Happy Midsummer!

We had a truly lovely Midsummer celebration this past week.  I love the Waldorf festivals so much!  I love how they allow us to celebrate the season and challenge me to do different crafts and handwork that are out of my usual routine.  I love how they have already set a rhythm to our year.  Our family chose to celebrate Midsummer on June 24th incorporating St. John the Baptist's feast day into our celebration as well.

In preparation, I started needle felting some little bees a few weeks ago to hang on on our nature table tree.  I made four of them so far and they are very cute.  W and I colored some wood cutouts from the craft store with our beeswax crayons and hung them on the tree too. W especially likes the frog, the turtle and the dragonflies!  He has already pulled down the nature table tree a couple of times trying to get to them.  It's quite a mess and it really upsets him when it falls, but I'm glad he likes it.  W and I also made some bright yellow suns out of pearly soda clay which is really neat fun stuff.  We rolled it out and then cut the suns out with a cookie cutter and let them dry.  I poked little holes in the top with a large needle so that we could hang them on the tree too.  We also made paper stars in shades of red orange and yellow, including my first 16 point star which is just beautiful when the sun shines through.

  On the morning of midsummer I also cut out paper suns and taped them to our china cabinet doors.  They really helped make things festive!

We used the other items to help decorate the nature table and also brought out all of our shells and other summer items to reflect the season.

My other Midsummer handwork was to make floating beeswax candles from these directions.  I made a sun and a duck to float in our table centerpiece. I did have some difficulty unmolding the sun, but I was eventually able to.   While I had the wax melted  I also  made some tea lights and refilled/re-wicked our meal candle that we made at Candlemas.  I love candle-making and love using our homemade candles even more!

For our centerpiece, I used my punch bowl, placing various seashells in the bottom, then filling it with water.  On top of the water I floated my two candles, rose petals, a few sunflower petals, a zinnia blossom, I had accidentally plucked from my plant and some lavender blossoms. It was so pretty.  Behind this I placed a pitcher of sunflowers and roses.  Underneath, I placed more of the soda clay stars and set out W's tea set for a fairy tea party.

For food, Daddy grilled chicken burgers  and hot dogs and we had  fresh green beans, a salad with tomatoes from our garden and potato salad.  We also had my basil/pineapple sage lemonade to drink.  A fairly simple seasonal menu that was very yummy!

The real treat was the summer berries pudding that W and I made.  It was so fun to have him help me with this and he loved it!  We started working from the recipe in All Year Round but altered it a good bit for our family's produce availability, tastes and dietary needs.  This is our recipe (one we will make often, I have a feeling).

Summer Berries Bread Pudding

1 loaf of Italian bread, sliced, crusts trimmed off but reserved.
fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries (1-2 pints each)
1 can of light coconut milk
1/4 cup local honey

Line the bottom of a dish with slices of bread, then top with the fresh raspberries, a second layer of bread, the blueberries, more bread, the blackberries, more bread, then sliced strawberries. and more bread (I ended up using the crusts when I ran out of  the bread slices).

Mis the coconut milk and honey and pour over the bread and fruit evenly (you may not need all of the milk and be careful not to overflow your dish like I did-what a mess!) Place a plate on top of this and weight it down in the refrigerator (I use a large jar filled with basil and pineapple sage lemonade for this).

I tried unmolding this, but it started to fall apart so I turned it back into it's dish and we dipped it out.  It was really really good and we all love it!  We have also been eating the leftovers with breakfast which has been lovely.

We also tried to make giant bubbles like these from Childhood Magic but it was getting late for W and it had started to sprinkle so we came back inside.  W and I did manage to do this in the days leading up to Midsummer though and he really enjoyed them.

For W we recited the verse shown here on Ancient Hearth's blog.  We then put some "fairy food" otherwise known as raisins in W's tea set cups and told him the fairies might leave him something there in the morning.  The kind and generous fairies left him some little red gems that he has been enjoying since he found them the following morning.

For the adults, we read  Luke 3:1- 18 and reflected on how we can prepare ourselves for relationship with God.  Daddy then had to play a couple songs from Godspell because it reminded him of it and the whole family sang and dance along...a fun impromptu way to our end our evening!

Our Rhythm

I really feel that our rhythm is a constant work in progress and it is something with which I really struggle.  I have  a daily/weekly rhythm down on paper for our family.  I made two charts, one with the basic outline for what happens after W wakes up in the AM for each day of the week.  The other is a list of tasks that I try to accomplish during my "house work time" for each day of the week. I have it posted on the outside door or our computer armoire so that we can refer to it during the day. We don't always stick to what we have posted, but at least having it down on paper helps us a little.  At the very least, if we skip some things one week, the next week we are not left trying to figure out what we are supposed to be doing that day and when.

There are not set times for most things in our rhythm.  We simply flow from one activity into the next as we complete our tasks.   I have set a few anchors in our day however, which are at set times.  These revolve around eating and sleeping.  For example breakfast is at 7:45 AM, lunch is 12:00 noon and dinner is 6:00 PM.  We start the bedtime routine at 8:00 PM and bedtime is 8:30 PM.  This keeps us on track, strengthens our rhythm and generally helps keep peace in our house since I tend to be more sanguine (and therefore loose track of time as I get involved in various activities) and my husband is more phlegmatic (and therefore needs more structure and to know what time certain things are happening).

In creating our rhythm I also tried to take the idea of alternating  "inhale" activities with "exhale" activities which gives our day a wonderful sense of flow.  Inhale activities are things like meals, our circle time, nap time, reading books and more structured activities that we do as a family .  On the other hand "exhale" activities involve more free time and less structure for W and are generally when I do tasks, such as cleaning up after meals, or my housework at this point. Our exhales might also involve going to a park, or playing in the sand box or in the pool together.  For example, most days, W wakes up, we eat breakfast with Daddy before he goes to work (inhale).  After breakfast, W plays independently (as much as he is able to at 18 months) while I clear the table and do the dishes (exhale).  After that, we  have a short circle time where we do some singing, rhymes and finger plays along with a short prayer (inhale).  I then busy  myself with some household tasks while W again plays independently (exhale).  At some point during that time we will come back together for a snack (inhale) and then resume our work/play (exhale) till lunch time (inhale). It took me a long time to fully grasp the idea of alternating inhale/exhale activities and even longer to really implement it.  Now that I have though, our rhythm is much smoother and ebbs and flows nicely.  It also seems to be the way W naturally functions best at this age.  Some independent time or time to release some energy followed by some quiet restorative activities.    Days where we keep to this sort of structured rhythm, are smooth and there are fewer tantrums on his part.  It follows his own energy level and basic needs and he has a general idea of what comes next as we move from one activity to the next.

Other parts of the rhythm, involve rituals that accompany our activities.  I find these rituals to be especially important moving from exhale activities to inhale activities.  For example we like to use, prayer verses, songs and other verses as well as lighting candles at various points during the day to help with transitions.  We have short prayer verses we say upon waking, and before nap and bed time.  When we sit at the table for breakfast or lunch we light a special meal candle and sing  Johnny Appleseed to give thanks before we eat.  At dinner, we again light our meal candle and say a special grace verse at that meal.  We always start and end our circle time with the same two songs as well to signify the transitions.  I change the remainder of the verses and songs monthly however to reflect the the season and any festivals that are occurring that month.

This week I have also paid close attention to my own rhythm and how it affects our family.  Personally, I have a couple of very specific needs that I need to meet each day.  The first is that I need some time on my own in the morning for personal devotions, meditation, prayer, reading and journaling/drawing.  This week I have gotten up between 5:00 and 5:30 AM each morning to have this time alone for these activities.  I found that I am much more centered, patient and an all around better parent when I have this time.  The one morning W decided to get up shortly after I did and my time devotion time was interrupted was a much more difficult day all the way around.

My other significant need is to have time for creative expression.  I love to knit and needle felt and have recently also begun to do some sewing.    I have built time into many of our afternoons and the evenings for this.  Without, some creative outlet every day, I feel stifled.  Like my morning meditations, my  creative time helps me to keep my energy up and  is a soul soothingly productive time.

One final thought on rhythm, is that I strive to see time as cyclical rather than linear as our society and culture would like us to believe.  We do not run out of time, instead, it cycles back around.  Our daily, weekly, monthly rhythm repeats. If I don't finish a project or get some bit of housework done today, it's generally not that big of deal, as the time to work on that task will come again, tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year.  To me this is wonderfully freeing and is key to keeping a rhythm that is both strong and flexible.

Joys of Spring!

W and I are really enjoying this beautiful spring!  Last week we went to the Richmond Waldorf School's May Faire which was wonderful.  I realized that I had never actually seen May Pole dancing in person before and really enjoyed it.  It was also a great time to touch base with some friends and let W play on the playground.  We always really enjoy the events we attend there.  I wish I had take pictures there, but my camera is still MIA. That evening we had a picnic with daddy at Meadow Farm, stretched out in the shade of some great big trees.  We had spinach and sausage stromboli, strawberries, goat cheese and grape salad, pickled herring and rosemary strawberry scones.  To drink Daddy and I had May Punch  (I omitted the violets and added a bottle of sparkling mineral water to this recipe) to drink and Will had a strawberry punch.  W wore his oak leaf May Day crown for a while.  After that we went to visit the animals and particularly enjoyed seeing the little lambs!  W kept pointing to them and was very excited!  It was a beautiful day!

Our local parenting group has been holding a weekly nature club for the kids.  We take them to a different park each week and let them explore.  It typically takes W a while to warm up to the new environments, but this week, once he got acclimated, he loved playing in the creek. Eventually he plopped his little bottom down into the water!  It was a real joy to watch him enjoy a beautiful natural setting so much!

This past week has also been eventful since W and I were able to find a bike trailer  for him on craigslist.  We have started going for rides around the block several times in the mornings after breakfast.  It's really enjoyable and W loves it!  I haven't ridden my bike much since I became pregnant with him and it is a wonderful exercise option for me now!  My hope is that daddy will get his bike in working order too and we can go riding as a family.  I wish I had some pictures, but we've not taken any yet.

Today W and I went to pick strawberries and had a wonderful time.  We made a great team.  I picked the berries and handed them to W who put them in the bucket for me.  We filled the bucket about 3/4 full, when W realized he could squish the berries and then eat them.  The rest of the outing was spent with W double fisting strawberries that he took out of the bucket almost as fast as I could put them in. Oh how he enjoyed himself!  Eventually, I managed to get our full bucket, transfer them to a box to take home and pay for our loot.  I think I will go back early next week and pick several more buckets to make into jam for W's breakfasts.

Spring has been wonderful for our taste buds in general.  The strawberries are delicious and we have been enjoying fresh steamed artichokes at least once a week.  The other highlight of the week was the homegrown lettuce and  radish salad W and I shared the other day after gathering the produce from our garden!

The garden is doing well.  It is small (about 4 ft by ft), but between our little plot and the pots on the back steps we have planted tomatoes, eggplants, sugar snap peas, carrots, radishes, malabar spinach, lettuce, strawberries and herbs.  Around our front steps we have pots of figs, roses, a butterfly bush with sweet woodruff underneath, and a heavenly pink pineapple sage.  I also planted petunias in the ground and put a lovely pot of geraniums by the front door. W helps me to water our plants each morning and plays in his sandbox pot out back while I do other gardening activities.   I must say, having our little bit of a garden has really made our apartment here livable.   There have been days this week where W and I have only been inside for food preparation and nap time.

Oh, how I am loving spring this year!

Where We've Been And the Farmer's Market season has begun again!

It has been months since I posted on this blog.  Unfortunately, we have been experiencing technical difficulties that took us two months, all of our IT guy friends, and switching internet providers to solve.  Our internet was so slow for two months, that I just could not see even trying to put up a blog post.  Sadly, during this time I also seem to have lost my camera.  I wanted to post this blog today, and really wanted to include pictures too, but since my husband takes his camera to work with him.  There fore, I am just going to have to use words to describe our wonderful farmer's market and culinary experiences from today.

Today was the opening day for the West End Farmers Market which is the closest market to our house.   I was sad that my two favorite vendors from last year were not there, and are not on the vendor list for this year.  I'll have to see if I can hunt them down and find out if they are at other local markets this year.

Still, I was delighted to meet a vendor, who is new to this market, Rona, from Sullivan's Pond Farm.  Not only was she wonderful at introducing myself and other customers to her delicious goat cheeses, but she also was selling the most beautiful buckets of goodies!  At $20.00, I think they may have been one of the best deals at the market today!  My bucket included a dozen beautiful speckled brown and green free-range eggs, a bouquet of Irises and other flowers and fragrant herbs, perfect for our nature table, a bundle of beautiful fresh asparagus and parsley and  a wonderful little husk wrapped package of Sandy Bottom, a delicious goat cheese coated in ground black pepper.  She also slipped a recipe for an omelet using these ingredients.  I sampled and just loved her Tidewater raw goats milk cheese, however, Rona had already sold out of it today.  She graciously offered to set some aside for me on Wednesday, if I send her an email.  This type of interaction with wonderful producer/vendors as well as the incredible quality of the products are what farmers markets are all about for me!

I also bought a bar of Patchouli with clove soap from KJ Soaps.  Patchouli and clove are two of my favorite scents but not two I would have thought of putting together.  I have to say though, the combination smells even better than either one would on it's own.  It's spicy and earthy but also has a certain sophistication to it!  Needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting my next shower!

After W woke up from his nap this afternoon, I made us a large omelet using the recipe I received at the market today.  I also added a little chopped smoked salmon that I had on hand and needed to use.  W and I both just loved it!  W has always refused to eat asparagus before, but gladly ate it in this omelet!  He especially loved the goat cheese though.  His face lit up every time he tasted it!

Such a rewarding  and delicious day  for my little guy and I!