merry and bright

eve eve

it's starting to feel a lot like christmas

This is from last year because I haven't had the camera out for a few days. We have had our first snows, but amazingly enough none is on the ground. We had a little Solstice gathering last night, and Granny and Grampy are arriving today. The kids are crafting up a storm and wrapping gifts. I'm wondering what time they are going to bed tonight so I can get out my sewing machine for a few last minute spur of the moments.

december 19 1997

pause

The tree is up, and Christmas lights sparkle above every bed. Littles are making presents with paper and feathers and glue, and there is much cleaning up of little messes. We cut a basket of greenery to decorate the house this afternoon. Ella plays Joy to the World on her violin, and they are all singing along to the carol station on the car radio as we drive to school.

Twenty eight candles were lit in church on Sunday, and I am thankful that they have no idea why.

earth maiden

I've been wanting a shawl or poncho for a while and have collected a few patterns, but when a friend said that she would knit it for me I was amazed. She said she has knit herself and all of her family everything they could possibly need and more. This mossy alpaca merino blend is about to become the Earth Maiden. It is a big rectangle and and i-cord that can be worn as a poncho or a shawl. To me this yarn looks like lichen on stones or seaweed. It is Cascade Yarns Lana D'Oro in Olive Oil.

winter nests

The paperwhites are in full bloom, and I've been enjoying them so much that I might just have to start another batch of them. I think my mantle is very Christmasy with the red candles and green stems, but the kids want more decorations.  These are some of the bird's nests we have collected, and I've placed many of then in my great grandmother's crystal glasses, bowls, and pedestals.

 We are getting a wood stove in here by the end of the month. The house has one chimney in our bedroom that was designed for coal and other in Ruby's room that is no longer usable. There used to be a large brick chimney on this side of the house, but it was removed when the house was renovated. We are looking for an alternate heat and cooking source when the power goes out during snowstorms, so we are putting in an old Vermont Castings stove that was in my grandparent's house. Come toast your toes next month.

we cut down a tree

Ruby did some singing and dancing for the trees. We found a tree, our tallest ever, and enjoyed a riding to the fields behind horses with jingle bells.

georgia o'keeffe {fifth grade history night}

moustache and sarcophagus

Four days into December, and I need to get the advent stockings hung ad the candleholders washed.  I think we can get a tree this weekend and dive fully into the season. My friend Donna took beautiful pictures of the children, and I've been dying to post some, but the cards are being printed for mailing. I think I can safely show a hilarious one. Ella is making a moustache, and Ruby is pretending she is in a sarcophagus. That is just what a child needs to be thinking about while being photographed, right? I do love that my littles can be inspired by anything at anytime.

Ella has been doing more homework than ever before. She has had a three hour night, many two hour nights, and last night's epic five hour attempt to finish her essay for history night. Tonight she has to finish her display board for the event and work on her props.  Just to keep things wild, John has been "star of the week" in his classroom and has needed extra help getting his presentations ready. I'm ready for Friday already.

Come friday, it is all peace and simplicity from here on. We need candles and twinkling lights, ginger cookies, and Christmas Trolls.

oranges and reds

I noticed all the orange color in the kitchen last week and wanted to take a picture. I didn't even realize until later that there was a small runner coming through the kitchen. That is kind of the way it has been lately. That little hand often grabs an apple or persimmon.

Thanksgiving came and went, quite deliciously I must say. Here is my mother out in my brother's yard. He gets up at three am and smokes the turkey for twelve hours or so. Pair that with more side dishes than will fit on the table and a spice cake with caramel icing and you have quite a delicious dinner.

We are back to school this week, and Ella is working on two or three big projects at once. Christmas looms, and I'm trying to meet it with a sense of peace. We are trying to get a chimney added to our house and a woodstove installed before the first snowstorm. This photograph is of some seed pods we found while my friend Donna was taking some gorgeous pictures of the children at the Horticulture Garden. Is it a weed or a Truffula tree?

birding

I walked to my neighbors house early in the morning a few days ago because she has a hummingbird still feeding at her feeder, and someone from the Maryland Banding Lab was coming over to identify and band it.  When I arrived he had the bird in a piece of stocking in the living room and was weighing and measuring it.  It weighed 3.3 grams. A penny is 2.5 grams. It is a female Rufous Hummingbird. She could hang around until January before she makes a dash for Mexico.

........

Last night we went out to see Lincoln, and when we pulled into our driveway a large bird flew right in front of us. We paused and it landed in the maple tree in our yard. It was a light colored owl. We watched it for a moment and then, afraid that we would scare the babysitter, pulled closer. It sat for a minute and then flew. We looked it up in the bird book, and it was a barred owl, often called a hoot owl.

eleven

She is a voracious reader and crafter, but drops everything on the floor the moment she is finished with it. Right now she is watching cartoons with her baby sister on her lap. She likes archery and chickens and just finished an eight week life skills class at the Unitarian Church. She would be a vegetarian if bacon wasn't so delicious. She wants to save the world. She is learning to make injera and wat for a school project. She is teaching herself to draw manga characters. She wonders when I will let her color her hair purple. She is going to be Georgia O'Keefe for history night.

Today she was reading two books, Bud, Not Buddy and The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis and was astounded to find the exact moment the two books intersected.

november light

kombucha

My kombucha is probably struggling with the low temperatures in my kitchen this week, but I'm excited to be trying something new. After my big success with sauerkraut, I thought I'd continue my latest obsession with fermentation. It isn't really fermenting, but a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, hence SCOBY.  I like kombucha brews, so we'll see how this one tastes in a few days.

halloween

Next year we have to make our Halloween costumes early. I was racing the Hurricane and Appalachian Power to sew up a little yoda hat for John and a werewolf costume for Ella. Luckily, this little butterfly was easy to put together and made her oh so happy. Our power was out for about twenty four hours, and the kids carved pumpkins in their snowsuits in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Om

first eggs

hatched on May 7

pumpkin gathering

The family spent the afternoon at the pumpkin patch. yesterday afternoon gathering huge pumpkins, riding the goat cart, riding horses, shooting a pumpkin slingshot, and petting animals. Many friends were there, and we spent the whole afternoon. Next year I'm bringing a picnic because the kids spent a lot of time begging for food and treats. I need a soup thermos big enough for all of us. Ruby and John both rode a horse for the first time, and I think that Ruby hugged the goat twenty times. The leaves and the landscape were gorgeous. Back in our warm house, I needed to keep Ruby occupied while the two Johns went out to mow grass. I let her stand on a wooden stool and make the gravy for dinner. She was excited by all the new things she tried in one day.

falling