Some "TED talk" link love for the weekend

As always insightful, illuminating and convicting discussion from TED. These two videos really stood out for me this week...

Nola's first artwork!

After many months of simply wanting to "eat" crayons, Nola finally decided it was time to use them as they are intended and make her own little artwork.

Nola first began to tentatively drag her crayons around a piece of paper, making all sorts of fun dots, marks swirls and lines.

She watches her older sisters intently and tries to mimic them in any way that she can.

She particularly likes to "get in" on their creative kitchen table projects and experiments which although cute is not always as"helpful" as she may imagine it is.

Nola has a very serious and observant stare whenever she is embarking on mastering a new skill.

She peers intently at whatever she is interested in and bows over it to get a real close up.

I loved to watch her start to notice how her movements affected the marks she made on her paper when she was drawing.
Although she seemed to be making some deliberate marks at times she really had the most fun banging her crayon on the paper indiscriminately.

Yet it was probably the sensation that pleased her more than it's effect.

Occasionally she tried to grab two or three crayons at a time but usually ended up dropping ( or throwing) the excess crayons when they became too unwieldy to control.

She generally made her own colour choices after a little coaxing from me at the beginning.

She seems to really go for red.

She also seems to be right handed although it is still early to tell 100%. Emmy used her right hand at this age and ended up being very much a "leftie"

Now we are Six!!! Matilda Mermaid's Birthday:)

I had a lovely and relaxing couple of hours on Saturday afternoon making these little felt fish to go in take home party tins. I also included a little marble bag with 5 marbles a balloon and a piece of cake in the tins.



I love working with felt, it is soft to touch, easy to sew and can be used to make almost anything.



Here is my mermaid, who has wished for a real mermaid's tail for as long as I can remember!

Seraphina threaded these buttons to make a shiny necklace to go with her sister's costume.

I loved the way she was so specific about each and every button she chose, taking great care to choose "just the right one" and put it in "just the right place"



Emmy and Boo painted this under water scene on a sheet to hang in our living room for Matilda's party.



It was still snowing on her birthday.

I went outside in the morning and found some first signs of spring.





Beautiful handmade birthday cards!!!



Piles of left over cake!!!



Bujana enjoying one of the fruit kebabs she made for the party.



"Starfish sandwiches"



New playsilks to play with!



Early morning unwrapping of presents.
Daddy balancing a Nola and a strong cup of coffee.





Look at these beautiful hand crocheted dollies Matilda received as a gift from a kind friend.

They have been named Nell and Splish :)

Matilda also received an Ostheimer mermaid figurine, a silk streamer, some hand made ( by Boo, Emmy and I) dolls house dollies, some books, a dolphin mosaic, and a lovely little keepsake tin.

I like to keep gifts to a minimum ideally on birthdays.

I also like to buy thrifted, fair-trade and ethically sourced gifts.

I like to include handmade gifts too as I hope to pass along to the girls the value of handmade and the intention and love behind giving rather than just the end product.

I think that the birth-DAY in itself can be made special, not simply through unwrapping things but through having a unique experience.

The celebration being the celebration of the unique character of the child and his/her
being a cherished part of their family!



Pirate pepper boats filled with cous cous.





Turquoise shell pasta and parmesan.... although they look a little green in this pic don't they :)



Sparklers on the birthday cake.



Nola Jo in her party dress.



With a beautiful handmade knot dolly from the same talented friend who made Tilda's dollies.

Isn't she soft looking.

Perfect for little hands.

An Arty Post

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi


Thought I'd cobble together some recent art moments from around here. It is not easy to weild a camera while juggling art materiels and a baby so sadly, a lot of our work in progress remains unrecorded.
Once the works are complete I often forget to post about them altogether which is a shame because art and craft are a staple of our homeschool life.
The kids have inherited from me the idea that life is often best understood and processed through an artful lens :)


Emmy and Boo have been learning about Abstract Geometric Art... Boo's work is the one in the middle... Emmy's is nearest and in the frame.




An Abstract Geometric Feline... Emmy is working on four paintings of cats at the moment, each cat will be painted in the style of a different art movements. She just started working on an impressionist style cat, for which our very own Florence, modelled obliviously in her sleep.



Setting up our space for the "dreaded" home school inspection day :)


The girls have also been enjoying their pastels recently. 

Clockwise from top left Matilda, Seraphina, Bujana and Emmy' s peacock feathers.

It is really an amazing thing to look at a peacock feather for any length of time. They are so incredibly detailed and beautiful.

 Capturing their iridescence on paper is another matter all together...


Emmy's made a willow dream catcher made using these instructions...

The origin of the Dream catcher... quoted from this source
"It was traditional to put a feather in the center of the dream catcher; it means breath, or air. It is essential for life. A baby watching the air playing with the feather on her cradleboard was entertained while also being given a lesson on the importance of good air."......"Dream catchers made of willow and sinew are for children, and they are not meant to last. Eventually the willow dries out and the tension of the sinew collapses the dream catcher. That's supposed to happen. It belies the temporary-ness of youth."
 

Boo made this little boatmobile last week from instructions found in this wonderful little science book for under 10's...


Big sis carrying baby sis around.

One of the joys of having the girls at home is watching them bond. 

They spend so much time in each other's company, time that they would have spent apart if they were at school. 

Nola has brought such a warm energy into our family. 

This little babe gets an awful lot of attention you know :)

Snow stories

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom
~Anais Nin



I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post. When I receive such warmth it means so much, I can't adequately put into words how you touch my heart.
Thank you.

I stutter every time anyone asks me about my childhood. I have a thousand different stories that are close to the truth but not quite the truth. Ones that tidy up the corner's and smooth out the edges, making the past a little neater, cleaner and easier to put into words. I have spent a lifetime writing them in my mind and a lifetime trying to avoid having to tell them.
I have this shame connected to my past. Shame that stems from being the odd one out, having parents with problems, being an only child, having to make my own way without any of the normal securities in place that a family provides. I spent many years in a state of tension. I felt like I had to make sure my parents were okay, that things were taken care of. I spent a good deal of time trying to cover everything up so that no one on the outside would notice. I built a lot of walls, till the person I was on the outside was a hash up of what I thought I had to become to be "normal" or accepted.
I am slowly becoming ready to open up. Lean into my own story. Remember it as it really was. Good, bad and all the bits in between... Then tell it the way it really was. Give it some love :)

I recently read a wonderful little e-book found here, in which the author talks about how she will sit with herself when ever she is feeling out of sorts and with compassion ask different parts of her body what is hurting them.

I find I get myself busy instead of taking time to sit and be with myself. If I am in discomfort I wade through it, plough through it, put it out of my path by putting something else in it's place.
I need to sit with myself, see myself with compassion, see the child I was, the one that is a part of me, and ask her quietly and simply, what has been hurting you?
 
Then listen in silence without judgement.

The Song of the Silent Snow.

a garden of memories

"My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come"

Song of Songs