They crop up on lawns everywhere around here, just like a bad case of crabgrass or a disease that spreads. They come in about 300 different types and varieties. Sometimes there can even be three or four to a yard. They can be lighted, or not. It can be snowing inside them, or not. What are these alien life forms you ask? Inflatables! Also known as “airblowns.” They have a constant flow of air keeping them inflated. Just plug them in and away they go! Hey-ho! Many people only leave them plugged in at night for display purposes so that during the day they just lay on lawns like spent bladders. Splat. Flat on the ground in one big puddle of plastic and fabric, and not very attractive.

Before moving to New Jersey, neither Rick or I had seen this form of holiday decoration before. They just haven’t caught on in Colorado I guess. But they are big here, very big.

I couldn’t resist photographing them when I went by a local nursery and saw their huge selection. It was just too funny to pass up. So, I’m sharing with you some of the different varieties.

Here are the snowglobes, complete with snow and waving snowmen.

And then there are the carousel kind where the gingerbread men go round and round inside. Oh, and one of the guys on the lot who was curious about what I was doing taking all these photos assured me that all the macho guys want either Santa on a chopper [second photo behind the soldier], or maybe Mickey Mouse.

Okay, have you seen enough? I know I have. Hmm…tacky? Yes, definitely. But they at least show that people have the spirit of the holiday season in their hearts, even if the don’t have any taste in outdoor holiday decorations. Let’s just say that the whole inflatable situation around here is…well…overblown.

P.S. If you haven’t quite had your fill of inflatables, check out their website www.gemmy.com
They are based in Texas, which somehow doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. Texas does everything, uhm, well…big.

What could be more perfect than nature’s very own brightly colored tree ornament?

Whether strung as garland, used as table decor or served as a side dish with Christmas dinner, the versatile cranberry had long been part of our holiday traditions.

Americans consume some 400 million pounds of cranberries a year, but demand for the popular berry is international. Today, cranberries are used in thousands of products worldwide, from cereals to salsas. Seven of 10 cranberries sold in the world today come from Ocean Spray, an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 650 cranberry growers in the United States and Canada. The bright red berries are harvested each autumn from farms in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and part of British Columbia and Quebec. New Jersey ranks third in the nation for production of cranberries Who knew?

Pilgrims learned about the cranberry from American Indians who harvested the berry for food, medicinal purposes, and to make dye for rugs, clothing and blankets. Indians sweetened the tart berry with honey or maple sugar. By mashing it with fat and deer meat, they were also able to create pemmican, a highly nutritional cake that helped them survive long winters when game was scarce.

Contrary to popular belief, historians say that the cranberry was not among the foods consumed by the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving, but it did become a staple in the diet of early settlers. Cranberries can be found in recipes dating back to the early 1700s. Known by several different American Indian terms like atoqua, sassamanesh and ibimi, the English word cranberry evolved from “crane berry,” a name bestowed on the fruit by Dutch and German settlers who thought its blossom resembled the head and bill of a crane.

For recipes and craft ideas such as topiaries, wreaths and more visit Ocean Spray’s website.
For more information visit the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association here.
~Taken in part from an article that appeared in the West Milford Messenger

Coming home after picking up our Christmas present to ourselves [a new hi-def TV] we got quite a shock. Instead of going into the garage we thought it would be easier to pull in front of the house to unload our huge parcel. Imagine our surprise on finding this sight before our very eyes. What a strange ‘bird’ at our bird feeding station.

We knew a bear was around because Daisy had been barking at the fence earlier in the week to alert me to its presence in our woods, and yet again this morning. I could see the bear in the woods wandering aimlessly around. Poor beary-boo. It’s not cold enough to hibernate and I think she’s getting a bit tired of staying awake. She was laying down lapping up the seed I had spread earlier today for the birds. Too lazy to either sit or stand! I ran into the house for my camera [of course!] and stood on our front porch to take these photos. She wasn’t bothered too much by me and I spoke softly to her. When Rick brought the truck back again she decided she’d had her fill of sunflower seeds for the day.

It’s not Ursa, mother of the three cubs who was such a frequent visitor to our yard over the summer, but another smaller female. Ursa is much larger. This might be Doris, the bear that was hibernating under our neighbor’s deck when they moved into their house. This particular bear always leaves its signature mark: taking several pickets out of our fence as it attempts to climb over. Today was no exception. Three pickets lay discarded on our front yard, leaving a big toothless gap.

Our bears can rest easy this year as New Jersey has cancelled their annual bear hunt, which I am thankful for. I hope they get to take their winter slumber before too long. Otherwise, they might start getting pretty cranky….and hungry!

Last Saturday we went to get our Christmas tree. I knew just where I wanted to go since I had happened by there earlier in the week to take photos of the ‘inflatables’ [what’s that? don’t know what inflatables are? sorry, that’s another blog entry coming soon.] and saw that they had lovely trees. So, back we went.

The parking lot was a very different scene from a few days ago. People bustled here and there, trees were being bundled up in their mesh bags for transport and loaded onto tops of cars and into trunks. Trees were literally flying out of the lot as fast as they could prepare them. It all led to a real feeling of Christmas spirit. A car with a Christmas tree sticking out of the trunk by several feet went by with a little girl in the back seat smiling from ear to ear, hugging her small dog. I remember her face. I knew exactly what she was feeling because I felt that way too.

The minute we stepped out of the car the smell hit us. The piney, well…Christmas-y, fragrance emanating from these fraser firs was almost overwhelming. I am a horrible Christmas tree shopper. I am very choosy when it comes to picking out a tree. Just ask Rick if you don’t believe me. He has always hated this part of Christmas and mostly because I would go from tree to tree, rejecting this one and that one. It’s a lot like shopping and he’d just rather pick one and get it over with. These trees were all so perfect [okay, they were raised on a tree farm in North Carolina and pruned and pampered to be beautiful their whole lives] that I was literally spoiled for choice. Which one when each is as lovely as the next? I think Rick was very pleasantly surprised when we made the quickest decision of all time. We’ll take that one! And here is our tree:

Another thing that I am not used to seeing is the variety of roping and boughs that exists back here in the East. Different kinds of pine, spruce, boxwood, fir, cedar were all available by the foot.

They had many different kinds of fresh wreaths as well.

Finally, our tree was tied to the top of our car. The dogs helped, as you can see.