Today it's cold and raining, but the Bradford Pear trees that line my street are all a-bloom in frothy white. The tulips are beginning to show their colors, just as the daffodils have reached their full glory and will soon begin to fade. And, the happy robins sing their merry song as they feast on worms in the soggy lawn, "Cheery-up! Cheery-up!"...

My friend Joanne sent me a Robert Frost poem that I hadn't read before, which perfectly captures the sentiment of my heart regarding spring here in New England:

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

~Robert Frost

This new template was made by my wonderful son Seth, visit his blog here.

It's been exactly three months since my last entry. Today is Friday the 13th; I keep waiting for the shoe to fall. It's been a damp gray day--we've had a lot of them this spring here in New England. I'm trying to stay cheerful: I wear yellow alot, and coral, lime, and red. Even though it was overcast and misty yesterday, the children and I had our lunch out in the yard on a picnic blanket. It's good to be outdoors even in pale and watery sunlight.

We put the garden in two weeks ago. Already there are blossoms on a couple of the tomato plants. All the bean plants have sprouted and are thriving. The pepper plants seem to like the humid, wet weather--they look better than any pepper plants we've ever had. We're growing zuchini, spearmint, nasturtiums, marigolds and catnip for the kitties. The children did all the planning and planting for the garden this year. They decided on a triagular shaped garden, so we put the garden in a corner of the yard. Paul and I had to do the ground breaking work and soil preparation, but the kids did the rest.

We have shifted into our summer home learning schedule. Basically, on the days we are home and not at the beach, woods, pond, or on some other adventure, we do math, a little reading, and writing. It takes about an hour. We follow where life leads us and end up learning quite a bit about nature: bugs, plants, rocks, stars, etc, and we read about different cultures and look up locations on the map when we hear of some interesting happening in the world. We read intriguing and entertaining stories at night. We sing and play, ride our bikes, rollerblade, fly kites, make salads, jump rope, draw on the sidewalk, play word games during lunch (rhymes, antonyms, etc.), and hope for sunnier and warmer weather.

I'm currently knitting a doll dress for my 5y dd's doll. I'm using my favorite yarn; Cotton Fleece from Brown Sheep Yarn Co. Amy picked the color: tea rose. It's a rich pink, almost raspberry, really. I should have it finished in a day or two. Then I will begin the matching cap and booties. The pattern is from a Paton's Astra book for doll clothes called, Just For Dolls #139.

I listened to Kate Bush today. Her music is great for these gray dreary days; moody, desperate, hopeful, regretful. I love her The Dreaming and Hounds of Love albums. Wuthering Heights will always be my favorite of her songs.

It's really raining now. I'm going to put the kettle on and brew up a pot of jasmine tea.

Yesterday it was 50 degrees. Today it is snowing. March pulls at the heart: tiny snowdrops poking up through the snow on delicate pale green stems are a miracle; the cheery song of a robin is balm for the winter-weary soul; snow hurries from the sky to the ground to pile up thick and wet and heavy--but it will all melt away when the sun shines tomorrow. Somehow, every year, spring begins in March.

We spent the morning at our homeschool group's bi-weekly playgroup. This playgroup is different from what most parents are familiar with. When our group meets there are moms and dads, and kids of various ages up to about age thirteen. Five year olds have fun entertaining babies. Ten year olds play with six year olds. Parents chat with each other and with the children. The sharing is real. We talk about everything: what we're planning on planting in the garden this spring, philosphies and methods of learning at home, who's pregnant, pet stories....

Seven year old Tristan told me how his pet hampster, Stefanie, lost her eye. When they purchased Stefanie from the pet store she was pregnant. She was also young and had no experience as a mother. Soon after they brought her home she birthed her litter, and in her very stressed condition she began to devour her babies. One of the babies fought off its mother's attack and scratched one of her eyes out. It was a shocking story. Tristan shared it with honesty and with compassion for the animals.

In Karen Andreola's landmark book about the nineteenth century education reformist, Charlotte Mason, she sums up the matter of curriculum by stating that each day a child must have something to do, something (or someone) to love, and something to think about. A pet can satisfy all three requirements rather nicely. A pet provides a child with something to do through daily care and observation of the pet. A pet is an appropriate object for a child's love. And, a pet gives a child plenty to think about: Why do cats and dogs have tails? Why do the birds sing more in the springtime? What does the hermit crab look like without his shell?

In our house we have been the keepers of many pets: cats, mice, birds, frogs, hermit crabs, fish. Currently, we share our life with two cats, two birds, a hermit crab and a goldfish. The cats' names are : Snuggles and Willow. Snuggles is a "regular old short-haired" cat. He is ginger with light tiger markings. He looks rather like a miniature mountain lion. He is a LARGE cat. Willow is a purebred, blue bi-color ragdoll. She is sweet and regal, long-haired and blue-eyed. Snuggles and Willow are as different as the moon is from the sun, but also just as complimentary. They are great friends. The birds we keep are zebra finches. We have a male and a female, but they are not a pair. Their names are Melody and Burt. They are mother and son. Burt's father, Mozart suffered an unfortunate tragedy in which one of his legs was snagged by the claw of an enthusiastic Snuggles through the bars of the birdcage. The accident took Mozart's life and ended the fertility of Melody's eggs. The hermit crab's name is Hermie, and we call the goldfish Gary.

I didn't get to knit last night! It amazes me how much some knitters can accomplish. I am not a prolific knitter. For one thing, I don't knit very fast (even though I knit continental), and for another thing I have four young children. I'm still hoping to complete the basket weave cardigan by this weekend--I had better get knittiing!

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We went to the Natick Organic Community Farm today for a maple sugaring tour. It was a perfect day for the outing; warm and sunny. The snow was in a fast melt leaving deep puddles and squishy mud that sucked at our rubber boots as we walked through the farmyard . The children delighted in visiting with the farm animals: cows, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs, and a friendly orange and white cat. The cat reminded us of our cat Snuggles, except Snuggles is decidedly ginger. Emmeline, who is two, calls all animals by the sounds they make. Thus, a chicken is a "buck, buck", a cat is a "meow, meow", a cow is a "moo, moo"; everything is pronounced with squealing enthusiasm.

This is what I hope to achieve with my life and my mothering:
"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life." ~John Burroughs
And it is what I aim for each day when I open my eyes and experience the watery light of morning filtering through the lace curtains of my bedroom; it is what I learn from my children when they look at me as if I am the worst kind of criminal for wanting to squish the spider who lives in the corner of the ceiling; it is the perspective that rejects the cynical and embraces the sacred in the everyday. It is living a life of really seeing and really doing, and appreciating it all.

It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. The Natick Organic Community Farm uses about 30 gallons of sap from each tree, which is only a fraction of the sap that each tree produces. The sap is collected in buckets which hang on a hook from a little spout called a "spile". The spile is jammed into a hole that has been bored with a hand-drill into a sugar maple tree. The sap drips out slowly or pours out depending on the weather. And it is clear; it looks like water. After the sap is collected it is boiled in an evaporator in the "sugarhouse". The boiled sap turns mapley-brown and thickens. When it is just thick enough, the sap is filtered through cotton and wool, poured into clean bottles and capped. Unopened it will keep for 6 months. Once it's opened it needs to be refrigerated.

I am knitting Emmeline a little cardigan sweater in a luscious coral-pink yarn from Sirdar. The pattern is a simple design from Yankee Knitter : "Basket Weave Cardigan", size 3T. The yarn is Denim Tweed DK. I am not ashamed to admit that it is an acrylic blend: acrylic/cotton/wool. Does that make me a "knitting dweeb?" (I've heard this term used on some knitting blogs to describe knitters who use acrylics.) Honestly, my littlest ones cannot tolerate much wool content and if they are to get any wear out of the garments I make at all, then they need to be made from an easy-care fiber that can be washed. I do love cotton, though! But if I want a wool look without the itch for my little ones, I try to find a nice acrylic blend. So, I guess I'm a little dweebie. Oh well!

I'm almost finished with this sweater! One more sleeve to go! I hope to have it completed by this weekend. I haven't bought the buttons yet. The buttons are a critical choice. I'm not exactly sure what buttons I want. I'll go out on a button hunt Saturday morning. Whatever I choose will help determine the "character" of the garment. Buttons, buttons, choices, choices!

When we got home this afternoon we made maple cookies. Butter, brown sugar, flour, egg, maple syrup--these are the ingredients not only for cookies, but for happiness. The children measured, mixed, and poured. They like to do real things that produce something that has value. Children are persons.