Monday, January 31, 2011

Back to Biking

We are all finally well enough to bike to school! Unfortunately Molly hates riding and spent most of the morning in her closet, by her own choice, having a tantrum. Not pretty. If this is a glimpse of what's to come, YIKES! About halfway to school, I wiped the frosty tears from her face at a stoplight and she seem to come out of it. Once we were around her friends it was as if nothing happened. I was not good at being patient this morning and I need to work harder, not engage in her drama and just let her work through some things alone. I rode away from school feeling pretty low, but then I came across a huge group of wild turkeys just hanging around a neighborhood. Their green feathers shimmered in the chilly sun. How could I not smile. Chin up and carry on.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Misty Market and Sacred Space





























Dreams

I dreamed that I was floating while rain fell on a tin roof above my head. When I awoke rain was strumming the tile roof and splashing in puddles outside my window. How beautiful that must sound in Oliver's loft. The ceiling is so low, he can't even stand up to get dressed, that it must feel as if the rain is vibrating against your skin. But, we are inside dry and cozy. Oliver and Molly are off the see The Wizard of Oz with aunt Claudia this afternoon leaving Michael and I to ourselves. Do we use this time to work or walk in the rain?

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Good Morning

Listening to the Hot Club of San Francisco on the ipod, a dutch baby pancake puffing in a cube of hot melted butter, little birds are flitting in and out of the tree branches and the ground is soaked from the heavy fog that never lifted. I am determined to ride to the market this morning with or without the crew! I know it's cold and wet, but I must get some exercise. I need the fresh air in my lungs and it doesn't hurt to have all that beautiful food waiting for me at the other end of the ride. The farmers selling produce plucked from their trees and pulled from their soils this morning.Vendors offering hot tamales or naan bread crisping on the sides of an outdoor oven waiting to be ladled with spicy sauces. I promise to stick to only what we need for the week, ok, maybe one tamale. :)

Friday, January 28, 2011

Burning Snail with Pics!

They turned out delicious!
Molly working hard on her crust

The snail burning in the garden











The 3rd grade's garden





A quiet moment in the classroom






Today, the snail oven will be fired up for pizza's! The fire must be started in the morning and tended to until the oven reaches the temperature needed for baking at lunch time. How exciting and primal to bake in an oven they built and keep the fires going so that it's efficient. Just another day in the life of a waldorf child. Pretty frikn' amazing! I can't wait to be apart of it!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cooking in the Shire

I'm so very excited! I've decided to start cooking with the kids in the Shire on Thursday's! I think this will be so much fun for me, my kids and the neighborhood. I would like to try to use ingredients from the neighborhood when it's possible and really do some recipes that would be more creative than pancakes, which I learned in 7th grade. Boring. Pizza's with homemade sauce using herbs from the garden, fresh baked goods, pasta and rice dishes are all easy enough and still stretch the kids abilities and taste buds. My head is bubbling over with ideas!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Weeding Out

What a pretty little gardener!




Large beer radish



Skipping back home

Molly and I headed down to the main garden yesterday to spend some time in the sun and pull some of the many weeds that are taking over. Some of them are almost too pretty to pull, with little purple flowers and lush green leaves, but they must go to make room for growth. Our beets have been stifled. Such a similar feeling to my soul life right now, weeding out. I must weed out in order to make room for what must grow. I think I'll start with my internal dialogue, which is frightening. The over all feeling that "I'm not enough", is stifling me like the narrow beets, keeping me from really delving in and taking advantage of the unique life that I've chosen. How about "I am enough" and enjoying, for starters, my fun Thursday's cooking with my Molly. This brings me so much joy.


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sunset

The sun is setting in the Shire but children are still wandering, cartwheeling. Vibrant orange calendula petals slowly close in beds of lively green and the neighbors windows begin to glow. I don't usually write during this time of day but dinner is done and the world feels beautiful. Molly has decided on a menu for Thursday. We have made that our day for gourmet! This weeks menu will include clementines with cinnamon syrup, an escarole salad and chicken pot pies. We pulled the recipes from this months Martha Stewart and Molly is very excited. Growing up in the restaurant business, we all love food! My brother Toby is getting ready to open a new restaurant in Carmel that promises to be spectacular! I can't wait to try it out! Here's a link http://restaurant1833.com/

Valentines Day Cards







Molly's home sick again so I decided to get a head start on making Valentines Day cards. The school encourages families to avoid commercialism and inspires the community to be more creative with our children. We bought some heart shaped lacy doilies this morning, cut out red construction paper and used a gold metallic paint. So fun! We also added some lace trim, I have tons of it. A nice project for a sick day.



Monday, January 24, 2011

Where I'm Most at Home

January in the Monterrey Bay



















Me and my mom














A fun reading spot








My mom's garden

































My favorite water color painting is one my mom did when I was a child. A humble seaside cottage with hanging baskets of red nasturtiums. Little footprints lead the way from the front door to a secret beach hiding between the sand dunes. A dark line of blue becoming lighter at a shore of breaking waves. This, I believe, is where her soul lives. Growing up in this area one can never forget the smells and the feel of the air. There's truth in what the ocean reveals. With each wave that soaks the sands and pulls away the debris of life it leaves behind only what is. Here you can just be. We've picnicked on many beaches between Half Moon Bay and Big Sur and camped on the bluffs overlooking jagged coast line. We've ridden the roller coasters in Santa Cruz and fished from the wharfs above the barking seals. I know every little road that winds through the Santa Cruz mountains and how to get from the hot sandy beaches to the cool, damp of the redwoods. This is where I connect to my happiest memories. Now I walk down the beach barefoot with my own children, collecting seashells, each one a magical find. We are together but alone in our thoughts. The surfers ride the waves, the seals swim past and, coming up from the beach, my mom is waiting with iced tea and hot clam chowder. What a beautiful January day.











Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Smell of the Sea

Here we are at grandma's house. Beautiful blue sky's, tall beach grass and the smell of the sea. I can't wait to get down to the beach and take a walk with the kids. My mom wants to make some cioppino for us this afternoon so we'll have to pick up some fresh clams from the fish market. The kids love seeing all the different creatures that have been harvested from the ocean. It should be a fun day.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Saturday

Oliver is reluctantly practicing his violin. We sent him to Molly's room to avoid being pulled into the drama. Now all we hear are the pretty sounds of the instrument. Molly is busy, with a little apron on, tidying up. She's covered the coffee table with a beautiful , albeit wrinkled, pink silk and picked a bouquet of fresh flowers to fill a small vase set in the center. We're contemplating a bike ride to the market and at some point need to do some weeding in the big garden with my aunt Denise. Our poor little beets are being choked out by poppies that want to blanket the beds. I can't help thinking how beautiful that would be. A field of poppies. Oh, and then there's laundry. There is always laundry.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Enjoying the Light

Peering through the fava's
Molly calls the males "gentlemen"bugs

Oliver's cuttlefish and Christmas tree on our picture wall

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately Oliver is home with pneumonia but we stepped out back to soak in some sun. Our fava's are covered in beautiful berry colored lady and gentlemen bugs munching away on the little black aphids that cover the tips of the bean plants. Michael and I (mostly Michael) cut back the grape vines that sprawl over the back of the house allowing more of the heavenly beams to stream through the windows setting off the crystal dangling from a drapery cord. Rainbows danced over our walls and bookshelf, "rainbow faeries".
The sun changes everything in the house. This morning it's there again, bright blue sky's. I threw some bird seed onto the back patio for our little doves and an eager blue jay. Another peaceful day in the Shire.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Beautiful Platters



I just love a tea party! Looking around the house I realized how many platters I have. I thought I had unloaded so much when we moved here but clearly I held onto more than I need. It did inspire me however to get back into baking which is such a creative outlet for me. I love making little cream puffs dipped in chocolate, tea sandwiches with cucumber and smoked salmon mouse and I would love to learn how to make cranberry white chocolate scones. Maybe I'll host a tea party once a month so women can get together in a warm, friendly space to have good conversation. To offset the cost of food, I could ask for a contribution from those who come. This sounds like fun! Anyone interested?


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Something out of Nothing

So, I only had a few carrots left, a stub of celery, one onion and some frozen tomatoes. Looking pretty bleak! I decided to soak some black beans overnight and now they're simmering away on the stove. I added a couple of the bay leaves from Molly's wreath she made at Christmas and some thyme left over from last weeks Tuscan soup so it should be tasty. Maybe I'll make some cornbread to go with it and shred some jack cheese over the top of the hot beans! It feels good to have dinner going this early, less panic later. Now to fold some laundry, ooooh fun.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Shasta

Little felted elf that Camille made












































A quaint Victorian home filled to the brim with family and laughter. Aunt Claudia brought some yummy coconut syrup to make "snow cones"after dinner and the kids were so excited to be scooping the snow into cups right outside our door. My aunt Mary brought her felting supplies to make Molly and cousin Tia sweet little pillows stuffed with "tension tamer"tea while sitting by the fire. We had Tuscan bean soup, roasted chicken tacos, spicy truffle lasagna, freshly baked carrot and a meyer lemon cake and on the last night, chocolate brownies with ice cream. Now back to reality!

Friday, January 14, 2011