{celebrating dailiness} wintry potpourri

Nestled in on a cold wintry day.  Bunnies snooze.  The heater hums.  And wintry potpourri simmers on the stovetop.

few orange slices (best citrus for the job -- I tried lemon, lime & grapefruit as well)
cinnamon stick
whole cloves (doesn't take many)
fresh cranberries


Also makes a nice little gift for a friend, if you include a whole orange along with the other ingredients, in a clear little bag & tied up with a bit of baker's twine!

Happy Wednesday!

{celebrating dailiness} Baking Day

I'm much more a baker than a cook.
Five batches of dough in the fridge
on a Friday is a Good Day.

As Sela has gotten older, our homeschooling has changed in a way that I guess I hadn't quite thought about.  We spend more time than we used to working with a couple formal curricula.  Having a second child who is much younger (and naturally quite different) adds a wrinkle to what and how I want to accomplish goals for learning.  I'm currently working a few things to tweak our system -- I haven't been pleased with the balance of all things lately.

But, on Fridays, we change things up from the rest of the week.  We try our best to stay home all day, and we approach the academic work we're doing from a different angle.  Today was funny math videos and the beginnings of a multi-volume illustrated and artistically-lettered poetry anthology.  (Sela is finding all the poetry in allllllll the notebooks she's written it in, categorizing it, and putting it in one place.)

And for me, there was cookie making.  A LOT of cookie making.  (I volunteered to donate a dessert for a team fundraiser.)  Something for everyone, I hope!  Some with nuts, some with chocolate.  There were candy bits, there was jam, there was filling.  Three were family favorites, two were new. (Only one of the recipes is online -- mooncakes -- a definite recommend!)


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{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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{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