Holiday Lights & Traditions

Take a moment during this busy time of the year and take a ride around Dexter and other communities as part of your holiday tradition and enjoy the holiday lights.
People take a lot of time, effort and pride to put up decorations for all of us to enjoy!
My dog Meg and I go out many evenings a week for a short "Light Ride". Too bad there isn't a little bit of snow for the lights to reflect on.
As a kid, I remember my parents taking my brother Steve and me out for the "lights ride" and back then we didn't have all the blow ups and blinkers, but it was still memorable and time spent with our parents.

Speaking of traditions, it brings to mind my mother (Mackie)carring out the tradition of making all kinds of candy; the yummy peanut butter balls, homemade fudges, cookies, etc. After the threats were done, we went and delivered to all the people who worked for my parents in the summer at Lake Shore Lunch. These special people included (but not limited to) close friends, the bus driver, postman and neighbors to deliver these special treats.

As my brother and I got older one of us had to dress up as Santa to make these deliveries. Neither of us really appreciated that tradition at the time, but now I look back on those memories as treasured ones.
Christmas morning, after we opened our stockings, we delivered hot homemade walnut breakfast sticky buns to all our neighbors, which came fresh from the oven! First we delivered by car with my Dad driving, and then later, as Steve and I got older, we went by snowmobile and once I even did by horseback.

These are just a few of the traditions I remember growing up! Please share yours……
Merry Christmas

Emma Update

My little girl turned 3 weeks old today and weighs just over a pound. Her little rash is clearing up from the scratch she got from her brother and sisters.
Holly took this picture for me yesterday and surprise emailed it to me. Put a smile on my face, and you can never guess what my new desktop photo is. My horse Dexter would probably be jealous, but as you pet owners know, there can never be too many pets!!!
WELL, there can be, but we choose not to think about it that way :)
Hope you and your pets have a Wonderful Holiday pre-season....
Judy & Emma

New York Thanksgiving

Well I have finally visited the Big Apple!!! My oldest daughter Jennifer is now living in Brooklyn and working in Manhattan, so Tiffany, my youngest daughter and I took a road trip and the 3 of us had a New York Thanksgiving.
I had a lot of firsts while there.... The subway, crowded Food Co Ops, parking garages, haggling with street vendors, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, traffic beyond belief, and more, but it was an experience I will never forget.

Some of the things that surprised me is how helpful & nice people were!!! If we were looking at the subway maps, people would come over and ask if we needed help. We even had a lady in a car next to us at a huge intersection, put her window down and ask if we need direction. That was the topper! Another surprise, I was under the impression that subways were dirty and dangerous. You couldn't prove it by me. All the ones we were on were clean, friendly and fairly easy to navigate.

Jen took us out on Friday to "get our feet wet" and on Saturday, Tiffany and I made our way from Brooklyn to Manhattan and beyond. We walked more than I have walked in years, but it was worth it. We saw everything from Chinatown, Soho, Tribeca, Central Park (walked across from the West Side to the East), and went to the Museum of Modern Art. It was kinda late by that time, so we decided not to pay $20 for only a hour, so we will put that on the To Do list for another time. I also wanted to go to the Twin Tower memorial, but ran out of time.

I did find that things were very expensive, but you could find good deals too! I am not much of a shopper, but enjoyed window shopping and the street fare.
I also got to meet a client Emily Pearlman who I have been working with for many years, but only had know each other through email and phone calls. Her studio (EPPottery.com) is in Tribeca, which Tiffany and I found, and had a great visit and lunch. It was great to put a face to her name.

Our trip home was LONGGGGGGGG........ we got caught up on Holiday Traffic and we went about 30 miles and it took 3 hours! So our 5 1/2 hour trip down (in the night) took almost 8 plus hours to get home. Portland that is....
Overall, the trip was awesome!!!!! But it was good to get home. My pets were happy to see me too :)

I also got to see my new puppy Emma at Holly's, who lives in Arundel, 2 times. Once on the way down and once on the way back! She is so cute and sooooo little. Can't wait to bring her home in January. Guess that's another trip to Arudel. YIPEE, the country girl heading to southern Maine AGAIN!
FYI: Emma's eyes are open at 2 weeks old (yesterday)
Check out Holly's website and see more pictures of the 2 litters of puppies.