All posts filed under: Seasonal

snow

A Bit Of Snow

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In case you are coming to the area to ski, there is something you need to know…. The slopes are currently open on Thursday – Sunday, meaning closed Mondays – Wednesday. Tubing is closed. The ski slope webcam can be found HERE. < this is actually pretty cool. So far, we’ve had a pretty mild winter, compared to recent winters; not that I am complaining, or anything. The Hagerstown Almanac doesn’t call for much snow in February either, a few days of heavy show between the 17th and the 19th.  We will see. Stay Warm! UPDATE  The slopes were only closed during that time as they were making snow.  All slopes and tubing are now open.  The webcam is cool to watch, even at night when they are just making snow.

highland maple

Highland County Maple Festival

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Every year, residents and visitors alike, look forward to the Highland County Maple Festival.  This celebration occurs the second and third weekend of March; for 2016, March 12-13 and 19-20.  One weekend will be beautiful and the other rainy/snowy.  We are betting on which weekend will host which weather and the consensus seem to be this coming weekend (12-13) will be on the sunny side.  Both weekends hold something for everyone; food, crafts, entertainment, a picture-taking palooza (even when the weather is bleak). Making the syrup from tree sap has been a tradition in many areas for generations, some have it down to a science, monitoring day/night temps to know what the sap yield will be.  For those of you who wish to make your own syrup and are interested in tips from a backyard tapper, check out Kathie’s post on tapping backyard trees. If you plan to be in the area, take the long way home and swing through Monterey.  The drive home is always yummier when you have a box of warm maple sugar doughnuts!   …

Christmas Ghost Stories

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The Christmas we celebrate today has not changed much from that of Victorian England; decorating an evergreen, sending Christmas cards, caroling, and stuffing stockings.  The exception to this is an old fashioned ghost story, told around a fire, with a drink in hand. Have you really paid attention to a particular phrase from the popular Christmas carol, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year … And caroling out in the snow There’ll be scary ghost stories And tales of the glories of … Missed it, didn’t you.  Telling scary stories at Christmas time was a long-held English tradition; remember, ‘in the day’ people did not have television; people gathered together, drank and told stories.  Only traces of this once beloved tradition remain: singing the above carol and listening (or watching) Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Did you know that the celebration of Christmas was almost abolished?  In the mid-1700’s, Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell argued that in no place in the Bible were Christians told to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. December the 25th was chosen not …

christmas yule

Waxing Sentimental

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For some, this is a bit soon to be thinking of Christmas and for others, planning began months ago.  Our holidays are normally low-key (except for Halloween) yet I am waxing sentimental for the coldest of holidays – in the Northern Hemisphere, that is. My memories of Christmas past, included one large gift under the tree (usually a craft project box) and a stocking filled to the brim with nuts, oranges, smoked oysters, and miscellaneous small gifts that could be wrapped and added.  At no time were gifts tumbling from under the tree; when my daughters were young, I tried to keep minimal the norm…very difficult with well meaning grands. Gifts need to have purpose and meaning.  My sister has a rule: One must be able to wear it, eat it, or put it in the bank.  An excellent rule with one addition: it must be handmade. That brings me to now.  Having poured through many crafting/repurposing idea books, we found several viable gift ideas..items that must be started now in order to be ready in time for …