A Tale of Two Crowns

My kids have been hard at work on various projects, just filled with creative excitement. Vivienne made a glorious woolen felt crown yesterday. She has a particular gift for getting an idea in her head and then just going for it. She cut the felt, fit and sewed it, decorated it and , Voila!, project complete!

The girls have had much fun in re-purposed clothes and scraps lately. I feel pleased that my family knows how to make the best out of what we have at hand. I also feel less mastered by my material wants than in the past. I realize that much of my materialistic desires have often been from a place of disconnect from my own creativity, as well as a well-tread habit of thinking. These days, I keep cancelling the catalog company mailings and try to stay true to my path of less is more. I have a strong dislike for malls and big box stores. If I can only rid myself of the habit of shopping thrift stores! I am always excited about the prospect of finding discarded treasures... whether they are bit of woolen yarn, fine ceramic dishes, cashmere sweaters, fabulous dress-up, or books. I have even found several beautiful Waldorf dolls in thrift shops! I suppose I can have this one vice! In fairness, I love to find treasures for other people, too, and take joy in uncovering a thrifty surprise. Balance is always good, and I pass up many more treasures than I used to. I try to remember to savor and enjoy what we already have.

Now that the days are drawing me inward, I hope to get out my sewing machine and have some fun! Here was my project from yesterday. I took a tunic top of mine that was coming apart, and used the beaded sash on it to make a pretty crown. I added a few buttons where sparkling bits were missing, and sewed a layer of woolen felt to the back. Mia took the body of the tunic to make a wonderful stretchy knit scarf. I love recycling!

~And a footnote about the new blog title photo... the lovely sun soap was a gift from my dear friend, Jen, who has been teaching me about soap making. With gratitude ~

Learning about Norse Myths

Mia and I are having a splendid time learning the about Norse Mythology. The gods and their stories are very dramatic, complex, sometimes humorous, and well, tragic too. I love learning alongside Mia, and I find that I often think of the symbolism and the stories. As I go about my usual day, their characters and dilemmas come to mind. Our favorite book is the D'Aulaire's Norse Myths. This husband-wife author/illustrator partnership has been one of my favorites for some time. Their artwork is so inspired, so brilliant. We also have Padriac Column's Children of Odin ( available free online) and Kevin Crossley-Holland's book. Each have some good information. I appreciate the D'Aulaire's glossary because they give the proper pronunciations and I refer to it often in the telling of a story. I have enjoyed using the D'Aulaire's book to inspire my blackboard drawings as well. Next, we plan to make the runic alphabet in clay or wood. It is fascinating to look at some of the old runic stones of ancient times and imagine so long ago. Many days of the weeks have been named after these gods, and I am only now learning about them...I find that odd! Tuesday is named for Tyr's day, God of War, Wednesday- Wotan's day (old English for Odin, Father of All), Thursday- Thor's day, God of Thunder, Friday - Freya's Day, Goddess of Love, Beauty and Fertility. Here is a glimpse into our work...

blackboard drawing

Mia's main lesson drawing

Balder had a golden glow about him, and flowers sprouted from his footsteps.

Another interesting project that we did recently was make a Multiplication Clock (or Sun as I prefer to call it. ) The idea come from Robinsunne's webpage. It turned out beautifully, and it is really fun to see the number patterns laid out in this way. Math is one of those subjects that I feel need to be anchored in the practical and in the imagination, both. One source that we have been enjoying is a book called Life of Fred, which explains math concepts in a quirky story format.

One more favorite resource that I would like to mention is One to One: A Practical Guide to Learning at Home by Gareth Lewis. He has a website here. He has a lot of wonderful practical suggestions for home education for children up to age 11.

November Days: making things

It seems that we are starting to get busy around here with making things. The holiday season of giving is soon upon us, and I need to start to think about what I am planning to accomplish. Mia will be attending the farm enrichment classes doing a variety of handwork: knitting, felting, paper craft, and beeswax crafts. The squirrel is my first felted animal. I was reading the fairy tale The Squirrel's Wife, and got really inspired by the wonderful illustrations. I love how quickly the felting needle works it's magic.

Vivi's leaf banner and foil heart ornament

Mia's dreamcatcher




I love getting to support my friends and local artists in their creative endeavors as well. These sweet little cups are made by our dear friend, Heather Tinnaro. There are a number of local art sales that I plan to attend, including The Big Crafty and The River Arts District Studio Stroll, and farmers markets. I love etsy for wonderful handmade items as well.

Jasper sharing popcorn with his new friend

Whisky, frisky, hoppity hop,

Up he goes to the tree top!

whirly, twirly, round and round,

Down he scampers to the ground.

Furly, curly, what a tail!

Tall as a feather, broad as a snail!

Where's his supper? In the shell.

snappity, crackity, out it fell.

~from Wynstones Press's Autumn

Celebrating our Ancestors

Yes, Halloween is a time for zany costumes and consumption of candy. It is also a time of acknowledging and celebrating our ancestors and friends whom we have loved. It is about noticing the turn in season from the abundance of summer, to the harvest of autumn and then to the turning under of winter, and new growth and life of spring. This natural process of season and death is significant in the cycle of life. The leaves that fall and decay feed the soil and give life to new plants which sprout in the spring. It is necessary for the leaves to come down to make way for new growth. It is a time for letting go and making room for new growth. In all the years that I have been living the cycles of the earth, and celebrating the holidays and sharing the rituals of my culture, I feel deeper in understanding each year. I find that amazing, really. On this day, we were blessed to share the richness of the season with our homeschooling circle of friends and family. What a beautiful day it was.

We held a circle to honor our ancestors on the sacred alter. We shared our costumes and laughed together. We blessed our day and our food with beautiful songs. Cailen, one of our amazing Friday instructors, fired the kids' earthenware pottery in the bonfire. There was a "muffin march" (kinda like a cake walk) to the sound of Cailen's talented fiddling. And be sure to check out his album here! The kids played it the creek, heard their fortunes told (by a most unusual looking fortune teller) ate wonderful, healthy food and bobbed for apples. They made dream catchers, corn husk dolls, carved pumpkins and jumped on the trampoline. Jasper loved pressing the apples, and Vivienne mastered bamboo climbing. Such a fine day, indeed.

Setting the pots to fire, with blessings

Cailen starting the bonfire for the pottery. It is magical to see the elements take transformation from wood to fire.

bringing the fire to life

In loving memory of Aunt Claudia, Great Grandpa Peter, Great Grandpa James,Great Grandma Marni, Great Granddaddy Rogers, Great Grandpa Moffit, all our beloved pets, and the many other relations and friends that have come and gone, touching ours hearts and spirits. With blessings and joyful remembrance~

Harvest season

white sage, red raspberry leaf, lemon verbena

I decided to spend an afternoon with the kids harvesting the last of our gracious garden's offerings before the first frost fell upon us. We found a few sweet potatoes, hidden among the wildly overgrown patch of herbs and edibles that cobbled together this year. Vivienne was delighted and cooked them to eat that very day. I gathered handfuls of herbs, and put them on a line to dry. We picked the very last of the basil and chopped it, added olive oil and froze it for future pesto. There are still quite a few unripe figs that I am eager to pick and hope that they are not lost to the cold weather. Remaining raspberries were nibbled up in a blink.

It is a time for appreciating the gifts of the earth, and thinking ahead to ideas for next year. I am eager to continue my expansion of the garden beds. Every year, I have been adding more herbs and edibles, slowing adding garden beds. There is so much more that I would like to plant for next year - more for the fall harvest -pumpkins, beets, winter squash, kale, pole beans, and corn to name a few.

borage, rose, calendula, lemon balm, stevia

pretty little borage flowers - perfect addition to our dinner salad

jasper's rainbow swiss chard harvest

wonderfully fragrant basil


vivienne's proud little sweet potato feast

Vivienne had fun carving pumpkins for herself and Jasper while Mia was at the farm, attending another stellar Friday homeschool enrichment day. Mia learned to make cordage from Poplar bark, and drill a stone with another rock to make a pendant with Natalie Bogwalker. She has learned about wild edibles, made an herbal first aid kit, and made earthen pottery in recent weeks.

We also were blessed with a huge amount of local apples. A neighbor of our friends' farm had picked up a 20 bushel load of apples that an orchard was unable to sell for slight blemishes from a recent hail storm. He intended to feed the load to the deer, but after seeing (and tasting) the beautiful apples, he decided to give away as many as he could for eating. And how delicious they are! I am thrilled to try and dry apple slices, make some apple butter, applesauce, apple pie. Tonight we had apple cobbler for dessert, what a treat.




page from Elsa Beskow's Christopher's Harvest Time

With Autumn Blessings~

Corner View Wednesday :Dreams

Dreams... I have so many of them. My nature is of a dreamer. My challenge is to meet my dreams in reality and not just in my imagination. I love the comforts of slow living, not too rushed or frantic, taking time to smell the roses and notice the bird song... But that means that I am less industrious than I would wish to be. I give myself some permission to take in the beauty that is all around me, to allow the wonder of life, of nature and family, of the spirit in all things, to fill my heart. And hope that I will slowly have more courage to create, be as artisitic as I would love to be, in all of my endeavors. My dreams keep me forging ahead, through the dishes, the laundry, the everyday things that must come before my hands have their turn to make something with happiness.

Please click here to get inspired by more Corner View dreams from around the globe.