Category: Seasons

homesteading, Seasons

Spring, she is a Comin’

 

It’s been raining and gray, but there are buds starting to swell on the clematis and the cherry tree, and Cliff Mass says winter will be over in a month. The sarcococca the front yard is blooming, the hellebore might be thinking about it, and the rhubarb is trying again to put up a stalk after the last two have been snowed on and frozen. Gotta love the stubbornness of plants. So it seemed like a good time to sort through the seed box, throw out things “packed for 2007” and count what I have from last year (an unopened …

family, Seasons

Reviving a Tradition

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My grandfather loves his sweets. One of the best things about staying with my grandparents for an evening when I was in elementary school (ok, and later, too) was that I always knew there would be dessert after dinner. Dessert was a rare treat at home, but Grandma always had something, even if it was only a bowl of fruit or a scoop of ice cream. I can’t quite remember a time before the candy. I think Grandpa started making it after their house was finished (or what passed for finished – to this day, I don’t think my grandparents …

Caitlyn, Seasons

A Mom Moment

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One of the blogs I’ve been reading lately has a weekly tradition of posting a single image on Fridays of a special moment from the week, something special the writer wants to “savor and remember”. I like the idea, but I’m not that handy or prolific with the camera (Ian takes a lot of the pictures for me), so I’m hesitant to sign up for making this a regular weekly thing for me. Also, it’s supposed to be without words, but I’m terrible at that, too. On Christmas Day, we were joined by a guitar and a keyboard and several …

Seasons

Once more, with pictures

 

We started the day with stockings. Stockings, in my world, must be opened before breakfast, with everyone in their jammies. It’s a warm and cozy tradition, with the smell of Christmas coffeecake wafting from the kitchen. This coffeecake equals Christmas. I only make it once a year. I can’t have Christmas without it. Buttery brioche pieces dunked in more butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar and baked in a ring over caramel sauce. Mmmmm… And this is where we deviated from tradition. It’s a mostly vegetarian house; while Caitlyn and I might eat some meat on occasion, apart from …

Seasons

Favorite Moments

 

…never feeling panicked about how the flow of Christmas Day was going… …Caitlyn being so very enthusiastic about her presents but nearly always remembering to say “Thank you” without prompting… …my guests declaring they might never order tiramisu at a restaurant again, since it wouldn’t possibly measure up to what I made… …and the best one: Caitlyn giving me a star sticker for a job well done: “You did a really good job cooking, Mama.”

Seasons

(Almost) First Christmas Tree

 

This is the first year we’ve bought a tree for Christmas. There’s only been one Christmas since Caitlyn was born that we stayed at home, and getting a tree never made much sense those years. The year we didn’t travel, we decorated the Norfolk Island Pine (which still needs a new home); it made a strange-looking Christmas tree and it meant that Christmas more or less got confined to the sunroom. Not the most ideal set up. We don’t have a large house, though, so finding a tree that wouldn’t render the living room unlivable for the next three weeks …