Snuggly in the Snow

Outside a mid-February Nor'easter was piling up the snow. It gave a magical look to the window boxes on which I had left the little white lights from Christmas. Inside, the fire was burning and the Lodge was starting to get back to normal after being coated in dust by the sanding of the stair tower sheetrock and the floor. Oh, how cozy we are!

Just Love Being At the Lodge!

As we left the old girl....

As we found the old girl, oops, no there is already a new bay window!

October 21, 2016 was a wonderful day for Eric and I. Our much loved home of 42 years was sold to a wonderful family who, I feel sure, will love it like we did. "The ghosts of four little girls" followed me from room to room after they all had grown up and left, and despite my efforts to make their rooms serve other purposes, they would always be THEIR rooms. It was a constant reminder that things would never be the same at Raymond Court... it made me miss them. Oh, I know... and I couldn't be prouder of them for doing so... it was what we raised them for... to go off and be successful, happy young women.... and that is what they have done.  Besides, the first book we ever bought for our library, back in 1974 was called, "Five Acres and Independence" so if you can allow yourself to believe in such things, it was fate that we should one day move to five acres, owned by many generations of ancestors in Nobleboro, Maine. The only downside is that Nobleboro is 25 minutes further from everyone, but mentally we are just forcing ourselves to accept it in return for the fulfillment of a dream. Besides, for 8 months a year, we will still be at the cottage, which isn't hard to take either!

Allen Family Christmas 2016

What a perfect day! Christmas itself had been perfect at Kat and Pat's with Peighton and Phoebe. Kat had prepared a beautiful Christmas Eve Feast done with raclettes, which I had only been exposed to at a cooking class at Now You're Cooking. What a wonderful way to make a meal extra special. Christmas with them was just great. The girls were SO excited Christmas Eve, but went to bed pretty well with a cautionary note that Santa would not come if they were not asleep. They arose bright and early anxious to awaken Nana and Gran so everyone could get downstairs to see if Santa had come. Would the cookies and milk and the carrots for Rudolph be gone???? Yes, they were... stockings were filled and there were mountains of presents under the tree. We had lobsters for Christmas dinner just like old times. 
Allen Family Christmas was the very next day. Erica and Casey were off to NYC for New Year's so
the girls and their families were all wonderful enough to agree leave their cozy homes and come to the Lodge so Allen Family Christmas wouldn't end up being in mid-January! They all brought food, which we pumped out all day long. The children were just amazing. I had worried they might be tired and a bit cranky after the activities of the past two days, but they were just wonderful. Little Eleanor seemed to take it all in and you could almost see her dreaming of next year when she too would be right in the middle of it all!
Top picture: soon we may need a wide lens camera to fit us all in. Next: the Lodge tree and the Pub tree Next: we took Avery and Lawson to Gardens Aglow Next two: and presents for all!

Snowmen Invade Oak Hill

When we awoke, the snow was all we saw. It glistened in the warmth of a thirty-six degree day. The sun had made the powdery texture of the new fallen snow nice and sticky. Kat was all about making some fabulous creation and even requested food coloring to make her creation really special. The incredible result is pictured just under the group picture. Avery made the snow person adorned with the antlers in the next picture, nearby Lawson's donned skis and ski poles and Della, Peighton and Lexi worked to create yet another one. There were so many creative ideas Della and I decided to make one with kale for hair and Eric and I crafted a McEwan snowdog! What fun! It got cold right after so they graced the field for a couple of weeks, each warm day causing them to grow thinner and thinner. 

Chalkboards- A Favorite Project at the Lodge

I just love doing chalkboard drawings for holidays, seasons, upcoming visitors, whatever I can think that might make something worthy of announcing. I have found some silver trays which I taped off and spray painted with chalkboard paint and then bought small easels to stand them in to place on tabletops and counters about the Lodge. Then, of course, there is Robert who stands guard at the kitchen entrance proudly holding his chalkboard. I really enjoy coming up with little sayings to put on them and then decorating around the wording.