A milky sky, a weak sun, a chilly wind ... November has us in its grip at last! Honestly, I love this time of year and I don't mind for an instant the dark early evenings ~ to me they're quite cozy and homey. Tonight we have the fireplace crackling, the oven roasting and there are pretty little lanterns in the window. It must be Martinmas! Now, the Feast of St. Martin technically falls on November 11th, but as the 11th is a Sunday this year, we'll have our Martinmas fun a few days early. :)
Since all three of my boys are struggling with a nasty cold this week, I scaled back on some of our plans. Instead of a lantern walk tonight, we placed our lights in the front window. And instead of sorting through closets and changing beds today, we'll start in on those tasks tomorrow.
Some nice things to do for Martinmas:
- Start a family collection for charity.
- Begin knitting something warm for someone who needs it.
- Bag up clothing to give to the needy.
- Change your beds from cotton to flannel.
- Surprise your children with new winter pajamas.
- Read aloud or re-tell the story of Saint Martin of Tours.
- Invite friends on a lantern walk at dusk.
If I may, here are some pictures from our Martinmas teatime today ...
I baked a batch of St. Martin's horseshoe cookies, just like last year. Well, almost like last year. Lol, Bookworm tugged on my sleeves as I stood at the Kitchenaid and said, "No offense, but I didn't like those last year." Well, this year I remembered to use unsalted butter instead of salted, and I'm happy to say the cookies were downright delicious - buttery, oaty and tender. I also served the boys hot and honeyed pomegranate tea (excellent for their colds).
These packages piled at the head of the table caught the boys attention right away:
But I made them wait for Earlybird to wake from his nap before opening them.
I did however set them about a small copywork assignment: the words to "St. Martin" from We Sing and Dance.
Now it was time for the lanterns!
Last year we made our lanterns from watercolor paintings; this year I decided to try glass jars with tissue paper ...
The boys found it easy, if perhaps a bit sticky:
We set our finished jars in the window to dry just as Earlybird came down the hall:
NOW it was time to rip into the packages, and inside the boys found ...
Brand new slippers!
And fleecey pajamas to keep them warm all winter long!
Well, speaking of pajamas, bedtime is here, and it's time for me to be off for the weekend. As always, thank you for stopping by my little corner of the web. I wish you a warm and cozy night wherever you are. :)
