Hey, there! Log in / Register

Home 'n' hearth

By The Wicked Smart Investor - 7/5/17 - 6:23 pm

The outgoing governor, international press, and local mucky-mucks all sat silently as the historical time capsule was opened at the Museum of Fine Arts. Originally placed in a cornerstone of the Massachusetts statehouse by our forefathers, the contents could provide more clues to our colonial past. The crowd was transfixed, what was in the box? The possibilities seemed endless that January, 2015 night

By adamg - 6/14/17 - 2:19 pm

Scott Eisen asks:

Looking for leads on where I can buy (preferably vintage) glass door knobs in Boston.

By The Wicked Smart Investor - 6/5/17 - 8:24 pm

Bostonians are frequently razzed not only for our accents but our lingo as well. Words like packie, spuckie and tonic cause puzzled looks from visitors. In the summer, another local word takes prominence: Jimmies. For those of you that don’t know, “Jimmies” is Beantown’s name for chocolate sprinkles, the bits of candy topping on ice cream cones for added texture. I actually thought all locals use this word, but my research proved otherwise.

By adamg - 5/30/17 - 11:40 am
Real-estate post card for South End that's really Lower Roxbury

A correspondent who grew up in the South End and who now lives in Roxbury was not at all pleased with the post card he got the other day advertising a house for sale on Greenwich Street. For one thing, that's Lower Roxbury. For another, that's not the "Fredrick Douglas Historic District." Read more.

By adamg - 5/6/17 - 6:30 pm

Bo Williams asks:

I keep seeing these… devices in the basements of Boston-area homes. What are they?

By adamg - 5/4/17 - 9:56 am

The Dorchester Reporter reports on some modest decreases in rents in older units as people leave them for fancier apartments.

By adamg - 4/3/17 - 10:05 am
Milk crates put out with the trash

Roving UHub photographer Jed Hresko noticed some milk crates out for trash pickup this morning on Elmore Street in Roxbury. Oh my God, who are we kidding: That's a you-know-what-ton of milk crates. Was somebody running a dairy out back?

By adamg - 4/1/17 - 3:53 pm
Duck down a chimney in Ashland

Chimneys aren't all they're quacked up to be, a duck in Ashland discovered today. Fortunately, he or she flew down the chimney in the Perrys' house, they weren't having a fire and so they spent a good part of the afternoon getting the duck out and then letting it fly away. Read more.

By adamg - 3/29/17 - 10:38 am

Check out the slideshow for this apartment listing for 15 Eldora St.. The fun never stops on ol' Mission Hill. Also exciting: The $3,750 rent for a three-bedroom on Mission Hill.

Via Bill, via Boston Reddit.

By adamg - 3/28/17 - 1:28 pm

The Zoning Board of Appeals today approved a plan to reconstruct the five-unit 284 Bunker Hill St., which was destroyed in a six-alarm fire last July. Read more.

By adamg - 3/22/17 - 8:11 am

Rick Macomber captured the scene at 62 O Street, where a wall gave way overnight.

Boston Police report: Read more.

By The Wicked Smart Investor - 3/2/17 - 4:32 pm

It’s normal to feel vulnerable when hiring an investment advisor. You may get a nagging feeling you’re not getting good advice. This pain is easy to avoid; hire someone who acts like a cover band and borrows heavily from the masters.

To explore this suggestion I trudged out to see my buddy Clarkey’s band, The Section 8’s. Frankly, I’m surprised that Clarkey has a band at all since he was one of the principal disruptors of Mr. Binney’s seventh grade music class. But I give Clarkey credit since the last time I sang karaoke the audience was actually throwing wet cocktail napkins at me.

By adamg - 3/2/17 - 12:31 pm

The Herald reports a majority of the condo owners at the Intercontinental on the waterfront have voted to ban marijuana smoking - and cultivation. The Herald quotes one condo-association trustee that the gross odor was one factor. And another:

We're a high-rise building. I don't think we’re a farming community.

By adamg - 2/13/17 - 8:30 pm

Catxecutive Order asks:

Good place to buy hearty houseplants near Dot/Southie/Quincy? looking for a Valentine plant that won't die.

By The Wicked Smart Investor - 1/4/17 - 11:43 am

Jack Frost nipping at your nose should remind us Bostonians that we could get walloped with a snowstorm at any time. A financial storm may come with less notice, so this winter investors should prepare for both.

By adamg - 12/6/16 - 3:17 pm

City Councilor Mark Ciommo (Allston/Brighton) and Mayor Walsh are proposing a measure that could save the average Boston homeowner $300 a year in property taxes, which the city says it can pay for thanks to the local construction and real-estate boom. Read more.

By adamg - 12/4/16 - 2:45 pm

An annual housing report card by the Boston Foundation and the Dukakis Center at Northeastern University highlights the dark clouds over the region's economic boom: Poverty rates are growing as the cost of living increases due to housing prices - yet the region is failing to keep up with growing demand for housing, at least for people below the highest income brackets. Read more.

By The Wicked Smart Investor - 11/28/16 - 3:34 pm

I get treated like Ebenezer Scrooge at holiday time. After all, there is no investment advisor in Boston’s Enchanted Village. But rather than admonish my readers to rein in spending, I’m recommending you treat yourself this season.

By adamg - 11/12/16 - 3:08 pm
Hawk outside somebody's door in the Back Bay

Casie Gillette stopped to look at the hawk outside somebody's front door on Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay today.

By TimTamGirl - 11/10/16 - 6:18 pm

Adam, I hope you'll let me post a thank you to the students of the Boston Consevatory and of Berklee, who I'm assuming are jointly responsible for the chalk graffiti all over Boylston and Mass Ave, and to the Conservatory specifically for the quotations they posted all over their front windows. In a country I no longer feel I know, understand, or belong in, their messages of love, hope, and strength made me feel better and safer than I have felt in days. In my rush I wasn't able to take photos, but I would encourage everyone to go have a look. Hopefully it will lift others' weary spirits as it has mine.

Subscribe to Home 'n' hearth