St. Nicholas Day in the Morning

Upon his snow white steed
With wind and lightning speed,
St. Nicholas leaves the sky
And comes a riding by.

The little hare hops night
And lifts his nose up high.
The stag, with pointing horn,
Jumps over bush and thorn.

All creatures dear
Are drawing quickly near.
Before St. Nicholas bow,
Their little heads so low.

And we will learn a tune
Of sun and star and moon,
And sing our happy lay,
Sing on St. Nicholas' day.

~Winter :: Wynstones

P.S. The children received these little bags of three golden coins, in addition to a few chocolate coins.  They really look like gold!  Now, they're playing pirates!

Crafting On

The first scarf done!  I have decided to call it a Leaf-Edged Scarf, since I do not think "neck thing" is very appealing.  The calculations in the pattern do leave you coming out just right on the yarn.  I had a tiny bit to spare, but I think that depends on where you decide make your shifts between sections.  I'll add the scraps to my Mythic Tam O'Shanter stash.

It really is a pretty pattern Swish has such a good drape.  Blocking it was very easy--I just use some kind of clean (yes, of course) rug and regular straight pins.  I think it should be good for giving as a gift to non-knitters.  There are, after all, yarns out there only a mother (or knitter) would love. ;-)  Looking at these pictures, it makes me want to make one for Willow!

In addition to cranberry mors, we've also been hooked on making candied orange peel.  Willow helped to sugar and store these yesterday, in addition to helping with the Christmas pudding (more on that later).  Here's how it went: peel several oranges or clementines, cut into strips, boil three times, rinsing with water in between.  Cook peels in 1/4 cup water and 1/2 sugar until almost all of the syrup is reduced (watch and stir!).  Remove and lay out carefully on parchment paper, allow to dry, and then dip in sugar.  Store tightly closed in a cold place.  This stuff will spoil!  I've had numerous mishaps making it, but this recipe works and it produces good-tasting results.

Oh, and here's the Paris Shawlette.  It is coming along and I am managing half a dozen rows a day on it.  I feel pretty proud of that, considering how many stitches and how small the yarn and how long my to-do list.  The Eiffel Towers are almost done and then come the short rows.  Slow and steady wins the race!

I've got several things the children have made that still need photographing.  I tend to run out of daylight, as the last picture shows.  I feel like I need a vacation just to tend to basic things, despite having done seven hours of uninterrupted housework just a week ago Monday.  Oh, well.  Maybe today is the day I will make headway. 

Happy Tuesday to you all!

For more crafting, visit Frontier Dreams.

The First Light

The first Sunday of Advent has passed now, and things still feel a long way off.  I guess they are not--it's three weeks from today that Christmas begins in earnest.  The weather has been warmer the past week or so, but we are expecting a very icy blast to come blowing in tomorrow night.  I'm ready for it, and I need some dark, gloomy weather.  I think of this time of year as a time of drawing inward, so I'm not quite feeling settled into the mood of Advent yet. 

I have had a feeling of holding off this year, of letting Christmas come slowly.  The gifts are coming along, both the purchases and homemade items, but my spirit has not followed suit.  I guess I'm saving my enthusiasm for the Twelve Days, instead of obsessing about all the preparations.  The big moon was a help, though.  I really love long nights and short days.  I don't guess I have too much to say lately, just a lot to think about.  Here are some things for listening, if you have enjoyed Lynn Jericho's Inner Christmas messages for the Twelve Holy Nights.

Grey is November, 
except
by the bright fire
with a story,
a cushion for the cat,
the dark shut outside
and the light in the flames
where mysteries lie
and we dream.

~Around the Year :: Elsa Beskow

November is going out with the same grey it brought in. I feel similarly, just somber and dull.  I guess my melancholy has got the better of me.  I've been reading The Hobbit this week, some of it even to the children, until it got too adventurous.  I'm not sure that was the best idea, though my father read it to me as a child.  I do love the imagery of ancient times and peoples and their magical treasures.  And Beorn--he always fascinated me. 

We'll spend our Advent with the stories from Christmas Roses, which are pretty fantastical in their own right.  I can't help but look for something beyond the usual stories, and I really enjoyed them last year when I read them to myself.  It seems the more I grow, the more fiction and fantasy appeal to me, as do the stories of people from long ago.  Anything but now, it seems. 

Here's a little soundtrack for your day, whether sun or clouds.

Crafting On :: Christmas Neck Things

'Tis the season to be knitting!  I'm working on things for the in-laws, scarf-like things for their mild climates.  It seems there's a negative connotation surrounding "shawls" for non-knitters, and "shawlette" just sounds a little fussy.  Neck things.  There.  The blue is the Ooh La Lace Shawlette.  Tanya gave me nice long size five needles, so that is making the 243 stitches much easier to manage.  I look forward to seeing the little Eiffel Towers when I block it.

Here's the One-Skeiner No-Brainer, which just isn't a no-brainer, as far as I am concerned.  It requires weighing yarn and keeping records, which is clever when you're looking to work within your means.  It's pretty fast, though, and I'm also curious to see how it turns out.

And now, well, time for more knitting and sitting.  I was alone last night and this morning and really turned the house upside down for a Christmas clean.  I got everything right again with plenty of time to spare--a Christmas miracle!  The children and I have been making a few other gifts and I'll share those next week.  Happy Tuesday!

For more crafting, visit Frontier Dreams.

School Days

School days are chugging along, doing the next thing, and making adjustments to the schedule.  I've learned a lot in these almost three months of two students, both about my students and my materials.  Roan has completed his quality of numbers block, and I believe he was glad.  He said he wouldn't go past drawing thirteen fairies!  He does have a kind of diligence that is admirable, and he is willing to complete things without shutting down. 

My thoughts on his first grade year so far are that we are taking our time.  He is younger, chronologically and developmentally, than Willow was during first grade.  I am glad to take things at his speed, stretching him where needed and letting him linger over things and revisit them, too.  I need to do some research on how to handle this in my state, but I think we'll just plug along slowly and pick up with more first grade work next September.  That is the bonus of homeschooling, after all. 

Willow has completed her time and money block.  Telling time has been pretty easy for her, so we focused on units of time outside of a clock.  We learned about the phases of the moon and some units of time people used before clocks came on the scene.  Willow has a pretty good grasp on how to buy things in a store on her own, so we did the same with money.  We learned some of its history (more on Yap Island here) and worked on firming up carrying over.  I'll have to get a photo of our "math house" improvisation.

This block required me to make up the materials myself, so I relied on life experience and encyclopedias.  It feels a little archaic to use them, yes, but I think there is real merit to doing so.  They do tell about things in a sort of a story format, which I think fits well with Waldorf.  We take what works and leave the rest, in terms of outdated or biased information.  I really think it is important for children to see me using books to learn, instead of a computer.

From here, we'll move to Old Testament stories for Willow and fairy tale letters for Roan.  Willow hasn't heard many Bible stories, believe it or not, even though she has attended church.  We've kept that to seasonal festivals and bedtime rituals, which is further explained in A Guide to Child Health.  That could sound terrible to say that (especially living in a very religious area), but I suppose it is up to each parent to make choices about what their children are exposed to.

I think she is ready to hear the stories and I am seeing that Roan is ready for the more challenging fairy tales of grade one.  There is always something to learn, and I must admit I can't think of a better use of my mind.

Christmas Plans 2017

Imagine my surprise (and relief!) when I was told Advent begins a week from tomorrow.  I think we are all glad to have a little extra time this time of year.  I've begun clearing some things from the house to provide some visual silence before things begin the slow (but very excited) build toward Christmas.  This is our nature table from last year, at the height of last year's celebration.  I thought I would try to lay out my plans for this year, both to gather my thoughts and share them here.

My overall mood for this year is quiet and historical (traditional?  What's the right word here?)  I mean to say that we'll just do our own things together, for starters.  We live in a culture that's always trying to drive us away from our homes in the name of "socializing," and my personality just doesn't fit that.  Let my children see who I am and how one lives a quiet life.  As for the traditional or historical part, I mean share with the children what the people of our mountains did in their Christmas celebrations over a hundred years ago.  I'll be writing more on that very soon.

As for Saint Nicholas Day, I chose these gold coins in a velvet pouch that I think they will love, and I'll give them a few chocolate coins, per our tradition.  We'll likely read a few stories from Christmas in the Family about St. Nicholas.  We used the Jakob Streit book last year for a mini-block on St. Nicholas, fitting in with the Saints and Sages mood of second grade.  We don't generally do gifts on that day, but I may give them the books I got them over the Summer:

For Roan: Lucy and Tom's Christmas (as we all love Shirley Hughes)
For Laurel: Christmas Angels (always angels for Laurel)
For Willow: The Cricket and the Shepherd Boy (she really love Reg Down)

We've decided to get our Christmas tree around December 15th this year.  We'll go to the tree farm we've visited in the past.  It is a little funny to read about tree shortages, honestly, when I have been watching truckloads of them leave our mountains since October.  And many farms have overgrown trees, meaning we often leave a tall stump when we cut ours.  It will re-sprout, in addition to providing fresh greenery for the many wreath-makers who are so busy this time of year.  I'm not too worried about a tree shortage here. ;-)

I've bought the children's presents already and expect them to arrive on Monday.  I always love A Toy Garden, so I got everything there.  I really prefer to use small online Waldorf shops, and I do compare between them for selection and price.  Here's what I chose:

For Roan: Wood Marble Run and an Audubon bird call
For Laurel:  Tea kettle and tall soup pot
For Willow: Wooly sheep rug hooking kit and Grimm's rainbow keyring

As far as Christmas baking, I'm thinking less is more this year.  I've planned the Saint Lucia crown that turned out so well last year.  We will probably bake it the day before, since I will be alone with the children and they really want to "wake" me up.  I'm hoping to put together a Christmas pudding tomorrow, but I'm still puzzling over which recipe to use and how long to let it sit.  I'll make my usual eggnog cheesecake bars some time, along with some peppermint bark and sugar cookies.  And that's it.  Can it really be it?  It sounds luxuriously simple!

November Nature Table

Getting things just right for the evening, including the plate of food for the Tomten.

Memories

It is a chilly sixteen degrees here this morning.  I was shocked when I looked at the thermometer.  And, I was pleased, of course, and felt smug that we got our Spring bulbs planted yesterday.  It feels exciting to think of flowers appearing in those first tentative days, though I am very much hoping to be thoroughly frozen in between now and then.

Speaking of first tentative days, here are some photos of the Old Davis Homeplace back when it was the Old Howell Homeplace, a 4.3 acre piece of a larger 80-acre (or so) farm.  The outbuildings were made of American chestnut, built to stay and lean.  How did many a UPS man find our house?  The old leaning barn.  Oh, how I wish I could go back and see all these things again, as they were.

I want to say that my parents purchased it in 1981, complete with a little farmhouse the burned down in quick and mysterious fashion.  No, really, mysterious.  As were the holes in the yard they would wake up to.  Someone was convinced there was a fortune buried on the property.  The wealth was the land itself, as far as I am concerned.

My parents built their home over a period of six years (give or take) and lived in a single wide trailer in the back yard.  It had followed my mother from college to the first four years of my life.  And then one day, it sold and a truck came to haul it away.  I remember that day.

For a cute bonus, because I am dying of cute here, I guess this to be Easter of 1986.  I suppose I could have checked the back of the photo.  Oh, well.  This reminds me of Laurel when she is all dressed up.  That girl is an interesting mix of bear-wrestling strength and sweet flowers.

And here's the homeplace today, the big old trees gone and new ones having grown up.  The old buildings--the tobacco shed, well house, grainery, and barn are long gone.  A couple old apple trees remain from the orchard and my parents have had a few horses graze their way through the field.

Well, happy day to you, ever how you feel about it, whatever you are doing.  

The Woods Whisper Christmas

Who loves the wind on a stormy night, 
When curtains are drawn and fires are bright? 

~Sing Through the Day :: Plough

Yesterday was balmy, in the sixties with a cloudy sky.  I saw a mosquito come into my kitchen, flit around, and get scorched as I opened the oven.  Strong winds came in the night, ushering out the warmth, with us gladly snuggled into the feather bed.   
 

Today, the woods whisper Christmas.  You can hear it if you listen to the wind or look at the sunlight on the ferns.  I really love this time of year, when the cold and dark are still new.

I met the snow near Hurricane, and it was such a gentle sight.  I had to stop on the road and clear some big branches out of the way, with some help from others who saw me working.  The wind had littered every surface from town to country with tired leaves, twigs, and bigger branches.  Driving through Fairwood, after a stretch of green, the snow was back again.  

I continued my climb through Konnarock toward Elk Garden and met more snow, fog, and rime ice.  Snowy lichen--be still my heart.  It was another world of beauty, as Dick Proenekke would say.

Arriving at Elk Garden, the snow was beginning to drift across the road, making it just a bit slippery.  The wonderful thing about an early season snow is that the ground and roads are often warm enough to avoid any significant ice.

Here's my shivery photo of the blowing snow and fog.  It was time to hop back in the car and head back down.  Twenty-seven and 20 mph winds is pretty chilly (a mere 13° F!)  Yes, a warmer skirt is in order, though I think I prefer them to pants in the cold.  Brrrrr!