Crafting On

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the the ever-new dawn!

~The Waldorf Book of Poetry :: Edited by David Kennedy

Knitting has a real balm for me this Winter, and so I've kept at it.  There are many things that I cannot say right now about how my life has changed in the past while, but suffice it to say that it has changed tremendously.  Knitting, along with the daily things of school and meals and love, has kept on.  I started the Hap Blanket last week, and it has been coming together easily.  A big square of garter stitch has a way of doing that, and I hope the edging will be as kind.  This is a blanket-shawl for Spring, for all that it means and for what is beginning in our lives right now.  It is a Winter season of life for me, on the verge of something very new.  The above words from The Waldorf Book of Poetry have been a wonderful comfort and reminder.

For more crafting, visit Frontier Dreams.

Crafting On :: Christmas in Killarney Cap

I finished this hat last week, and what a fun one it is.  The Christmas in Killarney Cap is the Star Tam from Homespun, Handknit.  It was pretty quick to make, though I had to go back a lot.  It pays to keep track of rows!  Willow really likes it and wants one of her own some time. 

I've got some yarn coming today for the Hap Blanket, and I'm excited to get started on it.  It's been a long time since I have worked in so many colors and I guess I'll be trying out different sequences.  I  made a point to choose soft, springtime colors.  Knitting is giving me lots of happy moments lately.

For more crafting, visit Frontier Dreams.

Ice in the Air

The weather is due to turn this weekend, to be more like February, but for now it is a chilly five degrees.   The furnace is hardly warming the house before it comes on again.  Someone once mentioned to me that we have a lot of fluctuations in our weather.  It would seem so.  We can have snow in May and warm days in January.  But yesterday, yesterday it was snow and rime ice.

After our lessons, I drove us up to the Snail Place, just to look.  It was around 15° F then, with a little breeze.  The branches were like lace, just the way I love for them to look.  It is hard to remember the steamy green of Summer on days like these.

The sun was hitting the trees and sending the rime ice down like snow. You can see it here on the ground, with my ever-present wool shoes.  It was squeaky and powdery, both the ice and snow, not the soggy kind that makes a person wet and cold quickly. 

Today, after lunch, we'll bundle up and head to Raccoon Branch to see what accumulated in the woods.  Schools are still closed today, probably because of the cold and the slight melting that happened yesterday.  Here, of course, we keep on going and we have recess in the snow.  I prefer to take Sun Days, when the Spring weather is simply too lovely to be stuck indoors and the children are giddy with excitement. 

Crafting On Along

Still knitting at a feverish pace, or at least a decent one.  I finished my Golden Leaves Scarf, which was such a pleasure.  My mother has requested one of her own, so that may be in the works in the next little while.  Of course, that happened after I ordered some yarn to begin a hap for myself.  I thought I'd choose something that would work with worsted yarn, in order to achieve faster results.  This is not a fingering weight season of life.  I will be glad to make it a shawl or a blanket or whatever use strikes my fancy.  I even have the romantic plans of blocking it out on the grass (in the shade, of course).

Still working on Roan's sweater, but not moving very fast, I cast on a hat for myself.  Red and green, it will be a star tam that I am calling the Christmas in Killarney Cap.  Yes, I know that tams are Scottish and Killarney is in Ireland.  Humor me.  I think it will be cheery, and I've wanted a tam for awhile, just to know what they're like.  So, a merry red and green tam to go with my Hollyberry Mittens.  And maybe I'll make another red and green hat, an Elf Cap, just because.  It's been far too many years since I knit for myself.

For more crafting visit Frontier Dreams.

January

~ Be Blest: A Celebration of Seasons :: Mary Beth Owens

Snow Study

The return to school work involved plans for a week of Winter stories for Roan and weather study for Willow--a perfect match.  I know that many people try to plan concurrent blocks for their children, but I have generally kept the work separate, since everybody hears most every story, anyway.  It's definitely more Wintry this year, so we spent two weeks on our one week blocks.  When a powdery snow began falling Friday night and most of the day yesterday, even better!

It was so easy to see all the flakes and their beautiful details.  It's a treat when the forecast shows no snow and it showers down all day.  It's too bad it didn't amount to six inches, but we're going to look for more snow today.

See?  Tiny crystals!

I remember finding the most snowy part of a hill, after the bulk had melted, and sliding down as much as I could.  I was wearing out the snow, I guess.  For this snow, the pine needles covering the ground at the Roland Estate provided the extra slippery runway we needed.  It's so nice that they encourage us to play in that yard, too.  There are many times I really, really long to live in the country where we could spread out more in a yard of our own.

Willow spent several days, earlier in the week, on her snow crystal pictures.  We read Snowflake Bentley and The Big Snow among other stories, which gave her inspiration.  Her printing is coming along, I think.  She seldom uses capital letters out of place now.

We saw plenty of frozen waterfalls and icicles coming out of rocks on our drive through the Grandfather Mountain area.  I had her make a picture of the Ice Rocks from memory, since our visit is still a ways off.   Well, it's time to sign off and make waffles.  We got a waffle maker for Christmas and everyone is very excited!

Nature School :: Whatever the Weather

It was drippy and almost warm today, a sharp contrast from a week ago.  There are still bits of ice on the river and piles of it, here and there.  We traded our cold and dry for warm and wet, which we did need a little of.  We went to Linville Falls yesterday, quite the adventure for us, what with getting lost and all the fog and mud.

I had my sights set on the Ice Rocks in Doughton Park, but the warm weather made the Park Service decide to do some road work in that area.  The ranger was so courteous as to call me after I had inquired about access to the rocks, and we'll try again in a couple weeks.  The thing about the Blue Ridge Parkway is that it has many closures in the Winter months.  It's not feasible to plow the whole length or keep it all open when the high ridges are so inhospitable. 

Linville Falls, having been frozen pretty solid last week, seemed like a good consolation prize.  The Parkway was closed in that area, too, so I took an alternate route.  It was impenetrably foggy.  Like so thick you could run a stop sign before you saw it!  Not that I did, but it was close!  I was doing some very slow driving, to be sure.  US 221 is a beautiful road and there were giant boulders and frozen falls along its route.  Somewhere in all that fog, I got a little lost.  Back on track with the help of some locals, we found the trail head.

I was hoping to hike the Plunge Basin Trail, which would have put us waaaaay down at the bottom of this photo.  Its approach is from the Parkway side, so we couldn't get to it without an extra mile.  Instead, we walked to all the other overlooks.  There's one at the top of the photo, and a couple along the way, one being so far you can barely hear the falls! 

Everywhere, the frozen water and the frozen earth gave off so much fog.  It was pretty comfortable, though I hear it was sunny and warm in some places.  Forty feels pretty good right now, to be honest, though I am looking forward to some more ice-building weather.

The Homeschooling Introvert

See the old woman a-pickin' her geese!
Selling her feathers a penny apiece!

~ Still Glides the Stream :: Flora Thompson

On Monday, as it was spitting snow and sleet, Roan and I watched the goldfinches in the hemlock tree.  The bulk of the crowd was picking the seeds out of the tiny cones at a rapid rate, while a few others were doing cleanup on the ground.  We learned about their Winter coats, with the help of one of those wee Golden Books bird guides.  It was a happy moment, where a mother can say, "Now this is holistic learning."

I think it is easy to question ourselves in this new era of "communication."  It's also just as easy to "find your tribe" and live in a world of your own making.  As a homeschooling parent, one can find oneself surrounded by a plethora of strong opinions, methodologies, and labels.  Strong opinions come with the territory, I think.  It can feel like a confusing tangle to find just the right place for your own family, and to accept your own constraints and strengths.

I've always been the introvert, the INFJ, and the way we do things is an extension of my abilities.  I am content to spend my days quietly, even if I am surrounding by three vivacious children!  I've had the socialization topic come up just a time or two.  One person said I was always choosing who my children were around.  That is largely true, though people who choose conventional schooling make that choice, too.  They simply choose from a larger pool.

Being who I am, I've spent a long time reflecting on the options around me and the ones I've settled upon.  I've also observed how things have fallen into place for our methods, how we come upon new adventures that seem to match our studies.  Finding the Enki curriculum was like seeing my life come full circle.  Waldorf was a calming breath of fresh air.  I liken it to sitting on a warm stone on one of our mountains as a pleasant breeze goes by.  It made sense.  It felt right.

I've given lots of thought to how I go about my days and how my behavior will influence my children.  I do want them to be content within themselves, capable of fulfilling their own emotional needs, and I think introversion serves this well.  I also want them to enjoy community in regular doses, and I feel this will grow as they do.  For now, we enjoy having friends over for some of our family festivals, and we attend various local festivals focused on Appalachian culture.  It's an evolving picture of balance.

I think the biggest lessons I wish to come out of homeschooling are contentment and creativity, as they have lifelong benefits.  Consumer culture would like for us to avoid such immaterial things and to be wildly "social." I know I'm increasing my aptitude for these skills, right alongside my children, and we're doing it at a pace that is just right for all of us.

Crafting on Along :: Warm Things for a Warm Spell

The cold weather has washed away with the rain and now it is drippy and squishy. The ground is still quite frozen, but it is muddy where the earth swelled and thawed.  There is ice on the roads, strategically placed for those of us taking walks.  It's supposed to warm up to ten degrees above normal (or more), and I'll admit that we are glad for a little break.  Most homes are still decorated for Christmas because it was simply unsafe to be outside taking things down.

Weather report aside, I'm still plugging away on knitting, when I ought to be sewing.  These things come in moods, I think, so I am not too worried.  I have now become the Zipper Lady, and I'm a little apprehensive of my new role.  I cannot stand putting in zippers, but folks don't know so many seamstresses as they once did, so here I am.  Willow got a sewing basket for Christmas, so she happily does any household mending for me.  Her stitches are becoming so neat and it is always good to feel of use. 

But the knitting!  Yes!  There's a Two-by-Two hat for a Christmas gift.  I finished the hooded scarf, as you can see on my model.  Grey and black must be hard colors to photograph, since Willow is bleached out while the grey looks just right.  Oh, well.  There's another neck thing, this time for me, that I am going to call the Golden Leaves Scarf.  My favorite place for clothes, presently, is Gudrun Sjoden, and I have some dear family members who wanted me to have clothes for Christmas.  The color will go well with my new things, as well as the old.  And there's Roan's Knight Sweater in the first picture.  It's plugging along, mindless knitting as it is.

As for the book, I am reading Still Glides the Stream by Flora Thompson.  If you enjoyed Lark Rise to Candleford, this is another great title by the same author.  I'll share some quotes from it over the next little while.  It's got a bit more of a story and a little less nostalgia, which makes for a less depressing read (if you are the kind to mourn the passage of time away from agrarian living).  I am terribly sentimental, as much as I always have my eyes on the future and seldom dwell on the past.  There are some seasons that it pains me more than others, usually times like Michaelmas.  Something about those quarter and cross quarter days, I guess.

For more crafting visit Frontier Dreams and for my first time, the Yarn Along.

Cold Snap

I think it's old news that it's been cold practically everywhere but Alaska.  This weather is not exceptional for us, but it's still been pretty wild.  It's a strange and bracing thing to feel your fingers freezing when you go outside for a short moment, even with mittens.  All the blankets (well, almost) have come out, and the children have enjoyed the pleasures of the season.  Here they are on their stage coach.

Cabin fever getting the better of us adults, we took a drive to see the icy streams.  They didn't disappoint.  It's been dry here, but the water's not moving much, anyway. 

Back at home, the children have been in an I Spy phase.  I picked up a book for Roan, which was then followed by some used titles in the series.  And then they remembered there were I Spy Go Fish cards.  Games have always been a little tough here (maybe they are for you, too?).  This time, however, the rules were simple enough and the stars aligned.  Go Fish has been the game of the week, and I've seen sibling interactions improve quite a bit.  More games this Winter, I hope!

There was a day that temperatures rose into the twenties, so Roan and Laurel and I went out to the lake to see the ice.  Roan found this interesting piece in the marsh below the spillway.

There are all kinds of warnings about not walking on the lake ice, which we did not do.  This stream, however, was only a few inches deep.  With boots and no big rocks to crash into, this is a much safer activity.  The children have been promised more time outside today as the weather "improves" into the thirties this afternoon.

We've seen zero two days in a row, with plenty of days around four or five degrees.  It's that cold outside right now.  My little back porch office is a bit chilly, but I am keeping the computer warm with a space heater.  It feels a little wasteful, but it's better than losing something so costly.  I won't need the heater soon, since we're suppose to see fifty by Wednesday!

Roan and I enjoyed some time with his marble run yesterday, while Willow worked on her rug hooking kit.  Laurel's been making soup and tea with her new pots.  School time has been focused on Winter weather, though we've had very little snow.  We might see some more before the warm weather mid-week. 

Twelve Days of an Appalachian Christmas XII :: Change

Here's Willow, from 2015, running through our Advent spiral.  While we built one this year, we were never able to use it.  I guess that is the way it goes sometimes.  Maybe we will yet.

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes, and so Christmas in the mountains began changing around the time of the Civil War.  Boys came home with traditions from other places.  The mountains began to be logged for timber and mined for coal.  Mission schools were built, and children were introduced to school Christmas programs.  World War I changed things in innumerable ways and time marched toward the Christmas we know today.

My own childhood Christmases had very little of the magic of these old ones Hubert Davis describes in Christmas in the Mountains.  I still loved it with all the fervor a child could have, but the day fell flat shortly after all the gifts were opened.  It can feel silly, at times, to try to revive old customs, a little like we are putting on something we don't really own.  I guess it's also creating a family culture--if we want to have such richness, we must be willing to make it our own and keep it going.  It's a great reminder for starting up the school year again. 

Thanks for reading my little book reports.  I wish you all a joyful New Year and a happy Christmas, ever how long you celebrate.

Twelve Days of an Appalachian Christmas XI :: The New Year

This was Laurel Mae last year, wassailing our Arkansas black apple tree.  Just a couple more days until we do it again, I hope!  It was mildly cold last year, but we are making up for it this year.  Twelfth Night should see temperatures in the single digits!

It wast the custom in Southwest Virginia for the Christmas season to last the full twelve days, with minimal work done during this time.  However, many folks believed that one should do as much work as possible on New Year's Day to ensure a good day's work would be done all year long.  People rang in the new year with the shooting of guns, ringing bells, beating pans, and yelling, all to drive away any evil spirits.  We enjoy fireworks here, when we can.  

Just like Christmas, there are many superstitions associated with the New Year.  I'll list a few of the more peculiar ones here:

• Every effort should be made to collect any money owed to a person or to make money.  This would ensure money would come in all year.
• Nothing should be removed from the house, or things might disappear the rest of the year!
• No fire should leave the house, much like on Christmas.
• Catching a rabbit in a graveyard will bring good luck.
• Hog jowls and leather britches should be served for good fortune.
• At midnight, all doors and windows should be opened for good luck.

Here's the verse Mr. Davis includes in Christmas in the Mountains:

Open the west door
And let the old year go.
Sing reign of fair maid
With gold upon her chin.
Open your east door
And let the new year in.

This would work well for us, since our house faces East to West.  I might have to try it next year, though staying up until midnight is not very easy for me.  Well, there's just one day left.  See you tomorrow!

Twelve Days of an Appalachian Christmas X :: Superstitions

Forgive me a little.  In my spare time during the map-making days, I'd make these pictures using the Paint program.  They reminded me of using Windows 3.2 on my parents' home computer.  Of course, I'd make an idyllic scene like this one.  Take me to this cabin right this minute!

Christmas in the Mountains says that many of the folk beliefs of people here came from the Pennsylvania Dutch, Germans, and the Scotch-Irish as they migrated southward.  The people of our area aren't particularly Southern or Northern, which is how I have felt all my life.  We are at a strange meeting place of both, ecologically and culturally.  Our mountains have held onto some very unique plants and animals (ones that are even Arctic!), and our people are set apart, too.  Historically, they had a strong faith in God and believed that people were given signs and omens for that reason.

I think I'll just make a list of some of these folk beliefs, since that seems simplest:

• Plants and flowers bloom on Christmas Eve.  This comes from stories like that of the Glastonbury Thorn, as I've mentioned previously, and there were stories of claims of buds swelling on plants.
• Bees hum from dusk to dawn on Old Christmas Eve.  This would be Twelfth Night as we know it now.  Some folks claim they hum the hundredth Psalm!  
• The cock crows at midnight on Christmas Eve to drive away evil spirits.  Shakespeare wrote about this, as well.
• Angels were so busy celebrating the birth of Christ that folks could slip into heaven who otherwise might not make it in.
• Animals kneel and speak at midnight.  Some folks believed death would come to those who watched this miracle.  The children in The Homecoming talk of going out to see the miracle, so I think the risk of death was not an idea endorsed by all.
• Water turns to wine.  Both this and the previous miracle are part of the "Lucia" story in Christmas Roses, which explores Swedish customs.
• Sitting under a pine on Christmas Eve, one can hear the angels sing.  This is another belief that promises death to those who try it.
• Those born on Christmas Eve can cast out devils, control witches, and heal the sick.
• To hear a cricket chirping on Christmas Eve means good luck.
• There is a Christmas Dawn, about an hour before true dawn, when the Earth is filled with a luminous light and plants burst forth.  Christmas Roses mentions this idea, too.
• The weather on Christmas Day determines the weather for the year.  A warm day means a cold Easter, a windy means good corn crops.  Our Christmas was very windy, so we shall see!
• Seeing the moon through apple trees will ensure a good crop.  So does wassailing. ;-)  I've got some cider on hand for our trees.
• Breads and cakes cooked on Christmas have special healing powers.  Some were dried for use later in the year.
• Lighting a match on this day means bad luck the whole year.  The fire should not be allowed to go out, as well.
• Women have to stay home on Christmas to avoid bad luck.  They should not be the first to enter, either.  This is derived from the custom of first-footing in England and Scotland. 

And with that, I'll see you all tomorrow!  

Twelve Days of an Appalachian Christmas IX :: Christmas at Boarding School

I think this picture is from our first Christmas at our own home.  It feels ghostly to look back at this photo, like a lifetime ago.  We're all feeling reflective lately and that certainly isn't lost on me.

So, Christmas at boarding school!  This concept is rather foreign to me, I'll admit, but there were numerous schools like this around the area.  Jean Ritchie tells of her sisters attending schools away from home, and their happy visits back home.  Christmas in the Mountains gives an account from a graduate of the Southwest Virginia Institute, which was located about 40 miles away from here in Bristol.

The girls at the school celebrated Christmas there, since trips back home were often difficult.  One tradition they had was making wishes on the yule log before it was lit. They used some of the previous year's coals to light the new log.  The school also had a Christmas tree, which was new to some of the girls in attendance.  They decorated it with popcorn balls, colored paper, and Santas.

They sang a song in preparation for his visit and hung their stockings.  The next morning, the socks were filled and they enjoyed a leisurely day of games.  The popcorn balls had personal anecdotes about suitors and were used in a guessing game.  They also enjoyed poetry recitations.  This one was included in the book and I thought I would put it here.  You may recognize it from Gilmore Girls, of all places!

Now comes our joys fullest feast,
Let everyone be jolly.
Each room with ivy leaves is dressed,
And every post with holly.
For ne'er yet was it counted a crime
To be merry and cherry at Christmas time. . .

At the end of the day, the yule log was extinguished. Some coals were carefully saved for the next Christmas, and a verse was said over them. The girls sang another tune and went to bed.

Christmas comes but once a year,
And when it comes, it brings good cheer.
And when it leaves, it leaves us here.
Now what'll we do the rest of the year?

Twelve Days of an Appalachian Christmas VIII :: Dances, Riddles, and Rhymes

Here were my three carol singers back in 2015.  It was a warm, wet Christmas, but it was also a happy one.

Dances!  Oh, I was just reminiscing with Kim yesterday about the contra dances I went to before Willow was born.  I would love to see the children enjoy something like that in the next couple years.  Let it be said, Christmas dances in the mountains were great social occasions.  Everyone came, no invitation needed, and the furniture was moved to make way.  It makes me think of this song, which I always love to sing this time of year.  I think this video sums up what the Christmas in the Mountains describes so clearly.  It brings a smile to my face every time I see it.  This kind of dancing is still alive, of course, and we need to keep it going!

People were so good at being social without all that "help" from social media.  They loved to puzzle each other with riddles and impress with their memory and wit.  There's a story the author collected of a young woman who was set to meet her sweetheart in the forest and found a freshly dug grave (meant for her!)  She hid in a tree and heard the whole plan, happy to escape with her life.  She served him justice using a riddle!

Here are a few fun rhymes from the book, which are familiar to me from even older songs:

The roads are very muddy,
And my shoes are very thin.
Please, kind lady, on Christmas
Won't you take me in?
~
A pocket full of money,
A cellar full of beer.
A fat pig in your pigsty,
To last you all year. 

These, of course, come from a time when beer was an everyday beverage, and a safer alternative to water. The riddles in The Hobbit fit well with this fireside pastime.  More rhymes can be The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.  See you tomorrow!