St Lucy Day

on the 13th we'll be celebrating St Lucy Day. just another excuse to eat pastries in my book! in Scandinavia, the oldest girl in the family greets the others with hot coffee and fresh made yummy things to eat. she also has a crown of lit candles on her head! can you imagine? i think we'll skip the candles this year. but not the muffins! Lucy was a young girl who wanted to devote her life to God. her family and many suitors had other ideas. one man sent her a letter talking about how beautiful her eyes were. she returned his letter on a platter--with her eyes!

it might even be snowing up on the ridge where we live. the wood pile is high, the fridge is full of food, we are ready for the weather to turn. i think breakfast in bed with paper and the family close by sounds perfect.

there is a lovely book published by DK with a St Lucy girl on the cover called Celebrations! i've used this book for years for simple ideas to remember other holy days like Chinese New Year and the Day of the Dead.

and don't forget the full cold night's moon tomorrow night...the earth and moon are at their closest together, so the moon will be bright. döö limbo, in Saramakan.

if you're out and about in Portland...

...and looking for a tree, the good folks at L'Arche Nehalem are selling trees in Hollywood and out on 82nd. this group of people lives in community with people with developmental disabilities. amazing work. (thanks to Larksong for the link!) as for us, we got our tree from the Portland Miracle Revival Temple. sounds just about crazy enough!

...and need the perfect handmade gift, the good folks at SCRAP are hosting a Holiday Bazaar featuring locally made gifts from recycled materials. one of the featured artists is our friend Nicki who makes neat handbags and pouches from leather and wool. (scroll down a bit in the link above to see a lovely picture of the girl and hear a bit about her work!)

st nicholas day

st nicholas day, originally uploaded by one deep drawer.

who needs one more thing to remember and celebrate in the month of December? isn't it already full to overflowing with obligations and too much stuff? at our house, the celebration of Advent and it's feasts has given us a chance to step away from the obligations. it has created a way to enjoy the season and truly turn our hearts as our earth turns again toward the light.

the celebrations that i'll be describing in the next few days are simple and practical and inexpensive. lots of people bake at the holidays. why not throw some ginger in the cookie dough and call them St Nicholas day cookies! our efforts to bring more attention and thought to our celebrations will be rewarded.

December 6 (tomorrow!) is the feast day of St Nicholas, a perfect way to gently begin the Christmas season. Nicholas was a bishop in Myna in the early 4th century. today he is remembered as the patron saint of children.

in Holland children leave their shoes (instead of their stockings) out on the night of the 5th. they wake to find them filled with little practical things that they need--school supplies and the like. the next day at tea time, children enjoy speculaas cookies...little gingerbread treats in the shape of St Nicholas.

last year we made the simple and moist ginger oatmeal cake from the More with Less cookbook. then we cut the cake into small squares, cut a few of the squares in half on the diagonal, and made these cute little houses. a sprinkle of powdered sugar on the roof for some snow and a pretzel for a chimney to complete the look!

Ginger Oatmeal Cake

Combine and let stand for 30 minutes:
1 c quick oats
1 1/2 c boiling water
Cream together:
1/2 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c white sugar (we always use less)
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
Add:
oatmeal mixture
Sift together and add to the creamed mixture:
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2t salt
1 t cinnamon (we use pumpkin pie spice)
1 t ginger
Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes

art and the kids who make it

here's another link for you who are parents or even just have occasion to be with children of an afternoon...

http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/

twice in the past week, i've followed links here, so i thought it best to pass it along. already i'm enjoying getting to know their small family. already i have book recommendations (Young at Art by Susan Striker).

hope you find something you like.

and sorry about the slight posts...i'm writing every day over at

http://onedeepdrawer.blogspot.com/

right where we belong

1. Of all of the people who applied to volunteer in the Peace Corps, we were accepted. (One in three applicants is accepted.)
   
2. Of all of the countries Peace Corps works, we were assigned Suriname. (Peace Corps works in 73 different countries.)
   
3. Of all the regions in Suriname where Peace Corps Volunteers live and work, we were assigned the interior of the country. (PCVs work in the city or in districts or in the interior.)
   
4. Of all of the tribes in the interior, we were assigned Saramakans. (Peace Corps works in Aukan, Matawai, and Saramakan villages)
   
5. Of all of the Saramakan villages we were assigned Tutu. (Volunteers work in seven different villages along the Suriname River.)
   
6. Of all of the villages along the river, a professor named Kofi brought students to do archaeological research in Tutu.
7. Of all of the universities in America, Kofi is a Black Studies professor at Portland State. (Both of us graduated from PSU.)
   
8. Of all the people in the world, one of Kofi's students married a man from Tutu.
9. Of all of the neighborhoods in Tutu, we lived next door to this man's brothers. (His nieces were in our English classes and preschool.)

Yes! that's the man in the picture. his name is Alfons. and now we live in Portland. and so does this man from Saramaka. he is an excellent cook, has a wonderful partner, loves up our baby, and makes us feel right at home. on Monday he left to visit his family in Suriname. we can't wait to hear his stories.

if you're thinking of homeschooling

The Tanglewood School offers what just might be the right amount of support and structure. the folks there balance their Classical education leanings with the teachings of Charlotte Mason. there are not a few (mostly Christian) homeschoolers these days claiming Charlotte as their own. the link above is a short introduction. i am interested, of course, in her idea of nature study. and in keeping nature journals. and in the insistence that children go outside each day no matter the weather. but her work also displays a clear headed respect and interest in children. something you might share.

anyhow, at the Tanglewood site, you'll find lots of book recommendations and a few record keeping and planning sheets. it's got me excited to start keeping a record of what we're doing here. applying some method to our days.

number one

on Friday M + i mailed the first ever edition of the new zine called fieldwork. the switch from all handmade to computer-made is the first thing you'll notice. especially if you're familiar with other zines of mine. but maybe you didn't notice that at all. it's the first thing i noticed. but for some reason, i was pretty clear that this zine should be made on a computer. maybe it's inspiration from neat zines like Miranda.

for the most part, i'm happy with the way this first issue turned out. yes, i wish i could have come up with a mission statement or tag line that was more clear or funny. yes, i wish the articles were longer. but there were also surprises. like how much i liked the fonts that i found. just exactly right.

if you'd like a copy, get in contact...

fieldworkonline {at} yahoo {dot} com.