Happy Saint Nicholas Day

It was still dark and I'm pretty sure I was in a deep sleep when the first footsteps came padding into my bedroom this morning to alert me that Saint Nicholas had come in the night and had filled their shoes with goodies. I think after that I may have even been covered in a few wet kisses and squeals of delight before I tried to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep instead of getting out of bed *grin*. That didn't last long as more footsteps followed and there was a special treat from mama to be prepared as well :)

Saint Nicholas had been most generous and had stuffed their shoes to the brim with oranges and nuts, a couple of golden coins, a chocolate St. Nick figure...

and a little brown paper package for each of them.

As the aroma of cinnamon and fresh bread filled the air we sat at the dining room table with hot cocoa to unwrap the little packages :) Last year the children received christmas themed books but this year I found some lovely classics for the older children....

and a copy of a Magic School Bus book for M. He was thrilled to have a copy that he could call his very own :)

After that things got mighty quiet as book pages were turned and mouths were filled with warm bites of the marzipan, almond and cinnamon kringel that I had made for the occasion :)

The children must have all been very good this year because there was no visit from the Krampus thank goodness and Opa had a good time retelling tales of when he was a child in Austria and Sankt Nikolaus would visit his house.

We had made some special cookies using our favorite speculaas recipe and shaped them as Saint Nicholas but unfortunately my red gel icing didn't make them red but instead a deep shade of pink :( Oh well they still tasted delicious...

And were cute packed inside our little tins that were going to be dropped off as secret gifts to unsuspecting friends and family. You should hear the children giggle as they try to sneak up quietly to a house to ring the doorbell and then run away as fast as the can *grin*. I don't think they got caught once this year :)

 Do you celebrate St. Nicholas? I would love if you would leave a comment or a link to your blog letting me know what your family did today :)

Hugs,

Rosina

right now, I AM

....inhaling that new book smell :)

Is it ever to early to think about new school books?? Apparently my 12 year old thinks it is LOL. I've been saving my money since last September and early last week I put in my yearly curriculum order with Sonlight. This fall we'll be starting grade 7 and normally when the new catalogue comes out there's always a handful of items that have increased in price so I'm beating them to the punch and buying them now :)

So many good books this year! January and February always seem to be the months when I sort of feel tired with what we're doing and having all these new novels is really going to spur me on to finish up this year by the end of May. Plus I really want to read some Charles Dickens with him. Maybe I'll have to pack some of them along when we go camping this summer *grin*. I just won't tell him they are school related *wink*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Click the frog to learn more!

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}



I just had to make one more pair of these handwarmers *grin*. I just love them so much :) This time I used a combination of Mohair and wool, two strands together and they are so beautifully fuzzy, soft and warm. I really hope my cousin loves them as much as I do. They are a late Christmas present as I was hoping to bump into her during the holidays but into the mail they went yesterday morning so that she can enjoy them before spring arrives!



I was hoping to get a photo of my handwarmers with what we're reading but mother nature just wasn't cooperating with my photo shoot plans *grin*. I'm reading a copy of Waldorf Education ~ A Family Guide and the children and I are enjoying the sweet illustrations and stories of Brambly Hedge Winter Story by Jill Barklem.

The power went out again last night right after dinner so we spent a blissfully silent evening, blanketed in snowflakes and reading by candle light :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Rain Rain Go Away

We've had some pretty wet weather these last few days and today was no exception. Actually as I'm writing this the rain is hammering against the windows as the bird feeders swing wildly and the house groans uncomfortably.

Needless to say we're going a little stir crazy not being able to spend as much time outdoors as we would have liked. So as a fun little outing I packed everyone into the car along with a few school books that we are reading right now and headed down to the wharf.

There we could watch the birds and sea otters play, boats coming and going and get pounded by the rain and wind while still staying dry *grin*. It was a nice change. I read aloud for about an hour while the 3 of them colored and drew pictures to go along with the story in the backseat :)

I hear we're supposed to get the sunshine back by the weekend... boy do I hope so!

~ Rosina

Flickr Favorites ~ Crewel

1. felted stone covered in french knots, 2. crewel embroidery, 3. crewel embroidery, 4. Crewel: 26

I love thick & chunky crewel embroidery. It's just so delicious looking *grin* Definitely something that I would love to be able to devote more time to.

Say It With Stitches, originally uploaded by Artdoodads.etsy.

As I was searching for embroidery photos I came across this pattern book for the most adorable children's embroidery patterns. I wonder if I can find this at the library or on ebay. I could definitely have some fun with it :)

How about you, any crewel or other embroidery books that are your favorites right now?

Have your own flickr favorites and want to play along? Visit Mitsy over at Artmind to join in the fun :)

~ Rosina