A Place Like This......

Love These Summer Days

The last couple of weeks has seen my house filled to the brim with our visiting family.

After all of the usual sight-seeing trips, there was one place we hadn't taken them yet and that was to the Stuga ( Little Swedish Cabin by the Lake). 

Picnic baskets packed, sunscreen and mosquitoe protection in tow, we headed up to the Smoky Mountains to have a day filled with forest and water fun. 

The awe and wonder never gets old when a child discovers the treasures of nature. My nephew took his father's camera for the first time and couldn't stop taking photos of all his discoveries.

His sister on the other hand loved being on the water so much but was worried about all of the family we left behind on shore. It was a dilemma for her to pick paddling with me and her mother or staying with her family on land.  Her ultimate decision was to come aboard and out to sea, or on the lake rather, with us. Following closely behind us was her cousin "O" who decided to "Tom Sawyer" it across the lake. Side note: Yes I notice he doesn't have a life-jacket on. Yes I hollered that fact to him and yes he went back to shore to get one. But I took this photo before all of that happened. :)

The rest of our day was spent just relaxing and hanging out together as well as eating great food. I love these last days of summer don't you?

Relic in the Forest

The last time "O" and I went to Sweden we happened upon a 12th century gothic cathedral ruin by the side of the road. Surrounded by partial ancient walls, this lovely structure is surrounded by trees and flowering meadows.

All the boy could think about were the ruins at Elinghem and how he had to show his sister. If he had gotten his way, we would have landed at the Visby airport, and gone directly to Elinghem. 

He didn't get his way and a few days later on a gloriously sunny day, the boy finally got to show his sister the discovery he had made a year or so before.

From the moment he left the car he became the ever dutiful tour guide.

 

I did not know one could speak so in depthly about a shell of a building but for our boy it isn't only a shell, it is the wonder of what stories it holds.

Who built this and why here? What did it look like before? How did it become a ruin and why didn't the people fix it? Then of course there is all the wondering of what could be done with it. 

"We could raise money and repair it. We could have music concerts here. Open a cafe in the summer. Hold weddings, family reunions, plant an herb garden." 

As you have probably guessed this is my son, ever pregnant with an idea or two, three, four, five...... :)

His dutiful sister knew her part in it all and inspected every discovery, every "look here". She is a champion among elder sisters. 

Is what none of us expected was to make a new discovery. As I was taking this photo, I noticed our boy wonder looking inside the far wall. 

"What is it "O"? " I asked.

"It's a staircase!!!! And it goes all the way up."

Dutiful sister Mimi runs to the staircase and starts to climb up. Ever the worrier, "O" starts yelling, "Wait we have to inspect it , you're going too high. What if you fall?" 

And then I must tell you there was silence...........

 The girl surfaced at the top of the cathedral. Following were the ever-worried words of her ever-worried brother.

It took a lot of convincing to get the boy up the stairs so he could have a look of his own. 

But finally he did and now all he talks about is how they climbed the stairs at Elinghem.

What discoveries have you made lately?

Among the Stones

High on the cliffs above the sea,

We walk among these ancients stones which use to be the cliffs themselves.

My family and I climb them,

play hide and seek among them,

and enjoy the view.

Shared moments like these bring a return to the quietness within. 

In celebration of our new Mindful Parenting Book Club read, Last Child in the Woods, we're going outside and joining Joy from "You know how we're an art family" in enjoying the great outdoors. 

Rock Paint Before Lunch and KAL

Coming downstairs for breakfast I heard a lot of bustling activity from the kitchen.

"Morning Mom! Hurry up we have places to go. We're going to do something fun today." And with that my sweet little "O" continued to pack a picnic lunch.

"Where 're we headed sweet boy?"

"Tremont"

Tremont is this beautiful little place in the Smoky Mountains and home to the Smoky Moutain Research Center at Tremont.

Last year O had gone to camp there and had such a good time. He wanted to share a little of that with his mom.

First a stop to the council house is made to speak our intentions. "We are planning to make rock paint before lunch", the young "O" stated.

 From here we walked down to the little river having wonderful conversation.

As I stopped to take it all in,  young boy ran ahead to start his quest for the perfect stone to make the perfect paint.

As I looked up he was already in "creation mode".

 Choosing a stone, dipping it in the water and then rubbing it back and forth on the large river rock creates a color. 

How's this color mom?

And as tradition dictates, one can not eat their lunch or any meal for that matter, at Tremont without having decorated theimselves with rock paint.

It was such a nice occasion to have "O" create such a lovely excursion from his own design. I can honestly say after painting myself before lunch that I felt dressed properly for the picnic.  Such a beautiful sight to sit and enjoy with my sweet boy.

I have to confess that I did take some knitting with me. Here's a look at this week's KAL which I'm doing with Linda. I'm almost ready to start binding off for the armholes. Next week I hope to have a body on this giant version of the Shalom sweater.

The horrible heat of last week has left and so now I'm off to work in my garden. See you tomorrow!

Rose Jam

I think by now you've figured out that everything is in full bloom around here. Between the smell of the honeysuckle and all of my roses blooming, the fragrance around the house is almost unbearable......in a good sort of way.

 
My zephrine rose which smells like raspberries is flourishing and so before the bugs get to it I thought I would pull a few blossoms off and make some rose jam.

Carefully we cut the roses.

 
 
Carefully we pull the petals off the rosehip.

 
Measure out 6 cups of rose petals.

 
Soak them in water for about an hour.

 
Pick up a handful of rose petals and squeeze the water out of them.

 
Bruise and squeeze the petals well.

 
After you've brusied one handful of petals, place it in the tray and sprinkle a little sugar so that each petal is touched by sugar. Keep repeating this process until all the petals have been brusied and sugared. They can be in the same tray. Cover and refridgerate over night. Save the remaining sugar for the following day.

 
Place the remaining sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan. dissolve contents over a low heat. Stir the rose petals into the mixture and allow to simmer 20 minutes.

 
Bring to a boil and continue to boil for about 15 minutes until the mixture thickens. If you have a candy or jam thermometer, cook and stir until the jam reaches 221F or 105 C. Remove from heat and stir in one box of pectin. Place in a steril and warm jar.

 

                                              Rose Jam Recipe

• 6 cups red, pink, or white rose petals.
• 2 cups of sugar
• 4 1/2 cups of water
• juice of 2 lemons
• one box of pectin

* Very important tip. Do not use roses which you have sprayed with insecticide. Your roses should smell very fragrant and be chemical free.

 

 

 

Spring keeps on Springing.

There I was on Earth Day wishfully planting my sunflower forest. By the time I woke up on Saturday my garden was in full color and the sun was shining brightly.

 

 

From the smallest of herbs,  my thyme......

 
to the Irises my father planted 10 years ago.

 

The garden is alive and well. I spent a little time under my fig tree, shading myself in all the glory of Spring. Hope you enjoyed your weekend and any celebrating you may have done.

 

 

Happy Earth Day

I woke up this morning and did my usual.....I took a little ramble around the yard. The air had shifted overnight. No longer was there a cold morning bite to the air. It was just a little breezy with a hint of warmth. I just couldn't go inside. In the quiet of this morning I grabbed a tray of hope.

A short time ago we planted some sunflower seeds.

 

And now the seeds have unfurled their mystery and magic and have become seedlings ready to plant in the garden.

 
So in my pyjamas and mucklucks, no bathrobe, I grabbed this tray and started planting. Completely celebrating this day of the Earth in hopes that this tray will grow into a beautiful sunflower forest.

 
A place for us to hide and read a book in, to capture our summer days.  There's a lot of hope in this little tray. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. Happy Earth Day friends and have a wonderful weekend.

 

Giveaway from Little Acorn Learning

 A little over a year ago I virtually met Eileen Straiton from Little Acorn Learning. The moment I received her e-newsletter, I immediately felt nurtured by her daily creative caring. As the year has progressed I've had the honor and pleasure of collaborating with Eileen on her newsletter and working as a contributing author for the Little Acorn Enrichment Guides.

Her bright energy, kindness, good humor and creativity never cease to amaze me. I thought you might like to meet her too and so today she is visiting and at the end of this post a giveaway for your very own edition of the April Enrichment Guide.

 

Tell us a little bit about you and your family.

 

My husband and I have four daughters ages 17, 10, 6 and 4.  We live in a small town in Connecticut and strive to create a home filled with warmth, love and creativity.I run Little Acorn Playgarden out of the lower level of our home.  I also publish the Little Acorn Learning guides which support parents, homeschoolers and caregivers in their work with children. Our daughters attend our local school and enjoy coming home to our playgarden each day.  I work hard to enrich their lives with nature, crafting, baking, song, artistic activities and domestic tasks.  I like to call us ‘waldorf afterschoolers’ and the term inspired me to create a new monthly enrichment program for other parents and teachers working with school aged children. My husband, Brian, works full time and also enjoys woodworking and creates many fun project with our girls in his workshop. 

 

2. What led you to starting a day-care center in your home and how long have you had your nature based daycare?

Before my work with young children, I was a direct mail advertising executive working crazy hours.  I desperately wanted to find a way to be home with my daughters and was frustrated with the childcare offered at many of the centers I visited.  After a brief time of freelancing from home, I decided to open up my playgarden and created the childcare program that I had dreamt about for my own children.  Our little ‘school’ opened in 2005 and I have been so lucky to have such wonderful families that also support me in finding balance as I raise my daughters. 

 

3.       How did you first become introduced to Waldorf?

I rediscovered myself after becoming a mother and sought out anything I could find on how to provide my children with a healthy childhood.  I was naturally drawn to the beauty and truth behind the philosophy of Waldorf Education. It not only supports the healthy development of a child’s physical being but also that of the child’s soul.  I feel this is so very important, especially in the times we live in now; to develop the whole child – head, heart and hands.

 
 

 

4.    What inspired you to start your own publishing company?

Little Acorn Learning began as a monthly childcare program that I used in my own childcare center.  I decided to offer my monthly ‘guides’ to others who work with children each day and the response was amazing.  The guides offer crafts, recipes, songs, games, book recommendations and caregiver inner-work for the well-being of the adult. 

In addition to our original monthly guides we have added natural childcare menus, seasonal celebration ebooks, ecourses and our new monthly enrichment program which has taken a unique form of almost an ezine with contributions from amazing writers and bloggers based on weekly themes.

 

5.    I know everyone is going to want an answer to this next question, Where do you find time to get it all done?”

Finding balance is a real challenge for me.  I struggle just like all working parents to manage home, family, work and self-care.  I often have to shift things around to make it work.  I get overwhelmed sometimes – many times.  I remind myself often that my main responsibility is to be a good parent and wife.  That will always be my most important job in life… the rest is just a bonus. 

 I am very lucky to have a husband who cooks dinner many nights and helps with dishes, baths and bedtime stories when need be.  He is a wonderful father and I’m so grateful to have him.  I also have great kids who do their part around the house when asked and are very responsible. 

 One thing I am working on now is finding time to include more silence in my life.  As you can imagine, working with children and having a large family makes that very difficult.  I have begun by including walks alone, yoga classes and time outdoors into my schedule.  Nature heals me and brings me back to center when life gets too crazy. 

For a chance to win the April Edition please leave a comment below. The Giveaway ends on Friday at 8 pm EST.

 

This is a completely enchanting edition for the whole family to enjoy. Eileen says:"The Afterschool Enrichment books are different from our regular 3 day and 5 day lesson plan guides... the Enrichment books follow the
rhythm of a weekly theme with the flexibility that teachers, homeschoolers and afterschooling parents need to enrich their children's
Waldorf learning experience at home or school.  Our new Monthly Enrichment Guides are filled to the rim with crafts, recipes,
activities, stories and inner-work suggestions and they follow a weekly theme to keep your home or school following a seasonal rhythm.  
They are not structured like classroom lesson plans, as our Childcare Lesson Plan Guides are and keep older children in mind along with
the caregiver.  They are created so you can use the ideas as time allows without having each day specifically planned out for you

 For more information about April's Enrichment Guide have a look here.

 Comments are now closed. I want to thank everyone who participated. We'll have a winner announcement soon.

Mesmerizing Music Rolling Along in Japan

I was visiting Ren's blog Lady of the Arts today when I saw the most incredible video. Filmed in the Japanese forest of Kyushu. A wooden ball goes down a very long wooden marimba playing Bach's Cantata # 147: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. The sound you hear comes from the actual marimba and is not super imposed.

I know when little "o" gets hold of this it will inspire him to do the same thing. Maybe we'll start with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star before we work our way through the Smoky Mountains with more dificult repetoire .This amazing instrument was made by Kenjiro Matsuo at Invisible Design Lab.

Spring Alive

The cold weather has finally turned warm. The weather over the weekend was nothing less than exquisite.

 
 
 
Some people in my family were just plain giddy. Couldn't stop laughing for any thing.

 
 

 

Oh well, good weather will do that to one. What did you do this weekend and how was the weather where you're at? Did you get the April Fool's snowstorm?