Missing Willow Farm

Just before Christmas, we had a quick six day getaway to the Caribbean.  We visited Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Curacao, all three were new to the both of us.  We had a fun excursion which took us over the remains of three shipwrecks in a boat with an observatory that sat 5 feet below the surface of the water.  While it was nice to get away, when we returned the scramble to make the holidays happen was very hectic!  I have just one New Year’s Resolution for 2017… to finally open an Etsy shop.  There.  I’ve said it.  It has to happen now, right??  Happy New Year! 

Even though there’s a chill in the air and darkness falls early this time of year, it doesn’t keep us from enjoying our back deck at dinner time.  Just add a space heater and turn the overhead lights on and we’re good to go.

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I’ve already started on our Thanksgiving meal.  The roasted veggies are done and so is the turkey brine.  I’m getting ready to peel potatoes, assemble stuffing and bake a pecan pie.  This will make tomorrow much more relaxing!  How’s your prep coming along?

It’s officially begun with a batch of peanut butter kiss cookies and a few loaves of country french bread.  Happy holidays, ya’ll!

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It’s officially over with our first hard frost.  We’re still drying ghost peppers and next year’s garlic crop has been planted.  Just two months until it’s time to start seeds again.

Our daughter Claire met me in NYC this past weekend for a whirlwind touristy visit.  We met at LaGuardia at 7AM.  Considering we live 90 minutes from the nearest airport, you can imagine what time we had to wake up Friday morning.  At the end of the weekend we had walked a total of 17 miles and dodged the NYC marathon.  Here are some crappy cell phone photos of a few of the highlights.  I think we need to go back when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child hits Broadway in a year or two.

We saw the musical School of Rock on Broadway, it was better than the movie.

We went to Mood Fabrics and met their mascot Swatch. The three floors of thousands and thousands of fabric bolts was seriously overwhelming.

We visited the Museum of Modern Art.

And the 9/11 Museum.

And the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This Tiffany stained glass was probably my favorite thing on display.

Besides King Henry VIII’s armor, obviously made for him during his chubby period.

Here are some of the spooky crafts I’ve been working on.  Happy Halloween!

A miniature Halloween party.

A moon-gazing bunny sitting in a pumpkin patch. It’s assembled in an Altoid tin.

A miniature wicked fireplace. It stands about 5 inches tall.

A vintage trick or treater on top of a thread spool.

A lovely witch art doll. Goode Pumpernickel and her cat Soot.

A batty pottery shrine.

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Burrata and cherry tomato salad over greens with toasted pine nuts and balsamic dressing. I’ve always wanted to try burrata, which is a fresh cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It’s delicious!

Creamy salmon pasta with dill. Yum.

Sesame crusted beef tataki with wasabi mashed potatoes.

When we looked over the excursions offered for our trip we were intrigued by a guided city walk in San Remo followed by lunch in a Michelin Star Restaurant.  Until we saw the $375/person price tag.  Woah!  Since eating in a Michelin Star restaurant is something we’ve always wanted to do, I started researching the Michelin Guide to see if there were any other options that we could do on our own.  What I discovered is there are hundreds of them in the Mediterranean.  We selected Nacional Beef in Antibes, France that not only had the Michelin logo for 2016 on their front window but also ones from 2014 and 2015.  We had a delicious al fresco meal including wine for under 70 euros.

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There was a Cannes to St. Tropez yacht race the day we visited. We were surrounded by gorgeous boats all day.

A different perspective from our lifeboat tender.

This apartment complex has boat slips instead of a parking lot.

The Chanel boutique apparently was by invitation only.

A shop dedicated to truffles. Who knew?

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