eating

Our tree was 15 feet. I put the lights on it while it was still on the ground, then hung ornaments as far up as I could reach. It was nice to be home to enjoy it this year. In this way I came aquainted with the spirit of this tree, in a way.


The cookies were such a hit! They were lighter than normal due to the honey content, and they smelled absolutely divine.


The dregs of the Solstice Party cookie tray were converted to a Christmas treat plate. I frosted up some Danish butter cookies too, sprinkled with red and green sugar. Yum! Frosting is something I would truly miss if I was mostly raw. I'd probably need to eat it once a year.


Another habitual craving ready to go is coffee. I tend to like it more in the afternoon, but lately it's giving me a headache. Bring on the tea with home grown honey.


I picked up these angels at a thrift store in Pismo Beach, when ND and I spent our first Christmas together as a "couple." I still adore them.

Happy holidays!

holidays

First, there was some baking. It started with these canned crescent rolls; someone left them here from Thanksgiving. It was fun to roll stuff up in them: we tried cinnamon and brown sugar, homemade plum jam (extend cooking time), and my favorite, chocolate chips.

From there I moved on to make about 500 gingerbread men. They were spicy and sweet... I used honey instead of molasses. The kids all had a great time decorating them at our party last Saturday. It was a festive Solstice night with much merry making!


Before school was out, I attended the annual staff Christmas party at a local winery. The vineyards were bare, but the mountains were still green and beautiful. The next weekend, it snowed. It was quite thrilling, but sadly has not returned since.


Happily, my house has remained pretty steady since we had Thanksgiving here. I like the arrangement of the furniture now, it feels cozy again. I moved these pictures from scattered places to this one wall, and my eye is happy with it now.


Little P. got a new lunchbox (sorely needed) for her birthday. I got some new bird hooks from our special retail therapy store in San Francisco. My kitchen looks great in green so far this winter. I have been waffling back and forth about cooking and NOT cooking. I have been buying raw food books again, obsessing, reading, but not really DOING it. The new year is always a good time to start things, no?


Meanwhile I eat yummy things, like poached eggs in this organic tomato sauce over spaghetti. And cookies.

and more

The ranch is located up Ocean Street, at the opposite end from the Boardwalk. Things get pretty rural up here, you'd never guess you were just a few minutes from downtown.


There was wool for sale, however my stash is sufficient at present. I was surprised when I took inventory back home afterwards; I have at tleast this many colors I've picked up here and there...

Brrrr! Feels chilly when you lose your pants like this.


Cute kids set up their farm stand and sold "Lite Lunch":


Half a muenster cheese sandwich on rye bread with pickle; a small handful of greens, lemonade and a homemade cookie for five dollars? I'm in!


Persimmon trees guard the edge of the property. There were lots of kids up these trees...


And beneath them, women gathered to craft. The shepardess was most generous with her materials... I started yearning from a set of carders for Solstice.


The sheep all huddled in the corner. Forgive me but I forget what kind these are...Romsney perhaps? Very cute and wooly here!


Shearing a sheep is not like, say, peeling a banana. There are more curves and personal parts to look out for. The shearer was gentle yet firm. As soon as he got the sheep completely off her feet, she was totally docile. It was funny to watch them struggle when being caught, and then just relaxing into the process.


The wool was prolific. I believe the Shepardess ships it out to be processed, a job too big and time consuming to be done without special equipment I imagine.

I'm sorry this little business does not have a website. It was a magical morning.

as promised

More on the sheep / crafting field trip. Here is the garden next door to this place. Heaven! The sheep ranch is called Sheepie Dreams.


One of the crafters, a teacher at the local elementary school, brought these mobiles. I looked at the closely and tried to recreate the essence of the project.


I studied the color combinations as well. I realized they are actually very close to what real insects exhibit. The soft wool made a wispy medium and really spoke to an angelic energy.


Here's the blue fairy I came up with. I call her Faery Bleu.


I then realized how simple and wonderful it would be to make more of these for Solstice presents. Stay tuned.

sheep content

Okay.  So I was at the Farmer's Market last week and I picked up a flyer for a sheep shearing.  Wow!  I really wanted to pull it off.  So Sunday I jumped in my car and got lost, then found my way to a wonderful, wooly party in the sun.

I found a big bunch of really cool crafty women, sitting under persimmon trees and creating fluffy, fantasy fairies out of wool grown here on the farm.  The wool was dyed all different colors and it all felt wonderful.

And the sheep?  Well the sheep got sheared, which was the main reason we were all there.  Oh yeah, I have tons of pictures... but I'm weary of Blogger's way with downloading pictures so I'm only going to do five at a time.  Bonus:  more posts!

Here is the proverbial "bag of wool".  By the end of the shearing, there were many of these, ready for the shepardess to decide which one she would wash, clean, card, and spin first.  I was green with envy over this thought.

The sheep, on the other hand, were less than enthusiastic.  Though they didn't put up with much of a fuss, and it's a little hard to guess what exactly sheep are thinking.  They were well treated during the shearing despite the look on this one's face.

More sheep posts...including *wait for it*  crafts!

days

Where, oh where do the days go?  Was it just last week that our family was here?  A whirlwind weekend of fun, food, laughter, even a trip to the Boardwalk.  Now I have spent the last hour propped up in bed, eviting our Solstice invitation.  I love evites!  So much faster (and cheaper!) than had writing and mailing invitations.  Though I'll do that as well, to a few select friends.  I'm looking forward to a mindful holiday season.  My goal is to take it slow and easy, staying in my own rythm rather than succumbing to the rush.

Since we pared our house down for the last party, we plan to keep it that way.  There is a new, sweet energy in the dome now.  Space to breath, only our favorite of favorite items on display.  Soon we'll walk out the front door into the forest and select a tree (or I should say, the top of a tree), and set out the favorite things:  our snow globes, the nutcracker collection, and 100 seven day candles to light the longest night.

Before we do that however, there is another paper to write, a take-home final to complete, and of course the daily chores.  I'm managing to squeeze in some party time this week as well, and I started running again, which feels marvelous.  So proud I can pick it up after a while of "just walking".  I'm also eating clean and I'm up to about 75% raw per day.  The energy this gives me still amazes me.

And so the days grow shorter and shorter.  We transition from one celebration to another.  I can stop, tune in, become aware of my thoughts and feelings in any given moment.  What a blessing!

How do you fill your days?