as cozy as spring

Amaryllis

 

Weekend Favorites

A birthday bouquet from my little girl.

My last braid of fiber for a good long time.  Superwash Merino "Molly Weasley"  Such bright pretty colors for November!

Alton Brown's Soft Pretzels.  These are such a hit.  We made them for the first time last year and they are now very much expected on Halloween (with a big bowl of chili or just on their own if you think chili is gross).

"A smile with just a hint of tragedy.  Inside: hollow, yet deep."  I wish I could think of a prize for anyone who recognizes that quote because it's one of my all time favorites.

I hope you had a lovely weekend!

Madam Malkin, I am not

    

I'd really like to be able to 'accio' my spool of black thread and then I could be done with this costume already.  But there was a tragic accident this summer.  I organized all my sewing supplies in a little box placed high on a closet shelf.  Upon retrieving this box, my hand slipped and buttons, thread, needles, and presser feet scattered into all the little corners.  Now, my closet is not dirty or unorganized but it is fairly full of stuff.  Living in a smallish house, there aren't a whole lot of other options.  I hate to go and buy thread I already own, but I'm seriously not up for a hunt.

I'm using (modified) McCall's M6421 (which was on sale for 99 cents this weekend and maybe still) for the cloak and it's going fairly well, but I do hope a nice neat top stitch will bring it all together.  I love top stitching.  The patch was found on Ebay.  

Le Weekend

If I am to judge by my Google Reader, we are supposed to be writing holiday wrap-ups this morning.  I shall do the same.  I was thinking about writing a post entitled 'Anthony Weiner ruined the fireworks for me this year.'  But that's a bit out of character for as cozy as spring.  So here are some pretty, harmless photos from our weekend.

Not pictured: Both my children, swimming.  In the water.  I never thought this day would come.  I have photos, naturally, but I forgot to take any faceless photos for the blog.  All of them feature big, happy smiles.  Oh, this has been a great life lesson.  My children (one in particular) learned that years of hard work and perseverance can bring success where no natural ability exists.  I learned just the right way to motivate and that is priceless in going forward as a home educator.  

I also learned that I do enjoy the fireworks after all (Anthony Weiner aside).  If only for the company.  I do not enjoy them enough to bother learning how to take a proper fireworks photos.  The one above captured just what I wanted anyway.

Season's End

We're getting into our pajamas.  I have two last Christmas books to read to my babies.  We're all sleeping in one room.  It's been that way for a while, mostly out of necessity.  The late evenings through December made it so much easier to read and pray together rather than separate bedtimes for everyone.  Tomorrow, though, we'll return to our rooms and schedules and books.

We had one last feast today; Ricotta Gnocchi, Pasta e Fagioli, salad, and rosemary bread.  I made pizzelles for dessert, as is our custom on Epiphany.  This all took about 5 hours to prepare.  I was bitter about that through most of the day but the bitterness melted away when I say how happy it made my little family.  These few recipes have been made at so many celebratory occasions that they instantly bring joy.  The gnocchi was sort of new (though my dad made it many times when I was a child), an attempt to copy my superb Christmas Eve dinner.  My husband pronounced it "Fantastic".  It's a Cook's Illustrated recipe and linkage is more difficult but there are a few recipes floating around out there.

I didn't get to everything.  We plant our bulbs on Epiphany and that was just barely squeezed in at sunset, as everything in the garden turned a cool, dim blue.  The handmade gifts I hoped to make for my children were presented as fabric and patterns.  They didn't care.  They are thrilled with the promised winter dress and little man pajamas.  I'm confident they'll correct the date in their memories.

I used to cry on Christmas evening because it was all over.  Isn't it the greatest gift as an adult to appreciate the peace that comes with settling in for the winter and the beautiful harmony of the liturgical year?  The stretches of quiet as the in-between-time lengthens.  The 26th has become my most favorite day of the year.  We are expecting bitter cold weather next week and I'm knitting out of necessity and stockpiling firewood.  

And for the last time this year, friends, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year!

We had our home cooked holiday meal last night, followed up by board games and popcorn.  

My husband chose a new cookbook this past week: Rustic Fruit Desserts.  I was quite pleased with his choice after reading about it at Angry Chicken all year.  I can't wait 'til U Pick season returns, but for yesterday it was all about the pears.  I tried the Upside Down Pear Chocolate Cake.  It called for a caramel layer on the bottom (top).  I find caramel fussy, but the cake turned out beautifully.  Very rich and complex. 

The rest of our menu: Steak for my family (gross), mashed potatoes, stuffing, artisanbreadinfiveminutes, and a fabulous salad which I'm considering polishing off for breakfast.

Our game of choice was the Settlers of Catan.  Did anyone else have a heck of a time understanding the instructions?  Once we puzzled it out, it was on and my husband and I became quite competitive, even ignoring the fact that the children were supposed to be playing with us.

I hope your new year is off to a beautiful start.  

Just this

The week got away from me and today was a blur of hugs and laughs.  I won't even try to write about it here.  But there is this.

My daughter this morning wearing a tutu, her new hand knit socks and an autographed, used pair of pointe shoes from her ballet mommy and reading Calvin and Hobbes.

This says more about our Advent, Christmas and my baby girl than I ever could with words.

Merry Christmas friends.  I'm going to bed.

Four

Like the sun in the morning sky, The Savior of the world will dawn; like rain on the meadows he will descend to rest in the womb of the virgin, alleluia.

Three

A very early morning tea (or hot chocolate depending)...

While killing time at the bookstore last night I found St. Francis and the Nativity.  It was really quite lovely and fitting as we put up our own Nativity set yesterday.  

I used this sopapilla recipe.  I do not fry anything well nor do I have any fondness for sopapillas, but these were amazing and they were eaten as fast as I could make them. We did add cinnamon and sugar and the children loved shaking them in the little paper bag.

 

 

Two

Carols

Fragrant spices (and flour covered little noses)

Prayer and mulled cider

Scattered chocolate coins, packages of warm jammies in their shoes, and an early morning reading of The Miracle of St. Nicholas.

Here's a distracted but festive mom idea: Pancakes can look like gold coins in you make them small enough. ;)  Which I'm doing right this second.  Happy Monday friends!