swans Go in Winter?
Vibrant Throbbing Wingbeats
Niles Pond or Brace Cove
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Birds of Cape Ann: Divers or Dabblers and the Green-winged Teal
Birds of Cape Ann: Buffleheads
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Join Chef Matt Beach at the Chef’s Table Sunday, January 12th at 6pm: 4 Openings
There are four openings for Chef Matt Beach’s Open Chef’s Table. The menu and accompanying wines look absolutely beautiful and, after having sampled Chef Matt’s Warm Apple Tarte Tartin, I can honestly say I would go just for the tarte alone!
Treat a date or guest to a lovely evening of warm and wonderful hospitality, and an equally as wonderful dining experience!
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Eastern Point Lit House Second Sunday with Eric Pinder at The Hive
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Sawyer Free Library Pajama Story Time Tonight
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Go See This Film: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ~ Beautiful film in every way–humor, romance, great location and cinematography, stellar cast, and pitch perfect. Go See!
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Birds of Cape Ann: Buffleheads
Next time you see a flock of ducks, look closely. You may be surprised by the range of different species within the group. Although not always the case, but more often than not at this time of year, I see several species within a flock. What typically happens as I try to get closer to photograph or film a flock of shore birds, the Mallards, which seem very comfortable around people will stay and the somewhat less seen species, such as Buffleheads, Gadwalls, and American Wigeons will fly away.
I counted six different species of birds feeding in the seaweed at Brace Cove in the above photo.
This past autumn, and continuing through this winter, I have been filming and photographing B roll all around the ponds and marshes of Cape Ann. Today begins a mini series about shore birds, ducks, and wading birds, including photos and interesting facts, to help better identify the differences between the ducks and wading birds that migrate through, and winter over, on Cape Ann.
One of several Cape Ann geographical features that allows for such a wonderfully wide range of birds to be found on our shores and marshes is the fact that we lie within a largely unrestricted north south corridor for migratory species of birds and butterflies. What exactly does that mean? From the eastern coastline, all the way from Maine to Florida, and between the Appalachian Mountain range further west is a corridor where there are no barriers such as large bodies of water or mountains to fly over, which allows for unrestricted movement of birds and butterflies.
Male and Female Buffleheads
Male Buffleheads are one of the easiest birds to distinguish from a distance and within a group because of their sharp black and white coloring, comparatively smaller size, and pert, rounded shape. Upon closer inspection the males heads are marked with striking iridescent green and purplish feathers. The photo above shows three males and one female, and she is differentiated by her all over darker color and the patch of white feathers on her check. Rapid wingbeats make Buffleheads easier to distinguish when in flight as well. Their old-fashioned name of “Butterballs” aptly describes these beautiful and welcome winter migrants!
I am by no means a bird expert. I love to film and photograph the natural world around us and along the way find it fascinating to learn about the wildlife and flora that surrounds. Note to all GMG nature and bird-loving readers ~ I hope you’ll comment with your expertise. We would love to hear from you!
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Stung!
Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean, by Lisa-ann Gershwin (The University of Chicago Press, 2013)
JoeAnn Hart Submits her book review for Stung!, published December 30, 2013.
I read an entire book on jellyfish, and it was worth every gelatinous minute. Here is my review, originally published on ecolitbooks.com.
They’re here, and we’ve not just cleared out the guest room for them, we’re opened up the front parlor, the master bedroom, rumpus room, and kitchen. Soon we’ll be barricaded in the basement with a stinging, gelatinous substance dripping on us through the cracks in the ceiling. I’m talking about jellyfish. Our relationship with them has changed for the worse. As they fill our fishing nets and clog our nuclear plant intake valves around the world, they reflect our relationship with the entire eco-system. And now it’s time to say goodnight. DNA research has recently stripped the title of First Multi-Cellular Animal from the sponge and handed it to the jellyfish, and they might very well turn out to be the Last.
When I wrote jellyfish into the plot of Float, which was released in early 2013, I could not have imagined how dire the situation would get in such a short period of time. I was still thinking that if we could find a use for them — like turning them into a true bio-plastic — there might be hope. After reading Stung! by Lisa-ann Gershwin, I am not so sure about that anymore. No matter how many we harvest, more jellyfish will just bloom in their place, because the problem isn’t just that there are too many of them, it’s that they are the bellwether for a very sick ocean. As oceanographer Sylvia Earle writes in the intro, As seas become stressed, the jellyfish are there, like an eagle to an injured lamb or golden staph to a postoperative patient – more than just a symptom of weakness, more like the angel of death.
Gershwin puts jellies in the greater perspective of the general ocean health, discussing at length how jellyfish blooms (population explosions) are the result of degraded ecosystems as well as the driver of further decline. So a large part of the book is spent explaining, in layperson’s language but with the fastidiousness of a researcher, how, exactly, jellies are able to take advantage of even the smallest anthropogenic perturbation, the fancy word for manmade disturbances. These include the usual culprits of ocean acidification and warming climates from our carbon waste, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, oil spills, leaching plastics, and radioactive material.
Read the full review here: Stung!
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Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods Quilt Project Featured at Inauguration 2014
Juni Van Dyke and her group of fiber artist’s “Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods” quilt project was displayed prominently at Gloucester City Hall for Inauguration 2014. The photos are of just some of the panels on display.
Each fabric panel measures approximately five-foot square and illustrates through iconic imagery characteristics unique to Gloucester neighborhoods. See previous GMG post to read more about “Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods” quilt project:
Simply Stunning Work in Progress
Detail of quilt in progress
Maggie Rosa’s extraordinary interpretation of the archetypical Beauport window. The window’s mullions frame a collection of antique glass in varying shades of lavender to deep grape.
Good Morning Gloucester 