We’re off on a last minute trip to Boston. We literally just booked our tickets yesterday and here we are scrambling to get everything ready to go! I’m so excited to introduce Little Miss T to her extended family and our friends, show her the fall colors and play in piles of leaves with her. We do have some business to attend to back there but it should be plenty of time for fun in Beantown.
Apple Picking in New England October 13, 2009
I don’t know if any of my loyal readers recall my So Cal apple picking post from last fall? Well, in case you don’t remember, the gist of it was that picking apples in LA fails miserably in comparison to New England apple picking. You can read about it here if you want a refresher.
Needless to say, being back in New England, I was only too eager to hit the apple orchards for some proper apple picking. Sister came up for the weekend from New York City and we met up with some our of cousins for a fun Saturday outing. Husband, Sister and I arrived at the Farm and after a quick hello to the family, we made a beeline for the homemade apple cider donuts to start out our day- the breakfast of champions! After probably two bags split amongst the three of us, we ready to get our picking on.
A short jaunt from a hayride put us amongst the apple orchards and away we went. The apples were prime and plentiful and we moseyed up and down the rows of trees looking for the best apples to pick. Of course we had to sample some along the way… you know, just to make sure the variety was worth the picking. After gathering a rather full bag of apples, we queued up for the hayride back to the main farm. We stopped by the pumpkin patch and the field of flowers where you could pick your own. After a bit of a wander, we were tuckered out from carrying a 20 pound bag of apples, so, naturally, we HAD to share a homemade, hot apple crumble to replenish our energy levels (at least that’s the excuse we used for indulging once again). It was a great day and lovely way to kick off Fall in New England.
Wanaka May 8, 2009
Continuing on…
After Lake Tekapo, we drove to Wanaka which is about two hours outside of Queenstown. Wanaka is a small resort town at the southern end of Lake Wanaka and is the gateway to Mt. Aspiring National Park. As a result, it boasts some fantastic outdoor acitivites including hiking, sailing, boating, skiing, whitewater rafting, etc.
We spent a few days in Wanaka and generally just enjoyed some relaxing downtime. We did a few bush walks around the lake- which is crystal clear, some kayaking and enjoyed the scenery. The seasons are reversed so New Zealand is well in to autumn which provided some amazing autumnal colors on the trees. It reminded me of New England in the fall. The mountain peaks were slightly snow-capped as well to complete the picture perfect scenery.
After Wanaka, it’s on to Queenstown… stay tuned for more!
Autumn, Fall… What in the World? October 1, 2008
October is here and apparently it’s Fall. At least that’s what I heard on the news but living in the desert it’s far from feeling autumnal with temperatures over 100 degrees and palm trees all around. With Fall supposedly in effect, I thought about going apple picking this past weekend because I wanted to wear a scarf and drink apple cider. Growing up in Boston, I loved apple picking and pumpkin picking season. There was something fun about whipping out your old scarf, loading up the family car, and heading to a little country farm to press your own cider and scour the fields for the perfect carving pumpkin. Having spent the last three years in Sydney, I’ve been deprived of any sort of apple and pumpkin season all together. First off, the seasons are reversed and so going apple picking in March didn’t quite do it for me. Second, they don’t actually have pumpkin like American pumpkins. If you ask for pumpkin, you’ll get a squash.
So, now that we are back in the US, I had the brilliant idea to relive my New England days and get back to my American roots. The nearest apple picking country is about an hour away from us, in the mountains. I looked up the weather report and saw it was still going to be 95 degrees. What?! 95 degrees in the mountains? How do the apples even grow in that heat? Coming from Boston, I long for the apple picking days when it was sunny with a crisp, fall breeze lightly blowing… just enough to rustle the leaves from the trees with the smell of a log fire burning in the distance. Is that too much to ask for? Well, it’s not going to happen here. In fact, the pool is still calling my name at a warm 85 degrees heated solely by the sun. So October might be here but it’s not Fall in my book.
However, October is shaping up to be a busy month for us. Paul has gotten word that he’ll probably head to New York City for a business trip which means, I’m going to tag along. We’ll probably tack on a few extra weekends at each end of the week and head to Boston to check out some real estate or at least the area. At the end of the month, we’re heading to New Orleans for a small family reunion with Paul’s immediate family. Then, it’s the big second anniversary for us followed immediately by Paul’s big 3-0!
Maybe I will be able to experience some of that New England fall feeling after all.
Stay At Home Week September 22, 2008
ABC is touting this week as “National Stay At Home Week” to promote it’s fall TV line up, which begins tonight (or last night if you include the horribly boring Emmy Awards). Unfortunately for the alphabet network, none of their shows are appealing to me. The other networks, NBC and CBS, have some (possible) winners for fall that look enticing… Some of which start this week or at a later date. Here are some of the highlights I’m looking forward to:
NBC:
Heroes- I have never seen an episode of this program as they didn’t show the series in Australia. However, my family loves it as well as just about every person I’ve ever met. The cast looks amazing, the premise is intriguing and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to quickly pick up on the new season and not feel completely lost on things past.
My Own Worst Enemy- this drama could possibly be either really good or completely horrible. I’m willing to give it a chance.
Kath & Kim- Based on the wildly popular Australian series with the same title, I’m guessing this comedy is going to be a hit. It was funny in Australia and the US version appears to be even more hillarious. I really hope it is!
The Office- Although they didn’t show the US version in Australia, I have seen a few episodes and it caught my attention so I’ll tune in for this season.
30 Rock- I have NEVER seen this but it’s getting a lot of hype so I think I’ll check it out. It did well with the Emmy noms and awards so it’s got to be good, right?
CBS:
Two and a Half Men- Absolutely fantastic cast, good laughs and fun for the entire family.
How I Met Your Mother- THE. BEST. COMEDY. EVER. No explaination needed. WATCH IT!
Worst Week- Looks funny or else it is one of those akward shows that makes you cringe and uneasy. Therefore it can’t be watched because the entire time you’re like, “oh god;” “no, oh god, I can’t watch this;” “This is killing me.”
I’m usually not one for planning my life around TV, however, I have been a bit deprieved of decent television programming for the last three years. Therefore, I’m looking forward to having TV viewing choices. I’m not saying I’m going to watch all of the above, but it will be DVR’d for viewing pleasure at my leisure. Then, I’ll get rid of the bad and stick with the select good few. So maybe this week will be a bit of a stay at home TV watching week but sorry, I won’t be watching ABC.
