mamaroots

like riding a bike

The past couple of weeks have taken this mama for a wild ride that I am not quite ready to share yet but I am a big trusting place with the Universe that I will know the lesson of this all in the future.  My apologies for not being in this space but I am looking forward to saying goodbye to some stress and coming back to evening walks and other spring joys like prepping for our annual Memorial Day weekend family bike that we do with the one and only Pedalers Jamboree.  Bike, food, music, and friends.  Yep this is definitely on my list of things I am getting excited about here in May, and this mama needs a boost.

Local folks, check out the video here.  I can't recommend it enough, time to dust off my Amerstdam and get my bike butt ready.  Guess what will be in my basket this?  Yep-yarn!

 

just sweet enough

Crafting together with my friends this weekend got us making some felt sugar skulls in prep for Day of the Dead this week.  I found this complete gem destined for a cardigan sweater this week.  I adore the intricate detail and wonderful stitches.  It has great stitches that I am not sure I will ever be able to do.  

I gave it my best and made the boys a couple little sugar skulls, it is a great treat to make to take part in the Day Dead festivites after Halloween, a way to celebrate our dead without fear, but with storytelling and joy.

This is a fun book to check out for more ideas, or just grab your felt, needles, and embroidery thread and see what you can stitch up!

oui

Oui indeed- it has been a busy couple of weeks between 11 year old birthdays, festivals, soccer, and transitions into fall.  But we are settling back into a routine and plan to make up for my absence.  Colene did wonderfully on her first big festival.  Though I did not think it was possible for a second year of mud, it definitely made a difference sleeping in my sweet Scamp when the weather was a bit cool this year.  We are so thrilled to have her!

We are prepping for "Dragonmas" this weekend to welcome in fall all proper like, but how about a few give-aways to get back in the groove!  Let's start off with the monthly give-away for the Oct issue of Herbal Roots Zine- always a wonderful resource for families to help us all stay rooted with nature!

Leave a comment between now and Sunday night for a chance to win, I will e-mail the winner a copy on Monday! Bonus entry points for following me on:

twitter

facebook

herbal roots zine facebook

Be sure to check in with Kristine at Herbal Roots Zine for a chance to win one of my wood critters- a little wood stick bug!  

Join me tomorrow for a dragon give-away!

 

May Day

sweet little treats from a lovely May Day Fairy provided just a lovely opportunity to sit on the deck and have a fantastic treat of delicious muffins and smoothies!  Big thanks to the sweet mama behind the kindness and welcome May!

like the sun

Glimmer, lantern glimmer

little stars a shimmer.

Over meadow, moor, and dale,

flitter flutter trolls in veil.

variation from original by M. Garff- Autumn Wynstones Press

oh the colors this time of year:  yellows, oranges, reds, just like the flicker of the flame.  I tracked down a lovely little broom for the boys to help with the sweeping and cleaning that we do in prep for the hunker down winter season.  So far they have been playing more indoor hockey than helping, but I am confident that they will get the subtle influence of this adorable broom!

Popcorn snacks and hot tea seem to pervade our afternoons as well.  It is what helps keep our spark and light alive inside of us.  Warm sweaters, stories and the start of the holiday crafting begins.

Also the upcoming preps of lantern walks is forefront in our thoughts also.  We have made the gammet of lanterns, paper mache, tissue paper on jars, etc.  This year I could not resist this beauty when I saw it.  It just so happens that it is made by another mama in my midwest state, so I felt it was destiny.  It is so beautiful.  It is a lace crochet pattern that is just a pretty to look at in the daylight as it is at night.  

How are your lantern preps coming along this year?  I am feeling a simple little walk in the park with my boys and for some reason it is developing a troll feeling to me this year!  I guess if Michaelmas has become Dragonmas for us, then there is no good reason why Martinmas can't become Trollmas right?  

memory

Time to set aside the spiders and pumpkins and enjoy a centerpiece ofrenda for Day of the Dead.  This year is was simply:

candle with skirt wearing calaveras

rooster linen to represent Oma's side of the family

last of the mums inside a antique (non family heirloom) bowl- with sugar skull for our ancestors

doiley made by my great grandma and namesake

horse shoe from my family farm

pictures of my grandparents, and my great grandma that actually has her writing on the back

I love how this today allows us to honor and not be scared of the dead- happy memory to all of you tonight as you share story of your loved ones gone.

dragons of a different sort

  

What can I say- all best intentions to make dragon bread this year from scatch took a little u-turn when I found out the other items on the dinner menu (remember by husband does 99% of the cooking), and when my day required some needed errands after school. 

 
So I did what I know how to do- improvise!  Big hearty wheat bread just would not go with mexican echiladas!  They were tasty and something about the spice seemed to fit with a dragon sort of feast!  So I decided to accompany the mexican feast with dessert dragon sopapillas- though slightly healthier.  I got these delicious soft fresh whole wheat tortilla from my local grocery, cut out some dragon shapes, buttered and topped with sugar and cinnamon and toasted under the broiler.  I set these aside for dessert.  I put a small dollop of ice cream in a bowl, drizzled with honey, added blackberries, and the firey dragons!  Not too bad on a whim!

 
 
Harvest, preparing for the colder months, that is really what the day is for us.  We borrow from the world of Waldorf with what rings in our hearts.  Dragonmas- what we call Michaelmas, is a time where we talk about what our inner dragons look like.  I really don't like the religious association with the holiday, and the idea of slaying the dragon.  You know, we kinda like dragons and think they just get a bad rap sometimes.

 
So harvest and conversations on how to keep our inners sparks alive were the topic of conversation at our feast last night.  I scoured the bookshelf for our dragon books.  These will rest on our bench for the next few days as we start to cuddle more during reading times in the chilly nights. 

 
I wanted to re-post the dragon reading list we shared last week with a couple additions that we liked that were published this year:  Dragon Feathers by Olga Dugina and Andrei Dugin was a new one for us this year.  I read a couple review from Waldorf folks who did not like because of the pictures- they maybe confusing to the "whole child" vision.  I found them odd- very much like Hieronymus Bosch, down right strange, yet totally fantastical.  I put in front of the boys last night and they poured over the pictures.  After all what is the world to a child but full of fantasy?  We gave it a thumbs up!

Download Dragon Reads

We are still awaiting our copy of the book King Jack and the Dragon, so I will give you a review of that next week, but I am hopeful for another lovely dragon book. 

 
 
Hoping your harvest, Michaelmas, Dragonmas festivities kept you warm this week- cheers to all you dragon spirits out there!  I enjoy adding few new pictures each year to this celebration.   Many thanks to this super fast knitter that made us this lovely addition to our Dragonmas this year- highly recommend!   Happy Friday all.

red, white, and blues

So I have to say- having some solo time to go to the Elderberry Farm with my sweet friend, go to farmer's market and antiquing does have it's advantages but today I am missing my boys quite a bit!  I will be so happy to see them tomorrow after their camping adventures with their dad, uncle, and fellow male cousins- that is quite a bit of testosterone!

So here are a few of my red, white, and blues pictures so far for the weekend- of course the tomatoes have hit, and the blueberries, and the raspberries too!  Mmmmmm- got to love midwest food!

So what to do today?  Well, time to make a fresh batch of Kombucha, make some toys, clean the house up of course, and possibly make some jam.  I have been hankering for this cookbook for a while and decided to go for it this weekend.  I really like the simplicity and also the uniqueness of the recipes- inspire me to give it a shot this summer.  

It is kinda my early gift making idea for the holidays, I am feeling a little bit of a "monster jam" inspiration- homemade jar of jam with a homemade monster!  So if you are a novice jam maker like me, you might want to check out this book, most of the recipes are fruit, cane sugar, and lemon juice- sound simple enough!  It is called The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders of the Blue Chair Fruit CO.  

Super shout out to my dear friend Mikayla who treated me to my first Elderberry plants- I decided to plant them on the edge of Tanglewood- surely some fairy magic will rub off of them so they will make some beautiful fruit to make into jam!  There is a really neat Elderberry farm that we went to this past weekend that started doing a fun Elderberry Festival.  We were on vacation for the festival this year but look forward to it next year!  We both got Adams variety of Elderberry- an old heirloom variety that has been around since the early 1900's- that sounds pretty good to me!

Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend!

 

in the shopping cart

quick stop by the grocery last night:

1 dozen eggs, vinegar, purple cabbage, beets, turmeric, and panty hose!  Yep we did some natural egg dyeing last night.  I had seen the idea in Country Living magazine and on the Rhythm of the Home blog for doing the plant resists this year and had to give it a shot.  I loved it!

When I read the directions in Country Living it seemed a little odd to boil the eggs so long in the dye- we like to eat our hardboiled eggs each year so that just did not sound too tasty.  So I did a cold soak method. 

First I hardboiled my eggs and then cold shocked them.  In 3 separate other pots on the stove top I boiled 1 quart water, and my produce.  I boiled that for about 20 minutes.  Strained off the beets and cabbage and gave that to hubby to transform into the dinner vege dish (quite tasty with butter, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, and spot of red wine vinegar!)  I then added 3 T white vinegar to each jar of dye.

Followed the instructions of taking the plant I wanted to resist, I found violet, fern, and marigold in the yard.  Layed that on the egg, secured some panty hose around and tied it up tight.  We then dropped the eggs in the jars and dye and ended up just leaving them in the dye overnight in the fridge.

Took them out this morning, removed the hose, and I love them!  Now we are almost set for egg hunting tomorrow!  Wool eggs, naturally dyed eggs, and 2 special wood story eggs I am finishing up tonight while they slumber! 

I have loved seeing all the story eggs popping up in the blogs this spring, I am so happy the tutorial has helped provide so many beautiful eggs and can only imagine what stories will bloom.  I am inspired to do some story egg swaps and barters after Easter- if you are game leave a comment!

I hope you are enjoying your Easter weekend and hoping you and your kiddos have lovely stained hands today from dyeing eggs!

star children

I wanted to share the winner of the wee little star child, the winner is #16- Ronnie!  Ronnie if you could e-mail me your snail mail addy, willow@mamaroots.com- congrats!  Here is the link if you want to look at the Star Talers Grimm story on-line, though I highly recommend the new book Star Child that is referenced in the project- it is so beautiful! 

Thank you everyone so much for your sweet kind words about the project at Rhythm of the Home- I am myself enjoying many of the projects!  There is also a section dedicated to St Lucia Day coming up- another way for your children to become Star Children. 

I have boys so they get to be star boys and help deliver St Lucia buns and coffee to daddy in bed with some help from mama!  I think they have outgrown their hats from last year so mama might have to help them make some new ones!  There are some fun and simple hats out there, I like the look of these.

Many  blessings to all of you as you prepare for giving  this season- may it bring beautiful stars into your homes!  I think we decided we are giving to Heifer this season- the idea of helping sustainable farming is very appealing to us, I think we are going to donate to help give a flock of chickens and some bees to some farmers this year- what is on your giving list?