happy solstice

It is the shortest day of the year down here in the south tomorrow. 

We'll be celebrating with mulled wine non-alcoholic grape juice, hearty soup with fresh sourdough and a rich, decadent apple cake for dessert. If the rain ever stops we may have a bonfire but I feel we shall be burning our Yule log in the wood burner indoors instead. There will be candles galore and a ritual where we write out what we'd like to let go of or release on scraps of paper and then feed them to the fire. It's very therapeutic, letting it all go and starting afresh as the year begins again. 

While winter comes under the 'hardship' category for me ;o) I do love the Solstice because it is literally the beginning of a new year. The days may not be getting noticeably longer but I know that they are lengthening day by day - until we return again to the halcyon days of warmth and light and sunshine. 

I wish all of my southern friends a wonderful warm Yule Fest - may your days grow ever brighter! 

And to my northern friends I wish you all the very best that Midsummer can bring! 

Blessed Be. 

a different easter gathering

Like most people, our Easter celebration was a little different this year. The biggest difference was the absence of little ones. Although my daughter and her two small girls live only a seven minute walk away, we couldn't have a gathering due to the 'rules'. Instead there were only six of us - and all adults - to search for our baskets of rabbity offerings! We invited the two young folk that share the house (live in the third bedroom) to join in and although they were a bit trepidatious at first, who can resist the joy of searching for chocolate eggs under shrubs at 8.30am? Haha! 

This year - owing to the adults only theme - the sneaky Bunny hid the baskets in a variety of hard to find places and it took them all nearly an hour to rummage through every vine, shrub and bit of undergrowth in the front and backyard. Meanwhile the sneaky Bunny took photos and laughed at their futile endeavours! Even without the small children, these young ones managed to find amusement and joy in the whole procedure - even the two boarders, who I am sure had never done anything like it!!! 

Breakfast was the usual spread of cheeses, bread, buns and olives - which was, like every year of course, liberally sprinkled with chocolate eggs! Yes, it was a smaller table of loved ones, there was less childish enthusiasm but we still had a special time together. 

We even had a Zoom video call with our children near and far - organised by a son - and I must say this was where I really missed having the family around (and may have shed a few tears). The video was a little clunky and it was hard to catch everyones voices but oh I did/do miss them all. Mind you, although I don't see them all the time, I think its just knowing that I cant see them if I want to, that's a bit hard. Having said that,  I am just sooo grateful to have had even just two of them to celebrate with this year. And I'm certainly hoping they can all come home for Christmas!!

happy solstice

Wishing all my lovely friends a very warm and cosy Winter Solstice tonight. 

May all that you release drift into the nebulous past, 

And all that you search for be just within your grasp as you wake to a newborn year in the morning. 

Blessed Be. 

easter, part 1 - its all about the food!

I love food. I love to eat food. More than that though, I love to feed others. My children laugh at me and warn visitors that they had better be hungry because mum will feed them! And its true. Food and the act of nourishing both family and friends, gives me a great sense of satisfaction, a feeling that I've cosseted and nurtured and filled hungry bellies and now all is right with my beloved ones.
This means, of course, that there is always an abundance of food at my table - in fact, I like so much abundance that there are leftovers! Leftovers are good because that means that everyone has eaten their fill……if all the pots and dishes are empty then oh dear, maybe someone hasn't had enough; maybe they had to stop before they were properly filled up; perhaps they will leave the table with rumblings in their belly and thoughts of raiding the fridge on their mind!! (Leftovers are also good for man-lunches the next day which saves me from extra preparation of sandwiches and suchlike!)

So that brings me to Celebration Food. In my mind celebrations always need food. Outings always need food. Just a quick jaunt to the local park, always needs food! Someone is bound to be peckish and the inevitable question "mum, is there anything to eat?" will arise and then what would I tell them? Wait till we get home? Sorry, eat grass!

Anyway, I digress. I wanted to tell you about our Easter - because a large part of our Easter is food! For as long as I can remember, right back to when I was a little girl, we have been having a bountiful Continental breakfast after our early morning basket hunt. My mum used to set a fine table with all sorts of cheeses and breads, jam and coffee, all of which were eaten right along with chocolate bunnies and coloured eggs. And I have continued the tradition. We head out into the cold morning to search for our baskets that the 'Easter Bunny' ahem, has hidden sometime in the earlier hours (in the dark!) of the morning. Then when everyone has tromped through the garden beds, upturned all the empty plant pots and eventually found the basket with their name on it, we return to the house to eat ourselves silly with loads of chocolate bunnies good food and warm beverages. Naturally there are always leftovers!!

Some years we head off after breakfast to explore, an as yet unknown to us, part of our island and I'll share this years destination tomorrow.

happy easter xxx

I hope you are having a relaxed and family filled Easter weekend, dear friends! 

Preferably filled with chocolate and other Good Things! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting. 

mabon (autumn equinox)

We have so much before us 

and for this we are grateful. 

We have so many blessings

and for this we are thankful. 

There are others not so fortunate, 

and by this we are humbled.

We shall make an offering in their name

to the goddesses who watch over us,

that those in need, are someday,

as blessed as we are this day. 

 Night and day are once again of equal length but from now until the Winter Solstice, the days are waning and the dark is defeating the light. 

We are now in the second part of the harvest season with apples, nuts, grapes and many other fruits and vegetables ripe for picking and preserving. 

This is a time for celebration of the harvest, a time to reap what we have sown. 

A time to give thanks for the abundance both in the garden and in our lives. 

Another special moment to reflect on our blessings with beloved family. 

I wish you all abundant harvests and good fortune, as we slide gently into the dark times.

solstice

It's almost midnight as I type this and if I am to believe the Mayan stonemason, I only have 15 minutes left to enjoy this life. 

I hope you all had a lovely Solstice today, whether it was a Winter one celebrating the return of the Sun, or like here in the south, a Summer festival. 

The days will slowly begin to shorten again as the Wheel of the Year turns in its age old cycle.

Blessed be.   

Festival of Light

I had intended to celebrate Imbolc tonight but for one reason and another, all we managed was to set a nice table and have a brief talk about the reasons for this Festival.

We have not ever celebrated this before and I only realised recently, after doing some research, that Candlemas in the northern Hemisphere is derived from this pagan Festival of Light. Imbolc literally means "in milk" and was traditionally celebrated at the onset of the lactation of ewes, therefore it wasn't actually at any set date, but could vary between communities. 

It is the celebration of the banishing of Winter and the imminent arrival of Spring and of new beginnings. 

 Living in a relatively cool climate now (compared to the mid north coast of NSW) we are more aware of  the changes of the seasons - and it is indeed a joy to see the first of the snowdrops and daffodils popping up in sunny corners. It is a sign of lighter and more joyful times to come, after the cold, grey days of King Winter and his minion Jack Frost.

While we have plenty of food for ourselves and our livestock,  I can only imagine how our ancestors would have felt after a cold and possibly hungry winter, when most of the stored food had been used up and the living was getting a bit smelly and cramped in the longhouse! What a joy to have fresh, nourishing ewes milk and maybe fresh eggs, as well as a little more light day by day.  

Although we didn't actually have a celebration, it was still lovely to acknowledge the coming of the light as a family, and for me personally, to have some quiet moments of reflection on renewal, growth,  personal gaols and dreams.

Brother Love

I grew up having an almost authentic Austrian Christmas in Australia....... only the cold and snow were missing! We celebrated on Christmas Eve, our gifts were brought by Kristkindl, and my mum made it a very special, mystical celebration. There was no tinsel or tacky trees, oh no, we had a very life like (though artificial) fir tree, wooden and glass ornaments and real candles burning on the tree - in 40 degree heat! 

Mum made or bought all our gifts but I believed for years that Kristkindl brought them all! 

For the first nine years of our parenthood, the Best Man and I lived on my parents property and we all celebrated Christmas together. Then when we moved a long way away and had our own Christmas with just our children, I wanted to find an idea for a special tradition for our little family - and so our Secret Person gift idea was born! 

I decided that we would put all our names in a hat, each of us would draw a name and then make something for our Secret Person. When we had lots of littlies, I mostly knew who had who because I was always called upon for ideas and help. But as they have gotten older and able to think and do for themselves, I have had some lovely surprises, seeing what they come up with!!  

Last Christmas, our then 15 year old son, Remo, made a really spectacular gift for our Fairy Girl who is completely enraptured with all things gnomey, fey and ethereal. He spent days in the shed painstakingly putting together the special gift you see here in the photos. 

Made from a birch branch found in the local birch forest (yes we have an old birch plantation near us - it's beautiful) and using pine rounds for the stairs, and old wardrobe walls for the platforms, it stands about 70cm high. I really LOVE that it's all made from repurposed or found materials! I think he ran out of time and didn't putty the screw holes in the top storeys but she doesn't seem to mind! 

Shown here without any accessories, due to it having been dragged outside for a clean and a photo shoot! I think it needs another wax and polish too! 

I first saw a very nice gnome home here and mentioned it to R last June, just before Miss Fairys birthday, but he was too busy. Then inspiration struck when he picked her name from the Christmas hat, and off he went! Yes, I knew about this gift because he needed a bit of input but I am so pleased how he put it all together and how much effort was put into it. 

If you have a doting big brother in your home (or a big sister), and maybe if you show them this post you might end up with a fancy timber gnome residence for your little one too!!  

This blogging world

It's a funny thing this blogging business. I've been reading lots of wonderful blogs for about 18 months now and have so thoroughly enjoyed them. I've read about new babies, pretty projects, gardens designed and planted, houses bought and personalised. I've found out how to needle felt gnomes, knit socks and nurture carrot seedlings! 

Last year I started my own blog just for far flung family and friends but my heart wasn't in it and I soon closed it down. 

Since then my ideas and energies changed and again I have started with a new blog from a slightly different perspective. This time I am happy to share with all the mamas in blog land and beyond - just like they have shared theirs - and with it has come the realisation of what a great community is out there. And where once I just looked, admired and repurposed their amazing ideas, now I want to thank them and let them know how clever they are. So I leave a comment when I've read a particularly inspiring thought or found a very useful project because I know how nice it is to have someone out there let you know how much your thoughts and craftiness are appreciated. 

And there's another bonus as well - all of a sudden I don't feel quite like a distant and aloof voyeur anymore, but rather as part of a like minded group with a dialogue and some give and take. Its a lovely way to connect with other mama's out there doing their 'mama stuff' even though I'm never likely to meet any of them in the Real World. 

It takes a bit of time to write a blog - each post has many photos taken and either resized or discarded; the topic selected and written (I do a rough draft on paper because I'm visual and like to scribble at odd moments!) then maybe revised as its being typed and finally published. 

Then of course later theres a bit of time spent reading any comments left and maybe having a quick lengthy peek at Other Peoples Blogs!! 

So having discovered all this for myself, I am no longer hesitant to leave a comment because I know that it isn't all about the number of comments you get, it's simply the fact that someone, anyone  has taken the time to 'thank' you for your words. 

***********************

PS - all the photos above were taken at our two Yule celebrations - one for The Family at Home and one for Those Who Have Moved Out!  Yes there are quite a few of us now and we had a couple of extras thrown in so the table was Full! Our home is small tiny and what you see in the photo is almost all of it. I'll post some more pics of our Shoebox someday soon.  

Disclaimer - These are just random thoughts! I am not trying to generate comments but am using this space to write whats on my mind ......... with gratitude! 

Happy Solstice

Tonight is the longest night of the year. 

Slowly, slowly, every day from now, the days will lengthen and my heart is glad. 

Winter Solstice is possibly my favourite day in the Wheel of the Year - the birth of the new Solar year. 

A new beginning - the return of the light, the rebirth of the Sun.

Oh yes, a wonderful night to celebrate and strengthen family bonds. 

Easter Goodness

I love Easter. I love it as much as Christmas. Here in the Southern Hemisphere it is Autumn. That means the cold time is coming...... yet still I love Easter. 

This year it was a particularly clear sunny morning with only a hint of chill in the air - Mother Earth letting us know that soon she would be resting again. 

We had a very 'eggy' Easter .........

we spent a morning making cards for loved ones far away.

On Easter morning the whole family searched high and low for Easter baskets that the tricksy bunny had hidden away..............

........ and all were duly rewarded with a basket of sweet things!

Then it was breakfast continental style for the searchers. A tradition started by my Mum or possibly by her mum .......... and hopefully carried on by my girls. 

With lots of coloured hard boiled eggs!!