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One early Thursday evening I decided to make a stop at Homestead Gardens on the way to attending my weekly support group meeting for people who are separated or divorced. They had their Christmas shop open and they decorated the grounds with all kinds of gorgeous lights. That store sold a variety of Christmas decorations along with plants like poinsettias. Here are the pictures I took.
Once again Homestead Gardens had its giant train layout where one can see toy trains travel past the various Department 56 ceramic buildings.
After I went to Homestead Gardens I went to Wegman’s where I purchased dinner to eat before I headed to my meeting. I also took some photos of interesting Christmas display, which I’ll write about in my next post.
My support group for people who are separated or divorced had a fundraiser at this restaurant which had some awesome happy hour prices. (I ordered two tacos for only $2 each plus a bottle of Dos Equis beer for $3.) I knew that Homestead Gardens was located just a mile away from that restaurant so I stopped by there briefly to look around before I continued on to the restaurant. I saw that the nursery had their farm animals outside except only one goat was currently outside when I was there that day.
I also saw this lovely fountain that I couldn’t resist photographing.
A day after I took the above photograph with my smartphone, I got this notice from my Google Maps app asking me to submit that photo to its app so people would see my photograph whenever they type in the address of Homestead Gardens’ Davidsonville location. I hit the “OK” button and I got a notice about a day or two later telling me that my photo of that fountain has already garnered a lot of views. I have just looked it up on Google Maps on my MacBook to see how it works and my photo is among a slideshow of other photos that people had previously taken of that place. (Here’s a direct link to my photo as seen on Google Maps in case you’re curious.) It’s the first time I’ve ever had the Google Maps app invite me to submit anything. No, I didn’t get paid but, then again, I wasn’t on any special assignments where I made a special trip to that store just so I could take photos. I guess my photo is now an example of user-generated content.
December 9 was a pretty full day for me. I began my day by driving over to Germantown where I interviewed for a potential job where I can do the work remotely via Internet. Once the job interview ended, I decided to check out a few nearby roadside attractions that were listed on the Roadside America site mainly because I rarely drive all the way to Germantown and I figured that I might as well check out those attractions while I was in the area.
That evening I decided to go to a happy hour fundraiser on behalf of my support group for people who are separated or divorced.that was held at the Broadneck Grill in Edmonston. Basically the support group received portion of the food and drinks that were ordered. I got a chance to socialize with fellow members while taking advantage of the happy hour specials on certain meals and drinks.
I ended up drinking two margaritas when I should’ve stuck with just one margarita. My head started to feel a bit fuzzy after that second margarita. After I paid for my bill, I walked over to the Safeway that was located in the same shopping center as the Broadneck Grill and I purchased a 22-ounce bottle of Diet Pepsi. I felt a little bit better after drinking that soft drink but I really didn’t feel confident enough to make the half-an-hour drive home. But then I remembered passing Homestead Gardens on the way to the Broadneck Grill and it was located just a mile away from that restaurant. On top of it, their Christmas shop was opened so I decided to go there and browse the latest decorations while trying to recover from those two margaritas.
So I made the one-mile drive, walked around the store, and took a bunch of photos. The Christmas shop was just as lovely as ever and the toy train display was a marvel to behold. I stayed in the store until it closed at 9 p.m. By that point I felt well enough to make the drive home.
Here are the photos I took that night at Homestead Gardens. Enjoy!
I decided to make my yearly trek to visit the Christmas shop in Homestead Gardens. I was trying to get my mind off of my current problems and just going there did the trick. Of course, I took a lot of photos.
I left for Homestead Gardens later in the day than I usually would because I was waiting for something to arrive in the mail then I had to get to the bank, refill my car’s gas tank, and go to Target because I desperately needed to buy some more toilet paper before Christmas (I was running low) and I also needed to find something under $20 that I could buy for my support group’s annual holiday party next week. (They have a white elephant gift exchange where you can either bring an unwanted present that someone gave you for Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa and wanted to get rid of or you can buy something cheap just so you can have a present to donate to the gift pile.) So it was already night by the time I arrived. It was raining and there were even fog patches. Homestead Gardens’ wonderful outdoor light display was still bright despite the weather.
The indoor display was just as lovely as previous years. With the indoor display, you don’t have to worry about raindrops falling on your head.
There were all kinds of decorations available for sale. Some were religious, some focused on the more secure aspects of the holiday season (such as Santa Claus and snowmen), and some were humorous.
Homestead Gardens had a special area for those who wanted to give a special gift to the pooches in their lives.
There were also all kinds of tree ornaments, tabletop displays, and similar items on sale.
Since Homestead Gardens is a nursery, there were plenty of poinsettias and Christmas cacti on display in a variety of colors.
Homestead Gardens usually doesn’t sell toys so I was interested to see that they had a shipment of Breyer horses.
The focal point of Homestead Garden’s Christmas shop is its large toy train layout. That layout was moved to a different location than where I’ve seen it other years but it’s still there and it’s just as big and as awesome as ever.
Today I helped out my support group for people who are separated or divorced with the yard sale. It was a big success in that people bought a lot of stuff and I was among the volunteers collecting money. (I won’t know until the next meeting this Thursday exactly how much money the yard sale raised for the organization.) The stereo I donated to the yard sale sold for $25. At last I finally got rid of that over-sized stereo. For my next stereo I plan on getting a smaller tabletop model with a CD player and an audio jack so I can plug in a computer, iPod, or iPad and play my .mp3’s.
When I worked the yard sale last fall I found all sorts of outdated stuff that really belongs in a museum. Today I found more outdated goodies that will bring back some memories.
I’ve been helping a friend of mine unload some old electronics equipment he gets for nearly free through his public library job whenever the library upgrades its computers and other electronics. Among the stuff he gave me to unload was this Tele-Recorder 350 that’s supposed to be this cassette recording device that you use for telephone calls. I looked on Amazon and found that one can buy this used for $19.95 (it doesn’t sell any new ones so I suspect that it’s no longer being manufactured). It wasn’t really worth the effort for me to unload via eBay or some Facebook/Yahoo groups so I donated it to the yard sale. It ended up on a table where everything on it was marked “FREE!” (The items that made it to that table were ones that volunteers felt wouldn’t sell at all.)
Another one that ended up on the “FREE!” table was this GE Caller ID device, which harkens back to the days when phones didn’t have a Caller ID feature. Caller ID was an add-on service that the phone companies provided for an extra monthly fee on top of the phone bill and the person wanting this service also had to purchase a separate device to attach to the phone. Thanks to Caller ID being a standard feature on most phones (especially cell phones), separate Caller ID devices like the one below are now obsolete.
The “FREE!” table had this unopened package of one Maxell Hi 8 XR-Metal 8mm Camcorder Videotape.
The “FREE!” table also had a box of staples. Usually that would be an opportunity to get some office supplies for free except the drawing on the package said that these staples fit only this one type of stapler that I have never seen sold anywhere. I did a quick Google search and found that it’s a type of stapler that’s now considered vintage. I have to admit that the package design is quite attractive.
Not all out-of-date technology was put on the “FREE!” table. Here’s a fax machine, known as the Canon FaxPhone L80, that’s now completely obsolete in this age of e-mail, Dropbox.com, and other types of web-based systems.
Here’s a Linksys cable modem that went on sale for 25 cents even though we doubted that anyone would want it. It turned out that someone bought it, which proves the old saying “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”
I also found this portable cassette stereo player that includes headphones and small stereo speakers that has never been removed from the package.
There was one item on the “FREE!” table that I took for myself. It’s a souvenir glass from Walt Disney World during the 25th anniversary celebration. My then-husband and I were actually there during those festivities and I still remember when the exterior of Cinderella’s Castle was re-done to resemble a pink birthday cake. While I don’t remember this glass specifically, it was probably was one of the many 25th anniversary souvenirs that I saw on sale at the time. It’s cool that I finally have a souvenir glass years after the 25th anniversary and it’s even cooler that I got it for free. The glass is very pretty and it has the official 25th anniversary logo on the glass bottom so you can see it every time you empty your drink.
At one point I checked out the other two events that were running concurrently with the yard sale. One was a book sale that was held inside of the Prince of Peace Presbyterian Church. The other was the Festival on the Green craft show that was held on the grounds of the Crofton Country Club. I didn’t buy anything at either event but I took a photo of a cute costumed character at the Festival on the Green.
The yard sale was over by 2 p.m. so I decided to drive to nearby Davidsonville where I checked out Homestead Gardens (I’m currently researching some gardening ideas). I took a few photos of this goat that was grazing on the grounds outside the nursery.
I have to admit that I’m now glad my old Droid smartphone died on me so I had to upgrade to a new phone because I’m really loving not only the improved graphics but the phone capabilities are really phenomenal compared to before.
Today I took some more pictures with my new Droid Ultra smartphone at Homestead Gardens while I was searching for Advent candles because I remembered that tonight is the first Sunday of Advent. Homestead Gardens is a family-owned nursery that puts up a giant Christmas display every year and many of the ornaments and decorations on display are for sale. There are lots of poinsettias and Christmas cacti on display, Santa Claus visits on the weekends, and there are goats and chickens on the grounds. Here are some of the photos I took.
I also made an amazing discovery about my smartphone camera. Months ago I saw TV ads for the latest iPhone that had a panoramic option for taking panorama shots. I used to think that’s the one thing the iPhone had that my Droid smartphone didn’t have. All that changed when I got the new Droid Ultra. Here is my attempt at taking a panoramic shot of the giant toy train layout that is on display at Homestead Gardens during the holiday season.
That is so cool that I can now take panoramic shots so easily. Even with my seven-year-old Canon Digital Rebel DSLR camera, I would have to mount it on a tripod, manually take shots as I pivot the tripod, then assemble all the shots together in Adobe Photoshop if I wanted to achieve the same effect with it. Or shell out hundreds of dollars to buy a wide angle lens, which would be tough to do given my current financial situation.
I’m going to end this entry with some photos of the lit trees outside the nursery at sunset.
Seven months ago I devoted a blog post full of miscellaneous photos I downloaded from my smartphone in order to clear out the disk space. Recently I did a similar purge of more photos from my smartphone.
Back in late March one of the stores I visited sold a line of Disney-inspired makeup complete with totally cute versions of Mickey Mouse and his friends.
This next photo reminded me of a running joke I used to have with my husband. A few years ago we learned through a friend of an existence of a line of alcoholic beverage called Arrogant Bastard Ale. My husband used to present himself as a total smartass to me and to many of our friends and I used to joke that with his smartass attitude, I should buy him a bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale as a gift. However, I checked in many liquor stores and none of the ones in my area carried that brand. Fast forward a few years and my husband ended up divorcing me. I happened to walk in a store on my own earlier this year and I finally found a bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale on sale. It figures that I can now find Arrogant Bastard Ale after my divorce from my husband became final. <Sigh!>
Many of the grocery stores in my area have a bakery that includes fresh baked goods. Of all the supermarkets, I have to say that Giant is the one that has the best looking cookies. I tried some of these cookies and, while they are tasty, there are other less-decorated cookies whose taste I prefer. But these cookies do look pretty and cute.
The front window of one of the local clothing stores in my area dressed up one of its mannequins in the most butt-ugly patriotic outfit I’ve ever seen.
The Food Network used to run this reality show called The Ace of Cakes which was one of the few reality shows I watched on a regular basis. The show profiled a Baltimore-based bakery called Charm City Cakes, which specializes in making unique one-of-a-kind cakes that are truly works of art. I was really sad when the show was cancelled. A few months ago I was shopping at Safeway when I saw that the owner of Charm City Cakes, Duff Goldman, has come out with a line of Chef Duff boxed cakes where anyone can attempt to make a cool looking cake in the comfort of his/her own kitchen.
One day I decided to go to downtown Washington, DC so I parked my car in a Metro station parking lot near this Hello Kitty car.
The local nursery, Behnke’s, has this really cool looking landscaping project on its grounds that’s designed to show off one of the creative things you can do with purchasing tall grasses from them.
Earlier this spring I saw this really pretty butterfly on one of the concrete steps outside of my home.
Around the same time as I took that butterly photo, I was working on starting a garden when I decided to go to one of the local nurseries, Homestead Gardens. This particular nursery is located in Davidsonville, which is full of family-owned farms. Homestead Gardens had some chicks on sale for anyone interested in raising chickens.
A few months ago a new non-profit STEM technology center called Club 125 opened in my area. The unofficial mascot is Sam, who definitely feels at home there.
Somtimes another dog named Geisha visits at Club 125 and it results in Sam and Geisha playing with each other.
Occasionally the dogs go too far in their playing so they have to be sent to a time-out area that’s blocked off with a child gate.
Eventually the dogs are allowed to leave the time-out area and they settle down together looking like they are going to be calm and laid-back friends.
Then, again, maybe not.
But there’s more to Club 125 than just dogs and science geek-oriented activities. I happened to drop by one Sunday afternoon while a Japanese language class was in progress.
One summer morning I saw three ducks relaxing in the grass.
I was on a Metro train a few months ago when I saw this ad for a new establishment that was in the process of opening in Bethesda called Max Brenner Chocolate Bar. As you can guess from the name, this place specializes in chocolate.
Here’s an ad I saw on the side of a shopping mall directory for the website ThatsNotCool.com.
The Annapolis comic book shop Third Eye Comics decided to put up this giant tent in the back parking lot in conjunction with the huge San Diego Comic Con that was taking place across the country that same weekend. The Third Eye Comics tent had a clearance sale on older comic books and action figures.
One day in a parking lot I found this really amusing bumper sticker.
Did you know that, in addition to chocolate candy, Hershey’s also makes cereal? I didn’t either until one day when I made this trip to the local Safeway.
I saw this birthday tribute to Jack Daniels on display at Old Line Fine Wine, Spirits & Bistro.
Here is the beginning of a sunset featuring a blue sky, the moon, and a bunch of clouds with just a tiny hint of pink in them.
I saw this live turkey on display at the Greenbelt Farmers Market in Greenbelt, Maryland last month.
I visited one of those Spirit of Halloween stores that usually sets up temporary space in an empty store space in many local malls and shopping centers throughout the United States. The one I visited is currently located at the Free State Mall in Bowie, Maryland but, since tomorrow is Halloween, this store will pack up and leave soon. In addition to selling costumes, masks, and makeup, The Spirit of Halloween also sells these state of the art animatronics that were really awesome to see in person but I didn’t buy one because 1) I’m currently living on a tight budget and 2) those animatronics are a bit too much for a divorced woman living in a small townhouse with no children.
Here’s a nice sunset shot that I took in Crofton, Maryland before I headed over to my weekly support group meeting for people who are separated or divorced.
One day I found this spider weaving its web outside my home.
I found this faded poster of actor George Takei (best known as Sulu on the original 1960’s Star Trek series) hanging in the window of the local Social Security office.
The next few photos are of the fused glass arts and crafts of Tina Van Pelt of Profusions of Glass. She had me take a few reference photos of her booth at the Fall Harvest Festival in Greenbelt, Maryland for reference since I was going to sell some of her items at the Acorns A Go-Go Groovy Vegan Fest (which was to be held a couple of weeks later) since she was going to be out of town that same weekend. The glass items really photographed well with the smartphone camera.
Did you know that this month is “Ministry Appreciation Month”? I didn’t either until I saw these cards in the Hallmark aisle at a local CVS.
Here’s an ad I saw recently in a Metro station in downtown Washington, DC.
The next few photos are the ones I took the day I went to the weekly Riverdale Park Farmers Market. I walked around the downtown area of Riverdale Park, Maryland and I even took a photo of the band that performed during the Farmers Market.
The next couple of photos are ones that I took during a recent visit to All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC.
One day, when I was returning from an appointment with my therapist, I happened to see a herd of deer grazing along the side of the road in the late afternoon sun.
I found some interesting art decorating a tattoo parlor in Annapolis.
Now that I’ve cleared space on my smartphone by deleting photos, I’m going to end this entry with my first attempt at a selfie photo. I took it last Friday in the women’s bathroom at a dance that was put on by my support group for people who are separated or divorced. Since tomorrow is Halloween and I am disguised as a My Little Pony character named Rainbow Dash, I’m going to post it here. I’m wearing a Rainbow Dash hoodie (complete with ears, a multicolored mane, and even wings on the back) that I purchased at Amazon.com, a Rainbow Dash mask that I purchased and downloaded from the Etsy shop Hungry Panda Supplies, and a skull cameo necklace that I purchased at a craft show from Lithia’s Creations.
This past Saturday was my birthday and it would be my first one since my husband abruptly walked out on me with no warning on December 28, 2011. My husband has largely avoided talking to me since then and I received no acknowledgement from him about my birthday this year, which is a stark contrast to my birthday last year (when my husband gave me both a new iPod Touch and a new iPad and he took me to this wonderful French restaurant for dinner). So I decided to spend this past weekend just going out in an effort to enjoy my birthday and forget about my husband.
Late Friday afternoon I decided to visit the Christmas shop at Behnke’s Nurseries in Beltsville, Maryland. This is the nursery that’s located closest to my home. Compared to Homestead Gardens and Valley View Farms, the Behnke’s Christmas shop is small but there were still some interesting decorations like the moose in the photo below.
The next two photos are of pointsettias in unusual colors and covered in glitter. No, they are not natural. The colors and glitter were painted on the leaves. I’m not sure how I feel about these plants. On the one hand, they are definitely unnatural. On the other hand, they do look pretty.
Behnke’s had a bunch of miniature plants on sale in a variety of decorative pots. One could choose plants like tiny pointsettias and miniature orchids. I thought they were cute.
I purchased one thing at Behnke’s. I previouly saw this during my visit to Valley View Farms but I didn’t buy it on that trip because I was about to purchase two hedgehog ornaments and a small nativity and I didn’t think I had enough money to purchase anything else. It’s a smoker shaped like a gingerbread house that comes with a supply of gingerbread-scented incense. I thought it was cute. I was also attracted to the fact that, for once, it’s not imported from China. This cottage is one of a series of cottages made by a U.S. based company called Ginger Cottages. (The link has lots of eye candy.) What was even sweeter was that the smoker originally had a $29.95 price tag but I got it on sale for $21.
The next day was my birthday and I decided to make a brief appearance at the Riverdale Holiday Market because two of my friends were selling their crafts at that festival. (I had the opportunity to sell my stuff there this year but I didn’t because this market is usually held outdoors in December, a time of the year when the weather in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area can be pretty iffy at best and I just didn’t want to sign up only to have it be extremely cold or snowing on that day.) The weather also happened to be nice and sunny with temperatures in the low 60’s so I decided to go there. As I walked over to the market, I saw this University of Maryland Physics Department van that had an illustration that made me think of the cover of an early 1970’s Pink Floyd album.
I visited my friends’ booths and I managed to purchase a couple of things. One was a Thank You card that was made by Archelaus, whose cards features the kind of designs that one doesn’t usually find on a Hallmark card. The other was this really cute and small nativity scene that was made in Peru. It’s really unique and the photos below show why I was enchanted with this.
It provides a nice companion piece to this other nativity scene made from wood in China I purchased recently at Valley View Farms.
Both nativity scenes are now displayed on the coffee table under my four-foot tall tree in the living room.
Over the past few months my estranged husband was coming to the home, letting himself in, and taking boxes of stuff while I was attending my regular weekly support group meeting for people who are separated or divorced. He recently sent the boxes back that contained my stuff that had been co-mingled with his stuff. Among the returned boxes were the ones that contained our Christmas decorations and ornaments. Recently I’ve engaged in my own downsizing of my own holiday tradition. While we were together we amassed around five boxes of decorations and ornaments. Some of them were ones that we’ve owned since we were children or were ones that had been in our families for decades. Others were ones that were given to us as Christmas presents by others. Then there were the ones that were impulse buys on my part or the ones that various local businesses gave away. (I once had two small ornaments that CVS gave away to its customers for two years back in the 1990’s.)
For the past several years my husband and I struggled with putting up Christmas ornaments because we had more ornaments than tree space. Typically we decorated until the branches become overburdened with ornaments and we grew tired so we just put the extra ornaments away in storage. As I looked through the returned boxes I found that I only noticed three missing items that my husband probably took. One was a stocking with his name that my husband’s grandmother knitted for him when he was born. Another was a painted white wood reindeer ornament personalized with his name. (I don’t remember if his mother or my parents gave that one to him as a present.) The third was a bunch of these really pretty ceramic bells that once belonged to my husband’s mother and they made a delicate twinkling sound when shaken.
There may have been others he took as well but we had so many ornaments that I didn’t notice any others missing besides the three that I noticed. In any case, my husband left me with the lion’s share of the ornaments and decorations. I decided that I would take advantage of the current chaos in my personal life by downsizing my Christmas decorations. First, I went to Target where I purchased a four-foot artificial tree with tiny LED lights already installed for only $25. I was able to erect that tree on my living room coffee table in about 15 minutes or less. Then I went through the five boxes ornaments and made the hard decision of what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to unload. It took awhile but I managed to go down from five boxes of ornaments to one box. I donated the excess ornaments and decorations to the American Rescue Workers truck that comes around my neighborhood twice a month.
After I downsized my ornament collection, I felt much less burdened. My only regret is that my husband and I didn’t set down to do this years ago. Thanks to my decluttering efforts, I was able to decorate the home (mainly the living room coffee table) in under two hours. I have only a wooden Mickey Mouse dressed as Santa Claus hanging on the front door to signal to the general public that I’m celebrating Christmas this year. My family were never into doing extensive outdoor lights (aside from having a few electric candles in the windows) and my husband and I weren’t into doing such outdoor displays either so it was no big deal for me to have only one token outdoor decoration. At least my electrical bill in January will be lower than those in my neighborhood who insist on having extensive outdoor light displays. (LOL!)
After I purchased the tree I noticed that the purple spire tree topper that we had used in previous years looked out of scale and very top heavy on the new small tree. I decided to donate that spire and shop for a new tree topper. As a child my family had used stars and angels as tree toppers. My husband used to tell me that his family (especially on his mother’s side) had always used a spire to top the Christmas tree. I purchased the purple spire a few years ago because I thought it was pretty and I thought my husband would be pleased with it. My husband didn’t take that spire so it was up to me to get rid of it. I decided to get a small tree topper and I thought that an angel would be nice.
So I made the trek to Homestead Gardens, a family-owned nursery in Davidsonville, Maryland that has an incredibly fancy Christmas shop that even includes a model train layout. I took some photos to show how fancy this Christmas shop really is.
Naturally this shop had all kinds of ornaments available. These beer-themed ornaments are the kind of ones that I would’ve been tempted to buy for my husband as a surprise Christmas present had he not walked out on me three days after last Christmas.
I’ve always loved looking at Department 56 buildings. I’ve never purchased one for myself partly because they are a bit on the pricey side and partly because I don’t have the space in my home to do a really awesome miniature village layout. But I like looking at them on display in the stores.
The next two photos show these ornaments that I’ve never seen before. They are painted glass ornaments with actual doll-like hair.
Homestead Gardens had a wide array of these Christmas caroling dolls.
This next ornament is one that only a dentist will love.
This next photo shows the most elaborate nativity scene I’ve seen in recent years. It not only reconstructs the stable on the night that Jesus was born but also the greater town of Bethelehem, including local market stalls and villagers going about their personal businesses. Anyone with enough money can purchase this set and erect it in his/her own home.
As its name implies, Homestead Gardens is a nursery. I saw plenty of pointsettias and Christmas cacti in a variety of colors on sale.
Homestead Gardens had these cute ivy-covered topiary shaped like animals that were the size of houseplants.
This next photo shows a cabbage that was covered in paint and glitter. Even though it looked pretty, I still felt that it seemed wrong and unnatural.
The major high point of Homestead Gardens’ annual Christmas shop is this giant train layout featuring several Lionel model trains going past villages consisting of Department 56 buildings. One employee responsible for making sure that the model trains ran properly was dressed as a railroad engineer. This layout was so big that one photo really can’t caputre the entire thing. For real model train enthusiasts who want to their own train layouts, Homestead Gardens sells Lionel train sets and related accessories.
I saw this interesting light display in the cashiers area. (LOL!)
While I was heading out to my car, I saw this really interesting twilight scene that included some interesting cloud effects.
I saw this really cool sunset as I was driving along Route 50 on the way home.
I found the perfect tree topper at Homestead Gardens. It was an angel who has a very delicate doll-like face.
Here is what she looks like when lit.
This angel may be small but she is perfectly scaled in size with my new small Christmas tree.
Sagittarius Dolly 
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