Back in early June, after a particularly tough day at work, we decided to take a spontaneous drive up to Plum Island to spend some time by the ocean – the perfect remedy for a stressful day. We made a quick stop at home for flips flops, books, a blanket and a kite and headed for the beach. We spent a couple of hours just lounging – Aaron flew a kite – we watched local fishermen… We stayed until the sun went down and the bugs moved in. It was a lovely evening and reminder that our shore vacation was just around the corner.

Nothing fancy here – just some colorful photos from this past October. One autumn night I came out of the grocery store and the sky was orange and purple as the sun went down. Also, there is a tree in the middle of the cul de sac we live on and this past fall its leaves were beautiful, especially against the blue sky. Here’s a small album of fall photos.

About a week before Christmas we got our first big snow storm of the season, which I for one was excited about. We got just under a foot of snow and it made everything white and beautiful. It felt very festive. Here are just a few photos we took out in the neighborhood while we were out shoveling once the storm was over. I do love New England in the winter time.

So as many of you know, I’m not a gardener, but I am trying. Aaron’s mom has been a huge help since we bought the house and has put countless hours into developing our yard. I just try to keep up. Unfortunately Aaron’s mom broke her ankle earlier this fall, so I had to find a way to plant the fall bulbs on my own – without Rita’s help. Ugh. And then I heard about the Bulb Bopper. You see, when Rita and I work together in the yard, she works about 4 times faster than me – in the time it takes me to plant 3 things, she has planted 12. I’m not kidding. She’s a machine. I think this tool might help me to level the playing field a little bit. You see it’s a giant auger that you attach to a drill and it digs the holes for you. I could do their commercials. Anyway, I bought the tool and it definitely made the planting go quicker, although admittedly not as fast as when Rita does it by hand. I’ll take whatever advantage I can get.

Sorry everyone…you know how it goes, all of a sudden it’s holiday time and I haven’t posted in weeks. Here goes….

Back in October, Amy, Joe, Justin, Aaron and I went back to the Topsfield Fair, a local agricultural town fair. We spent the evening wandering the fair, people watching, checking out exhibits, and eating. There were all kinds of food and we bought a little of everything and shared. Our list included latkes, corn dogs, fried dough, German fries, pizza, a giant turkey leg, a steak sub, and cider donuts. Justin loved looking at all the rides that were lit up once it got dark. This year he went on a school bus ride twice and the carousel. Click on the photo above to see the photos.

If Aaron needed any further confirmation that the house we bought last fall is the right place for us, he got it in June when a Chipotle, Aaron’s favorite chain restaurant, opened less than 3 miles, and less than a 10 minute car ride, from our house. They don’t recognize him as a regular yet, but I think they will soon. And I’ll even admit that the food is pretty good.

When we became homeowners, everyone told us to consider the house a permanent ongoing project. They were right – not too long after we moved in we discovered that two of the house’s skylights leaked. It wasn’t so bad in the winter when things were frozen, but when things got a little warmer and started to melt – replacing the skylights became a priority. So, in March we had them replaced. For the first month we had them, I would check beneath them every time it rained to make sure there were no leaks. I took these photos one afternoon after the rain had stopped. The skylights were covered with tiny pools of water, which had a cool effect on the view above and finally convinced me their seal was tight.

Back in mid January we finally got my kind of snow storm – decent accumulation, a cold crisp day and a day off from work…NICE!
The above is a picture of the cherry tree out in the front yard. This album contains a few photos that we took on our way outside to shovel out. Days like this are the reason I love winter.

After Christmas with my family, we had our first house guests – Aaron’s Mom, sister Lisa and nephew Andrew. They came up to visit, see the house and help us with some projects. Aaron’s Mom came first and stayed for a week. She brought her sewing machine and impressive work ethic and dove right in. She not only helped clean (windows, blinds, etc), she also made us living room drapes and guest bedroom and bathroom curtains. During her stay, Lisa and Andrew came up for a few days. As soon as they walked in the door, they also went to work – unpacking, cleaning, organizing, hanging art. Aaron and Andrew found some downtime to play Rockband (that’s right, I’m the singer), and Lisa and I did some speed shopping (Lisa is a quick and efficient shopper). Needless to say, it was a very productive week and our thanks go out to our family for all their efforts.

So, I’m gradually catching up on all these old posts and photos…now we’re onto December. Much to my surprise and delight we had several snow storms in December, before the holidays. We live up on a pretty steep hill, so we’ve had to learn quick how to get up it when the roads are bad. On occasion it’s taken us a couple of tries, but we’ve never not been able to get home. The storms also provided us with an opportunity to meet some of the neighbors as everyone is outside shoveling. Oddly enough on two occasions different neighbors came over to introduce themselves and help us shovel our driveway. It’s a bit of a culture shock for us – very different from apartment life, but we’re not complaining. :)