W is for…

Don't forget to check out the spring edition of Rhythm of the Home. You'll find a bit of A Handmade Childhood's goodness there! Congratulations Heather and Bernadette on another beautiful issue!!!

When I was very young my mother and I saved the barcodes off of our Gold Medal Flour bags and sent away for an Alphabet cookbook. I felt so special to have my very own cookbook. I was part of a wonderful (and big) group of little ones and shared a lot of things. But this was mine…and was so much fun to use…and it shows…yikes, what a dirty book!!

A few summer ago I happened across a later edition of the same book at a yard sale. I can’t express the delight of my own little chef to have her own cookbook…just like here mama had!!

One of our favorite (and very regularly used) recipes is:

(this is my book…look at those pages…can you tell a little one was cooking!!!)

The waffles are light and airy…perfect!!!

I make a few changes…here’s my version:

Wonderful Waffles

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

I don’t separate the egg…really just for simplification…usually I’m making these with two hungry babes at my side! I beat them well with a whisk really well and they are still really light and fantastic!!!

Ahhh…little helpers!!!

Snowy Days

I don’t often make references to my own geographical location on this blog. I kind of like it that way. Makes it seem like I’m right there with you…and that you are right here with me wherever you, or I may be. I do like to think about my dear readers in Australia once in a while…you see they are enjoying their sunny beaches and exploring the warm outdoors right now. Thoughts of piles and piles of cold white fluffy stuff everywhere must be a laughable phenomenon. As it is to us as we sit in the sweltering heat of August and try to imagine the patio furniture covered in snow. But August is a long way away…and the patio furniture is surrounded in a sea of white.

It is pure magic. Heavy, wet, car entrapping, roof stressing magic!

Yes, those sweltering days of August, and those sunny beaches of Australia seem impossibly far off. But I won’t rush them here. I will be content. (Even if it takes reminding myself to just “be” every once in a while!) It is beautiful, all this snow we have in New York. We’ll enjoy it while it lasts and welcome Spring when it is ready to arrive…with open arms!!!

Here’s to a contented February day…wherever you may be!

The Process

I love to knit.  I am definitely still learning…and tear a lot of things out…and am lost in regards to many techniques.  But I love to knit.  It’s steady and constant and meditative.  I love to feel the fiber through my fingers and watch something slowly and steadily take shape.  The process is ever present…and is comforting.

I studied art in college.  It was competitive and grueling in many ways…and fulfilling beyond measure in others.  My first semester in the art program I took an observational drawing class from a German professor who studied at the Bauhaus.  His methods and teachings were pure and intense.  One of our first assignments was a pencil drawing that I spent countless hours working on.  At the review for the assignment we were asked to stand and display our drawings and point out everything that was wrong with it…in case anything was left out the professor and class were then able to point out anything else we had done wrong.  Nothing positive was to be said.  Only criticism.  It was horrifying and obviously impactful!  Among the many skills I learned that semester was the ability to scrutinize each detail of my work.  I fine tuned the skill of detecting imperfections.  I learned to recognize and analyze the shortcomings in my skills and my work.  

I did well in art school.

I learned to make beauty with a simple tool.  I use those skills daily, treasure them, and endeavor to grow them. 

Yet each day I work to fight the self scrutiny and rejection of imperfection that I fostered within myself while in school. 

Mothering, schooling, creating, are all processes.  There are not always end products that can be placed on display and judged.  When the focus is on results the potential for joy is dramatically stunted.  But, oh, if we can only focus on the processes. Oh the joy of the fleeting regular day-to-day with our little ones, the hours knitting, sewing, painting, creating.  Embrace the process! 

I love to knit. 

I love to do so many things. 

What do you love to do?

This Boy!

Sometimes there are no words!

No words for the exhaustion, joy, laughter, fatigue, fulfillment, frustration, and bliss that come with a boy like this.  You know when he was an infant we thought he was so calm and sensible like his dad…turns out there’s a whole lot of his not so calm and sensible momma in there too! 

I am so in love…and so so tired! 

He’s sleeping now…I think I’ll go play blocks under the table with my girl…(it’s been a recent (and very frequent) favorite) and finish up the armband on a vest for my mancub. 

Our Little Bumblebee!

This year for Christmas our little gardener was given an Amarylis bulb from her grandparents (who also happen to be her gardening inspiration…see here, and here, and here!)  We had a lot of fun together planting it and tracking its growth in a little journal.  We drew pictures and measured and described, and just marveled at the amazing growth potential in one little bulb.  And oh the exclamations and excitement when six gorgeous blooms appeared. 

We have also been having a marvelous time learning about bees lately.  We would love to make our own hives this spring and watch their miraculous lives more closely.  (And eat some yummy honey and gather delightful beeswax of course!!!) We watched this video together during one of our friday night family “pizza and a movie” nights and were fascinated. 

We had our own little impromptu bumblebee lesson when the blooms were first smelled!  Turns out we have a pro pollen collector!!!  It was a great little learning experience…! 

 

Paper, crayons, and … yarn!!!

I know I’ve said it before…but I’m going to say it again!  I believe children should have an unlimited supply and constant access to creative art making materials.  The basics of these being plain old paper and crayons.  There is an unparalleled magic that occurs when children create peoples and worlds in bright bold colors on the wide expanse of clean white paper.  Pure magic.  I picked up a few rolls of “end rolls” of paper from the local printers the other day.  We have had many wonderful hours coloring around the dining room table together.  It’s just so fun to have an entire table turned into a drawing surface!! 

(The local printers (they print brochures and pamphlets, etc.) recycles the ends of the rolls of paper as the machines cannot pick it up when the roll is “nearly” empty.  In reality there is hundreds of yards of paper left on the roll.  So it’s ours for … free!  Check out a printing company in your area to see how you can help with their recycling efforts!!!)

Yes…that’s yarn trailing out of that knitting bag.  I’m going to see if I can polish it off tonight and share a great tutorial soon!  That is if I haven’t made a total disaster of it…!

  

Hanging Around

We’ve had a sloth hanging around these parts with her little one the past little while.  Turns out they are quite wonderful little house guests!  Once in a while she leaves while her jaguar friend (who it just so happens looks remarkedly similar to the sloth!) is on the prowl…but she always returns when things quiet down! 

Happy weekending friends!