Traditional Crafts at Woolsthorpe Manor

 Weekending with Amanda @ Habit of Being



Saturday: 
Nola and I spent the morning peacefully pottering around in the garden.

 

I read a little and we curled up for a little nap before lunch.



We had a quiet afternoon.

In the evening Tani took them all to see "Visualise" a performance art duo, at our local theatre.

It was very exciting to go out to the theatre while it was almost dark!

The girls returned home with bright eyes, balloons and lots to tell! Visualize, mime their whole act so their performances are very mesmerizing to watch.

Sunday:

 

We headed off to Woolsthorpe Manor, the birthplace of Issac Newton.

 

We wondered around the house, learnt about Issac Newton's life.

 

Visited the room where he was born and the room where he discovered that light is made up of every colour.

They had also preserved a "graffiti sketch of a bird that he had etched into one of the walls as a child!

At least I know it's not just my kids that draw on the walls!

 

The girls even found some windfalls from the very orchard that incpired Issac Newton's discovery of Gravity.



The rural crafts that were on show were really interesting.



The girls struck their own coin, and saw a blacksmith at work.



We all had a lovely long conversation with a wooden spoon maker.

He was such a wonderful inspiration!

He had been carving spoons for 50 years and loved to share his art with young people who had an interest.

 

Emmy and Boo told him all about the wooden spoons and buttons they had made and he gave them lots of advice on which timbers work best for which spoons and the best ways of preparing the wood.

We bought two of his spoons.

The wood carries a buttery texture and is infused with a soulfulness that is rare to find.

When we asked him if he had an on line shop he laughed , "No! I still have one foot in the swamp."

How nice to find a crafts person who works for the simple love and joy of passing on a tradition!

 

In Silence

 In Silence

Roots tickle earth, leaves soft 

as a foxes ear unfurl

from bark chrysalis.

Whale-like shadows, immense 

as a child's dreaming 

move waters

toward oceans. 

Bird song blossoms

in an empty sky.

This Moment

Joining Soulemama today for {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.

Falling back into our Rhytum

 

At last we are getting back into a comfortable rhythm. The cool and cosy glow of Autumn is filtering through and casting it's gentle homely calm across our world.

 

No more hectic, post Summer catch up. No more feeling like I'm falling behind all the time. Instead we are embracing each moment as they come in all their colour.

 

Sometimes I feel like I'm hanging onto that time when they were all little and everything was done in unison. We experienced the day together moving from one activity to another as a collective.

 

Now the girls are very keen to explore their own particular interests and spend time more individually on their own pursuits.

 

It can sometimes feel less consolidate and coherent that way, and of course their are those moments when 5 little people are all creating their various versions of chaos throughout the house and I wonder if there will ever be a clear counter top or table again. But then I see how they are immersed in their work and I feel a warmth deep down in my soul.

 

It is a good feeling.

 

Today Bujana found a ladybird which led to a self styled detailed study on the seasonal behaviour of insects.
I just love how one small intersection can branch outwards and upwards with seeming spontaneity.

 

Look at this little Lamby... She love to pod peas byt carefully "unzipping" their little jeckets and plucking each sweet pea from it's pod :)



And did you notice the fleece?

Yes am now the proud owner of a whole sheeps worth of "Fleece in the Grease" with all the added extras that comes with :S

It is stewing in a tub for it's first rinse as I write!

Stay tuned...More to come on that...

My husband thinks I 've finally gone loopy.  He's slow to catch on isn't he!

:)

Autumnal Rhythums

 

The cool and cosy glow of Autumn is filtering through and casting it's gentle homely calm across our world.

 
{The girls helped me sew the little hats on our Gnumber Gnomes this morning} Here is a great Gnumber Gnomes resource)... and this !

We are embracing each moment in all it's colour.










I feel a warmth deep down in my soul.

{This Moment} .... Moments

Joining Soulemama today for {This Moment}

{these moments}

Capturing  moments from the week. 

Moments I want to

pause, savor and remember.

{Focus} 5 minute Friday

 

Joining Lisa Jo for 5 minute Friday today...
As Lisa Jo says... 5 Minute Friday is...

Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

It started because I’d been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And I figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.

Word for today "FOCUS"


What I focus on expands, grows and becomes my truth.

What I focus on becomes the way I see the world.

 It becomes me.

My focus seems to shift like plates beneath the earth.

Between a hundred different voices calling my name,

I rush in and out of focus, my focus blurs in the motion

...and often, I loose it.

What I focus on is such an intentional thing, such a foundational thing.

So I focus on the new lessons being learnt,

 The squeals of delight instead of the mess of paint and paper strewn about the floor.

I focus on God, when the world tells me there are more important things to do.

I focus on the flowers she plops in a jam jar rather than the trail of muddy footprints she brings in with them.

And it's not that I don't attend to the physical things that need attention, it's just that I'm seeking that which lies beneath them.

Focusing on the eternal light

that shines through this temporal kaleidoscope.