Planting Day.

Today is a beautiful spring day... hot, sunny, windless. The birds are chirping as they dash around finding twigs and sticks to start their nests. It's just the right kind of day for spring planting.

First things required are seedling markers for carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, corn and peas. 

Then we need to fill egg cartons with soil, make little holes for the seeds, drop a seed into each hole and cover with soil. Put in the markers to show which seeds we planted where.

Now for the fun part, spraying... we love this part the best as planting is such hard work and we do get very hot. Spraying the newly planted seeds and each other cools us down tremendously. 

We spray the newly planted seeds so much that the cartons get all soggy and we don't really know if they'll hold up till the seedlings appear. Also, we spray so much that our markers start to run... 

Spraying, however, is interrupted to watch a bumble bee visiting our flowers, to which K remarks, 'Mother Earth makes such pretty things!' She hugs the air, turns to me and says, 'I've just hugged nothing, nothing is Mother Earth, right?' 

'Yes' I reply, 'She is nothing and everything...'

A Clan of Gnomes.

We caught a glimpse of a family of gnomes in our garden early this morning. Luckily, I had my camera and was quick enough to take a few photos.When they spied us looking at them, to our surprise, they didn't scurry away. Instead they giggled and posed for photos! 

We loved the grandfather with his round belly and the grandmother with her hair in a bun.



This couple had two children. The children were being very mischievous and would only stand still for one photo,

the rest of the time they played wildly in the nasturtiums .

So, gnomes are what I've been needle felting, madly. Many, many gnomes!

The Joys Around Us.

My whole life, I have wanted to live in a place beautiful enough to have a squirrel want to live there too. I have lived in beautiful places; Northwell, South Africa, where I grew up, was very beautiful, in a windswept, rugged kind of way. And Northland, in New Zealand, was green and fertile, youthful and exuberant. But I have always had a picture in my mind where a big, 100-year-old oak tree shades my afternoon tea or an enormous fig tree houses my children's tree house. Look at Louise's fig tree! And then there is this tree from Anne , which I know isn't on her lawn, but is kind of what I want on my lawn!

A while back, I decided to let go of all my longings. Not that I stopped longing for good things, just that I just stopped longing so deeply it hurt. I was in a place in my soul of great disequilibrium where I focused so strongly on the few little things that weren't perfect in my life that it completely over-shadowed all the beautiful things that are so abundant around me. I realised that I couldn't be happy with what I had, this precious moment of now, if I was constantly wanting for something different... And, oh the happiness I have found! What I missed before!

And, would you believe, a couple of months back, guess who came to live in our little tree in the garden...

His name is Timone and he visits our fence each day, usually around lunch time. T, K and I watch him with delight. We made and put out pine-cone feeders for the birds yesterday and Timone thinks they are for him... he particularly likes the sunflower seeds.

So, the moral of the story... if you let go of all you don't have and focus, instead, on all the joys you do, perhaps, just perhaps, some of those things you wanted so badly before will find their way to you after all.

A Favourite Photo.

This is my 6th photo in my 6th Folder. Funny how it turned out to be one of my favourites...

It is K when she was nearly 2, Christmas 2006, at my moms house in South Africa... Kromme River, my favourite place on earth. My mom paid a fortune for that little pony rocking horse and couldn't wait till Christmas to give it to her. K LOVED it... called it 'My Horse'. If she pressed one ear it made galloping sounds and the other, it neighed. 'My Horse' is waiting at Kromme for T.

If I hadn't seen this photo before, I'd think the child was T, not K... the resemblance is remarkable.

When I look at an old photo like this, I am flooded with nostalgia... I miss that little girl so much I could cry... silly as she is right next to me, playing, just 3 years older, just as, if not more, beautiful and I know I will look at a photo of how she is now, in 3 years time, and feel just the same. It is sometimes a struggle to always live in the here and now, this precious moment... I seem to have conquered the fault of living for tomorrow and no longer long for what the future might bring... however, I still long for times past. I LOVE and am ETERNALLY grateful for what I have at this very moment. I find meaning and beauty in all we do. I am proud of who we are and what we are becoming but I find myself missing, deeply, what has passed. Time just seems to go too quickly for me and I hate that I can't slow it down, hold it up for a while, while I catch my breath and really take in what I have around me. I heard a great quote the other day, "The days pass slowly but the years too fast"...

Be off with me now to hug and kiss our beautiful children, look into their big innocent eyes and tell them that we love them more than words could ever express. Know that this memory, this everyday moment, will be one we will cherish and miss in the years to come.

The Face In The Tree.

We live in a metropolis... city for hours on all sides, except for the side that has the sea. We are lucky to be 5 minutes from a lovely beach but other 'tree nature' is hard to come by. We have a Nature Reserve about a 20 minute drive away, El Dorado, an almost 400 acre parcel of land that is abundant with trees and wild animals. We use poor El Dorado very often! 

Whenever we go 'El Doradoing', we go with a mission; finding all the colors of leaves, acorn hats, twirly sticks... On Saturday, our mission was to find faces in trees. It was K's idea, she has a beautifully illustrated book and her favorite picture is of a girl in a wood talking to a tree who has the kindest, gentlest gnarled old face. So, she suggested we look for faces in trees... I was very excited!

This is what we found, proving that trees DO in fact have faces...

Do you see his happy face?

This is a Maori tree doing a "Hakka" with his tongue sticking out.

This is a yelling baby's profile... do you see?

This tree is angry... K suggested that he was angry because he was right next to the lake and wanted to take a swim but couldn't as he was 'rooted' to the ground... I think she was right.

So, you see, trees do have faces and feelings!

Beautiful Shell Craft.

There is a quaint little sea-side town not far from us. It has one main street called, would you believe it, Main Street. Main Street consists of about 3o little boutique, antique and novelty shops and, of course, about 10 gorgeous eateries. We visited this town a couple of weeks ago. K's favorite shop is one that sells all kinds of shells. She goes from shell box to shell box, caressing the smooth, brightly coloured shells in wonder. I, on the other hand, can hardly bear it in there, thinking of all the beautiful living ocean creatures that were harvested to fill the shell boxes. But, as her beautifully innocent mind hasn't even an inkling that beautiful shells might have a dark side, I 'ooohed' and 'aaahed' along with her. When she came to the box of teeny-tiny shells, her pleading eyes won me over and, with delight, she scooped a scoop of miniature shells into a 2$ bag. This bag of shells was put into her prized princess box when we arrived home and she has treasured it ever since. She plays with the small shells almost daily... they are food for her felted friends, money, gifts, flowers. She has picked out her favorites to give to her friends. Yesterday, she brought the box to me and said she'd like to do a craft with her shells. This is what we made; a beautiful shell heart and spiral.

We put glue in the shape of the design we wanted on cardboard and then simply stuck the shells into place. It was a wonderful exercise as we would search for our favourite shell, find it, stick it and then search for another. It felt like an ongoing treasure hunt, even for me!

Our finished designs.

K's heart.


My spiral with a few lucky beans thrown in for luck.

We didn't even use half the shells. Funny how something you don't feel like buying can turn out, in the end, to be such a good buy!

A Blogging Award to Pass On.

I have received my first blogging award... twice! I am honored that people even read my blog; an award tops the cake. Thank you Erin and Louise. I truely love both of your blogs, knew I would when I first saw you blog names!

See that pretty little lemonade stand? That's the Lemonade award- an award that is passed to bloggers for showing great Attitude and/or Gratitude. I am honored... great attitude and, particularly, gratitude is what I am consciously trying to be mindful of in my life. A tragic, fatal, freak accident touched my life two years ago leaving me with deep sadness and a gift of immeasurable value... the instant knowledge that this moment right now is a precious gift to be cherished and thankful for. So, of all the values, gratitude would top my list... thank you once again to Erin and Louise for seeing this gift in my blog.

The rules of this award for recipients:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I love all the blogs I read and want to thank you all for blessing us with your magic.

So here are my 10 in no particular order:

Tammy from Laugh, Live, Learn, Love. Your blogs are always full of such cool stuff and often make me laugh out loud.

Dawn from Renaissance Mama. You were the first blog I started following regularly. Your wisdom and grace shine through in every blog.

Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes. Your creativity inspires me.

Tara at Periwinkles and Pine. Your photos are beautiful and a gift to us all.

Leanne at Home Made Rainbows. Your photos are a gift of beauty.

Julie at Four Leaves. Your blogs are filled with loveliness.

Carrie at The Parenting Passageway. I have enjoyed learning from you, particularly about the Waldorf way.

Ehoes of a Dream. Your blog is so full of crafty inspiration.

Kat from Seeking Sanity. I have linked you to the first blog of hers I read... Golden. It is such a beautifully written blog and proves that true love really does exist!

I have to include a blogging icon, the courageous Stephanie from the NieNie Dialogues. In the face of all you have endured, you are still grateful. Your beauty is vast.

Thank you all for your beautiful blogs.

A special moment in my day.

My child falling asleep in my arms is remarkably beautiful to me. We sing T to sleep. The room is dim and he feels so warm, nestled in the crook of my elbow, his cheek pressed against my chest, his ear listening to the beating of my loving heart. His hot little hand rests on my neck, making sure my face is looking at him.

At first he resists giving up the fun of being awake but soon he settles into me. He starts to 'sing' with me, chanting the one word in the song he knows... 'staaaaaaar', 'booooooat'. His whole body relaxes into mine, his breathing slows and his eyes start to shut. I am so close to his face I can feel his breath on my skin. I can't resist a little kiss on his forehead. His eyelashes look so thick and dark resting on his cheek and I think, 'What a beautiful child I have.' It is at this moment that I am almost always overcome with tears at how much I love this little boy sleeping in my arms.

His body jerks and I know he is asleep, yet I linger with him a moment or two longer. I am grateful that I can be mindful of how special this moment of love with him is. 

Stealing  another kiss, I lift him into his crib to let him alone in his own dreamland while I go off and do all the busy things that fill my world and seem so important.

In honor of this special part of my day, I needle felted this mother and baby. She is holding her sleeping baby lovingly in the crook of her elbow and gazing lovingly into his peaceful face. 

I missed out on this experience when K was a baby as I was too rigid in following 'the rules', too scared to start a habit I couldn't break. Sadly we missed this special togetherness. The second time around, I have been so much more laid back, more mindful of time's silent tread. Sometimes I wish I could have K as a baby over again... I would do, and not do, so much differently. But perhaps that would make her a little different and I want her just the way she is; my precious Kitten.

Poem Day

The Little Elfman

I met a little elfman once,

Down where the lilies blow.

I asked him why he was so small,

And why he didn't grow.

He slightly frowned, and with his eye

he looked me through and through - 

"I'm just as big for me," said he,

"As you are big for you!"

John kendrick Bangs

K and T and I made these pictures yesterday... it was a fun craft. 

All you need is a magazine and glue.  K decided she wanted a tree, so she looked in the magazine for green to cut into a tree shape. Her house had to be pink; she found pink, her roof blue; she found blue. I particularly love the trunk of the tree... it's hair from a hair shampoo advert. And I also love that her house is full of LOVE!

T, once again, spent the entire time putting the glue stick on his face. He thinks it's sunscreen... If he had gone out into the blazing sun he would NOT have gotten sunburnt! Only non-toxic glue can be used in our house! He ends our crafts a very sticky boy...

Our Waldorf School.

Tuesday is our favourite day of the week. It is K's 'waldorf day'. Our little Waldorf school is brand new. It opened a Pre-K class in September. Being Waldorf fledglings, the program has been a perfect fit for us. The first hour is parent participation and K and I have LOVED learning the songs at circle time together. They are precious and feed our souls. Then, story-time! I honestly don't know who delights in it more, the children or the parents? Although this is our teachers first year of teaching, she is magical. She is quiet and calm and nurturing, she has a beautiful voice and a sparkle in her eye. She is adored by all the children. A number of times over the past months, after school has ended and we are back in our home, I have had to 'play' K while K 'plays' Miss A. I simile inwardly as K mimics her gentle, sing-song voice. In our program, each story is retold three times before a new one is introduced. The story we have had for the past three weeks is 'The Little Porridge Pot' and the props Miss A has used have been charming. It is a real treat to watch K's wonder as she watches Miss A set the story rug with her beautiful little creatures. Ten, five-year-olds sit entranced, wondering what she'll pull out of her basket next.  Today, at story time, each child received a basket containing a little story rug and all the props to tell the story themselves. They followed with their treasures as Miss A retold the story they have come to love. The delight in their eyes was unmistakable as they realised they too can tell a beautiful story. What a lovely lesson.

The second hour of our program is parent education. We leave the children to their snack, play time and crafting while we have our own snack and a discussion by the wonderful Miss L. She is the driving force behind the school, a very experienced Waldorf teacher and I have learnt so much from her. We are following the book, 'Heaven On Earth' and have been discussing it chapter by chapter. Often, the discussion turns to what each of us have been experiencing at home and Miss L always has such meaningful advice and answers. 

Today we received wonderful news from her; our school is starting a Kindergarten class next year, just in time for K! I am so excited for my little girl. I have known that it a Kindergarten class has been in the works for some time but am delighted that is has finally been confirmed. It is what I have desperately wanted for K, she seems to thrive in the creativity Waldorf inspires. Now, all that's left, is to convince A Good Man! He is a more traditional type... any ideas?

Needle Felted Easter Gnomes

These little Easter Gnomes are the product of a very productive weekend on the needle felting front. They are little gnomes, dressed in their Easter bests. K's favourite is Buttercup. She is all in yellow with her Easter bonnet and braided hair. K want's her SO badly so I think I'll make one just like Buttercup for K's Easter present.  

Buttercup.

Rose.



Cornflower.



He is my favourite. I love his blues. He is called Cornflower. He reminds me of my wedding day. A Good Man and I got married at Northwell, my mom and dad's home in South Africa. It was a beautiful place for a wedding. We had a marquee on the lawn that looked so peaceful, decorated with roses and heather. What made it all the more beautiful was that the marquee was surrounded by beds of cornflowers that my mom had so ardently planted months before. I have visions of her, dressed in her green oilskin raincoat and boots, fertilising them in the rain. They flowered just a week too soon and she tried so hard to make them last. On our wedding day, only a few beautiful blue cornflowers remained but cornflowers will always remind me of that special day and how wonderful my mom is.

Natures Hearts

We got this lovely idea from Lisa... Natures Hearts. In honor of Valentines Day, we went for a walk to find hearts made by Mother Earth herself. We were amazed at how many there were and how much she loves us.

Age appropriate clothing

I love reading in the bath. Soaking in the hot water. It is so relaxing, so luxuriously relaxing. It is my own warm, quite space. Last night I read an article from my Living Crafts magazine. It's the only subscription I have and I wait anxiously, eagerly, for each seasons issue to arrive. My most recent issue is Winter '08. I have read most of its articles. Sometimes I just page through it, looking at the photos of the featured crafts, again and again. Last night I read a wonderful article about clothing and how children use clothes to define themselves. How 'clothing issues' are age appropriate. I wish I had read this article sooner as Lord knows I have had many fights with K over what she should wear. Unnecessary, meaningless fights that I wish I had been big enough to avoid. She has always been totally adverse to any sort of discomfort... an itchy label... no matter that it's the most beautiful dress in the world, you might as well give it to the first child you see walking down the street... K will NOT wear it no matter how hard you try to persuade her! A neckline that restricts her will change her mood from happy abandon to uncontrollable frustration in an instant. And now I know that this is age appropriate for a five year old. She want's to run, jump, spin. She is all about comfort, movement, unrestriction, freedom. She wants to wear all the colours of the rainbow, all at once, because that's who she is right now... her spirit is free and she has no limits of what she can do. 

          * * *

"Mommy, how many days until Christmas?"

"Oh gosh, K, many!"

"Twelve?"

"No K, much more."

"Twenty thousand twelve twenty six?"

Night Blessing

Good night,

Sleep tight,

Wake up bright

In the morning light

To do what's right

With all your might.

We say this blessing at night sometimes. My children are crazy early wakers... they are often awake at 5 am. A Good Man and I are NOT early wakers, or at least we WERN'T before our little sunbeams of joy arrived. As a compromise, we have made 6 am 'GET UP' time. K, is constantly trying to push this earlier. This morning, at 5.30 am, when I told her to go back into her room and wait until her clock said 6 am, her reply was; 'But Mommy, I'm ready to do what's right!'

Spilling the Beans the Waldorf way.

Both my children love playing, what they call, Spilling the Beans. We have an old draw that I fill with beens and rice. They sift it, sweep it, spoon it. They love how it feels slipping through their fingers. They love running their hands over it, heaping it into mounds, pushing it into craters. The mixture is very sensory and tactile with different textures and sizes. It makes a lovely noise as it tinkles and scrunches. It smells earthy. It feels natural. As A Good Man would say, it's very 'waldorfy'.

I got all the ingredients from Walmart; a bag of brown rice, a bag of each of the different types beans and there it is.

We have a selection of accessories, a colander that has holes big enough to only allow the rice to sprinkle through, a small dust brush and pan, a few spoons, some with slots, a scooper, a few dishes to fill, a funnel; all my kitchen castoffs. 

I would say it's outside play (unless you are very brave) as beans and rice end up everywhere, hence the name Spilling the Beans. I make sure the bean container is on an oilcloth mat as it makes clean up easy (sweep into a pile and scoop back into the draw). 

Sometimes K plays 'hide and seek' with the beans. She finds some small treasures (shells, stones, etc) and mixes them into the beans with her eyes shut. When she finds one again, she greets it with great excitement. Sometimes I give her counting challenges where she has to fill a blow with 15 black beans to bring for inspection. 

When my beans get all funky and have had their day, I am going to replace them with corn meal and pasta... just visiting the Whole Foods bulk isle makes me wish the beans would go funky soon!