Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
December 18, 2016
No countdown can start until the week before the event. It is a rule. That means the countdown to Christmas begins today. If I were little again, this would be momentous.
The day is damp again. It rained during the night. We are left with warmish temperatures, a bit of a wind and gray skies. I went out on the deck earlier to dump the rain puddles from the table cover. The deck got soaked so did my feet.
I’m staying home again today. I don’t mind at all. My house is cozy, and every room is bright with Christmas lights which shine so lovely on a cloudy, dark day.
We used to string popcorn for the tree. We’d sit at the table with bowls of popcorn in front of us and needles thread with thin string in our hands. They were dangerous weapons. Several times we’d prick our own fingers and break the popcorn. Yelps were common. My mother would join our strands to make one long strand of popcorn which was circled around the tree. Shauna, one of my Boxers, would eat the popcorn and drag a strand off the tree to the floor for better access. My father always chuckled. Later, when we were older, we’d string cranberries with the popcorn. They stayed on the tree.
My sister and I were talking last night about our trees. We all buy live trees every year. My family always did. My father and his sister, my Aunt Mary, had a running joke. My mother bought the tree and never told my father the actual price. He’d have been apoplectic. Instead, she’d give him an amount in the $30’s. When my aunt saw the tree, always big and magnificent, she’d ask how much it cost, and my father would tell her. She never believed him. He’d swear it. It was the truth as far as he knew.
Categories: Musings
Tags: buying the tree, Christmas, Christmas lights, countdown, cranberries, damp, decorating the tree, decorations, popcorn strands
Comments: 12 Comments
December 17, 2016
It was nearly 4 when I fell asleep. Gracie, however, had no problem as she was snoring away as soon as she hit the mattress. It snowed a bit last night, but I missed the best of it. I woke to rain. The snow is now slush, the sort where you leave deep footprints when you walk through it. Both today and tomorrow will be warm which is a good thing as the slush won’t turn to ice. I’m staying home. I’m going to turn on all the Christmas lights, watch Hallmark movies and enjoy a lazy Saturday.
My friends came to dinner last night. It was a wonderful evening. The meal was great says the cook. The conversation was funny. We just sat at the table a while after dinner. I love to do that, just sit and talk. My friend did all the clean-up which I completely appreciated as it takes a while to make the dinner, clean up as you go along then clean everything. Her doing the dishes was a gift. We then played a word game and sat in the living room so we could enjoy the tree. I had a come from behind victory. We also exchanged gifts. Usually we don’t get together for presents until after Christmas so we figured early was due. I was thrilled with my present, an Amazon Echo and a speaker. I’ll play with Alexa today. My friends too loved their presents, and my friend Claire, the dishwasher, especially loved her present from Ghana.
Woolworth’s and the annual parish Christmas fair were my go to places to buy gifts for my parents then my sisters and brother if I had any money left. My mother was the consummate actress. When she opened my gift, she always looked so excited and happy. I was thrilled that I’d found just the right gift at such a bargain, usually about 50¢. My father loved his handkerchiefs, white ones, Woolworth’s best.
My favorite of all the Christmas movies is A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sims. It hasn’t been on yet so I keep looking. I watched the old Miracle on 34th Street the other night. The book is dated 1947 the same as I am so that makes it special. The old Bishop’s Wife is another favorite. Come to think of it, even the worst of Christmas movies are favorites of mine.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Clouds, Echo, exchange gifts, games, great meal, lazy Saturday, pork, slush, snoring dog, Snow, warm, word games
Comments: 2 Comments
December 16, 2016
Outside looks lovely from the window. I see sun, a blue sky, and only a slight breeze, but all of those are deceiving. Cold, freezing cold, is today’s weather. Wear layers is what we’re being told. I’m thinking 6 or 7 layers may not be enough. It is 14˚, and today’s high will be 19˚. Tomorrow and Sunday will be warm but rainy. It could reach 60˚ on Sunday. Mother Nature is indecisive.
My house is mostly decorated. The tree could use a few more ornaments so I’ll add that to my to-do list. My fake scrub pine has a dead set of lights so I’ll have to replace it. Friends are coming to dinner. The menu is set but I need to get dessert and some cheese. I have sort of a casual flow chart on cooking the meal. We’re having pork tenderloin, honeyed carrots and baby potatoes with romano cheese.
My family calls it the Christmas bug. It all started with my grandmother, the one who had eight kids. My mother, my Aunt Bunny and my Uncle Jack were bitten. Their houses were filled with Christmas. They baked and they kept baking. They loved to shop for presents. They always chose the best gifts. Many of my cousins were also bitten, as was I and my two sisters. We love all the hoopla of Christmas and traditions teem. The gingerbread house construction started 33 years ago and has now passed to a second generation. Pinatas, too, are on a second generation. I used to fill them for my niece and two nephews, and now, their kids can’t wait for Christmas Eve and pinata whacking. Five pinatas hang from the high railing on the second floor.
When I was a kid, my mother’s kitchen always had steamed windows when she was cooking. It was a small kitchen, almost a galley kitchen. The table was by the window. It had four chairs, just enough for my parents and my brother and me. My sister was a baby in a highchair. I can still recall images of that house, one side of a duplex. The stairs had a landing where I used to sit and color or read. Upstairs was the bathroom and two bedrooms. This house had gotten too small with the birth of my sister, and we would be moving soon but only down the street. I don’t even remember moving.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 14˚, 19, blasting heat, Christmas bug, cold, duplex, furnace, gingerbread houses, layers, moving, piñatas, steamed windows, sun, table and chairs
Comments: 6 Comments
December 15, 2016
Today is a busy day. Peapod is due to arrive so I’ll have to put my groceries away, and my house will be getting cleaned this afternoon. I just have to lift my feet for the vacuum and the mop.
The Polar Vortex has appeared again. I always think it sounds like the title of a low budget scifi movie, but it isn’t. Tonight we will get down to single digits and there is a high wind warning for down here. Winds will be 25 to 35 mph with gusts between 55 and 65 mph. Bitterly cold wind chills are expected overnight. The warning also says there is a danger of power failures. If that happens, we’ll freeze to death (note: overly dramatic).
My tree is just about finished. It needs a few ornaments in the middle, in a spot with few branches, and it needs to be moved. I couldn’t move it, too heavy for me. When Lee comes to clean, I’ll have him move it to the corner then I’ll finish decorating. Last night I sat in the living room looking at my tree. It’s beautiful.
Many ornaments on the tree are memories. My mother needle-pointed my sisters and me ornaments with our initials. Mine is K for kings, the three kings. One Christmas I cross-stitched ornaments for everyone’s gift. My mother collected sheep so a few of her ornaments had sheep. I have them now. Pinocchio was bought in Florence, in a small toy shop my mother and I found. There is a stitched ornament from Hungry, a harp from Ireland my friends gave me, molas from Panama we got at the San Blas Islands, beaded ornaments from Ghana, a wooden angel also from Ghana and a small red and green Bolga basket I hang at the end of a branch so it doesn’t get lost. My mother gave us ornaments from our childhood for our trees. A few are mssing paint but most are in wonderful shape for being old. I love putting them on the tree.
My house is almost decorated. Gracie’s crate is getting some lights this year. A small plastic Santa is on the counter in the bathroom as sort of a night light. My kitchen has the pepper lights. Gracie has a holiday collar. I love festive!
Categories: Musings
Tags: busy day, cleaning, decorated dog crate, groceries, holiday collar, lights, ornaments, Peapod, plastic Santa, polar vortex, the three Kings, Tree, Wind chill
Comments: 10 Comments
December 13, 2016
Yesterday has been renamed card day. The tree is still standing in the middle of the living room waiting to be decorated, but my Christmas cards are done. I had a morning meeting earlier today, but that’s it on my dance card. The rest of the day is tree day.
It was cold last night, and it was cold this morning, but the high today should be around 41˚. I’ll be wishing for that on Thursday and Friday when the nights will be in single digits and Friday’s daytime high will be 19˚.
The Christmas day dinner was turkey when I was a kid. That turkey showed up so soon after Thanksgiving didn’t bother us. We didn’t even think about it. We all liked turkey. But when I was older, my mother would serve a roast beef, a pork roast or a spiral ham. We always had potatoes and my mother’s squash dish. The other vegetables varied. The meals were always good, but the best part was dessert. The dining room table was covered with dishes all holding sweets made by my mother and me. It was awesome, the choices almost overwhelming. I’d fill my plate with the favorites: a whoopie pie, a frosted sugar cookie, and an orange cookie. On my second trip a bit later, I’d try the new cookies. Every year there are some new cookies, surprises. Later in the evening my mother and I would have a Spanish coffee and look through our stockings again. The tree was lit and the house, except for the two of us, was quiet. It was always one of my special times with my mother.
The Hallmark movies I’m watching all have happy endings, but I’m fine with that. Christmas is a time for happy endings.
Categories: Musings
Tags: card day, cold, Hallmark movies, happy endings, single digits, sweets, tree decorating, Turkey
Comments: 12 Comments
December 12, 2016
My friend called last night and said it’s snowing, and the tips of the snow have such beautiful ice crystals you have to see them. She was so right. The ice crystals looked like white lights shining in the darkness from the deck. The rail and the deck box too were bright and shining. I watched the snow fall until I was too cold to stand any longer by the back door. This morning it’s raining. The wind was fiercely blowing when I got the papers and is still blowing, but it’s a bit subdued. It’s warmer than it has been the last few days.
My days have names. Yesterday was tree day. Today is decoration day as the trees branches have nicely fallen. I need to start hauling up my Christmas bins from the cellar. I hope to get to the boxes closer to the wall as there are some decorations I haven’t used in a while, and I like to alternate. I need to find my collection of tall, plastic, lit from the inside, Santas from the 1950’s. I also have Christmas Carol figures somewhere way in the back. I haven’t used them for the longest time. My mother used to say she had enough decorations to decorate several trees. I could say the same.
I have to shop because cookie day is coming. I need a list of ingredients and a lot of energy. My Christmas cards are still waiting. They are on the table in front of me making me feel a bit guilty that I haven’t started even though I have the cards and the stamps. There are still presents to wrap for my Cape friends, but I have all week for that.
The smell of pine is already filling the house.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas tree, couds, days with names, decorate the tree, plastic Santas, rain, smell of pine, snow crystals, tree day, Wind
Comments: 2 Comments
December 11, 2016
My tree is standing in the living room. It is fresh and a lovely dark green. When I shook it and banged it on the walkway, no needles dropped. The guy at Hart Farm, where I buy many of my flowers, pumpkins, and cider, told me it is one of the freshest of his trees. I believed him. When I ran my hand up the green on the branches, the green bounced back. This evening I’ll start decorating my beautiful tree.
The play, Mame, was wonderful yesterday. It was one of the best plays I’ve seen at the Stoneham Theater. The crowd loved it. There was laughing and lots of applause. The house was filled. Going to that theater always makes me a bit nostalgic. I spend so many Saturdays there watching the matinees when I was a kid. It is configured differently now, but when I look, I can still see the seats the way they were. The back rows were always couples making out. I used to gape at them when I was going to the bathroom. The balcony was usually empty because when it was filled it was like a war zone. Missiles of JuJu candy rained down on us from above. Al, the owner, would stand in the balcony to make sure nobody threw stuff. He wasn’t always successful. The stage is where the screen and a small stage used to be. The small stage was in the front of the screen. My mother said someone would stand on the stage when there were dishes or prizes given away. That was before my time.
Dinner was at Felicia’s, where the fish market used to be. I can’t help but remember the square of my time when I visit it now. As always the meal did not disappoint. We started with mussels in a thick red, hot sauce which was so good we had to get more Scali bread to sop it all. We both had Rustica Chicken which is linguini in an Alfredo type sauce with charred red peppers, and sausage. I topped off the meal with Sambuca coffee.
Yesterday was a wonderful start to the Christmas season. I saw a fantastic play, ate a great dinner and spent the whole day with my sister. When I drove her home, I got to see so many houses filled with lights shining in the night. I figure a ride to see the lights is coming. It is traditional!!
Categories: Musings
Tags: Alfredo sauce, Christmas tree, Felicias, filled balcony, fresh tree, JuJu missiles, linguini, Mame, movie theater, Sambuca, war zone
Comments: 6 Comments
December 10, 2016
The day is mostly cloudy with only a bit of blue. It is really cold. Last night was in the teens. Right now it’s 24˚. The weather will stay cold until Wednesday when we’ll be back to the 40’s. I’m going off Cape today to see the play Mame. My sister and I do a play then dinner every Christmas season. My mother started the tradition. One of the plays she took us to was Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy. It was superb but was the fodder for jokes about Christmas cheer and the season to be jolly. I love this tradition.
I wanted a band to greet me when I got home yesterday from my errands. The Christmas boxes are wending their way to Colorado, the trash is dumped, and the last present bought. I even stopped and picked up clam chowder for dinner. It was delicious.
Last night I made the fudge for my sister. It didn’t look right, but I put it in the fridge expecting it to harden. When I checked it later, it was soft. Around 1, before I went to bed, I checked it and it was still soft. I knew I did something wrong, a first for me with this fudge. I figured I’d make it this morning but then realized I wouldn’t have time. I made it last night. While stirring to the soft ball stage, I realized I had read the thermometer wrong on the first batch. A silly mistake! By the time I was finished making the fudge and cleaning the kitchen, it was close to 2, but I am glad I am not disappointing my sister. This batch hardened.My mother often forgot one of our presents hidden in the house. When we’d open the gifts on Christmas morning, she’d remember because it was missing. Sometime during the day, a brand new present would appear under the tree. I remember one year she forgot the ice skates she had bought me, not the white ones I already had but an antique pair with straps you attached right to your shoes and a single blade with a curl at the ends. She had tucked them behind my other presents as if I had overlooked them. I didn’t care. I liked the surprised of this really neat gift.
The sun is now out but the day isn’t any warmer. I’ll bundle up.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 24˚, clam chowder, cloudy, cold, dump, errands, forgotten present, fudge, ice skates, packages, second batch, trash
Comments: 13 Comments
December 9, 2016
Last night was freezing. Gracie slept right beside me with her head on my arm. I guess she needed the body warmth. We have sun today, but I’d gladly trade it for a warmer day. The temperature is in the 30’s and will go down to the 20’s tonight. At least we won’t get snow.
Al my Colorado presents are wrapped. The bin holds only unwrapped Cape presents, and I have time yet. Today is busy. Gracie and I are going to the dump then to UPS. I also need to get a Dunkin’ gift card and a few groceries. I have to make fudge for my sister. I’ll be seeing her tomorrow and the fudge is a tradition, a gift she loves. Tonight I’ll watch Hallmark Christmas movies and write out my Christmas cards. I have my Edward Gorey cards, special ones for the family and a few I bought in Ghana. The tree is postponed until Sunday. I am disappointed.
This end of the street is dark, no Christmas lights, except for my house. One of my neighbors does have a white light in each window, but that is it. At the other end of the street three of the houses have lights. And on the next street, one of the houses is amazing. The lawn is filled with lights and lit figures of Santa and his reindeer. The house is outlined. All the trees are ablaze with light. It is the best house in the neighborhood.
When I was a kid, the square at Christmas always had carolers the nights before Christmas when people were shopping. The John Hancock Company gave out free soft cover books of carols, and they were passed out each night to the carolers. I remember one cover had a church with a lit stain glass window. Another cover had three choir boys wearing white gowns and red bowties. I still have a couple of books, one of each cover. I remember singing in the square. We stood on a platform right in front of the drug store and the Children’s Corner. I was in the fifth grade. We probably weren’t all that good but we were enthusiastic. I remember it all.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 30 degrees, carol books, carolers, Christmas lights, dump, dunkin-donuts, freezing, fudge, Grocery store, UPS, wrapping
Comments: 8 Comments
December 8, 2016
I think the sun went on vacation. Yesterday it rained in the morning and stayed cloudy the whole day though it was warmer than I expected. Today is also drab and gray. I am so glad that I was out for quite a while on Tuesday, the first sunny day in a while. I took the highway down cape but came back Route 28. It was a beautiful ride. I passed the ocean a few times. It was low tide and the water was still. It had a grayish tone. I saw a wild turkey fly. I hadn’t ever seen one fly before. It took a lumbering leap into the air and over a fence. I wasn’t sure the turkey had the height but it did. When I was passing the cove, the only boats moored, other than a single sailboat, were fishing boats. Most needed paint and had nets and lobster traps on deck. They all looked weathered and old. In Chatham, the store where I wanted to shop was gone. It didn’t matter. I really enjoyed the ride.
Last night my house was aglow. The front fence has strands of colored lights. The gate has a huge white star on top with trails of white lights coming from it. The top of the fence to and from the star is also white. Beside the driveway, bare branches on a bush are covered in huge Christmas ornaments. A floodlight shines on them. My deck rail has strands of colored lights atop it. I added bows to the three wreaths, put balls of colored ornaments in the basket on the steps and put my old sled with my ice skates beside the step. When it got dark last night, I went outside and stood on the street to check out my house. It is beautiful.
I did what I thought was quite a bit of wrapping yesterday. Come to find out I have so much more. All of the gifts are now downstairs filling the den and the hall. Maddie, though, is complicating the process by lying on the paper. She looks so comfy I don’t want to disturb her. I’ll probably just use different paper.
Tomorrow I’ll get the tree, the highlight of my Christmas. I love to sit in the living room just to look at it. Its aroma fills the house. I have a couple of new ornaments from Ghana. They aren’t really ornaments, but they’re big, round and colorful. They’ll do just fine.
Categories: Musings
Tags: aglow, Chatham, Christmas lights, cloudy, dark, fishing boats, gray, ice skates, outside lights', ride, Route 28, school, Sled, star, still ocean, white lights, wild turkey, wrapping
Comments: 11 Comments
