Don't get advice from
rocks, they always talk in
riddles and it's impossible
to get a straight answer.
Trees, on the other hand,
will tell you what you
need to know, but they
ramble on and on and on;
they never get to the point.
-- wisdom from Littetree
Now that the new year has passed, my dreadlocks can count their 17th birthday, and I realised (actually a couple of months ago), that I’ve passed the point where I’ve had them for more than half my life.
Given that I started them at sixteen-and-a-half, and I’m now thirty-three (and a half), so here’s a tribute to an epic journey – they’re not quite as long as they used to be – a few years back they were to my ankles, but that proved to be a hazard, so I keep them hovering around knee-length (for more history and dreadlock Q&A, see this old post on my Fifteen-Year-Dreadversary).
Now that we've all survived another trip around the sun, and as we embark on another, entitled, 2013, I want to wish everyone a Happy and Awesome New Solar Revolution
Naturally, being a “new year”, I’ve been having long discussions with Littletree about what a year actually means – one trip around the Sun for the Earth, and how different cultures mark the start of each year at different times, and how different calendars calculate such things. And that rabbit hole of research led us, like so many things, to learning about the Sun, and the NASA website…
She pointed out the same thing I remember saying to my mother when I was about her age – what’s the point of calling it a “new” year, when every day starts a new year. And for each person, a new year really starts on their birthday.
Littletree woke up on Christmas morning to find some special surprises under the tree! So we snuggled in for breakfast in bed and the great unwrapping
There was a Spirit Hood from our wonderful friend Miri (check out her awesome hand-crafted hoods HERE). This one was made especially for Littletree, in a scruffy cat style – absolutely perfect for her.
A special friend sent a pair of binoculars – really good ones! Littletree is so excited about it.
From AquaCat she got two crystals, a ruby heart
and a clear quartz crystal ball
From me Littletree got something she’s been ogling for a long time – a Swiss Army Knife – especially with a magnifying glass.
So much joy and excitement!
Then we got up and made egg nog for brunch – extra special with local eggs and organic cream
So rich and so YUMMY!
Even BooBoo got a tiny bit as a special treat. He said MRAO!
We relaxed, played some games, watched a video, and then had our Epic Christmas Seafood Feast
Lobster and prawns and big salads!
Littletree went out in the afternoon to play with some neighbourhood kids while we cleaned up, and of course, rounding off the day with home made Irish Cream and tiramisu.
Happy Day!
Getting ready for our epic Christmas feast, Littletree and I spent the day baking. See – I knew it would be a bad idea to introduce her to baking; now she’s hooked. And the worst part is she can read the recipes herself now. Oh, what have I done!?
First things first – making gingerbread dough… because that is the first step in the creation of a gingerbread house.
The dough turned out nicely, and left to sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Meanwhile… we made tiramisu
I love tiramisu, but it’s quite a process to make it all from scratch – lots of different mixing bowls and layers to prepare, but it’s always worth it.
Once that was in the fridge to set, we got out the gingerbread dough and started rolling it out. We discovered a great tip – roll the dough between sheets of baking paper.
I found a nice stencil online for the house shapes, but it was so ridiculously not to scale… that turned into a nice geometry lesson; Littletree had to get out a ruler and calculate the measurements and angles.
Then we discovered that the best way to cut the shapes and transfer them onto the baking tray was to actually leave the dough sandwiched between the sheets of baking paper and cut it out with scissors. Works a treat, and easy to put right onto the baking tray as-is!
After the shapes were baked and cooled, we had the epic mission of making up royal icing (epic because in the humidity, my icing sugar had solidified into a solid rock and I had to grind it by hand with a mortar and pestle back into powder form.
And then came the assembly!
After a quick lesson on how to properly handle an icing bag and nozzle, I stepped aside and let Littetree have at it.
Despite a few sticky accidents learning experiences, she got the hang of it, and the gingerbread house was made beautifully, complete with a cat on the roof.
For some reason, I never took a photo of the finished product… but none of it would have been possible if not for AquaCat coming round to do all the dishes
All set for an epic feast!
Littletree has got the giving spirit and wanted to give all of her friends presents for Christmas. Rather than going out and buying stuff, Littletree got inspired to get crafty.
She took some simple headbands and glued on little jewels and fabric flowers
After making a few of these, the results were very impressive
Then she wrapped them up to give to friends.
As if that wasn’t enough, for an encore, she got out her beading kit and made a few pairs of earrings
I’m so impressed!
And Littletree is really proud of her efforts too :)
As we lit the eighth candle last night, I talked with Littletree about the miracle of Channukah - about 2000 years ago, the temple was destroyed and the people needed specially prepared sacred oil to keep the sacred lamp burning. But in the ruins of the temple, all that remained was one little jar of oil; barely enough to last for one day, and it would take eight days to make more.
By a miracle, that small jar of oil lasted for eight days - long enough to make more, and to keep the flame burning.
For me, this is a true story; one that I've experienced in my real life. So many times I've been in the communal kitchens at Rainbow Gatherings, where communal vegetarian meals are prepared for sometimes up to 5,000 people twice daily.
The whole shebang is run by volunteers, without any structured leaders, workers or organisation. Everything from the collecting of donations, the writing of shopping lists, the shopping, the storage, the kitchen hygiene and the food preparation is done by self-appointed volunteers.
And sometimes we get into the kitchen to prepare food for hundreds or thousands of people, only to find that there's no oil left to cook with.
So I get an empty oil bottle, and I go around the whole festival to people's individual camp sites, and ask: can anyone donate a little oil from their personal food stash.
Even just a splash of oil, every little bit helps. Some people don't have oil, some people can just spare a little, some people give up half a bottle... but I always return to the kitchen with enough oil (or salt, or potatoes, or whatever) to make the meal for everyone to share.
It's a true miracle. When people work together and share as a community, everything is possible.
Chag Sameach.
Littletree is pretty excited to be celebrating Christmas this year – she decided to decorate a tree, so we found a fallen branch outside and set it up for her to decorate
We don’t have all that much in the way of decorations, and not much of a budget to buy any, so we took a tip from my lovely friend Gramma Miri (who makes the most amazing custom-made Spirit Hoods) and made Popcorn Garlands to decorate around.
The first step being, of course, making popcorn
But as these things do with Littletree, everything turns to science. She observed the popcorn popping, and wanted to know how it works. YouTube delivered some fine slow motion shots of popcorn popping, which, of course, led us down a slow-motion videos rabbit-hole
But we did eventually make it back to popcorn, and naturally there has to be quality control.
Rigorous scientific testing of every aspect of the popcorn…
Littletree finally stopped eating long enough to actually thread some onto string and make garlands
yay!
And it looks great on the tree
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