(I meant to write this yesterday, March 30, which was my Mama Shockley’s birthday, but yesterday was a long, long day.  Today will have to do.)

You may remember that I lost my maternal grandmother, Mama Shockley, this January.  March 31 was her birthday, and I wanted to spend a few moments remembering her.  I grew up far away from my grandparents, but we visited at least once a year, and I think one of the things I am most grateful to both my mother and my grandmothers for is seeing people use their hands to work for the people they loved.  My mother made most of our meals from scratch, and did a lot of crafting over the years – sewing, weaving, spinning, calligraphy.

(cross-stitch by Mama)

Mama Shockley sewed, crocheted, cross-stitched, and embroidered – I’m sure she did things I’ll never even know about.  In her last year, she was taking requests for sets of embroidered napkins, because that was something she could still work on without getting too tired.  In the photo of us above, she sewed the skirt and kitty applique on my shirt.

(table runner woven by my mother)

I think what I mean to say is that I can still feel the love from these women in the objects they created – they sing and hum with life and love in a way that nothing bought in a store could, no matter how beautiful.  I am eternally grateful to these women, and the women before them, not only for the creations they handed down, but mostly for the knowledge and the power to create.

(two from a set of dish towels embroidered by my great-grandmother)

As a young person, I enjoyed crafts and art, but when I became a mother I understood the urge to make by hand, no matter how slowly or imperfectly, items for my family.  Mama seemed pretty delighted that I was knitting (”Oh yes, I used to knit, but one day the baby pulled out a whole red sweater and I never knit again, just crochet . .  .”).  Now, I also use more of what was handed down to me – a little afraid to see it get worn, but mostly, joyous to get to see it, and confident that it was made to be used, not stashed in a closet. I may not be able to scientifically measure the warmth of the biscuit quilt my great-grandmother made, but I will swear to you, it’s the warmest I’ve ever slept under.

(my mother and I, 2005)

On Tuesday, we celebrated Ben’s birthday.  As you may remember, we’re a big fan of birthday pies around here, and so at Ben’s request I made Pascal Rigo’s Caramel-Pecan Chocolate Tart, from our favorite American Boulangerie.  With the help of my, um, assistant pastry chef Ella (just don’t tell her she’s not the main chef), it wasn’t quite as beautiful as I’d hoped, but I was somewhat amazed I pulled it off at all, and once we cut into it, I didn’t hear any complaints.

Since Ben’s birthday was on Candlemas, we waited and did our Candlemas celebration on Wednesday.  Neither of us had ever done one before, but I was tickled when I first read about it in Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions, and then when I read this post on The Parenting Passageway, I knew it was meant to be.  First, I love breakfast for dinner, and pancakes are traditional for Candlemas/St. Brigid’s Day.  Secondly, in addition to celebrating the half-way mark from Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox with candles, it is also a traditional time to bless your seeds for the coming year.  I brought that big beautiful jar of Tiger Eye Beans to the table, we lit some new red beeswax candles, and we said blessings and good wishes for the season to come.

My other favorite Candlemas tradition?  The beginning of spring cleaning.  Ben and I have definitely being going on a bit of a spring purge around here, and I am very excited about it.  On Sunday, Ben took Ella to the bakery for a few hours since she and I were driving each other nuts, and I suddenly had to move my sewing room from its tiny, dark room upstairs to a big, bright room downstairs.  This room has been rented to housemates in the past, and housed WOOFers, but it was standing empty.  No longer!  I got my sewing table set up, some of my fabric in, and took 10-year old inspirations off my inspiration board and made room for the new. It feels great to be moving into a fresh space, with great light.  Soon – shelves going up, fabric organizing, yarn organizing, space for projects, a bigger table for cutting out patterns.  I am just a little bit excited.

That night, I stumbled across this:

Yes, yes, and yes.  That totally sums up how I feel – we started really trying to de-clutter our home (and therefore life) last summer, and we’re now entering round 2.  Bring it on.