the little travelers * travel notes

happy easter!

Our Easter was full and festive!  And we hope yours' was too.  There is a little summer house near us that the girls all refer to as Hansel and Gretel's house that is tucked into the woods right on the little lake near the house.  We pass it often on our walks and it is usually locked up so I let the girls play around it.  We have noticed though that under the porch there was tucked some blankets and personal items- so we had all wondered who they might belong to.  

 Well, the day before Easter I was on my walk early in the morning (alone!) and saw a man sleeping on the porch.  I mentioned to the girls that I saw who the bed clothes belonged to and they immediately said they wanted to make him an Easter basket.  It ended up looking like this.  

There are a few things that both crack me up and warm my heart about this selection.  Of course there are the Easter bunnies, and although hard to decipher in the photo- there is a good chunk of pink Himalayan rock salt.  There is a little hand embroidered hanky with 3 Euro inside collected among themselves- but wrapped with the right side on the inside. There is a handmade card saying, "Frohe Ostern."  There's fish, salami, bread and even good ol' Trader Joe's almonds.  They actually did quite a good job of selecting a rather balanced variety.  Oh, ya and a can of prunes!  I'm not sure a man without a toilet will appreciate that, but then again he may be in use of a little movement, shall we say- who knows? They also included a hand knit blanket that was nice and fresh since his sleeping bag is quite dirty and has lots of little micey nibbles in it.  So, we all headed out right at dusk and snuck the basket under the porch next to his bedroll and then snuck away again.  In the morning we snuck past and saw that the basket had been emptied of some of its items- so all were happy.

The rest of our day was filled with lots of German goodies and sunshine- the best gift of all!

We didn't actually dye the bulk of our eggs until Easter day since we have a little shortage of refrigeration issue here.  We tried the Martha Stewart wrap the egg in lace technique with little success- just like all the comments said on her site.  But leave it to us to not believe 20 people saying, "This does not work!" and try it ourselves anyway.  On my vintage linens finds we also picked up quite a few lace doilies for mere pennies so we were bent on giving it a try.  In the end we really just ended up with dyed doilies-but I have to say I much prefer them to the dingy white!  So a successful project in its own right.

And the best part of the day was enforcing our holiday rule of 'no work.'  No computers are allowed to be turned on- not even to check happy Easter greetings. (Thanks to all who sent them!)  If this were my place I would've surely furnished this balcony first and then worried about things like beds and dining tables, but alas, that is not the case.  Since not a single outdoor chair is to be found here I simply swiped a mattress off one of the kid's beds and made myself a perfect little reading spot for a little literary trash!  heavenly.  It's the Russian Concubine- and loads of fun.  I was able to keep an eye on the kids from above while removing myself to a place far far away.  A true holiday.

eggs

We've started on our egg making today with a popular local method.  They are really into paper napkins here and sell a wide variety just about everywhere.  So, decoupage with these napkins is apparently quite popular.  I went to a store to look for plain old white glue or some sort of Mod Podge and instead found a glue that was called 'napkin art glue.'  That's pretty specific!

First the napkin layers need to be separated.  Just the thin top layer is used.

Then apply adhesive on the bottom and top of the the napkin.  It works best to use small torn pieces of the napkin.

 I really love the way they turned out.  Of course they could've been blown first and then these could be saved for years to come, but since we're on the road, we will not be packing up any blown eggs into our suitcases when leaving.  These were a great way to use a local technique without much fuss.

Then we also made some tea dyed eggs for breakfast.  For these we first hard boiled our eggs and then cracked the shells before soaking them in tea for a few hours.  We used a Wild Berry blend.  When the shell is pealed off they look like a crackled porcelain egg- but are edible!  And they smelled like berries.

happy chinese new year!

Some fun Chinese food symbolism:

A whole chicken, including head and feet (It symbolizes a proper beginning and end to the year.)

Clams or scallops (Their shape is similar to ancient Chinese coins.)

Any dish featuring lettuce (The word for lettuce, saang choy, sounds like the word for "growing good fortunes.")

Lobster (It represents life and energy.)

Rice (It symbolizes well-being and good fortune.)

Spring rolls (Their shape is reminiscent of ancient Chinese money, which would represent wealth for the coming year.)

Dumplings (Also shaped like ancient Chinese coins. Some families choose to cook dumplings late at night, through the midnight hour to symbolize bringing prosperity and luck into the new year. )

Fish with its head and tail intact ('Fish' in Chinese is yu, which sounds like the word for wish. Also fish swim in pairs, so it represents marital bliss. The fish is served as the last course, and not all of it is eaten so there are leftovers to eat on New Year's Day. By doing this, families bring prosperity of the previous year into the new year.) 

This gives us some good ideas for dinner this week!

home for the holidays

well, not really.   We rented a bitty cabin in the mountains and enjoyed the snow.

Santa was very good to the girls this year...again.  

We brought the little ornament that the little sisters from Iran made for us and hung it on our tree.  I think it is actually a keychain, but I have a hard time imagining fitting this into my pocket- so we thought perfect as an ornament!  We each received one and they made them themselves, primarily out of salt.  The stars are metal, not plastic and fastened with little nails.

Nothing tastes better than fresh picked icicles!

lantern walk

was at the little sister's school last night.  This is one of my favorite festivals of the year.  It celebrates St. Martin who cut his cloak in half giving half to a freezing beggar on a cold winter night.  Walking through the darkness with our lanterns while singing songs has a real sweetness to it that I love.  Well, in theory.  No matter how hard the staff tries to inform the parents about the mood of the festival they do not seem capable of being able to simply hold a sacred space throughout the walk.  Special notes are sent home ahead of time requesting a reflective and meditative mood.  The idea is to move through the night singing softly observing all the little lights moving through the darkness.  Yet, most parents are unable to do it.  Most of the children are singing and many parents just can't hold the focus and begin idle chit chat.  Other parents start shushing them but they giggle and keep up the talking in a softer tone.  Why is it so difficult for us to simply hold in silence?  Why do we often feel compelled to fill up space with words?

This is the time of year when we're moving into winter and while the natural world begins its slumber the soul awakens more fully ready to do its work.  Winter is the time of inner reflection and work on ourselves.  And just as the little lanterns move through the night while we sing,

Walking with my lantern into the night

Chasing the shadows away with light

Within, within

My light will never dim

that part of us that is Light can chase away our own shadows.  The only thing that can ever remove darkness is light. Yet, at the same time even the brightest light still casts a shadow.  These are the hypocrisies of life.  Some days I embrace them fully and other times I cringe at them wishing so much that everything had just one right answer and I had the answer key to sneak a peak.  Right now as we are preparing for our trip to a very unknown land for me I feel quite ready to be challenged on many levels.  I know that I'm going to be rethinking many things on this trip.  I'm sure I will come across quite a few contradictions that send my head spinning for a while until I can make some sort of sense out of it.

This is actually my favorite part of travel.  Yes, I love the architecture, food, smells and people, but really I like getting to know myself on a deeper level and this always happens for me when traveling.  Before I had a beer bottle thrown at my head in Jamaica attached to a slur of 'Whitey' I did not know how I would respond to that.  Until I was kicked out of warming hut on Mt. Fuji because I was a gaijin I did not know that I would put up a physical fight and cling to a post in the hut, lose the fight and be physically removed, laugh about it and try it again, and again.  Until finally our Japanese guide arrived and told them we had reservations at which point I was allowed in.  I maturely stuck my tongue out at the gentleman (huh, um) that removed me multiple times.  Those are the events that trigger the deeper soul searching that inevitably follows.  For me, a moderate insomniac, that means very little sleep and a whole lot of thinking once my head hits the pillow that night.  Why did that happen?  Have I done similar things?  Have I ever made anyone feel like that?  What makes people feel justified in their ideas of separation?  Is it human nature or learned behavior?   What are my blind spots where separation is concerned?  This is when I feel very grateful to have good honest friends in my life whom I can ask. They are usually are quite happy to tell me.  It is not enough to question the outer world, we must go deeper into ourselves and ask the difficult questions.  Who have I hurt?  How can I change?  How can I grow?  What is the learning in the situation for my life?

As we move into the darker months here in the northern hemisphere, what light can we bring to ourselves and to the world?  As we move towards the season of gratitude and sharing our thanks with those around us and into the season of Light and birth, let us all contemplate where we will spread that light.  There is no dark switch in this world.  A single match can illuminate an entire room.  Where will you strike yours?

pumpkin patch

I love this time of year and even though in these parts it does not really mean cooler temps yet- it is cooler than it was in August though...

I just love, love, love the colors of fall.

Bacon & Eggs anyone?

Hooray!  Cousins are in town from Germany!

Mr. Funny Face

Have a very Happy Halloween!  Tonight for dinner before hittin' the candy we're having Witch's Stew (veggie soup) with witch's fingers- whole grain breadsticks shaped into witch's fingers- crooked with moles and an almond as the fingernail.  This makes a perfect warm, quick meal to get the fun started!  

And of course we'll eat by candlelight.

candy faeries

One of my all time favorite pieces of advice early on was about the Halloween sugar faeries.  In case anyone does not know them, particularly if your children are younger, I'd like to introduce you!  If older, this will be much more challenging to pull off.  In our house it is the Sugarplum faeries that visit on Hallow's Eve after all the candy has been collected.  The kids all get to eat as much as they like on the night of collection but that night they put out their candy to the Sugarplum faeries, who gather all the candy for the sugar to begin making all the sweet treats for Christmas time.  The faeries need a lot because there are all those gingerbread houses to be decorated, candy canes to be made, cookies for the tree, the list goes on.  So they need all those little helpers on Halloween to help them do the gathering or they would never be able to meet the supply for Christmas.  

Luckily, we started this on the big sister's very first Halloween so she knew right from the get go that the candy was not meant for her.  She could eat pieces while she collected, but it was all meant for something more important than her own satisfaction.  She really took pride in gathering as much as she could for those faeries.  And still to this day they know the candy is for them.  Last year the little sister hid little piles from the faeries that she wanted to keep for herself and was quite happy to trick them, which is completely consistent with her personality and temperament.  She's phlegmatic, loves food and definitely has tendencies towards hoarding.  The big sister is of course mortified by her sisters tricky ways and tries to guilt her about it yet at the same time wishes she had a little stash of candy as well.  But that is consistent with her personality and temperament as well. 

And our faeries are always kind enough to leave a thoughtful little note and small gift behind for the girls' hard work.  She usually brings a much wanted book or handmade item made especially for them.

Easter

At Easter we eat jelly beans.  Real ones.  As Buddha says, "Everything in moderation, including moderation."  This is the day my little one looks forward to all year long- "jelly bean  day."  I do have some issue with associating a holiday geared toward rebirth and renewal with jelly beans, but alas, it's happened.  When she sees jelly beans in the store throughout the year she always asks, "How many more months until Easter?"  One year we skipped Easter entirely as we were flying to Japan the day before.  I was planning on celebrating a week late, but then was so overwhelmed with settling in over there that I just let it slide by.  That was a two year jelly bean hiatus!

We all know those kids who never get sugar and end up obsessing over it.  I would certainly never store any in my house on a regular basis but the occasional splurge I have found a better solution towards balance than 'forbidding' it.  

The little buckets are planted with wheat grass. Just buy real wheat berries, soak them overnight and plant in dirt about 5-7 days before event. I've used these in larger containers as centerpieces for birthday parties too with adding a few bright gerber daisies in the middle and tying a ribbon around the dish.  If you have a wheat grass juicer you can juice it afterwards, but we feed ours to our bunnies.

St. Lucia Day

We like to incorporate holidays from around the world, like this one from Sweden.

So we got up early and made a mock version (with spelt flour) of the Santa Lucia buns and took the small Christmas wreath from the table and placed it on the head of the big sister.  It ought to be the little sisters job to serve tea and the buns for breakfast but she didn't want it!  typical.

Thanksgiving & gratitude

We love our gratitude tree that comes out each November.  It's wonderful to dedicated the whole month to this project. While out on walks we find leaves that we love and then in the evening after dinner we each say one thing we're grateful for and it is written on a leaf and hung on the tree.  By the time Thanksgiving rolls around the tree is full of leaves and things to be thankful for.