Simply Together

Each child receives a small basket awaiting them at their seat Easter morning.  Truly, it is just a token gift - usually one or two pieces of candy, a nice new pen and some pencils, a hand knit toy for the younger children, and a bag of Smartfood popcorn for our oldest, Thomas, because he doesn't like candy.

Another tradition we have is hiding the plastic Easter eggs (yes plastic, but they are used year after year), filled with some coins.  Each child has their own color and they are hidden in appropriate level of difficulty. This is the dear husband's job.  Sometimes he makes the hiding spots so challenging it can take quite a long time for them all to be found.

We had our Quaker Meeting for worship at 10:00 am.  It was nice to have three other sets of people come.

And then we enjoyed the beautiful day outside.

Sarah and Isaac practicing their casting in our pond.

Brought the chairs out.

The sap buckets were taken down and rinsed out, left to dry.

 

 

 

Giving the bikes a tune up.

This beautiful sunny morning, some of the children and I are off to see some Alpine doe kids...

we are all so excited.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

 

Allthough the Weather Outside is Frightful.....

Yes, it is snowing today (big sigh.....)

But, I am taking pleasure in adding simple Easter decorations.

Something I seldom purchase, but did yesterday, some flowers from the market.  I added a birch bark sleeve to cover the plastic pot.  They sit on our kitchen counter.

The children's watercolor painted wooden eggs in a thrifted bowl on a thrifted vintage napkin - our dining table centerpiece.

The children are ~

creating with pattern blocks

and needle felting on wool.

While we delight in the simple indoor pleasures, I can't wait to get back outside and feel the sun's warmth.

Warm wishes, Tonya

Preparing for a Birthday and Easter

We had a several years old Ukranian Egg Decorating Kit and while it was a bit too much for these guys, Abby  did enjoy adding some wax outlines.

They blew the eggs out, which was quite a sight to see.  And then using cotton swabs, they applied the dyes directly to the eggs.

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along, I am making good progress on Sarah's crocheted blanket for her bed and we are enjoying this beautiful book - the illustrations are wonderful.  It is also nice how they used cursive writing, which will probably be a lost art in our lifetime or the next.

I am looking forward to reading about other's book recommendations today through the Yarn along, as I need a new book for myself. 

Sarah has also requested these needle felted chickens she saw in the spring edition of Living Crafts.  She is our chicken girl, and I look forward to making them for her.

Warmth and Joy this Weekend

It is hard to believe the children were doing this -

~they made this "water slide"... we have an overflow from our well which gives us constant flowing water that normally goes into our pond.. but I can see endless fun with it this summer~

~taken before leaving for church Easter morning~

~simple Easter table for supper~

Easing back into the week today. Warm wishes, Tonya

Crafting Over the Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend mostly at home, and mostly working with our hands.

In our small kitchen garden at home, I planted a bit of lettuce and some snap peas.

Saturday afternoon we tilled our large market garden, it is about 50' x 40'. This will be our fourth year of growing here and the soil is finally looking like it should over most of it. While Mike was tilling, I raked and pulled out large clumps of weeds, etc..

We did lots of creating as well.

I finally finished this special order for a customer. The wool yarn used was all hand dyed. She wanted a set of rainbow gnomes in subtle shades.

Gathered scraps of fabric, chose yellows and blues and made this scrap fabric wreath, inspired by GardenMama.

Our neighbor raises sheep organically for meat and we were given seven bags of wool! (Certified organic as well.)

So... I could use some help with the best/easiest/simplest ways to wash and pick this.

This is a picture of our first batch that I washed and it still has to be picked through.

Finally, the girls helped me set up our Easter shelf.

Happy Monday and Happy Spring.

Warm wishes and joy, Tonya