small wonders

We are nearing the end of the tea herbs we collected and dried this summer. We need to collect more this year to last us through. We have a regular "nourishment" blend that we drink a lot of- red clover flowers, nettles, raspberry leaf, rosehips, mint and sometimes yarrow. The boys like it with a bit of honey, or without the mint and mixed with rooiboos, which is yummy too.

We celebrated Perry's birthday- we spoiled him up nicely with lots of handmade treasures and love. And and a cake of course, a chocolate one- the boys first taste of chocolate since we started GAPS, which was very exciting! Dorian was especially thrilled.

And, can you see it? The finished sweater! Just in time, though it is unblocked and ends are not woven in yet, but it fits and he likes it and it's done! I'll post a better picture once it is blocked and dried and he is wearing it for real.

Perry took the boys to one of our favorite farms to meet the new baby goats, and brought home lots of  pictures of giggling boys with blurry happy little goats jumping on their backs and stories of how much fun they had playing with the babies. And also some pictures of the adorable miniature donkeys of my dreams. We have a thistle problem and I have been dreaming of a couple sweet little donkeys to take care of it for us. Anyone out there have any experience with raising donkeys?

Ari also had his first ski race with his ski group. All the kids are encouraged to come and it is non-competitiveness and totally fun. Ari was thrilled, and he impresses us endlessly with his ability to go-go-go. He skied that 3km in no time at all and headed straight to his favorite hills to tromp up so he could ski back down them over and over. Dorian spent most of the ski race chasing the skiers who were dressed up in jackrabbit costumes, getting hugs and and finally ending up with their balloons to take home.

We have continued to get our CSA box of local goods, and we are especially grateful for it this year as we lost a lot of our storage veggies in a root cellar failure early in the season (so sad...) This CSA is amazing in that it is a co-op of several farmers and community groups who contribute different things- root crops and other good storage veggies as well as dried and canned and frozen goods. So great to get local fare right through the winter months!

We still have so much snow, (look at it there, right up to the height of the trampoline!) but the weather has been warming up and the kids are enjoying being outside in the sun. Leaving the trampoline out wasn't planned, but it is coming in handy as something to do when the kids tire of skiing and sledding!

And inside there is lots of playing and creating to be done. We tried a gluten-free play-dough recipe that was rather disappointing, and instead spent a lot of time playing with cornstarch and water. Good goopy fun!

And of course, there is lots of board games and books being read and the ever present pile of gardening books as I make big plans and dream of spring. I do find this time of year tough- the light is returning and it feels like spring should be on its way, but we still have such a long way to go before the snow is gone and we can dig in the dirt and plant seeds and watch green things grow. It is still early for planting seedlings, and there is still so much snow covering the garden it is hard to believe that summer will ever come.


 I always have a little battle with myself this time of year, part of me trying to embrace the snow and wintry weather, while another part is pining for spring. But this year I've decided to change my perspective and accept that this time of year is made for pining, yearning, and dreaming. It is such a lovely time, really, when I step back a little- a time when the perfect garden of my dreams lives happily in my mind, where I can spend time in the slow pace of winter, there in front of the wood stove, reading and dreaming and imagining all that will be. 


Of course, I know that all I dream of now cannot possibly come true in one short season- all the new plants I will try growing, the perfect orchestration of cover crops and green manure, our compost humming along perfectly, chickens happily out on pasture, a pig clearing the old garden, the above donkeys munching the thistles, the potatoes scab-free, the greenhouse built, the flower garden actually growing flowers, the berry patches extended, new varieties of veggies and herbs growing (perfectly of course,)the rows and rows of canning I will put up, the root cellar fixed up and sure to keep all the mountains of produce perfect through the winter. This is a homestead that can only exist in my mind, and only now, in the wintry weather of March, here in front of the wood stove where I am warm and the day is slow and dreams can shine brightly in the new spring light streaming through the window. 


So thank you March, for your endless snow, for the slow end-of-winter days, for giving me this time to dream big.