Holiday flowers

Thanksgiving flowers on the tables

 Big table

 Little table

 Side table

 And in the hall.

They were a mix of store and garden materials:  mums, boxwood, lambs ear, magnolia, rosemary, mini carnations, lily, and baby's breath.   Stop by Today's Flowers #222 for some more beautiful sights.

Then Came Dessert

First the prep.  Readying the serving pieces.

 Setting the tables.

 Enjoying the nibbles.

 Eating the turkey

Waiting for the good stuff

Dessert ...

 Dessert photos by EC

Pecan pie

Chocolate icebox cake

 Chocolate mousse with whipped cream

 Apple pie

 Lemon Meringue pie

 

Stuffed.

Getting Ready

It's that time of year when folks appear.  To accommodate a crowd I've done some rearranging.  We are folks who sit at the table rather than the living room so I switched it out.  Dining room to music room.

Living room to dinning room.  The table is on;y set for six here, but twelve will be coming for the holiday.

I had this arrangement in the old house too.

 

I do wish I has a sea grass rug to put down, but the carpet will be going sometime for wood floors so I guess spills won't matter.

Oh wait...never mind.  I dragged the rug from the downstairs upstairs living room and laid it down under the table.  Orientals hide a multitude of spills.

Ready, set, cook.

Red Maple

Autumn turns the maple a deep red.

Such a pretty tree.  Visit Today's Flowers # 221 for more nature pictures.

Summer Garden

Looking back to the summer garden. 

 Everything was green and growing.  Here's the view from the front porch.

 

This was the school garden. the students have fun and learn at the same time.

 

All the gardens are at rest for the winter.  Visit Today's Flowers #220 for more garden views.

New Jersey Beaches

My part of New Jersey took the full force of Sandy.
The end of Garfield Terrace from the beach I grew up on.

 

 Rothrock photo

No lawn left, just posts.  It looks like the higher sea wall collapsed.

 

 Purcell photos

My son's Ocean City NJ rental from last summer ... the one boarded up with plywood on the right.  He said "Well, closer to walk."

The B&B in Bay Head where we stayed last month.  I couldn't find a picture of the damage, but the street is feet deep in sandy.

 This was the beach.

 

My SIL lives up on a hill in Island Heights.  We hear her house is OK, but the marina below her has its fleet in the street and in her yard.  No power and gasoline spills means the town has been evacuated.

 Photos of the yard from Beth:

Hazmat clean up area.

A litter of boats from the marina.

 B Smith

This was the river view from The Lobster Shanty in September.

Our old beach club Tak took a beating.  Here in its hay day.

from the web

It was awaiting condos.  The old buildings were there last October when I took these pictures.

They had been allowed to fall apart by the developers.

 

The Life Saving Station was in bad shape.  It had been set ablaze at one point.

 

 

 

 

 

The beach was still broad and lovely.

The waves benign.

After community outcry the two best buildings were saved.

Moving day.

 from web

Left standing alone with a promise of rehab was the 1878 Lifesaving station.

Sandy finished it off.  Now that the land is clear I'm sure they will be building the condos!!!  Anyone see the history lesson here?

 Ann Roth Stahr photo Hometown Long Branch

There's lots more on the web about the storm.  Check out the video of Sea Bright, and Connie Lawn's piece on the Huffington Post blog about growing up in Long Branch.  But we're Jersey Strong.  The Shore will be back.