Yours 'til Niagara Falls

Advent

I had a get-together this afternoon to celebrate my mother's birthday which is tomorrow.  We made the Betz White teacups which were demonstrated ages ago on Martha Stewart's TV show (which is getting more lame by the minute) There is a 2-part video on Martha's website, if you are so inclined.  Anyway, it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, chatting, crafting and having a relaxed meal together.

Advent has begun.  It is Year C in the liturgical cycle of the Catholic church.  I read a prayer today that asked God to interceed and help the petitioner to cope with the greed of the season.

I like Advent. The preparation for the Nativity is  a comforting thought for me.  I hope it brings peace and joy too all my friends and family.

The Feast of St. Blaise

  I can remember being very young and getting my throat blessed in observance of the feast of St. Blaise.  The wax tapers were freezing cold against your skin, but you were assured that you'd be protected from any manner of ailments affecting the throat.  St. Blaise is also the patron saint of wool workers, due to the way in which he was martyred. (It involved metal rakes - that's all you need to know) 

One can purchase St. Blaise combs to process uncombed wool.  I'm tempted to get a pair, but that would lead to buying whole fleeces.  I've seen friends go down that path.  Either they disappear for weeks on end as they work on the beast or they put it in a storage bin and try to change the subject when you ask them about it.

Candlemas

  Today is Candlemas. February 2 is one of the great cross-quarter days which make up the wheel of the year. It falls midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and in many traditions is considered the beginning of spring.  In the Catholic tradition, it is The Feast of the Purification of the Virgin - 40 days after the birth of her Son.  It is the final feast with a fixed date relating to Christmas - from here on in, we turn our attention to Easter, which is a movable feast.  Wikipedia has an explaination of Candlemas here . 

Today it was mild and sunny.  I heard birdsong for the first time since I can remember. We're due for a thaw. 

 

The Feast of the Epiphany

  Since Vatican II the Feast of the Epiphany has been celebrated on this, the second Sunday after Christmas.  I prefer to observe it on January 6th, the traditional date.  The story of the Three Magi is one of my favorite aspects of the Christmas story.  I especially love the description of the Wise Men's journey as described in the opening chapter of Ben Hur .  When my children were little, their shoes would be filled with candy and small toys to celebrate "Little Christmas".  Happily, the tradition continues with my-favorite-little-boy-in-the-world.

I love the little dolls I made to commemorate the Epiphany.  I really enjoyed shopping for the gold trims.  I always enjoy working with felt, especially if it's good quality wool or wool-blend. I used this book for some ideas, but mostly I used techniques I've garnered over the years making Waldorf dolls.  The dolls are about eight inches tall.  I'm not happy with the buttons I used for the gifts, but I will take my time to find exactly the right items to use.  I'd love to find some fused-glass beads for the purpose.

Let's meet the Kings one by one:

  

King Melchior brings the gift of gold.

King Balthazar brings the gift of frankincence.

 

King Caspar brings the gift of myrrh.

I'm really hoping to do an entire creche scene before next Christmas.  Including the animals.

St. Nicholas Day

    

Happy St. Nicholas Day!  I found an essay by David Sedaris explaining  the holiday as only he can.  I'm hoping to use my day well.  The big job for the day is to find a dress to wear to a party tonight.  

Fun With John and Jean

A friend gave me a stack of pages from an old first grade primer from1952.  It was a blast from the past for me because I remember learning to read from books just like it.  A lot of folks don't know that the Dick and Jane books were adapted for use in Catholic schools in a different incarnation entitled Fun With John and Jean.  Some of the characters are the same - Mother, Father, Spot and Puff show up unchanged.  The children are evidently in some sort of parochial school witness protection program and show up as John, Jean and Judy.  Some of the stories are identical to Dick and Jane, but there are a lot of ecclesiastically approved stories, too.  The children enjoy the Nativity and John feels compelled by God to confess to some mischief he has perpetrated. The illustrations are utterly charming.  Here's an example:

 

I really wanted to do something with the pages I had.  I have access to a machine which makes 2-inch badges, so I picked out some of my favorite illustrations and used them to make pin-back badges.  I love them!

     

   

 

I have been wondering, though...  I was there in the thick of the Catholic baby boomers.  I can't think of any families in our school with only three children.  Five or six was probably the most common number.  I can only guess that a few more children followed in line after cute little Judy.

The Feast of St. Francis

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.  Like most saints, the feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of the person's death.  St. Francis died on this day in 1226 at the age of 45.     I consider him to be my patron saint.  Around the world on this day there are Blessing of the Beast ceremonies. The church of St. John the Divine in New York City has an especially elaborate procession.   There are couple blessings taking place near me, but  I won't be taking Little Frida.   She gets overexcited when she sees other dogs when we take a walk.  I'm pretty sure she'd disrupt the proceedings.  I did find this  do-it-yourself animal blessing which I will use. St. Francis is the patrons saint of animals,  needleworkers, tapestry makers, peace, zoos and a variety of other causes. 

One of the things I want to do is to travel to Assisi, Italy to see his birthplace.  Here's a list of things I find interesting about my dear St. Francis:

• he created the first creche to help illustrate the Nativity
• he preached to the birds and animals
• he lived a life of poverty and humility
• he had the stigmata of Christ
• he authored the Canticle of the Sun

I particularly love the Prayer of St. Francis.  Here's a rendition by Sara McLaughlin .  

Michaelmas

Today is Michaelmas.  It is one of the English quarter days when rents were paid and legal proceedings were settled.  More importantly to me, it is the day to take time to reflect.  Michaelmas is the beginnning of the time of year to gather the courage needed for the long, dark days ahead.  It's a time to be grateful for the warmth and shelter out homes provide. Michael the Archangel is often portrayed as a strong, handsome man throwing the devil out of paradise.                

There are a few traditions associated with this feast.  In the past, this was the day to cook a fat goose.  Bonfires were lit to help folks celebrate the heat and light which will be receding as winter draws near. 

According to an old Irish folk tale, blackberries were supposed to have been harvested and used up by this date, too, since it is told to children that when Satan was kicked out of Heaven, he landed in a bramble patch -- and returns each year to curse and spit on the fruits of the plant he landed on, rendering them inedible thereafter.  My little commemoration of the day will be a store-bought strudel which has apples and blackberries in it.  I'll also be burning some candles to fend off the darkness.  Just by chance, this year the feast falls when the moon is in the dark phase. 

Here's a picture of a Michaelmas Daisy, also called the New York aster.  They grow wild around here - a very pretty roadside flower.  For romantics, this was the original daisy young girls would pluck the petals from, one at a time to find out if indeed "He loves me, he loves me not".  Here's a verse to go with the flower:

The Michaelmas daisy, among dead weeds
Blooms for St Michael's valorous deeds

Into the Mouth of the Rat

I finished the "Rat Race" scarf by Morehouse Farms -   http://www.morehousefarm.com/KnittingKits/Scarves/RatRace/

The person who designed this is a genius!  The shaping and the way the sections are connected are cleverly designed and beautifully described in the directions.  Really nice merino yarn comes with the kit, too.  I added the embroidery floss nose and whiskers just for fun.  I'm not partial to the red plastic faceted beads provided for the eyes.  There weren't enough anyway because I ended up having enough yarn to make two extra rats for a total of ten rats.

Today I will spend my day packing for a trip to Boca Raton, Florida.  Coincidentally, the name of that city translates from Spanish to "the mouth of the rat".  This refers to the harbor area which was edged with rough boulders which chewed up Spanish explorers' boats when they came to that place.  Packing clothes is a cinch.  My challenge is to pack enough knitting, sewing, reading material, etc., to keep me happy for a week off.  I'm not up on what is allowed on planes in terms of needles.  Maybe an innocent-looking plastic crochet hook would pass muster.  Anyhoo..I hope I see a manatee.

We will be stopping in New York on the way home.  I'm really happy because I'll be able to be on 5th Avenue Saturday afternoon to see Pope Benedict XIV in the Pope mobile.