Blogs

How do you foretell the coming of spring? Every year, I enjoy hearing what readers from different regions have to say!

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...

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 cover...

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 a...

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 tim...

This past Halloween, I got into the spirit and made a fun-filled dinner for my family and friends. I thought I'd share my Halloween dinner recipes—including an appetizer, drink, main dish, and dessert.

This autumn, I drove past an unusual site: a giant contraption towering above crowds of cheering people. Suddenly, I saw the machine's "arm" swing forward to hurl something through the air—why, was that a flying pumpkin? Indeed, I had discovered "pumpkin chunkin," an unusual competition th...