terrible 2's

Nellie turns 2 tomorrow! I am pretty sure she is past the dog version of the 'terrible' twos as these days she is beyond what one could describe as 'low key'. Plus, I suppose she is actually 14, if you use dog years. Anyway, here are a few pics from the first time we met her, she was already 6+ weeks old here.

ski weekend

We just returned from the 7th annual ski trip with a group of friends, mostly college friends. This year we stayed at killington mountain in vermont. For January skiing, it was actually pretty good, it was not as cold as I feared it might be! We take turns with meals, play cribbage, wii and chess, ski & snowboard etc.... Us girls even got some shopping in! This is a weekend John and I look forward too every year because we always have a ton of fun and come home re-energized. I mostly left my camera in my bag all weekend but did remember to take it out one night. John prepared our 'meal' this year and we had pulled pork and beans (john's specialty). Well done babe! My contribution was whoppie pies.

John showcasing the baked beans he made


Liz & Kristen after dinner and a long day on the slopes


I didn't get any pics of actual snowboarding/skiing. I left my camera behind as I was worried I might damage it with one of my many graceful falls (i have busted 2 cameras and lost a 3rd this year alone, not while snowboarding per say, but still, my record stinks). My snowboarding skill is coming along in that I can make it down the mountain in one piece and I haven't donned the downhill ski's in at least 2-3 years. I am still really slow, but honestly I don't think I was very fast with the ski's either, guess I don't have that 'need for speed'. Oh well, the rest of the crew is very gracious to wait for me a lot.

trot trot to boston

We have altered the words to the child's song 'trot trot to Boston' (I have no idea if that is really the title but it is what we call it) to sing for Lizzie. We sing: 'trot, trot to Boston to see uncle Dan, we go shopping and then we come home again'.

This is an accurate tale of what we did this past weekend, only add a snow storm in there. Em, Mom and made a quick trip to Boston to visit Danny and do some wedding related shopping.

You will all be happy to know that I now have a wedding outfit and all the make up necessary to qualify as a bonefide bride at our upcoming wedding day. Thanks Em, Mom & Dan for your help and patience!


Below are a few pictures of my regular Monday morning date with Elizabeth.

A new home

We recently finished this new home for a wonderful couple in Central Maine. Here are a few photos.
(sorry about this photo, i guess I need to clean my camera lens)

This is not a joke....

... and if it were it would not be funny. Yes, that is a negative temperature reading. The low temp was actually -27.

Snow dog chronicles

Here is a recent photo of our snow dog. She absolutely loves the cold weather. She rings her door bell (we trained her to ring a bell to go outside, or rather she trained us to get up when she rings the bell by the door) goes out side and plops down on the nearest snow pile. Her coat is so thick and well insulating that if it is snowing, it will accumulate on her. I have to say winter is the best time of the year to own this kind of dog because there is no mud and even though the snow does melt and makes things a little wet around the house, it is nothing like after she has been swimming. Plus, she is at her happiest.

Engagement photos

John and I had some photos taken just after thanksgiving. I decided that our engagement was a good reason for us to have some photos taken together, by a professional, for the first time. I held off in posting these until after the holidays because some people 'may' have gotten copies of these photos for gifts.

holiday memories

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our holiday.

Mike at christmas in benedicta, fresh off the plane from Wisconsin

John and his sibs were successful in surprising Rose with a new laptop for christmas! It was fun to have a surprise like this one.

Mom and Dad have holiday puzzle fever, or in their case, a permanent case of puzzle fever.



Dad snowshoeing with Danny in the woods at the farm. The weather around the holidays was beautiful, we even had a few 'warm' days.

Parker family

John and Lizzie. Aren't the tights adorable!?!?!

This is me trying out my new chainsaw helmet, complete with ear protection. Can't be a 'maine' girl without taking a turn at firewood preparation.

A new christmas eve tradition for the burgess kids and their SO's, cards! last year it was scrabble but this year we were too frazzled (or at least I was) to play anything that requires the brain power of scrabble.

Nellie was 'top dog' hanging out at the top of the snow piles. She LOVES the snow and loves snowbanks. i think she purposely picks perches from where she can survey all the goings on.

Pop corn balls are a holiday staple. Dad and I made this batch.

Ryan holds lizzie as she takes in her new dolly, matching headbands and all!

handmade holidays

This holiday season marked another year of the handmade holiday burgess tradition. This tradition calls for homemade gifts for immediate family. I am not sure exactly what year this tradition started but it has to have been about 20 years ago and it is still going strong. Being the planner that I am, I work on these gifts through out the year. They are my favorite to give and my favorite to receive. This year I received hand knit socks, a wood box, flavored coffee, hand carved wooden utensils, a 'toy box' for nellies toys, and a 2009 photo calendar - lucky me! Here are a few pictures of my 2008 holiday gift creations. Jam, hats and mittens were also in the gift packages and John gives homemade wine and cider. I think some members of my family may find this more stressful than fun, but not me!

It has been so much fun to have my baby niece to knit for! The pattern for the hat came from Sublime third little handknit book. The mittens came from natural knits for babies and moms I have knit several darling patterns from each of these books. The leg warmies came from another blogger.

Socks for my mom, who knits lots of socks for others, but not so many for herself. The socks I knit this year came from Getting started knitting socks.
I liked this pattern book because it had plenty of patterns for all different yarn weights.

Socks for Dad. I knit these with peace fleece and some nylon for the heels and toes.

I have my parents and sibs all a different color of this sock for christmas over the years. I can't remember the pattern, i will have to post it later. I have loved these socks, the pattern has a lot of cabling so you have to pay attention when knitting but I love the style so much I put in the effort. Made from brown sheep worsted yarn.

I made this wall hanging for my sister Em.

She was eyeing this at the local rug hooking store so I secretly made it up for her. I love rug hooking but my ergonomics must not be very good around this craft because I get tired/sore from it pretty quickly.