mamaroots

Bracing and a little early week WIP

I know you are probably totally tired of hearing me talk about the snow this winter, but wow we are just getting a crazy amount of the powder in January!  I don't think I have been in this much constant snow since my Colorado days! 

Well, they are predicting a mother of a storm and we are in the center of the path- my village town has already release school early today, cancelled tomorrow, my work closed tomorrow, not a single banana to be found in the grocery and we are all in quiet wait, bracing for the anticipated possible 2 feet of snow that is suppose to hit tomorrow!  We are officially in a Blizzard Warning!

So yesterday I stopped by and got some wood for toy making, some yarn at the local yarn shop to make some new surprise yarn balls for the spring, and a box of cake mix and frosting to make cupcakes tomorrow!  I can definitely be snowbound for a couple days with fresh cupcakes in the house!

So with that I think we have lots of projects in place!  I am also upcycling this great patchy blanket from the thrift shop into a new "Postal" bag- my bag I take with me when I go to mail packages!  I need a bigger one.  Do you see these at the vintage/thrift shops- there are all around.  Even though I am normally an all natural fiber gal, I love these old patchy polyester blankets.  I have a couple that I curl under while watching American Pickers!  So this one agreed to let me make it into a bag!  I will keep you posted- raise your hand if you have one of these funky blankets!

warm me up

How did you enjoy Turmeric this last month?  Warming loving herb!  I really like the color, the smell, the warmth from Turmeric!  Kristine from Herbal Roots did a wonderful job!  My favorite crafty part of Turmeric is the dyeing.  We have some silks on order and some organic cotton that we will be doing here at the month transition.  We need that sunshine warmth as we are only half way through winter!  This is a photo from one that we did a couple summers ago- just such a beautiful color!

The Herb that Kristine choose for us all for February is cottonwood!  We have 2 giant cottonwood friends in our woods- Tanglewood.  We look forward to learning more in February!

Want a chance to win a copy of February Herbal Roots- then leave a comment here between now and Tuesday at midnight.  I will announce the winner and send the issue via e-mail on Wednesday.  Bonus points for following us on facebook:

mamaroots

herbal roots

And be sure to watch Herbal Roots on Monday for a chance to win a wood Red Panda at Herbal Roots! Silas loved learning all about where Red Pandas live- another great stepping stone that Herbal Roots provides us each month.

Good luck- be sure to share on your blog, a great chance for such a wonderful herbal learning source!

this "harry" moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual via Soulemama that I was keen on doing this week- a simple sweet moment from the past week.

daddy's got a brand new song

Well, he actually has three new songs.  My beloved has started taking mandolin lessons and I am so impressed with how quickly he has picked it up.  We have this awesome group of friends that like to get together and pick and pluck out some awesome tunes.  It is fun to see and hear how music has evoloved into a common thread for gatherings and hanging out.

So these past few weeks it is not an uncommon sight to see daddy pickin on the mandolin, Jasper reading a Harry Potter book- (he started HP5 last night) Silas to be filling out pages of his journal with drawings of windows, and mama sanding some toys.  Makes for a fine winter's night.  The sweetness of the boys talking about what song daddy will bring home makes my heart sing.

A great new development is that Jasper will be joining daddy next week to start fiddle lessons.  Silas wants to learn piano soon.  Me- well I did my share of playing music from 4th grade until a senior in highschool and decided to be done once I hit college.  My insturment is definitely my wood sanding, but now that my boys have the strings a strumming I find myself wanting to sing more and more! 

How about you?

 

layers

The weekend has passed in many layers, snow, clothes, and blankets.  I tried to keep warm by dedicating my crafting brain to thinking about the summer.  A journey will take us to celebrate my younger sisters wedding this upcoming summer and I am helping her with her wedding invitations.  She decided to use vintage hankies as her invite so I have been scouring some spots for some to re-use.  

I am pretty excited to try my hand at making these with the help with my other sis and my mama.  I am passing on making the investment in the Gocco or Yudu, we are sticking with fabric ink and custom stamps- anyone else out there tried this before?  This new book Handmade Weddings is wonderful- makes me almost wish I had my wedding to do all over again- I will settle on some fun 10 year anniversary fun this year DIY style!

So to help us keep on some warm thoughts here is the winner for the Groundhog set- random number generator says . . .#36- Sarah!  Sarah if you could e-mail me you snail mail addy I will send this off right away for you!

I am off to finish my submission for the Rhythm of the Home spring edition- keeping me toasty tonight with a warm cup of tea!

this "clean" moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual via Soulemama that I was keen on doing this week- a simple sweet moment from the past week.

8.2- wait, make that 8.7!

I think that is roughly what they are saying the inches we got in snow in this latest snow- oh yes- snow days indeed are well loved!

I do enjoy these days with my fellas, but I am doing an awful lot of groundhog work these days, reading groundhog stories, making groundhogs, and we will be doing our own visualization of some non-shadow seeing for old Phil in a couple weeks!

To help you with your shadow play story time I am giving away a wooden little groundhog with a warm scarf, and a little book of shadow plays.  Just leave a comment here between now and Saturday at midnight for a chance to win the set.  Extra entry for becoming a fan of my facebook page.

Do you have any favorite groundhog reads you like?  We have enjoyed How the Groundhog's Garden Grew for a while and have really enjoyed adding this new book Brownie Groundhog and February Fox to our reads!  It is a clever fun story and I didn't think anyone else knew of dunking your cinnamon into your hot cocoa besides my mama!

Enjoy and good luck!

New Years giving

We are winding down from New Years and before we jump into February including handmade valentines, gifts, etc, we needed to finish our giving project started in December, actually it is an whole year sorting process with our Giving, Savings, Spending Jars.  We took an afternoon and sorted and counted and rolled out the jars wares from 2010 and will be taking the savings to the bank, spending what their hearts desire- seem to be Magic cards these days, and lastly we gave.

We had choosen Heifer to make a gift to.  I really like that they give a family and agro based product to help a family sustain themselves.  We chose a share of a llama and a share of rabbits.  I like that the llamas had the wool option for fiber, and their pack ability to help with carrying.  We liked rabbits for their quick reproduction for a food source.  So to commemorate I made the boys a llama this year to mark what we gave.  Maybe we will have a whole farm of wood animals showing what we gave each year!  I have a feeling this will become a giving tradition for us.

It was a great lesson in math/counting and in giving.  I found out about this really fun alpaca camp that I am going to have Jasper attend this summer to help tie it together as well.

We are bracing for yet another snow storm heading our way- the boys and I are crossing our fingers for another couple of snow days from school!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for a fun give-away!

remember and teach

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual via Soulemama that I was keen on doing this week- a simple sweet moment from the past week.