Hibernation Tendancies

I mentioned in my last post about spending time in my cosy corner of the sofa every evening enjoying our fire and knitting.  I have spent most of the last week sat there as I succumbed to some kind of virus just over a week ago.  I have done a lot of sleeping.  On a couple of those days my only movement was between my cosy corner of the sofa and bed.  I am up and about more now doing a little more now.  My outside time stopped for a few days and then rather than a walk I wrapped up and spent five minutes or so soaking up the winter sunshine that graced our door this week.  I did feel better for doing that.

We had to cancel our plans for some of the days this week, those plans that I could not make happen without others helping with transport.  Alice managed to get to her weekly home ed group as a kind mum offered to come out of her way to pick her up.  She goes to a friends for tea afterwards following by a canoe polo session in the local pool so she was really glad that she could still do all of that.  I had a very quiet afternoon working under a blanket on the sofa.  

I did some driving around on Wednesday my cuckoo clock day as I am in and out all day operating mum's taxi service.  After nearly a week of small amounts of movement it was a little weird to watch the world move by so fast from the car window as I drove to collect Cameron from his half day at college.  I remember that feeling during lockdown when I would only use the car once a week, the first time I drove much further took some getting used to.  It was Alice's turn to take up residence on the sofa, I honestly thought she was coming down with the same thing as me but she was only ill for a day, thankfully.  It did mean that the afternoon taxi service was stood down for this week, which I was thankful for.  Walking round the supermarket in the morning was a strange experience after nearly a week of being housebound.  It is easy to forget that there is a world going about its business when you are hibernating at home.  It all felt like far too much stimulation.

I thought it might mean that Thursday I could remain at home, but it was my husband's turn for some time on the sofa so I had to get Cameron to college and pick him up.  So more driving was needed.  I shelved plans to do the small independent food shops which we usually visit along with a piano lesson on a Thursday.  Alice although much better was not feeling up to a lesson this week.  The driving back and forth was quite enough for one day.  Our friends that we usually see in the afternoon has not happened yet this year what with one thing and another, it sometimes works that way but never for want of trying to make it happen.

Friday I managed the last bits of shopping, the drive to town was slowed by a funeral cortege.  It drove through most of the village with someone walking in front of the main car, I have not witnessed that for a while.  There were lots of people lining the streets I have no idea whose funeral it was, folks in my village tend to live here their entire lives, there are many families with several generations living here.  I will get Cameron to find out when he next does his paper round.  Once the car had left the village it drove at about twenty miles an hour to the point where I think it was turning to the crematorium.  Perhaps for a service there.  I was quite grateful for the slow speed, after the drive the day before it was good to be able to take it slower without someone behind trying to speed things up, the roads are a little narrow in places to allow for overtaking.

I really fancied a walk in the afternoon after the shopping and lunch were all done.  It was another sunny day and I was feeling like I was ready to actually walk rather than just spend some time outside soaking up the fresh air.  I mentioned it to my husband who was up for a stroll too except I then sat in a comfy chair and fell asleep!  We did have a short walk, my first for over a week, I was very slow and was ready to sit down when we got back home.  I fell asleep again when we returned!  My energy levels are not back to their usual levels yet, it would seem.  I haven't managed my morning yoga for over a week.  I am thinking I might start with something very gentle tomorrow.  I don't want to stiffen up completely.

I finally managed to order some yarn for a bigger project than knitting squares.  I have been debating the shade of grey to order.  It is hard to see the true colour when you are ordering online, I hope it is the shade I am after.  

We were supposed to be out and about all day on Sunday doing something that I ordinarily love doing so I was rather relieved when it was no longer necessary to run it and it has now been cancelled.  I wasn't particularly looking forward to a long day out.   

I even managed to do some de-cluttering from the warmth of my cosy spot on the sofa.  The blog reader that I have been using for some time had become increasingly unreliable.  On those rare occasions that I am able to sit down and read the other wonderful blogs I follow I would get a message telling me it was not possible to access the website to do that and I would need to come back later.  Somewhat frustrating.  I had halfheartedly migrated a few blogs to a different reader a few years ago which I was also using as a means of keeping track of a few news sites I also follow.  Time to migrate properly.  I was following over 100 blogs many of which were no longer posting.  I deleted some of these and left the rest on the old reader which I will check from time to time to see if they have posted again.  I now have a more manageable amount on the new website, all folks who post regularly for them, not all at the same time thankfully for me I would not be able to read all those in one day.  A different kind of de-cluttering but clearing up and tidying all the same and I no longer get a message telling me to come back and read later.

So often when I am unwell or recovering, I miss all the things I usually do but this time I have enjoyed being at home, at not having to go out anywhere.  I am really feeling the need to hibernate,  the pull of the comfort of a warm fire, a cosy blanket and a sofa to sink into.  I have been ill with a virus every month since October.  Every now and then I have a late Autumn and Winter like this one where I seem to catch everything that is going.  It is usually followed by many more without any illness.  It's as if I get them all at once to build immunity before another batch of viruses comes along.  Winter is about recharging so maybe it is my body's way of telling me that it needs me to slow down this year, to take my time to fully and properly rest before being ready for the busyness of the seasons to come.

Festivals

Back in November, that seems a long time ago now, I shared some of the festivals we had learned about and observed in the Autumn.  As the Winter draws to a close and Spring is slowly beckoning us with its bloom it is time to share those we have learned about, celebrated or observed over the Winter.  I shared a list at the end of my post about Autumn Festivals which seemed very long at the time, I didn't think we would have time for them all but we did and added some more!

Advent

I was a bit late with my planning of how we would observe/celebrate Advent, only doing my research a few days before it started.  In the end it didn't matter as the research I did will now stand us in good stead for future years.  My hesitation, I am sure, was down to the fact that I was unsure of how Advent should fit into our family.  I read as much as I could, mostly on blogs, about how others observe and celebrate this time of year, finally settling on a lovely festival attributed to Rudolph Steiner although there seems to be some dispute as to whether he did create it or not.  Anyway each week of Advent has a theme, a festival, which we used as the focus of our learning each week.  We created a star path as a visible sign of time passing.  A large star for each of the Sundays and a smaller star for the other days.  We kept these in a small bowl on our seasonal table laying out a new one each morning when we also lit a candle.  The path wove its way from the bowl round the candle to our wee tree.  We read about Advent and learnt a song which we added a verse to each week.

Week One - Festival of Stones

During the week we read stories nine and ten from The Festival of Stones.  We placed rocks and minerals from our own collections on our seasonal table and identified them during the week (or tried to) we also learnt about how they were formed.  We live in a mineral rich part of our country so we look at some geology maps of our county, including what was mined and where.  We visited a local museum which has an excellent exhibition of local rocks and minerals which includes a time line.

Week Two - Festival of Plants

We read stories 11 and 12 from The Festival of Stones.  I decided to focus our learning on trees for the weeks as this would enable us to take out learning outside.   We read a few pages from the Earth section of this beautiful book learning about what the Earth Kingdom has meant to our ancient ancestors.  We read the Norse myth about Yggdrassil.  We learnt about the Holly Tree, writing up facts about the tree to share at Forest School.  We went for a walk in a local wood to learn to identify trees in Winter.  We added plant finds to our seasonal table, replacing the rocks.

Week Three - Festival of Animals

We read stories 13 - 16 from The Festival of Stones during the week.  We changed our seasonal table replacing the plant finds with animals (not real ones!) and some of the things we get from animals such as wool, silk and honey.  We leant about animals that hibernate and why they do it.  We made bird food which we hung out for the birds and went birdwatching at a local nature reserve.

Week Four - Festival of Humankind

Over the course of the week we read stories 16 - 28 from The Festival of Stones.  The rest of the week was slightly different to previous weeks as we were away from home.  Our festival was about being with family, sharing food together and enjoying their company.  In the years that we spend Christmas at home I will think about how to embrace this.

During the four week of Advent we also learnt about and observed some other festivals:

St Nicholas Day - 06 December

St Nicholas was a gift giver and is celebrated in many forms around the world so we discovered when  we read about who and how this day is celebrated.  We found a story to share and made some spicy biscuits which we shared with friends.

St Lucia Day - 13 December 

St Lucia is the patron saint of Light.  This Swedish festival which I remember celebrating as a child.  We read about how Children celebrate this day, a story behind the celebrations and made some Lussekatt using the recipe from this book.

Hanukah - 18 December

This is a Jewish Festival of Lights that is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kisler.  We read a story about why this is an important time for Jewish people.  We learnt a simple song and made potato latkes.

Winter Solstice - 21 December 

The shortest day of the year, a day worthy of celebrating in my book as the days get longer thereafter!  For the past few years we have celebrated this at a friends house but she was not well enough to host this year we missed the lovely party.  We put up our Christmas decorations on this day, we watched the sun rise and set and we burnt our worries on a fire we had in the garden.

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Mawlid an Nabi - 03 January

The birth day of the Prophet Muhammad which is an important day for Muslims.  We read and found about the Prophet and Islam, which was new religion to the children.  We read some lovely stories which promoted some interesting discussion.  We also learnt a traditional prayer, sung to the Prophet on this day.

Twelfth Night - 06 January  

The twelfth night after Christmas Day, we talked about the Story of the Three Kings and read the Baboushka story and a delightful short story in this book.  I made a Gallette de Rois, a delicious pie which is traditionally made in many countries on this day.  My recipe was a Nigella Lawson one from   this book.

Plough Monday - 12 January

This is an old tradition which I discovered when I was researching the next festival.  In many ways the two traditions are interlinked and I can't help thinking that they are really one and the same but took place in different parts of the country depending on the nature of the agriculture.  On Plough Monday farm labourers would tour their local villages raising money and work, often in disguise as they could be mischievous in their endeavours.  If you would like to know more you can read about it here and here.

Wassailing - 17 January

There are, it seems, two versions of wassailing.  One that involves singing to raise money when work was scarce and has evolved into our tradition of carol singing, this took place prior to Christmas.  The other involved the blessing of the apple trees to ensure a good harvest.  We had a small ceremony to bless the apple trees in the the small wood were we meet for Forest School.  We sang a song, blessed the tree and shared some hot apple punch together.

Imbolc - 01 February

Our Imbolc celebrations were a little subdued this year as we were all feeling rather sick.  I made a seed cake using the recipe here (scroll down it is at the bottom of the page) which was lovely.  We also made some Brigid crosses using reeds, not our usual jolly celebration.

Candlemas - 02 February

A day for blessing candles, for noticing that candles are needed less as the days are lengthening.  We read a story about the slow return of the warmth and light.  I would like to make candles in future years but I need to make sure I order the bits in time.......

Valentines Day - 14 February

I have never looked into the history of day and was unsurpassed to learn that there is much conflicting information as to its origins.  I made a few lavender hearts which I gave to friends along with sachets of Love tea.  I have year to divide fi this is a festival/tradition for our family, it has always been one that has long lost its true meaning and seems to have been taken over by commercialism.

Shrove Tuesday - 17 February

This is another festival that has lost its meaning to many, taken over and renamed, in the UK anyway, as Pancake Day.  However in discussing its origins it sparked off an interesting discussion about the food we eat..........we did make and enjoy eating pancakes!  Next year I am tempted to make these as suggested by Camilla.

Chinese New Year - 19 February

A very important time of year for Chinese people as we discovered when we read about this festival.  The festivities last for two weeks ending with a Lantern Festival.  It is a time for family and sharing of food.  We read a fun story about how the animals came to each be given a year, 2015 is the year of the sheep.  We had a stir fry for tea and made some almond biscuits which are traditionally made at New Year.

I know that Lent started this week but it has been too busy to fit it in.  We are going to learn about this next week, when there are no other festivals, this will complete our Winter Festivals.

I acquired some wonderful books to help us celebrate these festivals, some this year and others in previous years:

The Winter Book by Rotraut Susanne Berner (I didn't pay that much for my copy!)

While the Bear Sleeps by Caitlin Matthews

The Festival of Stones by Reg Down

The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson

Spring

As Spring approaches we will be considering the following festivals that take place in the season:

St David's Day - 01 March

Hina Maturi - 03 March

Purim - 04 March

Chinese Lantern Festival - 05 March

Holi/Hola Mahalla - 06 March

Mothering Sunday - 15 March

Spring Equinox - 20 March (along with an solar eclipse)

Palm Sunday - 22 March

April Fools Day - 01 April

Easter Sunday - 05 April

Passover - 06 April

Songkran Baisaki - 13 April

St George's Day - 23 April

Beltain - 01 May

Wesak - 04 May

St Michael's Day - 08 May

Rogation Sunday - 10 May
Whitsun - 24 May
Oak Apple Day - 29 May

As always seems like rather a lot, we will fit what we can or what takes our interest.........

Mosiac

December, the first official month of Winter slides us in gently with its merry cheer, its festivities and its colour.  So whilst you enjoy some cheery festive colour I am off to find some colour for January........

Reading

We have started a seasonal table this year, a place in the house for us to mark the changes in nature.  I have been starting to look for books about spring as it felt like it was arriving and put away the books on winter and snow, but we have had lots of snow over the weekend so they are staying put for now.

We have just added a delightful little book that we found in a second hand shop.  Animal Homes by Debbie Martin is published by Usborne Books, this is an old copy and a quick search online suggests that this book is no longer in print so it was a good find.

Each double page spread is an animal or bird with information on how they build their nest or home.  There are flaps to lift to discover more information and pictures.

This book joins the following books which we also have on our table.

Snow is my Favourite and My Best based on the characters created by Lauren Child.

We love the Charlie and Lola series of books, they are a story with added information at the end, funny and great to read aloud.

Out and About by Shirley Hughes

An anthology of poetry and beautiful illustrations depicting the seasons.

First Picture Nature by Usborne Books

The Winter Book by Rotraut Susanne Berner

Snow Bears by Martin Waddell

Jolly Snow by Jane Hissey










Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf a sharing of things related to children's books and the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

Reading

We have been reading lots of books about Winter recently and we have had lots of lovely story books from our local library.  I wanted to buy one book to add to our new seasonal table that I have created.  I scoured blogs and the Internet for good ones and asked for suggestions on the forum that I visit.  One suggestion really caught my eye, it sounded like it would be suitable for both my children so I went ahead and bought a copy.

The Winter Book by Rotraut Susanne Berner is a compilation of stories,

poems, songs,

writing on winter festivals including Diwali, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah and Christmas, and lovely pictures.

Both the children have loved having different parts of the book read to them and my eldest has read much of the book himself.

I very much hope that this book will be read and looked at for years to come.

Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf a link up of all things relating to Children's books.

Reading

Winter has definitely arrived in these parts.  In the last week we have had several days of snow.  We have been reading several books about Winter this week including this lovely book we found in the library.

The Bear's Winter House by John Yeoman is wonderfully illustrated by Quentin Blake.  It tells the story of a bear who, to the other animals in the wood, is behaving rather oddly as winter approaches.  He is building a house so that he has somewhere warm and cosy to sleep in winter.  The other animals think he is daft, but when winter comes they soon realise that it is very cold and windy.  They ask the bear for shelter and he kindly lets them in but they are too cosy and excited to sleep!

It is a delightful story with wonderful illustrations and is a great introduction to hibernation for young children.