In a winter wonderland…

Sleigh bells ring, are you lis’nin?

In the lane, snow is glis’nin.

A beautiful sight,

We’re happy tonight,

Walkin’ in a winter wonderland.

Whenever I find myself feeling down and blue because of severe winter weather, which we here in New England get a lot of each year, I force myself to sing that song above, out loud, just to cheer myself up.  It usually works. 

You see, as of early this morning, we had bare ground again.  We had over a foot of snow (more in fact, but who’s counting?) and shoveling it was quite long and arduous (we are a manual labor type of household, no snow blowing machines allowed in here!).  Then we got some unseasonably warm winter weather over the last week or so, and miraculously, all that nasty snow had melted away, and the dogs were out romping around on grass again.  It was oh so lov-er-ly. 

Until around 8:30 this morning when the flakes started falling and as of about 11 o’clock this morning, which is when I took the picture below, we are now back into white winter mode. 

Boo. 

I’ve got to sing that song a little louder….. I just finished my work and was going over to the office with it, but I’m kinda thinking I might just wait til tomorrow when the roads will all be plowed and bare and traffic will be a very minimum, on the first day of our New Year.

Cheers,

Bex

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream!

In my last entry’s comments section, a faithful reader, Stephanie, asked to be told more about frozen pudding ice cream.

Isn’t this a world-wide well-known ice cream flavour? No?

All my life (at least that part of my life I’ve lived in New England) there has been Frozen Pudding Ice Cream around. Granted, you can’t find it at just ANY old store. Our Super Stop & Shop doesn’t carry it, and they have an exceptionally large ice cream section, too.

Actually, now that I put my mind into ice-cream gear, the only place I can remember finding this gem of an ice cream is at Russ Treadwell’s Ice Cream shop. In Peabody. I went to school with Russ Treadwell, but this ice cream place was run by his Dad and I don’t know how many relatives before him. I don’t think “my” Russ Treadwell took it over, but I really can’t say for sure.

I’m pretty sure that Treadwell’s was sold not too long ago, but the new owners, in their infinite wisdom, kept the name as Treadwell’s – just because that’s what everyone knows. There are a few other really great little ice cream places around this area… we DO love our ice cream, especially in the hot months, but even in the dead cold of winter, I will drive by Treadwell’s (it’s right on my route to and from the office) and will see a line of folks inside waiting for their ice cream. Brrrrr.

But I know why. It’s the best ice cream in the world. At least in MY world, which I admit has really shrunk down lately now that I work at home and all.

Anyway, to summarize, Frozen Pudding ice cream is, I think, basically a vanilla base with bits of fruit scattered throughout it. But the kicker is that it is flavored with RUM. And THAT is what makes it heavenly. The little bits of fruit are also very nice. It’s not overly powerful. You don’t start slurring your words or veering over to the right or left as you walk away licking your mound of ice cream, but when you first bite into this stuff, you KNOW it!

Stephanie, I would think if you put your mind to it, and search online, you might find someplace near your home where they make and sell frozen pudding. I have the sneaking suspicion that if you ever do find it, you will be one happy camper, at least for the time it takes you to eat your dish or cone of ice cream.

Good luck! Happy hunting.

(Hey, we’ve still got some leftover from Christmas Eve down in the freezer…hmmm…..)

 

 

Bex

Happy Yule

I’m sorry for being gone so long. I had a terrible experience. I clicked on a well-beloved blog of a cyber-friend just before Thanksgiving, and got a virus in my computer. I still haven’t had it officially removed, but will do so after the holidays have come and gone. Needless to say, it ruined my Thanksgiving for the most part, gave me a very nervous stomach for quite a while, and even now I dream about that nasty bug lurking in my system just waiting to cause havoc.

I did want to wish my friends around the globe a Happy Christmas, Happy Hanakkuh, and a Happy Holiday Season to the rest.

Of course, I came back to WordPress after being gone a month or more and EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED! Why do they keep doing that? Some day when (or IF) I ever get any time for myself I will have to explore around in here more, see what I can and can’t do, and visit with you more. If you are reading this, thanks for stopping by. We are all still here at Crow Cottage, muddling thru life as usual.

Ice. Cold. Snow. Furs. Work. Love.

We have all of that in great abundance still. Some is good, some not so good, and some I wish would hit the road.

May Peace be with you all.

Bex, Paul, Em, and Kip