Cow Cookies

Betsy and I made Santa cow cookies for the Holidays......they are sugar cookies and taste delicious....we also made candy cane ones...but ate them up so there was none left to take a picture of...Oh well....

The Tree has arrived

As you can see I have been helping with the decorating of the tree...but it doesn't need that much since it comes with it's own decorations..pine cones.....The cats keep playing with the water and Stewie keeps getting sap on him.  It's funny when he tries to lick it off and can't....poor Stewie....

Trying to Grill....

We are grilling this evening...but we have to remove the snow first....thought I would help..since I am hungry...

SNOW!!!!!

There is soooo much snow everywhere.....I was so excited to see it since I have never seen this much in one place.thought we might take a dip in the hot tub....but I didn't pack a robe....

Went to the BIG City....

So we all went into New York City to visit with Michael, Abby and Alex. These pictures were taken from Michael and Abby's apartment.  The buildings here are really tall.

Dog Show

After the parade there was this dog show that Betsy said they watch every year.....I have never seen so many dogs of all shapes and sizes.  And they stand so straight.....

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner

While we were watching the parade, I helped Betsy and Alex cook the Thanksgiving dinner.  Did a lot of dicing and slicing for the stuffing.  It was tiring work.....

SANTA!!

At the end of the Parade Santa was there....yeaaaaa.....betsy said that it is officially the Holiday season when you see Santa....

Parade Floats

There were so many floats...not sure which one is my favorite.  If I can't be a Rockette, maybe I can be one of the people that handles the floats.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

Woke up and everyone was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The Rockette's wore such pretty costumes...maybe one day I can be a Rockette.

Lil Mang in the Cat Condo

Lil Mang was hiding in the cat condo...I have never seen a cat condo but Stewie and Jack spend a lot of time in it.  I think Lil Mang was hiding from Stewie since Stewie likes to chase him around the house

Bit telling me her secrets

Bit wanted some time with me alone to tell me some secrets.  She said that her favorite dog is Maddie.  I think that really doesn't count as a secret since Maddie is the only dog she knows....

A meeting of the minds

Stewie and Bit were having a meeting and I decided to join them.  We talked about what is their favorite food, which toys they liked best.  Stewie likes anything with tuna in it and Bit said that she likes anything.  Stewie's favorite toy is his stuffed fish and Bit said that she liked that one too

Meet Bit

This cats name is Bit.....not sure why.....but she is very friendly.  They told me that she is still a kitten and still growing...so maybe her name, Bit, won't really be true as she gets bigger.

Meet Maddie

Isn't she beautiful,,,and BIG......she is so sweet.  We decided to have a nice chat on the couch.....she told me that what she really likes to do is chase tennis balls.

We had visitors this weekend

Gilbert and Betsy's son and daughter in law, Michael and Abby, came to visit this weekend and they brought ALL of their pets with them.  They have 2 cats and a dog....this one's name is Oliver, but they call him Lil Mang....not sure why since he doesn't seem so little to me

Having a flagel.....

While driving around we all got a little hungry...so we stopped at this bagel place in Great Barrington, MA.  And it was unbelievable.....they actually sell Flat bagels called Flagels......I think they did it just for me because they knew that I was taking my vacation up here

Refrigerator for the Bread and the end of the Tour

This has got to be the largest refrigerator for bread that I have ever seen.  That was the end of our tour.....it was so cool to see how they make bread....now it is time to eat it.....yummmmm

Oven for the Pizza

This is the oven that they pre bake the pizza dough in...it goes round and round as it bakes.  And it is really HOT.

Pizza Dough ready to Go

Richard also showed us the pizza dough that they sell not only to people coming into his bakery but also to some of the best pizza restaurants in the area.  They are pre baked so all one has to do is put some toppings on them and cook it in the oven or on the grill.  Gilbert says that he wants to come back and buy some so we can have it for dinner this weekend....yea....Pizza.....

The oven is ready

These ovens are really long...so they put the dough on this conveyor belt that loads it into the oven.  Pretty interesting method.

Ready to be made into bread

The dough is getting ready to be baked.  It is floured and then put on the racks.  They are so soft and squishy at this point.

Another machine

To be honest, I forget what this machine does...I think it is for adding stuff to the flour to make it rise....but I am not sure.  They have a lot of machines here....and the people are really nice

Mixing to make the Dough

Have you ever seen such a big mixer.  Richard says that it never gets tired.  I got tired just looking at all of the dough in it.  Couldn't imagine doing this by hand.

Grinding the Flour

This is the machine that grinds the flour - Richard says that they like it very finely ground.  And if you haven't guessed, that is Richard, the owner.

Berkshire Mountain Bakery...YUMMMM

We stopped at the Berkshire Mountain Bakery today......what a delicious place.  They make all of their own bread and pizza dough's.  The gentleman who owns it - Richard Bourdon - took us on a tour.  It was fantastic.  here is the link to their website.  http://www.berkshiremountainbakery.com/about.php.  As you can see I am trying to figure out what to eat first.

Logs that would make a nice fire

There were lots of logs on the property...looked like good firewood to me but Gilbert said that we couldn't take it since a) it wasn't ours and b) it wouldn't fit in the car......details...

Looking at Land

Betsy told me that Gilbert likes to look at land....A LOT...so today we went to look at  this piece of property in Massachusetts.  It was OK.  The driveway, if you can call it that, was REALLY steep.  But there were some nice trees there.

Trying on Glasses

Gilbert went to pick up his glasses so I thought it would be good to get my eyes checked.  They are perfect..but I thought it would be fun to try on a pair of glasses anyway.  What do you think?  I think the color  and shape are perfect.

Jack...

They have another cat named Jack...and boy is he BIG...but so sweet and gentle.  betsy says that all he really likes to do is sleep and eat.

Stewie.....

So, here is Stewie..one of Gilbert and Betsy's cats.  He is very sweet and loves to rough house.  I think we will have a lot of fun while I am here

Stuffed Animals that I can snuggle with

Look at all of these stuffed animals.  Not sure who I want to snuggle with first.  Have to figure out which one I want to move into the bed with me..maybe I can switch off.

My Room while I am here

Betsy took me up to the room that I will be staying in while I am here.  The bed is really big, hope I don't get lost in it.  And the TV is great..she showed me how to use the remote so I am all set.

Thought about buying some wood

Saw some wood as we were leaving and thought it might be a good idea to buy some so we could have a fire in the fireplace (Gilbert told me that he has a few fireplaces), but Gilbert said not to worry, that he has lots of wood back home.

Looking at the Map of Spencertown

Spencertown is a hamlet in the town of Austerlitz.  Looks very long and narrow.  Betsy had to hold me up so I could get a closer look.

Looking at the Ad Board

You can always tell a lot about a town by looking at the Ad Board of a town..seeing who wants or needs what.  This seems like a very nice town, everybody wanting to help others

Paying for our lunch

I thought it would be nice of me to pay for lunch since I will be staying with Gilbert and Betsy for a while.  You can see that Gilbert decided to get some cole slaw.