If today be sunny and bright, Winter again will show its might.
If today be cloudy and gray, Winter soon will pass away.
Today is Oimelc, or at least it is for those of us who celebrate it on the full moon closest to February 1st. One of the many traditional activities on this day is weather prediction (hence the rhyme) and let me tell you, today was neither sunny or bright! Come on Spring!
This morning was time for cooking. I made marinara sauce, meatballs and croutons for dinner (spaghetti and meatballs with Caesar salad.) Damian spent most of his time crashing his tonka firetruck into block towers he was building on the kitchen floor. In between all that I did some Spring cleaning, nursed my baby girl and flipping through my new books.
Speaking of that little girl, Ivy turned two months old today. Michael came home early from work since she had an appointment with her pediatrician (the hemangioma specialist isn’t till Monday.) Her weight and height are both in the 95 percentiles!
Damian received his Oimelc gift from us today, a tambourine! Though he is too young to help me with our Oimelc ritual with candles, he is not too young to ring some “chimes”. I am loving watching him laughing with total joy while banging away!
Damian also helped me make marshmallows for our hot cocoa and a movie party tomorrow. We also made chocolate mint shortbreads. While I pretend not to notice I think it is cute when little hands sneak warm a cookie off the cooling rack.
If you want to read more about Oimelc and our family traditions I’ll send you here but I really just wanted to wish you all a blessed Oimelc and share a few piece of mine with you. I hope you had a lovely day and cloudy too if you can’t wait till Spring!
This is my second day in my challenge to take a photo everyday of 2010 (only 363 more to go!) I do not intend on posting them all here, but they are in a set on flickr.
Yesterday I saw my first rainbow of the year though by the time I grabbed my camera, it was already fading. Either way it seemed to carry a unique kind of blessing with it; I cannot think of a more beautiful herald for the new year then a rainbow.
As I said the other day, I don’t do resolutions but rather like the idea I have seen floating around the blogosphere of picking a word to be my inspiration or mantra for the year (or until I feel I have developed some mastery of its concepts.) 2010 will be my year to simplify my life. A home with young children can be chaotic and I need to find ways to find the eye of the storm. To live simply and in the moment.
And what could be a more simple joy then watching Damian play with one of my best friends on New Years day?
Here’s to 2010. A year that begins with a rainbow is sure to be filled with wonder.
Our holiday decorations are simple and mostly handmade. All of our stockings were made by my mother-in-law. Michael’s is the one his mother made him as a child, Damian received his one his first Christmas and Ivy and I both received ones this year (they are lovely, check them out.) Elsewhere in the house we have a quilted banner hanging with angels, also from Michael’s family. 
I have a few Wintery cookie tins and candle holders scattered around too.
Our tree is a small live dwarf Alberta spruce that stays on our altar for a few weeks before going back outside. We have to watch for spidermites so I mist it a few times a week and crack the window beside it daily so it doesn’t get too warm for it. We decorate it with a handful of small ornaments, little painted wooden figurines and small beaded baubles, a crocheted mouse (Damian’s first ornament) and my one of my great-grandma’s little bells (Ivy’s first ornament,) a wood bead garland and a short string of big colored led lights. Santa/Odin stands beside our tree decked out in a fur and greenery with birds perched on him. We have a few glass ornaments that are too large for the tree (from when we had a large fake one) so we hang them from the ceiling above the tree, I think they make a great “topper.” They catch the light and this time of year is all about welcoming the return of the light for us.
I admit I love outdoor decorations more then indoor ones, so we have a couple strings of white ones on our porch and a wreath I made on the front door. Over the years I would like to pick up more lights, maybe the icicle ones if I can find led ones to line our roof with. On Christmas Eve we usually go around our neighborhood and look at all the decked out yards, but we will see how that goes with a newborn this year. Tonight after Michael gets home, we will delivery the last cookie plates to our neighbors and watch our favorite Christmas movies during our “finger food feast”. I am making all our favorite finger foods (and a ham) because nothing says holidays like eating too much (or something like that… Hey, it’s tradition!)
I love our Solstice traditions and for us today is the last day of Saturnalia and tomorrow is the first day of Brumalia, but it is also Christmas. We choose to honor Christmas in a secular way because of our family traditions. I love mixing Michael and my family traditions with our new ones as a family. And lets face it, this time of year is so much more fun with a young family. I can’t wait to see Damian unwrap his gifts tomorrow.
… staying up into the wee hours of the night humming Three Little Birds to your three week old with an upset tummy.
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Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin’: “Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right!”
Rise up this mornin’,
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, (”This is my message to you-ou-ou:”)
Don’t worry about a thing…
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I don’t know about you but I think it is a pretty good lullaby for this longest night of the year. As tired as I am, this still feels like a precious time for Ivy and I. Our first Solstice eve together.
Blessed Yule!
