Each day I notice a subtle change in the light. I like the pictures it makes in my home. Natural artwork.
What I rely upon when entertaining
Yesterday as I was preparing and setting up to host a few lady friends for a gathering I found myself in a rhythm. I truly love to entertain (maybe that’s where Norah gets it) and have found a routine that I seem to follow as I primp my home for guests.
I always rely upon a few items when entertaining. The tools I use for parties and gatherings are part of my every day decor. I don’t have to rummage through cabinets and closets each time I entertain. Because I buy things that I find beautiful and that I truly love, these items are always out on display and easily accessible.
:: My glass pedestals (all thrifted) live on the top shelf of my open pantry. I have a variety of heights and sizes and love how they look all displayed together. Pedestals look beautiful all on their own holding a cake or quiche or towered on top of one another with cookies, bars and chocolates. I find a table presenting foods at varying heights is pleasing to the eye.
:: Cutting boards, many of which were thrifted, are daily essentials in my kitchen. They live stacked up against one another on my counter top and I have a few hanging up almost as artwork around the kitchen. They are all easy to grab and I find myself reaching for them every time I entertain. They work great for anything that needs to be sliced or forked like meats, fishes and cheeses. I like to add a few bowls with olives and nuts on top. Remember this big cutting board I made! I have a variety of shapes and sizes and love the organic feel they bring to the table.
:: I adore my antique cutlery caddy (thrifted) and have it out on full display in my kitchen at all times. It’s beautiful, functional and versatile, the perfect combination. I keep my antique silverware in it which gets used on a daily basis. When it’s party time I add a few paper napkins on the other side of the silverware, grab the handle and plop it where it needs to go. In the dining room, by the stove for soup, outside on the patio. Makes for easy set up!
Beautiful messes
Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is pick up, straighten, de-clutter, organize, wash up, tidy etc. Lucky for me I do enjoy domestic work although I could live without folding laundry and cleaning the bathroom.
I have a morning housekeeping routine of making the bed, emptying the dishwasher and putting things away left out the night before. But sometimes I don’t get to those things and dishes pile up, beds are left rumpled and floors un-swept.
In a small house un-kept spaces can feel overwhelming. But with a home full of things that I absolutely love and that bring me joy I find even messes can be beautiful.
Winter Essentials
I so enjoy the holidays and there is always a little bit of sadness that creeps in when they are all over but it hit me today that I think January may be my one of my favorite months.
I love the fresh start of a new year. The deep exhale and peace after the busy holiday season. The rituals that bring us close together. Winter vegetables. A desire to bake and try new recipes. And my tried and true list of essentials to help bear the darkness and bitter cold.
:: Candles. I have a 4:30 lighting ritual when darkness sets. I budget in votives and pillars each month to scatter about. They set a warm and cheery mood.
:: Red wine. A glass of red wine (or two) when I am making dinner warms and relaxes me. I am loving Malbec these days.
:: Citrus. I cannot get enough in the winter. We have a neighbor who always sell boxes of citrus right before the holidays to fund raise for various causes. I always order one or two mixed cases of oranges and grapefruit to get us through the winter. We make fresh squeezed orange juice every Christmas morning. My new favorite breakfast/snack is grapefruit, orange, clementine, kiwi and pomegranate seeds.
:: Fire. We always have a well stocked woodpile on our back porch. We light a fire almost every night before dinner and then gather around after to read, play games and keep warm. On weekends the fireplace will sometimes be lit from morning til night.
:: Wool. I love a winter wardrobe. I love layers, boots, vests, socks and sweaters. I couldn’t live without my wool toggle coat, a 40th birthday gift from my mama.
My slippers, socks and boots are all made from wool. I am always on the look out at the thrift store for 100 percent wool sweaters. They may be a bit itchy but they truly keep me the warmest. I only knit with wool and seek out the softer wools like merino and alpaca.
:: Soup. I’ve written here before about my love of soup. It is my all time favorite winter meal. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner (no lie!) I make at least one pot of soup per week in the colder months and it’s a perfect way to enjoy the winter squashes and roots in our weekly winter CSA share.
:: Greens. I crave dark leafy greens all year long but particularly in the winter. Kale, spinach, tat soi, mache all make their way onto our plates in salads or sauteed with lots of garlic to ward off colds and flu.
:: Fresh flowers. Along with candles I also budget in fresh flowers each week in the winter time. They are worth every penny and bring me joy every time I look at them. There is always a bouquet on my dining table and one in the kitchen. I sometimes add fresh flowers into a arrangement on the mantle as well. I like to incorporate them with clippings from the yard. Right now they are mixed in with evergreens. Lately I have been drawn to ranunculus, tulips and eucalyptus.
:: Forced bulbs. You will always find pots of paperwhite and amarayliss bulbs placed throughout my home starting in December. The green growth is a hopeful reminder that spring will soon be here. I like to create little scenes within the pots of bulbs with glass mushrooms, miniature deer, pine cones and moss. In a month or two I will begin to force branches
Life learning
I have had many readers over the years ask me to share here about our homeschooling path and to be honest I have dodged those requests mainly due to the fact that I thought it may be a complicated/personal thing to write about but truly it is all very simple.
Looking back I am not sure why we chose this path but it has always felt like the right fit for our family and runs in alignment with who we are. Both Chris and I never really enjoyed nor excelled in school. We are self taught, hands-on type learners so it made sense to instill this in our own children by experimenting with the unschooling philosphy although, I prefer to call ourselves life learners. I mean we are all life learners right? Each and every one of us learns every single day in all that we do. There is just no way to avoid learning. It’s innate in humans to want to learn at all times.
It’s empowering to think how much we are capable of in teaching ourselves to do anything and everything. Hannah and Norah have both taught themselves how to do so many things on their own including how to read. We do not follow a curriculum of any sort but rather allow our girls to make their own choices about what they learn and when they learn it which in turn lets them pursue their passions and explore deeply those subjects which most interest them. We are always here of course to facilitate and support them. When we notice an interest beginning to bubble we put on our facilitator hats. For instance when Norah began talking about hosting a restaurant at our home I began to ask her questions, prompting her to come up with more ideas.I asked my cousin who owns a restaurant and catering business if we could come and help in her kitchen one day so Norah could get a feel for the restaurant world.
Now it’s not always our job to help the girls with their learning path. Sometimes it’s beyond us, which is why we like to encourage them to find what they are looking for from outside sources. We live amongst an amazing community of people with a wealth of knowledge and talent. We all learn from a diverse pool of people.
We are so lucky to live in a dynamic and vibrant town and to be so close to Open Connections, a natural learning education center, where both of my girls attend 3 days a week and where Chris also works. The girls attend there on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for programing spending days with their Papa while I work my part time job. Chris works as the property manager as well as a facilitator, teaching programs based on nature, science, woodworking, rocketry, archery, etc. It’s a dream job for him and I love that my girls can be right alongside of him in a job that he loves.
As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Hannah has taken on a internship at Open Connections on Mondays tending to the land,the animals and working on outdoor projects. Norah always has an agenda for our Mondays together which will now include baking.
Fridays have turned into our adventure day where we are off on field trips/excursions exploring new places, maybe seeing a play or visiting with friends.
Our week has a nice rhythm with just the right amount of variety. The girls partake in various classes such as sewing and dance and they like to make plenty of time for friends. They are very social beings.
Now this is all not to say we don’t have our bumps and challenges and that I am always a confident homeschooling mama who never worries or frets over whether she is making the right choices or that she may be giving them too much freedom or that she may not be providing her girls with what they need. Oh I do have those moments for sure. But for the most part we take this journey together one day at a time, learning every bit of the way.
The photos above are of Norah yesterday who wanted to paint while her cheesecake was baking.
Sunday
Happy New Year
Happy new year my friends! 2015 is going to be a good one. Although I am allowing the holiday season to linger just a bit longer than I normally do, I am always ready for a fresh start.
We took the tree down a few days ago but I left all other decorations up. I like that much of my Christmas decor reflects the winter season so it feels ok to leave it all up just a bit longer.
I hardly took a photograph this holiday but did manage to take a few shots of our winter solstice celebration and a few on Christmas morning. We hosted a caroling party the week before Christmas as well as a new years eve party which were both loads of fun. We are enjoying these last few slow days filled with daily fires in the fireplace, welcoming visitors for dinner and tea parties, the last of the baked goods, and loads of board games (the girls have a new found love for chess!). Today we are venturing out for a train ride into the city down to the Reading Terminal.
I look forward to visiting this space more regularly. I have made resolutions for 2015 many of which include a bit more rhythm. One of my top goals is to use my camera daily.
Thank you for continuing to visit me here in this space and for all of your kind words.
Here’s to a happy and healthy new year.
Cheers!
Tis the season to be jolly….
fa la la la la, la la la la!
Yes it’s merry making time over here. Our house was on the holiday house tour again on Saturday so our home feels spruced up, festive and bright!
On Sunday we celebrated St. Lucia and had breakfast by the fire. We kept the flames going all day while we made cookie dough to be baked later this week along with chocolate covered apricots, a Christmas tradition since I was a girl. We also made beeswax dipped pine cone ornaments. The house smelled divine!
Foraging for the Holidays
If you don’t know be my now I am a forager. I may have been a squirrel in my past life as I am always collecting from nature. Rocks, twigs, pine cones, antlers and feathers are scattered throughout my home. I forage year round creating vignettes with my finds reflecting the seasons.
My foraging radar is on full tilt at this time of year as I scour for greens, pinecones, osage oranges and magnolia seed heads to decorate with for the holidays. Yes, it may be a lot easier to buy greens at the market but foraging for decor is much more fun and it’s free! Plus there is so much more variety out in the wild and your decor will be much more original. I tend to create decor that speaks the season rather than the holiday which allows for it to last well beyond Christmas.
This past Sunday I taught a workshop called Foraging for the Holidays where I brought in baskets of foraged finds. I had so much fun giving foraging tips and telling stories of my foraging adventures. Everyone went home with a handmade creation from the wild. Below you will find a few of my tips from the class.
Foraging for the Holidays
~Send out an email or Facebook post to friends and family in search of greens. Most people are happy to share.
~Host a greens exchange with friends where everyone brings clippings and finds from the wild or backyard to exchange with one another. Serve cookies and cocoa or even better, wine and chocolate
~Keep supplies in your car at all times. You never know when you will happen upon a foraged jackpot! Sharp clippers and a saw, heavy duty gloves to protect your hands from scratches and sap, baskets for collecting small things like pine cones, a log carrier for larger branches, waterproof boots, and bungee cord or rope for that mother load that may have to be strapped to the roof of your car.
~Starting in November keep an eye out for fallen debris especially after a storm. Be sure to pull over at a safe spot on the side of road when collecting and turn on your hazards.
~If you spot fallen finds on someone’s property don’t be afraid to knock on the door and ask if you could partake. Most people would be thrilled to have it cleaned up.
~Collect foliage with an array of textures, shapes and hues. Aside from green seek out blues, greys, chartreuse and yellow. Mix and match different textures and colors in an arrangement. Add twigs for height.
~Fresh hardier herbs such as rosemary or bayleaf make a beautiful accent to a holiday arrangement.
~Add form and texture with pinecones, magnolia seed heads and osage orange.
~Search out branches with pine cones still attached. They look beautiful added to an arrangement of other greens but also all by themselves hung on a door or window. I like to use them as trellises or stakes in a pot of forced bulbs like paper-whites or amaryllis.
~Wood is a versatile, beautiful addition to your winter decor. Tuck a few candles in little nooks and crannies of your wood pile for your next party. Cut a log into thin disks of wood, drill a small hole in each and string wire through to add to garland or wreaths.
~Create outdoor vignettes with what you have. Pull things from the garden like trellises or oblisk and add to pots of greens for height and dimension.
~Add accents to store bought wreaths and garland. I admit I do buy a few cheap wreaths and simple pine roping each year but then add an array of other greens to add more bulk, color and texture.
~Add greens to store bought bouquets to add height and variety.
~Use foraged greens to fill in eye sores like empty pots, planters or window boxes. String in some twinkle lights.
~Pick spots to decorate that are visible from the indoors. I like to add greenery to my window boxes where I can enjoy the view as I wash dishes or eat meals.
October blur
Well October and most of November came and went and with it Halloween and Norah’s 9th birthday. It has been a very sad and emotional time for me but also very peaceful and beautiful. My Pop whom I talk of often here in this space fell ill in the beginning of October. We celebrated his 89th birthday on October 15th and on Halloween we lost the greatest man there ever was. Words cannot express the loss and sadness I feel but also the deep love and appreciation I have for all that he has taught and given to me. He lives on in all of us, his family who he loved so dearly.
I am so lucky to have his beautiful work throughout my entire home as a reminder of how much he loved and cared for me. He is everywhere which makes it hard at times but so comforting.
I will miss his deep voice, his scent of sawdust and salve, his smooth hands, twinkly eyes and smile. I’ll miss making lunch for him, visiting him up in his office, our great conversations, and drawing up plans together for my next project.
I will forever have him in my heart and will never forget to say my prayers and will always strive to love my neighbor.
He was such a good, good man.
You can read more about him here.
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