A Three Day Vacation

This weekend we were able to to sneak away to the seaside. The weather wasn't very "beachy" with an average temperature of about 28 degrees, but the sun was shining and the air was clear and crisp.  Walking along the beach makes my top ten list of "favorite things to do." My blood pressure goes down. My breathing is more even. The sound of the surf calms me in a way that not many other things can.  I feel at home near the ocean.  I managed a walk along the beach everyday, and even convinced the boys to join me a few times.

To me, it's impossible to walk along the ocean and worry about my problems. I look at the expanse of the ocean, I watch the seagulls skimming the water, I hear and feel the waves of water crash into the shore again and again.  I feel so inconsequential and yet so a part of it all. I see where none of the little things matter, yet I also see how every little movement and action makes the world exactly as it is meant to be.  How can I worry about how we are going to find the money for home repairs or whether or not I can build a fence to keep the deer our of my garden when I am looking straight at god?  For to me, when I look at the ocean I see god. Not a long-bearded-man-on-a-pearly-throne kind of god, but the beauty and peace that comes when everything flows with all the beauty that is possible. To me, god is the inner peace that we experience, however fleetingly, when we stop fighting and embrace life exactly how it is. Not how we want it to be, nor how we think it should be, but exactly as it is.  The gull must swoop down on the crab to find its nourishment, the water must erode the beach that I so enjoy.  This is their nature. This is what they do.  And it is as beautiful as the sunrise that paints the sky with oranges and pinks and purples.

 

Peace.

That is what I feel when I am near the ocean.  A sense that all is right with the world. That I can embrace the joy that is in my life without worry.

A mysterious sea-pod washed ashore.

A window of peace into this hectic world of ours. A winter weekend of  long walks, reading, knitting, playing games, doing crossword puzzles, making fires, spending time with family. 



A new basket filled with yarn.  Joy!

   



 A family board game on a cold winter's day.  Joy!



Poetic Fridays- on your way to there

A Friday tradition- a post of words- a poem, a story, a song- that has been tumbling around in my head this week. Words that have changed my life or words that have nourished me. Words that have offered comfort or brought joy. Little scribbly shapes that can change so much. No commentary.

If you have words that have been inspiring you this week, leave a  link to your blog or share them in the comments.

"The reason you want everything single thing that you want, is because you think you will feel good when you get there.  But, if you don't really feel good on your way to there, you can't get there. You have to be satisfied with what-is while you are reaching for more."

-Abraham-Hicks




Our little dusting of snow this week

 

Candle dipping

Every Three King's Day, or thereabouts depending on school schedules, we gather with family and make beeswax candles.  It's amazing to see blocks of hard wax and bits of string become gorgeous creations.  The first year we tried this we started with simple dipped straight candles. Over the years, we have started adding colors, designs, and playing with interesting shapes. 

To make your own candles you will need:

Dipping a candle

-A large pot- one that you don't mind getting covered in wax, we have a dedicated one now. Thrift stores are a great place for these.

-A tall thin can- we found a tall metal juice can (Juicy Juice) that works great. You want a can that is tall enough for dipping (your candles can only be as tall as the can) yet narrow enough that you don't need enormous amounts of wax as you will be filling it to the top.

-Beeswax- this can be purchased in block form or little pellets. The pellets melt faster, but the blocks are typically less expensive. You can find beeswax at many large craft stores or on-line.

-Wick- you can purchase this at any craft store.  The thinner type is best for dipping

-Colored wax- We use Stockmar Decorating Wax.  A Child's Dream Come True is a great source for this. We also use bits of beeswax form my children's collection.

-Pre-tabbed wicks and small containers (optional, for making votive-type candles) 

-Newspaper or drop cloths to cover counters and floors. Even with these you will be scraping wax for days.



Basket of colored beeswax



A few hours before dipping, you will need to start to melt the wax.  If you have the wax in a big block you will want to break it into smaller pieces to fit in your can.  Place the block in a pillowcase or ziptop bag and hand a child a sledgehammer and let them go to town- outside and supervised is best!  (btw- this might be the highlight of the day for the more physically inclined of the group)  Add pieces of  the wax to the can, then place the can in the big pot.  Add water to the big pot (the can shouldn't float) and place the pot on the stove top, at medium heat.  As the wax begins to melt, add more pieces of wax until the smaller can is filled to the top.  You don't need the water to boil; just below a simmer seems to work well. When the wax is fully melted you can start dipping.  Cut a wick to the length of the desired candle, no longer than the can, plus about 1 inch.  Holding one end of the wick, slowly dip it into the hot beeswax.  Remove the wick slowly and let drip.  Allow the candle to cool before redipping. Continue to dip until the candle is the desired thickness.  You might want to trim the drips off the bottom of the candle with a sharp knife a few times during the dipping process if you want a flat bottomed candle. 



Candles for next year's advent spiral, still in process


Variations:
-Add colored wax in different shapes and designs. It's nice to dip one final time after adding colors to help the colors adhere.
-Press beads into the candle while still warm.  One final dip with help the beads adhere.
-Coil the wick around a pencil to make a spiral. To do this, dip the wick 2-3 times, then coil around the pencil allowing the wick to fully cool before removing the wick from the pencil.  After the next dip, you will need to adjust the coil a bit to retain the shape.  Play around with different widths and lengths.
-We found wooden pieces that allow you to dip multiple wicks at once. They came in a large Stockmar candle making kit. You could also make your own fairy easily by cutting notches in a small piece of wood.

The start of a spiral candle

 You may pour the remaining wax  into containers to make votive type candles. Think espresso cups, ceramics that your children made in preschool, little metal boxes- as long as it can handle a little heat, you can use it.  Dip the pretabbed wicks in the wax, then press them into the bottom of the container. Gently pour the was into the container. Bobby pins or clothespins work well to keep the wick straight up an down.  If you have any leftover wax you may pour it into plastic deli containers to save for another year.



Pouring the wax

 



Votive type candles

 This year we also treated ourselves with a galette des rois, the French Three Kings' Cake.   ChocolateandZucchini has an amazing recipe that I followed  (using Triple Sec for the liqueur and Trader Joe's puff pastry.)  Mine didn't look quite as pretty but it tasted wonderful.  We will be making that one again.  My college-aged niece found the feve and proudly wore her crown. 

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

winter garland

I received a wonderful little surprise in the mail this week.  I have been participating in a waldorf-inspired nature table swap on Ravelry.  This lovely garland came to me from the Netherlands and is beautiful on my fireplace mantle. 

The stitching is exquisite and the letters are cut out of gorgeously dyed wool.  Thanks kikakaya! You can check out her beautiful creations at kriebevel  I will post my winter swap as soon as it is received. I don't want to ruin the surprise.

  If you are on Ravelry, check me out at withanecreates.  For those of you who may not know, Ravelry is an on-line social network for knitters.  Kind of like Facebook, but so much cooler,  for those of us who enjoy playing with yarn and sticks.   

Poetic Fridays- Wild Geese

A Friday tradition- a post of words- a poem, a story, a song- that has been tumbling around in my head this week. Words that have changed my life or words that have nourished me. Words that have offered comfort or brought joy. Little scribbly shapes that can change so much. No commentary.

If you have words that have been inspiring you this week, leave a  link to your blog or share them in the comments.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver

A 35 degree drop

Yesterday morning it was cold. Really cold.  14 (F) degrees cold.  Yes, there are colder places. I grew up in the mid-west and I remember what -30 feels like. But you have to know that two days before yesterday the temperature was 49 degrees.  For those that aren't quick with math, that's a 35 degree drop, in two days.  That's a return-from-a-tropical-vacation kind of drop. Without a vacation.  Not a Jan 3 to Jan 5 drop. It was a shock to the system.  It hurt to breathe.  My toes were numb. I had to struggle with  my boys to bundle up since two days prior they were playing football in short sleeves.

So what's a person to do?  Besides putting on wool socks and wool hats and wool fingerless mittens. Make soup!  A nice thick, hearty soup. With lots of flavor.  The kind of soup that will warm you to your toes. I had this image of every stove top in the DC area with a pot of soup, bubbling and steaming. 

I made this soup early in the day.  I stopped right before adding the pasta. I went about my day, doing laundry, checking e-mails, knitting, picking up children from school, helping with homework, all the time smelling the melding curry and chicken and veggies. 



An almost finished secret to-be-gifted afghan.


It's a curried chicken and pumpkin soup.  The first time I read the recipe for this soup, I skimmed all the ingredients and my brain screamed "too much, there are too many flavors in this soup."  There is curry and pumpkin and corn and  noodles and it's creamy. I was sure I wouldn't like it.   But I was testing recipes for our preschool's cook book and I decided to give it a try.  It blew me away.  The flavors work perfectly.  It's thick and hearty and sweet and savory.  It's thick, almost a stew. The perfect thing to warm your body and soul.  This might just be my all-time favorite soup.


Here it is:

Curried Chicken and Pumpkin Soup

1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbs curry powder (I like it to be a heaping Tbs)
4-6 chicken thighs, thinly sliced*
2-3 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 15-ounces can pumpkin (of course you can use fresh too)
1 cup corn kernels (I usually use 1/2 bag of organic frozen corn)
4 cups of chicken stock
1 cup pasta (short, such as shells or macaroni- gluten free pasta works well in this recipe)
1/2 cup cream or whole milk
1 tsp salt (or to taste, depends on how salty your chicken stock is)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions, cook over low heat, until soft. Add the garlic, cook for one minute more.  Add the curry powder and cook for one minute, stirring continually. Add the chicken, carrots, celery, pumpkin, corn, and stock, and bring to a boil.  Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.  Add the pasta. Simmer, uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.  Stir in the milk or cream.  Heat, but not bring to a boil.  Salt to taste.

Serve with a good crust bread and farm fresh butter.

*You can use boneless chicken, but I prefer to de-bone my own chicken and save the bones in the freezer for making chicken stock.  Also, throw the ends of the veggies in a zip-top bag in the freezer for making stock. I promise to post later on making your own chicken stock. 

-adapted from Welcome to Our Table: Seasonal Recipes from Acorn Hill, available at http://www.acornhill.org/

Try, try again

Last year I decided to start this blog.  A new year's resolution of sorts.  It started fine. I came up with a name. I registered the blog, I even made two posts.  Then I stopped.  I worried I needed to have a theme. Was this a crafty blog? a cooking blog? a child/family blog?  a spiritual journey blog?  It seemed to me that it should have a unifiying theme or no one would read it.  Goes to show how easy it is to eliminate "should" from the vocabulary. 

Like so many things in life, I'm starting over.  Well, at leasting starting from where I left off, which is the way it seems to work in life. We never really get to start from scratch; we always start from somewhere. It's called growth.  This time, I promise to write at least twice a week on any topic, no matter what (life is interesting enough to find two topics a week on which to write.) I promise to include photos. I prefer blogs with photos and I'm betting most people do too.  It doesn't matter if there is not a unifiying theme. It doesn't matter if no one ever reads it. I will write it for me. I also promise to put myself out there. Last year, I didn't tell anyone about this project. I faced my fear of failure, my fear of looking like an idiot, and I backed down. I walked away like a dog with her tail beween her legs and I blamed it on being "too busy." This year I'm facing those fears and I refuse to back down. No excuses. So go ahead and mock me- laugh behind my back at my silly topics and my poor writing abilities and my grammatical mistakes.  I will share this blog when the opportunity presents itself.   I will be proud of it because I created it. I tell my children to be proud that they tried- it's time I started following my own advice.  This project is not a should. There is no other voice telling me to do this. This is something I want to do. For me. Sometimes desire and goals require discipline and facing our fears.

And so it begins, again.

And now for a cup of chai tea and a salty caramel that Santa let in my stocking.