Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Diwali, Happy Eid (some years!), Blessings of the Yuletide be upon you. Oh, and Happy Holidays. There are a lot of words we can say to each other over the course of this dark winter season, I know that bothers some people but I say the more the merrier. Any chance to share words of kindness, to wish good things for other people, is a good thing. I don’t have to share a person’s…
While I may not have chestnuts roasting on an open fire, I do have pine needles stewing in a pan of water which is still pretty darn festive if you ask me. I’m always a bit slow to the party when it comes to yuletide cheer, I find December pretty exhausting truth be told; coupling darkness, busyness, pressure and running around does not make for a content Emmalina. Around this time though, as Solstice Eve dawns damp and remarkably unsnowed…
In the Kingdom of Osgoode, once more it is medieval fair time! We are so lucky to live within a few minutes of a great medieval fair that runs for a weekend each summer. This year, like last year, we attended the fair’s education day with some of our homeschool pals. learning all about medieval life. But unlike this year we didn’t attend the whole day as we were picking up Stephen from the hospital, so we just popped over…
Ok, if I’m honest (and let’s face it I always am) this is the bit I really enjoy about Christmas. The formal celebrations are over, the rush, the work, the pressure is all done and now we can just be. We can enjoy time together and days with no major agenda. We can work on our own projects and take time to build lego sets for hobbits and underwater creatures and spaceships. Or not. Or we can just watch a…
The storm that has been kicking North America’s botty for the last few days has finally abated, the snow and ice rain receding and leaving behind cobalt blue cold. From Friday to Sunday we battled against snow and ice, trudging through calf deep drifts with buckets of feed and water, feeling the ice pellets slip down the back of our jackets or listening to the tiny hiss of snow landing on snow. On Friday my friends forged through terrible driving…
My beloved boy, 8 times round the sun we’ve gone, 8 years you’ve lived beside us. I can’t imagine life without you. You are full of beans and curiosity, you never walk when you could gallop, you are my little comet zooming through life. You are strong and confident, kind to animals and little people, you are infectiously friendly to everyone you meet. You make me laugh every day; your mind is so full and alive I don’t know how…
While our Canada day was mostly comprised of lovely outside work (there really is nothing like mowing an acre of lawn to give you a feeling of satisfaction!) we did make some time for a bit of celebrating. Our local town had a bouncy castle and assault course, pony rides were had and new bikes were thoroughly zipped about on. But of course the highlight of any celebration is the sparklers… Each year I feel even happier to…
Planting tomato seeds… building forts… attending cookery school with Daddy (and making dinner to boot!) getting chickens (big and small) onto the green pasture that is leaping out of the earth all around us… looking up at the sky and seeing what we can spot… taking an evening stroll down by the pond… What better way to end a day than that?
It was bliss. Plenty to eat, much of it from our own farm, time to play, time to rest. We’ve really been enjoying our family time, even managing to squeeze in some quiet hours for Mummy and Daddy while the children play. Tomorrow the snow is coming in and I have a special project in mind; another day of just being together with no special plans. What could be better. Merry Christmas and a peaceful holiday to you wherever…
We started the day with bacon sandwiches (our home grown bacon), watching the snow falling heavily outside. It has continued to fall through the day, the edges of the world becoming plump and round and the thick flakes snuggle on top of one another. The day is slipping by in pleasant normality, not an apocalypse in sight. This is our second December living here, but to me it feels like the first. On days like this I’m grateful for many…