Yarn Along

In joining Ginny's Yarn Along , I'm sharing a book that I am a few pags short of finishing and reluctant to end because it has been such a pleasure to read. I have to admit that when I began this book, I was skeptical and thought not another American in Tuscany. Yes, judging without knowing for I could not endure Eat, Pray, Love and quit reading that, something I almost never do, no matter how dull I find the book. I have no idea why so many people have glomped onto it.

Marlena DiBlasi's, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, is a sweet  reflection on slow life in a small Tuscan village, complete with sage people, recipes and growth through relationships, both present and past.

On the needles is a little project for The First Grader and Handwork, a companion piece to Eugene Schwartz's multimedia presentation on The First Grader which will be published in The Wonder of Childhood, the online magazine dedicated to parenting, Waldorf education, living and nourishment which is about to have its soft opening........shhh

For updates on the opening of The Wonder of Childhood, watch the FaceBook Page.

Blessings with prayer and love and light to all the people of Japan,

Lisa

Happiness is a Compost Bucket

When I was young and imagined my life as an adult, I saw myself living in a big city like Paris, New York or San Francisco, doing deeply meaningful work, wearing stylish clothing, discussing politics and working for causes I believed in and going to parties where people said witty things. 

The urge to have children had not hit and I did not envision children in my life although I seemed to attract children to me throughout my life. I imagined this adult world as a grown up. My work as a midwife was focused on the mom- to- be and her partner.

Fast forward this picture through relationships with men who wanted to have children and fairy tales and a home with a hearth and settling down with one who seemed to share my values. Fast forward to the birth of my first child. Pregnancy changed my body each day in ways I never imagined. I ate with a hunger I had not known before. I fell asleep on the sofa after dinner. Basic need became primary.

Who would have known that becoming a mother would do that?



I remember the day after my first child was born. His dad had gone to work and I was sitting on the bed watching this new and precious being sleep peacefully. When I began to consider the enormity of the task that lay before me, I began to cry. This was a human being and my task was to introduce him to the world. About diapers and feeding and creating a home, I felt excited and capable. But his soul, I had no idea how I, a mere person would provide enough of the right thing for this child. I sobbed my worries out and  went on staring at him the way new mothers stare entranced with their newborns while they sleep, encased in a bubble of timelessness.

You may be wondering what does this all have to do with a compost bucket ?

I'm getting there.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I gave up coffee and carefully read all food labels for additives and artificial food coloring. These foods became repugnant to me and my body no longer wanted them. I even gave up M&M's. I chose the healthiest foods I could find and ate protein with every meal and slept early each night. I thought pleasant thoughts and was excited about becoming a mother.  I talked to my mom about mothering and grew closer to her through this.

When my first child was born, I knew that I would give my life to save this child if ever need be. I felt protective in ways I never imagined. I drove slower and more cautiously. I calculated risks that I had thought nothing about doing before like jumping off trestles and picking up hitchhikers. My life took on new meaning and purpose in such a simple and primal way. I drew stronger boundaries in my work and instantly realized the value of my time when it was weighed against caring for my child and homemaking. I realized that my mom was a really good mom and capable homemaker. I realized how large it is and how encompassing it becomes.

This past weekend when I went to the dump, I learned that the large compost buckets I had been waiting for, were in, the four gallon ones with the tight fitting lid. The dump man gave me one. My own five gallon bucket had split on the side and never fit right under the sink. My porch bin is full and it is too much to trek out to the bins with each meal's scraps with the snow and cold.

I am thrilled to find a compost bucket that is large enough to hold the scraps we produce and to fit under the sink. I am thrilled to be home with my second grader, homeschooling him. I am thrilled when my teenager asks me to sit with him and help with his homework. I am thrilled to go outside and hear the birds and see a cardinal in the tree. I am thrilled for the sunbeams poring into the kitchen this morning.

Now I live in Northern Vermont, in this small rural, agricultural state. It is a huge big deal to throw a party and most likely it is a birthday party or lantern walk or cookout in the summer. That's what I can manage. Grown up time is scarce and precious. It's been ages since I've been in the city and I find the bigs ones overstimulating with children. When I took my first born to San Francisco, he was nearly three and I was afraid he might step on or pick up a syringe in my old neighborhood. The neighborhood looked so different through my eyes as a mother, filthy and fast paced. No where to roam freely on the sidewalks.

I do miss the pulse of urban life and experience it vicariously through my city friends. And today I am grooving on my new compost bucket which means gracefully turning our food scraps back into the earth which satifies me in ways I never imagined possible.

Who would have known?


Blessings,

Lisa

The Moon Maiden, A Japanese Story

~ For those of you who may be seeking a story from Japan, this is a very old story that goes by many names. It makes a beautiful puppet story.

There dwelt once on the edge of the forest, at the foot of Fujiyama, a bamboo-cutter and his wife. They were honest, industrious people who loved each other dearly, but no children had come to bless them, and therefore they were not happy.

"Ah husband," mourned the wife, "More welcome to me than cherry blossoms in springtime would be a little child of my own."

One evening, she stood on the floor of her flimsy bamboo cottage and lifted her eyes toward the everlasting snows on the top of Fujiyama. Then, with swelling breast, she bowed herself to the ground and cried out to the Honorable Mountain:

"Fuji no yama, I am sad because no little head lies on my breast, no childish laughter gladdens our home. Send thee, I pray thee, from thy eternal purity, a little one to comfort me."

As she spoke, lo! from the top of the Honorable Mountain there suddenly sparkled a gleam of light as when the face of a child is lit by a beaming smile.

" Husband, husband, come quickly," cried the good woman. See thee on the heights of Fujiyama, a child is beaming upon me."

"It is but your fancy," said the bamboo-cutter and yet he added, "I will climb up and see what is there."

So he followed the trail of silvery light through the forest, and up above the steep slope where Fujiyama stood white and still above him. At last he stopped below a tall bamboo by the bank of a mountain stream, from whence the glow seemed to come. There, cradled in the branches of a tree, he found a tiny moon-child, fragile, dainty, radiant, clad in flimsy, filmy moon-shine, more radiant than any creature he had ever seen before.

"Ah, little shining creature, who are you?" he cried. " I am the Princess Moonbeam," answered the child. " The Moon Lady is my mother but she has sent me to earth to comfort the sad heart of your wife."

" Then, little Princess," said the Woodman eagerly, " I will take you home to be our child."

So the woodman bore her carefully down the mountainside.

" See, wife" he called, "what the Moon Lady has sent you."

Then was the good woman overjoyed. She took the little moon-child and held her close, and the moon-child's little arms went twining about her neck as she nestled snug against her breast. So was the good wife's longing satisfied at last.  

As the years passed by Princess Moonbeam brought nothing but joy to the woodman and his wife. Lovelier and lovelier she grew. Fair was her face, her eyes were shining stars and her hair had the gleam of a misty silver halo. About her, too, was a strange, unearthly charm that made all who saw her love her.

One day there came riding by in state, the Mikado himself. He saw how the Princess Moonbeam lit up the humble cottage and he loved her. Then the Mikado would have taken her back with him to court, but no! - the longing of an earthly father  and mother had been fulfilled, the Princess Moonbeam had stayed with them until she was a maiden grown, and now the time had come when she must go back to her sky mother, the Lady in the Moon.

"Stay, stay with me on earth," cried the Mikado.

"Stay, stay with us on earth," cried the bamboo-cutter and his wife.

Then the Mikado got two thousand archers and set them on guard close about the house and even on the roof, that none may get through to take her. But when the moon rose white and full, a line of light like a silver bridge sprung arching down from heaven to earth and floating along that gleaming path came the Lady from the Moon. The Mikado's soldiers stood as though turned to stone. Straight through their midst the Moon Lady passed and bent caressingly down for her long-absent child. She wrapped her close in a garment of silver mist. Then she caught her tenderly in her arms, and led her gently back to the sky. The Princess Moonbeam was glad to go back home, yet as she went, she wept silvery tears for those she was leaving behind. And lo!-her bright shining tears took wings and floated away to carry a message of love that should comfort the Mikado, and her earthly father and mother.

To this very day, the gleaming tears of the little Princess Moonbeam are seen to float hither and yon about the marshes and groves of Japan. The children chase them with happy eyes and say, " See the fire-flies! ow beautiful they are!" Then their mothers, in the shadow of Fujiyama, tell their children this legend--how the fire-flies are shining love messages  of the little Princess Moonbeam, flitted down to bring comfort to earth from her far off home in the silver moon.

With prayers and love and light to all the people of Japan....

March

March roars in like a lion so fierce,

the wind so cold, it seems to pierce.

The month rolls on and Spring draws near,

and March goes out like a lamb so dear 

                              Lorie Hill

The month of March has rolled in with great ferocity here. Over three feet of snow have fallen and the wind has ripped along, creating beautiful snowscapes and drifts.

Our most recent snowfall was one of the greatest on record for March.

Moe is always happy for a romp in the snow.

I jumped for joy this week when I saw, for the first time this winter, sunbeams shining on the wall in the late afternoon. 

The sun is moving north despite the snow.

For now there is skiing and sledding and shovelling and the warmth and cosy feeling of being tucked in at home.


And prayers for Japan and the people there.

Mardi Gras Parade

Waiting on the snowbank for the parade to start.

The bubble bus, spewing bubbles...

The Wonder of Childhood

Dear Readers,

In case you are wondering.....or have missed me.... I have been very quiet over here, with nary a post for some time. This corner has been a  bit like winter, seeming still and gray, yet beneath the surface the waters flow and great movement is taking place.

My time and energy has been focused on Celebrating the Rhythm of Life with Children, Caring for Children in March Guide and like the maple trees, the sap is rising with my new project, The Wonder of Childhood.

 The Wonder of Childhood is a monthly online publication devoted to questions and topics around parenting, Waldorf education, nourishment and living. Columnist from many walks of life and from all over have come together to contribute to this endeavor.

Here is a little peek into what is coming:

We spotlight a Waldorf early childhood program each month and bring you a glimpse inside. We'll go through aspects of the Waldorf curriculum over the coming year beginning with Grade One and extend across the curriculum to delve into handwork, games and movement, family reading. Our book review will focus on a book that is relevant to the grade we are exploring that month.

We have a very special column in which a homeschooling mom shares her journey of Waldorf homeschooling and how she came to it, what supports the work and a glimpse into what that looks like.

No work is complete with some food and emphasis on the role good eating plays in life. We have a columnist whose work is all about food and health. We have columns on luscious lunches and family suppers. We'll look at truth, beauty abd goodness in the lunchbox.

And lots, lots more.....

Thank you for your patience and stayed tuned for launch date and launch site.

Blessings!

Lisa

Stylish Blogger Award ~ Thank You!

The amazing Sally over at FairyDust Teaching and Annette at Seasons of Joy have each awarded me with a Stylish Blogger Award.  Thank you both for thinking of me.

The rules of acceptance:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award. 
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 10-15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

Seven things about me:

1.    I am adopted and found my birthmother twenty some years ago. 

2.    I have lived on islands and by the sea for much of my life and love to scuba dive, the underwater world fascinates and soothes me.

3.    I  am a gypsy at heart. (Maybe we are gypsy at heart sisters Sally?) I've lived all over the planet and love to explore and meet people and taste the food they eat and see how they birth babies.

4.    I gave birth to one child at 44 weeks and another at 32 weeks and did kangaroo care.

5.    I was a philosophy major in college until I discovered Wome's Studies, then I went on to become a Midwife.

6.    I love to cook and grow food, especially for people I love.

7.    I love San Francisco and my all time favorite job was working at Cafe Liliane, it was a magical time, full of warmth and delicious too..
8. I like to push limits...I am adding one.... okay two....I have this vision of a birth and breakfast sort of place, where CNMs and CPMs work together and families come to give birth and be nourished, complete with gardens and farm animals and families

Now for the blogs I am passing this on to. This is really hard, there are so many fine blogs out there. Here is my selection, in no particular order:


Flowing with My Ducklings Emily's beautiful photos of her children accompanies  authentic reflection, craft making, and the process of parenting with head, heart and hands.


Free Flowing Ways  Kelly's blog is lovely and inspiring. with lots of connection to nature, nature rhythms in her family's homelearning.


Spinspirations  Kelly, above, of Free Flowing Ways and Dawn just started this spinners circle. It is so cozy, warm, beautiful and inspiring.


Carried Family ~Sarah's blog is an authentic exploration of life with children, lots of nature and warmth with her beautiful family.


The Artist, The Mom Angela's blog is full of reflection and humor and her beautiful family and handwork. She Tweets too.


Busha Full Of Grace  Busha (Marianne) 's blog explores many questions and inspires with brilliance and creativity and honesty.


Love in the Suburbs  Sara's beautiful blog is rich with family life, good writing and gorgeous photographs.


Ancient Hearth Jen's blog is beautiful with a look at Waldorf homeschooling and such an inspiration for us all on so many levels, even with the dogs. Her site is also full of generosly shared  resources and links.


The Sun With Loving Light Sandi is a homeschooling mom in California who asks and explores some big questions as well as shares her journey with readers.


Straw into Gold Christine Natale is a gifted storyteller and Waldorf kindergarten teacher who has been generously sharing her brilliant work for years. 


Bending Birches ~ Rebecca is the mom of a toddler, who shares beautiful photos and reflections of her journey into parenting and Waldorf education and caring for the children of others.

It wouldn't seem right without some food focused blogs:

La Tartine Gourmnd explores life as a French mom who loves food, french, good food and reflections on mothering and life and  gorgeous photographs. 

Valentines Week

We are celebrating Valentine's Day all week long with more Valentines making, some mischevious Valentine's deliveries, warm tea with fancy china, some baking and some sweet red beets in our greens. We were touched by the secret valentine, who leaves hearts on doors,  this year:

 Sweet heart scones, tea and fruity whipped cream recipes are over at the monthly guide pages. The cupcakes with fluffy frosting recipe is over there too and on Scrumptious Smidgeon...

Here's a little ditty for your nine year old friends,

 it might be adapted, let's try this for a three year old:

Valentine, O Valentine

I'll be your love and you'll be with me, 

We'll care for each other,

 Fiddle dee dee 

And in ninety years, we'll be ninety three.

(oh well..yes it is silly)

Here's the official version:

Valentine, O Valentine

I'll be your love and you'll be mine.

We'll care for each other, 

rain or shine,

And in 90 years we'll be 99.

-Ian Serraillier

Valentine's Day Gifts

Oh will you be my Valentine, my Valentine, my Valentine,

Oh will you be my Valentine and wear my big rose heart?

Oh yes, I'll be your Valentine, your Valentine, your Valentine

Oh yes, I'll be your Valentine and wear your big rose heart!

(sung to the tune of the "Oh do you know the Muffin man?")

Valentine's Day brings a breaking with the contraction of winter, a stirring of life filled hope for Spring with lambs preparing to give birth and birds seeking mates for their springtime nests. The birds are singing here despite the deep snow. The depth of matter being penetrated by spirit shifts to a stirring, towards a flowing out of the Cosmic breath. Mother Earth is awakening at the surface even though she has been busy deep down in the earth :

Little dwarves so short and strong

Heavy footed march along

Every head is straight and proud

Every step is firm and loud

Pick and hammer each must hold

Deep in earth to mine the gold

Carefully flung o'er each one's back

Hangs a little empty sack

When their hard day's work is done

Home again they march as one

Full sacks make a heavy load

As they tramp along the road

Singing oh so merrily:

Crack, crack

The rocks we hack

Quake, quake the mountains shake

Bang, bang

Our hammers clang

In caverns old

We seek the gold

Valentine's is a day of fun and a day of whimsy. Children often love to make Valentines for each other. I remember making mailboxes in first grade, of cardboard boxes, paper bags, lace, ribbon and construction paper, for our Valentines. Remember the smell of the glue served up on the corner of a used torn up sheet of paper with a wooden ruler?

I remember anxiously awaiting that moment in the day when we were able to set up our mailboxes on our desks and go around the room and "mail" our Valentine's to each other. And then later to take time at home to sit down and go through them one by one and examine each gem.

The weeks leading up to Valentines are usually full of the Valentine making for friends and classmates, use those beautiful wet on wet watercolor paintings, take out the ribbons, lace paper doilies, snippets of paper "bits and edges" from past projects, glue and scissors.

This year we are making, by request, the woven Valentine and marble painted Valentines.

Over the years I have come up with a little dish for each child that comes out goes on the bedside table a few days before Valentine's Day. That usually involves some musing about the last year. One child has a Valentine Babouschka:

Another has a silver heart:

What matters to our children is not so much that it be silver or a certain design but that we find something special for them, imbue it with our love and return to it each year, making it a tradition through repetition.

I make them each a Valentine and leave it along with a simple gift and something chocolate and sweet in or on the heart. Last year I left these glass hearts. One year I left heart shaped musical chimes. Another year it was pink quartz hearts.

For breakfast I bake heart shaped scones, recipe is here. We have not had a regular Valentine's Day meal. This year I am going to make fondue as I am inspired by Cypress, over at Cypress Space, who shares her family's Valentine's traditions which look beautiful, delicious and fun here

If you want to make a little wool heart pendant for your child, it is simple to make one with wool felt and a ribbon. I like to tuck a lttle crystal inside like this:

This is also a simple project for a five or six year old or older to make for a friend. Pretty stones, crystals and chocolates make good surprises inside.

Attach a ribbon and it becomes a pendant:

The Year of the Rabbit!

Oh my goodness! It is the New year, the Year of the Rabbit!

Thank you Pip and Sarah!

My hold on nature does not want to let go of the past. Better do some extra sweeping today!

My apolpogies.

Lisa

The Year of the Rabbit!

The Year of the Rabbit began with the new moon nine hours ago and celebrations of Chinese New Year will continue for fifteen days until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day with parades and lanterns in communities that celebrate the new year.

I am inspired by my friend Denice to explore Chinese New Year this year as a family celebration.

Special deeds are done on certain days of Chinese New Year Celebrations.

To prepare for the new year, we begin with sweeping out the house (the old, the bad luck) to clear way for the New Year. This is a time for new clothes, new shoes (maybe we can repurpose that old red sweater into something new) and a new hair cut. A pretty bowl of tangerines, oranges and pomelos is set out for wealth and good luck. The house is decorated with Fook and Couplets.

Explanation of some of the symbols and images of Fook and Couplets for Chinese New Year here

For a Gung Hay Fat Choy (Happy New Year) song with gestures, via my friend Denice, here

We can draw couplets and hang them on our homes.

The most important aspect of the first day of Chinese New Year is the family, and that all the extended family spend time with the oldest members of the family.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Chinese New Year

"Gung Hay Fat Choy!"

In China, every girl and boy

Celebrates the New Year

in a very special way -

With fireworks and dragons,

colored red and gold -

They welcome in the new year

and chase away the old!

- Helen H. Moore

If you wish to preview Celebrating the Rhythm of Life with Children in February, a monthly guide for those with children, in exchange for some honest feedback,

please e-mail your request to

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