From our house to yours
Snow, Rain, Sleet, and Ice
Yesterday morning we had ice; later in the day it turned to snow.
By evening, we had more ice, sleet, and snow. Semi trucks were getting stuck and jackknifing. Cars were in the ditch. Some cars rolled. The road crews, sheriff's department, and emergency crews worked hard.
Today we have rain. Everything is turning to slush.
And tomorrow? Rain through the night and then turning cold enough for the precipitation to turn to snow again.
I'm hoping my sister and her children will be able to arrive this weekend--they are coming from all parts of the country. One Christmas she was within 30 miles of our home, but she did not come because the back roads were blown in and she could not get here.
Our Christmas Eve church service is canceled due to the weather forecast. We will hunker down and enjoy the wood stove, the tree, and the joy of a quiet few days. This kind of weather is best when we sit back and allow ourselves to relax and stay put. I pray that those who are traveling are safe; I pray that if the roads are not travel-worthy that an extra dose of wisdom would be given to those who wanted to travel and that many of them will be willing to cancel or delay. Life is too short to take these kinds of chances.
Wherever you are and whatever your circumstances, may you all have a very blessed Christmas.
Winter Storm Warnings
Our Christmas tree in the bay window
We are expecting an ice storm followed by 6 to 12 inches of snow and high winds, which could create white-out conditions on the highways.
I'm hoping the university where my oldest two children work will shut down before the storm hits and that my husband's roads will be clear mid-morning as he heads home from a town about an hour away from here. My sister and her family are planning to come Sunday. What will my nephew's new bride (from Florida) think of it all?
I'll stoke the stove and make sure we can get to the generator. (I remember the time it was inside the garage behind 3 electrically operated garage doors...)
And since there is always a chance that the power lines will go down in an ice storm, I will take the time now to wish you all a blessed Christmas!
God bless us everyone!
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UPDATE: My children are back. The roads were already coated in ice, and they are not even going to go to work this morning. Hmm...should I put spiced cider or egg nog on the stove?
Winter Solstice 2009
Sunrise
In the northern hemisphere, Winter Solstice occurs at 12:47 p.m. EST today. It has been a tradition in most cultures to have celebrations at this time of the year to help pass the dark days, which for many, seem gloomy and depressing.
The Christians chose to celebrate Christmas at this time. Since everyone else was celebrating Solstice, they could gather without being detected by those who would persecute them for their faith.
I have, at times, had people question why I, a Christian, might celebrate Solstice since it is considered a pagan holiday. My response is that I believe that my God created Solstice, and I wish to thankfully and cheerfully rejoice that the sun is going to begin to rise and set a little bit further north on the horizon each day, and with it, bring longer and warmer days.
Don't get me wrong: I love winter. I love the cold and the snow. They make me live more quietly--no gardening or yard work and more time for reading, hand crafts, and family. I would not enjoy living in a land that was always winter (and never Christmas), but without winter, we would not enjoy spring weather nearly as much. It is the heat of summer that causes us to savor the cool days of autumn.The contrasts in the seasons, cycling through the year, augments our delight in them.
So join me today by lighting a candle (or your tree) to bring a bit of extra light into your home. Cook a special meal to bring cheer into this very short day. Use this time of year as an analogy of how hard times and painful experiences do ease and lighten as the year passes. Embrace the quiet time of winter; enjoy its gifts.
Blessings!
Soap Making
A couple of days ago I mentioned
that I was not going to make soap this year, and Jan left a question in my
comment box:
“I have been
attempting to make soap from our goat milk and
have not had good
luck. Do you have any suggestions for me?”
Before I started soap making, I
browsed a number of books and chose to buy The Complete Soap Maker by
Norma Coney. You might be able to find it in your library or order in through
interlibrary loan. If you Google the title, you will find a number of places
that sell the book used; it appears to be out of print. Every time I make soap,
I read through the section in the book that goes over the basics of soap making.
Norma has a lot of good tips, great recipes, and a good troubleshooting
section. I recommend reading a book such as this to get a complete
understanding of soap making, but I can give you an overview:
The Basics of Soap Making
Lye is dangerous. It acts as though
it is charged with static electricity and it does not necessarily flow out of
the container as you think it might. It burns—you, your clothing, your counter
tops and anything else it touches. It becomes volatile when it comes in contact
with water; even the moisture in the air is enough to activate it. Use dry,
non-reactive containers only. Wear gloves and eye protection and cover the
surfaces where you are working.
Weigh your ingredients.
Add water to your lye (not vise
versa). This will create a great amount of heat. Allow this mixture to drop to
about 100 degrees.
Melt your fats and bring this
mixture up to about 100 degrees.
When both the fats and the lye are
between 95 and 100 degrees, slowly add your lye to the fats in a small stream.
Stir the entire time you are adding the lye and don’t add any more at any one
time than the soap mixture can absorb. Keep stirring. And stirring. Stir until
you see trailings—which means you can see the path that your spoon has taken.
Poor the warm mixture into a large,
clear container and wrap it in blankets and place it in a warm place for 2
days. Soap that cools too fast will not harden. I put mine a safe distance from
the wood stove. Then test it with gloves on, and see if you can leave a finger print
on the soap and look through the container to see if it looks like it has
hardened throughout. If it is not ready let it air dry a while. If it is ready,
tip it upside down and press it out of the box onto needlepoint screen to dry
further.
When it is springy but firm
(probably less than a week) cut the block into bars with a hot knife or grate
for hand-milling. Leave the bars to dry until firm (maybe another couple of
weeks).
Check the soap by washing your hands
with it. If there is any lye left, the small cracks in your skin will sting and
the soap will need to dry further.
Enjoy!
Advent: A Time for Something More
I wrote about getting our home ready for Christmas this morning, and all day long I’ve been contemplating the Something More that Advent has to offer Christians.
Certainly to most of us, Advent and Christmas includes getting ready for time with family. Many people of many faiths spend the month of December getting ready for a big day. The stores are full of people who are scurrying around to find something for everyone. I often hear people comment on how they would love to skip December each year—just use the delete key and move from November to January, please.
If we are Christian, however, we believe that the first gift giver was God the Father, who gave his Son in order to heal the relationship between people and God. We reenact the Christmas story each year with our children’s programs and live nativity scenes at our churches. We sing songs and listen to music that remind us of His Gift.
It is curious that I do not always find that those who are in the church have a particularly different December than those who are not. I find the Christian community is, if anything, busier because of all the church activities and programs that must be done this time of year.
There are times when I question if we would not have a greater outreach to the community around us if we were to slow down, allowing the folks scurrying around us to see that we have something they do not have: Peace.
Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men…isn’t that what it really is all about?
