Merry Christmas!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

When it snowed last week, our fence art gave us a Ho-Ho-Ho! Just in time for the holidays!

Happy Solstice!

We celebrated the winter solstice yesterday, which was somewhat unplanned, but very enjoyable. I photographed our activities throughout the day, and although they are rather ordinary and things we do almost everyday (seeing the sunrise, crafting, hiking), there was an added sense of wonder with conscientiously thinking about the shortest day of the year (or the longest night, depending on how you wish to think of it). I got the kids involved in noticing the light and talking about the number of daylight hours, and they were on board with thinking of the solstice as Solstice, a special day in the year. And of course, they always enjoy projects in the studio and hiking anywhere.

I cut up some grapes and pineapple to put in the dehydrator for snacking on later– pineapple and dried grapes are some of our favorite dehydrated foods! We've decided to call them dried grapes rather than raisins, because home-dried dried grapes are totally different than store-bought raisins in taste, texture, lack-of-stickiness, and overall appeal to us. They're a wonderful mid-winter snack, and the low solstice light coming in through the kitchen window was warming and highlighted the fruit.

I did a couple of prep paintings for some more Kumomi drawings.

And then she wanted to get involved– because who doesn't like painting and blowing through a straw to make crazy designs?

And if she's involved in something fun, he has to be, too! We had a few enlightening conversations on what it means to "pass out" and that it's important to stop blowing on the paint if you felt light headed...!

We also worked on a tree garland to hang in the house. Both kids really got into all of it, from choosing buttons to hot glue onto each tree, to stitching with floss on the trees. They were pretending that this sort of stitching was helping them practice for when they were ready to be doctors. I say they need to keep practicing!

We hiked as the sun was going down, which meant the beautiful warm day quickly got cold. But we were celebrating the light, noticing the angles of the winter rays, and I know I was thinking about gratitude for health, beauty, sunlight and family.

It doesn't get much better than this!

Since we were out with the intention of seeing Solstice, we noticed the environment around us in a different light. Beautiful.

We came home and had a small Solstice fire in the back yard, which is still under a bit of snow. We had seafood chowder for dinner by candle light, hoping for more snow this week, and appreciating the darkness.

Happy Solstice!

Saying Enough

I had a small personal crisis this last week, which as I'm attempting to type it sounds kind of pathetic, but it has made a big difference to acknowledge it. I declared "Enough!" and so we're done with the holiday season.

We're not packing up the tree and returning the gifts and going on a cruise or anything. I just decided we're done with the craziness. As I said in the last post, we're done shopping (although I did buy a couple of little stocking stuffers for my daughter at the grocery store yesterday, just for kicks). I've gotten shipping notification on a couple of things that aren't going to make it until the New Year. Oh well. I'm not going to make up with other gifts; the kids will just get an extra gift in a few weeks. We're also done with the teacher gifts, and cookies for the neighbors. We send out an email Christmas letter, and only a few cards to old neighbors and friends we don't have email addresses for, and that's been taken care of. The advent calendar is underway, and as we've come to each day's project, if it seems like we don't have the time or energy to complete the day's task, we skip it.

Most importantly, I made the decision to be done with all the potentials– all the projects I should do and all the projects I could do if I just worked harder. Or had more time. Or was willing to sacrifice my own good night's sleep to stay up and keep working. I'm not making any more things to sell, thinking I'll be able to take advantage of the last... how many? days of shopping till Christmas. I put away the canvas and paints, the burlap, the holiday fabric, the beads. The blankets I've been meaning to make the kids for Christmas 3 successive years in a row (I have all the materials and they were in a pile on the table to remind me) won't happen again this year. And the nature collection bags that the kids would really enjoy for hiking won't get sewn either. The hand-drawn Christmas cards that I would someday like to complete are going to sit un-drawn. I erased the lists of Things To Make from my project white board. This decision enabled this fantastic situation:

That is a clean worktable!

I can now move on to art and other projects that have nothing to do with the holidays! If I want to, I can work on the projects I listed above, but I have no need to finish them in the next 7 days. Without the pressure to finish, I feel so liberated! I can enjoy what is coming up over the next couple of weeks, and spending time with family is way more important anyway.

Interestingly, I had several conversations yesterday that highlighted the distinctiveness of this choice. The theme was the same for all: "Oh my gosh! This is such a crazy time of year! I have to do this, this, and that, and I don't know when it will all get done. And I haven't had the chance to do that. I also want to do this before tomorrow. And I'll have to go shopping this weekend! Let's avoid scheduling that thing in the next 3 weeks because I just don't know how I can do more than I already am doing. And I know you must be just as busy as me!" Thankfully, while I could have scheduled that thing, I now have plenty of extra time to spend with my family enjoying the season. Happy Holidays!

On the Worktable

Whew! I'm done with the holiday shopping (I'm pretty sure). Now, I've got a lot of holiday making!

This is the constant state of my worktable at any given moment:

I've been making even more Artist's Bucket for sale at Fuller Lodge Art Center.

The Buckets and Pockets look nice in their display at Fuller with some beautiful pottery!

And I actually have done some art– the cubes are part of it– more on the art later.

Since 'tis the season (and I've got my own blog on which to promote these things), in addition to the buckets and pockets at Fuller Lodge, I've got items for sale at Warm Hearts Yarn in White Rock that are perfect for gifting, including beaded window picture hangers, beaded lanyards (great for teachers!), and travel place mats made with re-purposed men's ties. The Pocket Warmers are surprise sellers this year, so get some while you still can!

I've still got to finish gifts for the kids' teachers, and a few small gifts for family. We'll also start our family advent calendar on Saturday (we like to limit it to 12 days of Christmas focused on family), which is heavy on making and activities like participating in a Giving Tree, making baked goods for the neighbors, hiking as a family, and making some seasonal decor like gingerbread houses and tree garlands. But it just so happens I LOVE making stuff, so I'm a pretty happy camper!

Happy mid-December!

Frosty Morning

We had some lovely rain several days ago, and although I wish it had been snow, it certainly left behind some much needed moisture. It also provided some gorgeous morning-after scenery with bright blue skies and frost and even a little fog. It's exciting to capture it with a new camera!

The early sun through my studio windows:

The view across my neighbor's back yard:

 

 The little frozen bits found in our back yard:

 

The view the dog and I had as we got on the trail for a walk (I even caught a bird wheeling through the air! In the far distance under the grey clouds is Chicoma Peak with snow):

The water droplets catching the light on all the grasses in the field:

 

Grass growing in a circular pattern (I had never noticed this before, but it was one of many wreath-like clumps near the trail):

Juniper berries with the frost melting in the sunlight:

The dog and I had a beautiful walk that morning!

Kitchen Concoctions

A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling a little down because I wasn't spending a lot of time creating in my studio. However, I realized that I had been creating a few things in the kitchen, which was where I had spent the time I wasn't spending at the worktable. There was, of course, the Thanksgiving feast (we hosted a small group of family, so we made all the typical dishes– and days of leftover creativity followed), but I also managed to squeeze in a couple of other concoctions that are important to our family.

Honey Lemon Syrup. This is one of my absolute favorites for the winter! Just fill a jar with sliced fresh lemons (I use organic ones that have been scrubbed clean) and top with honey (we use a local honey from the farmer's market. We're, uh, not hippies or anything...). I spoon out  some to mix into herbal teas like lemon balm/ginger, or even just mix it into a cup of hot water. It's amazing if you have a sore or dry throat, but it's also fantastic as a before-bed cup of warm goodness. Or as a mid-day sweet treat. Really, I can't think of a bad time to enjoy it!

As you use up the honey, just top it with more and use a spoon or chopstick to mush up the lemons a little to get the juice out. I usually keep a jar in the fridge for at least two or three weeks, eventually taking out the lemon slices one by one and adding them to tea or hot water, and not topping off the honey as I start taking out the lemons. Once it's all gone, I make a fresh batch.

Awesome Sauce. Elderberry, Ginger, Cinnamon, Honey, and Echinacea Syrup, but renamed Awesome Sauce by my husband. We take spoonfuls of it to help boost our immune system during cold and flu season, but it tastes so good, I think it's worth making just to spoon directly into your mouth, several times a day. I got the original recipe here (and Crunchy Betty provides an explanation of the herbs and their healthy properties) and have been using it for years.

If I could help you taste it through the interwebs, I would. It is a truly delicious concoction! And it has so much traditional herbal goodness.

Homemade mustard. The best! Sooo tasty and sooo easy.

And eating that cracker with a smear of mustard and a piece of parsley is part of why this blogging thing is so much fun– I get to eat the leftovers from the photo shoot! I also blogged about this mustard last year, and the recipe is included. I left out the lavender entirely this time.

I get almost all of my supplies (bulk herbs and spices, essential oils) from Mountain Rose Herbs. 

Enjoy!

December 1st

The weather is warm and sunny, but here we are in December! We successfully conquered Thanksgiving (the kids have declared a "no more turkey for dinner" status at our house), and we're dropping into the holiday season. I took an accidental hiatus... because I got a new camera! Once I had ordered it, my other camera options seemed like a waste of time– so unsophisticated, antiquated, and low-quality. It turns out I have a whole lotta learning to do to get up to speed with the new fancy camera, however. I lost all my Thanksgiving week photos due to a malfunctioning memory card, and I've spent the last hour trying to figure out the software to get the photos on the new memory card onto the computer so I can use them on the blog. And, well, suffice it to say, I'm still working on that whole process.

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving week with family, even without photos to prove it (funny how that works). And I hope you did too! Now that we're officially in December, I have a lot of family gifts to make and classes to plan for the upcoming year. I'm excited to get to work!

I am teaching a class at Warm Hearts Yarn this Wednesday afternoon from 2-3pm, decorating gift boxes with yarn and paper. Note that our boxes will look like the boxes below. Should be a lot of fun!