baking bread

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

There is bread rising on the counter.
There is zucchini frying on the stove.
There are last night’s leftovers warming in the oven.
There is a can of sardines (unopened!) laying on the floor in the bathroom.
There is a half-finished knitted rooster for Saturday’s birthday party lying on the kitchen table.
There is one Christmas present cast-on in the knitting basket by the sofa.
There are yesterday’s washed diapers trying desperately to dry in the rain.
There are today’s diapers waiting patiently to be washed.
There are three broken play plates in this week’s trash.
There is one toddler fitting a table knife into the hole in her wooden stool and singing.
And there is one woman daydreaming of a possible playdate with pizza this evening. . .

Nespole

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

This is the season of nespole, small, soft fruits with big seeds, covered by a crinkly, hairy skin. Molly, her nonno and I all love them.

The season of kiwis and persimmons, walnuts and chestnuts, long shadows, gloomy days and fog.

The season I became a mother in; the season my daughter was born, my sister, my father, one of my grandmothers and my best friend Anna.

It’s a reflective, melancholy month, punctuated with happy events to help me through, and the anticipation of the winter holidays. Knitting begins in earnest and I have a decided increase in my need for sweets.

And this year it is also the beginning of my doula training- this weekend we begin.

A beautiful month.

kitchen table work

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

Just ignore that the knife is way too big to be useful (and she doesn’t really try to use it anyway, despite how the photo looks), and other little details, please.

And focus on how Molly is involved in the preparation of her lunch. and her snack. and her dinner. We have been doing a lot of vegetable and fruit cutting on her table. That is, I do the cutting and she watches, tastes, mixes up the refuse and the cut veg, carries off apples and cries when she gets onion in her eye.

This is a guaranteed pleaser, bound to keep Molly engaged and pleasant for as long as I can make it last. It drives her mad when I prepare food on the counter because she can’t see, touch, help.

And do please also notice the beautiful apron I made her, thanks to the wonderful tutorial by Sew Liberated, aka Montessori By Hand. I’m a little obsessed by the apron, and am working on another, with plans for one for myself, same fabric, different pattern.

And on that note, I think I’ll take a break from practical life posts!

presents!

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

One year.

There will be reflections to come, but this morning, while Molly naps and papà shaves, mama is listening to the Woody Guthrie cd, preparing polenta and mushrooms for the nonni and feeling very, very, VERY blessed and happy.

brooms

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

Of course, we have a broom for Molly.

And while it’s not the beautiful wooden broom with natural bristles (bristles?) I wanted, neither is mine, you know? Our brooms are similar. And hers cost all of 1.50 euro. Oi.

It’s funny because I was reading the other two posts I did on “practical life” in our house and I realized one could be very misled by the lack of detail. VERY.

Such as, for example, Molly has yet to hang another peice of laundry the way she did that one day.

Or, the crackers and bits of cereal strewn about the kitchen.

Or, related to the brooms, Molly sitting in my pile of dust, little broom in one hand and picking up crumbs from the pile and eating them.

So let’s just keep this all in perpective, shall we? Amalia is participating in her own way. She is (almost) one year old, and the important thing is my efforts are to welcome her into our house work in whatever way she is able.

It’s more about an attitude than anything else.
And it’s this attitude that makes our day fun, and my house work a collaborative game that is really truly pleasurable.

Molly’s drawer

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

A drawer filled with:

-jars of snack food (dried apples, crackers, breadsticks, cereal flakes). They are the old-school IKEA jars and Molly can pull the lids off pretty easily and fit them back on.

-a plastic container with a red lid that always has fresh fruit in it.

- a plastic mixing bowl.

- stainless steel stackable mixing cups.

- a little plastic bucket

- plastic stacking picnic cups

- some spoons

- a stainless steel play pot and lid

And now the tops of my cabinets are covered with all my other, bigger jars- I have to stand on a stool to reach them, but at least I’m not trying to sort the pasta out from the rice at the end of each day, or keep Molly from eating the peanuts…

hanging laundry

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

This is the proud face of a baby who has just hung her first bit of wet laundry up to dry. See it there? The wrinkled little brown and white hankie draped carefully over the rack?

Laundry is one of the most time-consuming chores I have in my home, second only to cooking, and it’s pretty close at that.

I don’t have a dryer.
Amalia wears cloth diapers.
And I suppose our washer is on the small side, by American standards.

Almost every day I hang up a load first thing in the morning, and frequently there are more during the day.

And Amalia has been with me at it since the beginning- first in a sling, then pulling the laundry out of the basket and scattering it about, then passing me the laundry, then passing also the clothespins, and now, yesterday, contributing her own effort at the actual hanging.

So easy, so natural.
So beautiful.

bed

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

the wool blankets are out on the bed and the throws on the couch
the sun casts long shadows all day, even at noon
the crazy wind blew all the pollution away last week
we ate roasted chestnuts last night
and the heat is on this morning!

at the park

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

She eats with a spoon (messily)
She walks with her cart (all the time)
She loves cats (desperately)
She has six teeth
She has a tiny baby doll
She has a teddy bear
She cuddles with teddy and papà in EXACTLY the same way
She spends some time alone with her grandparents
She carries the laundry basket out to the balcony with her cart
She helps hang the laundry
She opens doors and takes things out
She loves to look at books
She eats just about anything,
but she LOVES her mama’s milk!

corn

Originally uploaded by nonsonoitaliana

i know it’s autumn because the corn harvest is happening,
leaving kernels all over,
the roar of tractors up and down the road all day,
and the smell of burning husks in the evening. . .