smudge

When I was growing up, my mother burned wild sage in our home.

In each of my dwellings since then, I too have burned the sacred sage, even setting off the fire alarm in our city apartment a couple times (oops!). When we drove across country from Ontario to California six years ago, I gathered sage from the roadside fields of New Mexico and Colorado, two bags full, and bound them into smudge sticks once we returned home. They were lovely!
I am nearly finished my very last bundle; there are just a few sprigs left. It was actually one of two I had given my Mom as a gift, but she felt them too special to burn so she saved them all these years until she finally gifted them back to me. I suppose I can't just pop out and drive a few states over to find the good wild stuff anymore, so I am hoping to start growing my own in the spring, right here on my own land.

Whenever we are having a particularly difficult day, for whatever reason, I smudge our home and peace is restored. It cleanses the spirit in the most profound way; what a wonderful gift!
On this day, which also happens to be Thanksgiving in the USA, my gratitude flows freely for the sacred sage which has traveled with me through my living all these years (:

Oh!

 Last week in front of the barn:

This week in front of the barn:

Hmm. I think it's winter!

All three of my lovelies (:

^__^

This photo was taken a few weeks ago, as can be witnessed by the beautiful bits of green. Now all is brown, gray and white as winter leaps in at us. Yesterday Jason and I wrapped the firewood porch in plastic and hauled all the toys into the garage for the winter.

Aren't my lovely ones, well, lovely? I suppose the lambs are about 8 months old now, and though they may look like sheep, they are babies really. They are so sweet. Never has anything brought me so much joy as these guys. And Talulah too of course! She is hilarious, a great goat-y friend (:

Beautiful Teapot

Ollie loves soup!

This picture was taken last night, when Ollie was eating his birthday soup.

Of all my three children, this guy is the first to really love soup, which is good because we need to make a whole lot of it this winter; there are piles and piles of squash from the garden just begging to be made into soup!

Ollie's 2nd birthday was very, very mellow, but that is the way we all like it anyway (:
Jude and I started making Ollie's cupcakes (chocolate spelt) first thing in the morning. I mean, seriously first thing - Before tea and breakfast even! Ollie was still asleep and we were able to get everything measured and mixed before he even woke up. Of course they were excited as anything at the existence of cupcakes, so once they were baked and iced, we all had one. It was morning (:

Then, we played. A normal day for the most part, although Isabella stayed home from school so that was an extra bit of excitement. Ollie spied her straightening her hair and asked if she would do his too, so she did. And then she straightened half of Jude's hair before he ran away, and then they wanted their nails painted, so we did that too. (:

When Daddy got home from work, we ate dinner (soup and quiche) and then the cupcakes. I made a bunch of simple  drawings and taped them to toothpicks for cake-toppers, just basic designs that Ollie could identify, all animals. He had two presents which Jude was more than happy to unwrap for him. A good helper, hmmn?

And of course, everyone was so excited, and a bit wired because of the cupcakes, that they ran around the house screaming and being wild until they crashed, much later than a usual bedtime (-;

And so it is, my baby-love is 2.

^--^

Ollie is Two!!

Two years ago on this very night, Ollie came into the world and oh, we were so happy!
He is a spirit bursting with joy and love. We adore him so!
Today he is two. Hooray! Happy birthday, dear child, my beautiful, wonderful boy (:

love

Sweet little guy, doing sweet little guy things (:

Ollie is almost 2 years old,although I have no idea how that happened!

He brings me so much joy, that I often find myself stopping whatever I am doing to take a deep, much-needed breath and, with a bit of a happy tear in my eye, marvel at his wonderfulness. My sweet baby-man (: 

the things that make me smile (:

Isabella came up with this fun idea for a drawing; illustrations of all the things that make you smile, or at the very least, make you feel happy inside (: The top one is mine...

And here is Isabella's, in process. I have always loved to make quick little drawings, so this was very fun (:

The most recent of our creative escapades

Painting with a bingo dabber. Is that what you call them? At any rate, both boys made at least 10 polka-dot pictures, dotted their hands, the table, their cheeks...I have since tucked the bingo dabber away for a little rest!

Making fire extinguishers out of logs! Jude has been very dedicated to fire safety as of late. He and Ollie both have a fire helmet, but we had to get really creative when it came to obtaining an extinguisher (-;

Tempera paint in a freezer bag. Jude thought this was pretty awesome, Ollie not so much. The bags did not break open despite all the boy-play they endured! Woo hoo!

Good old-fashioned drawing. Jude draws every day, and for longer and longer periods. Here he is perfecting his axes and hammers! He is a big fan of chainsaws, rockets and laser shooters too (-;

More drawing! This is Santa's scroll (:

And here he is drawing a ninja, dressed as a ninja (:

^__^

Golden Eagle on our land

This magnificent bird came to our homestead yesterday and ate one of our hens. He is a golden eagle, a rarity, and also considered endangered. He allowed me to take pictures of him. It was dusk unfortunately so the pictures do not do him justice. He was huge, and he flew from the tree in this photo, swooped over me and landed in another tree, one that faces our main living space, so that everyone could peer out and get a good look at him. 

I consider a visiting eagle an amazing gift, but I hope he intends to carry on his journey soon.

The chickens are all locked up today, and will be for another few days. 

I saw him first thing this morning in the tree overlooking our living room and heard his screeching deep in the woods today so I know he is staying near for another delicious chicken meal.

Recent food around here!

Getting ready for applesauce

Butternut squash soup

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing made all pretty

Roasted garden tomatoes, ready to be made into soup

Homemade spelt bread

Spelt bread french toast

Slightly overcooked but amazingly delicious quiche

Ground cherries grow here!

Cherry cream cheese coffee cake

Wild apple sauce

The cure-all for tough days: popcorn

Acorn squash roasted and all ready to be made into lots and lots of soup

Wild apple slices dried in front of our wood stove 

wonderful hot cocoa!

Time for lunch!