Celebrating Imbolc

"Come Bride, Come Bride, enter in

Your bed is made up, nice and daisy,

Come Bride, Come Bride, enter in

We're ready for your blessing now

Ready for your blessing, now"

Today we will decorate our door with a ribbon, in faith that the Goddess of Imbolc, Bridget, will bless us and our home tonight as she passes by, bringing in the Spring.

With the Fishes.

Inspired by SouleMama, a moment without words, a cherished moment, a moment to smile.

Life in the Fast Lane

Life is whizzing by at a fair old pace here.
The blur that was the weekend, was full of fun.
We have been partying to celebrate a friend's third birthday.

Coffee and cakes ( and wonderful parsnip soup ) at a gorgeous organic small holding.
A lovely play date with toast and pate thrown in.

Laundry, shopping and chicken coop cleaning.

Wood chopping.

And then Monday morning, brought uniform shopping, for a girl, that at the grand, old age of nearly 13, will be heading to school for the first time on Friday, yes this Friday !

Yarn Along - 3

Hello and huge thanks to all the Yarn Alongers, who left such wonderful comments on my first YA post, much appreciated, knitters what a great crowd.
Feel like joining in the fun ? posting a current WIP and your book of the moment, visit here, it's a real treat http://www.gsheller.com/

I am noticing a habit with my knitting, find a good, straight forward pattern and then knitting it several times, so it's with no surprise that I find myself on my third plain vest, pattern from Pickles and very happy with them all too, this one, size 4 is for a birthday girl, who will be partying on Saturday, so must get a move on.

The lilac yarn is a gorgeous, soft delight, perfect for looking forward to Spring.It came, along with many, many friends as a woolly-tastic gift from this fantastic blogger http://when-i-get-the-time.blogspot.com/ thanks again honey, oh the fun to be had with 2 brimming bags of yarn, what plans I have.

A new book, Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn, new author to me, came in a set of 8, so fingers crossed I like them !

Daisy Dalrymple is, I think, going to turn out to be the Miss Marple of the '20s, swapping twin set and pearls for flapper style attire, while solving many a mystery, perfect for this late winter reading.

Taking the time to ....

Play.

Peace through the mail

Just as I hit the "publish post" button yesterday, the postman knocked the door. Nestled amongst what was mostly junk mail, was a package for me, familiar writing, making me smile before even opening it.

Tucked inside was this little beauty, winking at me was it clear and bright message .... Peace.
I laughed, cried and laughed some more.



Then today's mail, brought another treasure, a card, covered in woolly knits, a card, saying Hi, am thinking of you, a card that carried with it love, care and Peace.
These gifts of Peace, from two very wise woman, thank you Veronika of the amazing Mother Magazine http://wwwthemothermazine.blogspot.com/ and Claire, who blogs about her gorgeous family here http://blackhobbescat.blogspot.com/
Both knowing some Peace was needed before I had realised it myself.

Today, has in places, felt fresher, somewhat less foggy.We made it out to our Home Ed group, perhaps for the last time in awhile.It was good to chat, catch up with news and share some laughter.
Home to change our bed, wash up the breakfast dishes that were missed in the mad scramble to get out the door this morning and just now light the fire, all ordinary, every day things that are beginning to come with a huge dollop of Peace.

Love and the brightest of blessings for all the wonderful comments yesterday, how they made my heart sing, lifting my spirits, thank you all.

Finding Peace.

Isn't it so easy to get caught up in how good everyone else's lives look ? believing no storm ever rocks their boats, the sun is always shining and that almost everyone else's family life is brimming with gorgeous goodness, 24 hours of each and every day. Leaving you feeling even lower about the blows you are facing.
And so I am so very thankful for reading over the last few days, some of the most honest, heartfelt posts on blogs and forums of the hardships people are facing in their families, giving my heart some ease, knowing I am not alone.

2011 seems to have blown into our home with abit of a force.
So I am taking my time and trying hard to find peace in the ordinary, the every day, the familiar.
Looking back over the past few weeks, I am not sure the holidays helped us, it all felt so good at the time, later nights with lie ins for all the next morning, which we convinced ourselves made up for the whiny, over tired child of the night before, the grab what you want when you want meal times, that had nothing of any goodness really being eaten but lots of goodies disappearing at an alarming rate, the treat of the TV being on for more hours in the day then in our normal viewing week and more, sadly much more.


And so into January, still struggling to shake off the habits picked up so very quickly.
I am trying to find peace in the stillness, the quiet and the plain.

A new Year with new plans ahead of us, new adventures to face, K will be heading to school at the grand age of 12 ( nearly 13 ) leaving us non-home educators for the first time in 8 years, a morning at play group for O, will do both him and his Mama good I feel, trips to Aberdeen and India are already on the cards for N and L has his own grand plans as he moves ever nearer to his independence.

So this Mama, feeling alittle weary and heart sad is trying to find peace, in the every day and the ordinary.

Deep peace of the running waves to you

Deep peace of the flowing air to you

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

Deep peace of the shining stars to you

Deep peace of infinite peace to you

Celtic prayer.

A Read and a Knit - Yarn Along 2

The Read - The Garden Cottage Diaries by Fiona J. Houston, a year of stepping back into 18th century living, a perfect choice for the holidays, so easy to pick up and put down, snippets of daily chores, recipes, hardships and lovely nature notes.

The Knit - Plain Vest by Pickles number 2, first was cast on Solstice night for O, perfect silvery yarn reflecting the snow and ice, this one is going to be a gift for a friend's child turning 1.
Size 1 of this pattern is available free on the Pickles website.
http://shop.pickles.no/en/products/patterns/patterns-w-yarns/plain-vest.html
I added some extra length for O's size 4 and will do again on the littler version.

Go share your WIP and latest reads over at http://www.gsheller.com/
they're a very friendly crowd.

Peppermint Bark

So good, nearly didn't make it out the door for gifts.

Keeping Mum & Dad's Hands Warm.

Gifts for my parents.
Patterns from Last minute knitted gifts.

Gentle, easy knits before holiday fun began.

Hoping the holidays have been restorative for you and your families and wishing a happy, healthy 2011 to you all.