These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things : Yuletide : Day Twelve

This was one of those days when it was a true pleasure to wake up with the sun, as there was actual golden sun gleaming through the trees and in through our windows, which was most welcome after a long stretch of gray days. With family arriving at noon, we got busy in the kitchen preparing the ham, potato leek soup, more Yule bread and filling cookie boxes for family to take home with them. With everything ready ahead of time, I grabbed my camera because the sunlight was so beautiful, and I went around snapping the house, singing carols and fluffing pillows, as needed. Doing so, I was gratified to see our treasures, amassed over two decades (and longer if you count the things from both my and Alex's childhoods), that help us mark the season, looking so sweet and lovely through my camera lens. The painting by my mother, the glove finger puppets from my childhood, the snowflakes our children cut (three to a window), my new Santa and Reindeer, our basket of Yule books that keeps being added to, the paperwhites in the American pottery, and the hundreds of special ornaments that adorn our tree. Later, it was family, gathered in the kitchen, and then at the table, and eventually around the tree to exchange gifts. These are a few of my favorite things. This our Yuletide, may we always keep it well.

On Not Hurrying: Yuletide : Day Eleven

Today started out both early and gray. We had our usual chores of feeding the chickens and ducks, guinea pigs and cats, and Alex started his Yule bread dough rising. We woke to some the mildest weather in weeks, and it's been so gray this entire month, so we were looking forward to the sun that was meant to show up in the afternoon. The kettle boiled and three of us sat to have cups of dark tea while carols played, and one of us slept in just a bit longer. Soon, all of us were together, eggs were scrambled, more tea was poured, and someone said we should do stockings. Oh, yes, of course, stockings! Then we sat at the kitchen table, opening our stocking gifts and drinking more tea, and we loved one another. Alex checked his dough, punched it down, and some of us went to brush teeth and properly dress for the day. Not one of us hurried.











The not hurrying turns out to be our favorite part of Yule and Santa Day in particular. There's no need to end the day by 9am, and we all relish the postponement of opening the gifts, wrapped so charmingly. The anticipation is sweet, and we wanted to savor it. Late morning, however, we all made our way to our tree, settled into our seats, and passed each other gifts. Olivia, as she did last year, had made us all something personal; hand-knit cowls for Alex and Adam in colors that bring out their eyes, and a darling felted portrait pin of a Speckled Sussex hen for me. For the family, to go with our felt Beatrice and Annabelle ornaments she made last year, she gave us a Claudia. Now we have a trio of guinea pigs to hang on our tree. Adam made us laugh with his attempts at reading German in the booklet that came with his new wood carving set. Olivia was so pleased with her wireless speaker, music lover that she is. Alex received his usual mixture of geekery and the practical, and this year it was Terry Pratchett and chainsaw gear. And then there was me, also as usual (I think my husband delights in finding the gift that will make me cry), sobbing over the gorgeous hand painted box with the soft sculpture Santa and Reindeer inside, made by our friend, Phoebe Wahl, and even more sobbing when Alex read her note, aloud. I adore her art and even more, the way she captures the magic that I so love about Yuletide in her so many of her works. These pieces will forever be a whimsical and charming part of our Yuletide tradition.



By noon, the sun was streaming in and we were down to the last box, which was long and narrow and leaned against the wall. It was for both Adam and Olivia.











We gave the kids cross-country skis, knowing they will be put to good use here on the farm. Of course, we will need snow. This day has turned bright and sunny, and oh so green, outside. Since we had quite a bit of snow in November, we weren't very disappointed not having a white Yuletide, and I'm quite certain snow will return.

There's no hurry, after all. Not this on this day, when everything feels good and magical and precious. Blessed Yule!

Where The Lovelight Gleams : Yuletide : Day Ten

Santa Eve. Readying for tomorrow, tidying corners, making things beautiful. We wrap, as we do every year until the wee hours, hoping that the treasures collected months or weeks ago still speak to our children, let them know they are understood, cherished, and adored. Alex and I recall other years, how funny things strike us after midnight, how much we grumble about this ritual but secretly love the squirreling away of items and folding them into gorgeous paper, tying bows, all with the knowledge about how ephemeral it all is. That in a handful of hours, the paper will be torn, the bows will be cut. That our children grow before our eyes and these years are precious and things will change. We know this. We know these rituals are important and more than being about material possessions and surprise. We know it to be about nurturing spirits, honoring the individual, loving on them just a moment longer. This is home. This is family. This is where the lovelight gleams.

The Season Of The Heart : Yule : Day Nine

I knew it was going to be a good day of making and elving when I got out of the shower by 830am and Alex already had a tray of peanut butter balls (Buckeyes) made. Getting up an hour before the ducks (that's 6am), has its benefits, I see.



Later this morning, Alex and I went out to do some final bit of elving and the teens, who had sugar cookie baking plans stayed at home. A few errands later, we realized we were essentially on a date, so when our stomaches were growling as we zipped by a known but never visited diner, we turned around and pulled into the lot. We were not disappointed. Avocado green booths, faux bois brown Formica, teased hair-the Hi-Hat Pancake House has it all. It looks and smells exactly like a thousand other diners I must have eaten at as a kid. It was perfect, and it was as if we had traveled back in time.





Of course, we didn't realize just how far back in time were were until we went to pay our bill the usual way, with our debit card, only to discover the diner only accepts cash or checks. CHECKS! Oops! And sure enough, we had about $3 in cash between us. Another oops! Our only hope was that I had the checkbook in the car and so I ran outside, found the checkbook and we were good. Whew! Yes, Maine is one of those rare places left in the world where checkbooks still come in handy. We'll definitely return to the Hi-Hat, next time with the kids, and cash.



Finished with our errands, (we kept it local by shopping downtown Gardiner and Hallowell, which proved extremely fruitful), we arrived home and were greeted by the good scents of butter and vanilla, and the voices of our capable children enjoying each other's company in our cozy kitchen.









It was a good day, filled with small pleasures, some nostalgia, togetherness, and purpose. We finished the day with the contentment of knowing we are tucked in with no place to be but home for a week or more, and cookie tins are filled to the brim, too. We snuggled together and watched the Muppet Christmas Carol and got choked up from beginning to end.  This is the season of the heart, make it last all the year.

Of Head Colds And Filling Out Forms: Yule : Day Eight

Today I whiled away the hours by the wood stove, writing messages in the Yule cards that went out in the last postal pickup this afternoon. I hadn't intended to leave this task quite so late, and I had ordered the cards a week ago. However, in a move I'm absolutely blaming on my having a nasty cold, the message was a bit off.

Oh, dear. While a certain friend to whom I related this story found this incredibly funny and begged me to send these incorrect cards out, I just couldn't. I realized I had not changed the template name on the order form, so back to the drawing board I went. Which brings us to a week later and me filling out cards today.

To all our dear ones, friends and supporters, of whom I lack addresses, please know we send wishes for joy, peace, cheer, and love, and blessings for a Happy New Year.

One Little Solstice Tree : Yule : Day Seven

This afternoon, we went into the woods to find our Solstice tree. This is a new tradition, one initiated by Olivia a year ago, and it fits nicely in with our pomander making and Solstice cake eating. It didn't take long before we found a little tree, one too shaded by oaks or growing too close to its siblings, and we said our blessing, cut it and walked back home, where we decorated it with dried orange slices and little snowflakes.

On our walk out of the woods, with the sun behind the hills, we stopped and visited with the ducks and chickens and we told them that winter had arrived. It seems even more Solstice-y now that we have our beloved fowl in the barnyard. (I'm still on the lookout for a duck cookie cutter; we have a chicken.) It makes me think of long-ago people who would have kept their animals close by, preparing for winter, grateful for the returning light, shaping bread into animal shapes, bringing greens inside to remind them, that yes, green would return.

Blessed Solstice from our home (and barnyard) to yours!