Tag: winter

Warm winter afternoon at Crane Beach

On By careofmonIn Lifestyle, Trips2 Comments

So from pretty much the day after snow polo to the end of this past week, I have had the worst cold!! Coughing, sneezing, watering eyes, fatigue, all of it. Thankfully I started to feel better this past week just in time for the unseasonable heat wave here in New England.

For my first “finally feeling better afternoon out”, I headed to Ipswich MA to visit a friend who just moved there just down the street from Crane Beach. It felt so good to get out of the house for more than just work, hang out with friends, and of course be at the beach!!! Crane Beach allows horseback riding and off leash dogs from October 1 to March 31, so we brought her chocolate lab Wellie with us. I totally felt like I was cheating on Mizpah, she will come next time. We both ride horses so of course are both dreaming of trail riding there as well.

Here are some pics I snapped. With the blue sky and the setting sun, the water looked an iridescent blue. It was perfection for my first adventure out in the world post-sickness!

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Still a little bit of snow on the dunes. Check out our super long winter shadows!

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Sun setting on a beautiful day. To the right of the sun, you can just make out the roof/chimney line of Crane Estate.

My friend got her resident beach sticker recently, which I think will make for some really fun day trips this coming summer! Crane Beach is usually pretty busy in the summer, the normal parking rate can be pricey at $25 but they do have nice bathroom/shower facilities and a snack shack type place with food and novelty ice cream. Where I am in NH now, while I of course have way closer access to the NH beaches, I am more excited about being closer to the North Shore beaches in MA that I grew up loving. Alrighty, hope everyone enjoys their weekends! I am on vacation next week so I will be heading to Florida to dust off the Palm Beach sandals again!

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A New Hampshire New Year’s Weekend

On By careofmonIn Lifestyle2 Comments

I am back to work today feeling refreshed after a week off. I would like to think that my students also feel refreshed and ready to learn annnnnd so I am going to continue to think that haha! I absolutely loved my New Year’s weekend this year. My husband got out of work early on Friday and we headed up to Gunstock Mountain for some night skiing. We had just gotten all that snow on Thursday so the conditions were great! Some areas were a little icy/bumpy because the snow gets pushed into piles in steep parts, but my skis are pretty new still, nice and sharp!

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Lake Winnipesaukee view from summit of Gunstock!
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View from the summit, we got one summit run in before the lift closed at 4!
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View from the Pistol lift, the light made it all look strangely purple

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View of the Stockade and the night skiing trails all lit up!

Saturday night we went to a friend’s house for a get together that included multiple bonfires, fireworks (because those are legal in NH, whaaaaaa?), and snowmobiling! It was such a fun night. We were all together in the living room for the ball dropping and champagne toasts.

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Welp, I don’t have any resolutions. Trying to eat better and exercise, be kind to the people I love….those aren’t resolutions, they are things that I try to think about all day every day. I am doing my first dressage clinic/lesson this coming Saturday with the trainer who worked with the horse I ride when his owner first brought him here from Ohio. I am so looking forward to it, Draki and me have been working hard and have really made progress since I started riding him in the fall. Its been quite a year- I got married, bought a house and moved to NH, and started a new job. I can’t wait to see what 2017 has in store!

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Barbour Dog

On By careofmonIn Fashion2 Comments

My Barbour Argon jacket, which I picked up at an amazing going out of business sale on the cape, is a jacket that I wear pretty much all spring and fall. I love the olive waxed cotton and when I saw that they made them for dogs, I of course snagged one for my four legged companion, Mizpah. Sadly, the medium was too small around her deep chest, and the large was too big. My hopes dashed, I put my dream of being preppy matchy matchy with my dog on the shelf.

A couple weeks ago, a Barbour loving coworker (her coat collection is enviable to say the least) gave me the quilted version of the dog jacket because her dog outgrew it. I put it on the pup, did some strap adjusting, and it was a perfect fit! We took it out for a spin at the trails down the road from my house, which is sadly where she got attacked on Friday so not sure how much we will be going there in the future, but the jacket has been trail approved. This is the one that she has Barbour Quilted Dog Coat but its only available in small and medium on that site. Not sure where this jacket would be in stock. Orvis would be my usual suspect to carry this but they have some other version of the Barbour quilted dog coat without the cute corduroy collar.

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Now, Mizpah has other coats. My husband was actually quite pleased we ended up with this jacket for free because she does have other coats….and I have really been trying to see his argument that a dog doesn’t need multiple coats….but this was free so yay! Her other coats are from Ruffwear, there’s this one and this one.

New problem though…I have a waxed cotton coat, and now I want a quilted coat to match her. First world problems huh? Here are some posts I have written about Barbour in the past, actually I think a trip to the Milford Clearance Center might be in order soon!

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Fun in the snow this past week!

On By careofmonIn Lifestyle4 Comments

Happy Friday everyone!!! We are currently in a serious freeze in New England. I was supposed to try out my new skis at Gunstock this weekend BUT that might not happen in these sub freezing temperatures. There are rumors that the ski mountains might even close Sunday because of the extreme temperatures.

Next week is February vacation for schools in Massachusetts so I will be heading to Florida next week. The temps will be in the 70s which isn’t hot, but will be amazing after this cold!! Even in these cold temperatures, I still need to get outside and so does my dog. I can’t wait to run down in Florida in a tshirt. Here are some pics from the week out and about in the snow!!

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During the snow storm on Monday!
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Mizpah in the snow ❤
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Paw prints and bean boot prints, love ❤
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On planet Hoth, going to look for Luke, brb

My down jacket is from EMS and can be seen here. It is an amazingly warm, but light down jacket with a great hood AND the downtek coating makes it water repellent. It’s ok in snow or light rain, not really appropriate for a downpour though.

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Pup out on the ice!!! 
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In honor of love
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Pure joy running around in the snow

In light of this freezing cold weather, I am unsure of my weekend plans! What are you all up to this weekend? I hope that the weekend and Valentine’s Day treats you right ❤

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