I don’t think there is a much more quintessential Christmas-in-New-England activity than tagging and cutting down your own Christmas Tree.
Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, the quest for the “perfect” tree meant visiting the Boy Scouts, a local church or the camper of questionable origin inhabiting the abandoned gas station on the corner. Sometimes, it meant visiting all three (or more) but that is a story for another time.
The first Christmas I spent in New Hampshire my future husband and mother-in-law took me to a local tree farm to cut down the tree. I was amazed that such places really existed (city kid, remember??).
Now that we have our own family, one of our traditions is to tag a tree around Thanksgiving and return to cut it down a few weeks before Christmas. It eases us into the Christmas season.
There is a sign advertising trees on a road we travel virtually every day. From the road, you don’t expect much, but once you pull in to the driveway, there are trees almost as far as the eye can see. I love it because clearly this is a side business for the homeowner, but one that he enjoys. We’ve never even met the man. Trees are tagged and purchased on the honor system (another reason I like supporting this business).
The day we went to tag our tree, we’d been geocaching (link), so I had the GPS with me. For giggles, I set a way point (a fixed location that you can navigate back to) in the GPS, so we could easily find our tree. This would have been much more helpful IF, I had actually remembered to bring the GPS with us when we went to cut down the tree this past Saturday.
Snow had fallen since our initial visit and our collective memory was a little foggy. Eventually Daddy circled in on it and much to everyone’s relief, our carefully selected tree was located.
I held.
Daddy sawed.
Then we all paraded back to the truck with our treasure. It rested in the basement overnight to shed its snow and on Sunday decoration commenced.
From a purist perspective, this is far from the perfect tree. It would never have passed my mother’s scrutiny. The trunk isn’t really straight, it has some bare spots and a bulge of growth on one side. The kids love it and, I think it is the perfect tree (even if it does require string to insure it stands upright).
As we were battling to keep the tree upright (see string above), my husband muttered something about an artificial tree next year. I have just four words.
Over my dead body.
I don’t think there is a much more quintessential Christmas-in-New-England activity than tagging and cutting down your own Christmas Tree.
Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, the quest for the “perfect” tree meant visiting the Boy Scouts, a local church or the camper of questionable origin inhabiting the abandoned gas station on the corner. Sometimes, it meant visiting all three (or more) but that is a story for another time.
The first Christmas I spent in New Hampshire my future husband and mother-in-law took me to a local tree farm to cut down the tree. I was amazed that such places really existed (city kid, remember??).
Now that we have our own family, one of our traditions is to tag a tree around Thanksgiving and return to cut it down a few weeks before Christmas. It eases us into the Christmas season.
There is a sign advertising trees on a road we travel virtually every day. From the road, you don’t expect much, but once you pull in to the driveway, there are trees almost as far as the eye can see. I love it because clearly this is a side business for the homeowner, but one that he enjoys. We’ve never even met the man. Trees are tagged and purchased on the honor system (another reason I like supporting this business).
The day we went to tag our tree, we’d been geocaching, so I had the GPS with me. For giggles, I set a way point (a fixed location that you can navigate back to) in the GPS, so we could easily find our tree. This would have been much more helpful IF, I had actually remembered to bring the GPS with us when we went to cut down the tree this past Saturday.
Snow had fallen since our initial visit and our collective memory was a little foggy. Eventually Daddy circled in on it and much to everyone’s relief, our carefully selected tree was located.
I held.
Daddy sawed.
Then we all paraded back to the truck with our treasure. It rested in the basement overnight to shed its snow and on Sunday decoration commenced.
From a purist perspective, this is far from the perfect tree. It would never have passed my mother’s scrutiny. The trunk isn’t really straight, it has some bare spots and a bulge of growth on one side. The kids love it and, I think it is the perfect tree (even if it does require string to insure it stands upright).
As we were battling to keep the tree upright (see string above), my husband muttered something about an artificial tree next year. I have just four words.
Visiting Canterbury Shaker Village is another one of our Christmas traditions. It started when they used to run the Gingerbread Showcase the weekend after Thanksgiving. While most would be partaking in Black Friday insanity, we’d pile in the car and admire the handy work of some talented artisans and inventive children. After picking our favorites we’d head downstairs to decorate gingerbread cookies and listen to a holiday story.
In recent years, they’ve revamped the event and moved it into December (a craft fair now takes place over Thanksgiving weekend). This year it is called Christmas at Canterbury and takes place on two successive Saturdays. Along with the gingerbread houses, and Christmas ornament crafts for the kids, the new format includes a visit to several of the Shaker buildings, demonstrations of Shaker life (broom making, chair weaving etc.) and performances by a magician, musicians and choral groups. Oh and I can’t forget the horse drawn wagon rides!
Christmas at Canterbury is probably better suited for older children. The crafts this year involved origami and threading beads onto wire. My nine year old was up to the tasks, but my five year old struggled some. We have also found that the performances are lovely, but again attention can be an issue with our younger child.
There were fewer entries in this year’s Gingerbread contest but the structures were no less impressive. I am always amazed at the way people combine creativity and food to make enchanting designs. Each admission includes a chance to win a Gingerbread House and of course you can purchase additional chances to increase your odds.
We were all very disappointed that this year, they discontinued the decorating gingerbread cookies. It was something my kids looked forward too. Hopefully they’ll bring it back to future events.
Admission is $17.00 for adults, $8.00 for children 6 to 17 or $42.00 for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 or more children). Children 5 and under are free and Members are free. This year, there was a ham and bean supper or coffee and apple crisp available for an additional fee.
The second installment of Christmas at Canterbury takes place this Saturday, December 12th from 3:00pm to 8:00pm. Canterbury Shaker Village is only a few miles off of either Route 106 or 93 in Canterbury, New Hampshire. For more information, visit the Canterbury Shaker Village web site.
I guess I started the battle, but it has seriously gotten out of control.
Remember back to 2003. A time when inflatable outdoor decorations were just hitting the market. Most were small (4 feet or under) and still relatively expensive ($60 and up). It was the day before Christmas and I was cruising for last minute stocking stuffers at the drug store (WHAT? where do YOU shop for stocking stuffers???????).
I spied an inflatable Santa Claus for half price. Just the night before we’d had dinner with my in-laws and were bemoaning those silly things. With a gleam in my eye, I called my husband. Should I? It’s half price! The deed was done and I headed home with my inflatable friend. While my in-laws were out, he set it up in their front yard in all of its breezy glory. My mother-in-law was horrified. “Did you put that tacky thing in my yard?”
“Who us?” we smiled innocently. She promised revenge, but actions speak louder than words. The next year, my husband got to the Christmas decorations first and constructed a perch for dear old St. Nick so he could tower over all comers from the second floor window of her barn. Tee hee, gotcha!
Except a few weeks later, as I rounded the bend in the driveway, there stood a 9 foot inflatable Snowman. My kids were barely taller than Frosty’s boots for Pete’s sake!! We fired back with an 8 foot candy cane arch with “twinkling lights” that would chase each other. Now that my friends is T A C K Y tacky!
There have been other volleys in the war of décor, such as the lighted wire frame bear that Home Depot called “Yard Art”, but sadly not all of our soldiers returned from battle. The arch was so well made, it lasted about 2 seasons, before finally meeting its maker after a wind storm. There were the 1970’s era plastic angels handed down to a friend who volunteered them for our cause. The original owners (her parents) requested they be returned for a mission in, well, I can’t disclose their exact location as they are undercover somewhere in the mid-Atlantic region. There was also the lighted reindeer who’s heads turned, back and forth. They met a grisly end at the paws and teeth of the collie, he claims he cracked under the constant surveillance. It is the majority of the “fluffies” who have had the staying power. There was one new recruit who didn’t last even a day, but alas, that is a tale for another time.
It was only this year, that the original Santa Claus was deemed unfit for battle. As my husband and I were plotting our next offensive, grousing about our inability to locate TRULY tacky Christmas decorations, it dawned on us, we have become desensitized. We have become THAT yard. The one that has been so taken over by Christmas decorations you can barely tell there is a house.
How did this happen? Isn’t this some kind of syndrome? The one where you find yourself surrounded by your enemy and find that maybe, it isn’t quite so bad?
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate, a New England Colonial home with a spotlight in the yard, white candles in the windows and a wreath on the door, but the kids love the fluffies and every time I walk by one of the front windows, I chuckle. *sigh*
From where I sit, there is only one thing to do. It is time to redouble our efforts and dear readers, I need your help. If you spy truly tacky outdoor Christmas decorations (especially at bargain prices) PLEASE, PLEASE tell me. At this point I think we’ve exploited the brigade of fluffies as much as we can. We need something shiny and spinny and with lights that twinkle and chase each other. If you spy something that you think meets my criteria please email me at imreesie (at) g mail (dot) com. WE NEED YOU!
Ahhhhhh, finally, it is starting to look like December should in New Hampshire. I like, no, I LOVE snow. It blankets the world and with it comes ski season, and sledding and many other fun winter activities. I survive summer, I thrive in Winter.
Yesterday saw the first substantial snow storm of this winter and our first snow day. The kids and I slept late and then bundled up to play out side. We easily have 10 inches in our backyard. The snow was falling hard, but the temperature hovered near freezing, so conditions were just about perfect. You could be outside without freezing to death.
The day “off” yesterday put me behind, so for now, I’ll leave you with “Sled Cam”. Enjoy!
My 9 year old daughter has developed a strong taste for traditions and New Hampshire is rich with tradition especially this time of year. Many of our family traditions are things we do at home and around the house, but there are several events that are “must-do’s” as well. This weekend brought Christmas in Suncook Village and Christmas at Canterbury (more on Christmas at Canterbury later in the week) Christmas in Suncook Village is so important, She turned down a birthday party invitation in favor of attending the annual festivities with friend. That alone should tell you something about how good it is.
The event is put on by the Pembroke Women’s Club with the help of numerous volunteers, and the merchants of Main Street, Suncook. Two blocks of Main Street in Suncook were closed off and for a few hours, we enjoyed the simple pleasures of the season. Inside the shops, there were face painters and balloon artists, fiddlers and a fish pond where kids fished for trinkets, treats or even a Toys R Us gift card. Santa and Mrs. Claus were waiting to hear the childrens’ requests at the Masonic Building and the Suncook United Methodist Church hosted several performances by local arts organizations (and treats and a craft were available in the basement). Kids demonstrated their artistic talents by frosting and decorating sugar cookies or creating a christmas ornament.
Outside, Saturday’s dusting of snow made things all that more festive as we were serenaded by local singing groups and church choirs. The kids took a pony ride and there were hay rides pulled by a tractor or a team of horses. We stopped and sipped some cider or hot chocolate while enjoying a performance from a community dance group. I also picked up my Christmas wreaths from a local boy scout troop.
Admission and parking are free, yes, FREE!
The Pembroke Women’s Club is local women’s service organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of those who live in Pembroke and Allenstown. The group is a member of General Federation of Women’s Clubs International. I may be a little biased as my Mother-In-law is an active volunteer and former past president of the group, but these women are truly dedicated to their community and they have a lot of fun!
Christmas in Suncook Village is typically held the first Sunday in December. I’ll try and give you more warning next year.
As I type this, it is snowing out. Yay the first snow of the season! There are Christmas Carols on the radio and my kids are setting up their Fischer-Price Little People® Christmas village. We started the collection when my daughter was little. It was purely in our own interests, but it has developed into one of my favorite Christmas traditions.
When we first got together, my soon to be Mother-In-Law started a collection of Christmas in The City from Department 56® for A-Man and I. The buildings are made of porcelain, beautifully detailed and very breakable. The thinking was, if Fish had her own village, she’d leave ours alone and for the most part this was true. Mim was a different story. As a toddler, he had an almost magnetic attraction to all that was breakable, so we left the grown up village in the attic and focused instead on the Little People®
the years, we’ve added new pieces as they have become available, to the point that we now need an 8 foot table to hold everything. For a few years, Fischer-Price didn’t add any new pieces, so I was pleased and surprised to see the addition of “A Visit From Santa” this year.
Each piece has one electronic piece, that chimes a tinny Christmas jingle and flashes lights when provoked. That part I could do without, but it is so far outweighed by the benefits. I live with it.
We install the batteries (reluctantly) and leave it to the kids to set up. Through out its annual appearance, it will get deconstructed and reconstructed many many times.
I love listening to the kids make up stories about what is happening in Christmas at any given moment. It really brings out their imaginations and at times give me insight into what is going through their minds.
As time passes, I’m sure they’ll outgrow it, and we’ll once again set up Christmas in the City, but I plan on hanging on to these pieces in the hopes that someday my grand kids will enjoy them just as much (yeah, I do plan a head).
In the mean time, I’ll try and get you a tour of the Christmastown before the season ends.
This post originally appeared at my blog This New Hampshire Life. I’ve decided to focus my efforts on this blog and incorporate a taste of New Hampshire here. I’ll be reposting a few of my favorite posts from TNHL here enjoy.
Squash was never one of my favorite vegetables as a kid. It was usually boiled to death and splatted on my plate as a runny gooey mess. As an adult, I tried the Common Man’s squash with butter and cinnamon and ohhhh my. Suddenly squash had potential. Later, I visited Canterbury Shaker Village and found Squash bread, a bread that is soft and moist with a slight sweetness too it. Yeah, squash is definitely moving up in my levels of culinary appreciation.
The recipe is easy and the results are hearty and tasty. You place the squash and other veggies in a roasting pan with spices and balsamic vinegar and pop it in the oven. When it is almost done, a little wine is added. The squash is pureed (I used a blender) and simmered with chicken broth. The result is a soup that is flavorful and warming. It melts on my tongue. My favorite part? It freezes beautifully; I freeze it in both large and single servings and serve it as an appetizer or reheat it for lunch or a quick snack. This soup is a yummy way to get your vegetables.
I first met Susan through a now defunct email list. In her own words, she is a “food writer, entrepreneur and cook… a corporate dropout, I left a twenty-year career in international sales and marketing for the fun, flexibility and fear of self-employment.”
She offers private chef and catering services as well as cooking classes. Susan is a prolific writer, she blogs, and writes for numerous publications. She is a regular on WMUR’s Cook’s Corner (see past visits on YouTube). You can find more of her recipes and her wonderful stories on her web site http://www.susannye.com/. If you want regular culinary inspiration or just a new idea for dinner, I highly recommend following her on Twitter too, @SusanNye
Saturday was a blustery November day and according to news sources, at one time more than 50,000 homes in New Hampshire were without power. We joined those ranks just as I was washing the conditioner out of my hair. The lights fluttered and faltered and eventually the whole house went dark. It was bound to happen, live in these parts for any period of time and you WILL loose power while you are in the shower.
Losing power used to freak me out. Although my husband and his family could take it in stride, a mild sense of panic would descend on me and I’d run around looking for candles, matches and flashlights. After close to 7 years, I can honestly say I’m almost getting used to it. I think some of the comfort comes from knowing what to expect and understanding what is needed to keep day-to-day life going without “the juice”.
Our Generator in all its glory I really cut my teeth during the floods of 2007. We were without power, phone and Internet for almost 4 days and the timing could not have been worse as I was staring down major work deadlines. We were fortunate to borrow a generator 1 day in, but it only powered the bare essentials, heat, water, the refrigerator and one light over the kitchen sink. Immediately after the storm, we started researching generators with the intent of purchasing our own. Once you return to normal life, and the chaos fades, it is easy to put a major purchase like that on the back burner. I forgot all about it until one fall day when my son came screeching into the house. “Mommy, Daddy bought you a present!” I made my way outside to the truck to find our very own generator. My glee at the purchase surprised me.
We’ve used it several times most notably during the ice storms of ‘08 and once we got our power back, it made the rounds to friends and family until their lights came on. The catch has been that every time we wanted to use it, there needed to be some serious rewiring done before we fired it up. Just last week, we made arrangements with Nathan Poland from Univolt, LLC, to come today and install the necessary plugs and wiring to make the transition smoother. Yeah, the irony wasn’t lost on us either as the wind howled.
As I type this, Nathan is in the basement toiling away. When all is said and done, I will supposedly be able to fire up this sucker all by myself. I think I can feel my city-kid roots withering away just a little bit.
What is your best/worst power outage story?
Nathan Poland is a Certified Master Electrician and the owner of Univolt, LLC, a an authorized dealer of Generac whole house automatic and portable generators (ours is not a Generac). If you are interested in learning more about emergency power sources, please contact him at 603-254-4023 or univoltllc (at) gmail (dot) com and tell him you read it here! This information is posted purely as a courtesy to my readers, I received no compensation for mentioning Univolt, LLC.
I enjoy virtually all genres of music but Country is my go-to. When I moved here in 2002, I was still loyal to Country 99.5 WKLB out of Boston. If I held the radio the right way I could get a staticy signal. Alas, my arms got tired and eventually I started listening to WOKQ 97.5 out of Dover. I found Mark and Danielle and The Morning Waking Crew. They became my constant. I’m a creature of habit. I crave routine especially in the morning. With a routine, my internal operating system can boot slowly while I function on autopilot. OKQ and the Morning Waking Crew have become embedded in my morning routine. Looking at a clock means processing information and I’m not ready for that until I’ve eaten and had my tea, but, I can tell roughly what time it is by what’s happening on the radio. If Mike Geary is doing the weather live it is either 20 after or 10 of the hour. If discussion is about Birthdays is it 7:20 am and if breakfast better be on the table or we’re running late.
Mark Ericson is the brains behind the show. He’s the experienced radio guy who makes sure sponsors get their due and things stay relatively on track. I say relatively because Danielle had a way of derailing things. She rarely meant to, but she had strong opinions and an infectious laugh that could break me out of my stupor even on my worst mornings.
I speak of Danielle in the past because today Mark Ericson announced that Danielle would not be returning to the airwaves. It’s been change long in coming. The fact that I feel like I’ve lost a friend is a testament to how well Danielle did her job.
At the end of August Mark and Danielle went on their annual vacations. Mark returned Danielle did not. She was slated to return mid-September. The day came and went. Danielle did not return and no mention of her was made. The Morning Waking Crew’s Facebook page exploded with demands for information about Danielle. Eventually an announcement was made that Danielle had taken a leave of absence and that WOKQ was unsure when, or if, Danielle would be returning. This mollified most but conspiracy theories abounded. In the meantime former producer Megan “Bunch” Brady came back for a brief stint in the cohost chair. Eventually traffic reporter Karen Kiley (a.k.a. 2K) took over those duties.
Ericson’s announcement this morning was emotional and leads me to believe there is more to the story than they are able to share with the listening public. Situations like this put a radio station in an awkward position. In order to promote listener loyalty stations encourage personalities to connect with their audience. On-air talent promote products and appear at events and if they are good at what they do a bond is formed with the audience. The trick for the individual behind the on-air personality is to maintain whatever level of privacy he or she deems to be appropriate. When situations like Danielle’s arise where there is a medical issue, all sorts of legal protections are invoked on behalf of the employee limiting what the employer can say. Then what do they do? The radio station looks like the villain for not telling the audience about someone they view as a friend when in fact the station’s hands are tied. It’s a hard row to hoe and I think given the circumstances WOKQ did the best they could with the information they were able to share publicly. Something else that came through in this morning’s announcement was that Danielle’s absence has been hard on the staff too.
Mark and 2K will stay on the air through the holidays and although Kiley appears to be the heir apparent to the co-host throne Ericson clearly stated that was not a done deal by any stretch. They will be interviewing to fill the position.
This morning they played an example of one of Danielle’s more humorous rants. Hearing her laugh reminded me of how much I’ve missed her. Karen Kiley has made the best of a difficult circumstance and if she were to stay on I would not be disappointed but I will miss Danielle.
I hope the new cohost is a woman. Although Mark complains about living in a vat of estrogen I think the show needs a female touch. I also hope that when hiring, they seek out a vibrant personality who can handle Mark’s macho persona. Radio operation skills can be taught, but a personality is something you are born with and a successful morning show co-host requires a certain type of personality.
So to Danielle Carrier, Adios and vaya con Dios. I hope our paths cross again.
To Mark and 2K, I look forward to hearing your voices on Friday morning.
The story goes like this; my husband and I got lost walking in our own backyard, so my in-laws bought my husband a hand held GPS for his birthday. While standing in line to pay for said GPS, my mother-in-law spied a book on Geocaching, the book was an impulse buy that launched us on an addictive family activity.
Never heard of geocaching? Oh, are YOU missing out. Geocaching is a high tech treasure hunting game. “Cachers” hide small containers in various locations and post the GPS coordinates (and a hint or two) on a web site geocaching.com. You can search geocaching.com by address, zip code or by state. There are over 5,000 caches in New Hampshire alone. There are 5 within a 1-mile radius of our home and over 400 within a 10-mile radius.
The inside of a container cacheCaches are rated by how difficult they are to find, and the difficulty of the terrain where the cache is located.There is usually a hint included as well (encrypted for those who want the an additional challenge). There are caches everywhere and some of the descriptions and hints can be kind of funny. Like the one in Boston that said “when you reach underneath the bridge for the box, make sure you don’t grab the rat trap”. Icons included in the description, will also note whether the site is handicapped accessible, stroller and or pet friendly.
When you choose a cache you want to find, you download the coordinates to your GPS unit. It is worth noting that may of the newer units meant for cars, can also be used for geocaching. That said, a hand held unit is more rugged and easier to carry.
A cache hidden in plain site (sort of) GPS, in hand, you make your way to the specified location and try to locate the cache. Keep in mind that consumer GPS units are typically only accurate within a few feet of a given location, so there is definitely some searching skills involved. In my opinion, that’s half the fun. Caches can be of various sizes, our first find was a military ammunition box. Others have been camouflaged Tupperware and even peanut containers. Some caches are location caches where the originator wants you to see a great view or even a monument you may have walked by a thousand times.
Inside container caches there is a log book that you sign to confirm your find. More importantly for my kids, there are small “trinkets” to be traded. If you take something, you are supposed to leave something. Parents this is a phenomenal way to get rid of all those fast food toys.
Cache In Trash Out
The majority of caches are on public land, if one is on private property, it can only be placed with the owner’s consent and that fact will be noted in the description. As a rule cachers try to be respectful, though there have been some caches that have been viewed as suspicious and investigated by police. Cachers also try to leave things better than they found them, the saying goes “Cache in, Trash Out” and we’ve collected a few trash bags of littler on our adventures.
After you find the cache, you return to the web site, log your find online and leave a comment or a photo about the find.
I love geocaching because it gets us out and moving as a family and it stokes my kids’ sense of adventure and curiosity. At the same time, it gives them opportunities to practice problem-solving skills and be good environmental citizens. Most importantly, we have found locations that we otherwise might not have found. The first day we were out, we found a series of walking trails 2 miles from our house that I had no idea even existed.
In New Hampshire, there are several active caching communities that frequently place new caches and maintain existing caches. The Concord group even meet informally on a regular basis. Information on the events, called event caches, can be found on the geocaching web site.
Membership to geocaching.com is free, but a premium membership ($30 per year) supports the site and gets you added benefits like a listing of geocaches that can be found along a specified route. Also a few rare caches are available only to premium members.
For what it is worth, we didn’t really get LOST lost, in our backyard. We just couldn’t turn around and follow the path from which we came. We ended up making our way to the nearest road and came out about a mile from our house leaving us to walk back the long way. That said, I’m glad it happened as that one journey has launched many more
Our last trip out was during deer season, so I donned my snazzy orange hat!
I don’t think there is a much more quintessential Christmas-in-New-England activity than tagging and cutting down your own Christmas Tree.
I held.
Live Fearless Lee 