Bethlehem, Pa

Barbara and I went to Bethlehem, PA ( http://www.christmascity.org/ ) for a few days. We left on Thursday morning and when we got to Bethlehem we went to the visitor center to pick up tickets Barbara had bought online, but they where not there. The lady at the visitor center took our cell phone number and said she was waiting for someone from the Christkindlmarkt ( http://christmascity.org/ckm ) where our tickets might be to call her back. We went off to have lunch at McCarty's Tea Room and Restaurant. The tea room was a bit of a disappointment, not what Barbara was expecting. I even did not think it was much of a tea room. The only thing that was tea room like was the name and the fact that they severed tea. During lunch the visitor center called to tell us that our tickets where at the Christkindlmarkt. After lunch we went back to the visitor center to pick up our paperwork that we had left there and started down the hill to the Christkindlmarkt. On the way we went into the Moravian Book Shop, they do have a book store inside but it is mostly a tourist trap shop. It did look like we would have had a better lunch there then at the tea room. We then walked up the hill to see what a Christmas Putz was. The Christmas Putz is a way to tell a story. It is a large display of the different scenes from the Christmas story and as each part of the story is told a different scene is lit. Then it was off to the Christkindlmarkt. We picked up our tickets and then went into the Christkindlmarkt. The Christkindlmarkt is a set of two huge tents that are full of vendors selling all kinds of crafts. There is a open air part between the tents and there was an ice sculptor working on a nutcracker, see pictures in slide show. In the second tent there is a stage where performers put on shows, we where there in between performers so we did not see any shows. So the Christkindlmarkt is a place you pay to go into to spend money, only in America. After that we took the free trolley back to where the car was parked and went to the motel. After a short rest we went back to the visitor center to go on our Bethlehem by Night Light Tour a bus ride through and around Bethlehem at night. We got quite allot of history on the Moravians and Bethlehem and saw allot of lights. After getting off the bus we walked back to where we had parked the car behind the Main Street Market. We stopped into an ice cream store and after that into a toy store, bought two more Christmas gifts. Then it was back to the motel.

On Friday morning we woke to what would turn out to be a snowy day. After breakfast we headed back into Bethlehem to go to two museums we had tickets for (remember the ticket issue). Well because of the snow both museums where closed. We had a choice, we could go back to the motel for the day or head to the mall. We decided to go to the mall. Because of the snow travel was slow, it took us 40 minutes to go to a mall that was 10 miles away. We got lunch at the mall and walked around for awhile. We headed back to the motel again because of the snow it took us 60 minutes to go about 15 miles. We stopped at a Turkey Hill convenience store to get something for dinner (hot dogs and buns with Campbell's soup and ice cream).

We awoke Saturday to a nicer day, at least it was not snowing. We went back to the museums and they where open. We went to the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem ( http://www.historicbethlehem.org/ ) and got a good look at how the early Moravians lived and worked. Then we walked to the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts ( http://www.historicbethlehem.org/ ), This museum has a very nice collection of doll houses and other things from the private collection of Annie S. Kemerer including a collection of Bohemian glass. After that we had lunch at the Bethlehem Brew Works ( http://thebrewworks.com/ ), good oatmeal stout. Then to our last event, Moravian Music Christmas. This was a holiday concert in the Central Moravian Church. The concert was excellent and featured The Mainstreet Brass ( http://themainstreetbrass.com/ ), the Central Moravian Church Choir and the Moller pipe organ. Then back into the car to go home.

Gingerbread house party

Barbara invited the neighborhood women over to decorate gingerbread houses last Friday. None of the ladies had ever done this before so they where a bit nervous. But from the pictures you will see that all of them came out great.

Table all ready for the ladies to arrive and our house as a sample.

Around the table from the left: Betty, Louise, Barbara, Joan and Stephine.

Below: Everyone is working and having fun, I almost got iced by Louise.

Below all the finished houses.

Thanksgiving and Christmas

It has been awhile since I have updated this so I will do my best to bring it up to date.

Our Thanksgiving was just Barbara, our son Ray, Barbara’s cousin Louise and I so we decided instead of making a big dinner for just four people we made dinner reservations at The Captain’s Inn in Forked River. The dinner was a buffet with plenty of food and choices. Sorry but I forgot to bring the camera so no pictures.

After Thanksgiving Barbara and I put the fall decorations away and started putting Christmas up. After I emptied the attic (not really but at least 80% of the stuff in the attic is Christmas). We wanted to do more decorating in the kitchen seeing as we spend most of our time in here. I bought some lights that where on sale and put them up behind the sheer valances. We also put lit garland above the cabinets wrapped with silver ribbon. We bought snowflakes made out of wood at a local craft store. We tried to put the snowflakes on the cabinet doors with sticky putty but they kept falling down so we used metallic ribbon to put them up.

Out front I put the animated deer on the lawn along with our angel. On the porch we have Mr. and Mrs. Clause along with some lit packages. The packages are cardboard boxes with part of the top and front cut out. Then I put a string of lights inside the box and wrapped them with translucent wrapping paper.

The living room got it's usual update to Christmas. All the knickknacks are put away and the shelves are all decorated with Christmas. The 4 foot tree was put up and decorated. To see all the pictures of the living room see the album at http://picasaweb.google.com/raygo1975/Christmas2008#.

Today Barbara and I decorated our gingerbread house.Tomorrow Barbara is having a Gingerbread decorating party for the ladies on our street. I will stick around and take some pictures.

On Wednesday evening Barbara and I went to a pine cone wreath class sponsored by The Ocean County Parks Department. We did it last year and enjoyed it so we paid our $18.00 and went again this year. They supply all the material, the hot glue guns and the hot glue (we used allot of glue sticks).

You start with a ring cut out of plywood.

First you glue pine cones to the outside edge and then the inside edge. As you can see when that is done you will have a space left behind which you fill in with pine cones and other natural elements.

Here is my wreath almost done.

When you have finished filling in all the spaces with pine cones you can add a bit of color with some colored beads and bit of ribbon and an artificial flower.
And here are the finished wreaths.

Barbara's wreath My wreath

Painting Class

Well last Monday was the last of my acrylic painting classes. That's right I have been painting art, not very well but good enough. You be the judge. The first picture I did was a copy of one of my pictures from last spring at Longwood Gardens. Here is what I was painting.





And here is what I painted.



Included below are some of the pictures some of the other artists are working on.




Vince did the face on a piece of cardboard in about an hour (during the class).



And here is my second picture (it is not done yet)

Halloween Party 2008

Barbara and I hosted our Halloween party last night and everyone had a great time. First let me show you some of our decorations. Our victims, I mean guests where greeted with.

The front parlor was cleaned and ready for our victims, I mean guests (did I do that again?).

A interesting saying is posted as you come into the kitchen/dinning room.

There where some warnings around the house to keep our guests safe ( I got it right that time).

For those who choose not to heed the warning where met with...

The host and the hostess are Ray and Barbara dressed in their Halloween best.

Enough of the decorations it is time to meet our guests, I mean victims, no I mean guests.

First to arrive was Joan.

Next was Doug (aka Easy Lay, I think I'm in lust) and Stephanie (our roof neighbors)

Next the condiments arrived as Jack and Louise

Last but not least to arrive where Betty and Harold.

After everyone arrived we played a guessing game. Barbara placed a sticker on our guests backs and by asking yes and no questions they had to figure out who or what they where. After a few minutes it was apparent that was not working so we started giving hints and everyone was successful in guessing what was on their sticker. Then before dinner was served we passed around a jar filled with candy and everyone had to guess how many where in the jar. It was just a pint jelly jar and most people guessed why too high. After all guesses where written down the closest was 30 guessed by Betty, the number of candies in the jar was 38. Next it was time for dinner which Barbara had been stirring:

Between dinner and desert we had a spooky story about John Bones who left his body parts for us to feel. First where his guts (cold pasta), then his ear (dried apricot), etc... You get the idea. Then came desert with coffee and home made cookies and brownies. After desert we had goody bags passed out with some tricks and some treats. Then there where the Halloween Crackers, like Christmas Crackers but for Halloween, we got some really good ones this year, the toys went all over the place, as usual, but everyone put their hats on and read thier jokes. Then we went back into the parlor to digest all we had eaten and to talk some more. I asked the question "how many dirty crooks where in the room, and after reciting the peom:

Made you look

You dirty Crook

Stole your Mother's pocketbook

Some hands went up, mostly from the females in the group, hahahaha.

Today I printed out the pictures I had taken and Barbara delivered some and I delivered some and everyone told us how much they enjoyed themselves at the party.