Advent - December

Treasures from St Nicholas..

 Decorating the Christmas tree

 Christmas transparencies

 Advent wreath.

 Mary star path.

 Jedi helping make the Christmas cake.

Advent - festival of plants and festival of animals

We put up our Christmas tree and planted bulbs during the second week of Advent.  There were stories about poinsettias and Christmas roses,

orange pomanders decorated with cloves.
During the third week of advent, there were stories of the Christmas animals - donkey, sheep and ox, and stories of robins. We made a really lovely advent wreath for the birds and we have been so happy to see that a woodpecker comes to enjoy our gift, as does a squirrel. We even had a moorhen wander into our garden to have a good peek (not peck!) at it!

 

We also made a butternut squash bird feeder.

And whilst we are on animals, there are several gorgeous new calves recently born here on the farm and they are so fun to watch - so inquisitive and playful!

First week of Advent and 'The Light in the Lantern'

I have neglected keeping this space updated recently.  The days have been full but I feel the need to journal memories as after all that is why I blog.  As a keepsake of times to cherish.

Firstly,  I came across a truly delightful little book called, The Light in the Lantern. 

This book has a story for each day of Advent, seven stories for each week themed on first week of Stones, second week of Plants, third week of Animals and fourth week of Mankind.

So this Advent we have been reading a story each evening as we stick another star from Mary's star path up in the sky.  This little book has enriched our Advent season.  I am sorry I haven't mentioned it earlier in the season.

On the first day of Advent we watched a majestic double rainbow light up the grey sky.  So special.

We lit our first candle on our Advent wreath for the festival of stones and during that week we made our star crystals, ice mobiles and geodes.  All these have become traditional for us.  It is so heartwarming that our children look forward to these little traditions.

 Crystal stars

 Ice mobiles

Our geodes turned out beautifully this year.  Just look!

This week

Festival of Animals - preparing a bird feast - threaded nuts.


Santa Lucia buns.




Orange and clove pomanders.


Admiring the baby birds nestled within poinsettias.

Littlest and biggest.

1st week of advent - Festival of Stones

We lit our first light of Advent on our advent wreath we make together last Sunday.

We've been making crystals and geodes.

Our geodes are still in progress.  This is what we did.  

Materials
Epsom salts
2 cups warm water
eggshell halves
food colouring

1. Spoon epsom salts into the warm water until no more will dissolve.
2. Add food colouring to the solution.
3. Pour this solution into the eggshell halves and leave the water to evaporate(This will take a few days).
4. When the water has evaporated you have made your own geodes!

To make the snowflakes and stars we used borax and water.  See this post on how to make them.

For this crystal we used washing soda and water.

Mix two cups of water and one-half cup of washing soda in an old pot. Heat the water until it simmers, stirring to dissolve the soap. Pour this solution into a large drinking glass.

Cut a pipe cleaner into three pieces and twist them to form a star. Tie one end of a piece of thread to one leg of the star and the other end of the thread to the middle of a pencil or a second length of pipe cleaner. Make the distance between the pipe cleaner snowflake and the pencil such that when the snowflake is put in the glass the bottom is 1/2 inch above the bottom of the glass. Insert the pipe cleaner snowflake into the washing soda solution and set the glass in a cool location where it won't be disturbed for several hours to overnight.

And I bought this sweet little tree as a gift for the boys.  It has been magical to watch this tree blossom in a matter of hours.

Approaching Advent

Donni kindly invited me to share my family's Advent traditions on her wonderful 'Discovering Waldorf' series.  Our lives and our children's lives are deeply enriched by celebrating festivals together with the cycle of the seasons.  I'll admit to have felt a little apprehensive at the suggestion of writing about Advent, such a significant season on so many levels, celebrated in so many different ways, yet I enjoyed contemplating the significance of this special time, and hope I managed to portray some of the wonder and joy of Advent.

It was an honour for me to write this for you, Donni!

Please pop over to the beautiful The Magic Onions if you would like to read this article and many other wonderful articles in this series.

Our 3rd and 4th weeks of advent/advent spiral/winter solstice

"The third light of Advent is the light of beasts.
Animals of farm, field, forest, air and sea.
All await the birth in greatest and in least."

Feasts for the birds.

and for the little squirrels in the house.

"The fourth light of Advent is the light of humankind.
The light of love, the light of thought, to give and to understand."

On the evening of winter solstice we love to walk our advent spiral in the woods. Seems like the perfect setting and perfect day. A treasured evening for us.

We've had snow the last two days. A gentle covering.

Everywhere looks so beautiful so we've been walking and playing out and neglecting our Christmas planning which I am leaving to the fairies to organise for me!