Lots of Ho, Ho, Ho

It seems like the holiday season starts earlier every year. The decorations are up in the stores before the kids have eaten all their Halloween candy. Retailers jump into Christmas so fast they almost squeeze Thanksgiving out of the loop. It’s more about Black Friday, a day I don’t participate in and cannot understand. For me, there just isn’t a bargain worth going out at four or five in the morning, standing in line for hours and risking the chance of getting trampled only to find out the item has been sold out.

I envy those who have their shopping done already. I have great intentions and often squirrel away a gift or two in August. As usual, I’m not done. I started our cards in October. My plan was to have them all ready to drop in the mail when we came back from North Conway on December 3rd. This might have worked if I had remembered to buy the stamps. Our cards went in yesterday’s mail.
On the travel scene:

Dick and I had a great trip to Disney in late October. The Halloween decorations were a nice change of pace. The weather hit record breaking temperatures of mid to high 80’s all week. We enjoyed the food and wine festival in Epcot, saw Boys 2 Men in concert at the American Pavilion, ate lunch at Tony’s in the Magic Kingdom and Dick talked me into auditioning for American Idol at Hollywood Studios (MGM). They didn’t send me to Hollywood, but we had a lot of laughs and sat in the audience for one of the shows.

A bit of nostalgia.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, we spent four nights at the Attitash Mountain Village Resort in Bartlett, New Hampshire. We had lunch at Horsefeathers in North Conway on our first day. The weather was great. I left Dick watching football and headed for my favorite nearby shops: Zeb’s General Store, the Penguin, Beggar’s Pouch, the Spruce Hurricane, Cool Jewels and the 5 and 10.

Loving nostalgia the way I do, I can never get enough of The North Conway 5 and 10 Cent Store. Stepping over the threshold of this historic five and dime is like walking into a time machine that sends you back into a bygone era. The toy counter is packed with board games, Chinese checkers, Tiddly Winks, Pick Up Sticks, yo-yo’s, paper dolls, magic slates, weaving looms and potholder loops. Remember Slinky? The old wooden floors creak as you make your way over to the cedar trinket boxes, embroidered handkerchiefs and the candy counter stocked with malted milk balls, snow caps and pink Canada mints.

On a high shelf, in between two metal wind-up toys, I spotted a bottle of Blue Waltz perfume. It was not for sale, but the saleslady took it down, opened it and let me take a whiff. The scent of that perfume in the little heart shaped bottle with the blue tulip cap brought back memories of Christmas shopping when I was a kid. Blue Waltz was twenty-nine cents then and my favorite perfume. I bought it for my mother and my aunts every year. Funny how the littlest things can jog the memory. I got into a conversation with the woman and found she grew up on the north shore, not far from where I live. We had fun reminiscing about Blue Waltz, Evening in Paris, Woolworth’s, Christmas shopping and what life was like back then. It was a great beginning to our trip.

We spent one afternoon of our stay at the Mount Washington Hotel. There was snow at Mount Washington and I was able to get some breathtaking photos of the mountains from the veranda that wraps around this magnificent hotel. We had lunch across from Bretton Woods, watching the skiers enjoying the winter sport.

We came home to howling winds at Seaport after a quiet relaxing four days in the mountains. That’s New England.

Thank you for reading my blog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS.

BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2010.

Lina

Sweet September

September is half over. Jobs are scarce, but I continue to network and explore possibilities. The right thing will turn up. In the meantime, I’m learning how to use my new camera, spending time with Katie, writing and doing volunteer work. Dick and I have enjoyed some great day trips.

We took the subway into Boston for the Feast of Saint Anthony. I saw the Rose Kennedy Greenway for the first time and found interesting photo opportunities in the North End. Walking along the narrow streets, we watched vendors set up their pushcarts in preparation for the biggest feast of the summer. We wandered through, taking in the aromas of various pasta dishes, pizza, sausage, peppers and onion. So much great food! It started to rain just as I was eating my ziti. I saved the gourmet biscotti for later and we headed back to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. We stopped for a drink at an outside café, walked back to the subway and got home before the deluge.

That same weekend, we took a ride to Ipswich for fried clams and continued on to the beautiful seaside town of Newburyport. I loved having bigger boats and different scenery to take pictures of and rambling through the Oldies Market. I got some terrific shots. We went to a farm stand on the way home. I found an unexpected photo opportunity. They had chickens, turkeys, a llama and, of all things, a buffalo. You know I had to get his picture. Photography can be a challenging and sometimes dangerous hobby.

Last Friday, Dick took me on a mystery ride. Not knowing where I could end up, I grabbed a hooded jacket and my camera. It was cold and windy at Salisbury Beach. Even though it has changed so much and doesn’t have the flavor I remember as a kid, I liked being there. I looked at what it is now and saw visions of the exciting place it once was. I stood where the Frolics used to be and remembered the night when I was fourteen and my dad took me there to see Paul Anka. I took some pictures of the crashing waves, something that had always been part of that beach. I thought about the rental cottages and some of the family vacations spent there. Recalling it all so vividly, I pointed out where the flying horses, boats, tilt-a-whirl, rollercoaster, Ferris wheel, dodgem cars and fun house with the barrels once stood. It was like stepping into a time machine. We had a slice of pizza at Tripoli’s. It’s not the same as it was all those years ago, but my taste buds were working from memory. A light rain began to fall. We ate in the car and I was further surprised when we continued on to Hampton Beach where the Seafood Festival was beginning.

It was colder and windy at Hampton too, but not raining. We walked through the tents and stores and food booths for an hour and a half. I had fun taking more pictures. It rained hard all the way home. Once again, we got out before a deluge.

On the writing scene: I’ve been toying with the idea of resurrecting Carousel Kisses and getting it out there in the global market. I’ve even been thinking of starting my own publishing company. I have added a story or two to Sweet Violets and hope to get that one further along while I have the time. As you can see, I’m blogging again.

I hope your summer was a good one, despite the torrential downpours of June and July and the steaminess that followed the rainy days of this ridiculous excuse of a summer. I hope your vacations went well and that you are enjoying the cooler days and a sweet September as we segue in fall. Dick and I are looking forward to Disney in October and I’m trying not to think about Black Friday or Christmas shopping being so close.

Happy fall!

Hello Again! I'm back!

I think it’s about time I try this blogging thing again. I spent hours creating it then dropped it like a rock. I made an attempt to get back to it several months ago. After spending an hour writing a post and checking it over, I hit the wrong button and blew it away forever. I hope I do better this time around and will start with trying to fill you in on my most recent adventures.

A little over a year ago, I started the North Shore Scribes, a group for women writers. This small, wonderful group of talented ladies meets once a month on Saturday mornings to share the craft they love. By using their writing knowledge and life’s experiences, each one brings something special to the two-hour sessions. Whether it’s fiction, memoirs, poetry, screenplays, or just a short piece about something that recently inspired us, we read, critique, encourage and support each other and enjoy a few good laughs in the process. We discuss our work and where we want to go with it. I look forward to more inspiring times with these creative women.

I’m currently enjoying some time at home. There hasn’t been much of a summer, but free time is free time. I’ll take what I can get and use it wisely. I made a list of things I want to do and have been trying to get to at least one or two every week. I visited the Peabody Essex and the Lynn Museums, browsed the shops in Salem and went to Revere Beach to see the sand sculptures for the first time. I go to the Mall in the middle of the week. I go for walks and take pictures with my new camera. Looks like I’ve started blogging again. Hopefully, I will get back to my writing and work on finishing Sweet Violets. I also plan to dabble in oil painting again before the summer is over. I’ve been to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun and am looking forward to our next Disney trip in October.

I try to spend as much time with Katie, my granddaughter, as possible. Hard to believe she is two and a half already. She knows that on Wednesday nights, “Mimi” (that’s who I am now), comes to visit and on the weekends she usually goes shopping with Mimi and her mother. Dick and I have four grandchildren now. Libby, Mason, Katie and Ben. Octoberfest should be a rousing event this year.

I hope this brings you up to speed. If there is anything in particular you want to chat about on here, please feel free to let me know. As always, I appreciate your comments and feedback.

Hope to keep this going a little longer this time. I will try to post a few new photos to show you what I’m doing with the new camera.

Lina