Where did the last seven days go? A blur of driving rain, wind, sunshine, icy blasts from the mountains, snowfall, the drip, drip, dripping of rain off the leaves in the dawn light. It's only been a week since solstice but I swear I can see that extra, little skerrick of light in the sky come sundown. Exciting, yes, but sad too. I've just setled into a nice winter routine of soups & lamplight, candles & quilts & it feels like it will be spring & daylight savings & summer heat before we know it. But right now, it's glorious. I love this weather. Keeps one feeling alive through the dark months.
I hope you all had a lovely solstice. We had a wonderful weekend. Watching the sun rise, all flaming orange in a clear sky, a quiet day baking potatoes, building our fire, hanging lanterns, writing down our heart's intentions for the coming months. When our bellies were full of jacket taties & marshmallows, the girls all tucked up in bed, Will & I stood out back, the fire all mellow, watching the stars. So beautiful. Our tin can luminaries worked a treat. A few people have asked what we fill our cans with so you can hammer the holes without the can buckling. We simply fill ours with water & freeze them overnight. I found working from the opening of the can downwards when punching holes works best as the ice begins to thaw a little & the top layer of ice gets chipped out with the hammering. We drew some designs on paper that fit around the can & stuck them on so we could follow the design lines while punching holes, but the paper just went all soggy & the lines went all smudgy. Next time I would draw the design on first with a waterproof marker before freezing the can. There are stacks of printable designs out there. We used this one & this one, as well as making up some of our own. They look so pretty in the dark with the glow reflecting on the tree branches. We're going to leave ours out in the weather to rust up.
The following day we drove to a friend's farm to enjoy another fire, good company, a bright & blue sunset, yummy soup, & a spiral lantern walk in the paddock with the kids. It really was just a wonderful, wonderful weekend. The smell of woodsmoke in the woolens airing on the deck, intentions floating purposefully out there, warm beds to hop into.
