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Friday, January 13th, 2012
It has been a blustery, cold, icy, snowy, gray last few days. We finally got more than a dusting of snow here in southern New Hampshire. Granted, we only got a few inches of snow, but it is rare and strange for it be mid-January and for there to be so little accumulation on the ground. Our last snow of note was in October, when we had that crazy storm that dropped 10″ right before Halloween and caused massive power outages and tons of downed trees and limbs. Since then, the weather has been uncharacteristically mild.
So I permitted myself to get a little giddy about some snow and ice. And I used it as an opportunity to snap some pics…. with our NEW CAMERA…. finally…. yeah! Happy Winter!
The garden beds are sleeping soundly.
It’s a little bit slippery out there.
And of course the plow missed the end of our driveway by several feet. Time to shovel!
Tags: gratitude, winter
Posted in The Daily Balance | 1 Comment »
top 5 awesome things about 2011
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Happy New Year to you!
I hope that you have had a relaxing holiday season and are ready to kick off a happy and healthy 2012. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the amazing things that I am very thankful for in 2011. Here are my top 5:
5. Home Improvements Galore!
2011 was the year that we finally busted through… making the leap from doing just home maintenance projects (oh that we are verrrrry good at) to doing some real honest-to-goodness home upgrades and improvements. Things got rolling back in May, and because my camera broke, I never got around to posting finished pics. So here’s a sampling.
We refinished our downstairs hard wood floors in the dining room and living room.
dining room floor before
living room floor before
entry way before
entry way after (looking into dining room)
living room after
living room after
The we installed a new ceiling fan in our living room. This required new wiring.
ceiling before
uncapping the old wiring and gas pipe. yikes.
Updating the wiring and new ceiling fan installed!
We also tackled re-painting the living room, painting the dining room, painting all the window sills in the house, and adding an accent wall color going up the stairs.
accent wall: copper mountain color sherwin williams zero voc paint
And we repainted the exterior and interior of our screened-in porch.
porch interior before
porch after with new furniture
4. Traveling and Trips!
We were extremely fortunate in 2011 to return to Europe! I loved traveling in Europe for our honeymoon in 2009, and I have been eager to go back ever since. I was lucky enough to tag along on another one of Craig’s business trips to Munich, Germany in early February. We had a blast exploring the city.
I also went on a solo travel adventure, taking the train from Germany to Italy. It was my first time traveling alone outside the U.S. and it was the most incredible experience. You can read more in depth about my trip here and here and here.
Verona, Italy - new street on top of old street
In July we made our annual trek north to Maine to spend two weeks on Mooselookmeguntic Lake.
Loons on Mooselookmeguntic Lake
We vacationed on the lake with my parents, sisters, and their kiddos, staying in a large cabin that we’ve been renting for many years. We ate well and drank well. Craig and I lounged, read books, swam, biked, kayaked, hiked, and lounged some more.
Hiking on the Appalachian Trail to the summit of Saddleback Mountain.
And in September, Craig and I took a lovely trip to the ocean, just an hour away from where we live. I had been longing to dig my toes into the sand.
3. This Year’s Garden: Cultivating from Seed and Growing Organic, Heirloom Vegetables
This year I grew the vegetables and herbs in my garden from organic seed… with the exception of my tomatoes and celery. However, I choose all organic, heirloom tomatoes this year from a local nursery. It was so much fun to try out new varieties of plants.
First came the radishes.
And then baby spinach and lettuces.
Cilantro!
This was the first year that I planted in somewhat tidy rows in my raised beds.
Cilantro, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes
Crazy heirloom tomato bed
Mortgage lifter (heh heh) heirloom tomato
Green zebra heirloom tomato
Carrots and celery
We pulled the last of the carrots on Thanksgiving morning to make a dish!
2. We Welcomed Lily to Our Family!
We finally got a cat in August! Lily has completely transformed our household, keeping us in stitches every day. She’s cuddly, funny, silly, fairly chatty, occasionally likes to playfully bite, and refuses to take a good picture. Aside from a particularly hard-to-get-rid-of bout of worms (she was found in the wild before she came home with us) and one icky urinary tract infection, life with Lily has been wonder-filled. You can read more about Lily’s story here.
Lily just has a way of always looking pissy in pictures.
She’s actually really quite charming and loves adults and kids.
She likes to cause mischief... messing up our tree skirt.
Or attacking my aloe plants.
Lily loves hanging out on the screened-in porch.
Yeah, Lily is one striking, very cool cat. We dig her immensely.
And… now…
1.) Top Most Awesome Thing About 2011…
We are expecting!!!
I’ve been pretty busy since the end of summer… working on a very special, very important project. Our daughter is due in May, and we are so delighted! And a bit daunted at times, but mostly holy-crap-over-the-moon excited.
Here’s to a new year, new adventures, and adding more goodness and abundance to the plenty!
Posted in On the Subject of Parenthood, The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | 4 Comments »
thankful
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is here! I can’t believe that it is the end of November. I can’t believe how dark it gets so early.
And yet, I am thankful that the fall weather has been mostly wonderful. The last time I wrote, we were without power for multiple days following a freakish end-of-October snow storm that pummeled New England and left hundreds of thousands without power.
Well, the power came back for us after 3 and a half days. My parents were without power for even longer. I feel fortunate that the weather wasn’t colder or it really would have been miserable. In fact, most of November has been unseasonably warm. We’ve had multiple weekends in a row with temps in the 60s. It has been lovely.
The leaves finally had a chance to play catch-up and turn and fall from the trees. We are almost done with our raking—hopefully with the long holiday weekend upon us we’ll get a chance to finish up the yard work. I still want to do one last fertilization of our new lawn.
In the meantime, I am gearing up to make some Thanksgiving dishes for multiple feasts tomorrow. I love cooking and baking for the holidays. I find it all very creative and inspiring, especially since I haven’t done as much cooking this fall as I usually do. I have been poring over recipe books and scouring websites online for ideas. And here is what I think I will be preparing.
Honeyed Carrots and Oranges courtesy of Real Simple
I still have a bunch of carrots in the garden, but with the temps beginning to get colder, especially at night, I’m ready to harvest the lot. So I think I will make Honeyed Carrots and Oranges courtesy of Real Simple. It looks like a delightfully yummy and easy dish! I am thankful that I am still able to cook using ingredients straight from the garden!
I am also going to make some sort of casserole dish—probably a variation on the “traditional” green bean casserole that uses those fun crunchy onions. I think I’ll add some thinly sliced shallots.
I’m also making a few desserts. I have gone back and forth on what to make, but ultimately I think I will make my very favorite—Swedish Apple Pie. You can find my recipe with photos on how to make the best Swedish Apple Pie here. Instead of honeycrisp apples, I will be using a combo of Granny Smith and Cortland.
I am so looking forward to hanging out in the kitchen tonight to do some baking!
I am very thankful to be able to take some time off to celebrate Thanksgiving, and I can’t wait to see family and friends in town over the next several days. With the holiday season kicking off, it’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of doing and the stresses that seam to infiltrate our day-to-day. This year I’m going to take it slow and easy and relish each day. It is really such a short season after all. It’s meant to be enjoyed.
Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Tags: autumn, baking, carrots, gratitude
Posted in Cooking Adventures, The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | No Comments »
october was pretending to be march
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
October went in like a lamb and out like a very unhappy, unruly lion. We got pummeled with a fierce snowstorm on Saturday evening that dropped 10″ of snow where we live. Normally we can handle 10″ of snow just fine, but not when the majority of the trees have yet to shed their leaves. That made for a very disastrous combination in Southern New Hampshire.
As of this writing, we do not have power or heat at our house. We do have hot water (for now?) but the water pressure is down to a trickle, so I’m thinking we are near the end. We lost power Saturday night just around midnight. And now it is Tuesday. The estimates are that we won’t get power back until Friday.
But I kind of okay with all of this. Is it inconvenient to stumble around in the dark using only a small flashlight? Perhaps. Is it cold in our house? Of course.
But losing power and being forced to go back to basics is so very refreshing. It reminds me of when Craig and I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2003. When it gets dark, you just naturally start to wind things down. You climb into your tent and get cozy.
We are doing the same thing now—when we get home from work we go walking to assess all the downed limbs in the neighborhood. Walking helps to warm us up. Then it’s home for dinner. Our stove works if we light a match for the gas. And then it’s time to climb into bed and make a cozy nest. We read or chat and find ourselves getting lots of extra sleep.
There are many worse problems to have than lacking electricity. It’s important to keep things in perspective. I am thankful that it is not the heart of winter. The house may be cold at 50°F, but we will deal.
Plus, this is a great excuse to wear jeans every day and put my hair back into a ponytail. Quick and easy.
So, October went out with a bang. Gotta love New England weather. I am really hoping that this means we will have a balmy January!
Tags: autumn, gratitude
Posted in The Daily Balance | No Comments »
first snow… and it’s october!
Friday, October 28th, 2011
It was raining yesterday afternoon. A fairly cold and steady rain as I made my way home from work. I crawled into bed when I got home, content to listen to the rain and take a snoozer. However, when I woke up a little while later, it was snowing! Crazy! So, of course, I went for a long walk in the slushy snow, catching snowflakes on my tongue.
When I woke up this morning, I was quite certain that I had dreamed everything. But sure enough, there was the evidence:
So strange to have snow already on the ground!
While the big maple in the backyard has mostly shed its leaves, the maple in front is still going strong. Plus all of our trees lining the back of our property haven’t even turned yet. Sure do hope this snow melts so we can get some raking done!
But, alas, word on the street is that more snow is in the forecast for Saturday night! I’m dreaming of a white Halloween???
Tags: autumn, raking, snow
Posted in The Daily Balance | No Comments »