another invitation to read along...this time for a year

What is the recipe for sane living these days?

How can we be informed citizens of the world without being overwhelmed by the challenges both near and far?

How can we best work with our own resources when there is such need before our open hearts?

How can we rise to the callings we may hear while maintaining appropriate boundaries and self care?

How can we explore our curiosity about the creativity of others without losing our own voice?

How can we seek to be in the present moment when there is so much to distract us?

Oh, this season that is upon us...when well meaning holiday greetings may pull us in too many directions...

This episode of On Being with Krista Tippet, an interview with Carrie Newcomer, offers some comfort and inspiration. We saw her in concert a few years ago in Northampton MA and were enchanted. 

And remember the podcast with Joanna Macy? 

Inspired by that conversation I have begun reading from A Year With Rilke, Daily readings from the best of Rainer Maria Rilke, translated and edited by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows.

How about it friends? Last winter some of us read Ted Kooser's Winter Morning Walks together. Is anyone up for joining me this year for the daily companionship of Rilke? Sometimes starting or ending the day with beautiful, thoughtful words can be just the right way to navigate our world.

Who's in?

yesterday

• quite the toboggan run, from beginning to end.
• a pre dinner 5-K run in the snow for some people.
• quilting/crafty time.
• the moment when we realized that I had forgotten to put sugar in the pumpkin pie and Batman got up, went into the kitchen and brought the 1/2 gallon jug of maple syrup to the table with a grin on his face.
• mimosas in the morning that ended up with sparkly magenta nail polish on my nails.
• chortling, game playing, napping, reading, walking and lots of dish washing.
• long distance phone calls to missing loved ones.
• thanking. more thanking.
• so*much*good*food.

Two faves you may enjoy...

Lindsey made buckwheat pancakes with this amazing topping, a puddle of pink sweet/tartness.

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

2/3 cup maple syrup

Bring to a gentle boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the berries begin to soften, but not popped, about 5 minutes. Serve over pancakes.

Three sisters casserole with cornbread topping, from Kripalu, link here.

Soaking up these days without structure, with warmth from the wood stove, with hands held around the table and a bit of silence before each meal...

Sending you warmth from the snowy mountains of Vermont...

the day before

The funky little kitchen has been in overdrive all day long.

The garden pumpkins are now in a pie and

 a Granny Smith pie sits next to it on a cooling rack.

We had muffins for breakfast made with cranberries from 

Doug and Ra's bogs .

A turkey from the Green Mountain Girls Farm sits in a cooler

in the breezeway, along with a stem of Brussels sprouts.

Two out of four children have arrived safely at the house,

their siblings are safely in other wonderful places

(as they get older we have to share them...).

IT IS SNOWING!
Sending love to you all.

*photo thanks to Hannah

I cannot look away...

...and so we will be reading these two books, out loud, together.

The New Jim Crow Law:Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Hand to Mouth:Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado

During this week of national thanksgiving, there is a discomfort, a brokenness and tragedy all around us...which calls us to truth seeking and understanding. It is not easy, but it requires our attention.

I'll be back tomorrow and Thursday with my usual photos and more cheerful thoughts...

xo

sewing, knitting and love

510 half square triangles later (what was I thinking?)

I am finally putting the quilt top together.

Remember my list of projects for 2014?

2014 ended up being a year fraught with surprises and complications,

so I am absolutely happy with just some simple progress on this list!

and I finished this little hat,

also begun months ago.

Krista Tippet is my "go to" voice for thoughtful conversation.

Her APM radio show On Being is one of my favorite places to listen.

Her podcast with Joanna Macy,  found here, is about 50 minutes long.
Entitled A Wild Love for the World,

it is inspiring, hope-filled and quite lovely.

I recommend it to you.

(Like Tara Brach, Joanna Macy embraces
the practice of insight meditation.)

Sometimes, when I am tucked downstairs in my sewing space
I love the quiet.
Sometimes I listen to tunes or news on the radio.
Other times, I love to listen to TED talks or On Being podcasts.
So many choices...

What do you like to listen to?

cranberry glass

a bit from each grandmother and a little pitcher i bought years ago.

thanksgiving cactus

right on cue, even as they were confused by the move 

from CT to VT.

counting the days till my very favorite holiday.

gratitude.

pure, unadulterated gratitude.

:-)


(*in response to chartreuse's comment below,
take a look here. i only learned this recently myself!)

our own version of "say yes to the dress"

it is hard to imagine on this snowy november day 

that there will be a wedding under these special birch trees next summer.

our sweet gretta and her beloved ben will be married at our

bit of earth.

she has asked me to make her dress and 

she has some very special ideas about it already.

the day will be filled with homegrown loveliness.

a tent.

wildflowers.

a small group of family and friends.

love.