A Candle for Quiet

I can light a candle,

God can light a star

Both are bright and wondrous

Shining where they are.

 

In our house we have started a mealtime tradition which we fondly call "lighting the candle of peace and quiet supper."

It's common in Waldorf tradition to light a candle at mealtime and to accompany the lighting with a small blessing of gratitude.  When I first read about this tradition, it sounded lovely and quaint, but not something which fit the style of our regular family dinner table.  For us, it was enough to sit down to a warm meal together with a minimum of fuss and bother (if you also have children, it's likely you know what I'm talking about here.) It's also a fact that the kitchen table, around which we sit for every meal, is the only table in the house. This table also serves as a desk for my older son's school work, an art table for my younger son, my work desk and my hand-work studio. Serving so many functions meant that there were always at least two stacks of books (and other assorted things) on the table at any given time: library books, cookbooks, craft books, picture books, newspaper clippings, art supplies, and sometimes even my laptop computer (eek.)  But something had to change.  The perpetual stacks of books on the table were an eyesore, and with my two children squawking noisily, competing for attention, mealtime was hardly a relaxing affair.

Imagining a candle on our table at suppertime... such a beautiful thing seemed out of place among the noise and clutter.

Then one morning a few weeks ago, my eyes landed on a large beeswax pillar candle a friend had given me for my birthday, and I thought to myself, "Let's give this a try."  I spent a few minutes finding other homes in our bookshelves for everything and cleared the table top.  At dinner time, before I put food on the table, I explained that we were going to light a candle for peace and quiet. Everyone was intrigued.  My older son helped me light the candle and the little one demanded to blow it out.  We explained that the candle would be blown out after supper, but then there was still a bit of a quibble because, of course, my older son wanted to blow out the candle, too. Hence we have added a second candle to our table.

After we burned our way through the large pillar from my birthday, I bought a gift for our table -- this beautiful angel candle holder from Nova Naturals.

I'd be lying if I left you with the impression that our dinner table is now always peaceful and uncluttered.  There are nights when my husband & I look downcast, informing the children that the candle must leave the table for a few minutes because there is too much noise (this works -- they do usually calm down a bit!)  And I'm afraid I haven't held my commitment to keeping the table clear of books.  There is, at this very moment, a stack of three books staring me in the face (a cookbook, a book about Calder's Circus and a beloved copy of The Hobbit), but truly, I'm doing better!

Do you have any dinnertime rituals which bring peace to your table?  Also, I'm searching for a poem or song which we might recite or sing when we light our candle.  I found one which you can see at the top of this post, however, I'm wondering whether you might know any others?  Thanks!

Tales of the Night

In 2001, as part of the San Francisco film festival, I saw the film Princes and Princesses by Michel Ocelot.  It was utterly enchanting and I had been longing to see it again.

Then I noticed that Mr. Ocelot has a new film, Tales of the Night; I couldn't resist ordering DVD's for both Princes & Princesses and this new film. We've really been enjoying them and they were well worth the investment (though some of the stories are a little bit intense and I'd recommend previewing them prior to viewing with children under 8.)

Granola Obsession

My little one calls this 'nola, and I think I could eat it for every meal.  I have a friend who has made her own granola for years, and I always thought, given that granola is easily purchased at the store, this was a waste of time.  However, after making my own (sparkling, golden with bright gems of dried fruit) I cannot go back to eating stale-tasting, store-bought, maple-flavored sawdust.  Homemade granola is addictive.

My little one enjoyed making this latest batch of 'nola with me, too.  His favorite part was exploring the brown sugar with his increasingly sticky fingers. My favorite part was washing his hands and then distracting him with the task of pouring pre-measured oats and almonds into the mixing bowl.

I searched online and cross-referenced several recipes to get the basics:  oven temperature, baking time, and ratios for oat, nuts, oil, and sweeteners. Below you will find the result of my search.  A basic, infinitely mutable recipe.

BASIC GRANOLA RECIPE

3 cups rolled oats (not instant which are ground up and not steel cut which require more cooking)
1 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup unsalted pepitas (optional)
3/4 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
1/2 cup brown sugar (or slightly less, to taste)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
2-3 pinches of salt
1 cup raisins or dry cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (do not use aluminum foil -- the granola will stick to it -- I learned this the hard way.) 

Combine oil, sugar, pinches of salt and honey in a small pan and warm until combined and liquid but not boiling.

Combine oats & nuts in a bowl then pour the oil, sugar, salt & honey mixture over the oat/nut mixture and combine quickly using two spoons. 

Still working quickly, before your sugar/oil/honey mixture cools and hardens, spread the contents of your mixing bowl evenly across the parchment-lined pan and place in the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, mix the granola with the spatula, spread evenly again and put back into the oven for another 15 minutes. Then remove from the oven, mix again and cook for a final 10 minutes.  The granola should be evenly light golden.

Remove from the oven, distribute raisins or cranberries on top, mix once more, then allow to cool.  After the pan of granola cools, break it up into chunks/pieces and store in a jar or plastic bag for up to 2 weeks.

List of Possible Add-Ins:

Different nuts or seeds: sunflowers seeds, macadamias or walnuts (though be careful -- macadamias or walnuts might burn -- to avoid this, you can always add them to the pan half-way through the cooking time or even at the end.)

You can replace some of the honey with maple syrup or a small amount of molasses (I have been making my granola with a tablespoon of dark molasses)

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (add at the end with the dried fruit -- coconut will burn easily)

Spices such as ginger or cinnamon.

Flavorings such as vanilla.

You can also omit nuts, cranberries or raisins according to preference.

Featured: My Poppet

photos by Cintia:: My Poppet

This is turning out to be a busy week for peg dolls -- today Making Peg Dolls is featured on the blog My Poppet.  I love these sweet photos of Cintia's daughter Emma looking through the book -- her expression is so focused and she is just adorable in her orange print apron!

photos by Cintia:: My Poppet

I especially enjoyed spotting Emma's paint set in these photos because it is exactly the same paint set I use on my peg dolls (it's made by Lyra.)  You can see from her paints that Emma and I have the same style of painting... mix the green with the red... mix the yellow with a bit of green... and add some green to the blue for good measure!

photos by Cintia:: My Poppet

To read the story of Emma's little Halloween family (daddy is a witch, mummy is a cat and Emma is a wee pink ghost) have a look here at My Poppet!

Featured: Moomah Magazine

Guess what! My peg dolls have been featured in Moomah the Magazine!  Have you ever had a look at this beautiful online magazine?  It's full of craft projects, recipes, book reviews (for both mama & child), fun articles and features covering the work of inspirational non-profits (the non-profit currently highlighted is Milk & Bookies, which promotes literacy by providing books to children who do not have books of their own.)

dolls & photo by Amanda Pedro: By Hook & Thread

And how lovely to find that, among the collage samples of peg dolls are also images of dolls by the talented Amanda Pedro (her blog is By Hook & Thread)

dolls & photo by Clare (ACT, Australia)

And more dolls by my darling friend Clare who hails from Australia.

Thank you Moomah, for the lovely feature, and to everyone else... Happy reading! You can find the Moomah article here.

Cinderella

Saturday night Mr. Bloom and I went to the ballet.  Not just any ballet... a new production of Cinderella co-produced by SF Ballet and The Dutch National Ballet.   It took a bit of arranging, but I managed to have a dear friend babysit my boys, and Oh! It was magnificent, I'm so glad we could go...

Maybe you also like ballet, or maybe you don't... but this ballet... There are not enough over the top adjectives to describe it. Stunning. Gorgeous.  It was perfect.  Classical ballet but also very modern, hilariously funny moments, serious and romantic in all the right places.  The story line melded Grimm's version of Cinderella with the Perrault version, and while there was no fairy godmother, there was a magic tree, sprung from the tears Cinderella shed over the grave of her mother.  Yes, perfect.

This review from Huffington Post was very nice and above you can see a trailer from the Dutch National Ballet.

Here is the choreographer speaking about the ballet. If you are fretting because the rest of the performances are sold out, fret no more.  SF Ballet will be performing it again next year (tickets are already available to subscribers.)

 Just for fun... one last video about the costumes.  Yes, perfect.

 

A Fairy Garden: 2013

Once again Donni of Magic Onions is hosting her yearly Fairy Garden Contest.  To learn more about Donni's Fairy Garden Contest, you can have a look here.

And for a little tour of our current fairy garden at we bloom here, read on...

This year we've added a new & improved house built of twigs (with pine cone roof) to shelter our local sprites...

And for a festive flair, we've added an enchanting string of golden acorns.

Stones have been added here...

And there...

We recently spotted a tiny, winged visitor...

And in another pot nearby, we discovered a snoozing gnome... Who knows what we might find tomorrow in our little fairy garden?

Bedtime Reading

Every night before bed, we have been reading The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles DeLint, illustrated by Charles Vess.  It's an intriguing (slightly spooky) story woven through with folklore sprung from imagination of the author. And though the story is new, it has the feel of being deeply rooted in old tradition.  Plus, we simply cannot get enough of the illustrations by Charles Vess.

Having recently created a book trailer of our own, I've come to appreciate and enjoy the concept of book-trailers... All to say, I went in search of a trailer so I could share a peek inside The Cats of Tanglewood Forest with you, but there was no trailer to be found.  Instead, I found a beautiful trailer for another book called Instructions.  The author of Instructions is Neil Gaiman and the illustrator, Charles Vess, is the same as The Cats of Tanglewood Forest.  I hope you like this video as much as we did.

Making Peg Dolls at Castle in the Air

photo courtesy of Castle in the Air

Have you ever been to Castle in the Air in Berkeley?  If not, I hope you have a chance to visit someday.  It's a treat...

photo courtesy of Castle in the Air

They carry books, crepe paper and Dresden trim, ribbons, materials for creating toy paper theaters, and other supplies, too many to name... every inch of the store is sparkling with magic.

photo courtesy of Castle in the Air

Castle in the Air also offers classes and I've been lucky to have taken a few (you can see photos here and here.)

photo by Margaret Bloom

The full schedule of spring & summer classes for Castle in the Air is posted here... and look who's teaching a class on June 30th!

Little Button Mouse

Little button mouse,

Hiding in my house.

Upstairs or downstairs,

Where can he be now?

Susan, look and see now!

 

One of the earliest games I taught my children was "Which Hand."  It's likely you already know this little game; it's played by hiding a button, pebble, penny, marble or other small item in one of your hands. You then present 2 closed fists to a child and ask, "Which Hand?" The child chooses one hand and if the first hand is empty, he may choose the second hand.  When he finds the button (pebble, penny or marble) he wins the game.  It's so simple and we play it over and over!

Last month Susan Perrow was visiting us for a few days during a break in her ambitious schedule of workshops and speaking engagements across the US.  Over dinner one night, my little one was getting restless at the table and so I started playing "Which Hand" with him.  Susan offered to teach us her version and we gladly accepted!

Little button mouse,

Hiding in my house.

Upstairs or downstairs,

Where can he be now?

Susan, look and see now!

The words Susan taught us are sung in a sing-songy chant, and instead of the fists presented side by side to the child, the fists are set one on top of the other. Then the fists are switched from top to bottom in repetition to the rhythm of the chant.

Besides the sweet little chant which goes with this game, there are little rhymes which are said in response to the guesses.  Did the child choose incorrectly?  Then you say, "No, not there.  Try elsewhere!"  And when he finds the button mouse, you can exclaim, "You're right!  You're right!  What a delight!"

Also, I have written Susan's name into the rhyme, but of course, the child's name would be substituted here.  My toddler learned this rhyme quickly and sings it to me often.  He has cleverly substituted in my name, so that he chants the final line, "Mama look and see now..."

Of course, a button, pebble, penny or marble can always always be found to play this game, but I couldn't resist making some tiny mice to play with.  Imagine how surprised my boys were when I opened my hand and, instead of our usual button, there was a little mouse!  The knitted mice were created from a pattern in this book here, and the wee felt mouse is from a pattern I adapted from this book.

Little Mr. loves playing with the mice...

The other day he used them to tell a funny story about a mama & papa mouse who longed for a baby.  They found a magic walnut shell and were very surprised when a baby mouse hatched from the shell as though he were hatching from an egg.

Finally, just for fun, Casey's Wood sells these very tiny mice  Aren't they darling?

Little button mouse,

Hiding in my house.

Upstairs or downstairs,

Where can he be now?

Mama, look and see now!

Baking

A few weeks ago I decided my wee fellow might really enjoy baking bread.

 He was very excited about pouring the flour in the bowl and stirring...

He helped with the kneading and loved sprinkling more flour to keep the dough from sticking.

We halved this recipe here and used all unbleached white flour (we were out of whole wheat.)

Baking bread with him was an enormously fun (and messy) adventure.  The sad part was setting the dough to rise.  We placed it in a bowl, covered it with a "blanket" and said night-night.  However, despite my assurances that the dough needed to "sleep," my little one was not convinced.  Tears were shed, but during his afternoon sleep, I shaped, let rise (again), baked and cooled the bread. When we served it, my little one was very proud of his work.

Have you ever baked bread with your favorite toddler?  Are you planning to try?

Slowpoke

Little Mr. has named his new friend Slowpoke...

Small Hands, Greiving Hearts and a Peg Doll

I love sitting at tables covered with glue & paint, surrounded by children eager to begin creating.  I especially enjoy the moment when a hush falls as the group settles into concentration, applying paint carefully to the small wooden dolls they hold in their hands.

Being part of this movement which encourages nourishing toys for children is an honor, but I  sometimes wonder about this work I am doing. There is such clear value in researching cures for dangerous diseases; value in seeking to heal the wounds to our earth caused by pollution; value in working towards peace in war-torn nations; value in assuring that children of the world who hunger are fed.

image from Making Peg Dolls by Margaret Bloom

Then, last week I was humbled by an email from Melainey who wrote to me from the Midlands, England.  Melainey's story gave me a reminder of what was right in front of me all along --  of the true & deeper value of encouraging the creative work of children.  With Melainey's permission, I am sharing her words with you:

Hello --

I am writing on rather a sad note, but a lovely one at the same time, if that is possible.

My daughter is 9 years old.  She and I love your book and we have been creating all different kinds of peg people.

Two weeks ago a school friend of my daughter became unwell, and by early evening he had passed away. Our school has dealt with this sad and tragic loss with sensitivity.  They have had counselors in the classroom along with the teachers to assist and give guidance to the children.  We were also given literature to help us, as parents, understand what the children will be going through. 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I sat and watched my daughter create a peg dolly designed wearing the little lad's favorite football team jersey.  She put a number 1 on the front of the dolly and the dolly had become a miniature of the little lad.  He was gently wrapped in tissue paper and taken to school to go on a memorial table which our school had set up, but something truly magical happened when the peg doll was placed where the little guy had sat in school.  The children in his classroom started to interact with the peg dolly; children who were finding it hard to talk about their little friend, talked to peg dolly.  The children sat with the doll; he was hugged and cradled in little hands. The teachers were amazed and touched by what was happening. They were overcome and saddened by the tragic loss of this lad, and to see the children coming to some terms with him passing by means of this peg dolly was meaningful and very touching.  I was in tears when the school told me.

The peg doll now stands on the memorial table. I have been told by some children that the peg dolly is looking after all the tributes left on the table. The little doll will then be put in a memory box for the the parents of the lad and his family.

My heart goes out to the family who lost their precious son.  And to Melainey -- thank you for sharing this story.

Peg Doll Swap Wrap-up: Wee Folk & Magic Critters

doll & photo by Tanja: Watermellish

Wecome to day #2 of my Blog-iversary Peg Doll Swap Wrap-up. Below you will find more wee folk (and charming critters) made by swap participants.  

To start off, Tanja (VIC, Australia) modeled her dolls after the character of Pelle from the book Pelle's New Suit.  She wrote:
 

I based my peg dolls on a favorite story in our house – Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow. 

It's the story of a little boy, Pelle, whose clothing is becoming too small. He finds a solution to this problem by shearing his lamb and trading his labor (weeding gardens, feeding animals, running errands) to have his grandmothers card and spin the fleece. He dyes it blue himself, and again trades his labor to have his mother weave the yarn into cloth. Then the tailor sews him a new suit. The book ends with Pelle wearing his new blue suit and thanking the lamb for it.  

I painted the Pelle and made a simple lamb from a pipe-cleaner and carded wool.

photo & dolls by Dee: Triskele Threads

Dee (VIC, Australia) of Triskele Threads created these sweet autumn folk.  I love the leaves and acorns embroidered on their gowns, and the distinct reminder that, as we in the Northern Hemisphere are turning towards Spring, our friends in the Southern Hemisphere are in the thick of Autumn!

 And here is more autumnal beauty from my darling friend Clare (ACT, Australia.)  Clare calls these wonderful little folk "beechlings," and about them she wrote:

Heath, Myrtle, Fagus and Tanglefoot are the common names given to two Tasmanian deciduous Gondwana cool temperate rainforest species that grow as either a shrub (in poor conditions) or tree (in sheltered, nutrient rich and warmer valleys) of Nothofagus cunninghamii and Nothofagus gunnii. As the weather becomes cooler, like all deciduous plants the leaves change colour as the plant begins its Winter domancy.

The leaves are dark green to olive green becoming tan, tangerine, rust, orange coloured as the temperatures drop. They are slightly transparent when the sun filters through almost like living tissue paper. The leaves don't always fall in winter leaving an extremely colourful spash of orange across grey/green/olivine/white lichen encrusted boulders high on the exposed slopes in mountainous Tasmania (and some parts of Victoria).

photo and dolls by Kelly: Happy Whimsical Hearts

I grinned wildly when saw these peg dolls by Kelly (ACT, Australia.) Kelly's dolls are patterned after the characters Snugglepot and Cuddlepie from a book her mother read to her when she was "a little tacker."

illustration from Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs

Here is an illustration of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (after which Kelly styled her dolls.) Are you grinning now, too?

photo and dolls by Karen: Bridgit's Bell

Karen (New Hampshire, USA) of Bridgit's Bell created this royal family of peg dolls.  The details on these dolls are meticulous.

photo and dolls by Karen: Bridgit's Bell

I especially love how Karen used tiny punches to create the designs on their wee royal cloaks.

photo & dolls by Lacey: Life as a Schoolhouse

Lacey (NC, USA) of Life as a Schoolhouse has very cleverly used colored string to decorate the bodies of her peg folk.

photo & dolls by Jen: SEWNnatural

Here is a work-in-progress photo of matrioshka style peg dolls by Jen (Ontario, Canada) of SEWNnatural. I love their traditional red headscarves (and am always a sucker for gold embroidery...)

photo & doll by Melissa: Wild Faerie Caps

Melissa (FL, USA) of Wild Faerie Caps created this wee mousie peg child...

photo & doll by Melissa: Wild Faerie Caps

And also a golden version of a peg child critter -- this one seems rather leonine to me...

photo & dolls by Amanda: By Hook and Thread

For a swashbuckling, romantic tale (and close-up photos of these sweet dolls) you can visit Amanda (Nova Scotia, Canada) at her blog By Hook and Thread.

photo & dolls by Amanda: By Hook and Thread

Amanda also created this porcine trio -- you can read her hilarious version of the traditional piggy-tale here.

photo & dolls by Kat: The Awakened Heart

Kat (VIC, Australia) was inspired by the work of Mama Westwind when she created these love-bunnies.  Do you see the pocket that Kat has added to the back of the cape to hold a jelly bean egg?  Ingenious!

photo & dolls by Megan: Giants, Wizards & Dweebs

Last but not least are these snail folk by Megan (CA, USA) of Giants, Wizards & Dweebs.  When I first saw this photo I did a happy dance to the tune of an idiotic little song, the lyrics of which went something like this -- oh my, oh my, oh, love, love, love!  These peg dolls make me think of my toddler who has recently learned about snails and slugs.  When he finds one, he likes to give it a gentle poke, which causes it to retract it's antennae.  Then he waits patiently for it to put out the antennae again, and gives another little poke.  Did I already mention how much I love these peg dolls?  (oh, yeah, I guess I did...)

To see all the peg dolls from this swap (and also peg dolls from the swap I hosted in 2011) you can have a look here. All the photos are now posted in the Peg Doll Gallery -- Cheers!