The annual Apple Festival – at Medford’s historical Kirby’s Mill is HERE!

October 11, 2014… so mark your calendars!

Here’s the link with all the info:  http://www.medfordhistory.org/apf/apf.html

We’ll be playing danceable Irish jigs & reels… and a variety of songs ranging from Stevie Nicks to old, traditional American & Irish favorites!

The festival is from 10 am  to 4 pm…  and we’ll be starting up the band – live music –  at 11 a.m.   This is a GREAT Fall,  family kinda event – brimming with wonderful activities, great food, vendors and music of course!

And it’s FREE!!!!!  Yup!  Free!  So bring the kids,  and have an old fashioned, fall day on the beautiful grounds of historic Kirby’s Mill.

Hope to see you there!

Well,  even for a winter lover like me…  I can honestly say – there certainly seems to be many beautiful snowy mornings to wake up to this winter!   I still love the grey, heavy, snow filled sky… hovering overhead… and the bare branches – etched against the dim morning sky…

And although it definitely dampens my beloved cycling  hours – & completely nixes my road bike big time… and daunts Mt biking a bit –  I still love Winter!  The colors, the sounds & how the crisp air smells like evergreens and holds my frosty breath in white puffs…   There’s nothing more beautiful than the subtly of all the tones of gray… and how the whites – seem tinged with shades of blue and purple…  and how intensely vibrant the winter birds are in their plumage…  I love to watch the birds… hungrily flock around the feeder each day.

So… of course… cycling – being out of the question – I must find ways to get outside… & discovered the quad comes into play quite nicely – & brings the deep woods filled with beauty right up close – and I enjoy the long, beautiful rides on the trails out back…

Now… How cool is THIS?  A woman with a dog sled!?  In NJ?  I’ve gotta say –  I love New Jersey!  We’ve got ocean beaches,  lakes,  rivers, bays,  mountains,  flat lands,  pine lands,  forests,  x-country & downhill skiing,  camping,  kayaking, waterfalls,  hiking and tons of trails for horses…  And all of this – a short distance away from everything!

A snowy hike is always good… and I do LOVE being outside!   I long ago discovered – with the right gear – lots of light layers and good socks & boots – (and a hot mug of coffee)…  I’m good to go!

But I guess I’m a bit brave about Winter… humm…  spoiled actually…  as I know, when I get back from my outside fun… that waiting for me – is my fiddle & a bow – a sweet mandolin  a bodhran – and sometimes – even an uilleann piper!

GADS!  and dare I forget… always waiting – is the ever present, ever purring… always lounging by the fire… the total portrait of  a perfect “HOUSE cat”… warm, fat, well fed – and ready to curl up in any lap that’s available!  my boy – BINX!

And of course… the winter wouldn’t be complete… without lots of good cooking…  Had lots of mid-winter gatherings with lots of good food, music, friends & family…  and my Mom can whip up the BEST Yorkshire pudding in the world!  Mmm!

Sooo….  good food, wine, lively tunes, friends & family, a warm blazing fires… and many charming companions – of all sorts have made the Winter…so good…  and I love it.

So… I will fiddle away within the remaining weeks of Winter… and learn to be quite content in it.

And even now – as I write this… a Winter storm is blanketing us – yet again – in another blanket of quiet white…     I enjoy the calm, quieting  “shhhhh”  – that Winter seems to whisper…  as He slows the hectic pace of the world down, yet again,   and makes everything and everyone – once again – becomes still…

Enjoy folks… look for the beauty in the day, & do the best you can do.  Nothing we can do about the weather… but make the best of it!  Stay warm & be safe!  xoxo Jennifer

In the quietness of Christmas eve…  as the day dims to a close…  and the Winter Solstice… is still hanging thick, dark… and enveloping us in the cold, winter air… in these moments… I can’t help but reflect on the year’s events…

The awful storm Sandy, and what she left us in – and out of…  ahh, but then – the Spring  came anyway…  and with it, the wonderful, beautiful gardens that sprang… once again from the earth… leading us boldly into the beautiful, languid days of summer.  Days filled with the rich fragrance of bountiful flowers, warm earth,  mossy trails,  and of course,  the plentiful veggies – that were gifted from Earth’s garden…  (and my somewhat artfully disheveled –  “Garden of Weedin’ as I like to call it…)

Then Oohhh… there comes the breezy… star lit nights, and all the wonderful days… in the long weekends of camping – under the blue, velvet nights…  when the fires crackled… and the sparks from the flames – traveled up towards the sky… until the sparks – blended with the twinkling stars…  and became one…  oh,  it was beautiful.

Almost as beautiful – as the morning of the Summer Solstice… when the sun rose on my little camp… beaming through the trees, on a beautiful, summer dawn.

Then, the cool fingers of Fall crept in and encircled us…  and yet… the camp fires continued to burn brightly in the cooling, Autumn nights…    I can say,   all in all… it’s been a very good,  joyful,  (albeit complex at times – of course) plentiful year.

Things changed,  and things improved – in so many areas of life this year…  and though I tend to buck change…  I have grown weary of doing so…  and have decided to just embrace change…  for it is  -always- there… and things are always changing…

I remind myself – that there has been, through everything this year, the blessings of good health, strength, fitness,  and happiness…   And so now I find myself – drifting gently down….   like a downy feather,  moving, sweeping gently in the wind…  coming to rest… on… the Eve… of  Christmas…  and it makes me feel, strangely…  rarely,  still.

Tomorrow…  for us Christians… is the holy ‘Night of nights’… the night that…  if I choose to feel it  – I can  move…  much closer to God,  than I do at all other times – during the year…    Idk…  maybe it’s just me,  but I think this is one of those nights when…  maybe God… is a little bit more gentle…. more thoughtful, more open – to patiently listening to the silent, murmured prayers I offer up… and maybe – more than any other night in the long year –  he perhaps… understands me better…

I guess what I’m saying is…  I know I’m not the most reverent person  – and probably make God raise a questioning eyebrow a bit more than most do – now and again…  And I think… he probably BROKE the  “Jennifer”  mold… deliberately – after I came along…   always shaking His head in dismay… or holding His head in His hands, listening to me with dread…   But I think that maybe – on Christmas… it’s a little bit better, and maybe I have a better chance at saying to Him…  what I need to,  what I want to.      And that is…    Thank you.

Well… anyway my dear friends…  I’m just wishing you, a Merry Christmas…  May God grant you… peace, joy and health…  and music… Ohhh… lots and lots – of wonderful music!   Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to come!

P.S.   Here’s my puppy… “Sligo”… a Border Collie…  and although he wasn’t thrilled about wearing this Santa hat…   he did it for me…  because I asked him to,   and he loves me!   🙂

Well…  My Piper – surprised me with two, round trip tickets to Rincon, Puerto Rico, while we were at the Green on Tuesday before we were set leave, and I can honestly say I was absolutely thrilled!  We’ve had a rather hard time since Hurricane Sandy hit us so hard… and we needed some restorative time away.  So we threw our stuff together, and set out… stopping at the Green for a bite to eat before the flight…

Got to Newark International – to discover our flight was delayed… so we opted to make the best of it.  We had a pint at the airport pub, and decided to take out the fiddle and whistle and play some tunes – to wile away the hours of waiting.  A few tunes and we got warmed up and comfortable…  and pretty soon, we had folks sitting with us, people pausing as they walked by, and some even stopping to listen, nodding and smiling. Little children, under their parent’s watchful eyes… were dancing and jumping around to the lilting jigs and reels we sent – floating and drifting into the air…  and it seemed to me… the whole atmosphere changed.    More people were smiling… and seemed lighter hearted somehow…  and I think that’s what music does. Music brings joy to the soul, and makes one forget – even if just for a short while…  and just moves you – if only for a few instants – to a better place.

By the time we were ready to board the plane, we’d made some new friends out of our traveling companions.  We were met with smiles and friendly nods, as we walked down the isle – to our assigned seats.  I had to actually – laugh out loud, when… while trying to carefully stash my fiddle in the overhead compartment, a man stood up and offered to help me,  saying that he knew – my fiddle was made of gold – haha…  I nodded… and said I had to agree with him!   But… I must admit… I was too afraid to bring my favorite, regular fiddle on this trip…  because – God forbid… if anything happened to it… I’d be heart broken…  so I chose one from my large herd of fiddles I keep… and made sure it was one -that I still – greatly enjoy playing… and brought that instead.   I knew I’d hate to loose it…  I’d hate to loose ANY of my fiddles, but it wasn’t my favorite – ‘beloved’  fiddle – that I lovingly play every week at the Green…

So we spent a week on the beautiful mountains of Rincon… And it was the best of both worlds…  I love the mountains, and Phil loves the surf…  He got a paddle board and spent some marvelous hours – in the aqua, green surf, moving  with the sea turtles…  and on the first morning – he set out – even before the sun came up… paddling out under the huge, sinking moon… and came back to the house hours later – his eyes bright & shining – and so happy at the magnificent morning he’d had in the surf.

Though this isn’t Phil – (above in the pic)…  This is:  Phil on the paddle board at sunrise

During the days… we hung out under the shady trees on the beach,  had a cooler of cold Medallas,  and relaxed in the soft breeze, and the warm air… and just de-stressed…

The rest of the week passed between sandy toes, breath taking, mountainous views, delicious food, and some random, no destination kinda adventures that took us all over the island…  all while taking in the fragrant, and vibrantly colored flowers…

The evenings were spent – after dining…. fiddling the night away – while the coquettes and tree frogs sang along… and of course… sipping wine in the jacuzzi… and talking about the day… and what we’d do the next day…

Sometimes, it’s necessary to get away from the world… even if just for a little while…  But even in taking the ‘pause that refreshes’… there’s ONE thing that travels on – with us at least…  and that is – our music…   The joy and love we derive from the melodies, the combination of notes, the familiar harmonies and the pleasure – it brings, we can never leave behind or travel on – without!

As great as it was…   sipping tropical drinks out of big, green coconuts…  I must say…  it’s VERY good to be Home!