Do You Need a Little Bit of Sunshine Today?

A music video of the song "Sunny Day," from Elizabeth Mitchell's 2010 album of the same name...  

Happy Sunny Day to you!

The Red Balloon

My wee Bloom is completely obsessed with balloons.  When he wakes up in the morning, often his first word to me is 'bobble,' which can either mean 'balloon' or 'bottle' and I'm not sure which he means to convey... likely both.

My brother gave my wee fellow a DVD of The Red Balloon as a gift.  It's such a delightful film, and I think the rest of us around here enjoy watching it nearly as much as the baby does.

Do you have a favorite scene from The Red Balloon?

The Little House

I've been keeping my eye on this little doorway nestled among the roots of a great pine tree in our back garden.  The little doorway is located very near where we "discovered" the pinecone gnomes, however this doorway is much too small for those particular gnomes.  During the colder months of the year, the doorway is nice and neat... a welcoming entryway into someones wintertime home, however in the summer I've noticed it all goes to wrack and ruin.  This morning I found an owl-pellet near the little doorway. so I dearly I hope whoever lives here will be very careful if they are planning  any nocturnal jaunts! 

This all makes me wonder who lives in such a little house among the roots of this tree... Don't you wonder, too?  It also makes me think of the following poem:

THE LITTLE HOUSE

By Elizabeth Godley

In a great big wood in a great big tree, 

There's the nicest little house that could possibly be.

There's a tiny little knocker on the tiny little door, 

And a tiny little carpet on the tiny little floor.

There's a tiny little table, and a tiny little bed, 

And a tiny little pillow for a tiny weeny head;

A tiny little blanket, and a tiny little sheet, 

And a tiny water bottle (hot) for tiny little feet.

A tiny little eiderdown; a tiny little chair; 

And a tiny little kettle for the owner (when he's there.)

In a tiny little larder there's a tiny thermos bottle 

For a tiny little greedy man who knows the Woods Of Pottle

There's a tiny little peg for a tiny little hat 

And a tiny little dog and a tiny little cat.

If you've got a little house 

And you keep it spic and span,
Perhaps there'll come to live in it 

A tiny little man. 

You may not ever see him, 

(He is extremely shy): 

But if you find a crumpled sheet -
Or pins upon the window seat -
Or see the marks of tiny feet -
You'll know the reason why.

Bird Mobile

 Happy New Year to you!

 For the new year, I wanted to create something fresh, bright and pretty for my home.  I'm sort of cheating here because I posted a link to this tutorial back in early November. I had to share this project with you when I discovered it because it was so wonderful, but I hadn't yet actually made the mobile.  I finally got around to it and here it is.  It's hanging in the corner of the kitchen, over our dining table... fresh and bright... we love it!

Just in case you missed my first post linked to this tutorial back in November, here it is again...

New Years Day

We shared our New Years Eve with dear friends who drove in from out of town to celebrate with us.  Children ran around and laughed, adults chatted, we set off lots of little fire crackers at the sensible hour of 9 p.m. and then everyone curled up under the warm covers of their beds for a peaceful sleep.  We all woke up refreshed and ate lots of thick-sliced cinnamon-toast.  There were many delightful moments, but the only one I managed to capture on camera was my wee Bloom under the table entertaining himself with a bowl of satsuma oranges.

I lived in Japan for 2 years, and, because satsuma oranges are a traditional wintertime treat there, I have a special spot in my heart for these little round oranges. I also love the tradition of toshikoshi soba -- eating soba noodles on New Years Eve.  The noodles are eaten to bridge the old year into the new.  Also, because the long noodles are said to be a symbol of long life, they are eaten as a sort of symbol for good luck.  We did not have noodles on New Years Eve, however we did head over to our favorite noodle joint last night for some steaming bowls of soba (or, in the case of wee Bloom, fist-fulls of soba!)

Do you have any special traditions for bringing in the New Year?

  How did you celebrate?

A Bright New Year

Do you remember when I posted in October about planting bulbs?  Here they are, sprouting bright and green...  

Wishing you a beautiful new year full of life, growth, beauty, and, as always, poetry --  These song lyrics below by Woody Guthrie seem to me the perfect words to describe the joy of new growth and life...

GRASSY GRASS GRASS

by Woody Guthrie

Grass grass grass,

tree tree tree,

leafy leaf leaf,

one two three.

Birdy birdy bird,

fly fly fly,

nest nest nest,

high high high.

Cloudy cloudy cloud,

wind wind wind,

rain rain rain,

mud mud mud.

Doggie doggie dog,

runny run run,

quickie quick quick,

homey home home

Beddy bed bed,

sheety sheet sheet,

sleepy sleep sleep,

dreamy dream dream.

Dancie dance dance,

singy sing sing,

grow grow grow,

biggy big big.