Life – Page 12 – New England's Narrow Road

Pretty Floral Bouquet in Pink and Green

I love flowers but this is the beginning of the flowerless season, unless you count all the Poinsettias and Christmas Cactus. I don’t know if I will have any Poinsettias this year because of “Mayhem” my new cat. I don’t want her to eat them and get poisoned. Her real name is Skittle, but that is too cute. I have renamed her May (short for Mayhem) because she is a terror.

Anyway, I usually pass right by the grocery store flower shop and consider buying cut flowers and little plants an additional and unnecessary expense on top of the huge amounts I pay for food. But, something recently made me think differently and I bought two small bundles of flowers this past week. I came across a couple of my favorite little vases (yes, I’m still unpacking) and knew they needed to hold bouquets.

The little white pitcher with tiny blue painted flowers was purchased years ago at a yard sale and I used to have it in my beautiful Florida bathroom. I knew I had to use it once again after years of not having a place for it and my small drab bathroom needed some color – so there you go. I think the pink flower is a Gerbera Daisy and the green one is a Spider Mum, but I’m not sure. The rest of the bouquets were put into a pottery vase on my kitchen table.

If having flowers in the house makes you happy, splurge once in a while and brighten your winter days.

Pink, green and bronze flowers in a vase — Daisy and Mum Bouquet

House With A View

Just up the road from where I live, I discovered this great view. There are several houses at the top of the hill, but one is located in the open and can clearly see these hills year round. They don’t have much of a yard as it is steeply sloping – like most of our yards in this neighborhood, but who would care with this mountain view!

View from the top of a hill — Just Up the Hill - This View!

I only recently discovered that I do live higher up than I thought. I had just never walked into this particular section of the neighborhood.

Now that most of the leaves are gone from the trees, I am able to see things that I never knew were there. Homes that were built back in the woods have lost their privacy for winter and I imagine that some people welcome the season for the long distance views from their porches and picture windows that were blocked by foliage all summer.

What would be your choice – living up high with a view, or on the water?

Skimpy Halloween Decorations, But I’ve Got Candy!

Halloween candle holders in the window — Skimpy Halloween Decor

Even before the two feet of snow fell, my Halloween decorations had been partially removed. This was because of the renovations on the outside of my house. Now that the windows have been installed there is a nice little ledge for my three Halloween candle holders to sit upon. Besides the buried pumpkin and partially snow-covered ghost out at the end of the driveway, and a plug-in Jack O’Lantern inside the mud room, that is all I have up for decorations.

I was excited to do Halloween this year because I live in an actual neighborhood and figured that kids would be coming to collect some goodies. My own son will be visiting with friends in our old neighborhood and he is a bit too old to trick or treat, so I decided I would drop him off and then go home and watch for kids to come and get their candy.

Now there is snow which brings ice from the warming and melting during the day, and tonight on Halloween I’m afraid my driveway will be challenging so I’ll have to put out some sand. But my front lights are not up yet so there won’t be any lights to put on except for my big pumpkin sitting in the window of the mudroom. I honestly don’t know what to expect. I’ve asked a couple of the neighbor kids (who came to help me shovel yesterday) and they said there really aren’t that many kids around.

Our town has power, so the plans have not changed, like so many have had to do to the south of us. So tonight will be a new adventure in the new neighborhood and I’ll see what Halloween is like around here. I hope the kids come by, because I’ve got some treats for them!

Packing and Selling and Downsizing – Again

In 2005 I did a big move from Florida to New Hampshire. That was not fun. In 2007 I moved out of my nice house into a rental in Hopkinton. (Long, unhappy story) It was the beginning of my life as a renter again after 25 years of owning my own home. In 2008 I moved to a 3-story condo in Bennington – well almost. Almost all my things were moved into it, but then it flooded, from the top floor down, when a bathroom sprung a leak. It was unlivable and this was one week before I was to live there.

The property manager who was renting the place to me found me another temporary place (a small camp-type house with a composting toilet) where we lived for one month, but realizing that the water damage would take a long time to fix, I decided not to wait and ultimately found the duplex to rent where I have lived for the past three years.
Now I am moving into a home of my own and this move is a very happy one for me, but there is so much to take care of and lots more downsizing to do. My wood stove that sits in the basement here won’t fit in the small fireplace of my new place so I have to sell it.

I put up flyers in town, but truthfully I don’t think anyone wants to even think about winter and wood stoves at this time of year, so I have my doubts about selling it.

** The guy from the Heat is On stove shop was suppose to take my stove and put it up for consignment. He came by my house but didn’t have the right vehicle to take the stove. He and his friend left to get a van – and NEVER RETURNED. They didn’t even call to tell me they had decided not to take it – nothing! So he has lost a customer. And I love to support the “little guy” and small business, but I will not be buying my next stove from him.

I have to go pack.