Salem – Page 2 – The Salem Garden

A Little Bit of Ice Sculpture

I love, love, love ice sculpture and this weekend is the Salem So Sweets ice sculpture event. It was originally scheduled for last week but it was postponed due to the blizzard. It’s hard to believe that that was a week ago already. Where did the week go?

There are sixteen sculptures this year. I always think their amazing, so every year I lead a spirited tour around town to take a look. We just saw a portion of them today because my little guy was sick all week and this was his first venture out of the house. My little girl doesn’t share my love of ice sculpture and wanted to go to Target to buy a new toothbrush. I really did not want to go to Target. I could have stayed downtown all day. We forged on…

This pretty heart was outside of Rockafellas Restaurant. Rockafellas hosted the festival’s wine and chocolate party so it’s a very fitting decoration for their entry way.

This guy was further down the street.

The detail is amazing.

Last year a head was stolen from one of the sculptures. What a cute play on that!

The Taj Mahal graced the entrance to the PEM (Peabody Essex Museum)…

And this film projector outside of the Salem Cinema has a special story. A few months ago the Cinema announced that in order to remain open their projection system had to be upgraded to a digital format. The price tag for this was $60,000. A fundraising campaign was organized and within twelve days the Cinema had reached its goal. Our community loves this theatre because the theatre loves our community.

I could have stayed all day, there were lots of other sculptures to see, but it just wasn’t our day. Maybe we’ll get back down there later in the week if the weather stays cold.

If you have kids of any age be sure to check out Happy Holligan’s colored ice post just below. What a fun thing to do with the kids when cabin fever sets in. I’m heading to my freezer to stock up on some colored ice. It’s school vacation week here, the perfect time to make some ice creations!

The ice won’t be here for long, garden days are coming!

Enjoy it while you can!

Michele

coloured ice sculptures (happyhooligans.ca)

Nemo in Salem— Down on Essex Street

As I expected, Blaire and her camera were out today. Here’s what she sent me:

Looking toward the Narbonne House. The Narbonne house is located at the Salem Maritime National Historic site and dates back to 1675. It’s used as a historical study house and can be toured on a limited basis. The other thing that’s interesting about this shot is that right below that huge drift of snow lies a beautiful bleeding heart plant that’s just waiting for spring to arrive!

The snow pile is very, very tall. I’m pretty sure it’s taller than the person who put it there ;).

Drifting snow, blocking the walkway next to the Narbonne House, with the Hawke’s House in the background. The Friendship is just beyond. If Blaire could have walked through that snowdrift we might have seen the Friendship too. Those NPS workers better get busy!

Thanks Blaire!

Stay warm everyone!

Michele and Blaire

Nemo’s in the Garden!

We’re having a blizzard today! We still have power which is a huge blessing. I’m not really awake yet, but here are a few photos while the power is still on.

The view from our front door yesterday

and today

Here’s Michael’s car and looking down the street. I just read on facebook that two city snow plow trucks have caught on fire. We may be snowed in for awhile. The roads are all closed with a $500 fine if your found driving. I sure wouldn’t want to be stuck in a snowbank and then fined $500.

And of course here’s the garden, buried under drifting snow. The snow is wonderful insulation and is often called “nature’s fertilizer.” My perennials are always happy after a really snowy winter.

It’s still snowing quite hard and I’m not sure about the total accumulation yet. It’s hard to tell with all of the drifting.

The kids went outside since I took these photos. I’ll try to get some shots of them a little later. They are going to have a great day!

I’ll try to update after my coffee~

Michele

Winter Storm Nemo Breakfast (newgirlonthechoppingblock.com)

Coyote Sighting In Salem!

Michael was walking Winnie this morning and as he came up our street he looked ahead and saw a “really big” coyote coming toward him. The coyote took a left and ran into our yard. He and Winnie took a right and came right into the house. We’re not really afraid of them, but it’s a good idea to keep coyotes and family dogs separate. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on Winnie when we’re in the yard. The coyotes are here year round but they seem to suddenly appear around early February, with lots of neighborhood sightings from now until late spring.

Of course after I got almost everyone out the door (my little guy is recuperating from his late night superbowl viewing, I’ll run him up to school soon) I had to head out there with my camera and see if I could take a photo of the tracks to share with you.

S/he came from the street, then went across the yard and down the hill.

The tracks look pretty cool up close.

It went right up the path in the middle of the photo and past the kids’ fort.

I didn’t go all the way up there because I was wearing crocks and my fluffy robe. Of course that meant I landed on my you know what.

Crocks and coyote tracking aren’t such a good mix 😉

Enjoy everything today!

Michele

More Coyote Sightings Possible During Mating Season (chicago.cbslocal.com)
More Coyote Sightings Keeping Residents On Edge (chicago.cbslocal.com)
Coyote sightings on the rise (cbc.ca)
Coyote Capers (essexonlakechamplain.com)

The Day After Sandy, the Day Before Halloween..

Today feels like such a weird day. The storm has mostly moved west of here so we are in cleanup mode in Salem. That’s good, because tomorrow is Halloween, our most celebrated day of the year. We made it through the storm in good shape. There were power outages, although not to us, our lights just flickered a few times. Lots of trees and branches came down and people lost siding, boats and things that weren’t secured well. Overall there is a strong sense of relief. I can’t feel it yet myself. I keep looking at photos of the devastation in the mid-Atlantic states and feeling a huge sense of loss. That’s where I grew up and where most of our family and so many friends still live. The damage is overwhelming and the story is just starting to be told. It leaves me feeling uneasy, unsettled and not able to celebrate anything other than our good fortune this time.

Here are some photos that Michael took at work yesterday. He posted the last one on facebook last night with the caption “a bird’s eye view of Sandy”… That made me smile for a minute 😉

Please stay safe and be well today!

Love, Michele

Halloween Saturday in Salem–A Smile for You!

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Yesterday I promised that I’d post photos that would make you smile today and here they are! Salem was packed full of people having fun last night. Here’s a little bit of what we saw… Enjoy!

An October Saturday Night in Salem

Last night we took the kids for a walk downtown with the idea that we would visit a Haunted House that Michael had tickets for. We got there and looked around the entrance. This is everyone hanging in the door making the decision about whether or not to go in. I was very clear, I don’t do haunted houses, sorry, but I did strongly encourage the rest to give it a try if they wanted to… The final verdict was “not today, maybe another night”… Just call us “the brave family”!We walked by the Salem Witch Museum, where my oldest son was at work. The museum erects these canopies for the month of October so that guests don’t have to wait outside in bad weather. The line stretched out the door and way down the street! Needless to say I had a very tired teenager coming in at 10:45 after work.There are lots and lots of places like this right now… we, of course, say hi and keep going 🙂 but the crowds waiting to vist are huge!Here’s one of many guided tours that we saw. There are lots of these right now with different themes, everything from “ghosts of Salem” to a food tour that stops at different restaurants. They look like fun!Salem Common is the place to head for carnival food and games…
There’s a cute hay maze on the common for toddlers and small children (and they don’t have to be “too small” to enjoy it)!Donations collected at the maze benefit the schools.
This young lady was encouraging people to visit one of the haunted houses. She said that we just had to say “monsters be gone” and they would back off if we were too scared.. still no takers from my crowd! Michael looks ready to go!There’s lots of interesting shops to visit..and a witchcraft and wizardry school..
Or for a lighter experience you can relax on the ferris wheel…My little kids loved this ride..So did Dad, but he was concerned about the safety of it. We’ll stick with the ferris wheel and merry go round next time.You can win a great witch decoration at the water gun game..

And there are ghosts in windows everywhere…

Just a very small glimpse of an October night in downtown Salem. Next Saturday the costumes will be out! We just saw a few last night, nothing too exciting, but their coming!!

Great Achievement at Salem High and 1000 Varieties of Pears in Salem!

It’s nice to wake up at 5:45am to good and interesting news in the paper.

The front page story in today’s Salem News is about our high school’s AP program. The rate of students taking advanced placement classes has risen dramatically and the success rate on completion has too! Here’s today’s coverage of the Secretary of Education’s visit and the Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative Program’s recognition of our students. This creative program provides cash incentive to students who pass the AP exams, and to their teachers. My oldest son has benefited greatly from this program and I hope that his siblings will too. The Salem Public School system has it’s challenges but the schools, students, parents and community are working tirelessly to overcome them. I’m so proud that my children attend the Salem Public Schools. Their education is amazing in many, many ways.

I also have to share this interesting letter to the editor, written by Jeanne Stella of Salem. It describes some of the horticultural history of the northern part of Salem and how the street names reflect that history. North Salem was once farm land and orchards. Imagine growing 3000 trees, with 1000 varieties of pears! You can read Jeanne Stella’s letter here. We are a city of gardeners. It’s in the soil and it’s passed down through many generations!

I’m hoping to do a little bit of Halloween touring later today and tomorrow. We’ll see where the kids and I land. Photos will be coming!

Enjoy everything!

Michele

Up In the Rigging

Michael took these photos of our very dear Uncle John working up in the rigging of the Friendship on Friday. It may be Halloween season in Salem, but the work goes on!

The Grand Parade!

Last night was our Halloween parade in Salem. The forecast was for rain, downpours actually. I’ve never seen it rain on that parade and last night was no exception. The rain held off until the very end and then it just drizzled a tiny bit. One of the great things about the Halloween parade here is that it’s a very local thing. All of the schools participate along with lots of local businesses and community groups. It always feels very wild and crazy but in a comfy, cozy way. We see lots of friends and neighbors and everyone is having fun. It’s kind of our local Halloween Celebration before the tourists show up on Saturday.

Unfortunately my camera completely failed. It wouldn’t focus, hated the spot I was in and refused to take nighttime photos. Michael was in the parade with our younger kids (while I spent most of the night in a teenager accessible area) but he did snap a few photos as the parade left the staging area and as it came in after them at the Common. I’m going to attach a link to Salem Patch’s photo gallery at the end. Be sure to click on there, there’s lots of great photos that are sent in by their readers.

Here’s Salem Maritime National Historic Site group, ready to go..

Carlton School, one of seven public elementary schools in Salem. The theme was “world animal day”… this gave everyone lots of material to work with!The police department has recently added a canine unit. This was the city’s first time to welcome the dogs and their handlers!Our wonderful mayor, Kim Driscoll, reviewing the parade.There were lots of marchers from Salem State. They seemed to be having a great time!There were members of the Wiccan community. And of course, the Ghost Busters, always a favorite!The parade is “highly interactive”, these guys really add to the interaction!So does the lawn chair drill team, everyone loves them!
The Bate’s School Art teacher, Todd Bleckly, went to Kutztown University, in Pennsylvania, during the same years that Michael and I did. If any of our college friends are reading, you may remember him… Michael and I don’t run into Kutztown alumni often so we love that he’s here in Salem!Ghouls on wheels..The Witchcraft Heights Elementary School Pandas… where else on earth would you find this?My very favorite middle school..and their Marching band, led by an awesome drum major who’s a close family friend!And of course, here’s our principal and vice principals, dressed as mice. There was lots of dancing!Lots of riding