Sunday, March 22, 2009

happy spring equinox!

The Vernal Equinox happened on Friday, and on Sunday we had our little tea. Just the same as always, but we love the tradition of it. Hopefully these little teas are making memories for the children. The nature table needed a little update, so this was the perfect push for that. It's much better now. Next up--changing over the winter book basket to spring. The book I'm reading right now really encourages getting the children more involved in festival preparations and starting early. I want to achieve that (especially the starting early part!). As it was, I did do a little watercolor painting with Rainer and Dieter for "decorations" and Rainer helped some in the kitchen.

Little meat pies, deviled eggs, vegan zucchini bread. We had the tea at 6pm, but it was still beautifully light outside.

The vegan zucchini bread turned out surprisingly well. I sweetened it with agave nectar. I'm still using up frozen zucchini from last summer.

Faith made this cake, decorated it and took the photo.

Contemplating this spring:
  • being frugal
  • encouraging independent play for the little boys
  • learning to knit more, taking lessons (Faith might join me!)
  • continued healthy eating, even after "vegan til 6" ends
  • getting back into running. Ken is helping me by "enforcing" 3 runs a week!
What's up for you this spring?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

your posts are always so full of beauty. looks like faith is following closely in your footsteps. happy spring!

Its_Lily said...

The tea looks delicious. Would you happen to have a recipe? I think those might be great for Easter brunch.

crunchy peas said...

Mary Beth, I love the way you are so intentional about things. Your family is blessed to have such a talented curator of these lovely traditions.

jenni said...

what a beautiful celebration!

I gave you an award on my blog! Thank you for bring me joy with yours!

Joy said...

Your nature table is so sweet and the food for tea looks lovely! Faith did a magnificent job on that cake! I'm desperately working to improve my knitting skills this spring as well, and working on developing new Easter traditions.

Ms. L said...

Ooooh, I made deviled eggs this weekend too! I love your photos, they are simply adorable. Happy Spring to you and yours!

Jessica said...

I love your equinox teas-they are such a lovely tradition. I'm sure your kids will always look back with smiles when they think of them. I think you and Faith taking a knitting class together would be loads of fun!

Sarah said...

For me, the beauty of spring at this time of year is in the light and little trickles of melting water. Up for me this spring is de-mudding my mudroom :)

Mary Beth said...

Lily--do you mean the meat pies? They really are fun. The recipe is here

Gift of Green said...

For spring: Be more like Mary Beth :)

Everything looks beautiful!!

Ellen said...

Oh boy, I should join you on the running three times a week... I tried on some jeans yesterday that no longer fit.

I love the tea tradition, observing the change of the seasons is just so important in the busy-ness of life.

Melissa said...

You're dedication inspires me. The tea looked lovely-- what a wonderful way to welcome in the Spring!

Elfin Goddess said...

Mary Beth you are such an inspiration to me....I dream of having children and creating beautiful rituals for them! Until then, I devour your beautiful and heart warming posts :) Cheers, Avril

Tia said...

I love the tea idea. I am going to steal it starting next fall! As for running, I just started in Jan and have really come to love it. Really. A good motivator for me was picking a 5k (3.1 miles) to run in. You could even pick a cause you believe in and look for a race that supports it. Since then, I have run in 2 5k's and a 5 miler. I even ran the whold 5 miles. Very proud of myself. Good luck! As an added bonus, my body looks and feels much better!

Our Green Nest said...

I love your teas so much and can't wait to do something similar with my babe once she is older! The bread looks especially delicious!!

Celia said...

Well, it's weird because i my island there almost aren't seasons so the srping only takes a allergies and many depressions, lol...
Ufff, but I would love to have the recipe for those wonderful meat pies!!!!!

Amy said...

I have been thinking about your "little meat pies" since you posted them. Could you tell me where you found the recipe and if you would make them again?
many thanks.

Amy said...

I revisted your entry here and thought you may have mentioned where you got the recipe for the "little meat pies" they look so yummy. Could you please let me know. I would like to try them.

Mary Beth said...

Hi Amy. You can find the link for the pork pies here:http://www.cookiemag.com/food/2007/09/muffintinporkpie
If you can't get the link to work, just google "cupcake tin pork pies".
Also, instead of using plain pork, I use bulk pork sausage. Enjoy!
Mary Beth