I've waited all week...

...for Saturday morning.

Doing just what we want...

 like eating the last of the honey, straight from the jar...

 ...comb and all!

 making special gifts for our neighbor

 reading favourite books

 planting and watering

and good old play.
Oh how I love and cherish Saturday morning's like these!

another one of those 'bits and pieces' posts...

I'm still not back into the taking pictures and blogging groove, but here are a few bits and pieces:

 An Angel fairy I made as an exchange for some gorgeous enamelware. She is designed to go atop a Christmas tree, so she has no legs under her 3 layers of dress. She has felt wings that I painted with gold fabric paint.

 Perhaps I will make one for our own tree too, I really like how she came out.

 Our first fire of the year, the kids really enjoyed it and were delighted to be able to eat their dinner of home made pizza in front of it.

 A rainbow baby I finished and who is on his way to be hidden away until his new mama turns 4...

 but he did get enough cuddles to last him until then!

 To my honor and joy I was awarded this trophy for being a great mum. Sadly the photographer on the day was a good foot and a half too short to get a proper picture.

We have been so so busy of late, September has slipped by in an instant. We seem to be forever going to and from school, it seems no sooner than we get up than the day is done and we are heading upstairs to begin the bedtime routine.
This week we have had something on everyday, so I was so glad to have time at home with the boys today (well apart from the school run of course). We spent most of the morning putting the garden to bed.

 The green house was looking like this.

 Completely wild and untamed.. So I set about clearing everything and tidying it up and getting ready for perhaps a little bit of winter greens (any ideas and tips much appreciated!), but mainly getting ready to allow it to rest. As we worked I gave thanks in my heart for all the wonderful food we received, but I mainly gave thanks and of course felt a terrible ache. Because this is Andy's green house, he built it and stocked it and loved it, and here it is...without him. That's hard.

 But I did my best and I looked up a few things online about things that may grow ok over winter that we will use and eat. I'm thinking lettuce, chard and spinach as well as some herbs?

 I also strung up a tarp over the mud kitchen so that it can be used in all weathers. I'm not sure that my DIY skills are particularly great, and it may blow away in the first wee breeze... but then maybe it won't.

 Right now I am looking forward to the weekend. Meeting a dear friend, even just for a hug. Knitting. Running. Reading Pippi Longstockings with the kids. Pinterest (I'm so new to it I can't seem to spell it right lol). And no school run.

Hope you have a wonderful peaceful weekend x

autumn

What a beautiful day!

 Today we celebrated the autumn equinox and from beginning to end it was just wonderful. 

I started the day with a bed full of little Angels, chattering and showering me with their love and affection. Then I spent nearly half an hour doing sun salutations. I have never before done yoga with the kids around. When I am doing yoga I like to be able to loose myself, to focus on the breath and the movement, and dislike being dragged out of my moment by squabbling kids. But this morning I found a great solution. I put on this song on the computer in the front room. The kids love it and are drawn to it and so were very happy to sit and listen (and get all the books of the shelves), while I spent the whole 20 odd minutes doing sun salutations. What better way to start a day celebrating the gifts of the sun!

After that we headed off out to the woods to gather some of natures goodies; fallen leaves, acorns, hazelnuts helicopters and sticks

 oh peace and fresh air

 and light, glorious light

 Home again we ate soup from veggies from our own harvest and made this simple wreath for the front door:

A friend watched the kids while I did a 5km run along the estuary and this evening we went to an Autumn Equinox celebration that we have been so blessed to join for the last 3 years now.

I am so grateful for the gifts this world gives us!

'Children of the Forest' Doll

'All the children wore red-and-white spotted caps. If strangers came into the forest, they curled up, still as stone, for all the world like four red-and-white spotted mushrooms. But most of the time they were perfectly safe. Then they played hide and seek with the squirrels, who lived upstairs in the tree'.

Elsa Beskow, Children of the Forest

 This is my very first dolls house sized doll. I am so pleased with her. She has a head made of cotton interlock stuffed with sheep's wool, she has embroidered eyes and mouth and teeny, tiny nose. Her hair is a beautiful soft mohair knit into a cap and firmly stitched on to her head, then brushed out and plaited into 2 tiny bunches.

 Her body, arms and legs are completely bendable and pose-able and she can stand all by herself.

 She is about 4 inches tall (this is only a guess really... I simply can't find a ruler in my house) and she is wearing little cotton bloomers and smock and of course her red-and-white spotted hat.

 I am so excited about her, she is a little gift for someone I know who is very sick and for me this is the best way to say 'I care'. But I am really looking forward to making more dolls of this size and I know for sure that I can go ahead with the dolls house idea for my own kids for Christmas this year!!

Oh the love of tiny things :-)

I'm not kidding...

this is actually, in real life, our walk to school in the morning. We live in the next village to Rebe's school, it is about 5 km away. We leave the car here, about a 1km walk away from school and oh what a difference it makes to us. 

Fresh air, peace, calm, time together as a family before the onset of the day. 

 that wee yellow building in the center of the picture is Rebe's school

 after dropping her off we turn back

It is incredibly beautiful and I am so grateful that this is our walk to school

Buddies ~ weather

***In September 2011 6 families got together and started Buddies Home School. Each week we meet in each other's home and follow a simple rhythm: movement and music, craft/ baking, snack time, free play and story time. Each part of the session is led by a different family. We are sharing this week's session with you here...***

This week's Buddies was all about weather. 

I was leading the music and movement to begin our session. We started singing some weather songs that we knew.

The Sun has got his hat on...

Rain, rain go away...

This is the way we wash our face...

and thanks to little O, we also had the rainbow song.

I also made up a little song about wind to the tune of 'the run away train':

The little blue wind went over the hill and she blew, she blew.

The little blue wind went over the hill and she blew, she blew.

The little blue wind went over the hill, put on your coat or you'll catch a chill and she blew blew blew blew blew.

Next I pulled out my laundry basket that I had filled with various hats and coats, wellies, sunhats etc and we talked about which clothes you would wear in what weather.

 The children really embraced it and were very talkative about weather and their experiences of it. A few of them were remembering the snow of a few years ago and told us what that was like and even what they were wearing.

After that Roisin led a brilliant craft activity making weather dials.

 First we painted white rain drops onto small sheets of green card.

 Then we drew suns onto yellow card

 On grey card we drew clouds that had little puffs of wind in them.

 Roisin had prepared silver snow flakes/ frost in advance so the next job for the Buddies was to carefully cut out all of their weather pictures.

 Next the four weather pictures were glued onto a paper plate.

 The mummy's helped to add the red arrow which is fastened with one of those butterfly clips (or whatever they are called)

 Lastly each weather dial had a lovely bright lace so we can hang them by the window,

 The Buddies were oh so proud of them!
This week was the first time that Joa joined in with the craft from start to finish following the activity. He was so busy and it was really lovely to see him being one of the big kids :-)
 After snack time the kids went out to play. Susan asked them if they would check and see if the hens had laid any eggs,

 so they checked,

 and checked

and checked...

 and checked again and found 3 eggs (that Benny was very proudly allowed to bring home and that he cooked into scrambled eggs for our lunch).
 Zoe ended the session (in a tag team effort with Roisin) reading this story...

it was a truly sunny session :-)