Luckybeans

Pinks and Blues

Over the past few days, I have noticed a theme: strokes of pink and blue tumbling through our lives. They are wonderful:

The ridiculous frill and froth of dogwoods (and a hint of blue window frames).

The blue of a birdhouse, the promise of blueberries, lungwort, and borage.

Pink blossoms left as an anonymous gift, fresh eggs (Asher says there must be something in the water again-- his sisters snorted with glee), the sign on the Grange at a birthday party, a blue ribbon for a third grade science project (thanks, Daddy), the pot full of lemon curd, Bella's button making well underway.

The pure joy of apple blossoms (I love them, and they are so fleeting, I fear I go overboard with the photos).

And this self-portrait Ana took in the bright morning sun. Just because it was this morning, and why not? It is pretty fabulous.

Sprinkled with Kindness

Ana invited some friends to join her this weekend in celebrating her birthday (she made the invitations herself). She wanted rainbow colours and sprinkles involved, as well as some random acts of kindness/ service to the community. 

We spent the morning getting the food ready and the balloons and banners up. Ana requested rainbow fruit kebabs, whipped cream filled strawberries, popcorn with white chocolate and sprinkles, "milk of kindness," doritos and root beer. We used little water balloons and stuck them up all over the walls with static electricity. Alyssa (one of Ana's friends) came over early to help and she stuck them all over her head, too. It was brilliant and I never got a photo, which makes me very sad. Sniff.

And this cake, of course. White cake with rainbow sprinkles baked into the batter, covered with cream cheese icing and skittles, and surrounded with cotton candy clouds. We spent a long time sorting skittles and found we had to keep the cake frozen or they would fall back off. It was very much worth it, though. Ana was quite particular regarding the skittle application so only she and I were allowed to do this part.

I had the supplies for the "Acts of Kindness" set up, and once everyone had arrived, we filled in over fifty cards with good wishes and cheerful sayings.

Then we packed up bags and baskets, and headed out.

For our Acts of Kindness we did the following things:

1.In lieu of gifts, many people brought donations for the food bank.

2.DIstributed our fifty+ cards in random places (on cars, bikes, in books at the library, even in obvious shrubs, etc).

3. Toy bombed two favourite playgrounds with bubbles, bouncy balls and whirlygigs.

4. Picked up any trash along our walk (this actually happened spontaneously-- we hadn't planned it).

5. Put up posters that read: It's dangerous to go Solo-- Take a Wookie with you! Just to make people smile. 

6. Took chocolates and thank you notes to the librarians (because many of us hang out there rather a lot).

There are a lot of things we could have done, but these were ones that could be done in a group without too much difficulty (it had been one heck of a week after all). Everything was within walking distance, well-known, and the acitivities were both simple and inexpensive.

 

I think everyone enjoyed themselves, even though this was different for them. There was plenty of time for silly phone photos and playing on the playground equipment. Really, they mostly want a chance to hang out together, so getting to both hang out and do something nice for their community was a pretty positive experience. Plus, they were well fed when they came home. And although we did this with a group of teenagers (well, 9-16 year olds), it would work equally well for a large range of ages.

I was proud of Ana for being so involved in getting this to work. It is a wonderful thing to be able to show your gratitude for this life by sharing even the smallest bit of joy with others.

 

 

Oh My Golly Gosh

What a week this is turning out to be! We have certainly covered the good, the bad and the ugly quite throroughly.

I had my last visit to the doctor for a good while (I hope), but Ana caught a virus that laid her flat and then Asher caught a stomach virus. He woke me up at 2am, having vomited copiously all over his bed, the carpet, the bathroom... I have never missed Africa and her tiled floors so much as I did at 3am this morning.

Asher is now lying in bed, resting, sleeping, reading and learning how to sip gingerale veeerrrryyyy ssslloowwwwwwlly indeed. This, and apple juice gelatin cubes, is all he's managed to keep down. Poor boy. At least he is no longer panicking and saying he thinks he is going to die.

We have also begun a bit of preparation for Ayyam'i'Ha. We baked pepernoten, haji badam and pecan Mexican wedding cakes (I think the last estimate was around 350 cookies in the house). We put a hyacinth in the family room, sent out parcels and hung up the bird banner. There has been a lot of hiding behind closed doors to work on things. It is that time of year!

Ana's birthday came and went, and was a lovely day. Simon had flowers delivered. Bella made her a prayer book. Asher wrote her a poem. We went out for ice cream, and she got to talk to her daddy (all the way from Juba), her grandparents, and two sets of aunties and uncles.

I finally finished my midterm exams and papers, and caught up on everything I have missed recently. And Simon sent me flowers. That was unexpected, and lovely, and I have learned to appreciate the orange ones, too.

Now if only we could just get healthy, all at once! The sun is shining, the first daffodils are peeping out, and I even spied a solitary crocus on our lawn.

 

 

 

 

Fifteen

As Baha'is, we recognize the age of fifteen as the beginning of maturity-- the time when a young person takes responsibility for their own spiritual and physical well-being. From this time forward, a child becomes a youth, mindful of their own participation in community life, Fasting, and reciting the daily obligatory prayer. Today Ai Ana steps across this threshold from childhood into the beginning of womanhood, and as her mother it is at once terrifying, confirming and somewhat incomprehensible. I worry that I have not prepared her well enough. That somehow, in the rush of childhood, I've left out key elements, overlooked foundational necessities, failed to supply basic tools. If I look only at myself, it is easy to see the shortcomings. But if I look outward, at her, it is even easier to appreciate who she is and who she continues to become.

Children, it is well-known, change every aspect of our life. They make us human by stretching us to the limits of our capacity, instructing us in humility, joy and unconditional love. I would never have chosen that time in my life to become a mother. In the strange way that grace works, in the end it was not my decision to make, and I was given the gift of this sunny girl who came bursting into the world with an enthusiasm to greet everyone in it that has never faded.

Ai Ana remains imminently kind, enthusiastic and sociable. She wishes to be a source of good to this world, and she has no interest in doing it alone. She will bring everyone she meets along for the ride, if they will let her. Every face is a friend to her-- it simply would not occur to her that the world would operate in any other way. When rebuffed, she is tenacious, forgiving, courageous. Her love for humanity is deep and all pervasive, and a source of confidence and inspiration for her. These are qualities she certainly has not inherited from her hermit-like mother, and they leave me in awe. 

Sweet Ana, goofy Ana, emotionally fragile and sometimes sly Ana. Ana with her love for science and high goals, her disorganized ways and sense of responsibility. How lucky we are to know her, to get to celebrate her, to learn what we can from her and enjoy her while she is with us.

Simon is away right now, so we celebrated her coming of age (as they say) as a family last week. Since she was four, she has begged to have her ears pierced, but we waited so that it might be done now, as a symbol of this passage in her life. We took her out for coffee and gave her a pair of earrings mined and cut in Zambia. And then we went and had the piercings done under the supervision of Harold the Moose. 

She was pleased. 

But not as pleased as we are to get to call her our daughter. We are so very proud of her. We love her so.

 

Little Bits

Just a few things we did around the house last week that were fun.

Ana made a model of a dna strand complete with phosphorous and start and stop codons.

She and Asher also made bouncy balls..

...and fake snow (and Asher made his hedgehog a cardboard and duct tape house).

Nothing earth shattering. Except perhaps the sunlight in those photos.

Ana's Lotion

Ana, at fourteen, has new and different needs and interests. I think an important part of this age is learning to care for yourself, and your new body, with grace and simplicity. So as she has experimented with haircuts, mascara and sparkly nail polish, she has also ended up with a pixie cut, refuses to shave her legs, and is meticulous about not using "chemically" products. She is also quite intrigued with the idea of making some of her own.

As the roses came into bloom, she wanted to make rose petal jam again. We made so much last year, we still have plenty. I suggested she make rose water that we could then use to make lotion. A simple method for making rose water is to pack a small bowl full of petals, then cover the petals with enough boiling water to just cover them. Cover the bowl immediately, allow it to cool to room temperature, and then place it in the fridge (still covered) overnight. Strain the petals out the next morning, and either use immediately or freeze for future use. This is a wonderful method for making rose water to use in toiletries, but can be a bit bitter for cooking.

So, rose water in hand, we finally had an opportunity to make lotion.

Ana's Lotion

1 C rose water

3/4 C oil total (we used 1 part coconut to 1 part avocado, topped up with jojoba)

1/8 tsp Vitamin E oil

20 drops rose absolute (ours is in a jojoba carrier oil)

3 Tbs beeswax

Place the oils in a double boiler over medium-low heat.

Grate or chop the beeswax into small(ish) pieces, add it into the oil and allow them to melt together.

Pour the rose water into the blender. Once the oil and beeswax have melted together, allow them to cool a bit (two minutes?). Start the blender and slowly pour in the oil and wax with the blender running. If you stil see some water, scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula and continue blending, stopping to check/scrape every thirty seconds or so until it is all smooth and incorporated.

Transfer the lotion into glass jars and allow it to cool completely before placing a lid on it. The vitamin e does have some preservative properties, but we store the lotion we aren't using in the fridge as it can spoil in the warmth.

A few notes about use:

This feels quite different to store bought lotions. A little bit goes a very long way. Often while applying it, beads of water seperate out from the lotion and sit on my skin. I simply cotinue rubbing until they are absorbed. The lotion doesn't immediately absorb into the skin, taking a minute or two to sink in. Initially, this seemed a bit greasy to me, but now I really love that it is fully absorbed after a few minutes, and leaves no lingering residue. I used a "standard" lotion the other day, and found that it really just sat on the surface of my skin, and when I got into the shower hours later I could feel it like a coating. So strange! 

Also, if you use coconut oil, try not to use it directly out of the fridge as the oil is very hard and makes for some odd application.

 Variations:

This can be highly customized to your personal tastes so long as the oil-water-wax ratios are kept the same. Any herbal infusion or tea can be used for the water part of the recipe. I plan on making a caledula/ chamomile batch later in the summer for Asher. 

The oils can also be changed. Olive, sesame, grapeseed, apricot, etc are all fine. You can also use an infused oil. Some hardier herbs (such as lavender and rosemary) do better with an oil, rather than a water based infusion.

FInally, you can add different essential oils for both their scents and properties (tea tree is antifungal, for example).

This is really a very simple process, and a lot of fun. I would suggest that you use very hot and soapy water for clean up, though. ;)

 

 

The Longest Day

And at times, it really did feel that way.

For a little while Asher had a cramping stomach that elicited much moaning, groaning and contorting on his part and the making of mint tea on mine. He told me as he was going to sleep that he had said the Remover of Difficulties prayer, so he was not sure if that was what worked, or the tea, or the herbal medicine, or getting to watch a movie. Perhaps a bit of it all combined.

I went to the dentist for a cleaning. He accompanied me, and we walked there and back without stepping on any cracks in the sidewalk. He's great fun one on one, you know.

It is that time when raspberries and strawberries overlap. Here is this morning's bowl.

While that was lovely, the children had an absolutely terrible time of it doing the dishes. Why is this so hard? They do it every single night.

I weeded the garden, transplanted a bit, re-buried the potatoes in straw. It is starting to grow, suddenly, all at once! Hurrah! Strawberries, raspberries, artichokes, swiss chard, lettuces, radishes, peas, onions-- it feels bountiful. Although there is a fungus that some of the tomatoes brought with them as seedlings, and now I am having to go to battle.

I am also enjoying eating outside again, and seeing the woodland bed slowly fill in. It is gratifying to remember that when we came here, there was nothing growing back here except for the two trees and a hideous "water feature" where the raised beds now sit.

In the true spirit of solstice, I did a final wash of all of our wool sweaters and undershirts. I may want them again in three days, but they will be clean anyway.

Ana also made lotion (are you interested in a tutorial?) and tapioca pudding. The lotion was made with wild rose water. The tapioca pudding was topped with melting hood strawberries.

And that, my dears, is all for now.

 

Blessings

Well. That little spot of sunshine did not last for long. We are back into days of snow and slush, sleet, hail, rain, mist, strong wind and all-around cold and grey. Dreary, dismal, dull. I think you understand. (Just to coincide with the Fast and finals, I am certain).

However, Simon gets home tonight for two whole days (we take what we can get). I am on my last two papers, two presentations and final exams. Seven more days of school, but who is counting?

This girl has been playing her heart out. She has gotten good. As in, it sounds like music now and is enjoyable. Especially when she tunes it beforehand. And yes, she does usually have a pencil in her hair and mud on her knees.

This girl has always had a love for bright colours on her person. Some things never change, and her latest finds do make me smile. I remember walking past piles of clothes in the sala ula markets in Zambia and Malawi and squinting. I would then bee-line for the brightest colours, just for her. It still works, except now we are Goodwill and find Mexican embroidered tops instead of oilily dresses. 

I suppose we are always surrounded by things that ought to remind us to be happy (raspberries in porridge are always good, no?). And I think I have been much more aware of that this week than I could have been. Although I will say that having my mother come down this past Saturday and whip both my house and my children into shape with her sunshine-self has serious repercussions. Good ones.

And although the Fast is always so hard, as we light a candle for each day before supper and say a prayer together, my heart feels full and I know we are all ok. We are more than ok. We are happy, we are good.

Blessings. 

A Very Merry Unbirthday

They came. They laughed and ran and played in the unseasonably warm sunshine.

They ate (a lot) and sang for her. She blew out all of her candles, much to her relief.

They slept all over the house, and in the morning resumed their crafting of sock puppets and endless rounds of catch-phrase. 

They were good. It was good. It always is, but I never remember that. I should. I think she was happy. I hope so-- she certainly deserves to be.

Inundation

In an hour they will arrive-- a gaggle of giggling girls to take over the house.

And all I can think about is how much work I have to do. And how exhausting I find being around many people.  I want to run awway and hide.

 

But this cake (pink inside! blue! coconut! buttercream! rainbow sprinkles!) and a slumber party were all she asked for, this almost-fourteen most social of butterflies. So I am trying to brace myself and dig deep into my reserves of good-humored grace.