resurrection fern

this little light of mine

I spent such a quiet and relaxing New Year's Day. Just what I needed to kindle the little creative fire that this blog is to me. 

Just as the banner says the snow was falling softly all day long and I did venture outside for a bit but never got beyond my garden and porch. I took some wonderful pictures of the fresh snow that I will share with you tomorrow. 

The kitties did get into the party mix last night and were looking a little disheveled with their torn or missing hankies. They slept almost the entire day and only edgar ventured outside for a little stroll. 

        

all you really need is a song in your heart and love in your family

A trite corny perhaps but this line from an all time favorite children's singer (Raffi) came into my mind on the drive home yesterday. We had a wonderful number of days with our families but the highlight for my family was when my brother in law, Barry, brought out his beautiful shiny white accordion and lead a family carol sing. My beautiful mom all decked out in red cashmere and pearls, woke up from her nap in her favorite chair to sing along to her favorite ( jingle bells ). I am only sharing a few pictures with you today. 

 

   
 

 

Alice believes!!!!

and I am certain her magic spirit rubbed off on all of us.

xxoo

m

"Life isn't long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege even to be alive. In spite of all the pollutions and horrors, how beautiful this world is. Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!" 
— Tasha Tudor

           

the dark sings

  

“To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.”

- Wendell Berry
  from “To Know the Dark”, Farming: A Handbook
  (Harcourt Brace, 1970)

 

 

A very colorful song from this tiny woolen bird on this the darkest day of the year.

Happy winter solstice friends!!! 
 

the season of ice cold

It is -6 degrees celsius at the moment with a low expected tonight of about -10. You know what that means? Perfect weather to make ice decorations for the holidays. This arctic chill also coincides with the advent calendar activity of the day over at the awesome website, cut out and keep  ( click on the 19th and you will see what I mean) and also the January issue of Woman's Day Magazine where you will notice something familiar on page 16. 

 

 

 

The kitties and I are staying cozy and warm in the kitchen finishing up a few Christmas gifts and listening to Joni Mitchell. These few lines from one of my favorite songs of hers, the circle game really hit me today.

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons

Skated over ten clear frozen streams

Words like, when you're older, must appease him

And promises of someday make his dreams

I have a wonderful last minute gift recommendation for you. Funny when I did the link for Joni's website it just so happens to also be on her homepage. I think almost anyone would enjoy the 1970 concert, Amchitka, in Vancouver British Columbia that launched Greenpeace and included Phil Ochs, James Taylor and the ever so lovely Joni Mitchell. You can purchase and download the music here.  While we are on the topic of ephemeral ice art, I think you would enjoy the art of Gloria Lamson.

 

Enjoy your weekend. 

the scent of my mother

         bergamot, lemon, mandarin, rose, jasmine, orris, vet-iver,

                                                                 heliotrope, opoponax, vanilla, civet, 

                                                          Peru balsam, benzoin, tonka bean, sandalwood

 

 

My mother's scent is Shalimar as far back as I can remember. It has been described as a perfect example of how the famous french perfumer interpreted the orient. It is said to be inspired by the Shalimar Gardens in Pakistan built as a tribute to a the emperor Shah Jehan's wife, Muntaz Mahal,  who died in childbirth.  Taj Mahal was also built in her honor.  

My father used to buy my mother a new bottle of Shalimar when he traveled and she has kept a beautiful little collection of them over the years. I brought her a wonderful book about the history of Guerlain written in french. As she turned the pages she had such strong memories of the scent, the shapes and design of the bottles and of course of her husband .

 

                  Shalimar , the house of love, the significance of which I am now infused with.
  
  

I: o

If 

IIf

birch bark christmas crackers

Christmas crackers have been a very integral part of my families Christmas celebrations ever since I can remember. They were invented in 1847 according to wikipedia and I bet my ancestors on my mother's side of the family have been using them ever since. My mom used to buy them at the department store but when I began a family of my own I also began making my own crackers. They became such a hit with the children and guests that we were making them for almost all our celebrations ( easter, thanksgiving, birthday's...). It just wasn't a party unless there were crackers at the table. 

  

To make your own all you need are cardboard tubes cut up into suitable lengths, poppers, tissue paper, other paper or stickers for decoration and wool, string or ribbon. For the contents you will need small gifts, candies, fortunes , jokes or quotes. We tend to skip the tissue paper crowns but you could also make your own, fold them up and add them.

For the party we hosted last weekend I made birch bark crackers and filled them with little nature inspired prizes, st nicholas day treats and since it was an "office party" , quotations from the tv show "the office".

  

The birch bark paper, that is one of my new favorite things came from a piece of real birch bark and a trip to the office supply shop to use the color photocopy machine. I copied both sides of the bark. I stamped the pieces with a fern and then used this to cover the tissue paper covered cardboard tubes.

Place the popper in the tube and tie off one end before you add you prizes, treats and jokes. Then you need to tie off the other end. I bet once you start making your own you will never purchase the store bought ones again. 

Here is a picture from the family archives so you can see this has been in my family for many decades. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. 

m.

 

 

small gifts for each and everyone of you

 

Fern came out of hiding from the potted gardenia and whispered to me that he thought I should prepare my small gifts for my treasured blog friends. He must know what a procrastinator I can be. I want to wish you all much love, peace, joy and abundance of natural beauty this season and beyond. Consider this my early gift to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. ~  C S Lewis

 
 
 

st nicholas party day in pictures

I am finally finished preparing, cooking, hosting and cleaning and I have a few minutes before I call in a weekend. I had some wonderful helpers that made this party a great success. Hope you all had amazing weekends. 

 

 

 

 

Deborah helped the children decorate gingerbread cookies. I think they did a fantastic job!! 

Sonia was wondering if I got any sleep this weekend and I can safely say I actually slept in until after 7 am this morning. The thing I have been ignoring is my emails. My unread emails is now well into the triple digits so please forgive me if you are waiting for a response. I will get around to I promise just now right now.

Happy St Nicholas Day!!      

    
 
 
 

mittens

How the snow knew that the calendar had turned to the month of December, I will never know but it did. I was up just past midnight last night and just as I was heading up the steps to tuck myself into bed I looked outside and the snowflakes were gently falling. This morning there was a very soft coat on everything.

 

 

The work day was interrupted with news that my mom's cancer had spread to her liver. This will definitely be her last Christmas here with us. She has been so strong and beautiful everyday since her diagnosis well over a year ago that we were sometimes thinking that she would get her wish to live to the age of 100. That she would still have tales to tell and mittens to knit. 

Just after receiving that news I opened my mail and found something very special. It was a hand drawn postcard sent from Jill of the "today I saw" blog. As the header to her awesome blog says "I SEE SOMETHING. I DRAW IT. I SEND IT TO SOMEONE I LIKE."

 

I was the very lucky recipient of this drawing and it was perfect. I read it and then I cried. You see my mom taught me how to knit when I was a very young girl. She also helped me tackle my first mittens and was so patient with me when I stumbled when it came to making the thumb. She knit mittens for all of her children and most of her children's children. It will be up to me to continue the tradition. These last pictures show the last pair of mittens she made for us and I am so thankful that we still have a matching pair. 

 

Thanks for listening.

(My mom also taught me how to make pompoms and I hope to share her method with you soon.) 
  

thankful

Happy thanksgiving to all my American friends. I am thankful for all the little moments that make up a day and also for being able to share so many of them here with all of you. I left the house today at 7:30 am and returned 12 hours later. These are some of the little snapshots of my day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture of the embroidered button snail and stones is part of a project organized by Kathreen Ricketson and the very soft elongated alpaca pompom is the first prototype for an idea for making shaped pompoms. This one is pine cone shaped. It was a gloomy grey all day long and then the sun came out ever so briefly just before it disappeared into the horizon. 

Have a wonderful day filled with special moments.