D.T. Fleming Beach Park

Posted on February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 by Dusty Roads

The sun came back out after that pretty amazing rain storm. Wind and torrential rains and five minutes later, sunshine. Wow!

Since the day looked to be a good one, I took off north on Rt 30. I wanted to see if any surfers were out. If there were rip tides it would probably be quiet but it was worth taking a look.

I wasn’t sure I’d remember the exact turn off so when I spotted a left I took it. Immediately I knew this wasn’t the one. This was a paved road. The one I was looking for is a pretty rugged dirt road.

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I decided to see where this road went before I turned around. The sign said D.T. Fleming Beach Park, voted best beach in 2006. There was a rest room and maybe a bath house for changing???Also a life guard stand.

The beach seemed pretty popular. More and more people were coming while I was there. I suppose once the weather lifted everyone headed for the beach. You could see the weather was still very unsettled as rain squalls passed in the distance.

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I was surprised that so many children were there. Don’t they have school?

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The beach was certainly a pretty little beach. I found myself thinking that if these kids could handle the surf here maybe I could too.

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I’ll have to think about it after I get my whale picture.

It was a Cold but Sunny Day

Posted on October 25, 2014October 25, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Last Sunday was cold! Good thing it was sunny because if it had rained it probably would have turned to snow. It was windy too but that didn’t slow down Dawn and Alex, my guests with their mother at my company’s annual Customer Appreciation Event.

This year it was at Belkin Outlook Farm in Natick. The farm has apple picking, a play area with little animals and a train to get you around the property.

Each attendee got to pick a pumpkin and there were loads of pumpkins! The grape arbors are gorgeous even if they were past grape peak.

The company served a barbecue lunch with ribs, hot dogs and hamburgers. Well maybe we should call them cold dogs because in spite of the chefs best efforts the food chilled as soon as it came off the grill.

I don’t know if it was special because of the event or if they always feature an animal ride but this time they had a camel ride. Dawn was in line for that in a flash but Alex preferred the warmer inside of the Lego building.

It was cold enough that the battery for the camera died way too soon. The spare was in the car because I didn’t take the cold into consideration.

OOPS! But the photos I got seemed to catch the atmosphere and the fun.

Got Kids?

Posted on June 20, 2014June 20, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Got Kids? I don’t but I “borrow” a couple every now and then when the urge to be maternal overtakes me. Well behaved kids are cute, even fun to be around. Sadly I see fewer and fewer well behaved kids when I’m out and about. Must be a sign of old age. I’m sure the same was said of my generations and we’re no worse than any other.

But I digress, I wanted to share a really cute idea. In fact I watched this amuse and entertain a bunch of kids for a whole afternoon.

Next time your kids complain about not having anything to do don’t plunk them in front of the TV or the computer with a video game. No! Give them a potato.

Give them some paint, pipe cleaners, paper and plastic wheels.

When I was a kid we cut a raw potato in half, then carved a design in the bottom. Once the carving was done we dipped the end in paint and stamped the paper. We made stars and lines and circles and all sorts of things. Tater Art!

Or maybe carving them like a pumpkin? But maybe you don’t want your kids to play with sharp objects. Ok then how about sticking some plastic wheels in your tater car?

Paint it, decorate it and race it. Oh that kept the kiddie’s occupied for the whole afternoon.

But you have to watch out for Tater thieves. Yup! They will sneak up and make off with your precious raw material.

Look out he’s got one! (Who said don’t play with your food?)

A Day at the Zoo

Posted on August 27, 2013August 27, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I think the saying is “a walk in the park” but for me and my friend and her family it was a “day at the zoo”. Nancy has been working 3 jobs all summer so squeezing in our annual summer jaunt was turning into a challenge. We were down to the wire when a Tuesday opened up in all our schedules at the same time! YAY! I picked up Nancy and her two children, Alex and Dawn, and we made a bee line to the Franklin park Zoo.

I love zoos and it had been a couple of years since I’d been to this one. Nancy said the kids hadn’t ever been to this one. Located in the Dorchester section of Boston, Franklin Park Zoo is truly an urban zoo. You can even get to it by subway.

A really unusual feature is FREE PARKING! In Boston that’s more rare than the animals on exhibit!

We had a beautiful day for our visit. The weather was sunny and warm but there was a breeze.

There was a new playground since my last visit and we spent a good deal of time there.

We spent the whole day! The Zoo was closing up shop as we made our way out the front gates.

We’d covered everything from the petting zoo to the Bird World.

We saw the gorillas and the tigers and lions.

My favorite is the Budgie Aviary and I think the kids liked that too. They didn’t want to leave.

We also enjoyed the Butterfly enclosure.

Alex was reluctant at first but pretty soon the turtles had his attention.

The giraffe was a treat as it was right at the fence stretching it’s long neck to eat right over the heads of the crowd.

I had to stop by the prairie dog enclosure. The sentry even smiled for the camera.

Leaving the ostrich behind we made our way to the car after a great day!

Photo of the Week~ Week 44

Posted on November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 by Dusty Roads

I had the pleasure of visiting a local elementary school for their Halloween Parade. My friend’s daughter, Dawn, was Princess Ariel. Dawn recently lost her front baby teeth so getting her to smile is, well, like pulling teeth. 🙂 She still makes a beautiful princess. Happy Halloween!