birds… I really enjoy that.
We still have not worked out feeders and such.. cannot wait for spring to get some landscaping under way.. may do some this week if the weather cooperates. Need to move my flowerbeds from the old house. But, we are getting some birds here:
And we have mistletoe in the walnut trees again this year….
All the students were thrilled to hear snow in the forecast.. and by the end of the week, it was decided to close school early on Friday. SO I was home by1:30, enjoying the afternoon with my boys.
Yours truly, on the front porch, watching the flakes..
Snow on the ground means knitting in the house...
New house in blanket of snow.
The view of the snow from the house is as lovely as I thought it would be...
Strolling through the woods with youngest was a very pleasant way to get some fresh air...
We weren't the only ones walking in the snow...we saw deer tracks and deer, and smaller animal tracks and birds and squirrels.. middle son saw a coyote this morning as well..
The view of the house from the dam..
One of my favorite things about the new house is not having to fight the weather to do laundry. In weather like this, I used to have to have the man about the place break the ice on the overflow tank, and thaw the pipes, and then I would have to pour semi solid liquid detergent into the machine, and travel back and forth to the house with the baskets of clothes…but the old laundry shed will be our greenhouse for seedlings this spring, which is a wonderful thing as well.
Happy sledder
Icicles everywhere...
The holidays are off to a very nice start!
so naturally, things are busy here. I have to get stuff finished at school, prepare for the New Year at school and the approaching finals. At the same time, keep the household running and attend Choral concerts and so forth for my children’s end of year. But I have found time for gift making.. not a lot, but some…
A cowl for my Mother in Law... to keep off the chill withouth the nuisance of a scarf unwrapping itself.. soft Malabrigio yarn.
100% organic cotton washcloth for wool allergic knitting colleague...
Finally, a pair of mitts for my mother, who has MS, and even though she lives in a very warm climate, is always cold. Her hands especially. So these are made of a soft merino, and tonight I blocked them to prepare and mail them.. better get them in the post asap…and hope they warm a mother’s heart as much as her hands.
Details on all projects will find their way to Ravelry soon.
A couple of weekends ago I made the fruitcake for the season…it is wonderful to have so much room to cut and chop and bake and cool and still get dinner on the table. The boys can help and noone is stepping on anyone’s toes. So very wonderful.
Pecans, golden raisens, candied cherries and pineapple...
The cold and dark means our chickens are on a break... so store bought eggs it is.
Chopping up all the fruit...
Rich white cake batter for the cakes...
Ready for the oven where a large pan of water steams.. slow bake at a low temp...3 hours, 225.
Getting ready to make batch number 2...
We make a lot of these, large and small. It is a white based fruit cake, and very delicious. They can be soaked in spirits if desired.. we usually toast and butter or serve with whipped cream. Either way, everyone loves it. And we have plenty to gift and plenty to serve throughout the holidays, for anyone who stops by.
We stored much of our winter/holiday things with our inlaws next door so we could quickly get out of the main house. Now that we are settled, we have slowly been bringing the things we need from the inlaws. Winter clothes and coats and hats and scarves were needed right away. Now the Christmas things are needed. I have yet to find my homemade nativity, but the rest is here and sorted through and new homes have been found for old favorites.
The tree was originally going somewhere else.. but the old tree stand sprung a leak, and so we moved it to a dry spot so the carpet that got wet could dry as well. We can see it from the front entrance, which is appealing… and it has a lovely central focus.
The cards and the tomtens… festive as always…
The eldest’s beautiful table graces the entry.. and is now home to another tomten and his sleigh. And afternoon clementines for the boys to grab on the way in or out…
The Moravian Star shines on the front porch… we have convenient outlets on all sides of the house which makes hanging the holiday lights very easy.
I crocheted this angel when I was in college.. and it now hangs in the sidelight by the front door.
And the whimsical “tractor lights” are making the den a bit brighter at night…. the boys have always loved these since their grandmother gave them to them.
A little “Big Red” – just like daddy’s tractor.
An old dining room table that was in my husband’s family was at some point cut down and made into a coffee table, which my MIL has now given to us. Here it is, festooned for the holiday, and a very nice coffee table it makes.
We brought the old mantle from the old house over.. we plan to use it somewhere. Right
now, we have propped it up in the alcove area, site of the future home of the old woodstove..and we hung out stockings from it. Just because, it is nice to have some reminders of the happy years in the old house.
Our wreath was made by the women of my church for the Fest we had recently.. we could not figure out how to mount it on our new front door, which is steel, but not magnetic. So we hung it inside where we are enjoying it a great deal more. Next year, we will figure something else out.
So, we have made preparations. But there are more to come…
Birthday was a mixture of happy and sad.. the children and man about the place made a special day for me.. the students at school sang for me… and my MIL gave me a beautiful pink camellia that will bloom each November as a remembrance of my sister. Very sweet.
Then the weekend became a blur. Friday I left school immediately to watch middle son play basketball. Then a dear friend made my family dinner for my birthday. Then some of the family headed to a school play (Dh and middle son) and eldest to video a HS basketball game, and youngest and I headed home where I cleaned bathrooms and mopped and did laundry and cleaned the kitchen.
Sat am up early. Youngest and I went to our church to help set up for our Fest. Monies raised go to local charities. Then I dashed nearby to get my haircut and then back to the Fest to purchase our wreath for the door. Then to the grocery store, then home. Dh had middle son at a Bar Mitzvah for his best friend. Eldest had slept late because he had been out until 1:30 doing Junior firefighter duty at a local structure fire. He did throw his clothes in the laundry when he was dropped off, and when he woke, he did some vacuuming.
SO, dh came home and took the younger 2 to their school festival while I made fruitcakes and ran up to the school to pick up the Christmas tree, fresh cut from the mountains, delivered by the Lacrosse team. Then everyone home to dinner. Then dh and middle off to bar Mitvah party, and me curled up knitting a gift and watching a movie.
Today, decorating the house, cooking for the next few days, walk in the woods with a friend and youngest, Middle and Eldest running around doing their thing. I cannot even remember all we did today. Friends stopped by to see new house.. then friend for dinner…very nice, but meant my school work was left very late. So photos to come.. off to bed to rest now.
Not sure how this day is going to go. It is my birthday, but I am having the weepies. It’s just too much right now.
My mother did call to remind me of a cake my sister made for me when I was in high school. It came from a Southern Home Cook Book I think.. in any case, it was in the shape of a cheeseburger. She baked and decorated it.. she must have been about 12 or 13, and it looked really good, just like the picture. It was a funny, hilarious birthday cake.
Fortunately, the family keeps me in the here and now. There is a youngest son learning cursive writing at school, and I know he has made my birthday card in cursive because he kept asking me to help him learn the letters they had not covered yet, “you know mom, like if I want to write birthday or something like that.”
And the middle son, at 13, is about to attend his first bar mitzvah for a lifelong friend. And has decided he needs a suit. So suit shopping might be on the agenda.
And there is a basketball game. And my own work, and ….
But there will be those quiet moments, when I think I will barely be able to face my own thoughts.
Sunset from our new dining room.
Loss and grief often make you feel as if there is no more joy. Your heart feels leaden, and your mind feels stiff. But someday, joy returns, and it returns in a glorious way… more sharp and clear than joy you have ever felt before.
I read today, on another lovely blog, about fasting before the feast. (I enjoy this blog.. traditions so different from our own, but so lovely and passionate and faithful. Her words really spoke to me today. )There really cannot be a feast unless the fast comes before. And there really cannot be true joy, until you have felt devastating loss.
As I take this Advent journey, I am looking for spots of joy to help me out of my waves of grief. The shiny candlelight on Christmas Eve evoke joy for me. “Joy to the World” ringing loud and clear in church, evokes that kind of joy as well.
With our new home, there have been plenty of moments of joy. We have a new large living area, with no furniture.. which leads the small ones to enjoy tumbling.. and on a recent evening, even us adults got involved.
This is yours truly, doing her first cart-wheel in years.. probably since I was about 23ish. Yes, my shoulders ached for a few days afterwards, but I was able to feel a girlish joy… a joy at being alive.. a joy at being able bodied. Because I have learned, that is a joy, not just a given. So I reveled in it for a bit.. and then iced the shoulders for a few days.
I am discovering new spots in my home as well that bring me joy and make me happy. They are new spots with old familiar comforts.
Family photos, in new places, with the glass all cleaned and frames dusted bring comfort in this new place.
A new study.. full of old materials, but new to me furniture. A new desk, given to us by a work colleague. My dh painted it fresh and it is a lovely new work surface. Also, a new file cabinet, from a government office, which we bought used. I have replaced most of the labels with mundane things like Taxes, Utility, House payment, Phone Bills… but I left the 2 that said “Official oaths”. You never know when you will need to file away an official oath. That just tickles me so much.. a small ray of sunshine in my heart.
And I love the new wide windowsills.. they are wonderful homes for the many candles made for holidays past, and a great place for forcing winter bulbs.. something that will bring me joy in the cold days of winter. There is nothing so cheery as the small white face and sweet fragrance of the narcissus.
So, Advent Journey – taking steps to find joy this year – in whatever form I can. And yet at the same time appreciating the knowledge that there is a reason to be grateful for grief.. the sadness will intensify the joy, just as a fast will intensify the magnificence of a feast.
I have blogged about Advent before, and thought I had better gather some inspiration for the month long journey ahead. I blog mostly for myself, and for the family history, and so I enjoy turning back and seeing where we have been.
In December of 2007 I did a post a day, and I enjoy going back and looking at the things we did, and will do again this year, as we did last year. The link to the first post is here:
http://willowcaroline.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/advent-expect-await-prepare/
But I also enjoy peeking into homes around the world and being a part of their tradition. Here are some places I traditionally “peek” and will do so again this year, because their homes are warm and wonderful.
Suse, over at Pea Soup, shares her Advent traditions every year, and they are OH SO Familiar as they use Steiner tradition in their home as well.. but she is around the globe from me. How wonderful that the world can be so large and small at the same time. We use the same verses and songs.. but we are sunk in winter, while she is warm with summer light. Visit with her here.
And I always enjoy the inspiration and insight at Britt -Arnhild’s House in the Woods. When I read her blog, I get a sense of someone who knows how to enjoy living.. someone that relishes the everyday in a relaxed way. A meal is not a hurried affair.. it is savoured and enjoyed. Her home seems warm and cozy, with a truly spiritual essence that I wish I knew how to capture. She is looking at Advent again this year, so go visit and be inspired.
And finally, closer to home, is Sarah and her family in snowy Vermont. Another Waldorf family, I enjoy seeing their family traditions, especially the wonderful handmade gifts they make for each other each year. They too have lit the first candle, in a unique candle holder of their own making.
I am also on the hunt for new sites to visit.. so let me know if there are any that inspire you. Or, if you have a tradition you want to share, I would love to hear that as well.
November is over. It has been an unusual fall. The joy of the new house, and creating a “home” in it has been in sharp contrast to the sadness of losing my sister. The life of work at this time of year is always hectic and busy, and that has been compounded by the home life that is in disarray and trying to get it ordered and unpacked. The weather has often been dreary and sad.. we had over 10 inches of rain in Nov… which filled our pond, but also kept us chilled and damp.
And now we turn our sights to December. My emotions are all over the map as I contemplate creating holidays for my children worth remembering, focus on the meaning of this time of year, reflect on all the changes and try to look forward to a new beginning. It seems too much.
But life goes on, and Advent will bring me through. The process of preparing the heart for the birth of the Saviour is something I can grasp on to.. even cling to, this year. The winter of life, the death of my sister, must come before the rebirth of the spring, and her eternal life. And all pivots on that joyous Christmas birth. How can I not take part?
Thanksgiving was a practice. I was able to cook a turkey and enjoyed cooking with my younger boys. We did visit with family and eat wonderful treats and it was okay. Lost of sad moments for me, which I kept inside, but I did survive. And life goes on.
This weekend, the youngest and I went walking around our land and prepared our Advent wreath. Normally, we do this communally at our church. Everyone gathers together and shares their greenery and makes their wreaths. But church is somewhere too tender to visit yet. I am afraid of my response during the service. I am too raw. So we did ours at home, and it was fun to name the plants for him, and collect the best branches.
Rose hips from the wild Carolina rose, magnolia seed pods, rosemary in bloom, alder cones, pine, blue spruce,.. treasures from our yard making our wreath cheerful and bright.
Our traditions are very much in keeping with the Waldorf traditions the children get at school, cross pollinated with Episcopalian ritual. So the youngest picked shells and rocks for this first week, and next week plants will be part of the picture.. we will add some moss or something. Then the wooden animals will show up, and finally the Mary and Joseph. We have this wonderful arched divider between living and dining room that we are putting everything on this year. In the old house, we used the table and the hutch and the stairs, depending on the year. But the constancy of the tradition still shows.
“Advent, Advent, the candle burns.
Advent, Advent, the candle burns.
First one, then two, then three, then four,
Then stands the Christ child at the door.”
December, welcome. Welcome to your joys and sorrows, your new and old, your familiar and strange…welcome.
