Kwaree Blog

Sunbeam Fleece Warming Throw – Electric Blanket

I know I complain a lot about Winter. It’s in my nature. I always feel so stupid when I do because it’s not like I am the only one on the planet who has to deal with the cold. No one else seems to complain either. It’s a lonely job complaining about Winter.

This Winter has been a little different. Usually, I make it up to about December 20 and then start my ranting and raving about how much fun I am not having. This year, my spirits are still high. I think it might be because I have been making little adjustments here and there.

You know, Winter doesn’t have to be horrible.

So, what have I done to make Winter more comfortable for me? Here is a list:

- Sweatpants to walk around in instead of my just my boxers (I know, TMI)
- Slippers to wear instead of having just bare feet
- New humidifier to help the air actually feel warm
- All wheel drive vehicles to make driving in the snow something to look forward to
- Pellet stove to warm up my hands
- Snowblower to avoid 99% of shoveling
- Happy light to get some extra sun
- Jiu Jitsu to keep my endorphins on high alert
- An electric blanket to warm up the bed before I hop in

That last one is new.

Sunbeam Fleece Warming Throw - Electric Blanket

Let me tell you a little something. Jumping into a bed with cold sheets is a lot of fun in the summertime. During the Winter, not so much. I hate it. There is nothing quite like getting in bed, throwing the covers over my head and curling up like a ball and then breathing heavy just to get the heat going. I know I’m not alone in this one. If you didn’t grow up in an apartment building where the heat is always on 90 degrees, you know what I’m talking about.

I decided that getting an electric blanket is probably one of my last little Winter comfort items. I bought it yesterday at Wal-Mart for $29.96. There were a few other brands, but they were over $60 and some even over $100. I thought those were too much because all I wanted was something to turn on for 10 minutes before I get in bed. Something to take the edge off so I don’t have to curl up like a ball anymore. I’m too old to be doing that. I couldn’t imagine the guy down the road curling up like a ball, so why do I?

I tried it out last night. Unfortunately, the blanket didn’t get all that warm. I only had it on for about three minutes while I brushed my teeth. I turned it off and got in bed. While the sheets weren’t cold, they weren’t warm either. Not like the electric blankets of yesteryear. I figure the blanket needs a good ten minutes to warm up to give me that awesome warm feeling. Kind of like the feeling of sliding into a really warm hot tub. Now that is a good feeling.

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Christmas Dinner At Saybrook Point Inn

My lady and I have a nice little tradition going. We’ve been doing it for a few years now and it really seems to be working out rather well.

What’s the tradition? Well, it’s basically avoiding the world during the holidays and spending time with each other over a nice dinner. We’ve found some great restaurants by doing this. I hope the trend continues.

I bet people think we’re nuts. “What? How in the world can you not be with your loving family during these special times? Are you crazy?“ To that I say please stop asking me those kinds of questions. I like to think that our families are secure enough to know we love them. I mean, we talk enough. Like three times a week enough. Any more of me and they might specifically ask me to stay away.

Do you know what else we do? We don’t exchange gifts. Oh here we go again…I know, I know. “Why sir, do you not exchange gifts?” I’ll tell you why. Because I don’t need anything and neither does anyone else. Really. When my friends and I talk about this, we all usually end up in agreement. My sister and I were laughing about all the garbage people get each other during the holidays and she said something really funny. She said, “Do you know what I really want for Christmas? A house.” That pushed me off the deep end. I started laughing and replied, “Yeah, how about someone paying the electric bill or stopping by to shovel the driveway.” I mean really, I don’t think anyone needs more stuff to sit on a shelf somewhere for a year before it hits the garbage. Every time I head North on 91 past Hartford and look at that huge mound of dirt I feel horrible.

I know, I’m a Grinch.

But I’m not a Grinch when we’re eating mighty good food down at the Saybrook Point Inn in Old Saybrook, CT. As I mentioned in my post about our Thanksgiving dinner, I am diggin’ the buffet idea. All you can eat and the food is awesome.

It’s weird, whenever I think of the word “buffet,” I think of bad food in Vegas. Then I have to remember that when you go to a buffet style dinner in a real restaurant, there are real chefs making the food. From what I have experienced this year, it’s really really good.

The Saybrook Point Inn pleasantly surprised me. I just couldn’t believe how good the food was. I can still remember what I ate. Man…and the desserts. Holy mother. I ate this mousse cake that I had to hold myself back from. Oh yeah, the restaurant is nice too…but the food!

Okay, enough about the great dinner that I ate multiple plates of. Enough about that. We did other stuff too.

After dinner, I drove around a bit. My better half wanted to go back to the Old Saybrook town beach to collect some shells. Her collection is growing. Of course, I drove her there. I kept telling her that I always wanted to visit a beach with snow on it. I thought it would be cool and it was. Oh yeah…she got her shells.

Before we visited the beach though, I thought it would be fun to check out this one neighborhood that we passed the last time we were in the area. The area is called “Fenwick” I think. That’s what Google Earth is telling me. It’s sort of like a peninsula with a golf course on it as well as a bunch of really nice houses. This is the type of thing that gets my attention.

During our little tour of the area, we passed by the beach, the Lynde Point Lighthouse and some Monk Parakeets. Monk Parakeets? That’s right. Our jaws dropped when we saw about five bright green birds sitting on the branches of the tree that held their nests. It was so strange because I thought these types of birds only lived in the Amazon. Apparently not. They also live in Connecticut. You should have seen me fiddling around trying to get my camera out of the bag.

So there you have it. Our very simple Christmas of 2009. Just the way I like it.

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The BLIZZARD of ‘09

I would like to start off this post by telling you that I was just kidding when I wrote my last post regarding the massive impending blizzard-like snow storm we were about to get. My sister, brother and I had been going back and forth through email all day. They were sending pictures and snowfall amounts and my sister kept telling me that we were really in for it. Apparently, they each got over a foot.

My little joke yesterday was telling people about all the snow that had already fallen in states that are south of us. I said things like, “See? I told you. That’s why we don’t move down there. Too much snow.” Of course, we get more snow than them in general. I was being foolish and I apologize for the deception.

Throughout the day, important televised programs were interrupted by an over-eager weatherman forecasting the apocalypse, or armageddon if you will. Sorry, I just wanted to use those words. There were scrollers going across the screen, important updates, flashing lights and at times, the TV vibrated.

Are you ready for the official snowfall measurement? And to think, I ran out and bought an emergency case of baked beans.

Snowfall measurement

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It’s Starting To Snow

Let’s talk about snow. I have heard it’s supposed to, but I’m not going for it.

My brother already received 15″ in Virgina and my sister probably a foot in Maryland. It’s 9:29 and I see only a few flakes.

I think this whole thing is going to blow over. Mark my words.

*** UPDATE ***

Okay, so it’s snowing a little harder now. I still think this whole thing was a bunch of hype. An inch, tops.

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Visiting Madison Center, CT

Have I told you lately that I enjoy the Connecticut coast?

So it snowed on Saturday night. We didn’t let that stop us on Sunday. Sunday’s weather was perfect for a ride in the car to see what was going on down in Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Madison Center and Guilford Center. I really wanted to see what Branford Center looked like, but we were getting a little ahead of ourselves. We’ll have to visit that another day.

It’s so strange to see a totally different culture from what we’re used to around here. I mean, it’s not totally different, but people along the coast seem to enjoy boating and golfing a bit more than we do. Also, if the number of restaurants is any indication, they enjoy eating too.

Okay, I’ll give you the 2 minute rundown of what I witnessed on our drive through these areas:

- Old Saybrook has a nice coast line. Too many people in that town for my taste.

- Westbrook has a few huge marinas, so if you are into boating, that’s your place to be. They also have the Water’s Edge Resort and Spa which looks very nice.

- Clinton was pretty cool. They had a huge nursery called Clinton Nurseries that appeared to hold a massive amount of compost behind a fence. When I say massive, I mean massive. The main street was tight and historic looking. Good for getting out of the car and walking around.

- Madison looked like it was the most wealthy of the towns we visited. There was some sort of a Santa gathering on main street and perhaps a parade. There were all sorts of people around who appeared to really love their town. If I live there, I would probably love it too. It’s really nice.

- Guilford Center was nice as well, but smaller than the rest. It’s a great looking town with a fairly large green. I bet I would like that during the Summer.

Once we hit Guilford, we turned around to head back. As we were driving, my lady indicated that she would be interested in visiting a beach. Since I have always wanted to walk on a beach in Winter, I thought it was a great idea.

The first beach type area we came across was Madison Beach. It was a pretty cool area and was located right past Madison Country Club. We hung out for a while and took some pictures which I will post below. The funny thing about this beach was the wind. On shore, there was a bit of wind, but not really all that much. When we walked out on a rocky area that jutted out about 100 feet into the water, we could hardly stand there because it was so windy. Strange. I’ll tell you, when it’s 37 degrees, the wind really cuts right through you.

After that, we stopped off at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Now this was the bomb diggity. I didn’t even know that Connecticut had beaches like this (again). The park is pretty huge and even offers camping. I could totally see us walking up and down this beach for our daily exercise. Great sand, great water and interesting features. I’ll post the pictures below.

After that, we stopped off at a diner in Old Saybrook and headed back. It was getting dark, so I figured our day out on the Connecticut shore was just about over. Till next time…

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First Snow 2009/2010

If you live anywhere in Connecticut that is North of the Southern edge, you probably got snow on Saturday night. Oh yay.

Yeah, it’s back. I thought it would just fall and melt really fast like it normally does this time of year. Whelp, it’s not gone yet and it’s Monday. I do see some dripping off the roof though, which is a good sign. The grass is peeking through too.

We only got about an inch and a half. My sister down in Maryland got about three inches. See, that’s why I try to stay up North…less snow. haha.

Hey, have a nice Winter. I’ll call you in Spring.

If you think this is any different than what went down last year, check out my “Orange Winter Sunset” post that I wrote on December 7, 2008.

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Hunt Christmas Tree Farm in Coventry, CT

For information on Hunt Christmas Tree Farm, please click here.

—————

Here we go, Christmas tree 2009.

Thursday was the day. We didn’t know if the weather was going to cooperate any more than it has and there is nothing worse than trying to find and cut down a Christmas tree in the snow. Actually, I have never done that and now that I think about it, it might be fun. Either way, I truly enjoy walking around Christmas tree farms hunting for the “one.”

As usual, I didn’t have much of a choice. When she gets going, she gets going. It’s like I walk around talking to myself. Have you ever seen “Napoleon Dynamite?” Do you know who Deb is? That’s who she is like. She walks around with her hand on her chin, completely focused. She usually gets the third or fourth tree she wants. I have to snap her back to reality regarding dimensions. “No dear, I am not pulling that thing back to the car. No dear, I am not dragging that through the front door. No dear, the bottom won’t even fit in the stand.”

This year, we visited Hunt Christmas Tree Farm in Coventry, CT to cut down our 2009 Christmas tree. We were pretty much the only ones on the lot. We planned it that way because I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone. I like peace and quiet when I have to make important decisions.

I decided to bring my trailer instead of lugging the tree back to the house on the roof of my car. Last year, a big burly type of a fellow decided to give a hand throwing the tree on the car roof. He stepped on my running boards and nearly collapsed them. Then, he almost shattered the sunroof with his toss. I am grateful that nothing broke, but I still have nightmares of vacuuming up little pieces of tempered glass from the interior. The trailer worked out perfectly.

The tree farm is pretty large. There were plenty of trees to choose from and the really neat thing is that there is a dirt road around the entire thing. This means that you get to drive around and park where ever you feel like your tree might be. There was even a dude who drove around to help out people who were ready to make the cut. He gave you the “good” saw and then brought the tree back and wrapped it up. The trees cost $35 each and that includes the wrapping and a tree bag for when you are all finished. The tree bag goes underneath the stand and when it’s time for the tree to be removed from the house, you just slide the bag right up and around the entire thing. Of course, we have woods outside, so you won’t find me trying to put anything out near the road. I’ll clip it up into small pieces.

The rumor on the street is that you want to see some pictures. Okay, they are below, but let me tell you something amusing. When I was trimming the bottom branches to get a better fit into the tree stand, I cut one that mattered. I know this has probably happened to a lot of you, but there was nothing I could do about it. I only took off three little twigs. One of them was not as little as the other two. Oh well…what’s a tree without some character? We actually just stuffed that branch into the stand and made the best of it. Gee, that reminds me of the good ol’ days.

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Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Lenox and Lee

On Thursday of last week, we decided to head up to the Berkshires for some apple picking. Every year, we end up going too late and are rushed by the end of the season. Of course there are still apples to pick, but many of the varieties are already gone. This year, we thought it would be a good idea to go apple picking not too early, but not too late.

I think we’ll stick with going at the end of the season. There is one reason for this…the Honeycrisps are ripe. I guess the Honeycrisp is a late season apple, because there were “Not Ripe” signs all over the place where these particular trees were. It’s funny because I tasted a few and they seemed fine to me. I grabbed about 15 of them. I have a feeling they will ripen up just fine. Just so you know, the Honeycrisp is the biggest and best apple there is. They are huge.

We go apple picking at a place called “Windy Hill Farm Nursery Orchards & Garden Center.” I think that’s the official name. We just call it Windy Hill. It’s located on 686 Stockbridge Rd in Great Barrington, MA and really is a great orchard. They have hot cider inside and plenty of apples and pumpkins to choose from. I’m guessing when I say there are about 15 different types of apples to pick. We have been visiting this orchard during Autumn for about five years now.

The only problem is…it’s a little far away. I was thinking out loud on the way back from our exciting day when I said, “I think this is the last year for Windy Hill.” I got a funny look. I continued, “It’s just too far away. I can’t see driving for almost two hours to head up to the Berkshires when there has to be plenty of good orchards around where we live.” It’s true, there are tons of orchards around here, but we really like to make a day out of it. We don’t want to just run over to Glastonbury real quick, grab some apples and leave. That seems more like a chore. 45 minutes away is a good distance for an apple orchard. That way, we get to visit some town that we hardly ever go to and it makes the whole thing more fun. I like that. So, next year, I think we’ll head up to the “Quiet Corner” somewhere. I am sure Pomfret has an apple orchard. After all, Pomfret is an area full of beautiful rolling hills, a perfect place for apples to grow.

Thursday was fun. Not only did we visit Windy Hill, we also visited Yankee Candle in Stockbridge to gather a nice assortment of Autumn smelling candles and tarts. It wasn’t my idea to go there, but being the accommodating companion that I am, I agreed that it was a good idea. Now, every time I go downstairs, I think there is an apple pie or pumpkin bread in the oven. It’s really not fair.

Besides apple picking, another goal that I had for Thursday’s trip was to head up to Lenox to check out a really nice country house/hotel called Blantyre. I have heard great things about this place and wanted to see it first hand. I am always on the hunt for the next marvelous Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. The visit was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to drive to Lenox in stealth mode and quickly turn into the Blantyre driveway. My plan was foiled when I got lost…again. For some reason, Lenox is in something like a spiderweb vortex. It seems like every road going into the town is identical and has the same left turn. Each time I go there, I find myself making the same mistakes, over and over and over. This time, it took a confession and use of the GPS to find our destination. It really wasn’t any big deal because I am used to my surprises being ruined due to lack of preparation.

When we finally made it to Blantyre, we were very pleased by what we found. There is a really long driveway that leads to a large English house type structure. It is secluded and absolutely feels like another land. I can’t compare it to Europe because I have never been there, but if I had been there I am sure the Blantyre would feel just like it. It was kind of like Robin Hood was going to walk out of the woods.

We walked through the front door and found a really upscale and formal cluster of rooms. We visited the main room, the music room and the dining room. I also peeked out to the terrace and the front lawn and gardens. It was better than I had imagined. (Don’t worry, I have pictures)

A woman came out to greet us and answered all the questions about holiday dining that we threw at here. We gave the desk gentleman my name for a return call after they had the menu and arrangements set up. We walked out and strolled around for a while and took some photos.

After we left Blantyre, we decided to head down to the Prime Outlets in Lee, MA. I had this strange desire to get slippers. I know, I know…I am a big burly man. What in the world do I need slippers for? Well, this Winter, I am not fighting cold feet. I do it every year and it’s just not going to happen this time.

We arrived at Prime Outlets and were disappointed by the lack of selection of slippers. The slippers that were there were all made from leather and cost close to $50. They also had no thick hoodies or sweatpants to be found. This isn’t the first time we have walked away empty handed from this joint. I guess it was a good idea while it lasted. By the way, I picked up a nice pair of slippers in Walmart yesterday for $11. I also got a pair of sweatpants for $10. That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout. This is simple house gear, mind you.

Lastly, we headed back to the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge for some lunch. This is quite the tradition each year to settle us down after some good apple picking. We even got the clover leaf on top of our Guinness.

Here are some pictures of our exciting day up in the Berkshires. The weather was good when we arrived, sprinkled a little bit while we were picking apples and then cleared up again. All in all, it was a good day – minus the slipper thing.

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Is The End Of Summer Really Here?

This is not good. I don’t like the hot, sticky heat, but it feels like I was complaining about the cold just a few days ago. Is it me, or was this the shortest Summer ever?

All I am saying is that I can’t do this again…for another year of my life. Freezing cold and then humid hot hot hot. I don’t know.

The reason I am all bent out of shape is because Laura went over to her parent’s house today to swim. After she was done, they closed the pool. I swear they just opened it. What’s that about?

Of course we have Spring and Fall, but all I do during those times is worry about what’s ahead. Either it’s 40 degrees on one Spring day and then 95 degrees the next or it’s 95 degrees one Summer day and then 60 the next. I think there used to be some sort of a transition.

Maybe my mother is right, maybe we need to become snowbirds. I’ll keep you posted.

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Three Tons Of Wood Pellets Delivered

So, as I mentioned in the last post, we had three tons of wood pellets delivered yesterday. While the delivery isn’t all that exciting by itself, the fact that my mind has now turned to adding a pellet stove insert to the fireplace is.

Three tons of premium wood pellets

I have told you that I am feeling all sorts of guilty for having nice piles of cut and split firewood stacked up in the woods. I can’t just let that sit there and rot. So, I found someone to take it, and any future wood, I’m sure. This all depends on if I get the pellet stove insert for upstairs though. If not, I ain’t givin’ nothin’ away.

The pellet stove insert I am eying is the “Harman Accentra Pellet Fireplace Insert.” I would say this is arguably the best fireplace pellet stove insert in the world. It certainly is the most expensive one I have come across. The expensive part gives me pause.

Regarding the free standing wood burning stove ordeal…I did check with other manufacturers and had no luck. We just don’t have the clearance. I gathered that many stoves have bottom and rear heat shields, but the problem we are having is from the top and sides. The sales guy told me that I can put heat shields along the mantle, but that’s not really the look I am going for. Oh well.

If I do decide to go ahead with the pellet stove insert, I will undoubtedly have to order at least two more tons of pellets. I am not sure how I will be saving any money on this versus burning oil. I doubt I will, unless the price of oil skyrockets again. I suppose I could just do it to feel “green.” The problem is, I don’t really put too much weight on feeling green when the cost is in the thousands. Paying that much makes me feel blue. Hey, that was a good one.

Above and beyond the cost, I just want to feel warm this Winter.

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