inside ~ outside

~Inside ~

~ outside ~

I needed to be outside yesterday.  Of course, one little person in my family thought he just wanted to be inside all day.  But as I explained, sometimes a family has to do things that's for the good of all it's members.  Even if one person doesn't want to do it.  I also tried to convince him that he would enjoy the place I was taking him to.

When we got to our destination, after listening to crying the whole trip, he held my hand tight and walked with me along the path.  Shortly thereafter, he forgot about his previously strong opinion and had fun.  I'm talking very strong opinion.  We saw hawks and falcons.  The sun was shining and I soaked up all that warmth on my skin.  We heard the chirps of birds.  At one point far off, there was a loud uprising in the sea of cattails and we heard the birds sounding their alarm that came toward us like a wave.  It was a beautiful day.  Then I was ready to come home.

Happy Solstice!

in the eye of the storm, i am calm

Around this time of year (and all other times),  I avoid shopping malls and all the people gorging themselves on huge pieces of chocolate shopping cake.  It feels like I'm in the eye of the storm.  It's calm and everyone is losing their mind around me.

Although, at times, I'm losing my mind a little with all this sewing.  If I said I totally got this holiday stress under control,  that would be a complete lie.  I just need to keep my focus.  Remember what this season is all about.  And not worry at all that our handmades will arrive once again after Christmas.  Just know two things about me.  I'm almost always a week late with holiday or birthday gifts and if you leave a message on my cell phone, I may not get it for a week because it usually lives under a seat in my car and I don't check it often.

I have realized over the years that I have absolutely no control over the tree decorating.  I've completely surrendered to that.  Lego airplanes dominate the lower branches.  Sweet, I love it.

 
 

One more thing about me.  I love simple meals.  I found this recipe in one of those magazines at the health food store (Delicious Living December 2011).  It's really good.

Cauliflower, Celery, and Leek Soup

Saute one medium leek thinly sliced and 7 celery stalks thinly sliced in 3 TB of olive oil for 4 minutes.  Add one pound of cauliflower and 4 cups of broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered until veggies are tender.  I added my favorite seasoning blend.  Once cooked, I blended in blender and put back in the pot with a little cream.  Added salt and pepper to taste.

Oh and one more thing...I deleted intense debate because every month or so it would completely lose my comments.  The down side of that is that any comment that you ever left on my blog through intense debate has been deleted.   sigh... 

Finding the perfect tree

Finding a perfect tree in the forest is kind of like having a favorite child.  Well, not really but the trees are all perfect in my eyes.  Eventually, however, we'll have to pick one to cut down.  It's a family effort and decision.  It has to be big enough but not too big.  It can't have huge bare spots.  After a nice hike we found the one the right one and got straight to work.  It was very cold after all.  "Let's get this thing and get out of here!"

It was a beautiful day to get our Christmas tree.  Not like last year.  Goodness, we had to scrap those plans altogether and get our tree from a tree lot.  I was alright with it but the kids love our tradition of cutting down our own.

We all took turns using the saw.  Slow going that tree sawing with our ancient saw.  I said we should have gotten a new one a few years ago and then forgot until the next year and so on.  I swear we're getting a new one next year!

This tree, we estimated from the rings, grew 23 years for us.  The tree right next to it will have more sun.  We make it a point to be very thoughtful when picking our tree.  After all, the way I see it, the tree has given it's life for our pleasure and we should respect it.

Then there's the family photo I try and get.  This time the dog won't cooperate.  He was pretty jazzed about being in the forest.  We didn't see a soul out there.

As tradition goes, we head back to the car and drink our hot cocoa or hot chai with honey and milk if you don't have hot cocoa.  Then we head home and mama puts the lights on.

This is the start of Christmas for us!