By Sun and Candlelight

Advent Tea Week 3: Holiday Cleaning and Crafting!

Hello my friends, and welcome! I'm so happy you could join me for another cup of holiday tea in this third week of Advent. :-)

But before I get to this week's tea, I must apologize to you all for missing last week's tea entirely. We've had some family challenges lately, and I won't bore you with the all the details, but let's just say the past week involved a nasty cold virus, a broken tooth, a broken computer AND a broken teakettle. And then Earlybird's ABA therapist (who provides daily support) quit unexpectedly.

*ack*

Thankfully though, things are getting back on track. And so what we have here is two-fer-one kind of post, fairly jam-packed with pictures and notes on what we've been up to lately, despite all the setbacks! I hope you enjoy ...❤️

So my friends, may I offer you a cup of "spiced orange mulled tea?"

I found this recipe on Pinterest as I searched for a signature Christmas cocktail. Every holiday we host features a signature drink (so fun!) but I like to offer something special that's non-alcoholic too. And this tea just looks so pretty in my little red cups, a set of 12 (with a matching punch bowl), that once belonged to my grandmother. With cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, fresh oranges and black tea this made my kitchen smell like the Christmas season itself as it brewed!

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Now as I've mentioned many times before, our annual Advent journey is heavily influenced by Waldorf tradition as well as the natural world. In the first week of Advent (as detailed in my prior post) we explore the concept of "heaven and earth" - crafting with and celebrating this first layer of creation: minerals, stones, stars, shells and earthly foundations like soil and sand. The second week has us embracing the blessings of the plant kingdom, most especially the Christmas tree itself! We also learn about Christmas plants and one of the things I like to do at this time of year, in this specific week, is to clean out and organize my baking pantry. This is a great way to become familiar with the herbs and spices of the season!

Ok, so this is the before pic ... yeah it was bad.

And here are the in-betweens and afters!

Gosh, was it a mess in there! And so many expired things ... I'm kind of ashamed. Well, we hauled everything out and wiped down the shelves, which were sticky with who-knows-what and dusty with random seasonings, etc. Then we went through all the stuff - smelling as we went - and consolidated, organized and then - rearranged!

The bottom shelves still need some work - boxes of oatmeal and tea and cocoa are in need of better storage. And I've started a pantry list in my planner in hopes of keeping better track of what I have on hand and what needs replacing. (Somehow I had four jars - all opened - of molasses, and three separate, half-empty containers of cornstarch. Of course, this is not all that surprising considering the state of affairs in that first pantry picture!)

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Now how about a tour of the rest of my kitchen? That too was a bit of a mess, so on one of the days we were staying home with kids feeling under the weather, I devoted myself to a thorough late autumn cleaning. It's nice to have the kitchen clean before I really get into the holiday baking!

(Store-bought star cookies - so good with a cup of decaffeinated tea!)

(I just love how the window stars form pretty shadows on this wall of cabinetry.)

(Couldn't resist a picture of Fenway - one year old now! - basking in the afternoon sun. He loves to be underfoot in the kitchen, or anywhere really!)

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Here are a few pictures from plants week, which had us exploring not just the pantry, but the yard as well. We found hardy rosemary, crawling mint, plenty of evergreens ... 

And frosty rose hips in the front hedgerow!

And this little guy will be our solstice tree, as yet undecorated. We'll hang lights and edible treats for the wildlife here next week.

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Last month we busied ourselves gathering pine cones for holiday crafting. The Eastern White Pines in our yard are extremely tall and drop humungous cones! For this craft we first arranged the cones on a cookie sheet and baked them at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes (to kill any bugs). Then we coated the tips of each petal with a mixture of white acrylic paint and school glue ...

So easy to do! And with such pretty results!

A sprinkle of glitter made them really festive, and especially lovely hanging in a sunny window ...

A few cones were further decorated with tiny felt balls. I just love how these came out!

Another craft that was simple to make and sweet with the fragrance (and taste!) of fresh peppermint:

Instructions found on Pinterest: Place greased metal cookie cutters on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and fill them loosely with starlight candies. Then bake for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees F. You really have to keep an eye on them because some will melt faster than others depending on the size of the cutter and the amount of candies in each.

Ready for the oven!

And here's how they turned out! :-)

And, as promised, here's our Christmas tree for 2023 ...

Note the playdate around the bottom of the tree! This would be to keep the puppy and the cats out of the tree water!

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A closer peek at the Advent "wreath" on our kitchen table:

Four little red lanterns, one for each week of Advent, each holding an LED tea light. The lanterns stand around a Christmas tree candleholder and the whole set up is surrounded by a tangle of tiny golden bells, (fake) red berries and fairy lights.

It's so beautiful at night, especially!

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Ok, two more simple "makes" starting with these sweet wooden bead snowmen:

I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to try it! You basically just thread twine through three plain wooden beads, knotting it at both ends, leaving a loop at the top. Then use sharpie markers to make a snowman face and tie a little baker's twine around the "neck" for a bit of extra color.

Thank you to "Creating Me" for the idea! You can find the full instructions at her post.

Final craft: a little pumpkin leftover from Halloween, transformed into a pretty woodland friend ... 

Again, something I found on Pinterest! The book shown in this picture is one of our favorites to read in the week leading up to the winter solstice: Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak.

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And last pics I'd like to share are from yesterday, which was Earlybird's 21st birthday. (I KNOW - how did EB get to be 21?!?!)

My folks and I took EB to a local toy museum and then to lunch at Wendy's.


It was a really nice day!

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Well my friends, I hope you are all doing well and enjoying these last weeks of the year. I hope you are staying healthy, too! Thanks so much for joining me for tea and I will keep my fingers crossed I'm able to be with you here again next week!

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones ... see you here again very soon!

Advent Tea Week 1: "Setting the Stage"

Hello my friends and Happy December! Are you as startled as I am to find ourselves in the last month of the year? Where did the fall go? Where on earth did 2022 go?! And where did all those posts I had planned since this past spring go??

Well, I'm very happy to be here with you all after (yet another) very long and unintended hiatus. I'm afraid it's really been challenging finding my blogging groove again (not to mention, the time to blog!), but if you are over on Instagram, I do post there pretty regularly. And I do still intend to do more with my website, and - though I say this every year - I hope THIS year I find my way back to connecting here (and elsewhere) more consistently.

But all of that is fodder for another post (perhaps one closer to New Year's), so for now, I will look forward to these little holiday teatimes and hope that you will join me when you can. :-) 

Now, if you do follow me on IG, then you might have seen my recent monthly photo challenges. Here is the schedule for the month of December:

As I said in my post, I can't promise I'll post *every* day, but I will do my very best. And honestly, I just like using this list (the same as last year's) to inspire a fun holiday “mood” in our home, as well as in our daily homeschool activities! ✨

I'm really excited to revive my weekly Advent Teatimes - I have such fun putting them together. As always, all are welcome to join me, and if you do post about your tea, please send me a link so I can read and share it!

 Here is the schedule I made up for these teatimes:

But now let's move on to my very first cup of 2022 Advent Tea, which is pictured at the top of this post. Yesterday was St. Andrew of Scotland's day, and it is tradition in our family to bake a batch of shortbread on this day. This year I decided to try baking it in my new cast iron skillet ...

And I'm delighted to say, it came out just lovely! Thick and soft with crisp edges and a solid bottom. Shortbread is just so easy to whip up, and to my mind, the perfect kind of cookie to enjoy with a cup of hot tea.

And speaking of today's tea ...

Nevermind that this is a "Bedtime" brew - I love to drink it on winter afternoons because the flavors are so cozy and comforting. Also, I don't do caffeine after 9 a.m.! And I love to find really good-tasting, full-bodied decaf tea blends.

What tea are you enjoying lately? Or are you more of a coffee or cocoa kind of gal?

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Now, the theme of this first tea of Advent is "setting the stage," and that's because for me, the time between Thanksgiving and the first of December is is a time to prepare a welcoming environment and cultivate an atmosphere of quiet joy and anticipation. This is something I give a good bit of thought before we find ourselves immersed in the bustle of the season. I like to write out my ideas and possibilities, perhaps create a collage of images that convey the kind of feeling I hope to create in our home.

Here is a spread I made in my bullet journal along these lines:

Every year we follow a Waldorf-inspired, nature-based Advent journey. This means that during the four weeks leading up to Christmas we explore a different aspect of creation: minerals, plants, animals and humankind. We've been doing this for many years now (ever since Bookworm was little and we first discovered Waldorf education) but every year I like to tweak our Advent countdown a little bit.

This year I decided to create a cozy window nook where we could hang some daily activity cards and prepare an Advent spiral garden ...

In this first week of Advent, we enjoy activities inspired by things like pretty rocks, shells and crystals. So on Monday, the kids and I collected rocks from the yard (as well as pinecones and acorn caps, but I'll get into that later) which we then painted as "story stones."

These four shown here (which I painted using craft rocks) represent the four kingdoms of creation:

Over the weekend I prepared 24 tags - numbered 1-24 on the front, with a simple activity suggested on the back.

I also hung some copper star lights around the window frame. These give off just a touch of soft light, keeping in line with our atmosphere of quiet joy. :-)

Yesterday the kids and I made a salt-based dough (first admiring the salt crystals under our jeweler's loupes) and I fashioned it into a spiral. I baked it for a couple of hours in a very low oven.

Today we made acorn cap candles, following directions found on Pinterest!

(Note: I pressed an acorn cap into the spiral - 24 indents in all - before it hardened, so the caps would nestle snugly into the finished dough.)

I cut a bit of beeswax hemp wicking for each cap ...

... and then we melted some beeswax in a makeshift double boiler. The liquid wax was then poured very carefully (by me) into each acorn cap, creating a tiny and adorable candle!

I also made a heart-shaped candle (using a shaped ice cube mold)...

 

This one will be lit on Christmas Day!

(Needless to say, the lighting of these candles, surrounded as they are by tiny pinecones and moss, is undertaken with much care and adult supervision. I plan to only keep the candle lit until we've read aloud a verse of the day, then one of the kids can blow it out.)

I placed the spiral in the window nook, on top of a wooden lazy Susan. Each week we will add items around the spiral - treasures we have on our shelf, or find on a walk - that reflect the beautiful layers of nature ...

And today we lit the first one!

 

"Winter is dark, yet each little spark

Brightens the way to Christmas Day.

Shine little light and show us the way

To the bright light of Christmas Day."

(Heidi St. John)

In each of my teatime posts I will share little corners of our home where we are living out our Advent. Shown below is the crafting table I set up in the family room ...

Here is where we can make, bake, snack, or even do a puzzle -  and watch Christmas videos as we work, play or eat. (Showing here in the background: Stick Man, a holiday favorite!)

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So! The stage has been set and the plans have been (tentatively) made. December can be cold, dark and hectic - but I hope these simple activities encourage my family to connect with the season, kindling a little light in our hearts day by day. 

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Thanks so much for joining me today, my friends! I will be here again next week with a tour of our Christmas tree AND my Christmas kitchen. :-)

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones ... see you here again very soon!

A Cute Easter Craft & Holiday Plans!

Hello my friends, and Happy April! I hope you are all doing well. :-)

Today I'd like to share a couple of quick things with you:

~ a cute little craft my mum and I did with the younger kids, and ...

~ a peek at my notes for the upcoming Easter holiday!

First though - aren't these pansies just gorgeous??

Earlybird and I purchased them at a local nursery yesterday and I just think they are the cheeriest little flowers! Bill and EB will plant them in the pair of black urns that stand on either side of our front door. Those beautiful shades of purple and white and yellow ... they speak to me of spring! And how fun they will be to sketch in our journals this week! 

In fact, this would be a nice poem to memorize in April:

But now for that cute little candle craft we worked on this past week!

There were two parts to this project - the eggshell candles and the painted wooden egg cups. I'll start with the eggs as I got these ready a day ahead. Basically I just followed instructions I found online to make these candles. I started by coloring fresh eggs with a PAAS coloring kit. (And by "fresh" I mean, I didn't hard boil them or blow out the yoke first.)

If you follow me on Instagram you might have gotten a peek at my eggs the other day ...

And I must mention these sweet little egg custards made with maple syrup and milk - one of my favorite treats to serve in March, when the hens start laying and the sap starts running! And yes, those are our hens' eggs in that basket on the right. :-)

Now, I did all of this on Wednesday, because my mother was coming over on Thursday to help with the craft. I know Mum loves custards and I also remember fondly all the times she would make them for my grandmother (who found eating difficult in her last years). This custard is just so smooth, comforting and nourishing and my grandmother just relished it. I did too!

Don't you just love family recipes like that? 💕

Ok, now for the next part ...

First Mum and I cleaned out the eggs' innards. We did this by poking the top of the egg with a teeny-tiny screwdriver I found in Bill's hardware drawer and then made the hole bigger with our fingers, scrambling and then dumping out the yolk.

(Unsurprisingly, the kids did not want to help with this part!)

Next we peeled the shells down so the egg had a small cup shape, and once fully dry, I prepared the eggs for the beeswax ...

For this craft, I ordered candle wicking from Amazon and it came with stickers for the metal disk at the bottom of each wick (to secure it to the base) as well as wooden sticks drilled with holes for keeping the wick straight as the wax sets.

We next melted a few beeswax bars in a makeshift double boiler - a clean can with tin foil molded to the bottom sitting in a small pan of simmering water. The tin foil helps keep the can from scraping the pan. (I learned that lesson the hard way, lol!)

Once the beeswax was liquid, we carefully poured the wax into the egg shells. This is very tricky - you need a steady hand! - so I had Bill help me with this part. He used tongs to hold the can because of course, it was very hot!

Now as the egg candles cooled, we set up to paint with the kids at the table. I had purchased some unfinished wooden egg cups on Amazon for this craft. Mum, the kids - and even Bill! - and I set about painting them in any way we wished. We mostly chose springy colors and themes. The egg candles were ready by the time we finished up and so here's the final results:

These little egg candles will be set on our dining tables on Easter Sunday. I'm so pleased with how they came out! 

Ok, now for a peek into my planner ... :-)

Pictured here is my go-to, all-around, everyday planner. It is a Wonderland 222 planner plus notebook. I keep both books in a leather/canvas cover and I love the ease of flipping back and forth between my monthly/weekly planner and my daily journaling pages. This particular section shown below is in my journal and as you can see I've devoted a two-page spread to my Easter plans and notes ...

The floral paper is something I added in myself - I have a whole pad of these lovely papers, but for the life of me I can't remember where I found them! I used a Tombow adhesive applicator to adhere the stationary to my planner page. On this page I simply brainstormed all the preparations I'd need to make leading up to Easter Sunday.

On the right-hand page I jotted down pertinent dinner details (date/time/guests) and added (again, with Tombow) a pretty pastel week-at-a-glance. I always like to plan the nitty-grittiest of details in the final week before any big event!

Also on this page I've started a list of cleaning tasks. I will obviously be referring back to this spread very often over the next two weeks!

Lastly ...

I found a sticky note pad with - yes, coordinating colors! I'm using it to work out the menu. It's still a work-in-progress as  you can see!

Well, my friends, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope wherever you are and however you celebrate, you are able to enjoy this new season of new life and loveliness. I also hope and pray you and your loved ones are happy, safe and well. 🙏🏻

Thanks so much for stopping by ... I will hope to see you again very soon!

Love,

~ Dawn

Birdfeeding, St. Brigid & Cute Candlemas Crafts!

Hello everyone, and Happy Sunday! I'm popping in here today to share a few things with you all on this cool and cloudy Candlemas afternoon ... but first, how is the weather where you are? And what did your groundhog have to say? I say "your groundhog," because as I understand it there are a few of them out there - weather-predicting rodents, I mean - though I believe Punxsatawny Phil is perhaps the most famous. And happily, according to Phil, we are to expect an early spring this year, a prediction that was seconded by the esteemed Ms. G of Massachusetts, the lady groundhog who lives in Lincoln, at Drumlin Farm Sanctuary. 😊

Continuing with a weather folklore theme, we can also turn to a old lovely verse for a hint of what's to come ...

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight;
But if it be dark with clouds and rain,
Winter is gone, and will not come again.

Well, it just so happens it was indeed "dark with clouds and rain" here in Massachusetts today so knockonwood perhaps an early spring truly IS in the offing!

(p.s. This Wednesday is National Meteorologist Day, so why not write a letter to your favorite weather guy or gal and let them know you appreciate them? Maybe ask them if they put any stock in groundhog predictions or other ancient weather "wisdom?")

Alrighty then, on with our post ... and how about we all offer a warm welcome to February?! Because I'm not sure about you, but January seemed awfully long. Not terribly stormy or anything, but February is just that much closer to spring - aka the actual Equinox which occurs on March 19th this year. #markyourcalendar!

And did you remember to say rabbit-rabbit yesterday? I did - though unfortunately I had already muttered a few words after midnight, such as "go back to sleep," please make coffee," and "no, it's not time for breakfast." (That last one was to the cats.) I think it still counts if you say rabbit-rabbit at some point on the first day of the month, but maybe it brings extra good luck if you remember to say it before anything else! 

Anyhoo.😜

I wanted to share a link to an absolutely wonderful resource for anyone who loves nature and following the seasons of the year, but especially perhaps for those of us who enjoy sharing that passion with children:

The WILD KIDS February issue is here!

So remember in my last Tea post I shared a picture of Little Bear with a chickadee perched in his hand? Well, I wrote up a short article about our experience hand-feeding wild birds last month and my friend Alicia Bayer (author of Wild Kids, as well as several books on foraging and other nature-related topics) invited me to share it in her magazine!

Here's a link to the issue, and a little bit about the magazine, from Alicia:

This month, we have information on how to feed wild birds by hand, instructions to make a simple shell or stone sundial, info abut aloe and mallow, and vintage wild bird collectible cards, along with the usual seasonal poems, botanical coloring pages, nature journal pages and more.

This issue is 22 pages and as always, it is ad-free and 100% free to read online or print out.

I was so honored to be asked to contribute to this amazing magazine, and I hope to do so again in the future!

Now as you all know, nature is a huge part of our family life - observing and caring for the flora and fauna around us, and paying attention to seasonal nuances as the years come and go. We weave those nuances into our home life, our homeschooling and even in the way we practice our Catholic faith. I've posted many times through the years about the strong connection I feel to creation and the how-s and why-s of our seasonal homeschooling, but for today I'd just like to share some of the things we got up to last week! 

So last week's theme was "frost and fire," which had us focusing on the deep cold of winter and the blessing of home and warmth. I like to assign this theme to the week leading up to Candlemas since we're usually making candles and talking about fire and fire safety. And a neat counterpoint to the cozy warmth within, is the frozen world without - because at this time of year frost (along with its cohorts ice and snow) is commonplace. All creation must adapt to withstand the cold - animals outside, and humans (mostly) inside. This is a wonderful theme to explore on so many levels!

We were also focusing on two special liturgical events this week: St. Brigid's Day and Candlemas (February 1st and 2nd, respectively) and there were a few fun holidays mixed in here and there - plus we were busier than usual to boot!

Here's a quick peek at my weekly lesson plan and agenda:

I'm working on a post about how I've been using my homemade planner lately, so I'll get into this page a bit more deeply very soon. In the interest of time though, I will move on with our week!

First, there was National Chocolate Cake Day on Monday ...

And we celebrated with cake, natch!

This cake was also baked in celebration of my mother-in-law's birthday. I took a video of the boys singing "Happy Birthday," and if you hop on over to my Instagram page you can not only hear them sing, but also read my behind-the-scenes story of why this was such a very special "milestone" moment for our Earlybird. 💙

And then Wednesday brought National Carnation Day ...

True story: I couldn't find white carnations at the store, so this is actually a picture from last year! I love this experiment and for some reason it always works really well for us, though I hear from many folks who can't get good results. I can only say we make sure to trim the stems very short and use very small containers (baby food jars work great). We use McCormick's food coloring (found at any grocery store) and we definitely don't skimp on the drops of coloring when doctoring the water!

Also on Wednesday, we were off to our Audubon class ...

Little Bear and I are both enjoying this weekly nature program very much! This past week we learned about "Winter's Herbivores" - deer, mice, rabbits, and groundhogs, etc.. We discussed how these plant-eating animals survive the winter and then we looked for signs of their presence throughout the sanctuary by searching for scat, seed caches, as well as chewed and stripped bark.

I am so grateful to the Massachusetts Audubon Society for offering these wonderful classes. It's been a fantastic experience for Little Bear (and his mama) and he's learning so much - and we're meeting some really nice folks, too!

On our way home from class, LB and I stopped at the library to pick up a few books about groundhogs:

And on Thursday we took a field trip to the garden center, to buy a few things AND soak in all that humid soil-scented air!

Little Bear picked out a small succulent (immediately named, "Planty") and I picked up some paperwhite bulbs. We also popped into the craft store on our way home and I couldn't resist grabbing a few supplies for a Lenten craft I have in mind.

(Still working on the details, but I hope to have our Lenten plans put together - and ready to share - by mid-month.)

Thursday also happened to be National Croissant Day ...

... and we just happened to have a can of crescent rolls in the fridge so we whipped up these tasty treats lickedy-split! (This is not the recipe we used, but pretty close.)

Friday is usually our home-all-day day, so sometimes I plan more involved crafting for this day. So on Friday we made candles for Candlemas!

First we made our usual melted-beeswax/mason jar candle using up some beeswax bars I had on hand as well as a cute little reusable jar. (You can find a detailed post on our process for this craft here.) This little candle will play a quiet and hopeful part in our Lenten table ...

I also happened to have a candle-making kit on hand, so I pulled that out, figuring Little Bear would love it - unfortunately, however, the craft proved a little too fiddly for his little fingers!

So I set to work rolling those beeswax sheets, while Little Bear was put in charge of the paperwhite bulbs!

The bulbs now live in my kitchen window by day and on top of the fridge by night - since paperwhites are poisonous for kitties and my kitties are very naughty when it comes to nice things like plants.

But at the end of the day we had a nice bunch of candles ready for blessing!

Saturday brought February 1st and I began setting up my new calendar ...

(More on my calendar in my next post!)

We also had some lovely traditions for St. Brigid's Day to uphold ...

We first hung our Brigid's Cross (made last year using dried grasses from our yard) on the front door ...

And, in honor of St. Brigid, patroness of Ireland and dairy farmers, we made butter!

We do this every year and honestly, it just never gets old! Nor does this wonderful picture book ...

p.s. Speaking of this feast day, I recently realized I left a page out of my Deep Winter Planning Booklet and though I've since updated the PDF, here is the missing two-sided planning sheet itself: St. Brigid's Day & Candlemas PDF.

And so that brings us to today, when I was planning to make custards for Candlemas following my mother's lovely recipe using my own hen's loverly eggs, but two things kept me from that culinary endeavor:

One, I was nearly out of eggs and two, my hens aren't laying yet!

So instead, I made some buttermilk scones (from a mix!) and served it with lemon curd (from a jar!) as well as some freshly whipped cream. (That was from scratch.)

And yes - they were as good as they look!

Another Candlemas tradition we enjoy is walking the yard and looking for signs of spring ...

(Inspecting a caved-in groundhog burrow.)

(Inspecting some left-behind seed shells.)

Not much to report, but it was nice to walk the property anyway now the snow has melted and there's the faintest whiff of spring in the air ...

And by faint I really mean non-existent, but still - just look at that smile and those rosy little cheeks! Brigid's Day and Candlemas (or Imbolc as some folks call/called it) might have once been considered a time of changing seasons - winter's end, spring's debut - but that's just not the way things roll around here. Sometimes I forget we actually live in New England and not England proper - where February is quite milder and where one might actually expect to see things like tender little snowdrops underfoot. In these parts at the start of February we mostly just have actual snow underfoot ...

But we must not lose hope! There is always hope and there are alway signs ...

Such as the owl I heard calling just this morning!

I wish I knew how to share a video here, but even after 14 years (come March) of blogging I simply have no idea how to manage such a technological feat - so I would encourage you if A. you're on Instagram and B. you are interested - to check out my IG Stories to hear what I heard at six a.m. this morning!

I had JUST been reading this article regarding the nesting behavior of owls and enjoying my third cup of coffee when I heard it ... a great horned owl calling from somewhere in our woods. According to the article (which included a link to an owl call soundbite), owls are among the first birds to begin laying nests in the late winter. So to my mind -  and groundhog's proclamations aside - here is solid, scientific evidence that spring truly is coming!

(If you can't get on Instagram, here is the link to the soundbite. My owl sounded EXACTLY like this.)

Back inside, a bit later on in the day I began working on a little handcraft I've had in mind for some time ...

Little Bear has been fascinated lately by the concept of a dream catcher - Bookworm still has one he made when he was young hanging in his bedroom - and though I don't believe LB's actually plagued by any bad dreams, I decided to use up a bit of my felt stash and make him a sweet-dreams pillow.

I started with a small rectangle of felt, some sheep's wool and dried lavender from the summer garden. I had LB mix the herbs with the wool while I started stitching ...

Mind you, I'm no seamstress of any measure - I can barely thread a needle to be honest - but I figured this kind of basic stitch couldn't be too hard to do. (Notice I'm not showing you the back of this sachet!)

Little Bear really loved the smell of the lavender and the feel of the sheep's wool ...

And I think he really liked watching me make this. There's something very comforting, I think, about watching a parent working with their hands ... the quiet productivity, the rhythm of the needle or - as the case may be - the paintbrush or hand saw. I myself feel soothed when I work with my hands, and I love the questions he asks:

Mama, what will it be? Mama, can I help? Mama, how can you do that without stabbing yourself?

So we'll tuck this under his pillow and see how it goes!

A couple of things I try do to when crafting: use natural materials as much as possible, and make items that are meaningful in some way to myself or someone else. I also really, really love it when a craft is made using something from a season before or perhaps is made to be used in a season yet to come. Case in point - the cross we made using grasses gathered from our garden (and soaked with snow melt). Or the candles we made and blessed on Candlemas which will appear again in our springtime Lenten journey. And the lavender we dried last summer provided a special touch - as well as a fragrant memory - to our cute little Candlemas craft.

I find it very satisfying to craft in this way, to carry a message through the year (and years) that everything is connected. We're all connected to each other, and we're all connected in many ways to the earth. Slowing ourselves down won't slow time itself, but it can leave us more open to these connections. I hope all these little moments and traditions foster a feeling of belonging in my children and that it encourages them to learn and love the cycle of the seasons, to glory in the amazing world to which we all belong. I sure am grateful I get to begin them on their pathways because everything I do for them only strengthens my own journey.

❤

And goodness, but this post got much longer than I originally intended! Did I say I was "quickly" popping in? - I think I'd best take that part out. As always though, I thank you for reading and I hope you are all doing well! I also hope that wherever you are, the day's weather has been just to your liking and that the week ahead will be a good one!

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones, my friends ... see you here again sometime soon!

Tea @ Dawn's ~ All Creation Waits, Welcome Winter & Gingerfolk!

Hello my friends and Happy Sunday! Thanks so much for stopping by for Tea today.  :-)

With Christmas just around the corner, this is the last of my Late Autumn Teas - but I would like to continue in the new year with a follow-up series of "Deep Winter Teas." I haven't an official schedule or a list of tea themes in place yet, but will let you all know my plan just as soon as I can ... most likely I'll have information to share in my very next Tea which I'll host on January 3rd.

❤

Well, we're really down to the wire now aren't we?! So how are you all doing? If you celebrate, are you ready for Christmas? Or do you (like me) feel like you could use just a little more time? And I mean this both practically and spiritually speaking. As much as I try to absorb the beauty of Advent, and to make the season meaningful for my family - it always seems like the weeks fly by ...

And then there's me, torn between trying to slow down and trying to keep up. I do love to be organized and efficient - but I don't want any of us to feel overwhelmed or over-spent. I think that's perhaps one of the best arguments for keeping a planner and using it consistently - not necessarily to get MORE done, but to make room in our days for MORE of what's meaningful to us ...

A calm and peaceful home environment is very important to me - especially as the mom of an autistic child who struggles with anxiety and overstimulation. This is why I come up with these detailed plans for keeping Advent in such a way that our time is spent on slow-lane activities - like making homemade gifts, baking goodies, watching holiday specials, and getting out in nature. Inevitably however, reality intrudes upon my "quiet little Advent plan" and then there's a last minute flurry of activity thrusting me out into the world for things like forgotten gifts, tip monies, feast day ingredients - batteries! - etc.

For the most part however, these past couple of weeks have been quite lovely - and now this mama bear has all her cubs around her in the ol' family den! Bookworm (24) is taking his last final as I type up this post and Crackerjack (20) came home from college a few days ago ... Earlybird (18) finished school on Friday and Little Bear (6) and I are on a little break from (formal) homeschooling. The younger two will be back to school/homeschool after New Year's and the older two will be back at classes later in January.

Speaking of all my kids - here is our Christmas card this year!

(front)

(back)

(With thanks to my cousin, Kristen, for taking our family photo on Thanksgiving Day! The photos of the younger boys on the back are their "class pictures" this year.)

Now, let's get on with our Tea, shall we? As you see in my top photo, it's a rather basic tea for me this week - a favorite seasonal blend served in one of my sturdiest holiday mugs. I've had this set of mugs (and a matching pitcher) before I was even married! I like to serve the boys cocoa or wassail in these mugs (and eggnog in the pitcher), but they do a bang-up job holding a generous amount of tea, too. I snapped this pic as I worked in my bullet journal the other night, sitting beside our tree. I didn't even have a snack with me at the time, though I do have some lovely ginger "folk" cookies in my oven right now and oh my GOODNESS do they smell good!

Cookie making is a holiday activity I've unfortunately let slip the past few years, and everyone misses it. Especially my husband who fondly remembers Christmases when his mom was busy baking in the kitchen and he and his siblings were gobbling up his grandmother's snappy and spicy gingerbread men. So Little Bear and I made up a batch of dough this week to keep in the fridge so we could bake cookies whenever the mood struck.

Here's my little kitchen helper ...

So earnest ... ❤

So as I've mentioned in previous posts, our Advent journey is nature-based, celebrating the wonders of God's beautiful creation. The first week was all about the HOPE of heaven and earth (stars, stones, shells) and the second week focused on the PEACE of the plant kingdom while in this third week of Advent we are finding JOY in the animal realm - in particular those that live in our local habitat but most especially those that live in our own home!

Here's a peek at my planning for this week in which "all creation waits" ...

And here is my journal spread open and set on our sunny work table ...

I love our wooden animal collection but perhaps never more so than during Advent!

Here are some of the books we read this week ...

... and this is the verse I read aloud:

(The lovely poem comes from this book, a favorite resource among Waldorf homeschoolers. I use each seasonal volume ALL THE TIME in our seasonal homeschooling!)

Speaking of books, do you have favorite holiday stories you return to year after year? 

The page spread below is from one of my favorite Christmas books - Baby's Christmas by Eloise Wilkin. It's a very simple little story depicting sweet and precious Advent activities in a home with a few small children and every page is just like this one here ...

This picture just says Advent to me - that sky, that snow, the birds at the feeder and the natural decorations in the window. Not to mention the little ones bundled up singing carols! I read this book with Little Bear this week and we really looked this page all over. I pointed out the birds and how beautifully they blended in with the celebration - perhaps the birds were listening to the children's voices, maybe they were singing along themselves? We noticed how the sunset sky looked just like the one outside our own windows - Advent colors, in fact! I thought this whole scene complemented our theme this week nicely ...

We also spent a lot our "school mornings" making crafts this month. I love to craft, but try to be mindful of making things with a purpose and using materials responsibly. Here's what we've been up to ...

❤

HOLIDAY SPICE SACHETS 

Exploring seasonal spices on St. Lucia's Day ...

I placed whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and star anise in a small bowl and then let Little Bear go at them with a pestle ...

Boy did he enjoy grinding those spices! A satisfying activity and wonderfully fragrant as well!

We next filled a little muslin sachet bag with our "holiday spice" blend...

... and then hung it in the tree!

(I made the little tag using a snowflake craft punch and some natural brown card stock.)

This is the book we read on St. Lucia's Day ...

... and this is the cinnamon-maple biscuit bread ring we made for tea!

("Tea" being a child-friendly, gently spiced juice blend - but we called it "Glogg.")

❤

Also last week, we expanded our little Advent Garden ...

The beeswax candle (supervised closely and nestled in pebbles for safety) represents a gift of the bees.

Meanwhile, Oliver stood guard ...

Let me tell you, it's been quite a challenge, keeping the cats away from this little shell-, stone- and moss-filled garden ... but look how prettily it it sits on our table, echoing the late-setting sun in the distance:

(Not to worry - I blew the candle out as soon as we were done taking pictures!)

Another craft we had much fun making last week was a merry mini mitten made from sheep's wool and felt ...

❤

MITTEN ORNAMENT

We began by cutting out mitten shapes from the red felt, and a snowflake shape from the white. (This was mama's job and I used that craft punch again to make a snowflake stencil, then traced the shape onto the felt with a marker.)

We placed a bit of sheep's wool in the center of one mitten half, and sprinkled it with a wee bit of catnip ... that was all Little Bear. ;-)

I could have sewn the edges together and honestly that might have been the better plan, but instead, we used glue to seal the mitten and attach the little snowflake embellishment.

This is a project that might be too fiddly for little hands alone, but with a big person's help it should turn out ok!

Although ...

We hadn't taken into account just how NUTS our cats become when there is catnip in the house!

I'm not sure about other cats, but catnip does not make my fellas all dreamy and happy and relaxed. Oh no ...

MY cats go absolutely feral ... beserk, even! So we quickly realized the pretty mitten with its bits and bobs would be torn apart in a heartbeat (and most likely ingested) so instead we decided to hang the mitten high up on our tree.

(I just glued on a little ribbon edging and made a loop for hanging.)

A wonderful story to go with this craft - and for wintertime in general:

The Mitten by Jan Brett.

We are BIG Jan Brett fans and have nearly all her books in our collection. I have a very happy memory of taking two (or maybe three) of my kids to a small bookshop in Cambridge many years ago, to wait in line for an author signing. The wait was long and I remember my kids were a little cranky but Ms. Brett was quite lovely!

Returning to the present though ... because if you get me waxing nostalgic this post will become very long indeed!

On another day we stumbled upon a wooden shape I had in my craft stash, and when Little Bear declared it "the perfect stable," we decided to fancy it up a bit to represent each layer of creation ...

❤

COZY CREATION CRECHE

We first gathered some stones and sticks from the yard ...

... and brought the lot of it inside.

(As  usual, Archie considered himself project supervisor ... ahem!)

Stones were applied to the foundation of the creche, and trimmed branches were fitted along the framework ...

Our last step was to glue bits of (craft) moss and lichen to the rooftop:

A very simple but very satisfying craft!

I asked Little Bear what should happen inside our stable as we move closer to Christmas - and he's mulling that one over, considering our vast animal collection and some wooden peg dolls his mama has set aside for a nativity scene ...

But in the meantime, we talked about another big event approaching - the changing of seasons this weekend! So as the week drew to a close and the first day of Winter loomed near, we made up little treats to honor the many types of wildlife that visit our backyard ...

❤

SOLSTICE "TREE" TREATS 

Oranges are such a lovely wintertime treat - healthy and delicious, their shape and color reminds us of the sun which is now growing stronger every day. I sliced some oranges for Little Bear's critter treats but set some aside for drying in my oven (200° F for 2-3 hours). I love using dried oranges in festive winter garlands.

Little Bear meanwhile, set to work ...

Crunchy peanut butter smeared on pinecones and tp rolls, rolled in black oil seed ... orange and apple slices, too!

All ready to go!

We like to choose a tree (or bush) for an outdoor "Solstice Tree" each year, and this is where is where we hung our treats!

We also remembered to honor our chickens with a few treats on this cold snowy day ...

Our hens just love black oil seed and (not shown) a tray of sweet corn kernals is always a hit.

But we were not yet done with our Solstice gifts!

We made a sun shape from seed on the patio - how fun!

And as we watched the last sunset of autumn slip behind our western woods, we spied squirrels enjoying our simple offering ...

Goodbye until next year, dear Autumn ... and welcome back, Sun!

Now before I go I want to remind you all that there is just one more day left to enter my "Winter Comfort & Joy Box" Giveaway!

Thank you to all who have left comments and/or shared my posts here and elsewhere online. You may leave comments again here on this post if you'd like and tomorrow evening (Monday, December 23rd) I will go through all the names and then ...

I will be announcing a winner!

So please stay tuned and as always, I thank you for joining me for Tea! I hope you all enjoy your Sunday ...

I'll see  you here again late tomorrow!

Tea @ Dawn's ~ Advent Week 1 "Heaven & Earth"

Hello my friends and Happy Sunday! I'm sorry I had to postpone our Tea for a few days ... Little Bear had a miserable chest cold this past week, which in addition to being awful for my little guy to endure, really put us off our usual routine. The things I usually post about here - nature play, baking, crafting, planning - just were not really happening at all! But by the end of the week we were feeling a bit more like ourselves, and we began getting back on track, starting with a little ...

 

NATURE PLAY ❄️

The other big story of the week was the arrival of our first really big snow! As you can imagine, Little Bear was simply champing at the bit to get outside and play, nevermind his coughing and sniffles. Happily, by Friday I was able to bring him outside for about 20 minutes  - for a short nature trek during which we watched birds, observed tracks in the snow, and just generally stomped about enjoying the pretty winter preview. (Technically it's still Autumn for 13 more days!)

At one point it started snowing again lightly and we just looked up and watched the tiny flakes swirling down ...

"Like angel kisses from Heaven," I told Little Bear who, admittedly, looked at me a bit askance at that out-of-the-blue metaphor. But I love looking to nature for connections with our faith and sharing them with my children. Our whole Advent celebration is intimately tied with the different realms of creation. So we also talked a bit about Heaven itself - which is a really big and somewhat scary concept for a small child to ponder, and one that I'll keep very simple and light for now. (Heaven is where God lives and it's also where people we love go when they die.)

I also explained to LB that often we refer to the sky and the universe itself as "the heavens" ... and this includes all the wonderful things that exist therein: the sun, the earth, the moon, the stars, and so forth.

Speaking of ...

Here's my sun & moon wind-chimes bearing the brunt of the snowstorm! I have always loved sun and moon images, especially those that entwine the two icons together. 

And here is my Little Bear ... so happy to be outside, even if it was only for a short while!

These are some tracks we spotted in the driveway. Deer, perhaps? We haven't looked them up in our field guides yet.

You know, if you have to be trapped inside on a cold snowy day, a wonderful way to pass the time is by watching the birds at your feeders. Here are a few of the photos we took this past week, beginning with this handsome Cardinal pair. Some folks believe that Cardinals are messengers from Heaven, a sign a departed loved one is thinking of us. True or not, I know I always think of my grandparents when I spy a Cardinal pair. They introduced me to birdwatching when I was just a little girl, and how I loved sitting at their kitchen table, drinking tea and watching the birds visit, becoming familiar with all the different varieties. My grandparents lived not too far from the city of Boston but because they reliably filled their feeders, they attracted a wide assortment of species. Northern Cardinals and Purple Finches were particular favorites of my grandmother, as I recall. ❤

Here are a few more ... I really couldn't help myself!

White-throated Sparrow (with Chickadee in background).

A female House Finch, eyeing me over her shoulder. I can just hear her saying, "Ahem, yes - may I help you?"

The White-Breasted Nuthatch, a rather jaunty fellow related to woodpeckers.

A Mourning Dove sitting high in a tree, but not so high she didn't notice me with my big camera in the kitchen window!

The sweet little Black-Capped Chickadee - so energetic and friendly! He also happens to be the Massachusetts State Bird.

A pair of Goldfinches, toughing it out at the height of the storm. It amazes me how resilient birds are - in the depths of a snowstorm, they're flocking to the feeders because literally every minute of every day counts when it comes to survival!

Peek-a-Boo little Tufted Titmouse! These birds are pretty bold. The only ones aside from Chickadees who don't fly away when I'm right in the window snapping shots.

And finally, two birds who are rather dear to me: the Dark-Eyed Junco and the Carolina Wren. The Junco is a true harbinger of seasons changing - and you all know how I feel about the seasons! Juncos leave New England right around Easter (journeying north) and return just after Halloween.

I had thought the Carolina Wren was also a migrant (to the south, though) but we have a pair of them who seem to be staying put. Wrens are so loud and cheerful and this one's song is especially vibrant, quite recognizable once you're aware of it. If I do this right, you should be able to hear it here. (I'm referring to Song #1.)

Anyhoo, back to our Tea now, and the theme of our week which, as my post title informs, is "Heaven & Earth." Our Advent is really getting off to  a slow start - we have all our Christmas decorations down from the attic but they're just sitting in my bedroom at the moment. (And what a mess, THAT is!)

We do have our tree up but it's still standing bare in a corner of the family room. I am not at all - well, not very - anxious about being so "behind" in our decorating, though. This "soft start" actually works pretty nicely with my intention of keeping things slow and simple in the weeks leading up to Christmas. We did set up the children's nativity corner and our earthy little Advent garden. More on those topics below, but first let me tell you a little about my tea shown in the top pic ...

But for Heaven's sake - where are my manners? I have yet to offer you all, my dear readers and friends, a cup of your own! Please do sit down and be welcome ... take a cup and a tart and let's get comfortable. I'm apt to chat on for a bit, as you know ...

 

BAKING 🧁

Today's tea is a truly delicious blend, a new twist on an old favorite: Earl Grey with Lavender. I am drinking it with a little honey and perhaps some steamed vanilla milk if my husband has a chance to make some before be runs out for an errand. This would be much like a "London Fog Latte" which some of you might remember (because I mention it all the time) is my favorite after-dinner drink.

Beside my tea (again, referring to the top photo) is one of the star tarts I made with Little Bear just this morning. So VERY yummy and quite easy-peasy, anyone can make them in no time!

Here's what we did:

I used pre-made dough I happened to have in the fridge (courtesy of Thanksgiving pies that never came to be) and we simply rolled out the dough and used cookie cutters (approximately 3" size) to create little shapes. We placed a dollop of apple pie filling in the round shapes (having chopped up the apples a bit) and orange marmalade in the stars. 

Next we crimped the edges with the tines of a fork, brushed the tops with a mixture of lightly beaten egg and whole milk and then finally sprinkled the tarts with raw sugar.

Into a 400° oven they went and they baked for about 17 minutes.

Aren't they cute? Like little homemade pop-tarts. :-)

(Full disclosure, I found the general idea for these goodies on Pinterest. I just kind of went with what I had on hand and the "star" theme we were working on this week.)

And OH! Speaking of baking ... did you all know that this coming Thursday (12/12), on ABC, a new season of The Great American Baking Show: Holday Edition will be airing? The show runs at 9 p.m. - and for those with young ones (or young hearts), just before the show  beginning at 8 p.m. are two children's specials: Olaf's Frozen Adventure (8) and Toy Story That Time Forgot (8:30).)

I make note of these kinds of things in my planner(s) because if I didn't ... I'd kick myself for missing out! Thank goodness for DVRs though - with my early bedtime, I'll be viewing these shows during daylight hours!

So let's talk a little then about ...

 

PLANNING ✍🏻

Here's a little more about our Advent themes, beginning with a page in my bullet journal showing my four-week outline:

So you don't have to squint, here is a breakdown of our weekly themes:

Week 1: (Hope) Earth & Sky (stars, stones, shells, soil, sun/son)

Week 2: (Peace) Peaceful Plants (evergreens, holly, herbs & spices, poinsettias, etc.)

Week 3: (Joy) Animals at Advent (solstice tree, animal gifts, manger animals, caring for creation)

Week 4: (Love) Loving Hearts & Helping Hands (home, doing for others, the holy family)

Pictured below, a little scribble from my weekly spread ...

... a quote that works very well for this first week's theme! ✨

And here's a look at my December calendar which I must confess was completely BLANK until yesterday. 

This is my seasonal bullet journal (Late Autumn: November-December 2019). I juggle it with a few other planners, as most of you know. Is it the simplest of systems? No. But each platform is satisfying to me - though, the "juggling" isn't ideal. I'm hoping to streamline things in the new year ... as if you all haven't heard THAT line before!

Now, before I go I'd like to talk a little about our crafting this week, since we did actually manage to squeeze a bit in, and it very nicely tied into our theme ...

 

CRAFTING 🤲🏻

Oh yes, first. This - the before pic. The craft cupboard exploded all over my kitchen table. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Do you ever go to start some little project, something that shouldn't really take you too long, and then get completely sidetracked by a whole 'nother thing? Well, this is what happened to me the other morning. I wanted to find one particular crafting item - contact paper I believe it was - and when I pulled open the "Craft & Candle" cupboard in my kitchen I was alarmingly reminded of the holy mess that it had become. Stuff started dropping to the floor - including glass things and fragile things, and broken things in need of repair - and a tangled mass of twine, garland and ribbon landed right on my head. So that was it, enough was enough!

So I took a little time - say four hours or so - and straightened the whole thing out! And while I was at it, I grabbed a couple of "craft-ish" bins I had stashed - ahem - under my bed, too.

But here's the after pic! Much better, yes? (And oh my goodness, who let the cat up on the table?)

Here's a closer peek ...

Aaahhh ...

The remaining (and bulkier) craft items were stashed in a bin and bag ...

.... and a pretty "vintage" decoupaged suitcase:

And guess what I found? Not just one but SIX rolls of contact paper! Now we were able to get ourselves crafting ...

It's one of my favorite aspects of Advent - working with our hands, thinking with our hearts, to create meaningful decorations and gifts. Whenever possible I try to implement materials found in nature, such as these lichen-covered branches ...

To make a little twig star!

And then with that contact paper, we made some sparkling suncatchers ...

I find these kinds of craft projects go more smoothly if I have things prepared a bit in advance.

Paper shapes cut out, tissue paper bits ripped ... this way it's a more enjoyable activity for both of us and we can reap the results more quickly!

I talked with Little Bear about stars in the sky, including the Sun, our biggest and most special star. It's been fading for months now and on these dark December days, "catching" the sun where we can seems all the more important. 

I love how these little gem-filled star-shapes make the most of that gorgeous, sleepy sun ...

Light is so precious these days! We try to notice the sunset every evening we can, especially during the seasons of Advent and Lent.

And here are the stars the next morning!

Another craft we worked on just this very morning was a shell candle ...

We've made beeswax candles many times over the years, and it's just such a magical process!

First I melted two small bars of solid beeswax in a makeshift double boiler. (A clean empty can sitting in a pot of simmering water.) Once the solid wax was entirely liquid, I carefully poured it into the shell while Little Bear held the candle wick straight. (I made sure he knew not to put his hands anywhere near the hot wax.)

I took over once I disposed of the can and after a few minutes the wax had set enough that the wick stayed straight.

Then we added the candle to our children's creche corner:

Just behind the shell candle is one of our favorite storybooks for this week, The Star Child, illustrated by Bernadette Watts - who, by the way, is one of my absolute favorite children's book illustrators, particularly of folk and fairy tales.

I will show you more of our children's creche in my next post - we just moved it to this spot this weekend and we're still getting it all set up! Suffice it to say though, each week we add a little more to the creche - in layers, according to each week's theme - leading up to Christmas and ending with the Christ Child. (Actually, ending with the wise men who will soon begin their journey in the far east corner of our home.)

This all ties in with our over-arcing theme of "all creation waits." In a similar way, our nature-based Advent Garden gets brought to life, a little more each week of the season ...

This is a simple, shallow glass bowl sitting nestled in a grapevine wreath. This week we added the "earth" layer - stones and shells. Next week we will add "plants" in the form of moss or perhaps lichen. After that, some tiny creatures will appear and then finally of course there will appear a little village ...

It's such a small thing but I love how it connects nature and faith in a simple yet meaningful way. I find children often respond really well to symbols that represent an idea ... something they can take in and turn over ... come to understand in their own way. Our Advent Garden will take some time to fill in - we'll have to be patient - but isn't that one of the greatest lessons of this season of anticipation? Good things come to those who wait? ❤

Before I go (and I will be going soon, I promise), here is a craft we made a few years ago for this week of Advent ... it's become one of my most treasured decorations.

All the details can be found in this post from 2015.

Now, before I go - for real this time! - I wanted to remind you that I am running a little giveaway here at my blog through the 22nd of December. I will be sending someone a box of "Winter Comfort & Joy" along with one of my homemade planners. I will be announcing a winner on Monday, December 23rd ... if you are interested, please check out this post! 

Here is my humble little Tea logo if you would like to share my news. (You get entered each time you comment and share!) Just please tag me wherever you post so I can keep track of who's sharing where. :-)

Email is welcome too! You can reach me at drhanigan AT gmail DOT com. 

I look forward to hearing from you - even if you just want to say hi, or ask a question, or whatever! And I do hope you enjoyed our Tea this week. I will be back on the 20th with my next Teatime, though I may be back before then - we'll see how this week goes!

So ta for now my friends ... I will see you here again very soon!

Bits, Bobs & Mitten Strings ... ❤

Hello my friends, and Happy Monday Tuesday! I'm popping in today to share some Mitten Strings for God book study scheduling news, as well as a few other bits and bobs. :) I had meant to do this over the weekend, but alas ... life! And in particular, special needs parenting life. I won't get into the details of all that right now, but if I may ask for your prayers/good thoughts for Earlybird, who's having a rough time at the moment, I'd be sincerely grateful. ❤

But on with the good stuff! First I'd like to share this quote from our next chapter in MSfG, "One-on-One Time" ...

That is Little Bear of course, but the picture's a couple of years old. (It's weird that I can say that about his pictures now. Wasn't he JUST a couple of years old himself?!) It was taken during a woodsy winter solstice walk, and technically, it wasn't a "one-on-one" outing - because Bill was there, too! But I feel like this kind of picture represents the quiet times I spend connecting with LB apart from the bustle of everyday life. For this outing, we had left the noise and demands of the household behind us for a bit and it was a wonderful thing - to just focus on LB and his dear developing personality, to watch his funny expressions and listen to his very interesting thoughts. Young children have such a wonderful perspective on life, don't you think? And that's not to say I don't enjoy time spent with each of my boys, but I find myself alone with Little Bear most often these days. Spending one-on-one time definitely comes with more conscious effort as the kids grow older ... they get busy, and seem less enthralled with what their parents might have to say ... but more thoughts on all this at our next MSfG Tea!

And speaking of! Our next Mitten Strings for God study/tea will take place on Friday, February 16th. It's a bit later than I originally proposed, but I am trying to be very honest with myself about my free time - eg. how much I do and don't have! (Not nearly as much as I'd like but that's just the season of life that I'm in!) So please join me a week from this Friday for a wee chat and a winter's tea here at the blog. Let's talk about chapter 12, and the importance of making time for each of our children - while appreciating each of them for who they are. (As the mother of four sons I can honestly say that children are all just SO different, even same gender siblings raised in the very same way!)

Now, this might be a tricky chapter for me, because I don't think we (as in, Bill and I) do exceptionally well with this concept. As homeschoolers I think there's a bit of the feeling that "well, we spend tons of time together, anyway!" And special needs parenting comes into this, too - the demands it places on family life and the effects it has on maintaining balance - not to mention, sibling relationships. So I have some deep reading and thinking to do ...

As always, I'll be very eager to hear all of your thoughts on this, too! I invite you to send me those thoughts (with or without photo) or just chime in at the post itself. All are welcome to join this ongoing book study! (And at this rate we'll be talking about Mitten Strings all year!)

Now, while I'm here, I thought I'd share some photos from the past couple of weeks, beginning with Little Bear's first visit to the Lego Store ...

Can you even believe how big he's getting? Granted, we're all crouched down around him, but he's truly getting quite tall. And the way he's talking has changed, you know? Even the way he walks is different now. It's a little heartbreaking how quickly time flies when our children are small ...

Well, about those Legos ...

Last fall, Little Bear - already a huge Duplo fan - discovered the extra-special magic of building with REAL Legos. Like the ones that BIG boys (and girls) build with. He's just four, so he's a bit young for such Lego building - they can be frustrating for little hands - but he's handling it pretty well and just loving all the creating and getting his biggest brothers (longtime Lego fans themselves) to help him out. I love this picture above because it's me with my Lego kids, big and small. And not to keep harping on the "time-flying" thing, but I swear those older boys were just the "little" Lego kids in my house. I certainly have the zillions of Legos to prove it - stashed in the attic AND the basement - not to mention the scars on my feet!

So since I'm now a bonafide 18 years + Lego Mom, I bought myself a minifig for my key ring ...

That's "Rey" from Star Wars, in case you were wondering! :)

Now, here are some books from my "Deep Winter" basket ...

Books that had gone MISSING because  - well, I'm not sure why they went missing. It's a bit of a mystery! Usually I'm very careful about our seasonal book collections, but somehow last year our Deep Winter and Early Spring bin got divvied up and the books ended up here and there in our basement. *GASP* Thankfully though, I found them all on Candlemas morning (Feb. 2nd) just in the nick of time to celebrate Groundhog Day!

But to back up a day, here are some pics from our February 1st, also known as "St. Brigid's Day," a lovely feast we enjoy celebrating each year ...

Firstly, by making our own butter! (St. Brigid, is patroness of Ireland and dairymaids.) This is that ol' marble-and-cream-in-a-ball-jar trick - the one the children think is SO cool until they realize just how hard and how long they have to shake that dang jar! (Mama gets quite an arm-workout on Brigid's Day, let me tell you!) We like to serve the smidgen of butter we end up making with our bread rolls at supper. Daddy always makes sure to be suitably impressed!

We also like to make a Brigid's Cross for this feast, a craft I've only in recent years gotten the hang of ...

We started with "rushes" from our yard. (Actually, dried ornamental grass, but they work!) Because the material was rather stiff though, we soaked them in snowmelt for about an hour before attempting to weave our cross.

(And note I said, "cross," not "crosses." Clearly we gathered enough grass to make several crosses, but in truth I overestimated the interest and energy levels of my children and their mama!)

Here's the end result:

Now this was Brigid's Day morning ...

Muddy, melty and the ground still smattered with snow ...

Not to mention ice once the temperature dropped! February can be a fickle month in New England, but mostly it's just cold and snowy ... and cold.

And YET ...

Our hens have started laying again!! To me that's a sure sign spring is in the air ... or at least, in the amount of light we are getting every day. (Which has been increasing every day since the winter solstice.) I try to keep my senses very keen to the nuances of each season and I can tell you - the light is changing, and the bird song is different ... and yes, the air smells a little different on those drippy days. I feel certain that spring is stirring in the woods, underneath the half-frozen ground, deep inside those tough yet tender branches ...

Meanwhile, back inside ...

Archie is purrfectly content (sorry, had to) soaking up the afternoon sun, spending his winter days in a cozy basket. Even when said basket is not meant for him (but rather, my books) Archie considers it fair game.

But really, how could I move him?

So instead I set up at the kitchen table a little to the left ... 

And worked in my homemade planner to iron out some lesson plans for the week ahead. The current week's seasonal theme? Winter citrus ... :)

Last shot:

My kitchen window yesterday morning. It was so bright and beautiful and the air was a balmy 40° ... I allowed myself to focus on these delightful daffs and those fresh eggs from my hens. It made washing dishes a little less of a chore and a bit more of a blessing ... I was home, I had my family to care for, and that sunshine was so good for my soul ...

Oh, and by the way - the first picture in this post is a shot of my writing desk, with a teacup candle I made for Candlemas. Very easy to do with a bit of beeswax and a simple wick ... I think I have a post that explains how this works somewhere here, hang on ...

Yup! Here it is. Same method, just a different vessel this year! :)

Well, my friends, I'd best be off now ... but I wish you all well and thank you, as always, for joining me! I hope you enjoyed these rambling thoughts and photos and I look forward to chatting once again in the not so distant future! For now though, enjoy these lingering winter days, and please take care of yourselves and your loved ones ...

I'll see you here again very soon!

Welcome, February! ❤

Good Thursday morning, my friends! I hope your February is off to a great start! We've been busy here with homeschooling and home projects and some of us are nursing a head cold, while a couple of others are just getting over feeling unwell. (I'm happy to say, I'm in the latter group!) Currently I am working on a post about the February section of my planning binder but computer time is a wee bit scarce right now ... so it might be another day or two. Still, I thought I'd pop in and share a few photos from our week so far. This is one of my favorite weeks in the year because it's just rich with "deep winter" goodness - St. Brigid's Day, Candlemas, Groundhog's Day ... not to mention, the Superbowl! (Go Pats!)

Anyhoo ... as I type up this post (late on Thursday, nearing teatime) the snow is flying! It's been sunny all morning (though chilly), but just now the skies got very dark and then suddenly the flakes were falling fast! We're all home now - including Bill (the one with the head cold) - so I don't mind one bit. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ... seems the groundhog was right after all!

Speaking of groundhogs ...

I made this for the boys today and they got such a kick out of it! (Not to mention they were thrilled for a cake out of the blue!) I saw a variation of this idea on Pinterest and had to add it to the week's "crafts and comforts." It's just an 8x8 vanilla snack cake (Trader Joe's) topped with homemade cocoa frosting - mounded in the middle to resemble a groundhog's den. Then I stuck a Teddy Graham in the middle (taking on the role of the groundhog here, popping up to look for his shadow) and sprinkled the "ground" with crushed chocolate cookies (dirt), green sugar (grass) and tiny white candies (snow). Cute to behold, but even more importantly ... really delicious with a cup of milk after lunch!

Also in the kitchen today ... I have several potatoes baking for tonight's shepherd(ess) pie. Don't potatoes in the oven just smell amazing? In a bit (meaning, once I finish this post) I will put the kettle on and get the younger boys to help me make a loaf of Irish soda bread to go with tonight's dinner. And do you know what we will have on that bread ... ?

Yes, our very own homemade butter! ❤

We've been making butter on the feast of St. Brigid (patroness of Ireland, dairymaids, cattle and midwives) for many years, but this was Little Bear's first time with the project! And he was pretty impressed - if not much help with the actual shaking. He's only three, so I cut him some slack!

Also for St. Brigid's Day and Candlemas (yesterday and today, respectively) ... winter citrus candles!

I like to melt beeswax and make candles on Candlemas, but this year I kept it a bit simpler. As crafts go, this was pretty quick and easy! The trickiest bit is getting the orange flesh away from the orange shell neatly. So I just hollowed out an orange and split it in half ... pressed a small star-shaped cookie cutter in one end and stuck whole cloves all around the opening. Then I placed a beeswax tealight inside ... smelled SO amazing. Even after the orange peel started smoking. Oops!

(Of course, it goes without saying, I keep burning candles well out of reach of the children and I never leave them unattended. It's nice to light them while you say a verse or prayer - then quickly snuff them out.)

I thought the star shape was reminiscent of Brigid's cloak as described in this story - one of our favorite February books! There are so many wonderful picture books to enjoy all through the year ...

I try to organize mine by seasonal flavor. I have huge baskets in our basement with books filed by season. Right now we have our "deep winter" books up in the schoolroom ... and I must admit - as much as I enjoy them, I'm itching to get to those "early spring" titles!

But there is joy and value in every season, and winter certainly has us in its grip ...

Now that I have a "real" camera again (a birthday present from Bill and the boys) I am always hoping to get outside and snap photos. I particularly love the early morning ... although this (pre-sunrise) picture is dark, I like how it represents the harsh beauty of winter. I also just love rosehips, period. :)

Back out in the learning room (aka the sunroom), I have a nature corner set up and this is our verse for the month ...

Lovely words from Be Blest: A Celebration of Seasons, one of my favorite poetry books. ❤

Another family tradition at Brigid's Day/Candlemas (nevermind what the groundhog says!) is to organize and bless our spring seeds ...

I have all kinds of grand plans for the gardens this year! Last year it was all about building the coop and settling our hens, but this year I hope to expand our gardens - flowers, herbs and veggies. Maybe some fruit bushes. Clearly, there will be plenty of morning glories ... ;)

Another quick craft for February ...

I cut out hearts from pretty scrapbooking paper and made up a garland for the library mantle ...

I had the grapevine balls on hand (they came off a string of lights) and threaded them with the paper hearts on a length of twine, then hung the garland just beneath the lip of the mantle. Meanwhile, up above ...

A boxwood wreath - the last of our "Christmas greenery," which was supposed to come down today  - is sporting several Victorian valentines. (Barnes & Noble has the loveliest, old-fashioned notecards for each holiday ... reasonably priced, too!) And just below the wreath is a message for the month (craft store letters painted robin's egg blue ... need a second coat!) and some red beeswax tea lights. I'll be making salt-dough candleholders with the boys for these tealights later this month. The jar candles on either end were made last Candlemas.

Oh, and finally!

I saw an idea on Facebook - and I cannot remember its origin now! - but it was to use post-its as little love notes for your child(ren) ... one a day leading up to February 14th. I found these cute heart-shaped post-it notes on Amazon (actually, with Lent in mind but they work well here) and embellished a plain craft board wreath with a "Love" banner. (Glittery adhesive stickers against scrapbook paper cut into a banner shape.) Each day I will add a note, filling the whole wreath, with all the different ways we love. Maybe something to love about life, about the world around us ... or maybe something we love about each other. They're not personalized but something I hope each family member enjoys reading each day. Thinking about all the ways we are blessed by love in our life!

Well my friends, I'd best wrap up now ... this post has gone on MUCH longer than I intended ... teatime has arrived and the sun is shining once again! So as always, I thank you for your time and attention and I wish you a pleasant evening (or day as the case may be). I hope all is well with you where you are ... and I hope to be back again in just a few days to talk more about my February planner ... and plans! :)

In the meantime, take care of yourselves and your loved ones ... I'll see you here again very soon!

Advent Tea, Week 2: Plants & Peace

Hello my friends, and Happy Friday!

And what a fine Friday this is - beautifully bright if perhaps a little colder than is seasonably acceptable in these parts. ***brrrrr*** Still, it's one of those days that make being cozy at home seem all the more wonderful. Well, whatever the weather, I'm so glad to be here and share a cup of something hot and happy with you all ... to slow down for just a moment and catch up. ❤ It's hard to believe, but we're making our way through our second week of Advent now, and I hope the season is unfolding in a way that feels right and good for you and your family. I also hope you've all been enjoying our daily "tea with friends" posts! I am very grateful to all who have shared their cups (and thoughts) with us so far this month ... and so pleased there are many more to come!

So this week in my own family's Advent journey we are finding peace in the natural world around us - in trees, plants, and the spices and herbs that are special to this sacred season. We began on Sunday, St. Barbara's Day, with an easy little craft, preparing a small vase to hold our feast day branches. (Legend says that branches snipped on December 4th will bloom come Christmas morning ... this has never failed us before!)

The vase is an inexpensive terra cotta pot I purchased at the craft store. I spread glue on the sides and wrapped the bottom section with twine and then, using a hot glue gun, covered the upper rim with cloth floral stickers. (Bill sealed the little hole in the bottom of the pot with hot glue so it would hold water.) Next we added forsythia branches from the yard and a few pretty (craft) pine cones just to anchor those branches (and add visual interest). I think it came out very pretty! We'll be making a few more of these for teacher gifts this year ...

But now, about today's Tea ... :)

Actually, today we're enjoying a hot winter wassail instead of my usual tea. It's easy enough to make your own, but this bottled blend from Trader Joe's is very yummy and quick to prepare. Just heat it up and - voila! - a hot cup of Christmas cheer at the ready! I floated an apple slice on top for an extra bit of fun ...

Would you care to join me in a cup? A little something sweet and spicy to warm us as we walk through my frosty gardens?

The above photos were taken after an overnight snow, when everything was crunchy icy. Yes, I think we might be in for a white Christmas if this cold and active weather pattern holds over the next couple of weeks! We still have our "mild" days though, and so after yesterday's thaw, we harvested some moss from the stone wall ...

... to add to our indoor Advent Garden. :)

As I described in this post, we are rejoicing in God's glorious earth throughout Advent. One of our rituals is the tending of an indoor Advent Garden and we're reveling in the anticipation, slowly building up our tabletop terrarium with a new layer of life each week. Last week we added stones and soil, while this week we added some plants (the aforementioned moss) ...

Oliver thought this was a GREAT idea.

And the boys found things in their Advent pockets this week that also reflected our theme ... a poinsettia, peppermint candy, fresh mint and evergreen sprigs. Each item symbolized a simple activity or treat or outing ... something to channel some of that wonderful Advent energy!

Oh, also here in the kitchen - a new bottle of hand soap on the counter. This is such a little thing but I just love changing up the sink soap with the season. :)

In New England, a touch of frost, a sprinkling of snow and the hint of spices in the air ... these are all hallmarks of the Advent season! Clove, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, citrus, apple and cranberry ... these are the "inside plants" we're exploring this week. As you see below, I brought out the mortar and pestle so the kids could try grinding some whole spices ...

I'll be perfectly honest, this activity lasted all of two minutes. Not that it didn't appeal wildly to the younger boys, but the whole "hitting things with a marble wand" was getting a little out of hand. (Straying from the bowl to the table, fingers, etc.) Still, it was a fun activity and the kitchen smelled really good. :)

Soon I'll be starting fruitcakes ...

... and we'll be filling small muslin bags with a mulling spice blend I purchased. These will be given as gifts along with fresh apples and pretty mugs. And speaking of pretty mugs ...

Isn't this cup lovely? It is a very generous size and the golden letters spell out PEACE ... with snowdrops and winter greenery all around. I can see myself using this all season ...

AND .... if you enter my Winter Comforts Basket giveaway ... you might be enjoying it too! This mug will be one of the goodies tucked inside that basket. :)

Before we go, let's talk books and planners for a moment ... two favorite subjects of mine! Here are some of the reads we're enjoying this week ... 

The bottom two are for the boys (still waiting on a few library requests to come in) and the rest are for me! :)

I'm taking some time this week to revisit one of my favorite author/illustrators, Tasha Tudor. I find such comfort and inspiration in her work - her children's books are family favorites - but I especially admire the way she lived her life. Not that we could all live quite as "off grid" as she did, but there is a lot to be said for "unplugging and slowing down" ... not just at Advent, but in any season. Forever Christmas was a gift from my dad many years ago, who bought this book in Tasha's home state of Vermont. I also absolutely love losing myself in the video, Take Peace: A Corgi Cottage Christmas. In this pile there is also a book of Christmas poems (a wonderful rec from my friend, Gill), my daily Advent read, and a fascinating little book about the folklore and tradition of Christmas plants.

I keep this pile of books stacked in a hopeful fashion beside my favorite reading chair ... I've been determined to find a little reading (and resting) time every day. :)

Late in the afternoon, with the sun heading for bed quite early, I took my cup of wassail to the library, so I might sit at my writing desk and get to work on our Christmas cards ...

Yes, I am just that selfish enough that I need not one, but two desks, lol! The one in the family room (where I am sitting at this very moment) is for my computer and file crate and bill basket, etc. The white window writing desk you see above I keep for ... well, writing! It feels just a little bit "Jane Austen" to sit down at this desk and pen a chatty bit of correspondence to a friend. In January I will share a more thorough post on this happy writing corner ... as I get my holiday thank-you notes in order!

Now in this "aerial" photo I spy two more small items that will pop up in that Winter Comforts Basket! A small tin of Trader Joe's body butter - just lovely for dry winter skin - and a small monthly purse planner (though in a different print than the one shown here). Fun little things to bring a smile to your winter days ...

Speaking of planners - parked here is my Day Designer and as I mentioned on Instagram last night, I don't usually do much with stickers and whatnot, but I found some very pretty ones at Paper Source this past week and I had to indulge. That washi tape especially is just SO so pretty. 

*❤*

Well my friends, I will wrap up for now, but I hope you enjoyed our time together, sharing another cup of Advent Tea! I have several friends lined up to share tea with you all again next week (every day at 4:00!) and then I will return again on Friday with another longer post. Next week our family's Advent theme is "Joy in the Woodland."

Remember, if you'd like to join us for Advent Tea please send me a picture (or pictures) of your favorite cup by email: drhanigan AT gmail DOT com. I'd love to hear about your cup and any other Advent thoughts you'd like to share! Your pictures will be featured in a daily teatime post and you will be entered in my Winter Comforts Basket giveaway. I'll announce a winner on New Year's Eve and send the basket out shortly after the new year begins. :)

For now though, I will wish you all a wonderful weekend and as always, I thank you sincerely for stopping by. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones ...

See you here again very soon!

Gratitude & Remembrance (November Crafts)

Hello and Happy Thursday, my friends! I hope your November is off to a great start!

I posted the above picture on Facebook and Instagram, because I find it so inspiring when craft supplies are organized for a particular season or month. I don't always have them so well-ordered but I do like to keep items stored in seasonal groupings when possible. This is my "stash" for November and I thought I'd share what we got up to these past couple of days ... :)

November is the month for remembering our blessings and expressing our thanks, and like many families we enjoy keeping a "gratitude project" of some sort in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. There are all kinds of variations on this annual activity, but I kept things super-simple this year ...

A grapevine heart ($8 at Michaels Arts & Crafts), hung up with some twine, and autumn leaves cut from colorful cardstock ...

I hung the wreath on our kitchen/dining room door and each day we'll write down our blessings and add a leaf (or leaves) to the wreath. We're only two leaves in now, but I added extras as seen above to show you the overall affect. I think our "Thankful Heart" is rather pretty!

I placed the extra paper leaves in a small box along with a pen and left it on our kitchen table. Hopefully this will remind us to record our blessings around the supper table each night.

And yesterday (Nov. 2nd) was the feast of All Souls (also known as the Day of the Dead). One of these years we will make the traditional sugar skulls symbolic of this Mexican feast day, but this was not that year. Instead, I used some cupcake liners decorated with colorful skulls (found at Target) ...

... and made up some "harvest" muffins with that applesauce I told you about in my Halloween post, as well as some mashed squash ...

... and four beautiful eggs laid by my chickens!

I try to keep muffins low in sugar but for today's feast I added some simple icing and a pretty chrysanthemum from the garden:

(Marigolds are actually the traditional Day of the Dead flowers, but my little calendula plant - aka pot marigold - stopped blooming some time ago. I will try to keep next year's plant alive in a sunny window just for this feast day!)

But the muffins were quite a hit with the boys who enjoyed theirs with apple cider, while I had mine with a hot cup of orange spiced tea. All the flavors and smells seemed so autumnal and it was a gorgeous morning, too - so warm and breezy. I had my kitchen window open as I worked and just savored such a blessed day. And baking those muffins really made me think of my grandmother, who was well known for her delicious pink applesauce. In particular, as I milled the apples, my mind was on Gram ... I was using kitchen tools that once belonged to her!

All I could think was Grama, I hope you can see me and how much you have inspired me. I hope you know just how much I admired you and how your love and vision lives on in my heart and my home even now. Goodness I miss her ...

Anyhoo ... here's another Day of the Dead decoration, a little planter my brother gave me last month:

So fun! I keep it on my kitchen windowsill. That's an aloe plant growing there ... hopefully I'll keep it alive!

Now, in Catholic tradition, November is dedicated to praying for the Holy Souls. So on the first of this month I set up a small remembrance altar so that we may honor our loved ones who have passed away. I've done this in a windowsill in recent years but this year I decided to devote our living room mantle to the project.

I started with some particle board letters ...

I bought these at Michaels for $1.49 each and painted them in a soft bronze shade. While they dried (where Little Bear couldn't reach) I got to work on the rest of the altar items - photos, candles and flowers. I have several vases in my collection but I wanted something small, so I made up some simple vases from things I had on hand ...

These are glass votive candleholders (about $1 at craft stores), along with a bit of sheer ribbon, some rustic twine and small beige doilies.

I wrapped the green ribbon around each glass twice (securing the ends with a hot glue gun), then wrapped and tied the twine around the middle. The doilies are just lightly glued to the bottom of the glass. (And as you can see I had my usual assistant close at paw hand ... keeping his eye on that twine, sneaky thing that it is ... with all that twisting and twirling.)

Then added more of those orange mums ...

These fit in nicely with the other remembrance items, but I think they would also be lovely on a Thanksgiving table. Or possibly even a Christmas gift - a paperwhite bulb stuck in some pebbles? I don't know if the glass would be too small, but I think it would be very pretty.

For this annual project I have some small photos of our late loved ones which I display in tiny metal holders (prayer card holders actually - purchased a long time ago at a local Catholic gift shop). But I found I was one short, so I made up a makeshift photo stand with a small binder clip!

And lastly the candles, which we light as we pray for our dear ones ...

I have plenty of real candles on hand - some of them blessed at church on Candlemas - but because I have curious cats and young kids about, I decided to stick with battery-lit tea lights this year. 

I really love how the altar came out. I laid down a wide "ribbon" of burlap before setting it up and hung a garland of autumn leaves just under the mantle edge. I placed our Halloween roses on either end along with some white miniature pumpkins and our beeswax candlesticks ... plus a few Thanksgiving decorations. :)

I am always fond of projects that involve candlelight, but especially so at this time of year. The days are short and dark and we can all use a little brightening as winter nears. As the year ends we watch nature dwindle and fade - reminding us that our own lives will end just as surely someday. But in the midst of that sadness comes human love and our memories and God's love and our prayers ...

I found this quote the other day and felt so moved by it:

"How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?"

(From The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, a book I never read but I sure love that sentiment.)

Traditional prayers are deeply meaningful, of course - but I like to think our every loving thought and memory is a prayer in its own right. Feeling my Grama as I cooked those Macintosh apples and lifted my face to that warm window breeze - is something that is not only good for her soul, but mine. I pray for my loved ones all the time, but I hope I do them as great an honor by living my life by their example, with their unconditional love in my heart. 💛

 ***

Now, it was supposed to be Mexican for supper last night, but I didn't have all the appropriate ingredients on hand ... so American Chop Suey it was ... and with garlic bread, no less! Tonight is a catch-up night with assorted leftovers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Maybe some soup, too ... it's quite rainy and dark out there! Leaves are blowing about and the hens have tucked themselves away for the night. But our lights are lit and our den is warm, so it's all good here ... 

November really is a lovely month. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my friends ... see you here again very soon!

Summery Thoughts & Pics ... 🌞

Happy mid-July, my friends! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their Summer so far ...

I know my posting has been very slow lately, but all is well here - it's just a very busy, hands-on season in my life! Days begin early - end later than I'd like - and I'm afraid naps are just not a regular thing anymore, lol. I'm finding it a challenge to carve out blogging time these days ... but I am still here! And I appreciate all your thoughts and queries, both here and at my Facebook page. I do not have my blog email working yet, so if you need me, please contact me by leaving a comment here or at FB for the time being. :)

Well, I'm popping in today to say hi and share a few photos if I may. I'm working at the kitchen table right now, sipping some cold coffee and listening to my boys all around me. Little Bear is singing a Spiderman song with Crackerjack while they work on a puzzle on the family room floor ... Earlybird is working hard on math skills with his therapist in the sunroom ... and Bookworm is weaving in and out of the kitchen, getting his own day going ...

Free time might be hard to come by these days, but I'm awfully grateful to be here in this season of life. These full and blessed days go by all too fast ...

Ok. First up - here's a sun craft I made for the Summer Solstice:

I have always loved those colorful sun and moon plaques you see hanging on the sides of sheds or garden gates ... but goodness, they are expensive! This one is handmade (and rather humbly so) with salt dough. We left it to finish drying outside under its namesake. I haven't had the courage to paint it yet, but once I do and it is sealed against the weather, I will hang it somewhere in our garden ...

Speaking of my garden, it's doing very well, too!

Above is the Bee Balm which started blooming just before Independence Day. I think it looks like little firework explosions! And boy, do the hummingbirds enjoy them ...

The herbs we planted last year are quite plentiful - I've been gathering them on dry days to hang over my kitchen window.

In my basket above is St. John's Wort (seen in top picture, too), Thyme, Lavender and Rose petals. The rose bushes out front really did well this season - in fact they are now mostly covered in hips!

I'll be researching what to do with rose hips, but in the meantime, I used the petals I collected to make some rosewater:

Doesn't that look pretty? 

Very easy to do - I placed a cup of rose petals in a glass bowl, covered them with 2 cups boiling water and then allowed them to steep (with a dinner plate resting on top) until cool. Then I strained the water into a jar as seen above. I purchased some amber glass spray bottles which I plan to fill with a couple of different herbal concoctions, one of them being a "rosewater refresher" for hot summer days. :)

And here is the "pretty pink forest" growing in my front yard ...

These lovely blooms are Astilbe, and there is tons of it growing beneath the family room windows. And out back the Spirea is a veritable pink explosion:

This whole area (which stands right beside the chicken coop) is a bumblebee haven!

A little more pink to be found along the front walkway ...

These are Cottage Pinks! I love their clove-like scent - and that they remind me of my grandparents' garden AND that they were a favorite of Tasha Tudor's. So much of gardening is creating and recreating fond memories, isn't it?

 Now, here's a very "interesting" visitor we had in our yard recently ...

Yes, that is indeed a red fox - and we've never seen one before (even at our old house) but wouldn't you know, the year we finally get chickens ... this fella shows up?

One more garden pic ...

This tiny plant popped up all on its own beside my herb patch, and I wasn't sure what it was, but after consulting google - and helpful friends on Facebook - we've identified it as "Straw Foxglove!" A tiny cousin to these beauties out front ...

I love that it's a mystery how it got there ... :)

And here's a pretty picture from my living room, taken on Independence Day morning ...

The summer weather has been wonderful here in New England - bright and hot for the most part. Maybe a bit too hot this week (mid 90s by Friday) ... so as much as I love open windows, I'm very grateful for air conditioning!

Speaking of gratitude ...

It's been many years since we've had magnetic letters on our fridge! I LOVE this age, don't you?

And how about a family pic? 

We celebrated Bill's birthday last weekend, and I just love this shot of him surrounded by all his boys (and me)! In case you can't tell, he's lighting the candles on his cake - we couldn't fit all FIFTY on there! ;)

(Any longtime readers here astounded (as I am) at how big my boys are all getting? They were tiny when I started this blog!)

Parting shot, taken at my local Michaels craft store recently ...

Mind you, this was taken BEFORE the 4th of July! I am all for planning ahead - and you all know how much I love autumn - but even for me this is just a wee bit too early!

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

(His birthday was yesterday - aka National Simplicity Day - and this is a topic for a whole 'nother post!)

Well my friends, I am going to wrap up now, because if I don't push "publish" soon there's a chance it will be another day or more before I get this post up! (Remember how I was sipping cold coffee back in that third paragraph? Yeah, it's taking me a while to get this post done!)

Plus, I have supper to make, and tonight it's sloppy-joe biscuits, corn on the cob and waffle fries - a real "boys' favorite." I've been a little lax in the meal planning department and really need to get back on track. I'm at the food store more than I'd like these days! 

(Another topic for another day!)

But as always, I thank you for stopping by and reading, and I hope this post finds you well ...

See you here again very soon!

A Craft to Celebrate the Summer Sun!

Hello everyone, and Happy Wednesday! 

I wanted to share a project I worked on yesterday, in celebration of the Summer Solstice and all the plentiful sunshine we've been enjoying here in New England. But I can't take credit for this idea ... I found bits and pieces of it on Pinterest while filling up my Late Spring Planning Board. (Gosh, I love Pinterest. What did we ever do before Pinterest?!)

Now, as I've mentioned before, I like to assign seasonal themes to each week of the year. This gives me a chance to weave some seasonal awareness into our busy family life ... because otherwise time just flies by and I find myself thinking, where on earth did that season go? It's all too easy to miss out on the little joys that make each season so special! So this week we are taking note of the Summer Solstice and the brilliant Summer sun. Working off a brainstorm list and an established weekly rhythm, I have activities planned for nature, crafts, food, reading, learning and family togetherness. Some of the ideas will appeal to the younger boys and some will hopefully be enjoyed by us all ...

And some ideas are meant just for me! :)

For example, yesterday I made a decoration for our bright and shiny kitchen window where we all gather to eat and watch the wildlife in our yard. I could have involved the boys but they were busy and content to just observe and take comfort in watching mama work quietly while they went about their day. That said, it's really a very easy project and definitely doable with children of all ages. Materials include branches (one big and several smaller, similarly sized), colorful yarn and embroidery thread, a glue gun and oranges.

(Not to say I didn't have some help ...)

On Monday (nature day), Little Bear helped me gather branches from the yard. We had some stormy weather the other night and it brought down a lot of twigs and branches. LB loves nothing better than driving that wheelbarrow around our yard, picking up leaves and sticks and rocks and whatnot. The ones we found came from our favorite oak tree that lines the drive, and some of the branches will be used in a "bonfire" (fire pit) later this week, while several were deemed perfect for my craft.

On Tuesday morning, I sliced up an orange and placed those slices on a cookie sheet fitted with a cooling rack. The sheet went into a 200° oven for 2-3 hours. Once the orange slices (now dry) were cool, I threaded them onto golden embroidery floss and set them aside. Meanwhile, I took the largest branch we found and hung it in the window (by loops of yarn attached to the ends of the branch and small hooks hung just inside the window frame). I had the older (taller than me!) boys help me hang the orange slices from that branch ...

I love how they catch the light and look like little suns themselves!

 Later in the afternoon, while the younger boys played nearby, I made up a few God's Eyes, a craft which has always reminded me of the sun, with its colorful center and radiating arms. From what I understand, a God's Eye (or, Ojo de Dios) is of Mexican origin and is made as a blessing, often for children. I like to make them for the Christmas tree, roundabouts the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and though I've previously made them using popsicle sticks, this time out I chose to use natural twigs. I formed the twigs into cross shapes, attaching them at the center with my glue gun and then wove my designs in sunny-colored yarn. There are many directions to be found online for making this craft - and while I'm not skilled in fiber craft, this is so simple and satisfying!

Finally, I attached the three God's Eyes to the branch and our Summer Window was set ...

This window faces south so it gets plenty of light ... I love how this looks here!

Today, Wednesday (modeling day), we are making a salt-dough sun plaque for the garden. Or I should say we might ... if we have time! It's also Bookworm's (21st!) birthday so there's a lot going on, including a special dinner for the birthday boy! If we don't get to making our sun shape today, we'll try to work on it tomorrow ... 

{It's always good to make plans and follow a rhythm, but as in all things, flexibility is key!}

Before I go, here are some of the books we're reading this week:

Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven

The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow

Summer by Gerda Muller

The Longest Day by Wendy Pfeffer

The Summer Solstice by Ellen Jackson

It's a lovely week - the Solstice, the Full Strawberry Moon, Bookworm's birthday and Midsummer Eve/Day - aka, the Nativity of St. John. So many things are blooming in our yard - I gathered a bunch of flowers to dry over my kitchen sink for future crafts ...

🌞

Well my friends, thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are all doing well and that your week is being kind to you. Happy Summer to all and see you here again very soon ...

Friday Bits and Bobs ~ Domestic Bliss

Good morning, my friends and Happy Friday! I hope your week is going well. We're still slogging through a cold (flu?) virus of some sort here. Thankfully, Little Bear is MUCH better and aside from a bit of a runny nose and occasional cough, seems fine. My mum is also feeling better, thank God. Earlybird, however, has started coughing ... and I have come down with it as well. Ugh. Its been a while since I've been sick but last night's fever was a real doozy! Very kindly Bill has told me to stay in bed today and he's working from home. So here I am. In bed, surrounded by tissues and cough drops and cats and my giant mug of tea. :)

Anyhoo, enough of that - I am here to share a few photos, just some little moments from yesterday. As you can see I'm having fun with text bubbles again! (Click on the image if you can't read the text!) Above is a glimpse of my workspace on the kitchen counter. I'm really trying to pare down what I have out at any one time, not that you could tell that from the picture! In an upcoming post I'd like to talk more about our home keeping binders and why I have the daybook back on my counter in place of my homemade planner ...

❤

I love hanging herbs and flowers in my kitchen window, and I absolutely adore these tiny yellow tea roses, leftover from my cousin's baby shower. I thought I'd try drying them and using the petals in a homemade potpourri - perhaps blended with lavender and chamomile or other herbs from the garden. In the meantime, I think they look very pretty hanging over my kitchen sink!

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Now that the weather is warming up, I love sitting in the sunroom every chance I get. Here I was working out an Easter menu ... must check in with Mum to get her thoughts ... but meanwhile, Archie helped himself to my tea. The silly thing.

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A new tablecloth for the aforementioned sunroom. Aren't these colors gorgeous? :)

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Rest assured, this picture was taken before the Archie shot! This is an old mug from my grandparents' house and it seemed rather fitting for St. Patrick's Day. :)

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And here we have a whole bunch of April issues of Victoria magazine - dating back to the 90s! I set them on my bureau for inspiration, hoping to find some time to page through them ... I may get my wish later today. :)

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Well my friends, I hope you enjoyed these snippets of my day ... it was a rather quiet day spent at home, nursing Little Bear's cold, enjoying the sunlight and open windows. Spring feels so close ... and yet, New England is expecting a snowstorm late Sunday (the Vernal Equinox, of all days!). Fingers crossed we don't get too much and that the mild weather coming next week takes care of any white stuff lickety-split! I'm hoping for nice weather, Easter Sunday ...

Thanks so much for stopping by, everyone, and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

See you here again every soon ...

Seasonal Food: Special for Rose Sunday!

Happy Monday, my friends! I hope your week is off to a great start!

As some of you saw me "tease" on Facebook, I made a special dessert for Laetare (or Rose) Sunday yesterday ... and I'd like to tell you all about it! Because not only was it yummy, but it was also fairly easy to make and came out rather pretty. :)

Now, I've made custards before on Rose Sunday (the fourth Sunday in Lent, also known as Mothering Sunday in Europe) but this is the first time I've made a custard "tart." I first saw the clever apple "roses" on Pinterest a while back and thought - how pretty - but when I came across the recipe for an Apple Custard Tart of Roses I knew it would be perfect for this particular Sunday!

The crust was made from a blend of almond meal and AP flour, as well as confectioner's sugar, vanilla, orange peel, an egg and unsalted butter. I pressed it into a deep dish pie plate, but I think I'd use a shallower pan next time. )The custard didn't fill this pan to the top.)

I placed it in the fridge while I set about making the custard ...

More goodness in here - egg yolks (I use organic ingredients whenever possible), vanilla, sugar, orange peel, whole milk, cornstarch and Moscato wine. I find custard can be tricky but this cooked up very quickly - once it was thickened a bit I set it aside to cool and turned my attention to the apples.

This seemed like it was going to be so much harder than it actually was! Basically, you use apple peels to form rosebuds. The recipe called for Pink Lady apples which I was able to find at my market and they were very pretty indeed.

I had to have Bill help me though, as I had trouble wielding our peeler. He was a great sport and added all these roses to the custard tart for me!

Once the pie was full of "roses" (note the two that came from McIntosh apples, lol - we ran out of Pink Ladies!), we brushed them with warm apricot jam. 

(If you're thinking that's a kiddie paint brush, you'd be right. It was new, I promise! I am in dire need of a few kitchen tools, one being a pastry brush!)

The tart was popped into the oven to bake for 40 minutes ... and BOY did the house smell amazing! I had boys coming out of the woodwork to wonder what on earth was in the oven. (It even got the college boy home on break out of bed!)

And here it is all done!

I think they look like antique roses ... a very pretty effect!

The best part of course was its taste - which was wonderful! The custard was sweet and creamy, with the tang of the wine and freshness of the orange. And the crust was thick and tender, really lovely. As for the apple roses, I think next time I will use strips with more flesh than peel - they'll be easier to shape and softer looking like those in the original recipe. All in all though, this is a keeper - a really nice recipe to add to our seasonal menus! I love this for Rose Sunday for its symbolism, but as I mentioned above, it would also be nice for Easter or Mother's Day, or even a summer garden party.

This recipe is a great example of seasonal eating - not necessarily in its ingredients (though apples can be stored year 'round), but in the real spirit of the meal. I am so pleased to add this to our Early Spring repertoire. Another favorite alongside Good Friday's hot cross buns and St. Patrick's brown bread and St. Joseph's homemade donuts and the Vernal Equinox's pasta primavera ... etc.!

Well my friends, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day ... I am mostly staying off social media until I see last night's episode of Downton Abbey - hopefully I'll catch up tonight, though I must admit there's a big part of me that DOESN'T want to watch ... because if I don't watch, then it can never be over ... right? ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by, everyone ... see you here again very soon!

A Citrus Craft for Candlemas

Blessed Candlemas, my friends! A Happy Groundhog's Day, too!

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 I hope you are all enjoying a nice Sunday. Pleasant weather here in my corner of the world ... almost spring-like, dare I say it - the birds are singing and the light is just a skosh brighter. Nearly 50 degrees right now - way above normal - but we'll take it!

Yet according to Mr. Groundhog, we're in for another 6 weeks of winter?

Here are a few pictures from my morning ... first off, what a sunrise! One of the perks of rising so early is witnessing those beautiful first moments of the day ... as the sky changes its color and mood. I was so taken with the scene over this frozen marsh on our way to Mass, I had to pull over and snap a picture with my phone. The sun like a candle-flame peeking through those low-lying clouds ...

 

And when we got home from church (with a fresh supply of blessed candles), I set to work on a little craft I'd seen in a magazine recently ...

So much easier than you might think! You start with a fresh orange ...

(And citrus is so lovely at this time of year ...)

Halve the orange and scoop out the flesh so you're left with just the white inner rind. Then take some candles (it's smart to use up old ones, but I had surplus tealights so I went with those) and melt them in a double boiler ...

 

Once the wax was melted, I poured it into the orange shell, with a candle wick supsended in the middle. (I ordered these natural candle wicks through Amazon, but I'm sure they're available at local craft stores.) I just held the wick still for a couple of minutes until the wax had stabilized enough to grab the wick.

Then I pushed whole cloves into the rim of the orange, trimmed the wick, and waited for the wax to fully set.

 All done and smelling fantastic!

❄

I think these would make really lovely Christmas gifts, don't you? Simple enough to do with the children (teacher's gifts perhaps?) - just add some pretty wrap, maybe a soft handkerchief and some ribbon. I'll be making a note about this in my seasonal planner! :)

Now, in honor of St. Brigid's Day (which was yesterday) I am planning to make shepherd(ess) pie for dinner ... just some scrambled hamburger topped with kernel corn and rich cheesey potatoes. Some crusty bread, too, and a mixed berry cobbler for dessert ...

That all sounds good of course, but I'll see what fits in! My day begins early so by necessity, it must end the same way ... and sometimes things that appear quite "do-able" at dawn, seem near impossible by dusk ... does that ever happen to you?

Well for now I'll sign off, with a wish that you enjoy a pleasant evening, and a hope to see you here again very soon ...

Blessings to you all!

Michaelmas Jam

Happy almost-October, my friends!

I saw a recipe in The Herb Quarterly for a "Spiced Blackberry Spread" and I thought - wouldn't that be lovely at Michaelmas? Since blackberries are tied into Michaelmas legend, I thought I'd rename my attempt, "Michaelmas Jam." :)

Anyhoo, I got some nice local blackberries and this weekend I cooked up a pot of this "jam" or "conserve" or "relish," if you will. It's not a sweet concoction, mind you ... something you'd eat alongside a meat dish perhaps. I was thinking (hoping) it will be nice next to our roast chicken tonight. (If anyone would like the recipe, please let me know in the comments below.)

And aren't these jars gorgeous?

Here's a peek inside at the fruit ...

I also made cupcakes for a party we attended this weekend, but I left some at home so the boys could enjoy their traditional "Michael's Sword Cakes." (These are just devil's food cupcakes, topped with buttercream and pierced by a cocktail sword - just as St. Michael slew the terrible dragon.)

*†*

Tonight is also the Full Harvest Moon - my favorite moon of the year! - alas, it's raining here, so I guess we'll be missing it. Nevertheless, in its honor we are also having a medley of roasted harvest vegetables alongside that roast chicken and spiced jam ... and if I'm feeing especially ambitious, I just might make a dragon bread, too. (Though as the day goes on, that looks less and less likely, lol.)

So my friends, I thank you for stopping by and I wish you all a Happy Michaelmas ... any special plans for the evening? We here are quite excited for the season premiere of Once Upon a Time and then, thanks to our dvr, Bill and I will check out that new PBS show, Call the Midwife. I'll have a Masterpiece Monday post up tomorrow morning so we can all chat about that. :)

So take care of yourselves and your loved ones, and I'll see you here again very soon!

❤

p.s. Don't forget - "Rabbit, Rabbit" in the morning!

Picalilli: Familiar or No?

Hello again, my friends!

So in my morning post I described how my mother and I cooked up a batch of Labor Day Picalilli this weekend. I have since spoken with several people about the recipe and it seems that while relatives and local friends know just what I'm talking about, folks from other parts of the country (and world) have never heard of this particular dish ...

Well, this made me curious, of course!

So dear readers, would you do me a favor? Would you tell me if you have ever heard of picalilli before, and if so, how? I'm trying to figure out if picalilli is purely a New England phenomenon - kind of like Indian Pudding and Fluffernutter. :)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Enjoy the rest of your day ...

❤

Fruits of Our Labor ...

Eight quarts of picalilli!

I don't can much aside from picalilli, but I really wish I did. There's something so satisfying about seeing all those pretty jars lining your pantry. But picalilli is about more than just using up summer produce for me - it's about fond family memories and food that looks, smells and tastes like this time of year.

Are there any favorite pickles or preserves you make every year?

*❤*

Now, I believe picalilli has numerous interpretations (it may vary by region, I'm not sure), but this is how my mum and I make it. We follow my grandmother's recipe which she followed for years - though I'm not sure where she got it originally. That's a picture of Gram below and a very old recipe card that belonged to her sister, my Great Aunt Frannie).

(I use this tiny glass rooster stand for holding my daily chore cards - I like to keep Gram's picture here too because - well, for one thing, I miss her - and for another, doing my daily chores makes me think of her; she was a wonderful example of a loving, earnest and truly happy housekeeper. When I take care of my daily tasks I think of my gram and let her spirit encourage me. ❤)

Ok, but back to the picalilli!

So I started with 15 pounds of green tomatoes which I purchased from a local farm. I don't grow my own tomatoes - not for lack of trying, mind you - but my grandmother would use tomatoes from my grandfather's garden. In later years, after my grandfather passed, we would start stalking local farms in August to determine who could provide us with the green (unripe) tomatoes we'd need. (Sometimes you have to ask - not all farms put the green tomatoes out front.)

In addition to the tomatoes, I chopped up three red peppers and three lbs. of organic onions ...

I had to divide the vegetables between two large pots because I didn't have a kettle large enough for the whole mix! (It's on my list for next year!)

So I did this Sunday night, and then sprinkled a cup of salt over the vegetables (half over each pot) and then let them sit overnight.

On Labor Day morning, the salted vegetables had sweated quite a bit, so first we (my mum and I) drained off the accumulated liquid. Then we added one bunch of celery, chopped fine, as well as one quart of cider vinegar and a bag of pickling spice.

(We use McCormick's Pickling Spice - the whole 1.5 oz. jar divided, and wrapped in cheesecloth bags.)

Then we added seven "teacups" of sugar ... 

This was the measurement my grandmother used, her Irish china teacup ... 

We gently mixed the ingredients and then set the pots to high, just to bring the temperature up, then back to medium to cook for 45 minutes.

As the picalili bubbles away on the stove, I just love inhaling that spicy-sweet smell ...

Once the picalilli is finished cooking, we removed it from the heat and then filled our prepared jars:

(Prepared as in, washed and sanitized through the dishwasher, then dried well.)

We processed the sealed jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Note: my grandmother never used to do this, but Mum and I decided to take this extra step.

Final product: eight jars of Labor Day Picalilli!

Picalilli is a tangy-sweet relish, a lovely condiment to all kinds of meals. Last night Bill had some on his burger and dipped his steak fries in it as well. Tonight I'll serve it with meatloaf, baked potatoes and farmstand corn - as part of a special "back to school" supper. It's truly a seasonal and sentimental favorite!

***

Well my friends, I hope your week's going well. Are your kids back to school? Are you working out a new routine? It's hard to believe summer - for all intents and purposes - is over, but honestly? I'm more than ready for fall. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by ... I will see you here again very soon!

❤

Picalilli in progress ...

Fifteen pounds of green tomatoes, three pounds of onions, and a few red peppers. All chopped, tossed, salted, and ready for the morning ...

I'll post more tomorrow!

:)

The Lego Party that Almost Was ...

So yesterday was supposed to be Crackerjack's "friends" birthday party (as opposed to his "family" party which takes place next weekend) but alas, we had to postpone it. We spent much of last week preparing - working off a big master list - and by Saturday bedtime I had *everything* all set to go (save for picking up balloons, ordering pizza and filling the coolers with ice) ...

But great organization is no match for a 1 a.m. stomach bug, I'm afraid.

(Timing is everything, right?)

Anyhoo! We've rescheduled the kids party for a few weeks out (something to look forward to, right?) and Crackerjack was a really good sport about it. And he did get to open a few gifts ...

While I have you here, I'll show you how the cake came out ...

(Longtime readers might remember I've made this minifig cake before - CJ requested it again!)

But, oh my - the food dye I used for this frosting! I was cringing, lol. But it was the only way to get those vibrant "Lego" colors. (I was also planning to serve homemade chocolate cupcakes with plain vanilla frosting for Earlybird and those who don't tolerate artificial food dyes. I hadn't made those yet before the bug hit.)

Needless to say - now that the bug has passed - we have ourselves a bit of cake to eat. Could I freeze it all? Probably, but I've never been very successful at freezing baked goods. So all this will be made again fresh come September 1st ~ the date of the rescheduled party!

*❤*

Now, I know I usually do a "Money" post on Mondays, but I will wait and put that up tomorrow since I've already posted so much today and it's starting to get late ... time to make Crackerjack's "favorite" birthday supper: kielbasa and veggie bake, couscous and ... waffle dippers! ;)

So please stay tuned! And I'll see you all again sometime soon!