http://www.salemnews.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:40:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_330233535.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_330233535.html Santa Claus is coming to town and mdash; and he's staying for the weekend. First, he'll be landing with a thud on the roof of the Hawthorne hotel in Salem tonight at 6, where the Salem Fire Department will be waiting to lend him a hand, and a ladder. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329225027.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329225027.html Mixing for a cause As announcer for the Boston Celtics, Eddie Palladino's voice fills the TD Garden. As a celebrity bartender, along with Paula Gibbs, president of the Beverly Mothers Club, Palladino will pour drinks at Mandrake Bar Bistro on Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at 252 Cabot St. in Beverly. All bar tips will benefit For Jake's Sake, a Beverly nonprofit that helps pay for autism therapies. Call 978-922-0663 or visit www.forjakessake.org. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329225036.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329225036.html Dear Abby: I loved the letter from "Claire in Bethlehem, Pa." (Sept. 4) and her idea of creating dinner parties or luncheons to celebrate days with unique numbers. I agree wholeheartedly with your response to her. I bet if there were a 13-13-13, Murphy's Law would mandate that it fall on a Friday! Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329224859.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329224859.html Art GUILD OF BEVERLY ARTISTS. Holiday arts and crafts sale, Friday, Dec. 4, Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, in the gallery hall at the Lynch Park Carriage House, off Ober Street, Beverly. Paintings, pottery, holiday ornaments and decorations by artists from the Cape Ann/North Shore area. Free parking and admission. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:15:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329211526.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329211526.html The economy stinks. Health costs keep soaring. The trees are now bare. But, still, we give thanks. We are grateful for neighbors who shovel us out, friends who cheer us up and strangers who bail us out in the supermarket checkout line. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328234527.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328234527.html Your dog and cat may not know it's the holidays, but admit it, most of those pet presents are really gifts for ourselves. Brighten the dark winter days by watching your furry family have fun, and solve some common pet problems with the following suggestions: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328234513.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328234513.html Take a ride on Forest Street in Peabody, and eventually you'll spot a giant rooster and a black bull on the front lawn. The barnyard art belongs to Linda and Bob "Woody" Wood, who own a small farm with a menagerie of real cows, peacocks, ducks, sheep and horses. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:04:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000448.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000448.html Ho, Ho, Ho-ing in Salem Santa arrives in Salem on Friday around 6 p.m., emerging from the roof at the Hawthorne Hotel, assisted by the Fire Department, and, with help of the elves, will distribute candy. Then, Mayor Kim Driscoll will lead Santa and elves through Essex Street pedestrian mall to Museum Place Mall, where children can sit on Santa's lap. Call 978-744-0004, ext. 15, for more information. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:04:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000417.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000417.html Q: How can I avoid weeds from mulch? This year, I mulched with hay, and nothing but weeds was there when I removed the hay in late spring. A: This year, choose salt marsh hay instead. It has far fewer weed seeds than barn hay. If you don't work so hard next spring and only cultivate 2 inches into the soil instead of deep digging, the seeds will gradually die off. Every year you dig deeply, you are churning up more seeds to the surface, where they can find light and sprout. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:03:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000329.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000329.html Q: I have young kids, 2 and 4, and am pregnant with our third. We are going to my family's house for Thanksgiving. My mom is rather particular about having a formal dinner. Last year, she disciplined my son (he was 3) and gave me the hairy eyeball because he was squirming in his chair 45 minutes into the meal. I am already stressed about what she is going to say or do this year. My kids are little; they can sit nicely for 20, sometimes 30, minutes, but they cannot make it through a two-hour, adult-conversation meal. Short of creating a scene, what can I do? Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000258.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_329000258.html Dear Abby: Our family has had a difficult year. We have gone from one drama or trauma to another, but have always managed. There's one issue, however, that I can't fix. My husband, "Arthur," can't keep our problems private. He seems compelled to tell everyone he meets about what's going on in our family. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328224831.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328224831.html This past summer, Sandy Peacock was out on a photo safari in Halibut Point State Park when she spotted the perfect subject for a photograph, a bright orange starfish. Not liking the tide pool the starfish was lazing about in, she plucked him out of the water and relocated him to a more picturesque pool, then snapped the photo. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:08:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328000816.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328000816.html Dear Abby: I am writing in regard to the letter from "On the Fence in Nevada" (Sept. 11) (whose mother-in-law dumped her grandchildren's cat on the side of the road). I work as an animal safety officer for the sheriff's office, and I also volunteer for a local animal nonprofit. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:04:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328000453.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_328000453.html Kostenko and mdash; Born Oct. 22, 2009, at North Shore Medical Center, a daughter, Abigail Alisa, to John and Kathy Kostenko of Peabody. Abigail is welcomed home by sibling Jacob. Grandparents are George and Olga Harlov of Peabody and Anatoly and Nina Kostenko of Wenatche, Wash. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_324211731.html http://www.salemnews.com/pulife/local_story_324211731.html Temple Beth Shalom is looking for one or more volunteers to coordinate Christmas meal delivery and transportation of Salem and Peabody residents to Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers. Roza Budilovksy chairs this program and has all the information. To help, contact the office at 978-535-2100, 489 Lowell St. Peabody.