merry merry

Well, I am having so much fun making sorbet and ice cream with my new ice cream maker! Santa didn't bring it, but Samuel did! He called up Grandpa and between the two of them, one certified ice cream maker was here for me to open on Christmas. What a fun surprise. I must say that he is reaping the benefits heartily as we have gone through nearly two rounds of sorbet (raspberry-boysenberry) and one of vanilla ice cream. What better way to perk up the days after Christmas)2!

And I am so happy to say that I can still pogo stick! Santa brought me and the kids pogo sticks. What fun! Each day my pogo-ing gets a little better. I still can't rival my childhood records, but I am having a blast trying it all out.

Christmas was extra fun because it snowed here as well. It did not stay around but it sure was pretty coming down. It started to do some pretty crazy Portland weathering with a little mix of rain and large snow flakes. The day before there was a big beautiful rainbow across the sky. Such a great way to celebrate the winter holidays!

Here are the kids "ice skating" out in the back yard. There was quite a bit of ice and frozen slush out there. Fun!

A close up photo of Eva's new talking baby; Ellen and Eva with their custom tattoos deluxe!

Everyone got custom tattoos and stickers, even Jack; Eva and talking baby in the sling. Eva said, "momma, this baby nurses too!"

Fun patterns for everyone with our new pattern blocks, one of my favorites!

Samuel just showed us this funny song "What do you get a Wookie for Christmas when he already has a comb". Any Star Wars fans out there? Bob? Adrian? This is for you!

It's Christmas Eve

It is indeed Christmas Eve and as Samuel would say, or has been saying all day long, "Does there have to be a day before Christmas? Why? Why? Why?" Needless to say, we have not had the most um shall we say joyous Day before Christmas, but it has been intense. We feel our intensity very intensely around here and today was no exception.

Here is some fun!



Jack asleep on some books. Need I say more?



Oh and I am so excited! One of my giant spider ladies that I kept track of during the summer and fall is still living! She found a little warm spot with a leaf near our front door and allowed me to take this photo, albeit hesitatingly. She is suspicious of me if I stay too long.



And here is my Pulla! It is a lot of fun.



Samuel and Eva with the big plate of cookies; Santa's cookies and eggnog (see the Santa cookie Samuel made!) Eva is sampling a big piece of Pulla in the first photo.

We made chocolate chip, oatmeal scotchies, sugar cookies with icing and brownies. Plus our neighbor brought us this big plate of assorted Christmas cookies she made. So that is a lot of cookies.



And this is what Charlie does when you come over near his cage. He really likes snacks and will eat most anything you suggest. He is an avid eater, to say the least.




And here are all of the babies all fancy for Christmas.

sweater project

I finally picked up that sweater that I wanted to lengthen while everyone around here has been sick. Nothing like a house full of sick people and all the dishes done to open up an opportunity to do a much-put-off-task that I really wanted to do...



Here is the sweater, not quite long enough. Here it is with the scissors and part of the cast-on row cut off.



Here are the live stitches to pick up. And finally, here are the needles on the stitches.

The most challenging and tedious part by far was finding the actual row to pick up. My initial cutting was not quite straight enough and I took off far too much at some points so I had to go down two or three rows to find a full row to pick up. If I have to do it again I now know to cut on the cast-on row, not below it. Now that it is done with, though, the knitting is going smoothly. At first I was worried that the pattern would be slightly off because the knitting is in the opposite direction than the original knitting (so below where the cast-on row would have been) but whatever discrepancy there might be is so slight and easily covered by the pattern (k1, p3, k1...). What may actually turn out to be more of a concern is the color of the yarn. This yarn is individually hand dyed and each skein is different and the skeins I bought are slightly darker than any of the other ones I used for the rest of the sweater. This is also probably a minor concern and nothing compared to how fun it will be to have it the right length for wearing!

new blog site

Hey, I started up a new blog all about eating local here in the Pacific Northwest. I am having a lot of fun with it thus far. I have its link listed under blogs with all of the others!

Winter Solstice

I had several plans for us today to celebrate Winter Solstice but Eva is sick again! (that's twice for both Samuel and Eva in a little over a week and a half). I am hoping to get us outside for a walk in the woods as soon as she is up for it. It is such a lovely time of year to be in the woods. There is a ton of moss and lichen everywhere and this time of year the evergreens really shine!

I am still hoping to make a soup- a lovely orange-y colored soup for the sun- and to light some candles. I also have some fireworks I set aside but we may have to wait for another day for those as well. And Samuel wanted to have a fire outside to roast marshmallows! Lots of fun planned for the longest night of the year. Darkness starts pretty early here. The official sunset today is 4:30 pm and that gives us 8 hours and 42 minutes and 3 seconds of daylight. Tomorrow there will be an added 1 second of daylight and the day after an added 5 seconds...

Dec 21, 2007

7:48 AM

4:30 PM

8h 42m 03s

I actually really like this time of year and although it can take a little time to adjust after day light savings time ends (don't get me started!), I find it to be a very calming time of year. I love the summer as well but it can be a little frenetic for me at times and no one in the house gets enough rest for months on end. Each time has a place, which I suppose is one of the points of the original solstice and equinox celebrations. I like to blur the lines of our Christmas celebration with the Solstice and remember the time of year and the traditions behind bringing trees and holly inside and hanging lights and giving warm gifts. It has given added meaning to me for the holiday season.

A fun little ditty (and we happen to have both holly and oak growing in our yard right now!)-

"The myth of the Holly King/Oak King probably originated from the Druids to whom these two trees were highly sacred. The Oak King (God of the Waxing Year) kills the Holly King (God of the Waning Year) at Yule (the Winter Solstice). The Oak King then reigns supreme until Litha (the Summer Solstice) when the two battle again, this time with the Holly King victorious. Examples of the Holly King's image can be seen in our modern Santa Claus. He dons a sprig of holly in his hat, wears red clothing, and drives a team of eight (total number of Solar Sabbats) reindeer, an animal sacred to the Celtic Gods (deer). Mistletoe and holly came into modern Christmas celebrations through the memorializing of this battle. The holly with berries are hung in honor of the Holly King and mistletoe in honor of the Oak King. Although the Holly King and Oak King are mortal enemies at the two Solstices - Yule and Litha - it should be remembered that they are actually two sides of one whole, and neither would exist without the other."

Around the house with Eva...


Jack, a slice of our Christmas tree, Charlie in his little egg carton house.

Here is a funny little story. Jack really enjoys getting treats and snacks from us. So does Charlie. These days Jack goes over to inspect what food tidbits are being given to Charlie. Frequently, he is not interested and gives Charlie a sniff in his cage and then wanders off, not really wanting a bit of egg or apple, for instance. Sometimes, however, he is interested in the food Charlie is given. On these occasions he usually gets a little bit for himself as well. The other day I gave both Jack and Charlie a little piece of banana muffin and Jack gobbled his up and then looked over at Charlie who was munching away on his piece of muffin. Jack decided to wait it out and sat down to beg for a little muffin from Charlie! It was very cute. Needless to say, Charlie did not give Jack a last bite of muffin before he finished like we usually do.