Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas Cheer

We are enjoying our holiday at home. We spoke to many relatives on friends on Christmas day, opened some jolly gifts and had dinner with the Panosky's. It was great to see the extended Panosky family, and as usual the food (Jen) and service (Mark) was amazing!


Our time away from work has been spent with some brisk walks, cooking, meals with friends and some prep work on the den at Spruce Street. Rumor has it we might start painting tomorrow. We enjoyed having Gene and Kathy for dinner on Boxing Day and feasted on Greek-style sausages, complimented with dolmades, olives and roast potatoes. We also enjoyed a dinner with the Panosky's and the Shalaev's for dinner. Sheri is making Chicken Tagine and Bruno has made some spectacular brandy baskets that will be served with blueberries from the Garden.








We have been spending some time at Spruce Street as well, we will send some photos soon. It has been fun to see the house with a fresh coat of paint in the snow. It almost looks ready to rent.



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve




We are enjoying our first day of the Christmas holiday at home. The snow that came over the weekend has brought us the holiday spirit, including a little "South Beach" flavor thanks to Gene and Kathy Fiese. In the midst of the weekend storm a "way cool" Santa and two tiny flamingos (flasher and flicker, flamingos with antlers) landed in the lawn just off the deck.

Today we trekked to the garden, and dug through 8" of snow to harvest Brussels sprouts and leeks for our Christmas Eve dinner. Stay tuned for a December Face of Produce!
The temperatures are rising and the snow quickly melting, but we might just sneak in a white Christmas.




Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Colorful updates to 25 Spruce Street




Work at the house on Spruce Street continues as we move into the den and half-bath, the last two rooms! We are sanding and scraping with the goal of painting these rooms over the holidays. The most exiting come from Bruno's father Nick. Nick designed and made three stained glass panel for the slide light by the front door. The effect is beautiful, and what a delight it was to discover this artistic side of Nick. Please find more photos of the stained glass installation, and some evidence of hard work on the den.







Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter solstice




Hurray, the days are getting longer! We are already dreaming of fresh salad greens and spring beets and carrots. In the meantime, we are pleased to celebrate the transition from mud season to winter here in Connecticut. While, Kokee didn't seem to mind the mud, the rest of us are pretty happy to see the snow. Many thanks to Mark for plowing us out after an early storm. Welcome winter!


Saturday, December 20, 2008

Tune of the Month for December

It wouldn't be right not to post a link to one of our favorite Christmas songs this month. And what could be more Christmassy than Monty Python? Here is one from the archives, in honor of Liberace and all our favorite crooners......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TvaRcovy2I


And for those of you old enought to remember, this month's bonus track is a glam-rock favorite from the not too distant past. Roy Wood at his best (maybe)! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zt6Ot8WLHw&feature=related

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Catching the Christmas spirit



We made our annual pilgrimage to the small family tree farm just down the road. It was a warm sunny day (relative to previous years!) and nice to see some neighbors and friends from Westerly in our part of the world. The tree is in place and festooned with colorful bulbs, a few odd "oldies but goodies" and a disco ball at the top. One day we will invest in an official star for the top of the tree. Check out the before and after tree photos.




Sunday, December 7, 2008

Conditions in New York

New York Update: We had a great day in New York City, and even experienced a little seasonal weather. As you can see above we also found unusual conditions at the "Canada Travel" photo booth in Bryant Park!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

NYC




We arrived in NYC for a weekend with Jo and Eric to enjoy the sites at the early side of the Christmas season. We woke to a spectacular view of Manhattan from the 50th floor of The Corinthian, where Pfizer has a few rooms available to employees if not being used for Pfizer business, at a very good rate! The early morning skies are clear and we are looking forward to a walk through Central Park, some window shopping, The Rockettes tonight and all the good eats that NYC has to offer. We are becoming quite the urbanites these days.