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?

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.