So … do you have a family tradition for New Years Eve?
I don’t. Though I love the idea. I get up early so I do not stay up late but I like the idea of the New Year being celebrated. The freshness of it. The promise. And we all need a new start – right? Another chance.
At home in New Zealand – it is beach time – New Years is a summer celebration and for the life of me I cannot remember my parents celebrating it at all. But I love the new-ness of a New Year. The forgiveness. The pass. The Great Cosmos smiling through a dusty sunbeam and saying – you are OK, you did your best, now let me see you do better. Do you want to do better? If you want to do better – I am with you.
In New Zealand we begin the new school year in February. So it is ALL new. Exercise books, teachers, Life. So I want to have a spring clean at the end of December. 
Move those cobwebs along. But here on the prairies of Illinois it is a spring clean in winter. A New Year makes me want to clean out all the old, the detritus, the faded and superfluous. I want to open all the windows and flush out all the old smells. Which is a little uncomfortable when we have only climbed to just above freezing by the end of the day. But I do it anyway. Bring on that winter air!
Or you will get this! By morning this condensation will be frozen solid. On the inside!
Elsie is wondering whether she has to be on a diet too. Maybe I can palm her a flake or two of good hay when Queenie is not watching? But Queenie, like all good bullies, is always watching.
I made two batches of soap yesterday. One is the Ugly Soap with ground coffee, lemongrass oil (from the farm) and steel cut oats – for my daughter. The other made with Rose Essence for me. All my soaps are three parts meadow raised lard – one part olive oil.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Tell me a little of your New Years traditions if you have time. I love traditions. I want one.
your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
91 responses to “New Years Eve”
That soap looks wonderful. We get together every year with our friends and be silly. Comfy PJs are the dress of choice. Potluck is always delicious! Happy New Year!
We usually go out for a nice dinner with friends – the last big meal of the holidays and of the year. 😊 I do love the idea of a shiny new year, but I like New Year’s Day best. I read yesterday of someone who always goes for a nature walk New Year’s Day and assumes the first wild animal she sees as her totem for that year. (Squirrels don’t count!) I think I’ll do that. Wishing all the fellowship and our various animals a wonderful new year. xo
The smell of lemon grass takes me back to college years when that was my favorite scent. Real soap is such a luxury. So much better for you. Your daughter is so lucky!
Spring cleaning now does seem normal so me, too. Resort, rethink everything, get rid of the clutter. Now that’s the way to really open a new year.
Here New Year’s traditions include blackeye peas ( or field peas that normally feed livestock will do – that was all that was left after the Union army came through much of the South/SW. The peas were seen as good luck …there was something to eat…can be exciting to many. Some said the peas represented coins and may the new year bring many. You can put a coin under the bowl if you wish.) Served with golden corn bread ( the color of gold coins – to lure a pile your way) and either collard greens (the color of money. Bacon or ham can be added in the dish) or cabbage.
In any case add a salad for a nice warm meal for grey weather . All that’s needed is a fireplace, good company, and a non-manic dog.
Best wishes for the New Year to you and yours!
(and thanks for all your lovely pictures and farmy adventures. Makes many a day brighter.)
We have a tradition that goes back to the ’50’s before I was born. My two brothers were fairly small but not so small they couldn’t be left alone asleep while my parents went across the street to a party. They awoke to fireworks going off at midnight and thought the Koreans were attacking, and my parents found them at home in a panic. From that time on, everyone stayed at home and played board games all evening. We continued this tradition in my family with five kids. Now, my kids are all grown and two of them have places to go and one is recovering from what’s going around. I’m not sure whether anyone will gather or not. Long ago we decided to have our favorite appetizers, so our snacks are mushroom turnovers, olive/cheese balls, a cheese ball and crackers, and as much junk food (potato chips and dip) as anyone wants. But nobody has asked me to make any of that stuff this year. Jack is going to make me dinner, I know that much. He has the black-eyed peas tradition, but we’ll see if he remembers it. I’m not overly fond of them 🙂
Happy New Year to the Fellowship!
In Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia they have a christmas tree for the new year’s eve. It is decorated on the 31st of december 🙂 also, at midnight they drink coffee (turkish coffee, not filtered), so after they have finished drinking they turn the cup upside down and on the inside the dry rests of the coffee form a picture. Then they read the pictures, like for instance a dog means honesty, a horse strength and so on. I found that very funny while celebrating with some friends a few years ago. 🙂
All that is wonderful for coming year to your and all who inhabit the kingdom of the Farmy.
I was thinking that I don’t have a New Year’s eve tradition, and, actually, I tend to fall asleep by 9pm…lol…getting old. But New Years day I’m very particular that no one is allowed to eat any bird anything. No chicken or turkey or eggs etc, because there is a Czech superstition, which my Czech grandmother ground into me, which states that all your money will fly out the window is you eat any bird anything. Robert thinks it’t the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard of but humours me anyway. I remember one NY day taping a huge X in green tape over the shelf where the left-over Xmas turkey was, with a note which said, “no you don’t!!!”. We had a laugh. 😀 Hope your eve is lovely and you wake up to a wonderful new day. Biggest hugs from me to you. 😀
Well I’ll tell you what we’re NOT doing…we’re not spending the day and night on the street waiting for the big Tournament of Roses Parade, like thousands of other people here! Nor are we going anywhere near the Rose Bowl.
Tonight the older kids might venture out and walk the parade route to take in the excitement, but the rest of us will keep warm in the comfort of our own home, thank you very much. We watch some celebration or other on TV until midnight, toast the new year with a glass of sparkling cider, then go to bed. Tomorrow we watch the Rose Parade on TV. All. Day. Long. A family friend makes us a big pot of gumbo. The highlight of New Years for us, really, is the night of January 3, when about half of the parade floats come down our street on their way to deconstruction.
We go skating. Since around the time my daughter was an infant, and then for every year afterward, we’ve either rented a sheet of ice to share with our extended family or taken our skates down to a public rink in the river valley to slide or crash or fly around. I don’t think we ever intended it to be a family tradition, it’s just kind of what happened. We get up too early to stay up late, and don’t do well in huge crowds of people. The big New Year’s Eve celebrations are for other folks than us. So we go skating. 🙂 Happy new year, Celi.
That is so interesting that the school year in NZ starts in February. Do they have similar vacations to the U.S.? Ours is dumb because it is predicated on a rural population which, sadly, we don’t have much of anymore. Except for you C! Happy New Year!
whoops! at last I have come to the comments box…what a lot. I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and never knowing when I would land with a bump….
Traditions..none really..and like you we get up early so its a case of early to bed, early to rise BUT on New Years Eve we HAVE to stay up because Grisha my neighbour lets off fireworks which frighten my dogs ( thats a big tradition in BG, fireworks I mean) so we stay up to keep them calm and happy…personally I would rather be in my bed
Happy New Year to you all !
Happy New Year, Celi! I am always excited to start the New Year…it gives me a sense of newness and feeling or renewal. The lengthening days help also. It’s been a pleasure to have you in my blog life. A simple statement but so true.
Here is to whatever 2015 brings! A chime of glasses hitting!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/?s=The+Adventures+of+Fuzzy+and+Boomer&submit=Search
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Scottish mum and I married a Scotsman, and now live in Scotland (though without that Scotsman), means that I’ve always celebrated Hogmanay in some way: at home, opening to let the old year out and the new year in, or, later (but long ago!) daft parties. Nowadays it’s a quiet night in, seeing in the bells with a glass of Crabbies ginger wine (just like my mum!) The supermarkets run out of steak pie (traditional New Year’s Day dinner), and shortbread… At home we always had a special ‘Sunday’ sort of a meal on the 1st, with a sandwich, bap, toast, cake supper the night before. Light, love, peace, busyness, better, best and every blessing to all the Farmy Fellowship x
Happy new year Farmy……already 2015 here, and we had the most marvellous storm in the night that cleansed and refreshed everything after a few very hot days. No calendar burning here with fire bans in place. My traditions for NYE aren’t family, just mine and don’t involve food or drink. All year I write on my calendar, little notes about what I did, felt, the weather, visitors, thoughts, quotes I like, that kind of thing and on NYE I look back, some things I transfer to my new calendar, others I decide to let go. Then I light candles, 4 for each of the directions, release those things …or people…I’ve decided to let go, and call in blessings for the new year, for all, not just me. Blow out the candles and go to bed. It’s going to be the new year whether I’m up to see it in or not. I usually lunch with friends on the day, but have a nasty head cold, so I’m not sure I’m up for driving anywhere, I’ll re-asses after walking the dog.
Well it’s New Years Day here already. I don’t have any traditions, in fact I am a lot like you are with Christmas at New Year, can’t wait for us all to get back to normal work rhythm. I’m so glad I read everyones replies, because I knew about the black eyed peas and bacon from memories of my Mums Californian friends – but I never knew why. In truth she used pink beans, and that is the recipe that I have, I made it last night, it will be all the better now I know the story behind it, and I will make corn bread, and serve it with salad for lunch. Too late for the bird products I am afraid, Mr Grumpybuilder got up and made us bacon and eggs. But I don’t have any money anyway, nothing to fly out the window.
I’m looking forward to 2015, it’s now seven years since I broke my big full length mirror, how’s that for silly? But it seems that something new really is in the air this summer, and it feels good.
Wishing you all peace and prosperity.