the cutbridge » Gloucester

Tax tip for property owners in Gloucester MA

Patty Knaggs — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:24:29 +0000

Rounding up tax info? It always seems I have most of the information but not all of it…:) The Gloucester MA city site: http://gloucester-ma.gov/ is a great resource to view & gather information on your total property taxes and sewer/water costs (for landlords). In case you are like me and can’t always find this information easily in my own home, the city website has it all neatly filed in one location. Once you are on the city site:

City of Gloucester Website - Home page

“click” on the tab (left side of page) that says “online services”. That will bring you to this page:

City of Gloucester Website - Online services page

The property tax records and water/sewer bills can all be accessed by “clicking” on the highlighted type.

Real Estate, Personal Property and Utility Bills

The next page will then ask you for your address or parcel ID number.

City of Gloucester address page for online tax records

If you are unfamiliar with your parcel ID number, it can be found in the “assessors” records online , on a tax or water bill or by calling our helpful Gloucester assessors office. Fill in the address and voila the computer does what computers do and you have your annual records in front of you!

Sea Smoke in Gloucester MA? What is Sea Smoke?

Patty Knaggs — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:33:11 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Sea Smoke” is the “fog” one sees rising from the ocean when the air is much colder then the water. It is very difficult to photograph due to its transient, hazy properties. It is most common at sunrise, usually the coldest period of the evening. As the sunlight warms the air the temperature, the temperature difference between the air and water tends to moderate and the wafting, steamy quality of this event disappears.

Wikipedia describes the phenomena in the following manner: Evaporation from exposed water surface depends upon its vapor pressure. If the water temperature is greater than that of the nearby air, the evaporation continues faster than the air can absorb the water vapor, even though the cool air’s relative humidity is 100%. This further evaporates immediately and re-condenses as visible fog, which rises up in convective currents.The conditions required for such fog formation include not only low surface temperature but also a preexisting surface inversion of temperature to inhibit the rapid development of instability.

Not only is Sea Smoke difficult to capture on film it is downright eerie in person and an accurate predictor of one cold morning here in Gloucester!!!

East Gloucester Cultural District Approved by the City Council!

Patty Knaggs — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:45:06 +0000

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Karen Ristuben describes the East Gloucester Ma 01930 Cultural District concept, boundaries and purpose in the Gloucester Ma arts community.

Waterview Homes in Gloucester MA 01930

Patty Knaggs — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:52:53 +0000

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Waterview homes in Gloucester come in all varieties: open ocean (coveted by many), harbor views, working waterfront, Annisquam River, Boston skyline, Cranes beach, Wingaersheek beach, Jones River, Lanes cove, Lobster Cove, Smiths Cove, Cripple Creek Cove, Coffins beach and northerly to Maine and New Hampshire. There is a new waterview listing which is unique in many ways- 29 Fort Square, Gloucester MA.

It is unique in the fact that it offers so many varieties of water views from its singularly spectacular location. It sits on a peninsula facing south with views in every direction. This means that sunrises and sunsets can both be seen from this property. The water views that can be found at this location are many: open ocean, Boston skyline, up the Annisquam River and working waterfront all from one vantage point. The lot size is small (2,740 sf) and the home has not changed hands since 1963. Assessed at $440,700 and priced to reflect the value of a 360 degree water view in Gloucester MA homes at $2.4 million, one thing can be assured:the taxes will be changing after this sale!

Scumbling in Gloucester MA with Melody Phaneuf

Patty Knaggs — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:52:45 +0000

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Scumbling??? Is that scrubbing the crumbs off the floor or some such surface ? It could be ! but to an artist

it is a painting technique. It is painting a light color over a dark color using a dry brush & dryish paint on a textured surface. Ultimately is creates a “soft” look.

Scumbling by Melody Phaneuf

It is used to create a light or a veiled effect. Melody Phaneuf uses it in her work in both ways and especially in her snow paintings. In Melodys paintings the effect she achieves with her oil work has been compared to the “softness” of working with pastels. Scumbling is used to create a “fuzzy” effect, a translucent effect or in the case of the Dutch Masters the light effect.

Still curious about scumbling? Melody Phaneuf has a Snow exhibit currently displayed at Bank Gloucester (160 Main St., Gloucester MA 01930) where this technique is instantly recognizable!

My Two Favorite Websites for Holiday Electronic Shopping

Patty Knaggs — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:42:43 +0000

She's Holiday shopping again?

Electronics shopping and needing help, I’m leaning heavily on consumer and editor reviews. I don’t have the time or energy to research every detail of every electronic gizmo it seems I need in my personal or professional life. Why not depend on some else’s experience and expertise? The two sites I’ve been leaning on are amazon.com and CNET.com. Consumerwise, I must find safety in numbers. I love amazon.com due to the sheer volume of consumer reviews they provide for so very many items. I checked many review sites for the particular item I was recently purchasing but nothing can match the volume of reviews at amazon. I’ve been to epinions.com, reviewgist.com, buzzillions.com and viewpoints.com in search of a particular item review but none of them offer as many reviews as amazon consistently does.

The other site I admire for electronic reviews is CNET.com. I like the way the editor matter of factly provides a video for so many item reviews. Not only do I find the video representation comforting (real live people holding the actual item), they actually sound like they know what they are talking about! I find that very satisfying considering I’m sure I would be at a loss for words if someone asked me to explain simple electricity much less how something like a cell phone or a bluetooth headset actually works. My holiday electronics shopping website list is short but the two together:

amazon.com for consumer reviews

CNET.com for editorial reviews

have simplified my life, provide a consensus and made electronics shopping (electronically!) easy.

The Kings Mark floors in our Gloucester MA homes

Patty Knaggs — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:29:59 +0000

Kings wood in a Gloucester MA attic

Ever wonder about those really, really, wide pine floors we find in our New England homes? They have a very interesting history in our country. Interestingly, enough they may have been just as influential in the American Revolution as the Boston Tea Party! The British fell in love with the white Pine species of trees for their usefulness as light, strong and exceedingly tall masts of sailing ships, & the British Navy. They were considered so valuable that the “Kings men” (militia) went through the virgin New England forests marking the most desirable trees (widest & tallest) to be saved for shipment to the British Monarch. Three hatchet marks in the shape of an arrow was called The Kings Broad Arrow”. These trees (24 inches or more in diameter) were so important that they were mentioned in The Charter of Massachusetts Bay 1691.

The Broad Arrow

Predictably over time, the colonists became less and less willing to surrender the resources of the colonies to the British Monarch. They began ignoring the Kings Mark and harvesting these premier trees for them selves and using it for their own needs, which were usually for building structures instead of supporting the British monarchy and its Navy. It became more and more apparent to the British they were fighting a losing battle as the trees mysteriously disappeared and the New England forests became devoid of the tallest and widest white pine trees.

And now comes the part we are slightly familiar with. The King decided to tax the colonists on the width of the boards in their homes…with a caveat. The Kings men inspecting the homes for board width(s) were not allowed to go beyond the first floor of the home or structure. The colonists (not being dumb) then proceeded to use all the “best wood” or widest boards on the second & third floors. Hence, many of our second and third floors in our oldest homes in New England have incredibly wide floor boards. A little repeated fact is that this floor tax caused The Pine Tree Riot which was a precursor to the Boston Tea Party!

Occupy Wall St. … How about Shaws, East Gloucester?

Patty Knaggs — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:38:49 +0000

I’m not involved in the Occupy Wall St. movement or sit-in or am I particularly well-informed about it. I believe it is in part about corporate greed. A very clear picture of corporate greed was painted for me the other day. I was parked at Cape Ann Market on an optical errand. Since I knew my next meal involved raisins and I had none, I decided to purchase some at Shaws. Confession time: I stopped shopping there years ago when Market Basket came to town, which allows us to save approximately 10% consistently over the two other local, large grocery chain stores. There were two raisin sizes available and I grabbed the one closest to the size I usually purchase, which was the smaller size, however quite average.It was 15 oz. for $3.79. I had the cashier scan to double-check the price, since I thought I had purchased it at Market Basket for $2.59. Since it was significantly more expensive, I decided to not purchase and instead, swing into Market Basket on my way home. I scurried to Market Basket and grabbed the smallest size on their shelf. It was 24 oz.. The price? $2.99. OK so maybe I’m a tightwad or a skinflint, but this is a pretty average grocery item. It isn’t seasonal, like produce or fish. Nor is it necessary to import from a “rare source”. Nor was I comparing a grocery price to a discount chain price like Cosco or Best Buy. I think it is pure and simple, corporate greed of the every day garden variety. There was a 100% markup for the same product (slightly different size) at one store vs. another. Market Basket Raisins (24 oz. size) were 12.45 cents per oz. and at Shaws (15 oz. size) they were 25.26 cents per oz.. A 100% mark up on raisins? Come on…..So once again in deference to the saying, “think global, act local, I don’t have to occupy Wall St. to protest corporate greed, I’ll just shop at Market Basket!

Paul Ciaramitaro Is Teaching Drawing

Patty Knaggs — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:07:43 +0000

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Acclaimed artist of The Rockport Art Association and the Northshore Art Association, Paul Ciaramitaro is opening his studio doors to teaching this November, on Saturdays @ 10AM. Paul is a Gloucester native with the first hand experiences of working on the waterfront and artistically trained by world renowned Gloucester artist Charles Movalli. Like most of us who live on Cape Ann, Paul is continually drawn to the light filled water and the working waterfront. His media is oil, his passion is the beauty and the strength found on Cape Ann, particularly in the brawn required to execute the industry of fishing. Some of his first commissioned works can be found at The Seacoast Nursing Home (located behind the Addison Gilbert Hospital). Here you can see his execution of the physicality required on the waterfront. He paints from memory and like so many Cape Ann artists, plein air. More about Paul @ paulciaramitaro.com

Pauls Gallery and Studio is located at The Blackburn Building 2B-1 Annex . He can be reached at 978 879 8871 or normie46@yahoo.com.

Dental….I mean dentil moulding

Patty Knaggs — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:14:07 +0000

Dentil Moulding 4 Laurel St., Beverly MA 01915

One of the classic styles in building mouldings is frequently miscalled ”dental”. It is relatively easy to understand why …because it looks like its name (toothlike), but it is spelled like its’ latin roots. Den is “tooth” in latin and the moulding is characterized by a square mold with spaces in between them, similar to a characterization of teeth. Usually found below a cornice, it is considered a classic style in architecture and is documented on the grave of Darius from 500BC! Having long admired the classic architecture I am thrilled to highlight a new listing with exquisite dentil moulding in the living and dining rooms. The picture above, highlights this style found at 4 Laurel St. Beverly MA. The picture belows shows off more of the architectural detail found in this pretty house including unique built ins.

Dentil moulding under the cornice