After a busy weekend full of
making granola
and boiling sap...
Hels has just finished her creative writing block, Wish, Wonder, and Surprise. During this block they described what it was like to be surprised (after their teacher arrived at school dressed as a valley girl). They wrote descriptions of their favorite places. They studied and wrote haiku, limericks, and other forms of poetry. Here is a poem Hels wrote in the style of one of Emily Dickinson's.
It was once again the perfect block at the perfect time. The lessons and writings helped Hels' to notice her emotional life....she thought about wishes that can be almost a sort of prayer...she wondered at beauty...she gasped at surprise.
We had a bit of delay in our sugaring operation--we had tapped some red maples so had to re-tap. A friend of ours came over on Friday and helped us figure out the right trees. Now we have trees with yellow ribbons all over our woods :)
There's lots of waiting....here's my man in his element!
It was a cold day and we had a hard time getting a boil on the sap. After 13 hours we stopped and went to bed. In the morning I boiled for another 4 hours when SUDDENLY it was syrup.
I caught it before it turned to hard rock candy. WOW is it good. Look what 10 gallons of sap gave us. Syrup is $63/gallon right now, so I'm inspired to keep going.
It is incredibly delicious. Can't wait to make more. It makes all the mud, wind, and warm/cold temperatures seem worth it. So....a sugar house or a chicken coop? Which to build next?
I must say that "Vernal Equinox" feels so much more appropriate than "First Day of Spring" around here. Yesterday on our walk we found a big family of chipmunks scampering on a stonewall at the side of the road-a sign of spring. We ignored the big skunk lying in the road-another sign of spring. Here are Lou and her best friend heading out to give the chipmunks some cracked corn.
While I like to have our table reflect what's going on outside in nature, at this time of year we just need some hope :) We're all in the mud doldrums and need some cheering up.
Dailiness
I have found that my children sink more deeply into imaginative play when I am up and about tending to our home. When I am truly present to my daily tasks, I think I free them a bit to relax and just play. When I can find joy in some of the daily tasks of home, I provide them with a security that all is well. They relax and go about their own work of play. I tried to express this in Old Fashioned Play.
Morning
I have always been a morning person. I get up at least an hour before my girls. That's my time for sipping coffee and blogging. Porridge Sundaes is my daily morning breakfast offering. I like knowing that my girls are beginning their day with something warm.
Peace
Crafting brings our family peace. When I take the time from my day to pull out all the supplies for a project and sit down with the children, there is an incredible feeling of peacefulness that comes to us. There's almost a hum in the air--we're that connected and gathered. It's what I think of when I imagine the term Living Crafts.
Television
Television is not a part of our family. I have recently re-thought our reasons for not having television. The reasons have changed, but the decision has not! Television and Our Family
Play
I love it when my children engage in deep, creative play. Often the best play is when I am working alongside them in the house or garden. Old Fashioned Play describes my desire to create a space for play, not a script.
Secret Places
Our sad, unwanted tree house has finally become the children's after they made it their own. In When they've made it their own, I talk about the importance for children to have a secret place with which to root their childhood.
Wants and Needs
If they see it they will want it This is so true. In this post, I write about how much simpler our girls' Christmas wish lists are when they don't see all the catalogs.
Stories
Telling stories is a bit of a challenge for me. Last fall, Lou and I fell into several evenings of story-telling about The Little White Cottage. We both found ourselves a bit more centered and sleeping more deeply. Stories also helped Lou get over "her mountain" this past summer.
The titles of these topics are drawn from Katrina Kennison's Mitten Strings for God. I used this book as a way to organize my thoughts around how the Waldorf philosophy and our family life have connected.
It was with excitement that I woke up yesterday--we were all home. No work. Hels all better. Blogged, cleaned out the fridge, prepared for our morning date at the dump and grocery store. I have this handy new list that is organized by the aisles of our store. I saw a friend using it one day at the store and she emailed it to me.
Lou came downstairs looking a bit grouchy...fever. Took care of the dump and grocery chores. Made raisin cookies and Udon soup broth. After lunch Hels, Nels, and I went out to tap trees.
Heading into the woods with our ski sled. Thankfully we didn't need snowshoes. The snow is over a foot deep in the woods but is well-settled.
A friend of ours had decided not to sugar this year, so we borrowed his gear.
The sap immediately began trickling out of the trees. Soon the woods around us was filled with the pinging sound of sap dropping into empty metal buckets.
After being in the woods, I went to the library.
Came home and made pizza dough. Used the peel which worked like a charm.
It was a busy, productive Saturday for blogging "day in my life"
Wednesday brought fever. Ice storm. Mud. Husband away. Meetings out of town again. Weepy child.
Wednesday brought balance. Canceled meeting. Fresh sheets. Hugs. Porridge with blueberries we picked one hot day. Dinner in the crockpot--chicken and spinach from last summer's garden.
Tuesday brought: icy roads...out of town meetings...feverish child...husband on a business trip...kind neighbors...an evening class to teach...a shattered glass...cut fingers...a dinner of hotdogs and annie's at 8 p.m.
I smile because the only way I could share this oh-s0-nutritious dinner is with all the excuses above. At least the applesauce is homemade from the fall :)
A spring storm brings 5" of snow on top of the 6" of muddy ruts. It's a bone-jarring drive to our house these days.
My walk down to get the newspaper was a bit treacherous.
At least Odin enjoys it!
Our house will slowly emerge from this snowscape....right?
More often than not our weekends involve a bit of crafting. This was a bigger crafting weekend than normal, but I think it's fair to include crafting in a "dailyness" post as we do a lot. Here's a lamb/sheep I made for an "in like a lion, out like a lamb" scene.
Hels is doing her "Wish, Wonder, and Surprise" creative writing block. She joined me at the dining table to needlefelt. This is her depiction of "wishes" which she feels come from the heart. My wish is that my teen will continue to want to sit and needlefelt with her Mama in the coming years!
I am in love with making pizza. We've been having it once or twice a week recently. Nels made me this pizza peel today.
I can't wait to use it, but not tonight as we're having a pot roast in about an hour or two. I'm sure this pizza peel will turn up in a dailyness post later this month--hopefully with a big pizza on it!
Time has been slipping by in a blur of daily routine. As a way to stop and notice, I have decided to launch a new little photo series for the rest of the month. I'll be posting just one or two photos each day that capture the dailyness of our life.
Nels and I have a Saturday routine where we head off early in the morning to recycle, visit the attached thrift shop, and get the groceries. Often a coffee is involved.
I like our Saturday date at the dump!
I have recently received 2 awards: "The Tree of Happiness" award from over at The Magic Onions and the Lemonade award from Natural Suburbia. Thank you for thinking of me! Nothing makes me feel more rooted (or happy) than going out for a walk, so I went off in search of some signs of spring.
I love this first photo because the tree shadows show how STRONG the March sun is. The sun, streaming into my house, is making me very happy these days (even if it's only 6F outside!).
Another sign of spring--the snow edging away from the base of the trees. Warmth is getting to those roots, slowly but surely.
The top of this stone wall is starting to peek out from the snow. There is a regular highway of animal tracks on top and alongside this wall--everything from mice to deer. I think we'll put out some cracked corn today. I'm sure they are all hungry.
Finally, the tree that brings me the most happiness--a sign of warm, sweet days to come.
I'm a bit overwhelmed at choosing blogs to pass on these awards. I'm choosing just two whose old fashioned photos have recently been giving me ideas of ways to feel more "rooted" and happy.
Miss VanDroo --I've been loving her morning/afternoon/evening series of daily life
Blueberry Cottage's Teatime with Beatrix Potter--I want to start serving tea every day!
To be honest, I really don't feel like I deserve any awards--I've been pretty quiet on the blog these days. In order to pick up the habit again and to stop life from slipping by quite so fast, I'm launching a new project for the rest of March called "dailyness." I'll start tomorrow~maybe by the time I finish, it will be spring! Here's an early spring bouquet for you~
Hels has been studying the Renaissance and Reformation this month.
They have sung Renaissance pieces in Italian and played them on their recorders. They have spent quite a bit of time learning to draw hands and feet. Their artwork culminated in a thorough exploration of the Mona Lisa and a drawing of her hands.
She has done massive amounts of writing--about the Medici's, Raphael, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, the Printing Press, Calvin, and other topics. Hels struggles with drawing and her handwriting, so there were some parts of the block that were a challenge. She's not happy about this picture, but I like it.
She has read a number of books about the Renaissance and early Elizabethan England.
E.L. Konigsburg's The Second Mrs. Gioconda did not captivate her.
Christopher Grey's Leonardo's Shadow did launch her back into Italy.
Mark Twain's Joan of Arc has been a slow read we've done together, but has been wonderful.
She loved a number of books about Elizabethan England:
Ann Rinaldi's A Red-Headed Princess
Carolyn Meyer's Mary, Bloody Mary
Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl
I've read a couple of books as well--it was fun to read these and be back in the past with Hels.
Alison Weir, The Lady Elizabeth
Jeanne Kalogridis, I Mona Lisa
She has moved on to Creative Writing now. I'm looking forward to some more creativity and beauty over this next month!
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