New England's Narrow Road

Don’t You Just Love the Snow?

Every time I mention that I moved to the north FROM Florida, people give me an incredulous look. You did what?

Well, it wouldn’t help to try to explain my reasons – Florida is paradise in their eyes. So I just let them think there is something wrong with my way of thinking.

Back in the winter of 2010, when I was renting a duplex, I had a mailbox attached to a tree by the driveway. To make the place feel more homey I attached two red, velvety ribbons to each side. When the snow fell, this is what it looked like. I went out to shovel and saw how pretty it looked and went back to get my camera. I ended up taking a lot of winter photos that year of the lake and the Girl Scout Camp, but this one is one of my favorite.

My photos bring back bittersweet memories. I hated renting, but my landlady was a good friend to me. I never felt settled, even after three years there, but I loved the area with all it’s nature to enjoy.

Each time I see this new address postcard I wonder if the people who buy it are moving to the north and snow, or away from it.

I decided to add the blue text for this post, but I suppose I could make a humorous card like that too!

Dreary November

I usually begin a post with one of my personal pictures, but this time of year never gives me much reason to take any. This leafless tree is the closest I can come.

This is the brown, dead, cold season. No snow to cover the ugliness. The dead leaves from the entire neighborhood seem to keep blowing down into my yard, but at least they cover the non-grassy lawn I have.
The sun seems to barely come up and doesn’t make it above the treeline the entire day. It’s gone by around 4:30 now so the days are quite short.

I haven’t started my wood stove yet just because I’ve been too lazy. I am not the one who is cold and I like to save the wood for emergencies like ice storms, but I will be burning as soon as the temps drop more than they have.

In fact this weekend and into next week we will get a warm up. I hear we will have 50’s! So on drags the gloomy month of November and probably December will bring some snow to at least give us something pretty to look at.

Getting Ready To Do Holiday Decorating

Christmas ornament cookie — A cookie that lasts.

I’ve stayed in denial, but now that Thanksgiving has passed it’s no use. Christmas scenes are in the yards, lights are twinkling and commercials are in full swing. (I especially love the car commercials – talk about fantasy land.) My sister has even given me gifts to put under the tree which is not up yet.

Never Send Cookies in the Mail

chocolate chip cookies — Homemade cookies!

I usually start my blogging with a photo. I take lots of pictures of all kinds of things and I came across this cookie photo which reminded me of how I had this great idea to send cookies to my son last year.

He lives in Florida and his family (us) all moved north and left him. So I feel guilty and last year I got this idea that I would give him a taste of home – a blast from the past – and send a box of my chocolate chip cookies. He would love that!

I am tired of cooking and baking. I really don’t enjoy it much these days and would prefer to have my own personal chef whip up something and serve it to me. Comes from all those years of BEING the personal chef to everyone else I guess. But the cookie recipe is from my old Betty Crocker cookbook and it makes a ton of cookies. There would be plenty to keep for ourselves too. I always like the idea of killing two birds with one stone.

So I made the cookies, found a box and began packing them up. I put 2 cookies together in a baggie, then layered all the baggies between packing paper – the kind with air bubbles that pop if you step on them. I needed a bigger box. I kept bagging and layering and filled a big box and as I was doing it I thought that Nick had better LOVE this gift. It was a pain in the neck.

So between the baking, cleaning up, finding a big enough box, packing it, addressing it and taking it to the Post Office and paying to ship it, I learned a valuable lesson.

Do not ever do that again.