Preparing the House for Hosting

On Christmas Eve we got things into place and constructed a large dining room table out of two hollow core doors on sawhorses.

the doors worked pretty well as you can see below...the birds nest gourds on the table are from the garden and have been dried.

gathering together for games...

a successful dinner

with everyone enjoying the green jello (aka salad)...

How evergreen your branches

This past Christmas we decided to try out a new tree farm. We ended up at Keith's Tree Farm in Acushnet. It was frigid out, but we walked the tree loop and struggled with indecision as we took in the somewhat surreal landscape. Some of the planted trees in grids had become overgrown and were like impenetrable rectangular forests.

There were alot of trees that were too big, and many that were small, and round...

we ended up choosing a tree that was very close to the main building even after walking in frozen circles for what seemed like miles. luckily inside the building they were constantly making warm large chocolate chip cookies which kept our sugar energy high.

sadly our volvo was in the shop for this adventure so we took a zip car. it was probably for the best that we chose a little tree.

installed and lit back at home!

officially ornamented

We got some new woodland creatures for our tree this year- owls...

and mushrooms...

...and a pickle.

tim's grandma made the red bird and angel ornaments many years ago.

The tree is still up (at the end of January) because it refuses to drop it's needles and it continues to light the living room.

Best Appliance Ever

thanks to all who contributed to the Ocean Street Fund, we now have a dishwasher. this amazing appliance has already bettered our daily lives in the first few days of owning it. we put to use the already re-done corner of the kitchen to the right of the sink...

stainless interior...

tim added two new circuits, one for the freezer and one for the dishwasher.

our favorite plumber Bruce came by to help tim install it.

for now we decided not to cut into the back wall to make the pipes fit further behind the washer so it can be flush with the cabinets. so the washer sticks out a bit but tim framed it in nicely and with a little white paint it looks great-

one of the best parts about having the washer is that means we have an empty sink and clean counters- which makes it alot easier to actually prepare a meal!

Fall Foliage

new and old plantings create color this fall. here is a blue shadow fothergilla.

bluestar and st johns wort

bright blueberries!

staghorn sumac (not planted)

marigolds and broccoli

Morning Glories of All Colors

In late summer, the morning glories started blooming...

The Garden Continues to Grow

Sunflowers

A lone pear on our ancient pear tree

kentucky wonder pole beans

a little crowded, broccoli on the right, squash and melons on the left. the bird's nest gourd climbing the trellis really ended up taking over.

peppers

raised beds and trellises

squash flowers

...and a summer squash

a baby bird's nest gourd

we had many cucumbers, great for pickling

...the rewards

July Flooding

Compared to neighbors around Quincy and other towns in the Boston area, we fared pretty well in the storms early this summer, but we still got a little water in the basement, and some ponding in the backyard.

Our man-made pond:

Where it leaks in the basement...luckily it dries quickly. This is about as bad as it got, but within a day or two it's dry again.