Windy, Cloudy Weather Today

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

~John Ruskin

The Seasons First Snowfall

The boys FINALLY got their wish! Snow, snow and more snow (with a little rain sprinkled on top). The sun even managed to peek through which made *my* day.☺

Igloo building and snow people ☃ sculpting went on for hours today, which ended in a dry set of clothes and a hot cup of cocoa!

The BEST thing about homeschooling, working on the farm, and having our groceries delivered to our door is the fact that we have no need to drive on those sloppy roads.

When snow falls, nature listens.

~Antoinette van Kleeff

Winter came down to our home one night

Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,

And we, we were children once again.

~Bill Morgan, Jr.

The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination.

There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.

~Ruth Stout

Thankfully we didn't get as much snow as forecasted and the use our snowblower wasn't needed, but is ready to go!

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.

~Ansel Adams

Immune Boosting Chai Recipe.

The weather is starting to shift to the cool raininess of autumn. The kids have started their homeschool activities, and there's a buzz in the air this year about illness.

How can we help our bodies transition from the warm dry summer, through the cool damp autumn and into cold winter?

"Chai!"

Keep a pot of an immune boosting, herbal chai brewing throughout the winter , and the kids will LOVE it. What a wonderful feeling to be nourishing them with medicine they enjoy.

I'm starting the chai early - using it as a fall tonic to nourish our immune systems and to warm our bodies on chilly fall days.

Most often chai is made with strong black tea, but I am not interested in that large dose of caffeine and make mine with herbs alone. It is delicious!

Ready for the recipe?

Immune Building Autumn Chai Recipe 3 1⁄2 cups of boiling water 2 Cinnamon sticks 1 Tablespoon fresh Ginger, grated 1 whole Nutmeg, chopped 1 Tablespoon Cardamom seed pods 5 tongues of Astragulus root 1 Tablespoon dried burdock root 1 Tablespoon dried dandelion root 1⁄2 tsp. whole Cloves 1⁄4 tsp. black Peppercorns 1⁄2 tsp. Anise seeds 1⁄2 tsp. whole Allspice 1⁄2 tsp. Echinacea root

What you do...

Simmer the spices in the water for about 15 minutes. (If you’d like to add black tea, add 1/8 cup after removing from the heat and steep for not more than 3 minutes.)

Strain out the herbs, add warmed milk (I suggest at least 1/4 cup) and honey to taste. Enjoy this delicious fall tonic, and the wonderful feeling of giving your kids (and you) a tasty, nourishing treat!

Enjoy!

Welcome Summer Solstice

Great is the sun, and wide he goes

Through empty heaven with repose;

And in the blue and glowing days

More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull

To keep the shady parlour cool,

Yet he will find a chink or two

To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad

He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;

And through the broken edge of tiles

Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around

He bares to all the garden ground,

And sheds a warm and glittering look

Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,

Round the bright air with footing true,

To please the child, to paint the rose,

The gardener of the World, he goes.

By: Robert Louis Stevenson

Sunshine

FINALLY, a day of sunshine and warmth.

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather.

All for one and one for all

My brother and my friend

What fun we have

The time we share

Brothers 'til the end.

~Author Unknown

My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It's the letter I use to spell yuzz-a-ma-tuzz. You'll be sort of surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond 'Z' and start poking around!

~Dr. Seuss

My ABC's of Weather Cliches.

(Give or take a letter or two :)

After the rain comes a rainbow. Behind the clouds, the sun is shining. Cold as blue blazes. Drown you sorrows. Face the sun, but turn your back to the storm. Got your head in the clouds. Hot enough for you. It will be a cold day in hell. Just a drop in the bucket. Not a snowball's chance in hell. Once in a blue moon. Pure as the driven snow. The Quiet before the storm. Run like the wind. Snow job. That'll be the day. Under the weather. Weather the storm. You're all wet.

Yesterday and Today.

Yesterday...

And Today.

Every winter,

When the great sun has turned his face away,

The earth goes down into a vale of grief,

And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables,

Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay -

Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses.

~Charles Kingsley

I miss my gardens.

My Clematis.

Peaking out of the Fairy Garden.
Scarecrow the boys made.

... the spring, the summer,

The chilling autumn, angry winter, change

Their wonted liveries; and the mazed world

By their increase, now knows not which is which.

- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.