Christmas Morning

Christmas 2011!

Christmas 2011 was:

snuggling with Grandmim every single morning...

St. Nicholas stuffing a pomegranate at the bottoms of our stockings...

two new dolls with Christmas dresses and outstretched arms! A stone sled ride, a nighttime visit to all the animals and doling out treats in honor of the first Christmas...carols and candles and Papa reading the Christmas story in the horse shed in front of the life-size manger scene...

A tree a glow on Christmas Eve, an Angel of Peace and renewed vows, Lasagna and Christmas in Connecticut...cheesecake with raspberry sauce...

The Annual Christmas Puppet show performance of Cinderella to a house bursting at the seams! Chicken and Lamb soup...Christmas cookies. More Christmas Cookies.

Dancing the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve in the kitchen and living room...

HAPPINESS.

Winter

Magical.

St. Nicholas Day

Shoes filled with mittens and lollipops.

Fuzzy Snowflakes falling in the sunshine.

GrandMary's Gingerbread House.

Making cookies with friends.

2 BIG ponies.

Happiness.

Spinning and Carding

Our dear friend Karen came over yesterday to teach us how to spin and use the drum carder. I was entranced by how delighted the girls were over such a practical task. They bring such wonder and contentment to the ordinary things of the day...or of "yesterday's past".

Artists in Residence

The Wall is not big enough...

Thanksgiving Day Baking

Thanksgiving for Girls

Things that make me grateful:

Finding Una asleep wrapped up in a cocoon of down comforter during her nap completely naked. "Why are you naked?" I asked the rosy cheeked cherub. Her response came haltingly: "I...I...I'M A BAT!"

Bothilde's chalk drawings covering the wall going up the stairs...maidens, and kings and queens with checkered crowns, and fat rolly polly people holding balloons

Painting the kitchen the color of butter.

Baking Pumpkin Bread with the girls.

A cup of spiced chai tea made by my husband and a woodstove fire to drink it by...

Goats.

What are you thankful for?

Happy 3rd Birthday Una!

We are posting this a little late...but suffice to say that GrandMary saved the day with the pinkest most sparkling cake that ever was dreamed of by a very excited to be 3 little girl!

Harvesting with GrandMim

GrandMim and Una took care of the green onion harvest singlehandedly!

2 Girls and their Bears

The "bobs" have spent a fair amount of time recently eyeing the pine trees on the fenceline to the South. They are rather convinced that there is a troll's cave at the base of the largest of the pines...Papa made them all the more sure of it when he came running from that direction and breathlessly disclosed that he had distinctly heard the sound of...snoring....troll snoring coming from that vicinity.....