Thursday, December 17th, 2009
I’ve been meaning to take time to write about how we spend our holidays and what we’re doing for Solstice. This is the first year that we’re actively celebrating a winter holiday and after a such a meaningful Samhain (celebrated around the same time as Halloween), I’m really looking forward our first Winter Solstice.
Of course many of you have seen that I’ve been crazy busy working on a countdown calendar and I thrilled to say I’ve finished…. at least finished enough for the holiday. Next I’ll add buttons to the fabric to hang the pieces on and then I’d like to add some smaller details with embroidery, like ground (grass etc) and hills (for the bear to be placed on). I’d still like to add a backing to give the pieces more structure and hide the embroidery thread and I also need pockets to hold all the pieces. Click on the picture to see it up close with notes on what the pieces are and what day they show themselves.
I’ve looked for inspiration online for more secular activities and traditions but with little luck. We aren’t Christian or Pagan or any other religion but we are enjoying being inspired by the ways our ancestors celebrated these different holidays before they were Christianised and then commercialised. Thankfully I have at least one book on hand to offer some suggestions on how we can celebrate the shortest day of the year.
Solstice symbolises a turning point where the days start to get longer again almost like the beginning of a new year. Celebrating this time of year is helping make our dark days not seem so dismal. It’s a time to spend indoors reenergising with more time to sleep. We get to reconnect with each other being in close quarters and work on quiet projects. I’ve noticed with my embroidery work getting done, my kids have been drawing, reading and quietly pretend playing quite a bit. Lily’s skill in drawing in particular has really grown and I notice her adding little details that look a lot like what you’d do if you’re embroidering.
In the next day or two, the kids and I plan to make an Apple Chain out of paper to hold our memories for the year. We also hope to make sweet “Wish Bread” where we talk and think about our hopes for the coming year. Other neat foods to make at this time of year are Meringue Cookies, Chocolate Cookies, Sun Custard, Sun Cereal with Polenta and Snow Candy with Maple Syrup. I’ll make an effort to share the recipes and some pictures of these and any other activities we do before Solstice in case any of you are interested in trying yourselves.
Do you celebrate Solstice? What are some of your traditions?
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
It was a wonderful and busy day yesterday!
We went to the local museum in the morning for craft making. Lily made a scary haunted house on a paper bag and I made a witch with Leif until he decided he’d rather just cut paper.
We made Pad Thai for supper. You’re probably wondering what this dish has to do with the holiday and I was started to wonder that myself while making it with Lily yesterday evening. It just happened to be the dish we decided to make that morning when looking at our meal plan (that I have been meaning to post).
We decided to go to the community party at the civic centre before eating supper because we weren’t that hungry yet and getting to the party early made more sense. There were so many fun games to play. Ring toss, ghost toss, spider toss, eyeball toss, canning lid toss, hockey, pumpkin puzzles… Lily joined the costume parade across the stage to show off what she was wearing.
Leif’s so shy he stayed in the Beco the whole time. He didn’t want to be in costume or really be noticed at all by the scary and strange people all around us. He only spoke when we went to the table where they were handing out toothbrushes.
We came home when the party got really busy. With the lit pumpkins looking on, Lily, Leif and I great enjoyed our Pad Thai and then set the table for dessert. We had made Honeyed Seed Cake earlier in the day and it was fantastic! Recipe to come…
We had been talking for a few days about two particular family members that have passed away recently that meant a great deal to us and did so again this evening. I really enjoyed having this dedicated time to honour these important people.
Hope you all had a great holiday too! I can’t wait to catch up on my blog reading to see!
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
We’re embracing new traditions this year. Halloween is something we’ve only just started to dabble in last year when we went to a couple community parties. This year we’re going to spend a little time learning about what exactly we’re celebrating on this day. Samhainn (sow-in) is the Gaelic word for “Summer’s End” and was the time that people celebrated the end of summer or the end of the harvest and the darkening of the days before the winter.
It’s also a time when people believed that our world and the Afterworld were closest allowing spirits to cross over and visit us. Many people took this opportunity to honour their dead loved ones. I think we’ll do this with pictures and stories.
Of course we’re going to carve pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds!
We don’t eat commercial candy, avoiding the artificial colouring or flavouring so we wont be going trick or treating. We’ll have plenty of good quality chocolate (like we do any other day here) and we’ll probably do some sweet baking. Maybe some Honeyed Seedcake…
We’re going to two community parties where Lily and Leif can show off their new costumes. My mother in law sent a couple beautifully home made ones earlier this week. We were so excited to see what she made.
Leif is Dracula with his lined cape, cummerbund and pants. We’ll put a shirt and shoes on him on the day of.
Lily is a Geisha. Cam and I are joining forces to make her a pair of Geta sandals. Lily and Cam worked yesterday to build the base and I’m going to work today on the padded straps. I almost want a pair of my own!
I’m sure I’ll post more after the celebrations!
