My continuation of Sharon Astyk’s now-completed “Independence Days” project (June-Aug 2022), which offered a framework for recognising how we’re building resiliency, community, and accountability that will make our lives better now and in the future. Many of Sharon’s categories are (or could be) related to gardening, so it seems to fit here on this blog. Equally, none of them has to do with gardening. They’re all multifaceted.
Earlier this year, I modified Sharon’s categories to better match my own life and community. Starting in 2024, I think I’ll have a new format and purpose for this weekly record.
- Plant something: plant, start something
Nothing planted or started. This was a week for finishing up Christmas-related tasks.
- Harvest something: harvest, forage, glean, or bring to fruition
Nothing harvested, foraged, or gleaned.
- Preserve something: food, local community resources
No food preserved. Shopped at local farmstand on Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Bought food on Christmas Eve to eat on Christmas Day from local Indian restaurant. I made a donation to the Deer Isle, Maine, Island Heritage Trust for a friend for Christmas.
- Waste Not: reduce waste, reuse, salvage & repair, give away
Husband took in a pair of my pants on Tuesday. I gave away four jigsaw puzzles (mailed them) to someone I know online who lives in South Carolina — she was looking for some because the puzzles she buys at thrift stores are usually missing pieces.
- Keep Stocked Up: with food and emergency supplies, financial resources, and experiences that make life worth living
Food/Supplies: We have too many cookies and sweet breads now. I need to freeze some for future happiness. My elderberry syrup from Maine Medicinals arrived on Tuesday — I stocked up during a sale for the winter germ season. (They do such a careful and pretty job packing and shipping their items.)
Experiences: Walked around the lake on Saturday — there were children (maybe ages 9 and11?) in bathing suits standing in the frozen lake (they had broken up the ice to get into the cold water) while their parents took photos or video of them. The high that day was 31°F, the low 14°F. The ice formations around the lake were quite varied.
Our permaculture group (almost all of us who are local) got together on Friday for three hours for a potluck, Yankee swap, and cookie exchange. And a lot of laughter. We had done Covid tests beforehand and the group is fairly small (ten).
My husband and I delivered baked Christmas goodies (cookies, nuts, teacakes) to neighbours on Tuesday and Sunday, having short (or longer) conversations with each of the seven families to whom we delivered.
I was sad to miss my sisters’ and cousin’s holiday get-together in northern Viriginia on Wednesday but happy to see the real-time photos of them looking festive and happy.
A friend visited for tea and gift exchange on Saturday morning for an hour, and other friends visitied for a cocktail, snacks, and gift exchange on Saturday afternoon/evening for a few hours. Sunday (Christmas Eve) we walked to friends’ with cookies and had tea and conversation there for an hour.
The Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar was fun and something I looked forward to right through Christmas Eve.
One thing I loved this week was the mail that came on Wednesday, which included a homemade stollen and an ornament from a college friend now living in NH; a card with great photos from the daughter of a once-local friend and neighbour of ours (who now lives in NY state and has dementia), whom we also are happy to call a friend; and a wonderful homemade card, a dozen handmade origami cranes, some flower seeds, and a program from her mother’s commital service (which I missed, in Sept) from the Asheville, NC daughter of another local friend, who died in the spring. Such a joyful confluence of connection.
- Food Stuff: learn new food skills, try new recipes, use what’s available in the pantry, use what’s grown/made locally and what’s seasonal
Made more roasted spicy pecans, butterscotch-cashew cookies, and Neapolitan cookies this week.
Also made seafood casserole (riff on the Amy Dacyczyn recipe), served with sautéed spinach on Tues., with broccolini on Wed., and with something on Thursday. Friday I’m not sure what we ate — probably some leftovers from the party that day. Saturday we had friends over and we shared a finger-food meal of spicy shrimp, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, & fennel along with a remoulade sauce I’d made for the potluck party. Plus some of the homemade spicy pecans.
I also made an onion-brie-gorgonzola-tarragon tart on puff pastry for the Friday party (from which only three small squares were left, to be eaten for Christmas breakfast tomorrow).
Sunday, Christmas Eve, I made crab bisque (the Elizabeth’s on 37th version, but with lump crabmeat) and we had the two leftover rolls from the Spoonful of Comfort gift with it, plus rosemary-lime gimlets, which was a new cocktail recipe for me, as was the cranberry champagne cocktail I made for friends on Sat. evening.
- Be Neighbourly: contribute to community support systems, look for ways to help neighbours and others
Hopefully strengthening neighbourly ties by giving Christmas cookies (and some neighbours gave us baked goods in exchange, including some yummy biscotti and cookies, and Christmas cards). Attended a memorial service on Monday (masked), along with a friend, for an acquaintance, who, among other roles, was an artist, because it felt important to honour her life; saw a few other neighbours there. Gave our mail carrier a Christmas gift.
- Skill up: learn new things, especially skills or knowledge that remind us of our place in the natural world and within the social fabric
Nothing really in this category this week.
- Tend & Maintain: maintain our bodies, minds, and relationships to keep us resilient; and do what’s needed in the house, yard, and elsewhere to prevent failure/breaking/hassle down the line
Bodies/Minds: Husband had a dermatology appointment on Monday. I did a Covid test on Monday, before the funeral, and we both did a test on Thursday evening before the Friday potluck party (all negative). I worked out three times (3 hours) this week and we took a couple of walks in town besides the lake walk on Sat.
House/Garden: I cleaned the downstairs guest bathroom floor, shower, toilet, sink on Thursday and vacuumed the kitchen and family room on Friday. We got almost three inches of rain between last Sunday and Monday so I refrained from doing laundry as planned on Monday until the water level in the yard had dropped (to protect the aging septic system).
Relationships: Several friends/family had surgeries and important appointments this week, including two on Tuesday and one on Thursday; I checked in with everyone, and I checked in hourly 🙂 with my sisters and cousin having their holiday meetup on Wed., which I was sorry to miss. Talked with my sister by phone for a half-hour that afternoon. Sent Christmas flowers to two friends and to my cousin for delivery on Wed. and Thurs. Mailed a gift to a college friend on Tuesday. The permaculture party on Friday and smaller get-togethers on Sat. and Sunday felt good. I’m missing my Salon friends (no meeting this week or next) but have texted and emailed with some, visited one, and got a lovely card from another.
- Winter is coming: notice Earth’s seasons and our own seasons of life and daily rhythms, and look ahead to what’s needed now to make life better in the future
This coming week, between Christmas and New Year’s, always feels the most hibernatey to me. I’m hoping to sleep and dream, read, see a friend or two, do a lot of nothing, and slowly clean up, catch up, and get sorted for 2024. I made a start on hibernation week already:
Re winter: It was almost 60°F on Monday, 18 Dec. Though the high temps the rest of the week were in the 30°s to low 40°Fs, there is no snow on the ground and Christmas will not be white, pretty unusual for here. The upside is it’s also not slushy or icy, so I can still wear sneakers when walking most of the time. Walks around the lake are not yet feats of strength and endurance as they (probably?) will be in coming months when it’s colder and windier. I haven’t set up the bird feeders because the birds can still easily get to the seedheads and nuts and there are even some insects flying and presumably crawling around now. (And bears are reported to be out and in yards, locally.) I miss seeing so many birds but still hear them in the yard and when out walking.
Here’s some winter light in the bedroom this week:
A happy Christmas to those who celebrate.
Featured image: making sweet walnuts, using this tiny grater for grating citrus peel