reading and resting

• the weather- it has been an extremely wet winter this year, and although it isn't that cold... it feels exceptionally cold to us because we ran out of dry wood a few weeks ago. thank goodness we all have electric heaters in our bedrooms, and i purchased everyone down jackets for christmas. those things are getting us through quite comfortably. 
• my "new" room- (first few pictures and last few pictures) in the fall we put new carpet throughout the house. we went from a light, easily stained color to a dark, multi-colored brownish gray... basically the color of a stain... it's wonderful. i decided to move everything out early to paint the ceiling and walls of our large bedroom and walk-in closet. my husband thought i was crazy (i questioned my sanity as well), but the room truly needed some fresh paint. i am so glad now, that i put the extra effort in. our bedroom went from my least favorite room in the house to my favorite. it is the children's favorite now too! well, the cozy changes and the fact that it's one of the largest rooms in the house with heat... hmm.
• reading- right now i am reading "deep nutrition, why your genes need tradition food". the author, catherine shanahan, studied biochemistry and genetics, then went to medical school, and then studied ethnobotany and the culinary habits of her healthiest patients. a very interesting read. my husband ordered it to read himself but i opened the package when it arrived :) so he will have to wait (don't worry, he ordered about ten other books too. he has plenty of reading). i also ordered four new cookbooks. all pictured above... "the nourished kitchen", "broths and stocks", "fermented vegetables", and "mastering fermentation". i am just beginning to dive into those, but so far i am very impressed with all of them. i also read "the witch of blackbird pond" and "the giver" recently and LOVED them both, especially "the giver". 
• food- i have really been enjoying this oregon food blog http://dishingupthedirt.com/. i have tried her cranberry ginger granola, carrot parsnip ginger soup, and red lentil soup. all were wonderful. i looovve that granola... wow... so good. i have finally jumped on the kombucha train. it's pretty fun. i have a lot of questions... do any of you ferment your own kombucha? i have many food goals for the near future... start making sauerkraut, kehfir, sourdough (with sprouted grain flour), find a raw milk source... i am going to start with those and then add new goals.
• the new calf- she was born on my birthday. first time i got to witness the entire birth. also, they named her after me. so sweet.
• my oldest daughter is now homeschooling. there was no problem with public school. we just decided we want to have each child homeschool for a year or two, one child at a time, and my husband decided this was her year. more on this later.
• my moon garland. this was a fun project. i made a moon cycle out of clay, new moon to full moon back to new moon. i painted them with hammered silver paint, and strung them on twine. this project had been on my mind for months, so it felt good to actually get it out of my head and into reality. the idea came from a friend. we were supposed to get together and make moon garlands and then she was never able to visit. well, i couldn't stop thinking about my project so i just had to make it anyway.

i didn't expect this post to come out quite so long and all over the place. i suppose this is what i should expect to happen when i post so sporadically. at least with the bullets you can choose to read just the bits you may be interested in.

oh friends, spring is on the way. i am beginning to get lost in that late winter dream cycle... making far too many plans for the warm sunny days ahead. i am so excited for that spring energy, but i am also enjoying the restful dream filled end of winter.