ABC Wednesday - W

I guess the appropriate "W" word for today would be Winter.

This is from 1969, my sister and I with our snowman. We used coal from our "pot bellied" stove to decorate our snowman.

Last year's Winter Festival, in Jefferson, offered free rides with the dogs from "Muddy Paws" kennel.

A pair of mules, decked out in jingle bells, offer rides through town.

It is a time to keep our winter friends fed.

...time to play in the snow

...time to enjoy the beauty of nature...

...and then it is great to come inside for a hot drink or some baked treat!

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Barn Charm

A few barns from my weekend ramble...still hoping for a little snow...

To see more barns from all over, visit http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

It's begining to look alot like Christmas...

All we are missing is some snow...



Groton, MA




Winter Berries for sale in  Littleton, MA



Hollis, NH

New Boston, NH

Groton, MA

Hollis, NH



Mont Vernon, NH



Paper White Narcissus

"Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabelle" (French: Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle) is a Christmas carol which originated from the Provence region of France. The carol was first published in 1553 and was subsequently translated into English in the 18th century. The song was originally not a song to be sung at Christmas, but rather dance music for French nobility.

In the carol, visitors to the stable have to keep their voices down so the newborn can enjoy his dreams. To this day in the Provence region, children dress up as shepherds and milkmaids, carrying torches and candles to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, while singing the carol.

The painter Georges de La Tour painted a nativity scene based on the carol.

Barn Charm 63

Winter has a firm hold on the north country and the barns are covered in snow.
Not so much in the southern part of the state but there are some barns decorated for Christmas!

To see more barns from all over, visit:  http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

"Go west young man" -Horace Greeley

I came across this historical marker while I was out and about this morning...

Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) born in Amherst, New Hampshire; was an american newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery. He is currently the only presidential candidate to have died prior to the counting of electoral votes.

The son of poor farmers, he left school at age 14 after declining a scholarship to the Phillips Exeter Academy. After serving as a printer's apprentice to the editor of the Northern Spectator, a newspaper in East Poultney, Vermont, and working as a printer on the Erie Gazette in Pennsylvania, he went to New York City to seek his fortune as an editor. Three years later, having worked as a printer for the Evening Post and several other newspapers, he had accumulated enough capital to launch the New York Tribune.

Horace Greeley was a champion of the working man. In a July 13, 1865 editorial, he famously advised "Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." He attacked monopolies of all sorts, supported vegetarianism, opposed liquor, and opposed slavery.  He was an excellent judge of newsworthiness and quality of reporting.

Opposing Grant's re-election bid, he joined the Liberal Republican Party and the new party nominated Greeley as their presidential candidate. He was then officially endorsed by the Democrats, although he had denounced the party for decades. Unfortunately Greeley was a weak campaigner. Not long after the election, Greeley's wife died. He is said to have descended into madness and then died before the electoral votes could be cast. He is buried in New York's Green-Wood Cemetary. The Greeley House in New York, now houses a Historical Society.

Barn Charm 62...from Littleton, NH to Littleton, MA...

I recently relocated back to southern NH. I am spoiled by life in the country and don't plan to buy milk in plastic containers from the grocery store. I wondered if the Shaw Farm in Dracut was still operating but opted to take a morning drive to the Spring Brook Farm in Littleton, MA...a locavore's paradise. The farm has been in existence since 1713. I believe it is the 11th oldest family farm in the country.

Unfortunately they don't sell thier own milk anymore. I asked, and was told their creamery had burnt down. Fortunately they did have glass bottled milk from the Shaw Farm. Shaw Farm makes awesome eggnog at Christmastime. I guess they got an order but it sold out immediately!

I took these barn photos on my way back home...

to see more barns from all over visit  http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/2011/12/barn-charm-62.html

Take Time to Tell a loved one that you love them...



Thanksgiving 2009

We will miss you...... I have enjoyed the time I was able to share with you. You taught me so much and I always looked up to you. You touched so many other lives and you are a wonderful woman.

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well. Nothing is lost.

ABC Wednesday- T...is for Tulum

Was our vacation only three weeks ago?
It seems as though so much has happened in the last few weeks...

Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans, it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico.

The Tulum archaeological site is relatively small compared to nearby Chichen Itza. It is popular for the picturesque view of the Caribbean and its proximity to Cancun.

Tulum had access to both land and sea trade routes, making it an important trade hub. Tulum had an estimated population of 1,000 to 1,600 inhabitants. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise.

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ABC Wednesday - S

I got back from vacation just over a week ago. One stop was Stingray City in the Cayman Islands. Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars in the North Sound of Grand Cayman.

Many years ago local fishermen stopped in this area to clean their daily catch. The unwanted fish parts were thrown into the water which attracted Stingrays to the area. As the fishermen would arrive the Stingrays would gather waiting for their free meal. The Stingrays began to associate the sound of a boat engine with food.  Eventually it was realized that the stingrays could be fed by hand. The area became a tourist attraction and is now the most popular tourist attraction in the Cayman Islands.

It is not dangerous if you are calm and listen to your guide. Most cases of people being stung by stingrays occur when someone accidentally steps on one in shallow water. Stingrays are defensive and are not intentionally aggressive.

I took the same trip eleven years ago...it is an experience that I would recommend.

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ABC Wednesday - R

R is for Rabbit...

Our rabbits are Chloe and Zoey...


R is for Red Fox...

I spent many hours watching this fox family from spring into summer this year...

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