Christmas Decor and Tree Beverage

Our tree a couple years ago

Christmas decorating is usually done just after Thanksgiving, but this year Thanksgiving was earlier . . . and it felt too early. So the December 1st weekend we walked our property and picked a tree to cut down - usually trying to thin out for the health of surrounding too close trees. As a result they are not-so-perfect trees.

Monte's family roots in homesteaded Wisconsin still grow Christmas trees. The Swan trees are famous . . . and perfect! Too perfect for me. We brought home a tree once and I didn't know how to decorate it! I like my ornaments to hang free, and many of them need large gaps. (Does perfect mean gapless? . . . Hmmmmm . . . Dare I go into a contemplative thought?)

My local garden guy (on the radio and now has Colorado Gardening Guide books) told of a special "beverage" mixture for Christmas tree stands. Every year I pull out my little card in the December category of my file box for the recipe:

For 1 gallon of water-
1 cup corn syrup
1-2 Tb bleach

That's it. It takes some hot water to stir in the corn syrup. I always figure warm water going into the fresh cut cold tree is probably a good thing. Thinking about this ... I only keep corn syrup in the back of the cupboard for this recipe since I don't use it for anything else!

Coming from a family who harvest Christmas trees I can tell you a few facts. Tho trees are harvested - cut and bound for easy packing - in the mid fall, they aren't so dry! When the ground freezes it is best for their health that trees have been well-watered in the fall so they have plenty to absorb to last the winter. So those earlier harvested trees are usually fuller of moisture than later cut-in-winter trees.

And then a lot of this is moot since more and more people are opting for fake trees. I think I'd do the fake tree rather than pay the price for a tree every year.

Hanging pinecones at the windows is my favorite decoration!

My favorite decorations are the pinecones I hang in the windows. I leave them up till just after Valentines Day. The fresh greenery is quite dry by then, but easily removed into a box.

Pinecones hanging in the dining room window

Some years I decorate a lot and other years simpler. My pinecone window decor tho is always a must!

Shared with: Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Monday Mania, Homestead Barn Hop, Foodie Friday, Six Sister Stuff, Dandelion House, Or So She Says, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Food Renegade

DIY Deodorant, etc.

Homemade bar soap for guests and gifting

I had to replenish our supply of deodorant today. Yes, I said I made deodorant. I make deodorant, lip balm, face lotion, hand soap (recipes and tutorials are here), shampoo bar, and laundry soap. The laundry soap lasts about a year and probably costs under $5 to make. Though I'll make hand bar and shampoo bar soap about once a year, it really lasts us longer than that. It's just that I give it away. I've not bought shampoo or bar soap in twenty years!

Soap bars and my face lotion

We tried getting away from antiperspirants years ago . . . and didn't like the by-product (or should I say "the lack thereof of the product"). Why is there no problem now? Or to rephrase, why do we not smell (stink!) now? We've eaten pretty good most of our married life. Tho now we're eating even better! What I read, is to give it time - time for the body to adjust. So we did. And we like it! It's got to be healthier.

Ingredients for homemade deodorant - the spoon is holding the solidified mixture

I do two kinds of recipes depending on the time of year. Our favorite is this simple one -

BASIC DEODORANT
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 Tb shea butter
1/4 cup baking soda
3 Tb arrowroot powder
(I'm now adding probiotic capsules and lavender essential oil drops as in recipe below)

I melt the fats in the microwave and then stir in the dry ingredients. Pour into the desired containers. I usually put in small canning jars. But when traveling I prefer these plastic tubs.

BUT when it's summer? This mixture can get meltedy in the heat, just sitting in the closet or bathroom! That's when I've done deodorant in roll-up containers (I'll still use this year round since I've got it). It could also be made into a "deodorant bar" by pouring the ingredients into small containers like silicone baking shapes. It's the same basic ingredients as above with added beeswax.

MORE SOLID DEODORANT
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup shea butter, cocoa butter, or mango butter (or mixture of these)
1/2 cup beeswax pieces (finely grated or bought as small pieces/pearls)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
Optional ingredients I add -
1 tsp vitamin E oil
2-3 capsules of probiotics
20 drops essential oil, I like lavender
(1st sample essential oil on your skin to make sure it doesn't burn, etc)

Homemade deodorant and lip balm

We don't like scents so rarely use in any of my soaps. When using beeswax, like I also add to my face lotion, it takes a longer time to melt. I've started using things and realize there's beeswax pieces, so will remelt it all. As you can see in the picture, there are roll-up tubes for purchase. Or you can save your empties and reuse - just make sure it's rolled back down. Or look for containers here as well as ingredients.

In the picture you also see my lip balm. Those tubes are sold at the same site as the deodorant tubes. I also ordered from them a tray that holds 50 of these tubes - which does help in holding for filling these little tubes. Just pour the melted ingredients and scrape along the top to fill.

My friend and me tried adding powdered alkanet to some of the tubes. Fill your plain ones first and then carefully do the colored ones so it doesn't mess up all of the plain ones!

Lip balm tray that holds 50 tubes

I go for ingredients that don't melt easy - Monte complains about those in his pockets.

LIP BALM
This is a recipe to get you started. Remember that you can be creative and alternate oils and butters to formulate your favorite recipe. If putting in little lip balm tins you could lessen the beeswax if you want.

1 1/2 oz beeswax (grated or pieces/pearls)
1 1/2 oz shea or mango butter (I use mango cuz it's a bit harder)
1 1/2 oz cocoa butter (tastes like chocolate!)
3 oz castor oil or grapeseed (I use castor)

Melt all ingredients in a microwave-safe container or double boiler (preferably something that has a pour tip). Do no overheat. If using a microwave, stir every 30 seconds.

When above ingredients are melted, add the following optional ingredients:
1 tsp Vitamin E oil (helps preserving)
1-2 tsp flavor oil (peppermint? ...)(I don't use this as I love the coco butter taste as is!)

For SPF (which I've not done yet):
1/4-1/2 tsp micronized titanium dioxide 

Pour into the tubes connected to the tray. As the batch cools, it will coagulate & become difficult to pour. Simply place in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and then continue filling tubes. Fills approx 46 .15 oz lip balms.

Fifty tubes actually disappear rather quickly: purses, coat and vest pockets, differing rooms, vehicles, giftings - like my kids often ask for new ones.

Shared with: Spain In Iowa, Sustainable Eats, My Cultured Palate, Real Food Wednesday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Monday Mania, Homestead Barn Hop, Or So She Says, Six Sisters Stuff, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Food Renegade, Frugal Days, Dandelion House

Saint Nicholas Day

Needlefelt Santa from Living Felt

It's Saint Nicholas Day!

I've talked on my "Cycle of Celebrations" stuff across the country for quite some years now. I take a filled Christmas stocking along as a visual aid. I talk about the value of story and that the Bible mentions remembering the stories ... "tell the children ... that the grandchildren will know ... pass it on" ... over 300+ times. I researched Christian holidays, Jewish festivals, and then on to Saint Days.

I did not grow up with much of this and thought saint stuff was just Catholic. But it's all a part of church history. We have the Old and the New Testaments with their stories, and then what I call the Third Testament, carries on the stories. The apostle Paul refers to all of us believers as saints.

The Church for years started putting these stories on the Calendar. The dates are the people's death days - thus thought to be their Heaven birth dates. When Protestantism took off they threw out the calendar, as they did with so much (you know, the 'baby out with the bathwater' phrase).

As a result, since the St Nicholas story was not told for many generations, we end up with Santa Claus along with Jesus on Christmas. Instead, on December 6, we put up socks and fill them with stuff that reminds us of the real St Nicholas story and celebrate. We don't have to fear all the Santa stuff, just feel sad about the missing pieces of the whole story.

St Nicholas was a real person from present-day Turkey (288-354). He had lived through much persecution as a Christian and lived to see Christianity become the empire religion under Constantine. It's rumored he was at the Council of Nicea, where he was condemning the heresy of Arianism (not believing in the deity of Jesus). It's also said he slapped the heretic Arius.

There's SO many stories surrounding St Nicholas. The one he's most noted for is him throwing coins in a window, landing in socks hanging to dry, of a family who lost everything and the girls were going to give themselves to prostitution to make money. Nicholas employed people to make wooden toys to give away, and food - like ginger cookies, and even gave gifts of clothing. So these are things we put in the stockings: chocolate candy coins, ginger cookies, fruit, mittens or socks, and something wooden. So I'm always on the lookout for wooden toys and the candy coins. As Heather got older, I gave her wooden kitchen tools.

There's lots of silly stories (hagiography) ... but who knows. In those days people had eyes to see miracles. Do we look for miracles in our everyday - like God 'winks'? People used to wake up and say, "This is so-and-so's day" and remember their stories. If God was there for them, then he's here for us too. We wake up and it's just another Monday, or Friday, or Sunday. Our calendar days could be rich with stories - a Story Calendar.

Many saint stories are wild. Like maybe close to being heretics walking the edge over a precipice. But they are humans who hear the Gospel and walk it uniquely for their place and time. If not for them we'd not have much learning and healing institutions and inner city care. We'd not have kings, rulers, and church leadership hearing the Truth.

So use this day to celebrate and tell the real story of Santa Claus (who the Dutch brought to our country and it grew from there). Then the rest of December when people ask, "did you tell Santa what you want?" we can say, "his name is St Nicholas, and he's already been to our house". Then he's separated from Jesus.

Some have said, "I'm not going to tell my kids about Santa, cuz then they'll think Jesus is a myth too." Well I heard of a 10 year old telling college kids that he knew about Santa Claus, like he knew about elves, the easter bunny, and other pretend things. "I never got him mixed up with Jesus because I could tell from the way my parents talked and acted all year long that Jesus was true."

Our Tucson home fireplace - 1982

One year when we lived in Tucson, Monte took ashes from the fireplace and drew ash footprints coming out into the living room. We had left milk and cookies for Santa. At 35 and 33, I don't think Heather and Travis are psychologically crippled. Actually their sense of wonder (next to worship) is alive and well. Memories are the library of the soul.

Enjoy the cute books. I found that JRR Tolkien had written Father Christmas letters to his kids, and all his illustrations along with the 20 some years of letters are all in a fun book: Father Christmas Letters.

Sing the song "You better watch out ..." and then talk about the message of 'naughty or nice'. Because in Jesus, God gives salvation and adoption into the trinity family as a gift. We do not earn it.

"The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic His giving, by grace, through faith, and this not of ourselves," said Nicholas.

"We who still enjoy fairy tales have less reason to wish actual childhood back. We have kept its pleasures and added some grown-up ones as well." - CSLewis

"Come to me as a child," says Jesus.

People who know me are going to ask why I posted the Santa from Living Felt picture. Yes I needle felt, but haven't created a Santa . . . yet.

Shared with: Foodie Friday, Six Sister Stuff, Dandelion House, Or So She Says, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Food Renegade,

Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier

Dec 3rd is Francis Xavier's day. He was one of the original Jesuit's founded by Ignatius Loyola. (I've wanted to understand the differing monastic groups.) Xavier lived in the early 1500s and it amazes me that in 10 years he traveled 9,000 miles - a great feat in those days. He brought the Gospel to more than 50 kingdoms and baptized more than a million. The church he planted in Japan lasted three centuries without Bibles or priests - only word by parents passed on to children. He's remembered as the Apostle of the Indies.

Edmund Campion - a Scarlet Pimpernel!

Edmund Campion

Edmund Campion is remembered December 1st on the Christian Calendar. He reminds me of the movie and book: The Scarlet Pimpernel (the BBC version is the best and closest to the book). Though born of a protestant printer-bookseller in London in 1540, he became a Jesuit and a secret agent for the Faith.

I love history. I love books. I've read stories where old homes in England had cubbyholes called "priest holes". Campion's story makes me literate of these priest holes.

With the introduction of Protestantism, some rulers were seeing possibilities of separating from the Pope. The Church ruled. Monarch Henry VIII was the first to start a new church. What happened for probably a century is that the religion followed the ruler. Differing beliefs could not coexist for quite some time. The last Catholic monarch of England is what history calls Bloody Mary, and her successor, protestant Good Queen Bess. Lots of deaths swinging from protestants killing catholics and then vice versa and back again.

Campion was in Elizabeth's reign and he was constantly changing his name and apparel. Like once he was disguised as a jewel merchant. He was the object of a year long manhunt, all the while ministering to catholics in hiding and publishing 'underground' pamphlets. Queen Elizabeth liked him and tried to dissuade him, making him offers. But he was the 1st of hundreds who were hanged, drawn, and quartered for adhering to their religious beliefs.

Advent Basket

Advent season has begun! The Christian Calendar begins with Advent. This past week I made six Advent baskets. Our kids grew up with an Advent basket I made almost thirty years ago! They'd feel the little Advent bags I made, trying to guess what's inside, most of the items have a hardness to them with some sort of miniature item I either bought or made, and too, a slip of paper with a Scripture to read and a thought statement or question - all related to the life of Jesus - things he did, or said, etc. Well, all my kids are married now and wanting their own Advent basket. So this was the year . . . So that was three baskets.

I've been a MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) Mentor Mom for going on thirteen years. Their Christmas Brunch was this past week with an auction as a fund-raiser. So two of the baskets went to MOPS. Then a friend got the sixth basket.

Advent Baskets I made this year for my married kids and others

I should have taken a picture of all the miniatures sitting out on the table before bagging them all up! One has a pop bottle or can with the question of "Who can quench thirsts?". Another has a little loaf of bread. There's one with a piece of crumpled tin foil attempted to smooth and folded. Some have little jars of seeds and differing scriptures - like the sower and the seeds, or faith as a mustard seed . . .

Advent is the beginning of the Christian Year, and is a four week time of anticipating the coming of God in Christ in the birth of Jesus. It is our privilege to receive the gracious gift of God's presence in Christ. It is our task to prepare for his coming anew and not miss life's greatest gift.

As my lectionary prayer book says -
"We do get another chance! ... we get the opportunity to begin again. Once more the full story of God's grace is awaiting our discovery. Once more we shake off the failures and victories of the past, and we get a blank page to write the story of our companionship with God in Christ. Once more we get to listen and respond in faithfulness to the God who comes to us so humbly, intimately, and personally in the birth of Jesus ... Advent initiates once again remembering, retelling, and celebrating the whole drama of God's revelation ... Advent confronts us once again with God's unparalleled effort to communicate the message that all humankind is embraced and held close by a God of love. Jesus Christ has come, is present with us, and will come again in final victory when all darkness, pain, and evil will be no more."

Advent means "to come". It is the Feast of the Nativity called "Christ's Mass" and it goes beyond just one day of celebrating. I love the days of preparation, desiring a journey of awakening anew in a deeper way. In the remembering, rereading, and retelling the stories of 'His-story' we see that Christ was waited for and came in the past. Because the present moment is the only moment of actual living, I don't want to waste it in not being present to Christ. The past gives me strength to live well in the present. And in Christ we have the promise of a future.


A wreath is what is usually used for Advent with four candles, one to be lit each week, then a center Christ child candle (the Light of the World) is to be lit Dec 25th. I have a pottery wreath with a water reservoir to keep little evergreen boughs fresh, and it sits on the kitchen table. The wreath started in Scandinavia as a wagon wheel - actually taken from their wagon - so they couldn't travel, and therefore wouldn't be too busy. Most years I have the more traditional colors of candles - like pink, purple and white.

Week 1 is the Prophecy candle.
The prophets foretold of Jesus' coming. They waited, hoped and trusted. In the preparations for Christmas we need to prepare our hearts; make room in our hearts for Christ to be 'reborn' in some special ways this season - as in every day, all year, every year. We need to 'make space' in our busy ordinary days so we can anticipate His presence with us.



"O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
(God with us!)

Some of the above was copy and pasted from past blogs. 2008 December in my sidebar has all the Advent Days contemplated, along with art work. 

Shared with: Simple Lives Thursday, Cultured Palate, Real Food Wednesday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Monday Mania, Homestead Barn Hop, Fight Back Friday, Or So She Says, Six Sisters Stuff,  Farm Girl Blog Fest, Dandelion House

Cultured Cranberry Relish and Veggie Dippers

Fermenting veggies for serving with a dip, and cranberry relish - for Thanksgiving Day

I posted earlier about wanting to ferment my typical raw cranberry relish I make for Thanksgiving. And I said I wanted to ferment the veggies for a platter with a dip. I put off fermenting them cuz I was afraid of them getting too fermented. Like would the veggies be soggy limp? So I fermented them for about 24hours. They were a hit!

WELL . . . I had two jars of each. So a week later I jarred them up to put in my cool cellar. The veggies were still delish with a crunch and the cranberry was great too.

I just bought more organic cranberries that were on sale and going to make up some more. I'll probably keep doing this till the cranberry season is done. Is that just after Christmas?

I bought organic broccoli, orange cauliflower, celery, cucumber and carrots. I sliced them and put them in a large bowl, along with some slivered fresh garlic. I sprinkled on about 4 Tb sea salt and occasionally stirred to start the veggies juicing. I must have wrote this down somewhere! cuz I'm pretty sure I added some peppercorns and possibly some cloves. And then some liquid whey. Just make sure the veggies are covered with water, which with the salt becomes a brine. There's a glass weight in the jars to keep the veggies submerged.

Pulsing cranberry relish ingredients

CRANBERRY ORANGE APPLE RELISH

4 - 7.5oz containers of cranberries (about 8 cups)
8 tangelo type oranges, skin and all (remove seeds!)
3 apples
1/2 cup sucanat
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup whey
1/2-1 lemon

Pulse all but the whey in a food processor. Don't puree. This mixture filled my 1 1/2 Liter and a 1 Liter Pickle-It containers, with a glass weight, and airlock on top of jar. I squeezed some lemon juice on top of both for extra submerging liquid. You can do this in a regular fido jar or canning jar with a plastic lid. But I have tasted a difference in the foods fermented with the airlocks - better tasting!

Sharing at: Simple Lives Thursday, My Cultured Palate, Beyond the Peel, Real Food Wednesday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Pickle Me Too,  Monday Mania, Prairie Homestead Barn Hop, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Dandelion House, Food Renegade

December and Advent

December is a month of contradictions. We feel both the cold of winter and the warmth of family gatherings. The long darkness of night surrounds us, but the many-colored lights of the season shine around us. The life of nature seems to die, but we focus on the birth of a Child.

Our pottery Advent wreath

The Christian Year begins with Advent which begins 4 Sundays before Christmas. I have four Advent posts that can't be given an actual date since it differs every year. Advent week 1, then Advent week 2, Advent week 3, and Advent week 4. The Christ child candle in the center is lit on Christmas.

Around the 21st we watch for Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. From this day on, the days will each get longer until mid-summer.

St Lucia is on the 13th - her name "Lucy" meaning "light". St Lucia Day for the Scandinavians, with their dark days, really ushers in the season of lights.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, goes for 8 days. I pick a night for a family meal and we burn a small menorah and eat a meal with latkes (potato pancakes) served with applesause and sour cream. And we talk about it's story.

It's story reminds us that miracles can still happen. It happened between the Old and New Testament around 175 BCE and is a festival the Jews have added to their calendar (from the original festivals in Lev 23). Jesus was at this festival in John 10:22-42. Hanukkah means "dedication".

See my Hannukah post on it, and my Latke recipe. I can't put these posts on specific dates since the Jewish Calendar is Lunar based and it falls on differing days every year.

The Sunday before Christmas in Eastern Churches, the Genealogy of Jesus (another post) is remembered.

I love my Mary's "Yes" post for this season, an Advent Poem, and don't forget about the real St Nicholas. I got recipe posts as well for the season. 

Thanksgiving Velveteen House

My studio with musical instruments. Travis and Gracie are playing accordians. Emery is watching. Monte's got Scout on the piano. I'm sewing PJ's out of fleece since they forgot theirs.

Well, another Velveteen House post. Click here to see a summary post on this subject. Over the years of blogging I'll occasionally do "Velveteen House" posts, a play off the classic children's book Velveteen Rabbit with it's classic nursery room dialogue of "what is real" - here's a bit:

"...You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

... Well our home has been well-loved, lived in, and worn. Lots of wonderful memories bounce from our velveteen house walls. Click here if you want to link to another Velveteen House post that has links to the older posts and shows lots of creativity happening here.

Company is now come and gone. In all, Thanksgiving Day fed 17 adults and 2 munchkins. Wednesday eve brought some good old friends who stayed thru Friday morning. Lots of good friends for thee day. Dawson and Splarah stayed the night and Friday. Travis and Sarah with munchkins and a high school gal stayed till this evening. I'm now going to post a string of photos of the time . . .

Travis capturing himself in one of my garden decors

We all went for a walk. Dawson is kissing Splarah!

Monte and Travis took the munchkins for a walk - this is the remains of a cabin Travis built years ago as a kid.

Gracie and Emery are coloring

Monte's helping Emery with the accordian

Gracie is playing the saw and Emery the recorder

Travis practicing his set for Sunday Worship

Scout's taking apart the jigsaw puzzle we worked on late into the night Thanksgiving

Monte stuck Scout into a box of buttons

Emery's experimenting with a variety of stuff in my egg slicer

Sarah is making a wreath

Monte let some guys cut down dead trees and they are using our fire pit for a hot dog meal

Monte's making a stand for a little tree for Emery to take home and decorate

The munchkins in the PJs I made them crawling all over Grandpa Monte

Cultured Condiments

Homemade Cultured (fermented) Condiments

I was wanting to make egg salad (recipe under eggs label - thee best!) and realized I needed more mayo. I make mayo. I'll keep some store-bought around ... for some people ... but I prefer homemade.

Since reading Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions (have I read it all? has anyone read it all? what a resource!!!!!!!) I started making my own ketchup and mayo. I'd been making my own mayo occasionally, and mustard for years, but now culture it. By letting them ferment a bit with the addition of liquid whey (draining the liquid from my homemade yogurt or dairy kefir) their nutrients are boosted with more enzymes and vitamins (and dare I say 'organisms'? - like probiotic) and it helps preserve them for a long time.

MAYONNAISE
Have all the ingredients at room temp.

3 egg yolks or 1 whole egg and 1 yolk
Definitely use washed organic eggs, or better yet, pastured eggs.
I use my own chickens eggs which are fed organic non-GMO grains.
1 tsp dijon mustard (my homemade!)
1 1/2 Tb raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 Tb whey (not powdered)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Making mayo in a food processor

Combine all but the oil in either a blender or food processor. With it running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and the mixture will thicken. Jar up and leave the jar with the lid on, on the counter for 7 to 12 hours to culture, and then refrigerate. This keeps for many weeks!

I love the flavor of extra virgin olive oil. If you don't, experiment with other oils. You can find all kinds of suggestions online. Unless you buy organic mayo, you are getting GMO soybean oil, etc.

For ketchup I use tomato paste and the vinegar and whey and spicing. There's lots of recipes out there. I use Sally's. And same goes for mustard. For years I've been using a mixture of dark brown and light golden mustard seeds.

Homemade mustard is fabulous. I'll often take it to gatherings, along with some cheese and homemade sourdough crackers (I've got cracker recipes posted).

I like mixing some mayo and ketchup together, equal proportions, for a quick kind of Thousand Island salad dressing.