barn raising

13 December

St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas is a kind and understanding fellow, so he didn't mind that he had to visit our house on the eve of the 7th, rather than the 5th.  Because we were away, the magic was a little belated, but just as wonderful to celebrate.  I had thought of bringing the festivities to my mom's so that we could honour St. Nicholas day in a timely fashion, but even though my mom's seaside cottage is about as close as we can get to a home away from home, I still think it's so important to celebrate these rituals in our home.

We set out a nice carrot in the wooden klompen and Coco was very excited to think this mystical Saint would be arriving to feed his donkey and to leave a little magic.  In the morning, she was jumping up and down in anticipation of what might be waiting for her by the front door.  St. Nicholas didn't disappoint with a few gold coins, a clementine, and a little velvety, woolen pocket doll. 

Yes, I'm glad we waited until we were home from our beach combing and crafting days away.  Celebrating here, within these walls, stirs the magic and casts a spell that I want to capture here.  I was glad, too, to have the wooden klompen as our St. Nicholas shoes.  You really don't have to have special shoes to celebrate, but in our tradition I really wanted shoes that were separate from our daily life.  Magic shoes, if you will.

And always the magic draws closer.

- from The Christmas Magic

9 December

the second light of Advent shine

I'm finally catching up a little on a busy week around the house.  (oh, as soon as I wrote this I spilled my full mug of tea with milk all over the couch.  Some days are just like that, aren't they?).  Ahem, anyway, yes, it has been busy.  Busy in the good- among other things a two day getaway of crafting and beach combing with my mom, aunt, and Coco, and we got our Christmas tree!  And busy in the not as good- among other things we're all a little under the weather and it seemed there was a spell on my laundry pile this week as it only seemed to grow (despite one load a day).  Never mind.  More than ever when things speed up I have learned to let things go.  When the tree comes in the door and there's dusty boxes of ornaments all over the place, the laundry in the dryer can go another day unfolded.  When there's woolen pine cones to make for a special order, the wreath can wait until after dinner to be hung in the window.  And so it goes.

One thing I don't let go of, though, are our festive rhythms.  This past Sunday, we honoured and welcomed the plants into our Advent celebration.  Because of our colds, Coco hasn't explored the plants as much as she did the stones, but I've really loved having so many favourite plant species grouped together in one bowl- lichen, sage, lavender, eucalyptus, holly.  Ancient plants with such powerful abilities to heal, comfort, season and celebrate.  This little bowl, it seems, is symbolic of all of this.

In the second candle of Advent shine

The plants and the berries on the vine,

The green grass and the lovely tree,

And all the flowers that we see.

Now the plants are on the earth,

Waiting for the Winter’s birth.

2 December

enjoying

Exploring Advent this week.  The stones, shells and crystals make their way in and out of the bowl; marvelled at and studied by little hands.  Coco has always loved rocks and I believe she takes after her great-grandfather, a geologist, in her fascination of them.  Sometimes, the animals from our nativity come to visit (and often the nativity is in parts as favourite pieces get carried around and join in with other play).  I am loving the 2's.  So much exploration and interest in everything that is going on, and always on board for what the day holds. 

I hope you have a lovely weekend!  I so enjoyed the comments back and forth this week.  Looking forward to hearing more of your reflections for the second week of Advent. 

30 November

the first light of Advent

Sunday was the first light of Advent.  I have to tell you, this ritual that I only knew to be Advent calendars some 4 years ago has become such a meaningful celebration for me and such a symbolic marker of time.  I was first introduced to the concept of the four candles by my wonderful Catholic neighbour, who explained to me the meaning for her and how they celebrate it in her home.  Then I did research (of course...I'm always researching things) and found that Advent was symbolic of a time of waiting- in most cases, waiting for the arrival of Christmas, but in our case, also waiting for the news that our family was growing.  Since then, Advent has held this special magic for me. 

Now we have a 2 year old who just participated in her first Advent Spiral ceremony at school this past Sunday.  What a difference a few Advents make!  There are so many elements of Waldorf that resonate with me and fill me with pride and confidence in the educational choice we are making.  Advent, and the celebration of it in the school, only deepened this for me.  Cedar boughs were laid out in a spiral, and the children were given candles held in apples which they then, one by one, carried to the centre of the spiral to light from a larger candle.  They then set their candle down on a gold star in the boughs and in doing so the darkness in the room turned to a beautiful orange light as the spiral was set aglow, thus symbolizing the warmth of light in all of us, even in the greatest darkness.  Needless to say, my eyes were blurry with tears as Coco took her teacher's hand and walked quietly to the centre.  Grateful for her, grateful for her chance to learn in this environment, grateful for the teacher she already loves, grateful for the spell that fell over all of us.  The lyre music; the celebration; the hush.  She was so sure of herself, and there was no hesitation.  Her face glowed from the light of her candle and I felt as though we were all living in a magical storybook (to which a dear friend would answer, you are!). 

Later, and after Coco proceeded to eat her Advent apple, we brought Advent into our home with the lighting of our first candle at dinner.  Our Advent ring only just arrived yesterday, so we improvised with our first candle- a beeswax tealight surrounded by the treasures of this first week's celebration.  This year is our first in honouring the four elements with each new week of Advent.  First the stones, minerals, bones.  Second, the plant kingdom.  Third, the animals and, finally, the fourth light honouring humans.  I think I could stay in the stone element for all of Advent.  I love the variety of the crystals, the calcium in the shells, the rocks, the beach glass.  It brought magic to the table, indeed.

The first light of Advent is the light of stone-
Stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones.

28 November

the season is upon us

This is the time of year, isn't it, when all of our intentions to stay slow and mindful are put to the test?  I admit to playing my Christmas music from time to time for a couple of weeks now...okay, 3 weeks, but how can I not fill the house with wintry and festive fiddle music?  I do get, though, that for many people hearing carols the day after Halloween is just too much and despite my love of Celtic carols, I agree.  There are lots of reasons that the seasons are pushed, mainly to encourage people to buy, buy, buy, and through that we lose the sacredness of what we're actually celebrating.  It's too bad, but totally understandable, that the holidays are stressful for so many people.  Simplicity gets so lost under the weight of it all- decorating, gifting, cooking, buying, preparing, rushing. 

Christmas is my favourite time of year.  I love it for its beauty in the bringing together and celebrating of those we love in our lives.  And the celebrating of something greater than all of us, whatever that may be for each person.  That's the magic, right?  What makes it special is the very part we can't quite put into words and explain. 

Though I have a lot of Christmas decorations that have been handed down to me and acquired over the years, I've decided that this year I'll be very choosy about what comes out in an effort to help capture that magic.  Our house is already full enough, and I don't want the decorations to make it feel overwhelming.  Some garland, a nativity set, the tree, of course.  It will be enough.  And through that we can focus on the true meaning of the holidays.  For us, we'll turn toward the ritual and tradition that fills this season- Advent, St. Nicholas' Day, Christmas.  In many ways, the it's the addition of these added celebrations that help in slowing down to take in the moment.  Knowing, too, that how we choose to celebrate is also choosing what kind of experience Coco will have.  Will it be lots of in and out of the car, gifts upon gifts to tear open Christmas morning, and other busyness?  Or will it be reverence, stepping slowly through the festivities, taking it all in like a deep breath; enjoying and creating the space for her to fall in love with the season. 

I had this chance as a child.  The magic of all of it lives deep in my heart.  We always had a tree, the special Christmas books were brought out each year, and the same friends visited us every Christmas Eve for a moonlit walk through the woods in search of a yule log to burn.  It was the same every year, and looking back I'm grateful to my parents for nurturing the magic in these very simple ways.

What I love about blogging and my time spent on the computer is the daily reminder of my best intentions.  Both through writing and reading, researching and learning, I've come to be able to cultivate those parts of life and living that I wish to celebrate.  As we approach a very big season, celebrated in very different ways across the globe, I look for inspiration in how best to create magic for Coco, and for myself and Sean, and I turn toward our values and family intention in bringing that magic to life.  I'll share our celebrations here over the coming weeks, and I would also love to hear how you keep things simple and special in your home as the holidays begin.

Yesterday was the first day of Advent.  I'll share more on this later, but Advent feels to me like a lovely quiet hush that falls over us and transforms the days and weeks before Christmas into a time of inner warmth and ritual; days spent telling stories, lighting candles, and inviting the peace of the holidays to settle in.

22 November

fair news and a shop update

The Waldorf fair was a huge success all round.  I sold some handmade things, but more importantly we got to know more of our growing community- me in with the crafty folk, and Coco and her Dad out exploring the Winter Fair with the other families.  The educational community we've chosen continues to inspire and enrich us as a family; I so often feel blessed that it is fast becoming such a part of our lives! I was also lucky enough to be selling next to some seriously talented (and very fun) crafters, and fortunate to bring some of their gorgeous handmades home with me.

Thank you to all of you who stopped by to say hello and to support me!  It was so appreciated!  I tried to stay as true to my deal as possible, but I will admit to a little stress in the last few days before the fair- due in part to my ailing sewing machine (but that's another story).  Even still, it was all worth it and I can't wait to do it again!

I've updated my shop, fable and folly, for the first time with some of my handmade goods.  There are more to come so please stay tuned. 

I also want to celebrate my friend's knitting collaboration (with the talented Martha), Wanderings.  I know what I'll be knitting over the Winter holidays!

Stay warm, friends!

13 November

Martinmas

Sorry if these photos aren't great, but if you could have seen the weather!  We celebrated Martinmas one day late last evening on an adventurous walk with some wonderful friends.  I left my big camera at home as the weather could only be best described as "sleeting" as we drove to meet everyone.  I'm glad I did have my phone, though, and that I have at least some photos to remember this evening.

Martinmas is special to me.  It really was my first introduction to Waldorf years ago.  We've only celebrated it for the last three years, but I truly look forward to it so much.  Martin is a family surname, and so I feel that connection to St. Martin, but it is the beauty in what we are celebrating that makes it one of my favourite annual festivities.  Martinmas reminds us to allow our inner light and being to shine as the world around us darkens in preparation for winter, and it celebrates human kindness in such a gentle way.  It's lovely to celebrate this, no?  When I stop and think that we take a day to honour these things it fills me with hope and gratitude.

And so back to the walk.  Did I mention the sleeting rain?  It was also cold.  Very cold.  Even still, our friends showed up just as excited as we were and with the most gorgeous lanterns.  We chose to walk at dusk down a little path in the woods that leads to a sweet little pond.  We stopped there to have a snack- popcorn, chocolate and cranberries, hearty cookies, and hot mulled cider, but it seemed to start raining harder!  Announcing Martinmas officially celebrated we quickly gathered our things as the little ones began voicing they had indeed had enough!  As we hurried across a little wooden bridge and back to the trail, somewhere from deep in the forest and the dark of night we heard a horse bray.  St. Martin's horse, perhaps?

I like to think so.

Thank you friends, and happy Martinmas to all!

10 November

winter fair

Our annual Waldorf Christmas Fair is fast approaching and we are in full production mode over here.  Last spring, I participated in my first ever craft fair at the school and I truly loved it!  But, the crafting in preparation, however, I did not.  I felt stressed and frantic trying to get things finished and I found myself feeling frustrated most of the time.  I learned a lot- prepare well in advance!  Advice that I gave myself that I seem to have promptly forgotten this time around, ahem.

I almost didn't apply for this winter's fair.  With my plate very much full to begin with, crafting seemed an impossible task- especially an abundance of it.  I was prepared to say no, to pass this year in favour of lots of knitting and crafting for my own family.  Early fall was a blur of "too much" and I had decided that slowing it down was more important than anything else.  But, in the end I found myself handing over my application knowing that come the day of the fair, I would be wishing I had just gone for it.  A bit of a leap of faith.

In doing so, however, I did make myself a deal.  If I committed to the fair, there would be no craft prep stress allowed!  There would have to be joy in the process this time, otherwise it just isn't worth it.  And you know what?  It's working!  Somehow, I'm managing to stay present in the moment, and I'm loving the end result even more.  Coco gets busy next to me crafting little felt balls and playing with embroidery floss.  She'll look over at my work and say, "cute, ma!", and we laugh together.  It's been a wonderfully new experience to be at "work" next to her, creating side by side.  It's a little window into evenings knitting and quilting in the future, I hope.  Watching her become so focused on her handwork, or washing her dishes over and over, I'm reminded that it's when you find the joy in your work that it becomes fulfilling.  Producing crafts under pressure or feeling overwhelmed takes all the pleasure and purpose out of creating beautiful handmade things, and handmade things made with love hold a different energy, if you will, than things made with only the end result in mind. 

Knowing, too, that some of this handwork will be packaged up as humble gifts for those we love, invites a hint of festivity in the air.

I look forward to sharing more of my Winter Fair crafting over the next week or so.  What are you crafting up in your home this week?

8 November

Autumn Days

We're spending them:

- foraging

- with friends new and old

- crafting for our upcoming Waldorf Christmas Craft Fair

- fixing, healing, painting, digging

- listening to a whole lot of this

- settling back into a rhythm

- trying to squeeze in knitting to no avail.  Looks like Coco's Martinmas sweater will be belated.

- enjoying every single day of this most cozy, most beautiful season that never fails to offer warmth, guidance, feasting and other treasured blessings to count.

How are you celebrating November?

2 November

In the spirit of All Hallows' Eve

The Hallowe'en spirit arrived at our house a little late this year.  In the midst of one surgery, several renovations, and other busyness, I felt autumn slipping away in the wake of stress, days spent hammering, painting, scrubbing, and not enough rest.  I considered not doing much to celebrate this year, but somewhere around the twentieth reading of Ghosts in the House, and listening to Coco recite all the text from this book (with her oh so sweet 2 year old pronunciation), the magic crept in.

Still, I've noticed something about Hallowe'en that has been a good reminder for me.  As with all things, this celebration keeps getting more and more commercial every year, and many of the props and decorations have gone from ghoulish to downright grim.  Like all things commercialized, we all have our own comfort level surrounding what and how much we let into our homes, but as I turned Coco around in a grocery aisle one day to avoid her seeing a pile of severed hands on sale, I wondered about early childhood and why there isn't more thought paid to the images our young ones see and internalize.  Hallowe'en is full of surprises, it seems, and for a 2 year old some of them can be pretty overwhelming.

So we enjoyed Halloween with the young spirits of a 2 and 3 year old in mind.  I decorated with some garland, lights, and a colony of paper bats flying across the front of the house (pattern templates found here).  We invited friends and family over to join us for trick or treating around the block, and then we enjoyed hot mulled cider, food and, thanks to one of our guests, a fabulous puppet show for the littles.  In the throws of everything going on leading up to Hallowe'en, we skipped serving a traditional All Hallows' Eve feast like we did last year (complete with colcannon), but the cheese, crackers, and hummus hit the spot.  Once everyone left, I told Coco about the Hallowe'en fairy, a great trick I learned from my sister (a similar idea is here)...after falling fast asleep, the Hallowe'en fairy arrives and collects the Hallowe'en candy, leaving in its place a special surprise gift.  Even at 2, I could tell she was weighing her options (candy is so tempting), but there was no protest when she found a beautiful wooden horse in her candy basket yesterday morning. 

As the evening drew to a close, I was reminded that:

- childhood is magical, and our children deserve the extra thought and effort it takes in protecting the innocence that makes it so.

- a celebration is always worth the effort, and having your loved ones and friends new and old to celebrate with you is really what it's all about.

- without squashing any fun, let's remember that spooky is different from terrifying, and detached vampire heads and bloody hands are not images that my daughter needs in her consciousness at age 2, thank you very much.

- the craft of carving pumpkins is all the more special when done together as a family, and roasted pumpkin seeds with salt and spices is an added bonus!

- food, however simple, brings people together.  Always.

- less is more (and calmer, more meaningful, simpler, and what we tend to remember most in years to come).

(Coco was going as a little sheep and then, a couple of days before Hallowe'en, our neighbour gave her a fairy princess costume.  I'm sure you can guess the outcome...a fairy princess sheep!)

Finally, I was reminded that All Hallows' Eve can be a treasured celebration in it's own right with all the goodness that celebrations bring.  It can be a festival of lantern light, a walk at dusk trick or treating, and traditional foods that we feast on only once a year.  It can be a celebration of bringing people together, and of carved pumpkins and turnips, witches, leaves, rats, cats, and bats (and a whole lot of Hallowe'en crafting to match).  The fog rolled in as if on cue, reminding us that All Hallows' Eve is also a festival celebrating autumn.  The leaves were crunchy under our feet, a chill was in the air, and the moon was crisp and clear overhead.  It was perfect.

I smiled to myself as we were welcomed home by warmth, the orange glow of flickering jack o' lantern light, and the smell of mulling spices simmering.  Mystery and wonder filled the air. 

Yes, the magic did indeed creep in after all.