SNOW DAY

We had an amazing snow storm yesterday.  The weather forecast had said one to two inches.  It started yesterday morning and didn't end until about midnight.  I think there is a total of eight inches.  We hardly ever get a decent snowfall here in coastal Delaware, so this was amazing, especially since we already had snow once last month.

I do enjoy snow -- not that I am out skiing, skating or snowmobiling -- I just like the white crispness of it and to sit in front of a fire (or not), read a good book, watch the old black and white movies I love, and just "veg out."

I have a new next door neighbor who is about my age (64) I think.  She is a little odd -- I may have written about her here before.  She seems to enjoy trimming my trees without my permission.  Strange.  Anyway, this morning I noticed that by 8 a.m. she had her entire driveway shoveled, right down to the blacktop.  Yes, she did it herself.  Now, why does this bother me?  Is it because I don't have the strength or endurance to do the same thing?  No, because even if I did, I wouldn't be spending my time doing that.  But, it really annoys me.  I guess it is because I basically find her annoying anyway.  She has tons of nervous energy which usually gets on my nerves, because I have NO nervous energy.  If I am nervous, it never reveals itself in energy.  I just get a stomachache and go to bed.

This leads me to my basic premise on snow days.  Snow days hark back to when the schools were closed due to snow and we sat and listened on the radio for the list of closings and when we heard ours, we were overjoyed and spent the day out sledding.  Our real estate office was closed today, churches were even closed.  I truly believe, and if you know nothing about me, know this:  when there is a Snow Day, things should stop.  People should not work, should not go to school, should not go shopping, should not shovel their snow.  They should spend this special day reading, watching television, eating junk, talking on the phone to family and friends.  That is what a Snow Day (notice I am capitalizing it) is for.  A friend commented to me on Facebook, that a Snow Day is like the cosmos gives us permission to do whatever we want.  I like that.

SUNDAY AGAIN ALREADY?

I can't believe it has been a week since I last posted here.  Where has the week gone?  I can't remember what I did all week.  Today I am cleaning.  I remember that I went to church yesterday.  I remember I went to an office meeting on Wednesday.  I remember that on Thursday I took my homemade tomato soup into the office for a little group lunch we had planned.  I remember that my husband's birthday was on Friday and I baked him cookies and cupcakes and cooked him a special dinner.  Beyond that, nothing.  I am sure there must be a real reason why the days seem to pass so quickly the older we get.

I do know this week should be busy.  Carpet cleaners are being coming on Tuesday (I am using a gift certificate that my husband won at a fundraiser), office meeting on Wednesday, my sister is coming on Thursday (YAY!) for the weekend and Thursday night I am hosting a Girls Night Out Silpada Jewelry Party.  I used to sell Silpada, but no longer do.  I hosted a party last year, too, which was fun.  I will serve my white chicken chili again with cornbread and brownies.

For those of you who remember my issue with my old cat Violette -- she is still with us.  She spends most of her time in a loft storage area I have which helps a lot with all the mess she makes.  I put the cats up there over Christmas so they wouldn't be disturbed when my grandchildren and granddog were here.  After that I opened the door and the other two cats came downstairs, but Violette seems to prefer it up there.  There are lots of windows and she has her own food and water and litter boxes (which she won't use).  She joins the rest of us sometimes.  She has ruined the floors in the loft also. 

So that is the news here on Beech Drive.  I am posting a picture of the mimosa tree in our backyard to remind us that Spring will be here eventually and everything will be green like this again.  Hope you all are enjoying your day and have a great week!

THE GREAT COOKIE CAPER

As I may have mentioned in a previous post, by husband and I gave each other a beautiful candy apple red Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas.  Now, I love to cook.  I do not love to bake.  I actually have never owned a really good stand mixer.  I remember my mother's much-used mixer which, when we cleaned her house out, was probably still running after 40+ years.  My plan for this mixer was that dear husband would learn to bake, especially his dearly loved tollhouse cookies.  The reason I do not like to bake is the fact that measurements must be exact and precision is not one of my strong points.  It is, however, my husband's. 

A few nights ago, Ken was wandering around with something on his mind.  I was obviously through with the kitchen for the evening.  I had cooked dinner and I was finished.  He realized that cookie making was not on my schedule.  He had never baked anything in his life.  He was desperate.  He finally started hauling out ingredients with much sighing and grumbling.  "What are you doing, dear?" said I.  "I am making my own tollhouse cookies since you obviously aren't going to," said he.  I gave him a few brief instructions, but he was impatient so I just let him go on his own.  I giggled to myself, just knowing the end result was going to be, well,  interesting.

Never underestimate a man who is desperate for tollhouse cookies.  One note:  Ken's version of tollhouse cookies is that they have only a few chocolate chips per cookie, have raisins and are flat and chewy.  I know, I know.  I have told him numerous times that these are not tollhouse cookies, but he is adamant about this subject.

Guess what?!  Yes, the cookies were delicious.  He doubled the butter and brown sugar, mixed them BY HAND (sorry Kitchenaid) and baked them under a watchful eye for much less than the usual time.  We did not have raisins, but we did have the chips.  The cookies were flat and chewy, buttery and perfect, with 2.5 chips per cookie. 

I ate more than my share and look forward to my husband's next desperate act in the kitchen.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MOM AND DAD

Today would have been my mother and father's  66th wedding anniversary.  (Do we still count years after they are gone?)

They were married January 10, 1944 on a bitterly cold day, just like today.  They were married in Philadelphia in the church's rectory.  A friend of my father's was the minister.  He also baptized my sister and me.  During WWII soldiers often did not know when they might be called away and sometimes weddings were held without a lot of preparation and fanfare.

I have my mother's simple wedding dress which was made by my Aunt Esther and also her gold shoes.  I also have the little white prayer book she carried and her wedding ring.   I posted about their wedding once before here.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Today is the day to begin to take down the Christmas decorations.  I have often waited until later in the month, but for all my complaining about people who take them down right after Christmas, somehow today feels right.  Somehow, suddenly, the decorations seem too festive in a sad sort of way.  Like Miss Havisham in her wedding gown in Great Expectations.  I may leave some white lights outside on a little tree because I plan to add some pink ones for Easter.

I am sitting here in my home office.  You would be horrified.  Stacks and boxes of papers and things everywhere.  The office and my laundry room are both my nemesis (nemesi?).  I just can't seem to get them organized.  But on a positive note,  I can sit here and type and look out the window at the world going by in my little community.  I see the mailman just came and stuffed some more papers in my mailbox.  The man across the street out walking his dog.  The dog is a trained seeing eye dog who was used by his blind partner, but the dog is now retired and they have a new dog.  Nothing else moving out there.  Everything frozen.  Isn't January the most awful month? 

I left this post to walk my dog and now I am back.  I have a new next door neighbor who, for some reason, seems to think that she should trim my trees.  When she first moved in, I noticed her with those long handled tree cutting shears trimming the branches on one of my large maple trees.  I chalked it up to "odd,"  but today when I came back from walking Beau, there she was trimming the branches from one of my big holly trees.  I said, "You don't really have to trim MY trees."  I said it in a nice tone of voice, but really felt like yelling it at her.  "Oh, do you mind?" she responded.  She then launched into a fifteen minute dissertation on how she loves yard work and "do you like horticulture?" she asked me.  "No, not really."  And I especially don't like pushy neighbors.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

"A WOMAN WHO DOESN'T WEAR PERFUME HAS NO FUTURE." Coco Chanel

Well,I don't know how much that can be proven, but it is an interesting quote.

I was recently searching for a certain perfume called Magnolia or Eau de Val sold by L'Occitane.  They no longer sell it, but once in awhile you can find it on ebay.  I first found it in Paris when my daughter and I made that very special trip there a few years ago.  All I have to do is smell it and I am transported there. While searching online  I came across a very interesting blog for those people who love all things vintage and especially perfume.   Amelia at The Vintage Perfume Vault  has a blog wholly devoted to vintage scents.  It is fascinating.  After reading some of the posts, I began to reminisce about the first scents I remember.

The very first time I can recall being impressed by a perfume was when I was about five years old.  I was visiting my Aunt Esther in New Jersey for a few weeks.  I don't recall the reason for the visit, but I do know that my parents were not with me and neither was my younger sister who would have been a baby at the time.  There were several things memorable about this visit:  the wringer washing machine, my uncle cleaning fish he had caught in the lake on a picnic table behind the house, my aunt cutting off my long hair and giving me a perm, and my teenage cousin Joanie preparing to go out on a date with her future husband.  Those four things stick in my memory like glue.  My memory of Joanie was that she had a pink bedroom and she sat on a bench in front of a vanity and was putting on some cologne from a small bottle.  I almost remember the scent and I think it may have been an apple blossom scent.  It may have come from the local 5and 10 store. Oh, how I admired her.

My second memory of perfume was the black bottle of "Nuit de Noel" by Caron that was enclosed in a dark green box and sat on my mother's dresser for years and years.  It had been given to her by one her brothers when he returned from World War II.  I can vaguely still remember the scent.

Another vivid and favorite memory is that of the round handpainted bottle of violet cologne that sat on a shelf in my grandmother's bathroom.  I dearly loved that bottle and the smell of violet.  To this day, violets are my favorite flower and I now display that same bottle on my vanity and I have added more recent bottles of violet cologne to my collection.

Of course, there is the unforgettable "Evening in Paris" which was bought at the local 5 and 10 in Willow Grove and given to my mother at Christmas.  You can still find it at the Vermont Country Store.  I have added a few vintage bottles to my collection.

The scent of "Tweed" perfume that my mother wore when I was young is another memorable one.  I wore it out on my first date.  Recently I found it in my favorite catalog from The Vermont Country Store and ordered it.  After all these years it still smelled the same, but my taste had changed and I returned it.

Isn't it amazing that certain smells will evoke memories just as sure as if they tapped you on the shoulder?

Thank you for joining me on my little trip down memory lane!

CHRISTMAS...FINALLY!!

The preparation seems to take months, well certainly it takes weeks.  And in a flash it is over.  I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas.  Mine was wonderful.  I had my daughter and son-in-law and my two grandsons here for a few days before Christmas until they left Christmas morning to fly to Texas to visit the other grandparents and cousins.  My youngest grandson believes in Santa and it was great to see him Christmas morning when he saw what Santa brought.  The anticipation had been building for two days for both boys to open gifts.  They started trying to awaken my daughter at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning.

I burned bayberry candles from sundown until the candles burned out on Christmas Eve.  This is a tradition that I have honored since I was young and my parents did it.  "A bayberry candle burned to the socket will bring joy to the heart and gold to the pocket."  

I am wondering how many of you follow this same tradition?

Have a wonderful New Years everyone!  As my friend and fellow blogger, Lynne says, are we saying twenty-ten or two thousand and ten??

(ha, ha  - I just noticed that if you click on the picture of the candles to enlarge it, you will see my husband watching TV in the background.  I thought it was my globe that is sitting on the end table!)

WHITE CHRISTMAS????????

I am sitting here looking out the window at ........... no snow.  At least hardly any.  The entire mid-Atlantic and northeastern area of the country is seeing blizzard conditions, but here along the coast in southeastern Delaware, nothing.  It did start out with some snow during the night, high winds, then rain.  There is a dusting of snow out there, but that is it.  A few miles north and a few miles west of my house -- plenty of snow.  It will ice up tonight which should make driving treacherous.

Christmas is around the corner.  Decorating: done.  Shopping: done.  Wrapping: not done.  Baking:  not done and may not be done.  I hate to bake even though I love to cook.  I will have to make a pie for Christmas and I may make a batch of Tollhouse cookies (no chocolate chips for my husband --- yes, really).

My daughter and her husband and my grandsons will be arriving from Massachusetts on Tuesday and can stay until Christmas Day at which time they will fly out to Texas to be with his family.  Meanwhile, I will be babysitting my granddog.

Update:  We got a little more snow at dinnertime, but nothing to compare with other areas.  I found this photo in my saved photos from a few years ago.  I see I had long hair and Beau looked younger so it was probably three years ago.  Obviously, we had a decent snowfall then!

NOTE:  I have unfortunately had to utilize Comment Moderation on my blog.  I have had several weird messages left and want to edit them before they appear.  I see now that the comment moderation is not working.  Always something.

CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK

Yesterday I went with the local Realtors' group on our annual bus trip to New York City to see a play.  We saw "Jersey Boys" which was fantastic.  There was never a dull moment in the show and if you grew up with the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, this show will have you rockin' and reminiscing in your seat.  We had two bus loads of mostly women and traveled up there in the pouring rain from Delaware.  By the time we got to NY the rain was stopping and it turned out to be a mild day -- perfect for walking around the city.  A few of my friends and I almost always have the same routine when we get there (we have about two hours before the show starts):  we go to see the tree in Rockefeller Center, we go to St. Patrick's Cathedral, and we go to Saks to use the ladies room.  Saks is beautifully decorated and it always reminds me of "Sex and The City" with all the sophisticated salesgirls (and salesmen) dressed in black and offering to spray you with something lovely.  My friend pointed out a lovely sheath dress that would look stunning on someone who was a size 2 -- price no object? -- a mere $980.00!

We always eat lunch at Stage Deli, but this time we tried Carnegie Deli -- two of the few Jewish delis left in the city, I have read.  Authographed photographs of famous people covered the walls and the waiter told us Woody Allen's movie "Broadway Danny Rose" shot a scene there and he comes in there once in awhile.  I had my usual corned beef on rye which arrives, four inches high, piled with enough meat for three or four sandwiches.  The deli was small, noisy and smelled delicious.  I wish I had room for the only-in-New York cheesecake.  There is something different about it -- it is drier and higher than other cheesecakes.  I should have brought a cooler with me to bring one home!

Note:  For some reason all of the pictures I took with my cell phone turned out in black and white.  I just checked the settings and somehow they were set that way.  Don't know how that happened!  So these pictures are ones I found online.  Thank you to those people, whoever they are.   Blogger also wouldn't let me move the pictures around.  I have had that problem before -- don't know why it does that.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

THIS N' THAT

I have totally been neglecting my poor old blog.  I meant to write about my visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater," my new camera, my husband's trip south on the completed boat.  So here goes -- I will make it brief:

In early October my sister and I drove out to Pittsburgh to visit our Uncle Bud.  We had made this trip a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Nothing better than a sisters' road trip.  We so enjoy each other's company.  Uncle Bud is 86 and loves to travel and is always active.  He is one of two of our mother's only remaining siblings and he was our mother's favorite brother.  He insisted on making the reservations in advance (which you have to do) to get into Fallingwater and he drove the two hours to and from his house to Fallingwater.

Fallingwater was built in  1937 for the Kaufman family of Pittsburgh as their weekend retreat.  You probably have seen pictures of it.  If not, here is one of the house behind us.  It has to be seen to be believed.  It is built cantilevered out over a waterfall amidst deep woods.  Stone floors, rustic throughout, totally integrated with nature, extremely contemporary for its time and even for today.  Frank Lloyd Wright also designed much of the furniture in the house.  One question presented by the guide -- "Could you live here?"  My answer is a resounding "YES!"

Now my new camera:  I researched cameras for a month, going between spending a lot of money on one, or being more reasonable.  I knew the things I wanted in a camera.  My previous camera was a little Fujifilm which still works, but the USB cable connection is done for.  I had pretty much settled on a Canon, but finally ended up with another Fuji because it was more reasonable and had everything I wanted for under $200.  I am a very mediocre and inexperienced photographer, so I am happy with what I got.  Here is a picture of it.

The Great Boat Trip South:  My husband and boat partners left November 4 to take their 65 ft. trawler south via the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  This has been a four year project to totally gut and rebuild an old fishing vessel.

As you can see the photos are miniscule thanks to the downloading features of the Kodak EasyShare from which it was downloaded.  Kodak Easyshare is NOT Easy Share!

We had a huge nor'easter or as they are calling it Nor'Ida because it was the remnants of Hurricane Ida.  The beach here is totally eroded, roads were flooded -- it was a mess.

All the best to you, fellow bloggers,

Violetlady

HOLIDAY SWAP

I have joined in a Holiday Swap. Go here to read about it and join in, too. You have until November 12. I did this one year on someone's blog and it was a lot of fun.

I want to tell you about my visit to Fallingwater in Pennsylvania with my sister and uncle, but will leave that for another day.   I have a new camera which I will show you.  I haven't tried it out yet.  And the biggest news yet is that my husband and his friends are leaving tomorrow morning (if all goes well) on the big boat trip down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida (after their four year boat building project).  More on all this news to follow in a few days.

VIOLETTE CAT

This is our old lady cat, Violette.  For months now we have been having trouble with her refusing /forgetting to use the litter box.  (We now have four boxes.) We took her to the vet and after all the blood tests and exams, they determined that she was a healthy old cat, especially since she is 16 years old.  Five oriental rugs have been ruined, hardwood is smelly and I am getting ready to have wall to wall carpet torn out in a bedroom.   I now have a complete arsenal of cleaning supplies and anti-cat urine products.  I finally had reached my breaking point and made an appointment to have her put down this week.  The vet had told me that even though there is no physical reason for her habits, if she can no longer fit into our lives, then we could have her "put down."  I made the appointment, but my husband and I were so upset that morning, that I cancelled it.  I continue with the numerous puppy training pads all over the house, cleaning up constantly and now trying to limit her territory.  And no, nothing has changed in the house over the last four or more months to cause this.  I researched it online and have made my own diagnosis (with no help from the vet, thank you) that she is suffering from senility.  Yes, cats can have this when they are old.

We are trying to be patient with Violette and give her love and attention since, of course, she is not doing this on purpose.  I remember when Beau was a puppy and all the accidents he had.  The difference is that we knew he would learn to go outside.  Violette is just old.  Wish me luck.

VIEW THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD

What a beautiful weekend we had so I decided to take a little ride around the area and take a few pictures from my car window.  Since my camera hasn't been working right, I used my cell phone camera and they turned out just fine.

The first picture is of a spring along the canal.  The third picture is the unpaved driveway leading to the boatyard where my husband's boat is and the sixth picture is the boat.  The fourth picture is of a ladies entry in the annual "Punkin' Chunkin Contest" right here in Sussex County, Delaware.  It is a strange event, but people come from all over the country (maybe even the world) to participate.  People create giant machines that shoot pumpkins into the air and whoever shoots one the furthest wins.  It is very competitive and I have never attended one of these events, but it is a real big deal here.  Sussex County also has a Scrapple-Apple Festival.  Do you all know what scrapple is? 

Has anyone besides me had difficulty moving pictures around on their post?  I have been trying for two days to do this post.  Apparently Blogger has a new way of posting pictures and it won't let me move things around with any accuracy anymore.  It is a real pain.

I am leaving tomorrow for Pittsburgh with my sister.  We will be visiting an uncle who will be taking us to see Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater." I have wanted to see this for many years and am really looking forward to it.

See you next week!

SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

Cindy at My Romantic Home is hosting Show and Tell Friday.  Stop over there and take a look at her blog and also all the others who are joining in.

Since I used to do "My Favorite Things"one day a week, I am resurrecting one of my old posts for this Show and Tell.

Today I am sharing with you something that is very precious to me since it was a baby gift for me over sixty years ago. Yes, I said 6 - 0!! This sweet little dish was handmade for me by a friend of my parents. It says "This is Meryl's dish" because Meryl is my first name (after my mother).  I have never used the name Meryl - I have always gone by my middle name so you know this is old.

What astounds me are the things I have that are breakable and have survived all these years. My mother was protective of these things, as I am. I think it is a female thing: to treasure and to protect. After all, we do this with our parents, our children and with our friends. It is our most important "job" in this world.

THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX - One of two times a year when the Sun crosses the equator, and the day and night are of approximately equal length.
At the autumnal equinox (Sept 22, 2009; 5:18 P.M. EDT), the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, from north to south; this marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. (from Wikipedia)

Yes, it has been slightly cooler here in coastal Delaware, but we still have beach days into the autumn.  Actually, this is the best time of year to visit this area or for locals to hang out without the summer crowds.

It always amazes me that Fall seems to arrive on September 1.  Oh, the weather is still warm and sunny, but it is something that is just felt in the air.  The colors are suddenly more golden, the sky is a clearer blue, sometimes there is already a faint smell of woodsmoke.  Everybody comments on it.  I have had my homegrown pumpkin on the front step for a month or so.  It is the first time I have grown a pumpkin from last year's Halloween pumpkin.  He was early, but he survived.

The Fall is a busy time here in this resort area.  October brings our annual Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival.  There are main events at the local convention center (sometimes big names like Chris Botti!) and the restaurants and bars offer their own jazz groups.  The following week is the Seawitch Festival which is the Halloween celebration in Rehoboth Beach.  There are lots and lots of things for kids of all ages to do on the beach and in the town.  November brings our annual Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival .  Some people stay throughout an entire day watching movie after movie and leave bleary-eyed and tired.

Autumn is my favorite season for many reasons, but primarily because it is the season of my birthday.  I was born on Thanksgiving!

REMEMBERING

I am sure we are all remembering where we were at this time eight years ago -- actually about two hours ago.

I forget a lot of things, but there are two things I will always remember--  Where I was as I watched Katie and Matt announce on TV the crashes into the towers and then watching them fall and where I was when I heard JFK had been assasinated.  I had been getting ready to leave the house for work on 9/11/01 and watching a few last minutes of the Today Show when the announcement came on.  On 11/22/63 I was in Philadelphia walking to the train station from a class and it was my 18th birthday.

We all live in gratefulness that we have been kept safe on our own soil since September 11, 2001.  We all live in hope that our safety will continue and we bless those who continue to defend us and those who have perished.

ANOTHER MOSAIC/Things That Make Me Happy

click to enlarge

 

I have had so much trouble making these mosaics, and Cindy at My Romantic Home (see her link in my sidebar) helped me finally figure it out since the way Big Huge Labs set it up just wasn't working.  So now I am on a roll and I am posting another mosaic today.


Always,

ANIMALS IN MY LIFE MOSAIC

click to enlarge

Always,