Happy Solstice!

Today we woke up to a layer of ice over even more snow that fell in the night. I snapped a couple quick photos first thing.

And then our "ice tester" went out.
It was crazy! I have never seen anything like it. The ground was making these loud cracking sounds under her feet, and she was NOT happy about it! And she had a blast yesterday, so her malamute part is quite intact. Poor doggah could not even find a place to piddle. :(

Close up of the cracks.
Heading back after giving up. She ended up going right next to the house!
So what do you do when you can't go out? Make brownies! I think Orion must have been inspired by the couple cooking shows I have shown him lately made by local kids because he wanted to take pictures of every step of the process!


Weird idea because I don't like nuts in brownies and the batter looked not even close to being enough to fill up the pan. I had these on hand so thought I would give it a try!



Yes, Orion took all those pictures! And there still wasn't enough batter, but they came out OK. The blueberries didn't soften up and lost all their flavor, so I don't recommend that, but it was worth a try!

Even Akasha got in on the act!
I cannot believe how lighting fast she is getting at grabbing things! She reached over and swooshed her hand through the bowl before I could catch her. So mom had to come to the rescue and lick her hands off LOL.

Solstice Dinner!
Turkey Meatloaf with Sundried Tomatoes
Zucchini Solar Circles with Saffron
Candied Sweet Potatoes

We did a very small ritual consisting of blowing out the candle and talking about it being the longest night. Then Orion, my son who shows almost no interest in music to my dismay, suggested singing a song to call back the sun! He even made up a short little chant that went:

Come back
Sun please

Then we relit the candles and talked about our year.