Blogs

My great-grandfather ran a sawmill and was a cabinetmaker who could make just about anything out of wood. My grandfather built his own house using a Sears and Roebuck kit. My father did not inherit any woodworking skills. In fact, his friends used the word "Atwellian" (from our last name) to describe anything that...

Where I live, winter temperatures are often in the single digits. Whether your area is colder or warmer, keeping warm is a basic need that we all share. I've posted some tips—from both Almanac editors and readers—about how to stay warm. These aren't "big" projects like buying a new heating system...

Being in a power outage can be very frustrating. Here is some advice that may help you the next time there is a storm and you lose power for a few or more days.

December 12, 2008 This morning, we woke up to huge crashing sounds. (My husband later compared the sounds to road-side bombs.) We rushed over to the window. An enormous tree was falling right before our eyes. Our stunned eyes took in an otherworldly view. There were fallen trees in every direction. The branches were covered...

Every December, we cook up a storm for the annual Almanac Christmas party. Last year, a huge ice storm forced us to cancel our festivities—so we were looking forward to this year's celebration. Below are photos of the holiday table. Can you tell that we love to bake and cook?! This year, we hosted a holiday after...

For those who vacation during peak holiday weeks—which is most of us—rates and crowds are always higher than usual. For skiers and riders, that means blackout dates on most lift ticket deals, long lift lines, and trails packed with other skiers and riders. However, there are two exceptions to this rule for ski...

After great anticipation, finally our little corner of New England—Dublin, New Hampshire, home of The Old Farmer's Almanac—is blanketed in white. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and that makes skiers, riders, and snow lovers very happy.

Recently, I was introduced to the world of gingerbread house-making when I took a 6-hour-long workshop on how to construct one. Although that sounds like a long time, the class was so much fun that the time just whizzed by! My creation is shown here.

There's a large maple tree that lives next to my house. It's been a trouper, in spite of old age, ice and wind storms, woodpecker holes, squirrel nibblings, a canker wound, and a barbecue grill rack nailed to one of its limbs (for some unknown reason). I often look out to see how my old friend is doing, and this time I noti...

Welcome October! For your enjoyment, I've posted this beautiful poem by Robert Frost. In it, he urges nature to slow down—before the leaves fall and the chilly weather begins!