creating space for beauty & simplicity
an unexpected ice storm kept us home safe and sound from a day that was planned out and about.
instead we hunkered down and made a huge tray of nachos for lunch and played monopoly for hours.
tonight we headed over to a friends for a birthday celebration and ended the evening with downton abbey.
did you watch? what did you think?
chris and i stumbled in to a new yarn store today while the girls were in sewing class.
he picked up some yarn to crochet himself a hat and i picked up a book of sweater patterns . first up, the basic round-yoke pullover. made with this yarn. not sure which color yet.
i have only knit a few sweaters in my lifetime but never one for myself. with the winter olympics and season four of downton abbey almost here i am looking forward to giving my needles a work out and donning a new sweater before winter ends.
happy new year my friends!
apologies for my absence here. the combination of some computer problems along with soaking in every precious moment of this holiday season kept me away for a bit. and you know what? i have no guilt about it. yes, one of my new years resolutions, no guilt and no pressure! sometimes it’s nice to just put the camera down and unplug a little. although i am glad i did snap a few photos over the last few weeks to capture the winter solstice, christmas morning and the few blissful days following, full of just being together. ah yes another resolution, being together. or just plain being in the moment whether it’s with my family, my friends and even being with just me!
i think i’ll just keep it at that for my goals for 2014. no guilt. no pressure. and to be in the moment as much as possible.
our tree is still up and christmas tunes continue to play. i’m letting it all linger just a little bit longer.
what are your goals for 2014?
the making has begun.
this year we are giving handmade lip balms and hand salves. perfect for this bitter cold weather.
today we will start to make cookie doughs to freeze and then bake at the end of next week. i love this recipe.
we will also make chocolate covered apricots. this week.
hannah coaxed me into giving her the socks i was knitting for her a few weeks early so her toes could be toasty warm with all of the sledding that’s been happening here.
today is hannah’s last nutcracker performance. she has worked so hard and danced so beautifully.
i never tire of watching it over and over.
yet it will be nice to have a bit of a break from it all for the next few weeks.
it’s snowing again!
we are supposed to get 6-8 more inches! Programs for the girls have been cancelled today which means chris has off too.
we didn’t get much snow last year so we are welcoming it with open arms.
there is chicken broth brewing on the stove to make soup for lunch and i just started a fire.
later we will head out to get our christmas tree and we will be sure to fit in some sledding too.
yippeeeee!
oh there has been much merry making and excitement over here the last few days.
st. nicholas paid a visit with some chocolates and goodies and hannah is in full swing with the nutcracker. we got to see her first performance on saturday and it was beautiful!
i shed many a tear throughout the show. my tears were of joy but also of awe, sadness and a bit of release.
this mama here has been a bit weepy these days and having quite a time excepting that my girls are growing up. i have been resisting it actually and it doesn’t feel good. i want to enjoy and embrace each stage that they enter and this weekend i had a bit of an awakening and decided to let it all go. and oh does it feel good!
and to make things even more joyous and celebratory we got snow! and a lot of it.
harry has declared that he is a snow dog. he was out in it for hours yesterday. we had to thaw him out by the fire.
the girls were romping around out there until 10 o’clock last night. you can see a few more adventures in the snow here.
today we make ornaments for our creature tree and head over to a friend’s house with a very steep hill in their back yard for a day of sledding.
what did you do this weekend?
we are on a tight budget this year which means i needed to get creative with the holiday decor.
i am always on the look out and keep a sturdy pair of clippers and a pair of gloves in the car at this time of year.
my girls moan and groan when i swerve off the side of the road for that perfect fallen branch or crop of pine cones on the ground.
my goal is to not buy one single green and so far i am keeping my promise.
today i helped a friend prune back a very overgrown juniper which filled the entire trunk of my car.
i used it to fill my window boxes and pots.
i still hope to make my own garland to go around the front and back door and adorn it with magnolia seed heads.
i saw a bunch of them at the library the other day and plan to fill up a basket tomorrow.
i am also inspired to make a wreath like this one.
what are some of your favorite things to decorate with?
my grandfather and chris installed wains coating in our dining room about a month ago.
if you look at the photos in the previous post of norah’s birthday, you can see that the trim is attached to the wall both vertically and horizontally. and when painted it gives the effect that it is all wood when really it is mostly the wall.
it’s a clever and affordable solution if i do say so myself. it gives structure and texture to a room and it’s amazing how much brighter and bigger it feels now.
this past weekend my best friend and i had a blissful two days of painting it all while chatting, giggling, drinking tea and eating chocolate.
when we first started i never thought we would finish by sunday.
but time really flew by and before we knew it, the room was complete with time left over for a glass of wine and a pot of homemade cauliflower, butternut squash soup.
i love a finished project just before the holidays!
wow, i can’t believe my last post was almost 3 weeks ago!
life has been really busy! halloween came and went and oh yes i won the election! i am proud to (almost) be called councilwoman of the borough of media!campaigning took a lot out of me and i am just now feeling somewhat caught up with things around here.
and just in time for my favorite time of year.i’m not embarrassed one bit to tell you that i have been listening to christmas music already.and i have been really trying to hold back on doing a bit of holiday decorating.we’ll see how many more days i can refrain.
we have been busy with a few home improvement projects around here to get ready for the holidays. i always go in to nesting mode right before christmas.
i love the change of seasons.
as the light fades and the cooler weather sets in, we are forced inside a bit more.
routines shift, our meals become warmer and hardier and our home becomes the heart of everything we do.
i like my seasonal “decor” (if i can even really call it that) to reflect the changes happening out in the natural world.
acorns, feathers, pine cones, seed heads and dried grasses adorn shelves and corners.
beautiful edible orange and blue squashes sit on my counter and act as a reminder that fall is here.
i bring out the nutcracker, buy some nuts and we feast on them well past christmas.
windowsills and counter tops begin to fill up with plants that i try to salvage from the frost.
baskets of knitting and blankets become part of the scene and we begin to hunker down for the winter.
i do of course have to satisfy the needs of my girls (who i think secretly wish i was a little more mainstream in the decorating department) by observing that halloween is coming with a few postcards and handmade black cats.