Saturday snow

I woke up this morning to a pretty scene outside my window. Snow was falling. Our second small snowstorm this week.  This type of storm is perfect, more than a dusting but not too much.  I love how the snow sticks to the branches of the trees. It's Winter poetry.

Oscar enjoyed the subtle light streaming through the window. Nothing too harsh for a Saturday morning.

Oh, he is just so cute!  Those eyes get me everyone time. He has me wrapped around his little paw.

A lovely scene from my dining room window. When we have a gentle snowfall I like to take a walk around the neighborhood and photograph the snow covered old homes. I feel like I am in a Currier and Ives scene.

My attention was turned inside the condo as I spied Percy jumping on the couch and settling next to Oscar.

This usually means trouble. At least Molly was in the bathroom sleeping.  She's no dummy, it is the warmest room in the condo!

 And there he goes.  He likes to wake Oscar up from peaceful sleep. Doesn't it look like great fun?

He's not giving him a little brotherly nuzzle. He likes to bite Oscar's neck. Percy thinks he is a vampire! Oscar had enough and jumped off the couch.  This is exactly what Percy wants to happen because he wants to chase Oscar around the condo.

I'd had enough of the kitty shenanigans. So I went walking around the downtown area.  I decided to photograph the church next to the Town Common.

The common always looks so pristine when it first snows. And this church just screams New England to me.

The lanterns and benches complete the bucolic scene. If it hadn't been so cold I would have spent more time on the common.

Instead, I took my last shot of the church and ducked into the local coffee shop for a hot chocolate. Yum!

At night, I went over to my Dad's to celebrate his birthday. We dined on Italian food. Dad had veal parmesan and my sister and I had broccoli and penne. We had tiramisu for dessert. Delish!

My present to my Dad? A Netflix membership for the year. He really enjoys watching movies. Since we got him a bigger screen TV for Christmas I think this is a great gift!

I have my clothes ready for tomorrow. You know I am going to be parked in front of the TV to watch the Patriots play the Ravens.  And then of course I will watch to see the winner of the NFC Championship.
A full day I say!

Weekend R&R

So this weekend was a long weekend and I had three days of R&R. Sweet!

I planned to stay home Saturday night and watch the Patriots- Broncos game by myself. Such a fan am I that I like to watch the game without distraction in the comfort of my own home. I guess I am a football snob.  I was invited to a playoff party at my friends Deborah and Roger's home. I accepted the invite and so I went to the party with my friends Kim and John.

We had a wonderful time at this small gathering. Great food and great company. They made sure I got a front row seat and I was in heaven. I had a fireplace with a roaring fire on my left, sandwiches and snacks on the coffee table in front of me, and a large screen TV with the game playing right in front of me. Football viewing perfection!

I just had to take a picture of Nathan's Tshirt. He is the youngest son of Roger and Deborah, Nathan made an appearance as Santa at my Christmas Soiree. I think his picture is on that post.

Kim and I were admiring the sleigh in the living room and Deborah told us the story of how they acquired it. Roger and Nathan thought they should get a sleigh for the front yard for the holidays. They looked at  a number of antique ones but this one is new and it can actually function as a real sleigh. The price was comparable to the antiques. It was made by the Amish and they only make 12 each year. It is magnificent!

On Sunday, still euphoric from the Patriots win, I decided to have a couple people over for coffee and dessert. I made an apple crisp and my sister made a lemon cheesecake out of lemon curd.

The four of us also had chocolate pizzelles and cornmeal ginger cookies. It was a nice

laid back evening.

I was excited to use my new lantern purchased after Christmas at Pier One. It gives off a nice warm glow.

I used the recipe from one of my Susan Branch cookbooks for the apple crisp. It is super easy and takes no time at all. I decided to rest it on my silver cakestand with the crystal drops. You can't go wrong with crystals and candlelight for simple elegance.

We drank tea and coffee out of little bird mugs. You can see them in the photos above. I love black and white toile. Each mug has a cover for keeping the beverage warm and a saucer to limit spillage. I don't  have many of the mugs so I can't use them with large groups. 

I had a nice relaxing weekend. How about you? What were your plans?

A gathering of friends

Last night was great. I attended a mini high school reunion at a friend's home.  My friends and I recently had a reunion with the entire class but of course you can't really catch up with everyone in a function hall atmosphere.  So some of us vowed to get together after the holidays for a more intimate evening.

We had such fun.  The dress was casual and we all gathered in a cozy living room to have drinks and appetizers. The conversation was easy as we caught up with each other's lives.

For hours, we talked about books, love, diets, aging parents, careers, our homes, hopes and dreams. We started out as one group with a single conversation and then broke into smaller groups as some of us went into the kitchen where side conversations emerged.

It was midnight before I noticed the clock. We had been talking for 4 1/2 hours! I paused for a moment and watched my high school friends engaged in conversation. I realized how lucky I am to be a part of this amazing group of intelligent, attractive, joyful women. 

We vowed to meet again this year.  We want to keep in touch after so many years apart.

A new coffee place

 Found a new coffee place this weekend thanks to my friend Kim. It's called The Biscuit and it is located in Somerville near the Cambridge line.

Actually the place is not new, just new to me. At The Biscuit, they make their bakery items on the premises. Such a selection of tarts both sweet and savory, breads, scones, cookies!

There was quite a selection of items to choose from.  I opted for the tomato and feta tart. Glad I chose it. I had it warmed and it was delicious.

The decor is simple and the coffee is fantastic.  I most confess I brought a few items home. I highly recommend the cornmeal ginger cookies!

2011 the year in review

Hello blog readers! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season and I wish you a
happy and healthy New Year.

As always, I take this time to assemble a year in review mosaic. I love looking back at my previous years in review. My blog serves as my memory as I get older!

You will notice a lot of the photos are of familiar faces and places and I seem to gravitate to the same favorite locations year after year.  My friends will of course always be my friends, they are really more like family to me.

I visited Nubble Light in Maine and Rockport in Massachusetts again this year. I held a Christmas Soiree and a Harvest Dinner again. I reconnected with some high school classmates at my reunion this year and we are going to continue to keep in touch (a gathering is already scheduled). We had a lovely time this Summer at a wedding on the ocean. Nothing relaxes me like being at the ocean.  I attended the Bedford Polecapping for the first time (my sister was a participant).  Coffee continues to be my drug of choice and I love meeting my friends for a cup of joe and some good conversation.  My sister and I put our hearts and souls into rescuing little Miss Marble, our hearts were in the right place yet it ended tragically.  It still brings tears to my eyes to think about her but I do believe her best interests were always foremost in our thoughts. And I know she is playing and having a grand time in heaven. Percy grew up right before my eyes and he is settling in a little better with his brother and sister. In 2011, I thought the snow would never stop falling. Still, I love the sight of freshly fallen snow.  When the weather turned nice, I attended my first Red Sox game in ages and an Octoberfest and had my first but hopefully not my last blogger meetup.

Phew, I guess it was a full year after all.  So I am ready for 2012, my only resolution is to let it be and not sweat the small stuff. I stress entirely too much and I don't want to waste a single minute of my life on unnecessary worry.  Most of it is out of my control anyway.

Check out other Mosaic Monday posts here http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/mosaic-monday-2011-in-pictures.html

A trip to the Bedford Village Inn

Every year after Christmas, my sister, me, and our friends Duane and Lori Lee visit the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford, NH.  We have dinner, exchange presents, and then we tour the inn and view all the beautiful holiday decorations.

We sat in a lovely room with a warm glow. I ordered the pork chop with pomegranate puree, polenta, and cauliflower. It was delicious.  My sister had the halibut and Lori Lee and Duane had pasta fra diavolo.

For dessert, I had the chocolate bag, the Inn's signature dessert.  It is a "bag" made of Belgian chocolate filled with sponge cake, chocolate mousse, assorted berries and whipped cream. I knew I was ordering this before I ever entered the inn!

After we ate, we went to the various rooms to see the decorations.  There were snippets of Robert Frost poems on chalkboards throughout one of the rooms.

This chandelier had a frosty glow, so pretty!  I should steal this idea!

All of the wreaths at the inn were gorgeous. The decorations are always unique.

This dining room looks so inviting. Maybe next time we will request this room. The inn is so old and many of the rooms are very small. It makes for an intimate dining experience.

I love the clock display on this wall. My sister thinks it looks like steam punk.

 A fireplace graces another of the small dining rooms. Any room you choose to dine in is special.  I have eaten in a few different rooms and each experience was enjoyable.  The service is excellent as well.

A number of designers decorate the inn so each room has a totally different look.

If you get a chance to visit the Bedford Village Inn by all means go, you won't be disappointed!

Christmas Light Police

Every year my Sister and I like to ride around our hometown and surrounding towns and critique some Christmas light displays.  We didn't do it this year but there is still time!

I decided to visit a few houses myself and snap a photo or two to share with you.  Mind you it is more fun to be critical. For example, anyone with inflatables on the lawn gets bonus points for bad taste. And if said inflatable is deflated that's even worse.  The worst one we ever saw was an inflatable nativity scene. We found it in poor taste.

This is much nicer than an inflatable manger don't you think? Although there are lots of lights on this home I actually don't mind it.  I tend to like a simpler approach.

This home in Wakefield caught my eye.  Sometimes when a homeowner tries to outline their home with lights it looks just awful.  I think these people got it right.  Too bad I did not get it right in my photo, too blurry!

As I said I go for a simpler approach, I like a flood light on the door with some well placed or interesting decorations.  My neighbors down the street get style points for this display.

They have some lovely architectural details over the door and the flood light does a great job of highlighting them.  Cool snowshoes too!

Another neighbor's home. The home is accented with a deep purple and lavender so hence the Christmas light color scheme.

It is a profusion of purple and blue led lights. They were much more vibrant in person! Like it or not it makes a statement. Very creative people live here.

Still trying to get a good shot of this display. I had to give up. It was 28 degrees out and that was not the wind chill temperature.  It was very windy out tonight!

Since I've been battling a nasty head cold I decided to go inside and warm up and turn my camera to my own decorations. The ski over the french doors is a new addition this year.

Here's a closer look, the writing was done by an artist friend of the owner of Nesting on Main in Concord.

I put my paper Christmas angel (purchased last year from Nesting) outside of a vintage frame.

The angel looked lonely hanging on the large wall over the sofa. My sister thought I should put something in a second frame on the wall. So I looked through my Christmas decoarations and came up with these two peace doves. My sister had to do some repair work on the frame and then she hung it for me too.

Here's the finished project.  I like the color scheme and the two subjects seem to work well together.

Here's my feather tree. I decorated it with vintage clip earrings and pins.  It looks unfinished to me. I may have to add some bird ornaments to it.  The mirror underneath it is an antique.

Here's one of the clip earrings.

I love this crown tealight holder.

Here's a close up of the crown.

I have a pair of them on my bookcase. They make the prettiest shadows on the walls.

You can see it better in this shot.  Nice glow and firelight shadows.  I think I will keep this out after Christmas too!

I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my neighborhood and condo.  The kitties and I were glad you could stop by.