Candlemas/Imbolc

crepes for breakfast

...filled with sunny apricot jam

acorns stirring

The sweet potato is stirring, too!

first crocuses

new lambs!

sweet mama and baby

anticipating daffodils

making cheese from our fresh raw milk

an oven full of dinner

sparkling grape juice...cheers!

at Imbolc we always burn our yule tree and greenery

looking forward to the coming warmth

Anticipating Imbolc...

This year our celebrations seem to be  much more focused on what is happening on the land around us at this festival time...and less about the feast of Brigid and the tradition of candle dipping. Some years festivals just seem to have a life of their own! I've learned that its best to go with it :)

What we've been experiencing outdoors is a lot of cold, gray, wet, mossy days intermingled with a happy handful of frosty, sugary, snowy, white days all winter long. But lately we've been sensing something different in the air....we can tell that the land is waking...we call it the "stirring of the seeds" (a perfect phrase gleaned years ago from this book). This, to me, is the essence of Imbolc/Candlemas season.

Anxious to see signs of this "stirring" that we knew must be going on under our very feet, we engineered some visible signs of our own:

planting bean, corn & melon seeds in a bag 

taping it to a sunny window

We learned this trick here

starting some seeds for the garden

broccoli seeds...the tiniest seed babies ever!

sweet potato

"Bottle Acorns"- learned from these great chapter books

Now we watch and wait....

Snowy Zoo Visit

Blogaversary

The earth has turned round once again!
One year ago today, I celebrated my 41st birthday by beginning this blog.
Inspired by other bloggers, I created a fun list of goals for my 42nd year...and I actually went a long way towards accomplishing them! There were 13 goals that I didn't quite make good on.
So, I'm giving it another go...43 goals for my 43rd year. (Including the 13 "leftovers" from last year...I really want to do them!)

1. Knit a garment

2. Sew a beautiful skirt for every day of the week

3. Plant a big batch of bulbs in secret this autumn to surprise my girls in spring

4. Write love notes

5. Volunteer at our local Waldorf school

6. Do more crossword puzzles with Mado

7. Live out on the deck more

8. Grow a garden with enough to preserve

9. Grow a garden just for the birds

10. Go camping

11. Transform an entire wool fleece into usable/wearable art

12. Learn (and write down) the recipes for all my favorite foods made by Mom and Dad

13. Make a family cookbook for the girls

14. Make a steampunk costume

15. Speak French every day

16. Knit or sew for charity

17. Have a taffy pull

18. Learn how to crochet

19. Teach Toucie knock-knock jokes

20. Visit the Hindu temple

21. Join the local home-schoolers' handwork group

22. Have more date nights

23. Make handmade birthday and yule gifts for all my great-nieces

24. Throw a surprise party

25. Redo the bathroom with fresh colors

26. Talk Grandma into helping me with the family tree

27. Brew beer all on my own

28. Make an effort to cultivate relationships with other home-schoolers

29. Write letters to old friends...try to stay in touch

30. Help Toucie find a penpal

31. Grow a pumpkin patch and host a pumpkin-carving party at Halloween

32. Breathe deeply

33. Start beekeeping with my mom

34. Knit a blanket

35. Experiment with the Etsy shop

36. Sing more

37. Cook with Mado

38. Practice yoga more regularly

39. Build an outdoor oven

40. Learn to play the tin whistle

41. Join the fiber guild

42. Learn to spin

43. Laugh every day

Most successful "soaked" bread recipe yet!

I can't believe I made this in my own kitchen...it looks like it came from a wood-fired oven in a small, rustic, European village. This is my latest attempt in baking homemade bread that uses soaked dough (to fall more closely in alignment with the principals of a traditional foods diet...or Nourishing Traditions fare).

In this recipe, 4 ingredients are thrown together in a bowl, covered, and left to rise overnight (12 - 20 hours). The next day, the dough is shaped into a ball, left to "nap" for another 2 hours, then baked in a covered dutch oven. There is no kneading...very little hands-on at all, in fact. I highly, highly recommend giving it a go...the recipe is here at Steamy Kitchen.

Winter Color...

We've been fortunate this winter with more snowy days than I can remember having in many years. But now that the snow has melted away, we find ourselves immersed once again in the muted, gray-brown landscape that signifies winter in this part of Tennessee.

On our walk in the park today, Toucie and I kept a sharp lookout for other winter color. Here is our gallery (starting with our own garish raingear!)  :)

The Tooth Fairy pays another visit...

Toucie was hoping for a ruby to appear (!!??!!), but when she found a new seed pearl in the pocket of her pillowcase, she began to see the trend. 

Extra bonus gift she's discovered with the loss of this tooth: she can whistle through the gap...nice touch, Tooth Fairy!