Advent Fun...with Upcycled Baby Socks!

The Story:

This is a very special holiday season for my family.  Our only child is in his senior year of high school.  Certain realities of endings are sneaking up on us, one in particular is our Advent tradition.  It all started when I just couldn't bear to part with my son's baby socks.  They are just so cute!  Also, I was trying to make some holiday traditions that would truly be ours alone.  We are a small family of 3 with all of our extended family more than a few states away and in some cases across the ocean. Though we are blessed with many good friends and a wonderful community holidays are a time for family.   So  we happily celebrate with just our little trinity.

I had not grown up with the tradition of Advent.  But my husbands relatives across the pond would send us nice paper calenders with little windows to open each day.  I started to look at the idea of making one that could hold  surprises.  My son was 3 at the time and I thought this would be fun!  I am a big advocate of the 3 - R's ~~ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  (Now~~this is called upcycling)   The sweet little socks my son had out grown were in my own sock drawer so I could give them a kiss now and then.  One day while communing with the baby socks I thought...Christmas Stockings!  

Now the real fun!! 

Everyday there is a little prize in each sock.  A bit of candy in some, little cars during the car years, little Legos during the Lego years.  When he got older and could read I would put clues in some socks and hide presents around the house.  I usually saved these for the weekends.  (NOTE: make a list of where you hide things...the first year I didn't...found some things in January!)  My favorite year was when my son was into the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.  (I read all 4 books aloud to him but he would never let me read the Elvish...I didn't speak it correctly so he read those parts)  That year I wrote all the clues in Elvish!  The past few years cash, candy, and other "forbidden" food items have been popular.  The clues are more cryptic, my notes are more necessary!

So this year is the last hurrah.  Next December 1st our son will be away at college. So I am going all out this year.  I saw my son a few days ago checking out the socks  to see if I had filled them yet!  ;)

How To:

This is so easy it is nuts!  I had some left over wreath ribbon that I punched 24 holes in with a paper hole puncher. (I had every intention of making a beautiful handwoven ribbon with inlaid numbers...great thing about being creative...too many ideas!)  I numbered the holes with a Sharpie marker.  Then I used matching gold safety pins to attach the socks.  I used the safety pins just in case I am ever lucky enough to be a grandma and the socks need to be used as socks again!  Glad to be passing on this tradition.  I would love to hear if anyone else tries this...or...had the same idea!  What do you think...should I put a baby sock back in my drawer when he has gone his merry way....???

The hand knitted socks were made by his Oma.

Fully Loaded!

My Notes

Clues!

Treats!

This little birdie has been showing up in the Advent for years now!

Fancy college interview shoes...my how his feet have grown!

Joining the SouleMama Tradition with {this moment}   no more words.......

Sharing a Thought

My Search Continues

humility
Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:45 AM PST

"To have humility is to experience reality, not in relation to ourselves, but in it sacred independence. It is to see, judge, and act from the point of rest in ourselves. Then, how much disappears, and all that remains falls into place.

"In the point of rest at the center of our being, we encounter a world where all things are at rest in the same way. Then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud a revelation, each man a cosmos of whose riches we can only catch glimpses. The life of simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable."

- Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings", p. 174

From the Louie, Louie Blog

http://fatherlouie.blogspot.com



Photo is from my Etsy shop of "Humble" Scarf.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/90111778/brown-humble-scarf-fiberart-handspun

Loves Paris Studio, Photography and Jewelry: Bella, My Maine Woods

I am featured here as well as other great Maine Makers!  Thanks!


Loves Paris Studio, Photography and Jewelry: Bella, My Maine Woods

The Zen of Sea Glass or How I spent Black Friday

Catch of the Day!

I love to collect, which makes me think I might be part squirrel or magpie. Although, I   have the very best intentions of using all my trinkets in projects, this is not possible.   Recently, I have taken stock of my many treasures.  I have more than I can possibly use in a normal lifetime.  Yet I still collect.  I have tried to stop.  So, I ask myself why?  

On Black Friday, I had an opportunity to look at one obsession more closely, the collecting of sea glass.  I took my son and his girlfriend to Belfast, Maine so they could shop and take in a movie.   Belfast is a perfect place to leave a couple of teens.  They can walk everywhere and it is a safe, peaceful place.  I am a collector,  but not much of a shopper.  So, I headed to the local beach because it was a glorious day in Maine, especially for November.  The sun was shining and it was pretty comfortable, despite the stiff breeze.  I   was ready with a turkey sandwich, a bottle of water, and a canvas bag for collecting. 

Collecting sea glass requires a certain sort of walk and focus.  Your eyes are down, you can't wear sun glasses, and you must walk slowly.  It is like a Zen walk.  The objective is to cover as much beach as possible.  So, you need to walk in a zigzag pattern along the shore.  You are watching with awareness for that variation in the sand and pebbles that means TREASURE!  

It is this process that I love so much.  It is peaceful.  I am surrounded by the sound of the waves which lull my mind to quiet.  Every now and then I  stand and stretch to take in the sights around me...beauty!  The sea glass search slows me down, which is something I need in life.  Also, there is something in me that makes being productive necessary.  Collecting fulfills this need, and gives me an excuse to go to the beach. 

I have recently realized that I love the hunt more than the "having".  I have started a second Etsy Shop: www.injoytreasures.etsy.com to release my collections and create more space in my life.  Thank goodness for Etsy...or the contents of my attic may have caved in the house!  Etsy helps with my obsessive need to be productive...but that sounds like another blog!

Process Enraptures my Soul!

Here are a few of those enrapturing moments....

Sea Glass in its Natural Habitat

Ahhhh...Stretch....See...Sea

My favorite photo....this is how I found a little green piece of sea glass...it was nearly washed out to sea before I  nabbed it....the word "no" is on it...I took it anyways!

Me Having Fun in the November Sun!

Gratitude

Wild Turkeys in My Backyard!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Be In Joy on this day of Feasting, Friends, Families, & Festivities!

This photo is a bit blurry...these turkey's were moving...guess they won't be dinner today!

I will leave you with a few quotes for you contemplation....

“I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind”
Albert Einstein

"Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."    Buddha

"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude."  Karl Barth

Pause & See

 Stopped in My Tracks

Do you see it?

This a regular feature I plan to include in this blog.  I try to see something new each day.  It is part of my practice in "seeing".  The art of seeing is essential to any creative work in my humble opinion.  My favorites are the ones that stop me in my tracks!  Like so many folks I have a very busy mind that I struggle to quiet.  But by creating this practice it has given me many opportunities to pause and be with a new wonder.  I love to wonder about wonders.  These little seeings can be just the jolt my creative process needs to get out of a rut.  But mostly they provide a pause which is that moment of peace I need to heal from a frustration. These seeings are grounding for me and bring me to the present.  I will admit to laughing out loud with joy over some of these discoveries. They are a moment of childlike wonder!  

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky"             ~~~Buddha

 

 

I was scurrying down my trails with my mind on my future tasks of the day.  Then I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye this pine cone wedged into a bit of snag. I must have walked by it many times without seeing it.  It has a some spider web on it so it has been there awhile.  I walk this way nearly everyday.  So it makes me wonder what else I am not seeing.  How did it get there?  Was it the wind that put it there by chance.  Or did some show off squirrel stash it there for all to "see".  What do you think?

Beet Borscht Blog

I will begin this blog at the end of the story.  It has been a very busy week!  This past weekend I wanted to do something that felt renewing.  Something besides work, worky, work!  So two things aligned for a perfect bit o relaxation~~~I was gifted a bag of beets and the weather outside for mid November Maine was fantastic!   

So made some borscht and a campfire!

Here is my recipe for Whole Beet Borscht~~WARNING~~I am a by the seat of your pants sort of cook....so this is my tweeted recipe with a happy mistake to boot!  My favorite cookbook (besides the internet) is my old copy of Laurel's Kitchen.  I bought my copy at the co-op in the Seattle U-district when I was 19 years old~~~that would be in 1978!  It was a big purchase at the time for me but one I have never regretted.  The amazing thing is that I still have it after all these years!

My Tweeking of the Original Recipe

I use your average 8 quart pot filled about 1/2 full of water or veggie broth or water with veggie broth powder added

6 medium potatoes cut into chunks

2 medium Onions coarsely chopped

1 bulb of Garlic

Big Splash of Tamari

Heaping Tablespoon of Paprika...here is the "boo-boo"  I grabbed the wrong jar...the chili powder...don't know why I did that the chili powder jar has for years been the one shaped like a dinosaur.   But oh well...now added the paprika and a heaping spoon of dill  weed too.  I let all of that simmer while I prep the beets.

 Garlic is done only one way in my house~~large quantities!

I had a garden "sabbatical" this year (I'll tell you about it sometime) but I did grow my 40 foot double row of Garlic!!

Preparing beets involves cutting off the roots and the top. Then put them in a sauce pan to boil for easy peel removal.  I save the tops to add to the borscht at the end.  If you don't have enough tops or they have been in the bag too long, frozen spinach is a great substitute.

Soup Simmering and Beets Boiling

 Beet Greens and Frozen Spinach

 Peeling Beets is FUN!  Simmer until they are tender.  Then cool them with water.  I give them a bit of a squeeze and slip the skins right off.  Save the peels for excellent compost!

I add the Beets and simmer for another 30 minutes.  Then I smash the soup a bit with a potato masher.  Right at the end I taste and add salt and the juice of one lemon.  Then at the very end I add the greens.  Give it a few minutes.  Then serve with a big dollop of plain yogurt...YUM!

Paired with my Homemade Crackers~~~double YUM~~~Crackers will be another share sometime.

Autumn is coming to an end here in Maine.  It is the time of long cold dark nights.  So it was great to spend an afternoon with a burst of color and heat...speaking of heat...the chili powder is a keeper...we think it was the best borscht ever!

Frost Thoughts

Brrrrr was the word for this morning's walk.  First time this season I needed to scarf my face. A cold north breeze. An inner excitement builds. I love frost.  I love winter. 

I grew up in the PNW, north of Seattle.  Frost wasn't something I experienced so frequently. Puddles were quite common but frozen ones not so.  It is funny, Robert Frost was my favorite poet as a teen.  I loved his work on some intuitive level but I didn't really get it.  It wasn't until I moved to New England in my early 20's that a light bulb came on and I "saw" Frost all around me!  I loved the PNW but I think I am a New Englander at heart.  I feel the building quiet of winter coming.  Time to fire up the cook stove and create coziness.  More time for cups of tea and contemplation.  Hope you will join me!

Now Close the Windows

Now Close the windows and hush all the fields:

If the trees must, let them silently toss:

Be it my loss.

It will be long ere the marshes resume,

I will be long ere the earliest bird:

So close the windows and not hear the wind,

But see all wind-stirred.

Robert Frost

It has been a quiet week for me.  But not in the usual sense.  I have been out straight with Reiki clients and Etsy sales as well as the usual busy-ness of my life.  The quiet has been an internal one.  I caught a head cold.  It is the first time I have had one in over a year.  It totally took me by surprise.  Sick enough to be called sick but not so sick that my life duties could be ignored.  But it was a reminder to BE Quiet and conserve my energy.  Every year I pick one word to ponder and this year the word is quiet.  As the year draws to its end little time is left for my self imposed exercise.  So I feel the cold was a reminder to get to it!  The business of BEing Quiet.  Here are some quiet moments from my past week............ 

Sandy's Silver Lining

It goes without saying that Sandy the Super Storm was and is devastating to many across the Northeast. During my meditation each evening I hold those folks in the light and pray for their speedy recovery.  But every cloud has a silver lining.

Potato Potentiality

Bliss! 

Here in Maine we were on the edge of the storm and were spared any major damage.  As a matter of fact I found a blessing from the sea due to the storm.  Last Friday I attended the Belfast Art walk.  It is my habit after having a few sips of wine here and there to take a nice long walk around town before I head home.  That walk, always, includes a visit to the town beach.  As I stepped onto the darken beach my feet sank into seaweed up to my knees.  Instead of being alarmed or grossed out I was elated.  I even let out a little squeal of glee.  I reached down to pull up handfuls of beautiful seaweed.  I did not care that I was in my "fancy" town clothes and shoes.  This was found treasure!  The next morning my husband & I arrive early to fill our small truck with this mulch manna.   It has been a couple years since we have scored any seaweed.  Every trip to Belfast I check and there just has not been any.  We are not alone in our desire for this garden gold.  Often times we have arrived at beaches to find other lucky gardeners gathering ahead of us a leaving none behind.  Seaweed does tend to incite a bit of greed!  Well, we finally hit the jackpot!  This was easy pickings and the cleanest, most litter free seaweed ever.  Also, due to the lateness of the year there was very little visible animal life we were sacrificing to our gardens.  It was so good we went back for a second trip (it is nearly an hour round trip to the beach).  I was able to mulch my whole asparagus patch, raspberries, and the potato spot for next year. Gardener's Delight!

Asparagus Actuality

~~Gardening Hints~~

Seaweed has many garden benefits.  An asparagus patch especially benefits from seaweed not minding the high salt content but it is not so great for weeds.  Besides adding organic matter to the soil many nutrients and mineral are leached in as well.  Seaweed does breakdown fairly quickly so you need to spread soon after collecting or you will be dealing with a slimy mess (we collect ours in large garbage bags ((that we reuse)) to keep our truck cleaner. A couple days in the bags you end up with yuck! I know from experience).  Since it breaks down so quickly don't count on it as a long term mulch.  We apply it right from the beach.  There are some suggestions to rinse it first.  But with a fall application that is not necessary   I have used it in the summer straight from the beach for mulch and have had excellent luck with my tomatoes.  But nearly killed my onions one year applying it directly from the beach.  Also, you can add seaweed to a big barrel of water and make seaweed tea for a rich liquid fertilizer.  Happy Gardening!