Catch-up

Wow, it surprises me how quickly time is going - August already!!!  It has been months since my last posting here and what amazes me even more is that today for the first time EVER I am able to rearrange my page elements! Thank you Blogger for correcting whatever was wrong!

Craft wise:
We have made desk-tidies from recycled cardboard tubes, an old box, match boxes, egg box, wrapping paper and glue.

Sinead did some fabric painting on a scrap of material and now has an interesting triangular pillow.

Siobhan started learn embroidery.

I tried my hand at making slippers.  The pattern I ended up with wasn't very user friendly but my hubby thinks they are great!  And the girls are hounding me to make for them too.

There have been other projects, but at this stage I can't find the photos... oh well, next time.

In general this last while has been filled with mixed blessings, my oldest sister has had some medical troubles - we are still waiting for the results, I found long lost friends on Facebook and others found us.  Tom kittens becoming Tom cats and one coming home with a hole bitten in his hind-quarter, then with colloidal silver, kefir and echinaforce, getting better in no time at all, only to come home with a hole in a tail instead; while the other insists on spraying anything... Over ripe guavas don't even come close!!!

That's it for today. Have a wonderful evening.

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Memories...

It is crazy, another month has melted away.

The past weeks have been filled with all sorts of activities, birthdays and memories, some happy - some sad.  Today my Dad would have been 82, last week was the anniversary of his passing, 12 years ago - I was 6 months pregnant with Siobhan.  The day he died was the day we found out that our little bundle would be a girl. So the date is a bitter sweet memory.

Reading about Jackie in Canada (http://littlechandlerfamily.blogspot.com/ ), it is so sobering to think that at any moment our lives may be turned upside down, inside out; never to be the same again.  We take for granted the blessings we have in our lives.  The simple touch; smile; presence.  This has been a lesson in appreciation for me - my husband and my children are everything in my life.  I cannot begin to imagine the depth of the pain or the devastation of self at loosing a partner.  Having lost both my parents, and feeling how I imagine an orphan must feel; totally disconnected and desperately alone.  The person that helped me through it was my awesome husband, Kenneth, so loosing him is not a thought I can comprehend, let alone process. 

My heart goes out to Jackie and her family, may they find some form of peace, whatever it may be or whatever form it may take.

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Festivals in March

With all the beautiful festivals which take place in March, we spent time learning a little about each and the history of the days.  It is interesting to note how many festivals we follow in the Southern Hemisphere should actually not be held until September, when we have our Vernal Equinox. 

Keeping with standard tradition we did have an egg hunt on Easter Sunday.  The girls had prepared for this by making baskets from old plastic juice concentrate bottles - perfect to hold their treasures.   We also cut egg and flower shapes out of an old colourful calendar to stick on the basket.

We looked at the traditions that we should celebrate in Autumn and found that a goose is a symbol of Michaelmas, so using our trusty clay we made brightly coloured eggs, a nest and geese.... So ours was a combination celebration.

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Isn't this just too cute!!!

While checking on our veggie patch, we noticed a white something on the rain gauge. 




On closer inspection...



Up close and personal...




This is one of the most beautiful frogs I have ever seen.  (We had a similar frog on a window a week or two after this was taken, and it almost seems like they have a suction pad on their tummy, to help them stay attached.)

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A watery theme...

We spent time doing a water unit study in March, which was then extended with a visit to the river where we completed...

... engineering exercises in the form of dam building on the local river - on the weekend of course when Dad was home to move the big rocks ;o)...

... boat races on the river; the boats were made from salvaged polystyrene trays and cardboard from an egg tray for the sail and bamboo skewers to hold it all together.  Sinead won the race, her boat was of a better design and cut through the water.  Well done!!!...

...of course, no trip to the river would be complete without a beauty treatment...

...And after a busy day of racing, dam building and beauty treatments, we had to have a: SPLASH-A-THON! :o)

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Nature trail

We often spend time in the mountains; it is a place where the stresses and strains of existence don't seem significant.  Nothing but the moment you are in has value.
As each step brings with it a new beauty;

a new challenge;

a new flower;

a new insect;
(Can you spot the butterfly?)
a new fascination;

and the perfect place to meditate.


We are so blessed to live where we do.  Nature here has so many faces and so much to share - if we are willing to see the potential and blessings that are so freely available.

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Pita

Thanks to Kristie Karima Burns in our Yahoo Homeschool group , we obtained a wonderful easy pita bread recipe. 

We doubled the recipe and made enough for supper on Wednesday and lunch on Thursday.  So very tasty!

We will definitely be making these again soon!!!

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