{celebrating dailiness} Milestones

it's surprisingly hard
to get a picture of a chicken

file that under: Who Knew?

Jack is learning to cluck!  She generally sounds like a goose or Topper, but recently she's startled us & sent us running to the backdoor when we heard distinct clucking!  She looks so pleased with herself -- once she starts, she really gets on a roll.  And I'm pretty sure, when she finished today, she strutted right by big Brown with a devil-may-care why-would-i-flinch attitude.

I guess it makes sense.  They aren't born clucking.  It's a bit like watching a child's voice change.  Yet another interesting thing I did not know (or think) about chickens.

Speaking of chickens (why, yes, I was speaking of chickens again), here are some of my favorite books about raising chickens:

Chick Days by Woginrich
My Pet Chicken Handbook by Lucas & Torres
Chicken Coops - Pangman

For kicks:
Extraordinary Chickens by Green-Armytage
Fowl Play by Merrill

(And my favorite chicken book title: A Chicken in Every Backyard by Litt & Litt)

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{celebrating dailiness} a day

home

there was math and flute practice and writing, and no history because the history book has gone missing.  a crockpot dinner, apple pie-making with a little boy, and Grandma Ruth's extra pie crust treat with the extras.  and no rushing, and no urgency.  pooh bear and legos and harry potter, and knitting and a day outside with our lonely and nervous chicken friend.  it was home.


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Meg & Jack

I'm not "an animal person."  Translate: I never wanted a pet when I was a kid.  I didn't understand why my parents and brother seemed to be perpetually fussing around various dogs, birds, and hamster-y things.  I don't approach dogs and ask their people questions about them.  

I don't really know how to do a lot of The Things people do with pets.  So having animals for the first time meant asking a lot of questions.  (Reading a few books.)

It means, too, I guess, that I don't really think it's that weird that our chickens live in the house with us part time.  And it means I spent the weekend skinless and in tears because we had to take our rooster, Meg, to go live on a farm today (no, really, I delivered him myself) because we aren't allowed to have roosters in the city.

Or, does this make me "an animal person"?

{celebrating dailiness} my little plot

quality time

The chicken coop needed moving,  the patio needed -- eh-herm -- washing, and because the weather was so mild and the air so fresh, I decided to stay outside and do more.  A nice start on garden prep.  Some good quality time with our chicken friends.  A little work on the neglected compost bin -- we've got some black gold happening in there!  Lunch outside, plant explorations, and reading for the kids.

Three pairs of boots, three pairs of gloves, THREE CONTENTED HEARTS.  Well, I think maybe 5 actually.

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{celebrating dailiness} Afternoon

library time

This afternoon's agenda:  

   * enjoy our "alone time" while big sis was busy

   * get to know our new (& a little intimidating) game as a duo, rather than a trio

   * check out some dinosaur books

   * chat with our favorite librarian

   * & last but definitely not least, see if we could find any Pooh audio books, 

        as requested

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{celebrating dailiness} Home

Just where I left you, old friends <3

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{celebrating dailiness} Back to Work

 table for 3

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{celebrating dailiness} Meetup

 across the table

A favorite restaurant,

a meal for four.

Smiles & catching up after

we all ventured back out into the world today.

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{celebrating dailiness} Still Life

It's the comforts of home, the stillness of a moment,

the random arrangement of objects that have special meaning, 

that briefly catch my eye before heading into the fray.

They give me pause & I celebrate dailiness with a contented smile.

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{celebrating dailiness} Project Space

transferring thread from
my grandmother's sewing box --
lovely & full of memories,
but a jumble & out of reach --
to my new organizer,
a present from my daughter.
in fall fabrics were sorted & supplies were tidied.
grandma's box will be just right for something else
& my project space
is an invitation.

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{celebrating dailiness} Warmth

When my mom was here for Christmas,
I admired her new boots.
After she had gone I found that she
had left them neatly beside her bed for me.

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Celebrating Dailiness

The end of a year and the beginning of a new one naturally calls us to reflect.  The calm meandering of my day today allowed me to come in and out of thoughts about, well, my daily life.

I drifted to and away from my desk all morning -- peeking at blogs, perusing my long-neglected Pinterest boards, reading articles I had saved.  Combined with thoughts about last year and half-formed "plans" for this year, I started to feel... overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed by ideas, overwhelmed by the simple beauty around me.  By the chores.  By the dreams.  By the realities, by the possibilities.

Where to start?  Where to go?  By what means?

I took a step back.  Let it all sit awhile.  And what rose to the surface was Amanda's most recent post on her blog, The Habit of Being.  She'll be #celebratingdailiness on Instagram.  And while I know that I shouldn't add in another place to be, I'm drawn to the practice of lingering on the beauty of my dailiness.

It used to be easier to notice, to stop, to linger.  I spent more time appreciating and celebrating the ordinary.  But the pace has picked up too much.  Time to switch gears, decelerate.

So, I'll be celebrating my dailiness here everyday in January (to start to rebuild my habit) and probably off and on after that.  Amanda will be on Instagram.  If you're up for celebrating, too, I'd enjoy that very much!

making a bed

File It Under: Where to Find This Next Winter

It's a good, good life.  It's a wonderful life.  It's also become a life where I'm generally two steps behind!  Ah well.  I can work with that, I suppose.  (I'm loaded with tricks.)

Our local art museum features a monthly Crafternoon for families.  It's exceedingly well done -- three craft projects that are interesting to do AND to have around the house afterwards, as well as being manageable for little ones and also engaging for adults.  It's very inexpensive, and, honestly, gathering the supplies for and executing three projects at home would cost more on my own (and I really love crafting with my kids!).  December's projects were beaded snowflakes, felt wreaths, and paper ornaments.  I had just a minute to learn to make the ornament, but I was so captivated by it that I made myself a tutorial for next year!

 Fold an origami square in half diagonally.

 Fold it in half again, forming a triangle.

 Hold the triangle so that the bottom edge could open.

 With the triangle closed flat,

make at least three cuts.

DO NOT cut all the way across.

Try to leave the same margin at edge for each cut.

 When you open your paper, 

it should look like this.

 Using double-stick tape,

roll in the innermost two flaps.

Because it's tiny, I use a pencil or the scissor tips

to help me make them stick together.

 Now, TURN IT OVER.

Repeat with the second set of flaps.

 TURN IT OVER AGAIN.

Repeat.

 Turn it over again. 

Repeat until all flaps are matched with corresponding flaps.

 Punch a hole & string it.

Beautiful for hanging in arrangements in windows.

Sela experimented with making more cuts.

 I experimented with making a star.

I cut two pieces of origami paper into 4 squares each.

(You need only 6 of the squares.)

I made 6 ornaments, 

and using double-stick tape at the bottom tips

put together two sets of 3.

With more double-stick tape,

I combined the two sets.

This one is small enough to hang 

with the Christmas cards or from the mantle.

Sela made one with regular origami paper

that is large and looks beautiful hanging in the window.

They have an wondrous way of feeling as though

they bring in light.

So lovely in these winter months!

(Happy Winter, You, and Merry Christmas 2015, Me!)