Summer Dreaming

The days of summer are upon us, long, warm and sticky. The school children are out and the neighborhood is alive with children's voices during the week. The hose comes out and drenches everyone and it's all okay because it's summer. The evenings are so long and pleasant that we often find ourselves astonished by how late it is yet how high the sun is.

The strawberries are here, sweet and ripe for eating, the raspberries are coming. Blueberries are not too far off. The Farmer's Market is gorgeous with greens, lettuce, spinach, kale, spring onions with red bulbs. The garden is finally dry and beckoning, "plant me now before it's too late!"

Musing now, over the days and weeks  to come, full of summer's warmth, light and goodness, on what I want to accomplish, notice, savor, support, nourish, release. Right now I am:

::  wanting to return to blogging here yet finding my energy directed here
::  savoring the flavor, texture and relationship with the ingredients of homemade ice cream
;;  amused by the simple happiness our chicks seem to have in pecking and scratching and eating slugs
::  working hard to get the July Issue of the The Wonder of Childhood Magazine up 
::  grateful to have a new fully functioning computer to work on!
::  waiting for blueberries to ripen so I can bake this
::  bemused by little boys' fascination with fireworks and smoke bombs
::  wondering what it must be like to be a large wooly dog in this heat
::  enjoying meals outdoors as often as possible
::  discovering the yumminess and simplicity of cedar plank grilling
::  loving summer walks on a nearby farm
::  remembering how pleasant it is to stretch out and have a restful read in the heat of the afternoon 
::  looking forward to some lazy days of catching up with old friends
::  exploring plans to build a movable chicken run this summer
::  baking strawberry muffins today
::  heading out to the garden before the rain to plant some potatoes
::  considering a commitment to blogging here daily, to get into the swing of it
::  hoping you'll have patience and bear with me on that
:: thankful for the inspiration!
:: grateful for this most amazing online community!
:: giving up the search for my camera to add photos to this post!


Happy Summer!

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember, inspired by Amanda Soule

 

 

Finally ~ Knitting project and Article Complete

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along over at Small Things.

It's done, finally, with a great big ta da! The four part series on Knitting and the First Grader for the Magazine begins here, if you are interested. It includes a piece on Introducing Children to Knitting with a Visit to the Farm, Make Your Own Knitting Needles, an article by Angela Mobley on How to Teach Children Knitting, handwork verses and instructions for how to make the simple spring chick, above.

The book on my night stand remains Anita Shreve's, The Last Time They Met. I am still greatly enjoying it and slowly plodding through it.

Spring cheer to all! and Autumn cheer to you down under!

{this moment}

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by Soule Mama

Earth Day and Easter

I have been so busy with The Wonder of Childhood, trying to get the Easter articles up and on the site as well as post all of The First Grader articles there that I have spent little time here.

My article Every Day is Earth Day is up on the magazine.

Today my parents are celebrating their sixty first wedding anniversary! Sixty one years of getting used to each other. I just have to share that. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Before we get to May and look at May Day, I am going to share with you links to some of my favorite places for Celebrating the Rhythm of Life this week:

• To explore the inner year with Lynn Jericho with Inner Easter from the festival celebration of esoteric Christianity, click here: Inner Easter This is a free series of writings and audio talks on Inner Easter.
• For beautiful, natural eggs with leaf impressions: Click here, Ithaca Handwork
• For beautiful eggs from beets, onion skins and blueberries: Click here,  Mother Earth News
• Very simple and direct instructions for marblized eggs: Click here, DLTK Growing Together
• For speckled eggs: Click here, Southern Living
• Lovely results with stickers and dye bath eggs: Click here, Better Homes and Garden
• For gorgeous eggs with magical patterns though not edible: Click here, Most Beautiful Eggs!

{this moment}

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by SouleMama

Yarn Along with the Brown Silk Moth

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along over at Small Things.

This is the most amazing creature, a brown silk moth that emerged after spending a winter in its cocoon in our playroom. We had no idea. But this is another story, another post to write.

The books are Thai cookbooks. I discovered that fish sauce, lime juice, chicken broth and a smidge of sugar make a delicious stir fry sauce!

On the needles and soon to come off is the remains of the project for The Wonder of Childhood article on The First Grader ~ Knitting.

The books on my reading stack are growing. I am beginning to organize next year's homeschooling, preparing for a study group on The Foundations of Human Experience, reading The King of Ireland's Son with my son as part of the second grade curriculum and slowly, poking around in Rudolf Steiner's Soul Economy which is delightful. I wish he wrote a book on Home Economy! I am most pleasantly working my way through the same Anite Shreve book which I am savoring.

Blessings all around!

Lisa

Homeschooling celebration!

Homeschooling can be a bit like Christmas with packages arriving in the mail.

Treasures to behold inside.

The excitement of taking on something new and fascinating....

What are in your homeschool plans?

Do you homeschool?

Are you planning for next year?

Good Monday morning to you dear readers, or whatever time of day it is where you are!

Since you are asking for more on rhythm and on responding to children's conflicts, I'll make that my starting point this week.

~ this morning's sunrise ~

:::::::::::

My Daily Rhythm

This morning I:

:: awoke at 5:30

:: enjoyed one hour of quiet/meditative time/watched the sunrise outdoors with the dog

:: started a load of laundry

:: fed the animals

:: packed up twenty samosas for my teen to take to school

:: watered the plants

:; woke up my teen, sent him off to school

:: prepared for homeschooling

:: organized dinner

:: Now: I am writing

:: Next: We will do "school" 9:30 ~ 12:30  (this includes an outside obstacle course and garden time)

:: Mid-day: We'll have lunch and set up the soup stock

:: After lunch: Quiet rest time, knitting

:: Mid afternoon: Outside play, prepare dinner

:: Dinner: walk after dinner

:: Bath

:: Bed

:::::::::::

My Weekly Rhythm

We are homeschooling second grade with the Waldorf curriculum and I am on sabbatical from the Morning Garden. The rhythms I established in having a home based program for the past seven years and working in the Waldorf kindy before that, are still in place and work well with the Waldorf grade school curriculum, for the most part.

I do find it more of a challenge to keep our rhythm flowing when I am not working! Does that make sense? With work, there is no choice, no maybe, I have to prepare and be ready and the boundaries of our days are very clear. Without that, everything is possible and it is up to me to hold the reins tight and secure places in our days and continue to mark the transitions for just the two of us (and the dog and the cats) during the day. It's really hard!

On the other hand, we can snuggle in bed with a book if we want to, or go off and visit the newborn sheep and calves down the road, or check the maple sap buckets or bake cookies, whenever we want to! So very sweet with a child at home! Ahhhhh...but the rhythm.....

So dear Mamas, I have so much compassion for you who are coming to this or struggling with this, it is hard! We must to be organized and give it our all and be so very kind and compassionate to ourselves at the same time. Mothering is hard work. Homemaking is hard work. It is ceaseless, often unrecognized and we don't even get bathroom breaks! Yet we are growing human beings. What a task is that!

With the daily rhythm, my personal focus for the next twenty one days will be on "punctuating" the daily activites with song and ritual, since I forget to sing when I am not working. "Punctuate" is a term my friend Denice uses to mark what comes between activities. I like it. I am discovering that to carry this rhythm with "punctuation" is so much easier to do in groups, and especially in a school, where so many are carrying the rhythm, compared to life at home, which requires being "on" and remembering, until it becomes a habit, which is said to take twenty one days. Rudold Steiner had some interesting words on breaking and making habits. It asks us to dig deep within, stand tall, stay on task and discipline ourselves. What an example we can be to our children! (phew!) What will forces!

This is my early childhood rhythm for the week which has become central to our homeschooling and homemaking rhythm.

Monday: Soup stock making, turn soil over in the garden, wash bed linens

Tuesday: Soup making, iron place mats and napkins

Wednesday: Coloring with beeswax crayons,  hem new pants

Thursday: Baking

Friday: Painting with wet-on-wet watercolor. dust and polish furniture

As for toddler conflict, I'll come back to that later and let the focus for today be self discipline which is the heart of any "discipline" we bring to children and the very root of rhythm.

Is there a habit you'd like to establish in the next twenty one days?

If you are interested in a discussion group, I moderate one here on Waldorf early chilhood, it is open to all questions of daily life with young children:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorfearlychildhoodbringingithome/?yguid=76104283

Warmly,

Lisa

Ginny's Yarn Along

In joining with Ginny's Yarn Along this week, I am writing an article on the "needles" that will be found at The Wonder of Childhood on April first for the official launch of the first edition of the magazine. I'm very excited about that! A simple Easter knitting project will be there too, but it's off the needles now.

I have been playing with dye baths for wool roving this week, first with espresso coffee drips, then added walnut hulls and black tea for a deeper brown to make a felted bulb child. I got a warm brown in the end and am going to put some yarn in there today and see how that comes out. The dyed wool is here if you'd like to see it.

The book on my night stand is Anita Shreve's, The Last Time They Met. I am finding it so engaging, really engaging. I love the quirkiness of her writing and characters. They seem to reveal so much about human nature. I have read several of her books and find myself completely enthralled after an uncertain start.

I did see the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love this week (I mentioned it in my last Yarn Along post.) I watched it all the way through, unlike the book and  liked it so much better than the little bit of book I had read. How can the worst book go wrong with Julia Roberts as the main character?

Until next week!

Luck, Wonder and Saint Patrick's Day

Dear Readers,

Come on over and have a sneak peek into The Wonder of Childhood!

I am still loading articles and polishing the edges but there is a great deal of material waiting for you.

David Sewell McCann of Sparkel Stories, has an article for parents on The Four A's of Intuitive Storytelling, and in the article you will have the good luck of coming upon his story on luck, a speacial story for this day on Luck.

Feel free to share the link and we'd love to read your comments in the comment boxes. The clouds above will float you there with a click.

Warmly, Lisa

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