Thank You Mother Nature

I was born here so I may be a bit prejudice but I believe there is nothing as beautiful as Autumn in New England.  Autumn heralds the beginning of an amazing number of celebrations.  

The County Fair season is in full swing and as Farmers’ Markets are winding down, Craft Fairs are gearing up.

Halloween is followed by Thanksgiving and Chanukah, Christmas and New Years Eve are right around the corner. Of course there are many more holidays that we celebrate at Laurel Mountain Basket Co. Holidays like Bosses’ Day, Mothers – In – Law Day and Cabbage Night.

Cabbage Night, also known as Gate Night, Trick Night, Mischief Night Goose, Night, Devil’s Night or Devil’s Eve depending on where you live, is celebrated on October 30^th.  On this night, mischief makers patrol their neighborhoods looking for gardens that have not been cleaned up.  They collect the over ripe vegetables and bombard the offending gardener’s house with the collected crop.

The trick is not to get caught or fall down while carrying an arm load of the over ripe ammo.

For the record, our vegetable garden is cleared and ready for Spring planting so we’re going to skip celebrating Cabbage Night again this year and go straight to Halloween.

We only have a couple of kids in our neighborhood so we don’t go big on the Trick or Treat thing or spooky decorations but this weekend we’ll be buying pumpkins, flowers and cabbage kale to decorate our front steps.

I also love to bring the colors of Autumn into our gift basket designs. The reds and rusts, yellow and oranges are so bright yet bring a certain warmth.  It may be the many holidays that come along during the season give us a feeling of hearth and home.

Whatever the reason, Autumn and the colors of Autumn are also loved by our clients.

Have an event or occasion coming up soon?  Let us design a gift basket with the colors of Autumn and you too will come to believe that there is nothing as beautiful as Autumn in New England.

Marie

P.S.  To see samples of designs we have created for our clients, check out laurelmtbasket.com and let us design one just for you.

Eat Drink and Be Scary!

Holiday – a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.

Some holidays. Like Christmas and Hanukkah are religious/spiritual, while others like Mothers' Day and Fathers' day are sentimental. Holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day honor a specific group of people and Halloween, well Halloween is just plain FUN.

Okay, so it does have spiritual roots but for most of us it's simply a day to cut loose and have fun. Witches and goblins, black cats and pumpkins have lost their original significance and have become whimsical decorations.

In many communities schools or civic organizations sponsor Trick or Treating events where children can come together in a safe environment to have fun with rag shag parades, prizes, movies, lots of candy and other treats.

Even the family pets are getting in on the fun. Veterinarians and pet day care centers have parties and hold contests for the best Halloween costumes – dog and cat categories.

More and more adults are getting into the spirit (no pun intended) too. Costume parties are common with all sorts of themed foods and drinks like Black Cat Canapes and Candy Corn Jell-O Shots.

One of my favorite Halloween treats is Black Magic Cake.  Most recipes call for instant coffee but I sort of like it better with coffee flavor liqueur.  

Houses and streets are decorated in anticipation of kids out trick or treating.   Laconia, NH is hosting a huge pumpkin festival where they will try to break their record  of 10,000 lighted Jack-O-Lanterns and pumpkin carving has become an art form.

We don't have kids and don't live in an area with lots of kids so Halloween isn't so much about trick or treat but is more about the beginning of the Holiday Season... my favorite time of year. Halloween leads to Thanksgiving and I love Thanksgiving because, to me, it's all about family.

Thanksgiving leads to Christmas and Christmas is about Peace, Love and Friendship.  What's not to love?

So, I am looking forward to Halloween and all of the wonderful holidays that follow.
Happy Halloween,
Marie

P.S.  Check out our new website at www.laurelmtbasket.com 

What's So Special About October 15th?

At Laurel Mountain Basket Co we pay close attention to traditional Holidays. After all, supplying gifts is pretty much the business we re in.

I've always loved holidays and enjoy finding gifts for people. It's October already and I was just thinking that I am way behind on my Holiday shopping. Really, I don't usually stress around the Holidays because when I see something I think would make a great gift for someone, I pick it up and keep it in my “gift chest”.  This year the gift chest is only half full.

Unfortunately, I'm finding that more and more people don't enjoy holidays. I was saddened a couple of Christmases ago when a tradesman I do business with refused to accept a token gift I brought him. He said he didn't like the idea of HAVING to give a gift and that people have forgotten the Reason for the Season.

I didn't offer the gift because I had to. I offered it because I love giving gifts to people I value and I like that there are special days like Christmas and Birthdays set aside for celebrating and giving gifts. I do see his point though. 

Take Valentine's Day for example.  I wonder how many husbands really give their wives luxury cars and expensive jewelry on Valentine's Day. There was a time when I thought I was the only wife in history that didn't get a Lexus or BMW or February 14^th.

Once upon a time, back in the Stone Age when we sent our newsletters out via USPS, we had a column dedicated to weird Holidays. I have decided to resurrect that practice using our Facebook page. For example, did you know that February 5th is Bubble Gum day or that May 15^th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day? Now there's a holiday I can get behind! Think about what fun it would be if you brought a big place of home baked chocolate chip cookies in to work on May 15^th to celebrate! Spreading joy around the office sounds like a good idea to me!

So if you think life would be a little more fun if you had something to celebrate every day. “Like” our Facebook page and we will do our best to keep you in the know.

In case you are wondering, October 15^th is National Grouch Day.

Happy holidays,

Marie

P.S. Check out our new website at www.laurelmtbasket.com