into winter...

  It's been cold here. Right now it's 21 degrees in my backyard! The chickens are not happy that the ground is frozen, they venture out to do a little exploring, then return to their coop to sit close to their heat lamp and sit in the doorway clucking very loudly in displeasure. I'm happy it's bright out. I don't mind the cold too much, I was lucky enough to thrift a nice puffer and a cute madewell winter coat (um, this one on their cover page, crazy what people donate to goodwill!) last week so I'm warm. The chill outside has us hunkering down with crafts, knitting projects, cocoa, tons of tea and I'm deep in the midst of rearranging and getting rid of tons of things to make room for our solstice tree. The tree will move in tomorrow so guess what I'm working on today?...

   I've been spending 15 minutes to an hour at this amazing overlook daily writing in my journal. Sometimes mundane, sometimes memoir, sometimes story ideas come flooding out.  When life gets busy and I'm feeling financial stress, my writing (creative outlet) is the first thing that gets cut from the to do list. I feel pretty miserable, after a couple days, without the outlet of pen and paper! I would always drive by this pretty hillside space and think "that would be a great place to write!" now I actually get out and do it and I feel so much better!

 felting balls for holiday gifts and crafts...

 We made a few gluten free sugar cookies last night. My gal loves decorating (and eating) most of all!

  Now I'm off to meet with my women's group and get inspired by amazing ladies... stay warm! xo m

wind, water, sand...

  I haven't been blogging in some time.  This fall and winter have been so full of numerous colds and illnesses working their way through myself and the children. Luckily Papa seems immune (crossing fingers) to our germs but gosh, I've been feeling awful, rundown and then just tired. When we are all well at the same time we've been enjoying morning bike rides down to the beach. The last time we went there was a family cooking breakfast at one of the fire pits, sounds like a good idea-sometime soon!

 It was unusually cold this morning and then the sun came out. It seemed like the first sunbreak in weeks.  The light was looking so lovely as it poured into the kitchen this afternoon.
  now, to bed early for me...

dreams & realities...

  I don't get all mushy over new years eve. I never really have. Nowadays I tend to think about the passing of time and it's fleeting-ness often. I try not to dwell on it too much and instead focus on the beauty of every day. Emotionally growing into adulthood  (finding out who I truly am & what makes me happy now) has really accelerated in the last few years. It's funny but, after many years of distraction, I've come full circle and am right back where I started as a tiny child. My main interests and aspirations are the same ones I had 30 years ago. Writing, "making" (such a big category but holds all sorts of crafting/domestic arts pursuits), and taking care of my family, plants and animals... I am still playing little house on the prairie.

daybreak.

 egg production is really booming. 3 a day without fail. 21 eggs a week from our 3 hens. They are very funny and sweet ladies. May be time for a chicken post...

  So much sun yesterday and today. And it was cold cold!! It was 23 degrees today and should continue all week. I had to grease up all the hens combs and wattles. They have a light in their coop but still mess around in the frozen grass and well, we've already lost one comb to frostbite last month and I don't want any other parts falling of my feathered gals. Stay warm friends and happy new years!