Living in New England: Cemeteries

There are many aspects of life here that are so unique from other parts of the country, and I want to share those things with my family, and perhaps with you- if you have never been here. I do a collection of posts called : "Living in New England" that highlight quintessential New England sights, events, situations, and experiences.

I know of many people who have lived here in New England their entire lives and perhaps don't realize that some of the events and sights that I will describe don't happen elsewhere in the country. Or, maybe you are originally from New England, but have moved away... I hope these posts will bring back some fond memories for you. 

In any event, I wish to share New England with you through the eyes of this Southerner!

As we first began to visit New England in search of a new home I was awestruck by all of the beautiful, serene, antique cemeteries that dot this part of the country.   I have always loved the peace and reverence of a cemetery, but the cemeteries here with their paper-thin slate headstones and their beautiful remote locations evoke a strong connection to the past.  We are fortunate to have two very close to us- we can turn left or right at the end of our driveway, walk a mile and be at either one. It has been a tradition of ours since moving into the farmhouse that about once a year, early evening, we will take a bottle of wine, or some other libation, and go to one of our cemeteries and walk the grounds reading the headstones, saying the names aloud and toasting to their memory; all the while wondering what their lives must have been like.  We feel a great kinship with these souls who have passed before us since they too lived in, and no doubt loved, the same beautiful surroundings that we do.  There are so many wonderful old first names that you just don't hear anymore, and so many stories to be gleaned from reading the headstones.

Since one of our cemeteries even has a famous ghost :O and since it's October 31st, I thought it would be the perfect time of year to bring you along!

 This particular cemetery sits atop a hill and overlooks a lake.  Not a bad place to spend eternity, me thinks!

The willow was a popular motif on headstones in the1800's.

 "Why weepest thou?  he is not here."

From very simple...

to more elaborate carved marble.

This headstone dates to 1795.

"Mrs. Anna Fiske, the amiable, virtuous confort of the Rev. Able Fiske..."

Hundreds of years of weather has made this headstone almost impossible to read.

The top of this headstone has broken off.

 This headstone dates to 1769

When a headstone develops even a small crack the weather can wreck havoc.  The freezing and thawing will crack the stone, eventually breaking it off.

A headstone that has been pieced back together.

The freezing and thawing of our New Hampshire winters must have found a crack at the base of this headstone and eventually eroded the stone until it broke off from the main piece.

A lead topper was made to protect this headstone.

Adore the antique iron repairs on this headstone.  Martha Stewart recently had a very informative post on her blog about the restoration of antique headstones in Bedford, New York.

"In memory of two sons of William Abbott.... 1784... 1788."

You can see how wafer-thin some of the headstones are in this photo.

"Little Harry" will break your heart.

 The inscription at the very bottom of this headstone reads...

"Stoop down my friends as you pass by,

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so you must be.

Prepare for death and follow me."

The lake is visible through the branches of the trees.

A granite hitching post in case you rode your horse.

Not the headstone of the famous ghost, just one that I thought was ironic ;)

Dan and Ella (dressed as a pumpkin!  just kidding, it's her safety jacket as the hunters are out) leaving the cemetery.

Happy Halloween!

To read other "Living in New England" posts visit HERE.

for the love of Trader Joe's!

When we were house-hunting throughout New England my first question after finding a potential property was always... "How far away is the closest Trader Joe's?!"
At the time there were no TJ's in Texas, so when we would fly up to house-hunt we would always include a visit and I would pack jars and bottles of various goodies home.  We were even known to make out-of-the-way trips to Sante Fe on our drives home from Colorado back to Dallas just to shop at Trader Joe's!  

My much-older-sister Susan, who lives in Austin, just got her first TJ's and my other sister and my niece Jenny, in Baton Rouge, have a TJ's opening at the end of the month!   In honor of this very exciting occasion:) I told them I would write a post with my favorite Trader Joe products!

There are so many things about TJ's that I love.  The first, is the size of the stores.  In my opinion it's the perfect size for a grocery store- not too big, not too small.  I despise going into a regular grocery store the size of four football fields and trying to find things.  I really don't need to see 13 different manufacturers of ketchup, to pick just one.  Too many choices can overwhelm me.  I love that TJ's only carries one, maybe two, types of an item.  I trust the company and trust that what they bring to their shelves is the best and of the highest quality.  I love the amount of organic products that they carry and that they have great prices throughout the store.  They have really helpful employees and I love that TJ's encourages you to try different items-buy it, try it, and if you don't like them, bring it back for a refund.  Smart marketing!

I highly suggest reading their Fearless Flyer- either online, or grab a copy at the door.  TJ's carries a lot of seasonal items that are great.  They can usually be found on end-caps in the store, but there are also many on the shelves that you might miss out on if you don't read about them in the Fearless Flyer..  Since it's fall, pumpkin is king right now, but that will quickly change as we get closer to Christmas.

Below are some of my favorite items, and if you're a TJ's devotee like me, please share your favorite things in the comment section.  I love when products come with a good recommendation.

This is "my" Trader Joe's in Nashua, New Hampshire!

Love the fresh cut flowers right when you walk in the door!

They have great prices on orchids!

These frozen cubes of chopped basil, cilantro and garlic are great to have at the ready in your freezer.

These corn tortilla flatbreads are wonderful as crackers and I also break them up on salads for quick  croutons!

I'm a huge fan of their balsamic vinegar.

I can't tell you how many jars of these sun dried tomatoes I carried home on the plane!  Years ago Cooks Illustrated named TJ's as the best in a taste test.... I agree!

This is my go-to "make dinner quick" spaghetti sauce.  I usually add some of the frozen basil and garlic cubes (above) along with hot pepper flakes and a teaspoon of sugar, but it is delish as it is!  I've tried the marina sauce, but this is our favorite.

A box of Dan's favorite black licorice always makes its way into the cart!  

Love that they carry organic condensed milk and the real whipping cream that is shelf-stable.  I don't often have heavy cream in the fridge, so when you want a dollop on a piece of pie on that rare occasion, this is a great thing to have in the pantry!

So hard to find organic powdered sugar,  but TJ's carries it!

Same goes for organic brown sugar...

Ella is 9-1/2 now, and her vet suggested she take Glucosamine tablets.  She loves these!

Almost as much as she loves her "Charlee Bears"!  We call these "cookies" and at only 3 calories each she can get several a day!  We play a game at night with her we call "Where's Charlee!"  If you ask her if she wants to play she gets as excited as if you asked her if she wants to go for a walk!  Here's how the game goes...  We grab about 6 Charlee Bear treats and then show her to a spot in the house like the living room, the reading room, the pantry, behind a chair in the kitchen, etc., then we tell her to "sit" (sometimes this is done with just a hand signal;  she knows the drill;) and we'll go hide the treats all around the barn room!  We'll then whistle or call her and she'll charge down the steps at full speed (with me yelling "slooooow";) and go on the hunt to find them.  We applaud (yes, we are "those" people;) when she finds them!  At the end we'll tell her "Good Game!" and "That's all!" and she knows the game is over, but will go back around the room to each spot where they had just been- something akin to finding a great find at an antique shop and you keep going back to that same spot like something good is going to magically show up again! 

It's so fun to watch her "hunt"- her whole body tenses and she gets very focused and serious!  She loves the challenge of finding her treats- sometimes she finds them quickly and sometimes the search takes a bit longer, but it's always good puppy fun!

TJ's has really good cards and they're only 99 cents!  They change inventory often which keeps the cards fresh.

Adore these pot stickers- they come in veggie, chicken and pork.  The chicken are our favorite!

And dip them in this Gyoza sauce!  So good!

If you love chocolate TJ's has an amazing assortment of chocolate products and chocolate covered goodies.   I am a fan of their chocolate chips for cookies (as is Dan who is the chocolate lover in the family;)- not a lot of extra added ingredients.

Pop-up sponges.

I use these lavender dryer sheets for our bed linens!

These candles are THE BEST!  They self-extinguish with about an inch of candle remaining.  I have a pair of wooden candlesticks in the barn room that I used to worry about constantly when burning regular candles.  Now, no worries since these go out by themselves!

So, there are some of my favorites!  

Do you have a Trader Joe's?  If so...

please spread the Trader Joe's love and share with us all  your  favorite items!!