Autumn's Offerings - Thor and Sif

NOTE - This article was written, and should have published back in September. It seems it got lost in the ones and zeros...

At the time of balance of the year, I look to nature to see the importance of balance in our lives. In this harvest season it's easy to look to the bountiful fields and the food on our tables as proof of the benefits of balance.

In the Norse tradition Thor is, besides being a mighty warrior, the Lord of Storms. By his presence or absence we get rain and fair weather. Thus, he would be praised for both bringing rain and snow, and for sunny days. Sif, his wife, is a goddess of the fields. Her golden hair (get it right Marvel!) is representative of ripened grains.

Their relationship is a thing of Balance. If there is not enough rain the grain will not grow, if there is too much it rots in the fields. Throughout the winter the soil rests to prepare for the next growing season. Their partnership has space. This is the lesson of the Autumn Equinox,  establish balance in order to create fruitfulness.

As for the making, I placed my ring on the top half of a rectangle of linen, and started stitching! The clouds slowly filled in with undulating waves. I added falling rain drops near the end, and the last touch - a bolt of lightening from the God of Thunder.

The bottom ring I filled with the plants of the fields - vetch, bindweed, grasses, and most importantly golden ripening grain! That space of overlap is the Venn Diagram of the season - rain on the fields.

We gathered for a large feast, think early Thanksgiving, to share in the fruits of the second harvest. This piece was an offering to the Patrons of the rite - Thor and Sif. That is to say, it went up in flames. We got a good omen, and had a fantastic night of food and fellowship. Sacred stitchery has become one of my favorite things!

What are you thankful for? How do you bring balance into your life?

Finds - Warming Up

It's that time of year, the leaves are mostly fallen and the first big snow has left the city wet and cold. What to do when it's cold outside and not much warmer inside? Cuddle up to some warm goodies and warming treats.

Like this fantastic slouchy from MadamePeace, your grandma always did tell you to wear a hat...

And don't forget that grandma told you to have 'stockinged feet' in the winter so you don't catch a cold! Felted slippers by StoneJoyDesign are ideal.

Now make a nice pot of tea to warm up! This no caffeine blend from SpiralElixer will keep you toasty all day.

Particularly if you keep it in this Hebridean wool cozy by AMagpieandaDove. With a constant cold damp breeze coming off the ocean one imagines that the Hebrideans know how to stay warm.

Now pair that hot tea with a bowl of tasty soup, and you're ready to take on the day! A good hand-thrown pottery bowl, like these from WildChildClayWorks, will hold that heat in to the last bite.

Then you can bundle up and run out for a little bit of vitamin D and fresh cold air, use these fluffy gloves with loooong cuffs from CreativeTides to keep from getting a blast of cold air on your wrist. Even if you need to make some snowballs you will still be covered!

It's a hard transition to make, so embrace the good things about Fall changing into Winter, and have a another cuppa. What's your favorite way to enjoy a snowy day?

Harvest Goodies

 We had our first frost a few weeks ago, and that meant it was time to do some gleaning. We've had a strange year, very hot and dry in early spring, then wet, then very hot again, then a biblical flood. Tomatoes have certain conditions they prefer, and night temperatures can really affect the ripening. I had a huge number of big green tomatoes that just would not turn!

 Fortunately, green tomatoes are not a waste. One can make fried green tomatoes, chow chow, chutneys, pickled tomatoes etc. I however, like to let them ripen so I can enjoy fresh tomatoes on my salad in January.

We've always kept tomatoes to ripen, wrapped individually in newspaper and placed in a box. The box should be in a cool still corner to let them slowly mature. Be very careful about not placing bruised, frozen or split tomatoes in the box. One rotten fruit will spread to a whole section of box!

We've also had a bumper crop of lovely juicy pears from our Fruit Share. We're getting two bags at a time, and they all seem to come ripe at the same time! I did a quick fix on the last dozen pears before leaving on this trip, Pear Sauce.

 These golden juicy beauties went right in the processor, peels still on. They were very very ripe, I could actually pull the seeds out from the stem!

 Pureed smooth, then I just brought them up to a boil. I added some nutmeg for a little Fall flavor, and a little lemon. I didn't want to cook them for a long time, it doesn't make the sauce any better and it breaks down nutrients. They get a fair bit of cooking in the canning process anyway!

They were jarred, and then boiled in my canning pot for 15 minutes. The darkening from oxidation seems to have disappeared after that cooking, leaving  a nice camel color flecked with flavor! These will be just the right size for lunch snacks, or for pouring over potato latkes.

I hope everyone else had a bumper crop too! Coming soon, news from New Zealand, where it is spring time and the lambs are super cute!

Finds - Equinox Color

I always feel like this time of year marks an odd shift. For just a moment, before the earth returns to rich tones and muted colors, everything gets a little brighter. The yellow of early changing leaves shine in that warm light of September afternoons. 

Photo by JennDiGuglielmo.

The sun falls directly down the streets as it sets, the equinox lining it up with our neatly planned east-west streets. Is it any wonder that our ancestors loved to arrange things on a celestial grid? 

Class up your journal, from BlueToad.
Psst... BlueToad is having a sale. Use coupon code "September2013"
at checkout to receive 20% off entire journal purchase.

The bright green of summer fields makes the yellows pop even more, and the last waves of wildflowers dance in the cooler air.

Brightly colored Brooch from NormaJeansCloset.

 As it gets colder I get to pull out all the warm fuzzies that have been neglected for most of the summer. And I get started on new pieces for the winter. It's great tea weather, which makes great crafting weather. And the colors outside inspire more warm fuzzies. 

Mitts by PixieBell.

Yarn dyed by 19 Projects.

And of course with the harvest time, there is plenty to do in the kitchen. The bounty of the season makes for wonderful meals, shared in the last golden light of the day.

Fantastic tree apron from WalkervilleTextiles.

As the wheel of the year turns each season has it's own delights. I, for one, relish the bright colors and soft light of September. What is your favorite feature of the Equinox time?

Flowers Everywhere!

 I know, it's not the season we would usually think of for flowers. Everything is all dead and dormant right now (let's pretend it's not been in the upper 60s all week and the spring bulbs are not trying to come up...) and it's not really the time for lush bouquets.

Fortunately there is never really a time without flowers, nature keeps that ball rolling 365! I'm also working on a new "Wheel of the Year" project, this one is themed with flowers instead of trees. I started with Lavender for Midsummer, and Sunflowers for Lughnassahd. I'm now working on Marigolds for Mabon.

It's been an adventure deciding how to portray specific species, and finding suitable accurate colors for each plant. I'm behind in starting on Samhain's Nightshade plant, but hoping to catch up soon. I also had a small epiphany that should be helpful, I find myself constantly redrawing the layout boundaries on the ground, it's dark and the white of chalk pencils seems to disappear quickly. I'm going to try bating a thread along the lines to delineate the space for each one, hopefully it will stay longer!

What are you crafting for the fall season?