In These Hills: December 2007

Happy New Year! (updated)

>> Monday, December 31, 2007 – winter

We're celebrating in Connecticut with N's sister and family. I've managed to lose my camera, so I thought I'd just tell about two of our traditions for celebrating New Year's Eve--
One fun game is Snapdragon. We take a pie dish, put in some raisins, pour in brandy, and light it. Then we take turns "snapping" the raisin from the flames. We pop the raisin in our mouth and make a wish for the coming year.

Instead of resolutions, we make predictions. We have a notebook that goes back about 8 years where we write down everyone's predictions for the coming year. After lots of champagne, we read through the previous year's to see who had the most come true. Then we make predictions for the new year--these predictions can be about anything--politics, world events, family news, big purchases, school stuff, potential pets, etc.

I like making predictions rather than making resolutions on New Year's Eve. For us, the time between Christmas and New Year's is almost too busy and festive to be contemplative. This next week--the second half of the 12 days feels a bit quieter. We'll be doing some cleaning out and organizing of many aspects of our lives until Twelfth Night when we'll have a burning of the greens and cast our fortunes and dreams.

So, Happy New Year! I'm off to lots of appetizers, fondue, dips in the hot tub, champagne, a puzzle, snapdragon, and predictions. Who knows if we'll stay up to midnight. It's just fun to be festive with this dear family.

Updated to add--if you try to play snapdragon--heat the brandy first!

Christmas Meme

>> Saturday, December 29, 2007 – Christmas

I've been tagged for the first time by Tracy at Pinewood Castle.

Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both but we're moving towards cloth bags.

2. Tree--Real or Artificial? Real--we cut it at a local tree-farm.

3. When do you put Christmas tree up? The third weekend of Advent--after N's birthday.

4. When do you take the tree down? On 12th night. Sometimes we have a "burning of the greens", sometimes we stick it in the snow and add animal food.

5. Like egg nog? Yes, but not a lot of it.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, two--one is a felt yurt with figures in traditional costumes from Kazakhstan

7. Favorite gift received as a child? a music box that played "Raindrops keep fallin' on my head."

8. Hardest person to buy for? This year it was E --she's in between enjoying toys and enjoying clothes, etc.

9. Easiest person to buy for? I always have lots of ideas for my hubbie.

11. Mail or email Christmas Cards? Christmas letters We write ours during Christmas week when we have a bit more time.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? "A Christmas Carol"

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I keep my eye out all year long--then I lose things.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? YUP

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Lobster casserole, chocolate, spice cookies

16. Clear or colored tree lights? Clear although I'd like to do a colored tree outside.

17. Favorite Christmas Song? "The Holly and the Ivy"

18. Do you prefer to travel during Christmas or Stay home? Stay home!

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Rudolph's or Clement Moore's? I can do Rudolph's.

20. Angel or Star on Tree top? We have an owl.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Homemade gifts on Christmas Eve. Other gifts on Christmas morning. Stockings before breakfast. Gifts after breakfast.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Receiving after-Christmas sale flyers on Christmas Eve.

23. Do you attend Christmas Eve services? No

24. What's on YOUR list this year? A Christmas Smoker. And I got one!! It's from my new favorite online toy store: Wooden Wagon Toys.

There's still time left--let me know if you feel inspired to join in!

Saying Thank You

>> Thursday, December 27, 2007 – Christmas

Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, tho' the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel.

This is one of my favorite carols--a carol for Boxing Day. I love the imagery of castles, kings, peasants, and snow as well as the gestures of giving and receiving.

Our Boxing Day was delightful. The girls had friends drop by to explore presents and I had the chance to make some treats for our neighbors--something I try to do on Christmas Eve, but may do on Boxing Day from now on.

A Boxing Day tradition is to give tips to those who help you and to give "alms to the poor." Right before Christmas, E and I emptied her charity jar--she puts $1 per week from her allowance into the jar--and went off to buy a toy to give to "Toys for Tots." She bought a bee-yoo-tee-ful barbie and delivered it, quite seriously, to Toys for Tots headquarters. She was thrilled to be giving this toy.

After E gave the coordinator her toy, he said "thank you" but then proceeded to give her a pencil...then a pencil sharpener in the shape of a globe. E was so excited about her new toys that she momentarily forgot why she was there in the first place.

This has happened before. We used to give huge stacks of DVDs to the children's ward at the hospital each Christmas. We'd arrive at the Child Life office and to "thank" the children, they would let the girls pick whatever stuffed animal they wanted out of their huge collection. Our lesson about the gesture of giving, just for the joy of giving, lost.

Kahlil Gibran has a little essay on giving. He says a couple of things that feel very true to me--often just the joy of giving is the reward for the giver. He cautions the receiver to not make a burden of gratitude. Being overly thankful doubts the generosity of the giver. This was very true for E that day. She was so proud of her savings and so excited to just give.

We didn't get an opportunity to begin "thank you" notes yesterday, but today we will. As we do, we'll talk about the gesture of giving....and the very important ways in which we receive.

The Elf was Listening

>> Wednesday, December 26, 2007 – Christmas, Crafts, Handmade Christmas

Merry Christmas! We made it home from our airport adventures by noon on Christmas Eve day. We had a beautiful evening with friends and opened our handmade gifts after they left.

This little Christmas elf sits high up on a shelf all through Advent. He reports to Santa about Christmas wishes and behaviors. Once I caught E down on her knees praying to the elf :). Anyway, obviously the Christmas elf was listening well because everyone seemed very pleased with their gifts.

Here's a little tour of some of the handmade gifts:

These little pouches were made by the daughter of our friends who came on Christmas Eve. She had filled them with little bottles of massage oils and lotions. Our girls gave them pillows filled with wool and lavender.

The girls made N this fleece sleep sack and bag for summer camping.

The apron was a big hit (as was the watch). E got right into the kitchen to help make breakfast. We need to find a recipe box so we can keep adding recipes as she learns them.

N made the girls this chess board out of mahogany and maple.

I made N these historic maps of our town by downloading the old images, printing, and then framing them.

This is a yoga mat, bolster, and sack that I made for H.

And, finally, N made me this beautiful maple shelf which I will hang in the kitchen.

Sometimes it's a bit of a struggle to get these gifts made, but the love with which they are made makes them outshine everything else. These gifts are the ones we really remember over the years.

In the Airport

>> Sunday, December 23, 2007 – Christmas

Light the Advent candle four
Think of joy forevermore
Christ Child in a stable born
Gift of love that Christmas morn.

Candle, candle, burning bright,
shining in the cold winter night
Candle, candle burning bright
Fill our hearts with Christmas light.

Here we are. Delayed in the Columbus, Ohio, airport. We are due to sit here for 6 hours, getting into Portsmouth by 2:00 a.m. I've lost all Waldorfyness (as H calls it). Bubble gum. Downloaded Ratatouille onto my computer. Soda. Ipods. We now won't be home until tomorrow morning. Luckily, darling N has been home cleaning, wrapping, and assembling food! I thought I had good humor about this until I began reading blogs of folks all cozy at home with relatives arriving.....sniff.

Happy Solstice!

>> Saturday, December 22, 2007 – Christmas, solstice

In past years, we have celebrated the solstice with friends--the party began with afternoon sledding on the side of a hill as the weak light cast long shadows on the birches and pines. Once we were all thoroughly cold and wet, we'd move indoors to a candlelit room--no electricity on this night. Soups, breads, salads, cookies shaped as stars and moons. Sometimes there was an additional run with the sleds--lanterns lighting the run with an end at the sugarhouse. A Bonfire. Fiddles, guitars, children dancing. And, finally, a hushed lighting of the tree. A great white pine with real candles and just a very few star and moon ornaments.

We are in Ohio visiting my parents this year on the Solstice. No bonfire for us. So, I leave you with some images from the SUMMER solstice at our house. It was a hot day last June We picked and froze strawberries to eat today. We gathered richly-green ferns to make a beautiful table. We made fairy houses which were visited in the night with lots of glitter. We're saving our strawberries for Christmas day, but we'll take a moment today to think about this shortest day of the year. I hope you all find a moment today to stop and enjoy the blessed dark and the coming return of the light.

The Gift of Time

>> Tuesday, December 18, 2007 – Christmas, waldorf

Do you remember getting your first watch? I remember getting mine for Christmas when I was in third grade. Watches were a big deal--expensive and something to really take care of. Today, getting a watch feels like no big deal--for $5 you can get a decent-looking one, or two or three, at Kmart. You can even get one for your young child complete with the Teletubbies.

E will be getting her first watch for Christmas. She's been wanting a watch for a long time, but she has had to wait until third grade and until she has learned to tell time. Of course, for years now she has been able to tell us the time by reading a digital clock, but she hasn't understood time. And, developmentally, she hasn't been really aware of time--where she is in time. She's about to turn nine and she's truly present in her body in both space and time. It's now time for that watch.

Chalkboard drawing in her classroom

It's all too easy to give children things before they are developmentally ready. This year, we let H buy her own ipod. We had thought we'd wait until age 13, but she really wanted it and had earned enough money. Well, she isn't ready for it. She's just not that into hanging and listening to music, and it has raised lyrics issues that she doesn't even comprehend. If we had waited, it would have been all the more special to her. Aah, you learn so much from the first child!

As parents it's easy to get excited about buying the toy *you* want. It's easy to buy the toy the child really wants. It's harder to step back and think about the gift of time. By waiting on the watch, we've been giving E the gift of time. We've been giving her the gift of anticipation. We've been giving her the gift of achievement. We've been giving her the gift of an unhurried childhood. It only we could be this intentional with all the gifts we give our children!

Teacher Gifts

>> Monday, December 17, 2007 – Christmas

The other night at dinner I exclaimed, "Guess what? I've got the perfect teacher gift idea!" Everyone was very excited to hear about it until I said, "Well, take a mason jar, fill it with water, put in cranberries, greens from the Christmas tree, and a floating candle. Screw on the top. Done. Floating candle."

This was met with MAJOR GROANS as the girls have made them for EVERY teacher at our school. While the teachers actually liked getting these gifts that the girls could make themselves, the girls have outgrown this gift.

Helen became inspired to make shortbread for all her teachers today. What a great accomplishment:

Main lesson teacher--check
German teacher--check
French teacher--check
PE teacher--check
Orchestra teacher--check
Chorus teacher--check
Handwork teacher--check
Violin instructor--check

All I had to do was turn them out of the pans for her. The best part of all.

I need to go write it down in my Christmas journal along with the amount of flour used. I keep a runny tally of flour, powdered sugar, etc each year so I have an idea of how much in the way of baking staples I need to lay in.

Actually, in retrospect, I may have a tiny bit more to do to help.....

All Sorts of Revelry--Updated

>> Sunday, December 16, 2007 – Christmas

I forgot to include the third Advent verse. It's at the bottom now.

The third weekend in Advent has been very busy for us. Yesterday we took N out for a birthday lunch while we avoided the painting crew who were here madly finishing all the walls. We also cut our tree at a little tree farm down the road from us. All trees are $25, paid by honor system.

Today we woke early to an excited E who couldn't wait to decorate. She got all rigged up in her elf costume. Note the elf clogs H made her!

H helped with the lights this year. I've been demoted (phew).

It was fun to rediscover all our favorite ornaments. We've struggled for years over what to put on the top of the tree. Last year, I found the perfect "tree topper" for our family. This owl watches over all, surrounded by pine cones and other little glass wild animals. It's clear from this photo that I need to rearrange up there just a tiny bit....I didn't take lots of christmas tree photos, because now that I've seen Grace's tree photos, I am not worthy :)

We had lost a box of Christmas decorations--it had the table linens, the jingle bells for the door, and a lot of our Scandinavian ornaments--including the dear tomtens which I knit the girls years ago. E was so happy when I finally unearthed it in the attic.

To cap off our very full weekend, we went to the Christmas Revels. The theme this year was Scandinavian. They told midwinter stories from the Kalevala where the world was sung into being, complete with puppetry, dancing and music. H was thrilled because she knew all the stories from 4th grade. Our girls are in love with Sattuma, a Karelian folk band of two Dads and their children which they had heard a few years ago when they visited from Russia. Here H and N stand with one of the musicians at the end of the show.

We came home from Revels, through the big snowstorm, gathered at our dining table to light our three candles and sang:

Light the Advent candle three
Think of heavenly harmony
Angels singing "Peace on Earth"
At the Blessed Saviour's Birth.

Candle, candle burning bright,
Shining in the cold winter night.
Candle, candle burning bright
Fill our hearts with Christmas light.

In the Mail

>> – blogging, Christmas

Yesterday we received a package from Simmy. It was filled with all sorts of delights -- home made mincemeat and a recipe for pie, chocolates, ornaments, and some of her own dyed fleece. Joy. Everything Simmy sends seems so beautiful and exotic to us -- the children are always enthralled with the exotic- looking sweets and chocolates. I also loved getting one of Amber's cards. They are beautiful.

These little pine cone gnomes are so fun. All of us got pretty excited about trying to make them.

Meeting Simmy and her family was a highlight of our year. We really, really hope that we can go to England in the near future. I also now want to go to Australia to meet Sue and to Belgium to meet Ilse. N and I dream about spending a year in England or Europe while our children go to a Waldorf School. The best dream would be to do a house swap with a Waldorf family while the children do a short school exchange. Thank you Simmy for the chance to dream again!

Christmas Eve Gifts

>> Friday, December 14, 2007 – Christmas, Crafts, Handmade Christmas

We have a lot of special traditions on Christmas Eve--they range from delivering treats to our neighbors by tractor dressed as elves, to going out in the dark with lanterns to feed the wild animals, to giving each other our handmade gifts. We do a handmade gift exchange on Christmas Eve so that they are separate from all the other gifts and appreciated just a bit more. Here are photos of things of things N has made. Here is what I have made him in the past. Here and Here are things I've made the girls.

H and I had a quiet afternoon sewing while E was at a friend's house. I made this apron for E. In the pocket are recipe cards for "her" scrambled eggs, my chocolate chip cookies, her Grandmother's family birthday cake, her Great Grandmother's rolls, and her Great Great Grandmothers brown sugar squares. I became inspired while writing out the recipes. I want to now make her a notebook or recipe book which we can add too. We'll see if I have time. I think she'll like this as E loves to cook.

H made her sister this purse. I must say, I'm impressed. She designed it and sewed it herself.

What was I thinking?

>> Thursday, December 13, 2007 – Christmas

The contractor who built our house did many things that caused problems. One of them was to have teenagers paint our walls. We've been slowly trying to re-paint over the past two winters and get the house finished. Our painter began calling in November, desperate for work. We agreed to have him re-paint our dining room, mudroom, downstairs bath, and stair hall if he began right after Thanksgiving. Of course, he didn't really get into it until THIS WEEK. Sigh. It's a mess, plaster dust everywhere.

In addition, my father has been ill, so we are flying to Ohio NEXT WEEK to get in a visit that was canceled at Thanksgiving. N has to travel at the same time to Virginia for business.

While it may look like our Christmas season is a blissful flurry of needle felting and other wool arts, it is turning into a "white Christmas" of dust and a flurry of travel.

The Great Advent Debate

>> Monday, December 10, 2007 – Christmas

At the beginning of every Advent we have a debate about the wreath--which way to light the candles? Mom's way or Dad's way? I grew up lighting the first candle every night of the first week and then moving on to each subsequent candle in subsequent weeks. N grew up lighting the candles in such a way that they burn down equally over the four weeks. We are both passionately attached to our own family traditions around this and have to alternate years on how to light the candles. Unfortunately, each year we forget whose turn it is...

Strangely enough, it's one of the only traditions that each of us has held onto fiercely. We've blended most of our childhood traditions quite easily. For instance, his family always had oyster stew on Christmas Eve, my family had lobster bisque. We have lobster stew. His family always had mimosas on Christmas morning. My family had bloody marys. We have mimosas. We had tons of gifts, they had less. We have less.

The answer to our yearly Advent debate has been the Christmas journal. I began keeping this about four years ago. I begin the first week of Advent and keep it right through twelfth night. Not only do I write down which way we burned the candles, but I also describe the various activities we did, list gifts we've made and ideas for next year's gifts (because I always come up with great ideas the day after Christmas), as well as make notes on various recipes.

We love reading through the Christmas journal each year. It has made our traditions more beloved and real as we are reminded of things we particularly loved and then do them again--for instance, last year on Christmas Eve we traveled by tractor with jingle bells and santa hats to our neighbors to deliver shortbread. This is a definite new tradition. I love our family traditions and am so happy that N and I have been able to build on our childhood memories to make new traditions for our own children that are uniquely ours.

Light the Advent candle two, think of humble shepherds who, filled with wonder at the sight, of the child on Christmas night. Candle, candle burning bright,shining in the cold winter night. Candle, candle burning bright, fill our hearts with Christmas light.

Making a Needle Felted Figure

>> Sunday, December 9, 2007 – Crafts

Ilse recently asked me about how to make 3-D needlefelted figures. I am not an expert, but here's what I do.

Make a loop at the top of a pipe cleaner. The height should be around 6".
Then hook another 6" piece of pipe cleaner around the twist of the first one.

My photographer (E) was taking fuzzy photos, so there isn't a good one of the head. Begin the head by tightly wrapping small bits of wool around the pipe cleaner. Continue layering on more and more wool tightly--the wool almost felts itself and it should feel firm. The beauty of my figures is that they all have hats, thus the shape of the head can be a bit conelike :) Then needle felt the head, giving it shape with a chin.

Continue doing the same with the body making it cone-shaped with a wide base. Be careful that the wool doesn't start extending beyond the bottom of the pipe cleaner. Now needle felt the body until firm.

Now wrap the arms, again, tightly. Begin at the shoulder and work down to the bottom of the pipe cleaner. When you get to the end, fold back the tip of the pipecleaner, wrap a bit more and then go back up to the shoulder. You will then have a little hand. I re-wrapped the arm on the left--it was too big.

I keep my eye out for fun beard wool when I'm at fiber festivals. For this guy's beard, I actually put a piece in front of the entire doll and then pulled it apart a bit to reveal the face. Tack it on with a needle felting needle.

You are now ready for the fun part of dressing and accessorizing--it's when my children become inspired :) For this man, I wrapped his body in green wool and needle felted it. Then I did the arms. Finally the hat. I save the eyes for last. I use tiny amounts of wool and poke them deep into the face so they don't just stare out. I made him a knapsack and put twigs into it. He looks a little pale. I clearly need to get some slightly darker wool.