fitting it all in

In the last week, I have had very few moments to work on my own projects. I feel like I have been away from my home and rhythm for so long. This week I will strive for active stillness and feel less like a sandbag in the morning! I look forward to being done with the taxes so I can get back to enjoyable computer time. Until then, here are some photos from this week.

The PeaceLily bloomed

Washing Rocks and crystals from all over the world in Grandma Hoppy's geodesic dome

St. Patrick's Day Party with Song of the Lakes... music for all ages

Leaf invented a game called "Mulleins" where you hop and skip and run circles around mullein stalks. Great fun! (and the hair.....)

A hike in the woods...

...little hands...

...to the lakeshore...

...aaaahhhh. I love that feeling

BOOKS!

Our family loves books, especially Leaf. She has been flipping pages since about 4 months of age, I have not seen anything quite like it! She will read for hours alone or with anyone. I listen to her reciting stories almost verbatim after hearing them just once! I will hear them from her over and over and over, and then she will act them out as well. It is such a joy to witness (and really cute).


Jayson and I are careful with what books we have in our collection. Many stories undergo word changes as we read to her. I would like to just write over the words, but I don't want to set the example of writing or drawing in books. At times, we cringe when a guest is reading with Leaf and we hear a passage unaltered that we find inappropriate. Censorship? Well, somewhat, but she is so impressionable and there are things we believe she just does not need inside her. It is censorship that I feel is my job right now.


Back to the nature of this post.... we look for magical books to fill the shelves with and gradually filter out the less than perfect books. Here are some of our favorites!



By author Kate Banks:
Fox
And If The Moon Could Talk
A Gift From the Sea


By Barbara Helen Berger:
When The Sun Rose
A Lot Of Otters
Grandfather Twilight


And the all-time favorite, a story of a Navajo Weaver and her process for making a traditional rug:
The Goat In The Rug as told to Charles L. Blood & Martin Link by Geraldine


I hope to share more books each month. We are off to play with friends and visit the library today. Happy Reading!

sundried clay

"...a bright sunshiney day.."

We opened the windows and doors, washed every pillowcase in the house and hung it on the line outside, unearthed the slide, and got a light tan! What an amazing day! I am so thankful for gifts like these and the ability to enjoy them.

I have been in an interesting flow. Last night was full of overlapping synchronicity which culminated with witnessing a giant ball of flaming blue light streaking across the sky in the east.

The deer herd has been licking seed out of the birdfeeder and they are increasingly unafraid of us watching them through a window 3 feet away. One doe is exceptionally beautiful.... I will try to remember the camera once in awhile.

Jayson almost left without the shopping bags today. Since the One Small Change Project began, I have been impressed with my own deeper commitment. I actually got up to chase him down and hand over the bags. Moving through the heaviness of an early moontime, as well.

As for our March changes, it has been too nice outside to be in the kitchen making salve. I do have a dear friend with an outdoor kitchen. It probably has not been set up for the season yet, but perhaps we could help with that and make salve with a magical woman in a very special place: The Eco-Learning Center. And "silent night" is going to take a bit more coordination with my partner and the work he is doing in preparation for a busy work season, not to mention the business taxes I need to finish. I think there is also a part of me that is resisting the shut-offs, I see it in my words. Seems silly to me because of how much I enjoy the peace, yet it is reality. There is a worried voice inside that wants the cell phone on "just in case." There is the computer calling with communications from dear friends, the radio chanting out news of the world, the very dark bathroom and thoughts about candle safety. Now that I am writing this I am feeling sillier, yet more grounded about it. I can start so easy tonight, with everyone safe at home, and it cold enough to keep our valuable frozen foods frozen (I worked so hard to keep food this year). I need to do it just once, and then it will be simple.

emerging spring

I feel it so strongly.
Leaf said today, "The snow isn't sippley, it's just crunchy. Crunchy and good." And it turned to slush as we walked, cross country cats, through the woods following deer tracks.

march change: homemade salve and silent night

I finally figured out which changes will be most important to me this month (and most realistically realized). With our parenting roles temporarily switched, Jayson decided that it was easier to not change pants with only one arm so Leaf had a lot of naked time this week. Consequently, little Leaf developed a chafed little bum. I agonize over which salve or lotion or balm or oil to use for her extremely sensitive skin - even the "best" and all natural products have something extra in them. Well, I just happen to have calendula flowers, olive oil, beeswax, and vitamin E in the house..... I also have lots of little glass jars and a pot dedicated for melting beeswax! How simple things really are when we just pause and look around. So, homemade salve it is and an end to spending a lot of money on others' products that we can do ourself.

As for "silent night," I am determined to have times when everything is off. Everything. With the alternative power set-up and grid connection, we can actually flip a switch to stop the juice flowing into the house. Ahhhhhh, respite. In the summers I often turn it all off in between loads of laundry, yet we have left it on all winter while enclosed in the house with the hum. I know it will help us all: Jayson's shoulder will heal more beautifully without the electromagnetic buzz, Leaf will be calmer, and I will just revel in the peace. It is so hard on our bodies to deal with all of the stimuli coming in, that's why I will not allow wireless internet in our home. There is so much electromagnetic pollution in our world, some days I find it so difficult to swim through and that is why I stay at my little home in the woods.

Enough of my rants. It is too beautiful a day to stay inside any longer!