The Winter Holidays always make me think of toys! I have 3 wonderful Grandsons so let the toy making commence! here is the first one---a Panda Bear for wee baby Aram.
Today is my eldest daughter's birthday--so in honor of her--I'm posting this page from my 2010 calendar.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!! KESIA.....
Today is St. Brigid's Day in Ireland. As she is the patroness of cattle, dairy work, and ale, her day is also New Year's Day for Farmers and the first day of Spring or Imbolc, a pagan celebration associated with fertility and weather divination.
I plan to make some oatcakes to celebrate Imbolic....in honor of the Celtic Goddess Brigid....and the coming of spring...While I was away over the recent holidaze...I had my 20,000th blog visitor !!! to honor this amazing and momentous milestone, I am sponsoring a give-away ! Yes--I will give away 2 warm hand knit hats ! You will pick which one...I have many hats already knit up--so you will be able to pick from about 6 different colors, sizes, fibers and styles.
THE RULES:
THIS IS A DRAWING FOR THE WINNER
This give-away is open until Jan 21st--on Jan 22nd, I will draw the WINNER.
1) you must comment on this post AND in the comments leave me your e-mail or how to contact you if you win--if you do not want to leave your e-mail address in the comment, send it to me at:
aurora at morningstarbooks dot com
but please still comment here. I will not enter you in the drawing if I do not have a way to contact you, so please complete this step to be considered. You must leave your comment by the end of the day on Jan 21st.
2) Optional : if you would like--please link to my blog if you have a blog. Thanks!
Quote for the day: " Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again." ----Dorothy Day
CREATIVE EVERY DAY!
Last week the venerable PEACE SIGN turned 50. "First displayed on home-made banners and badges in London on February 21, 1958, to mark the launching of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Peace Sign turns 50." Too find out more about who designed the PEACE SIGN and learn about the 50 year history of the PEACE SIGN---I direct you to the excellent website HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEACE.COM.
I stumbled across this site early last week, and ended up using it in our Quaker Meeting's First Day School primary class--we all created our own PEACE SIGNS. We started with a paper plate, and colored or painted or embellished the PEACE SIGN any way we wanted. The children mostly painted or drew on their PEACE SIGNS. I decided to sew buttons on mine--soon the kids were helping to pick out the buttons from the 2 boxes of buttons I had brought, and sewing some buttons on their own PEACE SIGNS. This is a great fun project with primary age kids---little ones can help choose the buttons to use, while older ones can sew them onto the the paper plate template. I cut the PEACE SIGN out of the paper plate before I started sewing the buttons on. We all learned about who designed the first PEACE SIGN, and talked about what Peace meant to each of us.
Getting ready for our annual RETURN OF THE LIGHT party on Sunday. This year we had to be content with just having the party near the actual solstice--since I had to work at the bookstore on solstice evening.
The snowflakes are all hung from the ceiling with care...
The vintage holiday tablecloth graces the dining table....
The wreath greets visitors at the front door
Hope you all are happy at the RETURN OF THE LIGHT
As I stood in line at the PO today--waiting to mail off the last few boxes of presents--it hit me what is so stressful about December---the month has a BIG honking deadline. A deadline that many, many people in our nation "countdown to"---you know---the proverbial "only 10 days until Christmas" pressure. I know I felt relief to have all my presents done ( I made most of them) and sent or wrapped up. whew! I feel like I just finished a major term paper.
Now, I know that most of this pressure is self-induced---I decide whether to participate in Holiday gift giving and I decide whether to purchase or make the gifts---but also I know that holiday gift giving is expected of me by our culture and---more importantly---by my family. I am a person who enjoys giving gifts to others--but somehow--having that BIG deadline takes some of the fun out of it all, and I have to use some positive self-talk to keep from feeling too rushed and pressured to just "get it all done." Hey! I want another whole month so I can make the presents at my own pace...
Of course, I could have avoided the whole feeling pressured thing by starting to make all the presents in --say--August. This would have given me plenty of time---but, somehow in August I just don"t feel like making holiday presents just yet---just like I don't get in the mood to make holiday fruitcake or bake holiday cookies until after Thanksgiving. Starting holiday activities before Thanksgiving just does not feel right--and I hate it when stores put up their holiday decor in October! so why would I want to jump the gun and start holiday activities early?
Now to go hang the holiday decorations..and trim the tree...and bake cookies...and make eggnog--Oh dang! why is there always so much to do? Enough! I'm joining the SLOW CLOTH MOVEMENT as proposed on the blog Read Thread Studio.
Thanks to SharonB of the blog In a Minute Ago for sharing the notion of "slow cloth"---- which focuses on promoting textiles made through slow processes, such as hand quilting, hand knitting, hand-dyeing, etc. traditionally and throughout the world.
So, I'm now slowing down for what remains of the winter Holidaze.
And to slow us all down, here is a poem for the season:
Toward the Winter Solstice
by Timothy Steele
Although the roof is just a story high,
It dizzies me a little to look down.
I lariat-twirl the cord of Christmas lights
And cast it to the weeping birch’s crown;
A dowel into which I’ve screwed a hook
Enables me to reach, lift, drape, and twine
The cord among the boughs so that the bulbs
Will accent the tree’s elegant design.
Friends, passing home from work or shopping, pause
And call up commendations or critiques.
I make adjustments. Though a potpourri
Of Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, and Sikhs,
We all are conscious of the time of year;
We all enjoy its colorful displays
And keep some festival that mitigates
The dwindling warmth and compass of the days.
Some say that L.A. doesn’t suit the Yule,
But UPS vans now like magi make
Their present-laden rounds, while fallen leaves
Are gaily resurrected in their wake;
The desert lifts a full moon from the east
And issues a dry Santa Ana breeze,
And valets at chic restaurants will soon
Be tending flocks of cars and SUVs.
And as the neighborhoods sink into dusk
The fan palms scattered all across town stand
More calmly prominent, and this place seems
A vast oasis in the Holy Land.
This house might be a caravansary,
The tree a kind of cordial fountainhead
Of welcome, looped and decked with necklaces
And ceintures of green, yellow, blue, and red.
Some wonder if the star of Bethlehem
Occurred when Jupiter and Saturn crossed;
It’s comforting to look up from this roof
And feel that, while all changes, nothing’s lost,
To recollect that in antiquity
The winter solstice fell in Capricorn
And that, in the Orion Nebula,
From swirling gas, new stars are being born.
The folks at the inspiring website SEW, MAMA, SEW ! are sponsoring a holiday blog meme about traditions and gift-giving.
Gifts
Traditions
The Holidaze are soon upon us, and so I offer this short list of precious gifts to give--which will not cost money, and mean so much more than any purchased gift.
1. The gift of LAUGHTER
the saying, "laughter is the best medicine" is true, you know ;-)
2. The gift of LISTENING
but you must really listen---no interrupting, no planning your answer--just attentiveness
3. The gift of a COMPLIMENT
a simple kind and sincere remark can change how someone is feeling
and do not forget to give one gift anonymously---good for karma, the kind energy may come back to you tenfold. Real generosity is what I strive for during this season---and I expect nothing in return--since the point is to make someone else happy. (Plus, I just love making fun crafty items to give away!)
Todays quote:
"No one has ever become poor by giving." --Ann Frank
The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest all is gathered in
And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain,
So open wide the doorway ---
Thanksgiving comes again!
THANKSGIVING
Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on Spirit instead of yourself.
For me Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the changes---to remember that we, too, grow and change from one season of life to another. Let us remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving and let us give thanks in our hearts.
I live in a (small) city--surrounded by more cities---Berkeley, California. There are hills---called the Oakland hills--on the edge of our neighborhood ---which are pretty much wild and overgrown. This past fall, a flock of wild turkeys wandered down from the hills and traversed our neighborhood for several weeks....yep, here in California we do have wild turkeys--but it was rather weird to see them in our city neighborhood....and they seemed rather nonplussed to find themselves on the cement sidewalk or street--"where is the brush?" you imagined them asking each other.
They were not really afraid of us humans, though---and we could approach fairly close to the flock. After awhile we got used to them, and would patiently stop our cars to let them cross a busy street, and hardly bat an eye when they invaded the sidewalk in front of the house. Then---after becoming part of the hood, no longer talked about much--just one of the crowd---one day they just disappeared---they went back up into the hills, we supposed.
Now--bear in mind, I was raised in Alaska in a hunting family---hunting for meat on the table was serious fall activity in my family. Also butchering and wrapping (for the freezer) the game you shot was a fall activity. So I just could not help myself--every time I saw those wild turkeys I thought, "There goes dinner!"
Another Alaskan fall and Thanksgiving memory for me involved visiting the local "wild cranberry" patch. Actually, I think they were lingonberries--but in Alaska we called them "low bush cranberries," and they grew in a bog or wet mossy area---termed the "muskeg." One crisp, cold blue sky fall day my Mom would get the berry picking pails, tell me to put on my rubber boots and off we would go to pick cranberries--so we could have fresh cranberry sauce/relish (to go with the wild goose my father had shot) on Thanksgiving Day.
Aurora's Cranberry Relish
4 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 to 1 cup fresh apple or orange juice
3 oranges
1/2 cup candied ginger
1 cup raisins
Put cranberries, sugar, juice, ginger, and raisins in a pan on the stove. Slice one orange and chop the slices in small pieces and add. Grate the skin of the other 2 oranges and add. Cook on medium heat until the cranberries pop ---stir frequently so is doesn't stick---simmer about an hour. Cool slightly and pour into a nice serving dish--best if refrigerated overnight so flavors may mingle.
Note: Any or all of these ingredients may vary--I usually make this with what I have on hand--sometimes I add other dried fruit if I don't have raisins, or a chopped fresh apple. Don't worry about this not being sweet enough--taste it---if it is too sour for your taste, just add more sugar.
Take some nice deckle-edged paper, tear it to the correct size, sew on some (previously used) holiday postage stamps---and Presto! a nice new (upcycled?) card for the upcoming Holiday Season. I also sewed along the outside edge of the cards. Some cards I hinged with the zigzag sewing---rather than folding the paper. I have saved up holiday postage stamps for a few years, but I sure would love to find a source for purchasing some more....
"Something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day." ---Kent Nerburn
Over the years, I figured out the very best cookie recipes are ones which have been handed down through a family from generation to generation. This makes perfect sense--the best tasting cookies would be the ones you would want the recipe for and you would remember with the most fondness, and yearn for when the Holidays came around--right? Most families (at least the ones that still cook) have these secret family recipes---and mine is no exception. In fact, my maternal grandmother was a great cook--and really did ALWAYS have homemade cookies in the big fat cookie jar on her cookie counter. When I was about 12--one day she told me, "You come over next Saturday--it is time you learn how to bake a pie." When I dutifully showed up at her home the next Saturday, she taught me her method of pie baking. Since she lived close by, I visited her frequently and as I grew up, she taught me much of what I know about baking and cooking. She grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, so her cooking reflected that upbringing and farm life.
So, here is her old fashioned recipe for CHEWY MOLASSES COOKIES---which my (now grown) children always request we bake during the Holidaze--a family favorite, for sure. A curious fact about these cookies---they have no fat of any kind in them--but still are delicious! Enjoy!
CHEWY MOLASSES COOKIES
1 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
2 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger (best if this is fresh---not ginger you have had on your spice shelf for months)
1 teaspoon salt (or less, if you prefer)
about 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
Heat molasses and brown sugar in a saucepan--but do not boil, remove from heat. (I think the idea here is to melt the sugar). In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a wire whip; mix the soda, ginger, and salt with 1/2 cup flour and add to the beaten eggs---mix well. Now add the warm molasses and sugar to the egg mixture gradually, stirring all the while (at this point, you do not want the eggs to be cooked by the warm molasses mixture). Then stir in enough flour to make a soft dough--about 3 cups.
Roll out cookie dough on a well floured board--cut out with cookies cutters and bake. Don't roll the dough too thin---the rolled out dough should be rather thick. This dough will be soft and somewhat tricky to handle--but use as little flour as possible in rolling, as too much flour makes the cookies hard (not chewy). Bake on a well greased cookies sheet--with plenty of room between cookies---at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. (if you over bake them they will be hard, so don't wait for them to brown)
If you prefer, instead of rolling and cutting the dough, roll the dough with your hands into balls, place the balls on the greased cookie sheet, and flatten with the bottom part of a glass dipped in butter, then in sugar. My Grandma would place a small slice of fresh apple in the cookie jar with these cookies to keep them soft and chewy.
If you have a favorite family cookie recipe--I would love it if you shared it by leaving it in the comments...
This evening it is the Solstice---the day with the least daylight, and the sun has its lowest arc in the sky. Once I visited Newgrange, a beautiful megalithic site in Ireland. This huge circular stone structure is estimated to be 5,000 years old, older by centuries than Stonehenge, older than the Egyptian pyramids! It was built to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central chamber at dawn on winter solstice. The builders of Newgrange aimed the light to shine into the structure on the Solstice and illuminate a large rough carved stone basin. Although not much is known about how Newgrange was used by its builders, marking the solstice was obviously of considerable spiritual importance to them, and the place still invoked awe in me and the many other visitors who travel to see it. Growing up in Alaska we always celebrated the Solstice with winter bonfires or lighting candles---where the daylight was so short in winter, it seemed doubly important to celebrate the return of the the light each year.
Here in California, we plan to welcome the return of the light by lighting a few candles tonight, and enjoying our annual dungeness crab feed potluck with friends and neighbors. Right now in Northern California it is crab season--which means fresh dungeness crab is abundant, and even reasonably priced, so we consume it often. A simple meal of fresh crab to crack, salad, bread and wine...and a thank you prayer to our Mother Earth and Oceanus, to mark the day and honor the sun, the sea, and the land's contribution to our lives.
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