Merry Christmas!

Finding Christmas

Last weekend I found the Christmas spirit that I was missing.

This is how I found it.

On Saturday morning,

we went to Bolton Spring Farm to pick out our Christmas tree.

While my three men were picking through the options,

(this is a very important decision, you know)

I had a cup of hot apple cider in the sun.

Wow, I realize that you can actually see my eyes behind

these shades. I need to get a new pair to hide behind.

I also checked out the roping.

Beautiful!

I want it all, to wrap around everything inside and outside the house.

It smells and looks sooo good.

But I don't think we're getting any this year.

Didn't stop me from taking deep breaths of their fresh pine:y scent though.

My men decided on a beautiful Fraser Fir tree,

A lot shorter, and more appropriately sized this year.

We took it home, set it up, and turned on the Christmas music.

We had more hot cider and some warm cider donuts, and started decorating.

Strange though, after the cider and donuts where gone,

so where my little helpers?!?

I added some Christmas on top of my grandfather's old silver tray.

And added some more "tablescaping" and "mantelscaping".

(Those are words I just recently learned.

For all of you also new to these words, they basically mean

to tastefully accessorize and decorate tables and mantels.)

I'm not showing more than what you see above

so that you may not judge me.

Hehe!

Oh, and I also decorated the wreath (doorscaping???) that my husband got,

with ribbon and owls so that when UPS and FedEx delivers boxes,

they have something peaceful to look at

before they meet my Security and Customs representative.

My Boston Terror, Mr Sanders.

Then I had to go in to Boston to help out at the annual Swedish Yuletide.

On my way there,

I passed by Christmas Carolers singing beautifully on Newbury Street.

Wow, now THAT gave a spirit boost.

I had a big Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks

and shopped a bit at Cartier.

Not really, I am on the chubby side, while my wallet isn't,

so that was just in my imagination.

Outside the Prudential, I saw the biggest Christmas tree ornament EVER.

No pictures from the Yuletide, I was too busy working,

but on the way home I walked through Boston Common and saw its Christmas tree.

So I'll show you that instead.

And lastly, I watched people skating on Frog Pond

to the sound of Christmas tunes.

At the end of this day, I had found Christmas.

Good thing, cause it's really getting close now.

Down Rt. 117

I woke up to a foggy Sunday morning,

grabbed my camera and went for a short ride eastward, down Rt. 117 .

Lower Village Cemetery in Stow

St. Bridget's Cemetary, Maynard

St. Bridget's Cemetery, Maynard.

I love the stone wall and the dried leaves that bring out the brown tones in the stones.

Frost tipped grass.

A flock of wild turkeys on a field next to the side of the road in Sudbury.

I wanted to get closer but wasn't brave enough.

An old pickup truck in the field by the intersection of 117 and Sudbury Road.

For years I've been wanting to stop to take a picture.

Lee's Bridge by Sudbury River.

Sudbury River

Private? road just after Lee's Bridge.

Farmer's equipment at Drumlin Farm.

At this point I had to turn around and pick up some bagels

for my family at home.

The early morning was magical.

Even though I was on a major route, it was nice and quiet.

I like how the fog adds a little mystique

and how things in the distance appear colorless.

I wish it was foggy more often.

I don't know about you guys, but even as I found nature to be magical that morning, I have a difficult time finding Christmas spirit without the snow.

Today I made an effort to start making it feel like Christmas is approaching, at least inside the house. I guess I hadn't done much of that. It helped a bit. But I still want snow.

What are you guys doing to get in the mood?

Do you need snow?

Thanksgiving

The turkey is in the oven.

All the sides are prepared as far as they can be.

Keeping it simple this year (Demanding puppy on hands, remember?),

only the traditional must-haves.

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato-marshmallow casserole,

corn, cranberries, rolls and butter, apple cider and wine.

Pecan pie and cherry pie with vanilla ice cream.

Did I forget anything?

Oh, gosh, I'm making myself nervous.

Did I?

Doesn't seem like much this year.

The table is set.

We are thankful for most everything.

And, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Which means...

It's about time for a much appropriate Cape Codder.

2 oz vodka

4 oz cranberry juice

splash of lime

lots of ice

Finished it off with a slice of lime and cranberries on a rosemary sprig.

(My, those cranberries look more like kalamata olives, but they are not!)

Cheers and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple Country

Things have quieted down here in apple country.

The apple picking season has come to an end.

The lines of cars rolling in on weekend mornings are no longer here.

The crowds of visiting apple pickers, that add a bit of

temporary caos during apple season,

are done picking.

So when I went for a walk

(with permission) on the beautiful hills of

Bolton Spring Farm, I was completely alone.

The walk was very quiet and meditative,

the air was filled with a sweet aroma.

An aroma of apples past its prime that intensified

each time I accidentally stepped on one.

It's a strange, deserted feeling walking alone in the orchard.

Like the feeling you get when you go to the beach on a winter day.

It's the contrast between the noisy and lively, and the quiet, almost sleepy,

that appear so vividly.

I found the quiet and deserted orchard so beautiful,

and the view from the top of the hill was amazing.

I had such a nice, quiet and reflective walk.

Although the PYO* has ended,

there is still plenty for sale at Bolton Spring's farm store.

* PYO = pick your own. Americans looove time saving abbreviations.

Last night I decided to use up some apples by roasting them.

I made paninis with local Nashoba Brooks Bakery's 7 Grain Bread.

I layered roasted apples, brie, walnuts and a little honey

between the slices of bread.

-Yum!

I served the paninis with French onion soup, made with local beer instead of wine.

It tasted very fall:y.

Before I sign out, I also wanted to show,

especially to the locals, what I found

right next to Bolton Spring Farm.

A 1.2 mile path that leads to a lime quarry.

I can't believe that I have driven past this sign for 10 years without noticing it.

That is now on my list of things we can do on a weekend with our family.

I wonder what the quarry looks like...

Last, but not least...

A picture of our puppy Sanders.

As most of you guessed, he is a Boston Terrier.

Right now, our household is upside down

while we are trying to figure out how not to let this little life,

run our lives.

Mostly Maple

The Maple must be one of the most photographed trees in the fall.

It goes through such beautiful change.

A display of color ranging from light greens to yellows,

oranges and the deepest of reds.

This fall, here in New England,

we got to see the trees fully dressed with green leaves

-and covered in snow.

At the same time!

Their branches were not strong enough

to hold the weight of the heavy snow that their grand leaves caught.

As you can see from the left picture below,

the Maples turned to "weeping" Maples.

Many deciduous trees lost branches in the October snow storm.

Some trees even split in half.

(100s of thousands lost their power due to trees falling on to power lines.)

We have a Norwegian Maple in our front yard

that my husband planted about five years ago.

Several times during the snow storm,

we went outside to shake the branches off.

Our work paid off.

I am happy to say that the Maple didn't loose a single limb.

And neither did our beautiful birch.

Phew!

Also during that crazy October weather weekend,

my husband left the house early one morning

and came back with a puppy.

My question to you is...

Can you guess what kind of puppy dog we now are happy (and tired) owners to?

One hint, the bread has a New England city as part of its name.

Happy Halloween?

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Finally, Halloween!

The kids have been so excited and the waiting has been long.

It's the same thing every year, you think you've got it down.

You decorate your yard, buy your pumpkins, and carve your pumpkins.

You watch scary movies.

And you go from store to store to find the perfect(?)

Halloween costumes and scary masks.

You load up on Halloween candy to make sure yo don't run out.

You make scary treats, mostly sweet.

You decorate the house, inside and out with all that scary stuff.

That's what you do.

And we had done all that.

We were sooooo ready.

And then...(the sound of a record being scratched)

This happens.

A major snow storm (IN OCTOBER!!!).

The storm brought down lots of trees and power lines in our little town.

And most other areas in New England too, for that matter.

I heard reports of snow totals up to 32 inches (not here).

They cancelled school today, and tomorrow too.

It felt more like Merry Christmas than Happy Halloween with all the snow.

Then today, on Halloween,

we get a phone call from the town saying that Halloween is cancelled.

You said what???

You cancelled Halloween?

You can do that?

Not me, not us.

Our street never lost power.

The boys and I went "trick or treating" anyways

and did end up having ourselves a very Happy Halloween.