A warm and bright Winter Solstice, and Season's Greetings to all! ...
Seasons
For the Birds
I have always liked the Winter Solstice tradition of decorating a tree outside with various treats for the birds, but this time of year always gets busier than expected and I decided that just making some birdseed suet ornaments was the next best thing. My son has a real affinity for birds, so he was all on board for this project. I had some lard I had rendered a while ago in the freezer, ...
First Snow of the Year
Much to our surprise, this is what we woke up to Sunday morning. We got zero snow last year, so this made the surprise all the more wonderful. I had a chocolate truffle making fundraiser for my kids class to work on in town, but I managed to get out in the yards and capture a few photos of the winter wonderland before I left. My son got to stay home and play in the snow, so I was greeted by a ...
Let It Shine
As the Winter Solstice approaches, and the days are feeling very short, it's the perfect time to make a little light to shine out into the darkness. There is something comforting and warming in those flickering flames, for in spite of all we know to be true, sometimes we need reassurance deep down that the sun will return and it won't stay dark forever. This is the time of year when cultures ...
Family Tree Day
One of the many cool things about living at the edge of a forest, is we can always find a small tree to thin out for the holidays. Every year since we moved here, the four of us have climbed the trail to the top of our property and picked out our favorite fir tree. You can read about our past tree excursions here: Finding Our Family Tree and A Homegrown Tree. This year we had some ...
Live Each Season
"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." ~Henry David Thoreau ...
Winter Mornings
This is the scene we've been waking up to every morning for the last few days. The first hard frosts, and cold temperatures have been creating a winter white landscape that makes you really appreciate being in a warm house with a roaring fire going in the woodstove. Winter has definitely arrived. This is the view from our dining room window, and it makes for a peaceful accompaniment to morning ...
Beeswax Leaves
I am a lifelong admirer and collector of fall leaves. Sometimes I still find them tucked in the pages of a book I read years ago, or in the back of my flower press from the previous autumn. I had a friend in college who would dry them and hang them up in a string above doorways, and I did that for a long time until my kids got older and life got busier. I heard about beeswax leaves recently ...
Thoreau’s Autumnal Sun
"I am the autumnal sun, With autumn gales my race is run; When will the hazel put forth its flowers, Or the grape ripen under my bowers? When will the harvest or the hunter's moon Turn my midnight into mid-noon? I am all sere and yellow, And to my core mellow. The mast is dropping within my woods, The winter is lurking within my moods, And the rustling of the ...
Jack – O’ – Lanterns
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