For I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in my day of distress.
~Psalm 59:16
selah
Natalie
My beautiful and mischievous granddaughter’s third birthday party was on Saturday. She received a lot of sparkly outfits and she just kept putting them on over the tutu she was already wearing. By the end of the day she looked like a giant puff.
In my classroom at school we change the activities on the shelves once a month. The trains and blocks stay out all the time however. I love building with the children. It’s one of my favourite things to do with them.
My grandson made this wonderful truck with some water-colour pastel crayons! I really want to frame it but my grandson wanted to keep it as is.
I have been walking during my 30 minute lunch break 2 or 3 afternoons per week. I walk around a little pond just across the street from my school. Last week there were a few people skating!
I have been listening to a few podcasts on my way to work. It takes me between 35 and 40 minutes for me to get to work so sometimes I have to finish it on the way home. I have really been enjoying it!
A tree is a friend for life
Tu B’Shavat, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates trees. I am not Jewish so I asked a few friends about how they celebrate. From what I gather it is a holiday that isn’t very widely celebrated here.
In my classroom full of toddlers, we talked about the trees giving apples, oranges, mangoes, and bananas and also how trees give homes to squirrels, birds, and other animals. Our school campus is on an old tree farm so we have a few quite large old trees which are very beautiful.
I picked up a lichen covered branch that had fallen down in a recent storm and brought it into our classroom. Then, I cut out leaf shapes from finger print paintings the children did. We spent our circle time decorating our tree and singing happy birthday.
I think it’s important to teach our children to honor the natural world around them.
I also think it’s important to teach our children to honor other cultures and customs.
This was a win-win in our toddler class.
The rhythm of a simple home
A delicious lunch I shared with my husband.
I eat mostly whole food/plant based so I made what I refer to as bonzo tuna sandwiches.
Into the food processor I put a can of drained and rinsed chick peas, a tablespoon or two of capers, a dollop of vegan mayo, a little bit of mustard, some lemon juice, and some parsley. I also added some ground flax seed and a bit of turmeric. I pulsed it for a little bit, till things were mixed but the beans weren’t too mushy. I toasted some sourdough bread, spread the mixture on and added a leaf of fresh lettuce. I think some tomatoes would have been tasty as well but I didn’t have any. I served it with pineapple chunks and blue corn tortilla chips.
I also made smoothies with blueberries, mango chunks, banana, a bit of carrot puree and some water. Oh, and a bit of kale (shhhh, don’t tell my husband), more ground flax seed and turmeric, and some chia seeds. Absolutely delicious!
There is even enough left over for me to bring to work for lunch.
The weather…..All weekend long they called for a snowy Sunday night into Monday…the markets were overcrowded and I woke up this morning to…no snow! I was hoping for a snow day from the school where I work.
Right now I am….sitting at the kitchen table eating my breakfast (oatmeal and fruit) and listening to the dryer run.
Thinking….
On my reading pile….The Four Tendencies
On my TV…..Nothing
Something fun to share….My granddaughter turned 3 over the weekend and she got so many sparkly clothes and tutus! She put them all on and looked like a giant puff!
On the menu for this week….lentil burritos, roasted veggies, squash with grains and greens…
On my to do list….Clean up in my bedroom, walk during my lunch break, set up my classroom for February
In the craft basket….I have been writing old fashioned letters to my daughters. It’s nice.
Looking forward to this week….the weekend!
Looking around the house….I have tulips in a vase in my living room. They are so cheery during these dark and dingy days.
From the camera….
Prayer list…my sister
Bible verse/devotional:
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:4
you are a flower in the meadow
each of your words a petal
other people tell me you are at ease now
but I object to that
Listen, I want you here
fully present and accounted for
are you at ease in your other world
you are a dream now
transformed to sun light shining on water
Selah
low winter light
I spent some of the weekend cleaning out the pantry cupboard. We live in a rather tiny, but just the right size for us, flat. We have just one cabinet for storing everyday foods. It’s tight and it can be frustrating at times when looking for just the right thing. I find keeping it well organized very helpful. Also, it settles my soul to see things so neat and tidy.
It’s been quite cold here of late. It’s not been as beastly cold as some places but even still it’s rather uncomfortable for getting out of doors. Over the weekend I had to run and get a present for my granddaughter, Natalies’s 3rd birthday party and I also needed to get some marketing done. Other than that I stayed cozy and warm inside. I love to watch the morning or late afternoon sun come through the windows and shine in little patches in my living room. This old bureau was a gift from a friend of my husband’s and the chair used to be my mothers. Everything has a story. It’s rare that I buy new furniture.
I made the most delicious pizza the other night. I bought whole wheat pizza dough from the market added pesto, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and a little chopped kale. I sprinkled a small amount of plant based mozzarella over it and baked it at 425 for about 20 minutes. It wasn’t completely plant based/vegan because there is parmesan cheese in the pesto but you could buy vegan pesto if you want to…or if you can find it.
Happy third birthday to my beautiful and sassy granddaughter, Natalie! Love her more than words can say!
From sundown on the 24th till sundown on the 25th was a Jewish holiday calledTu B’Shavat…loosely translated as the birthday of the trees.A day to celebrate the trees and in Israel, plant trees.The holiday isn’t always on the same day as it is based on the Jewish calendar.It is nowhere near tree planting weather where I am so to celebrate with my class full of toddlers I brought in a large branch that the wind had recently blown down. It was covered inlichen and very pretty. The children have been finger painting every day so I cut some of their pictures up into leaf shapes and we hung them on the branches at circle time. One of my students brought in a book titled Tu B’Shavat and we read that as well. We talked about things that the trees give us such as apples, oranges, mangoes and bananas. We talked about who lives in trees such as monkeys, squirrels, and birds. Then we sang Happy Birthday to the trees and we placed the branch on top of a shelf in our classroom so that we could see it all the time. It really does look pretty there.
I noticed a few comments in my spam folder which I have approved. Maybe that is all it will take to make commenting right again.
I have been having trouble with blogger so I decided to move over to my wordpress blog. I am trying to figure out commenting. I wasn’t able to comment on wordpress blog when I was using blogger but when I am using wordpress I am not able to comment on blogger blogs. When I have some time this weekend I am going to try to figure it all out.
Pizza.
The so, so goood…
whole wheat crust, Pesto, a small amount of vegan mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, and a bit of chopped tuscan kale.
the random: I happened to notice these at the market the other day. So many questions. Do people wipe their babies with meat? So silly!
The fun:
I have been listening to a lot of female musicians from the 60s and 70s lately. It’s such great music that was somewhat overlooked at the time.
Selah
It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and irritating woman.
Proverbs 21:19
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a walk through the field on a sunny day
Joe and I went out for a walk oat Appleton Farms in Ipswich which is one of the Massachusetts trustee properties. It was gloriously sunny even though the wind was biting cold. It wasn’t so much of a hike as it was a walk on the trails. Joe isn’t in the best of health so we only got to walk for one slow mile. I was hoping for at least 3 briskly walked miles. He was sweating by the time we got back to the car even though it was so cold out. Next weekend I will go by myself on Saturday and then invite him for a shorter walk on Sunday.
We came home and had leftover soup and cornbread for lunch. A perfect day.
So. much confusion about this sign…dead slow isn’t actually slow.. it sort of implies no movement whatsoever.
Don’t even get me started on the horses, dogs, children.
We woke up Tuesday to another snowfall. By afternoon it had turned to rain so I’m glad I got a photo of it while I could.
So far we have had two small snowfalls but no snow days at school. I’m hoping for a few of them this year.
One of the children in my class came to school wearing this shirt. We had blueberries for snack…which she loved. It was so cute. Honestly though, she is the sweetest little thing and almost never very salty at all.
Occasionally, parents at my school will gift the teachers with cupcakes or donuts, or other various things. It’s very thoughtful of them. This week one of the parents gifted a large bag of Starbucks coffee. No one else wanted it so I got to take the entire thing home! Yay me!
a spirit of simplicity 