New Real Estate Listings on the North Shore Today – Monday, November 2

New Listings Today – North Shore 29 Towns

This is catching the MOAM's attention today….. 13 new listings hit the North Shore market over the last 24 hours, across 8 towns.

Top towns: Danvers 3, Lynn 3, Gloucester 2, and 1 each in Marblehead, Rockport, Peabody, Groveland and Beverly.

By property type: Residential Lease (rentals) 7 · Residential 4 · Residential Income (multi-families) 2.

The MOAM's take: more than half of today's new listings are rentals, which is typical as we head into the colder months. Buyers who keep shopping through November often find sellers more willing to talk.

Contact Nanepashemet to view these.
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services
Call or text 781-727-6516
jnestor@nanepashemet.com

MOAM Out.

Listing data courtesy of MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN); listings shown are held by various brokerages. Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, MA Broker Lic. 136995-RE-B.

Boston Sports Morning Report — Monday, Nov. 2

Not for nuthin'…. But….. that was a pretty good Sunday. The Pats were down 13-3 at the half in the rain down in Miami, missing A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins and TreVeyon Henderson, and Drake Maye just went out and put up 21 straight points. Couple hours earlier, Jayson Tatum dropped 32 in Orlando and the Celtics made it five in a row. Not bad for a weekend we got an extra hour of.

Short version: the B's host Vegas at 7:00 tonight, the Celts are in Houston at 8:30, the Pats get Green Bay at home Sunday, and the Sox are still in hot-stove mode.

New England Patriots

• Yesterday: W 24-19 @ Miami Dolphins (Maye 16-of-20, 199 yards, TD passes to Kyle Williams for 43 and DeMario Douglas for 48, plus a 2-yard TD run; Rhamondre Stevenson 82 rushing yards)
• Today: No game
• Next: Sun., Nov. 8, 4:25 PM ET, vs Green Bay Packers (home, FOX)
• Standings: 5-3, 2nd in the AFC East, 1.5 games behind Buffalo (6-1), No. 7 in the AFC (last wild-card spot); 3-0 in the division

Half the receiving room in street clothes and they still found a way. Hunter Henry left with a foot injury, so keep an eye on the injury report this week before Green Bay comes to town.

Boston Celtics

• Yesterday: W 108-97 @ Orlando Magic (Tatum 32 points, 15-of-17 at the line; Paul George 17 points, 8 assists; Derrick White 12, Luka Garza 12)
• Today: Mon., Nov. 2, 8:30 PM ET, @ Houston Rockets
• Next: Wed., Nov. 4, 7:30 PM ET, vs Milwaukee Bucks (home)
• Standings: 5-1, 2nd in the Atlantic, half a game behind Philadelphia (6-1), No. 3 in the East

Five straight wins. Tonight's the back end of a back-to-back against a Houston team that's 6-1, so this one's a real measuring stick.

Boston Bruins

• Yesterday: No game (last game: W 5-4 in OT vs Chicago on Sat., Oct. 31)
• Today: Mon., Nov. 2, 7:00 PM ET, vs Vegas Golden Knights (home, NESN)
• Next: Thu., Nov. 5, 7:00 PM ET, @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NESN)
• Standings: 10-4-1, 21 points, 1st in the Atlantic (1 point up on Montreal), No. 2 in the East, 5 points behind Carolina (12-2-2, 26 points)

The B's are 6-1 at the Garden this year and Vegas comes in 9-5-1. Good night to keep that home streak rolling.

Boston Red Sox

• Yesterday / Today: No games, offseason
• Next: 2027 Opening Day is Thu., March 25, @ Seattle Mariners (time TBA); home opener Thu., April 1, vs Cincinnati
• Final standings: 87-75, 3rd in the AL East, swept by the Yankees in the AL Wild Card round

Quiet on Jersey Street. Pitchers and catchers can't come soon enough.

That's the Monday board. B's at 7:00, Celts at 8:30, so you can flip back and forth all night.

MOAM Out.

MOAM: Question 7, Starter Homes vs. Local Control. What It Could Mean for the North Shore

MOAM: Question 7, Starter Homes vs. Local Control. What It Could Mean for the North Shore

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 3, Massachusetts voters decide ten ballot questions. As a Marblehead REALTOR®, the one I get asked about most is Question 7, "Single Family Homes."

What a yes vote does

A yes vote would allow a single-family home in any residentially zoned area on a lot of at least 5,000 square feet with at least 50 feet of frontage and access to public water and sewer. Today, each city and town sets its own minimum lot size. Under Question 7, a lot that meets those three tests could get a single-family home by right, even where local zoning now requires a bigger lot.

Towns would still be able to regulate height, distance from neighboring buildings, open space, parking and short-term rentals, and the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities could issue regulations. Boston, which has its own zoning statute, is exempt. A no vote changes nothing.

The case for

Wesley Lima of Legalize Starter Homes signed the argument in favor. Supporters see it as one way to add housing supply in a state struggling with high prices and limited inventory. Smaller lots mean smaller, less expensive homes. Those are the "starter homes" young families tell me they can't find, and the right-sized homes downsizers want so they can stay in town.

The case against

Adam Chapdelaine of the Massachusetts Municipal Association signed the argument against. Opponents say zoning should stay mainly under local control, and that one statewide standard can't account for the differences between communities.

Here in Marblehead, Select Board Chair Dan Fox opposes it. He told the Marblehead Current that in a built-out town "where small lots, narrow streets, infrastructure limitations, parking and neighborhood character all matter," eliminating local zoning requirements "could have significant unintended consequences." Planning Board Chair Marc Liebman also opposes it, saying it could "majorly reshape our neighborhoods, density and population."

Don't confuse it with MBTA Communities

Marblehead just finished a separate zoning fight. On Oct. 26 the state found the town in compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, accepting a 40.8-acre multifamily district built mostly on Tedesco Country Club land, with estimated capacity for 900 units. That law covers multifamily housing. Question 7 covers single-family lots. They are two different things.

What it could mean for prices and inventory

Honestly, nobody knows yet. The state's own fiscal statement says new housing "could provide positive new growth revenues" but the scale is "difficult to project." The Marblehead Independent noted that the available figures don't show how many Marblehead lots it would affect. In older North Shore towns, many lots are already smaller than 5,000 square feet, so the bigger change may come in towns with large-lot zoning. Over time, more buildable lots could mean more inventory and some relief on prices for entry-level buyers. It could also mean more teardowns and tighter streets. That's the trade-off on the ballot.

Whatever you decide, please vote tomorrow. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

So what do you think? Should the state set a floor for starter homes, or should each town keep the final say on its own lots?

Questions about what Question 7 could mean for your property? Call or text me at 781-727-6516, or visit nanepashemet.com.

John Nestor, REALTOR®, Marblehead

#MOAM #Question7 #Marblehead #NorthShore #mapoli

Sources

• Mass. Secretary of the Commonwealth: 2026 Ballot Question 7
• Marblehead Current: Nine questions, one ballot (Oct. 14, 2026)
• Marblehead Independent: Marblehead voters to fill open congressional seat, weigh 10 ballot questions

New England This Morning — November 2, 2026

Not for nuthin'…. But….. Monday came in with the sun out and the mercury climbing. After a frosty week up north, it's shaping up to feel more like late September than November, with highs in the mid 60s from the harbor to the valleys. Here's how four corners of New England looked around 7:30 this Monday morning.

Marblehead Harbor (BYC Oceanfront) — The sun is up over the far shore, laying a gold streak across a calm, rippled harbor, with a few thin wisps in a blue sky and the moorings mostly empty now. Mostly sunny today with a high near 66 and a southwest breeze around 10 mph. Not bad for the second of November.

Mount Washington, NH (Observatory North View) — The lens is clear today. A light dusting of snow and rime covers the summit rocks, the northern Presidentials stand out dark and sharp, and a low gray lid of cloud hangs overhead with a bright band of light on the horizon. Partly sunny with a high in the mid 40s and west winds of 25 to 40 mph.

Mad River Valley, VT (Great Eddy Covered Bridge) — Back on the air. The old covered bridge in Waitsfield, still water reflecting the houses across the river, bare birches and the last rusty reds of the season. Mostly sunny with a high near 66.

Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH — From the top of the NEON tower, the hardwoods are bare and gray, the pines and hemlocks hold the green, and the mountains sit in browns under a pale blue sky with a band of cloud. Partly sunny with a high near 65 and light winds.

Webcam views courtesy of the Boston Yacht Club, the Mount Washington Observatory, Mad River Valley Television and NEON/PhenoCam.

MOAM Out.

Woodworking Tip of the Day: Flattening Your Sharpening Stones: Pencil Grid, Lapping Plate and How Often

Not for nuthin'…. But….. the sharpest-looking set of stones in a lot of shops is also the reason the chisels won't pare a clean shaving. Waterstones wear every time you use them, and they wear the most right in the middle. Nobody notices until the plane iron comes off the stone with a rounded edge and a back that won't lap flat. I've got a dory's worth of bevels, gains and frames to cut this winter, so I went back to the stone makers' own instructions and the Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking articles and wrote down how I keep mine flat.

Why it matters: A waterstone cuts fast because its binder lets go and keeps exposing fresh abrasive. The price is that it dishes. Shapton says it plainly: the blade hits the middle of the stone more often, so the stone goes concave, and that makes for uneven sharpening. Tom Caspar wrote in Popular Woodworking that the wear "produces an undesirable curved edge on chisels and plane irons." It's worse on the back of a blade. Lay a flat back on a hollow stone and it only touches the high ends, so lapping it there rounds it over instead of flattening it. Paul Sellers' answer to that problem is to lap backs on something that stays flat, like a diamond plate or thick glass. A sharp edge is where two faces meet, and a dished stone spoils both of them.

Oilstones vs. waterstones: Norton says its oilstones (benchstones) "typically do not require flattening with normal use" because they're hard, but after years of steady use they can dish in the spots where you bear down the most. Waterstones are the other way around: they dish easily, but they're quick to bring back. Same job, different schedule.

Materials

• Your sharpening stones, every grit (not just the coarse one)
• A soft pencil
• Water, plus a tub or a sink without a garbage disposal (DMT says the slurry is hard on disposal bearings)
• Rags and a stiff nylon brush for cleanup

Tools: pick one flattener

• Diamond lapping plate. The DMT Dia-Flat (DMT is out of Marlborough, Mass.) is 10" × 4", ground flat to ±0.0005", and comes in 120 micron for stones of 1000 grit and coarser or 95 micron for finer stones. An Atoma plate is 140x or 400x diamond on a 10 mm aluminum block, flat to ±0.04 mm (about 0.0016"). Lee Valley suggests the 400x for general truing and the 140x when you need to take off a lot fast.
• Coarse diamond stone. Lee Valley says a coarse (about 400x) metal-backed diamond plate makes a good flattener and doubles for grinding a primary bevel. There's a catch, though. DMT doesn't recommend its regular sharpening plates for lapping stones, only the ones marked Dia-Flat, and Deneb Puchalski (Fine Woodworking) warns that some diamond stones wear out of flat fast. If you use one, keep it just for lapping.
• Silicon carbide grit on glass. Lee Valley's lapping kit says to true stones with 90x or 180x and finish with 280x, on plate glass, with water as the only lubricant for waterstones. Their guide calls for glass at least 1/4" thick, supported on flat plywood or MDF so it can't flex. A plastic laminate sheet on the glass keeps the grit from dishing the glass itself. (Don't use loose grit on a steel plate for waterstones. Lee Valley says the oxides from a wet ferrous lap will ruin the stone.)
• Wet/dry sandpaper on glass or granite. It's the cheapest way in. Norton says 100 grit, Charlesworth used 180 or 240 on 1/2" float glass, and Caspar used 220 on plate glass 1/4" or thicker. Lee Valley also lists coarse aluminum oxide sheet (over 100 micron) on glass or granite. Sellers' advice for a flat granite tile is to take a straightedge to the store and pick through them until you find a flat one.
• Grooved silicon carbide flattening stone. Norton recommends one. Soak it and the waterstone, then rub them together, and the grooves carry the slurry away.
• Shapton's Diamond Glass Lapping Plate is only for stones of 500 grit (30 micron) and finer. Don't use it on coarse stones, don't put loose grit on it and don't run hot water over it.
• A good straightedge

Steps

1. Wet everything. Soak your soaking stones the way the maker says. Shapton says to give its stones 2 to 3 minutes before lapping and to let other brands soak up all the water they can hold. Set the plate or glass on something solid and flat, and splash it with water.
2. Draw a pencil grid across the whole face of the stone. Fine Woodworking, Lee Valley and Shapton all start this way. The pencil shows you what the stone is doing.
3. Lap with long figure-8 strokes. DMT says to use long, overlapping figure-8s with light to moderate pressure and the whole plate, and to finish lighter so you leave fewer scratches. Shapton's way, forward and back and then both diagonals, works just as well. Turn the stone end for end now and then. Keep it wet, and rinse the slurry out of the plate's grooves as it builds up.
4. Read the grid. The lines go first on the high spots. On a dished stone that's the ends and edges, and the middle hangs onto its lines the longest. When every line is gone, the stone is flat. Lee Valley says not to fuss if it doesn't quite reach the corners, since that's the part of the stone that matters least.
5. Check it with a straightedge. Lay it along the length, the width and both diagonals and hold the stone up to the light. If any light shows under it, go back to the plate.
6. Chamfer the edges. Caspar sands a 45° bevel on every edge of the stone "to prevent flaking." Charlesworth eased the soft edges so they wouldn't crumble. Touch them up after each flattening, since lapping leaves a sharp corner again.
7. Do every stone. The 1000, the 4000 and the 8000 all wear, just at different rates. Rinse and brush each stone before you go to the next grit so coarse grit doesn't ride along and scratch up your finish stone. If you'd rather lap stone against stone, use three and keep rotating them. Lee Valley warns that rubbing just two together can leave one concave and the other convex.
8. Clean up the flattener. DMT says to clean and dry the Dia-Flat after every use, and to scrub any diamond plate now and then with a nylon brush and a mild cleanser. Lee Valley says to wipe the swarf out of an Atoma's channels. Put a straightedge across your plate or glass once in a while too, because a flattener that isn't flat just copies its own error into every stone.

How often? More often than you'd think. Lee Valley says to lap waterstones every 3 to 5 minutes of use. Shapton says to lap every time you sharpen a blade. Charlesworth flattened his 800 after about 100 strokes of back work, and Caspar flattened his three stones before every session, which he said took a minute or so. Plenty of folks flatten at the end of each session so the stones are ready the next time. Oilstones are on a much longer clock: check them with the straightedge now and then and flatten when they show a dish. The rule is little and often. A stone that's barely off comes back in a minute, and a badly dished one costs you a lot of stone.

One for the New England shop: Charlesworth warns not to store waterstones in water if the shop freezes at night, "because the stones will shatter." Come December in an unheated Marblehead shop, my soakers come in the house or get stored dry.

MOAM's shop note: The mistake I see most is flattening the 1000 and calling it done. The finish stone dishes too, just slower, and it's the last stone that touches your edge. The second most common is the fella who flattens only when he can see the hollow. By the time you can see it, you've already rounded a few irons. Draw the grid, lap it out, knock off the edges, and keep your flattener clean and flat. A few minutes, and every stone on the bench is flat.

Sources: DMT Dia-Flat product page and DMT FAQ, Lee Valley's Atoma Diamond Plates page, Lapping Grits instructions, "Getting Started with Japanese Water Stones," "Care and Maintenance of Ceramic and Water Stones" and Sharpening by Hand guide, Shapton Diamond Glass Lapping Plate instructions and FAQ, Norton "A Guide to Waterstones" and "A Guide to Benchstones," David Charlesworth, "A User's Guide to Waterstones" (Fine Woodworking #169), Deneb Puchalski, "Flatten Waterstones with a Coarse Diamond Stone" (Fine Woodworking #224), Hendrik Varju, "Pencil and Paper" (Fine Woodworking), Tom Caspar, "Waterstones" (Popular Woodworking / American Woodworker), and Paul Sellers, "Sharpening on hollow stones."

MOAM Out.

New Real Estate Listings on the North Shore Today – Sunday, November 1

New Listings Today – North Shore 29 Towns

Not for nuthin'…. But….. it was a quiet Saturday on the North Shore, with 4 new listings hitting the market in the last 24 hours.

Towns: Peabody, Georgetown, Salem and Lynn added 1 each.

By property type: Residential Lease (rentals) 2 · Residential 1 · Commercial Sale 1.

The MOAM's take: weekends after Halloween are usually slow for new listings, so the folks listing now get a little less competition for eyeballs. Expect the pace to pick back up midweek.

Contact Nanepashemet to view these.
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services
Call or text 781-727-6516
jnestor@nanepashemet.com

MOAM Out.

Listing data courtesy of MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN); listings shown are held by various brokerages. Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, MA Broker Lic. 136995-RE-B.

Boston Sports Morning Report — Sunday, Nov. 1

Not for nuthin'…. But….. what a way to finish Halloween on Causeway Street. The Bruins were down 4-2 to Chicago in the third, Mason Lohrei got one back, Morgan Geekie tied it with 12 seconds left, and Elias Lindholm won it in overtime, 5-4. Five straight wins at home. Hope everybody enjoyed that extra hour of sleep, because it's a big Sunday.

Short version: the Celts are in Orlando at 3:30, the Pats are in Miami at 4:25, the B's are back Monday night against Vegas, and the Sox are still in hot-stove mode.

Boston Bruins

• Yesterday: W 5-4 (OT) vs Chicago Blackhawks (Pastrnak, Mittelstadt, Lohrei and Geekie scored in regulation, Lindholm in OT; McAvoy 2 assists, Peterka 2 assists)
• Today: No game
• Next: Mon., Nov. 2, 7:00 PM ET, vs Vegas Golden Knights (home, NESN)
• Standings: 10-4-1, 21 points, 1st in the Atlantic (1 point up on Montreal), No. 2 in the East, 3 points behind Carolina (11-2-2, 24 points)

Two goals down in the third and they never quit. That's the kind of win that builds a season. Vegas will be a tougher test Monday.

Boston Celtics

• Yesterday: No game (last game: W 125-111 vs Chicago on Fri., Oct. 30)
• Today: Sun., Nov. 1, 3:30 PM ET, @ Orlando Magic
• Next: Mon., Nov. 2, 8:30 PM ET, @ Houston Rockets
• Standings: 4-1, 2nd in the Atlantic, 1 game behind Philadelphia (6-1), No. 3 in the East

Four straight wins coming in, and Orlando is 2-3. Then it's right on to Houston for the back end of a back-to-back.

New England Patriots

• Yesterday: No game (last game: L 30-24 @ Chicago on Thu., Oct. 22)
• Today: Sun., Nov. 1, 4:25 PM ET, @ Miami Dolphins (CBS)
• Next: Sun., Nov. 8, 4:25 PM ET, vs Green Bay Packers (home, FOX)
• Standings: 4-3, 2nd in the AFC East, 1.5 games behind Buffalo (5-1), No. 8 in the AFC

Miami is 1-5 and the Pats have had ten days of rest. This is one you have to win if you want to keep pace with Buffalo.

Boston Red Sox

• Yesterday / Today: No games, offseason
• Next: 2027 Opening Day is Thu., March 25, @ Seattle Mariners (time TBA); home opener Thu., April 1, vs Cincinnati
• Final standings: 87-75, 3rd in the AL East, swept by the Yankees in the AL Wild Card round

Quiet on Jersey Street. Spring training's under four months away.

That's the Sunday board. Celts at 3:30, Pats at 4:25, so plan the afternoon accordingly.

MOAM Out.

New England This Morning — November 1, 2026

Not for nuthin'…. But….. Happy November, New England, and welcome back to standard time. We all got an extra hour this morning, and the sun used it well, coming up bright over a glassy Marblehead Harbor. Sunny skies from the coast to the mountains today, unless you're the camera on top of Mount Washington. Here's how three corners of New England looked around 7:30 this Sunday morning.

Marblehead Harbor (BYC Oceanfront) — A big sunburst over the far shore throws a gold streak across calm water, with a clear blue sky, a scattering of empty moorings and a sloop tied up at the float. Sunny today with a high near 56 and a light west wind around 8 mph. About as nice a first of November as you can ask for.

Mount Washington, NH (Observatory North View) — Iced over again. The lens is wearing a thick coat of rime, so the view is all frost and no mountain. Sunny up top today, but the high is only about 35 with northwest winds of 30 to 45 mph and gusts to 55, and it gets windier tonight with gusts near 70.

Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH — From the top of the NEON tower, the hardwoods are bare and silver, the pines and hemlocks hold the green, and the mountains stand out sharp in rusty browns under a clear, pale blue sky. Sunny with a high near 54 and hardly a breath of wind.

The Mad River Valley covered bridge cam sat this one out again.

Webcam views courtesy of the Boston Yacht Club, the Mount Washington Observatory and NEON/PhenoCam.

MOAM Out.

Woodworking Tip of the Day: Oil Finishes: Linseed, Tung or Danish Oil, and Disposing of Oily Rags Safely

Not for nuthin'…. But….. it's Halloween, and the scariest thing in most shops tonight isn't a costume. It's a wad of oily rags balled up in the trash barrel in the corner. Before we get to that, let's straighten out what's actually in those cans of "linseed," "tung" and "Danish" oil, because the labels sure won't tell you. I've got thwarts, a tiller and a rack of tool handles waiting on the dory, so I went back to the makers' own directions and Bob Flexner's finishing work and wrote it all down.

Why it matters: An oil finish is about the easiest finish there is: wipe it on, wipe it off, and it brings the grain up warm. But it only cures right if you take off every bit of the excess, and every rag you used is a fire waiting to happen until you deal with it. NFPA counts an average of about 900 home fires a year started by oily rags.

What's really in the can

• Raw linseed oil is straight flax oil with no driers. It takes weeks to cure. Flexner says he knows of no interior use for it, and I'd leave it on the shelf for furniture and trim.
• Boiled linseed oil (BLO) isn't boiled. It's linseed oil with metallic driers, so it cures in about a day once the excess is off. Klean-Strip says to let it soak in 10 minutes, wipe off all the surface film, and figure up to 16 hours to tack-free and several days to fully cure. Good on tool handles, mallets and shop jigs.
• Pure tung oil gives you the best water resistance you'll get from a straight oil, but it's slow. Waterlox says to thin it about 1:1 for most work, let each coat soak in for up to 45 minutes, and keep re-wetting until it sits on top. Then wipe off all the excess and give it 7 to 14 days to dry and up to 30 days to fully cure. Flexner figures five to seven coats, with two to three days between them and a light sanding after every coat.
• "Danish oil" and most "tung oil finish" products are oil/varnish blends. Flexner lists Watco Danish Oil and Minwax Tung Oil Finish as blends, and some other "tung oil" products (Formby's, for one) as thinned wiping varnish. A blend gives you a little more protection than plain oil and is just as easy to wipe on. One more curveball: Tried & True calls its straight polymerized linseed oil "Danish Oil." Read the ingredients, not the name.

Where oil belongs in a boat shop: interior trim, thwarts and seats on a boat that lives under cover, tool handles, bench tops and cabinets. Oil alone isn't exterior brightwork. It darkens in the sun and needs regular maintenance coats, and Watco, Minwax Tung Oil Finish and Tried & True are all labeled for interior use. For brightwork that lives out in the salt air, oil is a maintenance plan, not a finish. (If you want a film that builds, that's the wiping varnish from the Oct. 19 tip.)

Materials

• Your oil: BLO, pure tung (plus mineral spirits or citrus solvent to thin it), or an oil/varnish blend like Watco Danish Oil
• A pile of clean, lint-free cotton rags (old T-shirts work)
• 0000 steel wool or 220-grit paper for between coats
• An old metal paint can with a tight lid, water and a squirt of dish detergent
• Nitrile gloves

Tools

• Cheap natural-bristle brush or a folded rag for flooding it on
• Random-orbit sander or a sanding block for prep
• A clear spot outdoors, away from the building, plus a few rocks or scrap blocks to weigh rags down

Steps

1. Read the can first. If mineral spirits or petroleum distillate is on the ingredient list, it isn't pure oil. If you're not sure, do Flexner's puddle test: half a teaspoon on a piece of glass, then wait 24 hours to a couple of days. Smooth and hard means wiping varnish. Soft and wrinkled means an oil/varnish blend.
2. Prep bare wood. Get every old finish off, sand smooth (Watco's sheet runs 120, 150, 180, 220), and vacuum or wipe off all the dust. Oil goes on bare wood only, because it has to soak in to cure.
3. Flood it on. Use a brush or rag and lay it on heavy, adding more wherever it soaks right in. End grain will drink it.
4. Let it soak, on the label's clock. Watco Danish Oil: 30 minutes, then wet it again and give it 15 more. Minwax Tung Oil Finish: 5 to 10 minutes. BLO: about 10 minutes. Pure tung: up to 45 minutes, re-wetting the dry spots until the oil just sits there.
5. Wipe off ALL the excess. Use clean, dry rags, with the grain, until the surface feels dry. Then change rags and do it again. Anything you leave on top cures soft and gummy. This is the step that makes or breaks an oil finish.
6. Come back for the bleed-back. Open-grained wood like oak and mahogany pushes oil back out of the pores. Check it over the next hour or so and wipe off any shiny beads. On pure tung, keep a rag handy for the first couple of weeks.
7. Let it cure. Watco says it's ready for light use in 8 to 10 hours. Minwax says 24 hours between coats. BLO, overnight at least. Pure tung takes days. Cold shops are slower, and Watco wants 60 to 90°F.
8. Scuff and recoat. Knock down the raised grain with 0000 steel wool or 220, wipe off the dust, and repeat. Two or three coats of BLO or a blend (Minwax says two), and five to seven for pure tung. Going over it with varnish? Watco says to wait 72 hours first.
9. Deal with the rags right then and there. See below. Not after supper.

The rags. Read this part twice. Linseed and tung oil cure by soaking up oxygen, and that reaction gives off heat. Spread out flat, the heat just drifts away. Wad it up in a pile or a trash bag and the heat builds until the rag lights itself, hours later, after you've shut the lights off and gone in the house. NFPA and the Massachusetts fire officials say:

• Never leave oily rags in a pile, a box or the trash.
• Option A: Hang them or spread them flat outdoors in a single layer, weighed down so they don't blow around, away from buildings, until they're completely dry and stiff. Klean-Strip says at least 24 hours above 40°F for BLO rags, and Waterlox figures 7 to 15 days for pure tung.
• Option B: Put them in a metal can with a tight lid (an old paint can is perfect), cover them completely with water and a little detergent, and keep the can somewhere cool and out of the sun. Watco's safety sheet says to put soaked rags straight into a sealed, water-filled metal container.
• Either way, the can of rags goes to your town's household hazardous waste collection, not the barrel. Check with your town for the date.
• The same goes for steel wool, paper towels, brushes and your shop apron if it got soaked.

MOAM's shop note: The mistake I see most is the "one more coat for good measure" fella who floods it on and walks away. Oil isn't varnish. It doesn't build, and whatever's left on top turns into a sticky, wrinkled mess that you'll be scraping off in a week. Wipe it like you're trying to take it all back off. The wood keeps what it needs.

Sources: Watco Danish Oil technical data sheet and Rust-Oleum safety data sheet, Minwax Tung Oil Finish directions, Klean-Strip boiled linseed oil guidance, Waterlox 100% Pure Tung Oil application guide, Tried & True product directions, Bob Flexner, "Oil Finishes: Their History and Use" (Popular Woodworking), Hendrik Varju, "The Confusion Over Wipe-On Finishes" (Fine Woodworking #207), Power & Motoryacht, "Varnishes, Oils, and a Little Heresy," NFPA "Oily Rags" safety tip sheet, and Mass.gov, "Disposing of oily rags."

MOAM Out.

New Real Estate Listings on the North Shore Today – Saturday, October 31

New Listings Today – North Shore 29 Towns

Not for nuthin'…. But….. 18 new listings hit the North Shore market in the last 24 hours, with Topsfield and Lynn tied at the top.

Top towns: Topsfield and Lynn with 3 each, then Amesbury and Newburyport with 2 apiece. Gloucester, Rowley, Swampscott, Marblehead, West Newbury, Salem, Peabody and Danvers added 1 each.

By property type: Residential 10 · Residential Lease (rentals) 5 · Land 1 · Commercial Sale 1 · Residential Income (multi-family) 1.

The MOAM's take: three new ones in little Topsfield is a busy day for that town, and the Merrimack Valley end (Amesbury, Newburyport, West Newbury, Rowley) put up 6 between them. Happy Halloween, everybody.

Contact Nanepashemet to view these.
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services
Call or text 781-727-6516
jnestor@nanepashemet.com

MOAM Out.

Listing data courtesy of MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN); listings shown are held by various brokerages. Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, MA Broker Lic. 136995-RE-B.

Boston Sports Morning Report — Saturday, Oct. 31

 

Not for nuthin'…. But….. no tricks at the Garden last night, just a treat. Payton Pritchard poured in 30 and the Celtics ran past the Bulls 125-111 in the NBA Cup opener for both teams. That's four straight for the Celts. Happy Halloween, everybody. Grab the coffee and a fun-size Snickers, here's the Saturday board.

Short version: the B's host the Blackhawks this afternoon at 1, the Celts are in Orlando Sunday at 3:30, the Pats are in Miami Sunday at 4:25, and the Sox are still in hot-stove mode.

Boston Celtics

• Yesterday: W 125-111 vs Chicago Bulls (NBA Cup group play; Pritchard 30 points, Paul George 8 assists)
• Today: No game
• Next: Sun., Nov. 1, 3:30 PM ET, @ Orlando Magic
• Standings: 4-1, 2nd in the Atlantic, a half game behind Philadelphia (5-1), No. 3 in the East

Two wins over Chicago in five days, and the Cup run is off on the right foot. Orlando comes in 2-3, then it's on to Houston Monday night.

Boston Bruins

• Yesterday: No game (last game: L 4-1 @ St. Louis on Thu., Oct. 29)
• Today: Sat., Oct. 31, 1:00 PM ET, vs Chicago Blackhawks (home, NESN)
• Next: Mon., Nov. 2, 7:00 PM ET, vs Vegas Golden Knights (home, NESN)
• Standings: 9-4-1, 19 points, 1st in the Atlantic (1 point up on Montreal and Florida), No. 2 in the East, 5 points behind Carolina (11-2-2, 24 points)

Two straight losses on the road, so a Halloween matinee back on Causeway Street is just what the doctor ordered. Chicago comes in 4-9. Get the two points and get the kids home in time for trick-or-treating.

New England Patriots

• Yesterday / Today: No games (last game: L 30-24 @ Chicago on Thu., Oct. 22)
• Next: Sun., Nov. 1, 4:25 PM ET, @ Miami Dolphins (CBS)
• Standings: 4-3, 2nd in the AFC East, 1.5 games behind Buffalo (5-1), No. 8 in the AFC

Miami is 1-5, and the Pats are coming off ten days of rest. No excuses. And remember, clocks fall back tonight, so that's an extra hour of sleep before kickoff.

Boston Red Sox

• Yesterday / Today: No games, offseason
• Next: 2027 Opening Day is Thu., March 25, @ Seattle Mariners (time TBA); home opener Thu., April 1, vs Cincinnati
• Final standings: 87-75, 3rd in the AL East, swept by the Yankees in the AL Wild Card round

Nothing on the field till spring. The hot stove's warming up, so let's see what the front office has up its sleeve.

That's the Saturday board. B's this afternoon, then a big Sunday with the Celts and the Pats. Stay safe out there tonight and save me a Reese's.

MOAM Out.

New England This Morning — October 31, 2026

Not for nuthin'…. But….. Happy Halloween, New England. The scariest thing on the cams this morning isn't a pumpkin, it's the Mount Washington lens. Down here the sun came up gold over a glassy harbor and we're headed for a crisp 53. Up on the Rockpile it's 24 degrees with wind chills near 7 below. Here's how three corners of New England looked around 7:30 this Saturday morning.

Marblehead Harbor (BYC Oceanfront) — The sun is just up over the far shore, laying a gold streak across calm blue water under a clear sky, with most of the moorings empty now and one white skiff tied at the float. Sunny today with a high near 53 and a northwest breeze gusting into the mid-20s. Good trick-or-treat weather, bring a jacket.

Mount Washington, NH (Observatory North View) — Nothing but a crust of rime ice plastered over the camera glass. Mostly sunny up top, but the high is only about 24, wind chills dip as low as 7 below, and the northwest wind is blowing 30 to 60 mph with gusts to 75. The view is out there somewhere behind the ice.

Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH — From the top of the NEON tower, the hardwoods are bare and silver, the pines and hemlocks are holding the green, and the mountains roll off in rusty browns under a heavy gray-and-white sky that's starting to break. Mostly sunny later with a high near 44 and a light breeze.

The Mad River Valley covered bridge cam sat this one out again.

Webcam views courtesy of the Boston Yacht Club, the Mount Washington Observatory and NEON/PhenoCam.

MOAM Out.