The Enormous Turnip

Thanksgiving Turkey by C Moore age 10

I do not have a Sunday sketch ready, but my daughter and my son just handed me their Thanksgiving Turkeys so I have scooted to post them! Our Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend; tomorrow is the holiday and today we will have our turkey feast!

Turkey of Plenty by T Moore age 13

from my daughter's 7 Year Wonder Book,
by the elvin folk who often visit!

The three of us also decided, to post this wonderful autumn sketch and poem left for us by the elvin folk in our daughter's Seven Year Old Wonder Book - a book we will love to share in future.. This sketch and poem depict the autumn story of a very large turnip and how it took a whole family of friends working together to pull it from the ground - it is an old Russian tale, perfect for reading by the fire, you may remember one of its many versions from your childhood!

from my daughter's 7 Year Wonder Book

We also have a fabulous Graveyard prepared for our Halloween Party this week - October 16th, hosted by Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist and linked to the Harrington Manor Halloween Event at Sohia's Blue Chair Diary! We are so excited, so grab your black cat, hop on your broom, or turn your pumpkin into a coach and be sure to join us for that next Saturday!!

To see the other contributions to Sunday Sketches, click here! Sophia you must be a busy lady this week! Many thanks as always for being our wonderful hostess!

More on Michaelmas

left in our Wonder Book one knight by the Elvin folk
(more on that another day!)

"In autumn Saint Michael with sword and with shield,
passes over meadow and orchard and field.
He's on the path to battle against darkness and strife.
He is the heavenly warrior, protector of life."

we got this years ago from preschool - author unknown to us

Dragon's Head by T Moore age 13

Good vs Evil by T Moore age 13

We are still considering the upcoming celebration of Michael - Michaelmas (see previous post for more) drawing dragons and knights while considering on our own personal strength,
courage and goodness and will.

..and yes we will still be making dragon bread this week,
Michaelmas is September 29th so we have time..
watch for it and join us for a slice!

more Dragon Practice by me

and more..


We see in St. Michael the knight in shining armour that we can be,
the absolute of good over evil.


..and yes we will still be making dragon bread this week,
Michaelmas is September 29th so we have time..
watch for it and join us for a slice!

The 3 Requirements for Making a Wand by C Moore age 10


This is not a sword but my daughter's wand!
She was so excited about her story to post for the Practical Magic Blog Party yesterday (and it is a sweet story of the wand her grandfather made her) that she is posting her wand once again and asking if you might like to read (if you haven't already) the true story below or click here.


Many thanks to all who participate in Sunday Sketches and inspire us to continue to doodle away some hours together!

Pandora's Box / Πιθος Πανδώρα

Reveal

Pandora's box
of fools gold
our deepest, darkest, secrets hold

naive beauty
woman's grief
verdant garden, sister, Eve

Demeter, Mary
divine bastille
paradise lost, judgment revealed

by Lenora September 2010

I am fascinated with stories that appear and reappear throughout history, with no concern for border, century or denomination. The lesson of Pandora / the story of Eve. Demeter and Persephone / Mary and Jesus. Each account different. Each truth the same.

As a woman I wonder at the burden of grief history places squarely upon our shoulders as if somehow we are responsible for the sins of all mankind. The suggestion that beauty and allure are evil, the womb incumbent of the mystery of creation.


This is a lot fun - many thanks to
Brian and Megan of Theme Thursday!

Though we will not be able to do this weekly,
we will approach it whenever we can make the time!

Michaelmas

With September comes Michaelmas. Michaelmas celebrates the story of St Michael and reminds us of our personal strength.

Courage by T Moore age 13


Knights, swords, dragons..
First in a season of celebrations, and symbol of courage to do right.

Honour by me (hmm, looks suspiciously like my husband :-)


As the days darken we turn inward to our own personal light.

Sir Foggie by C Moore age 10

This is the beginning of a wonderful time of year for families. Cozy reading by the fire. Candles and lanterns. The excitement of coming festivals. Hot chocolate. Harvest foods. Baking.

"I have a cape of golden light
to give me courage, strength and might"
~author unknown to me~

One of our favorite times of year - watch for our Dragon Bread!

Halloween Party Oct 16 2010

Spread the word
we just love Halloween!

Meet you in the Graveyard!

Owl Tutorial - Hoot Hoot!

Pigwidgeon by C Moore age 10

Our daughter has been creating owls for years, ever since her brother had to make an owl in grade 4. Look around the house, we are all artists and an artist can make an owl out of anything as our children repeatedly demonstrate!

For this owl you will need:

feathers
air dry clay
fleece
paint
a paperclip
a pipe cleaner.

Glue and paint some feathers together
using acrylic or other paint to create wings,

and a tail..

Needle felt a fairly stiff body from sheep fleece and then paint. The paint will make it more sturdy too. Glue wings and tail to body.

Make a ball from your air dry clay. Add 2 smaller balls of clay for eyes and poke in a paperclip where the beak will be. Add a clay beak above the paper clip. Air dry clay glue on some feather bits dry and paint.

Cut your pipe cleaner in half and shape into 2 feet. Paint feet.

Glue feet and heard to body. Ta Da! For any grade 4's who need other ideas we will be psoting other owls my daughter has made in future!

Enjoy!

Backyard Harvest

September harvest, have a peek..

in our garden..

What have you found?

Lunch!

Little Frog

Merriman 2010 by C Moore age 10

On the log,
little frog,
Singing, chirping,
poly-wog

poem and Hawaiian Frog by T Moore age 13

Sometimes life gets in the way, as it has for me this week..
however, my children have sat together and sketched..
their theme; Hawaiian frogs. Poem by my son, age 13.


Please enjoy checking out the other sketches at Blue Chair Diary, here you will find a variety of interpretations and styles, and a lot of talent! Many thanks to Sophie for all she does! Also, if you haven't already have a look at the Sketchbook project listed on our sidebar and at Blue Chair Diary - interested, there's still time, check it out!

July Rhythm and Routine

July's Family Rhythm

If you have not followed this blog before these monthly planning pages lay out a general structure for each month in our home; including a theme and seasonal table, a way to wake, a table candle blessing, a couple of projects and a verse for going to sleep. These are our goals, the follow up varies from great to imperfect but having the plan helps it to happen and helps bring rhythm to our days! We just keep on trying :-)

July Festival / Theme / Seasonal Table
It has to be summer, summer, summery! This month ours is all shells and mermaids!


Wake Up Song
Wake Up Little Suzie (I change the names to my kids names - as always i mostly repeat the same lines a few times) The Everly Brother's 1950's

Breakfast Verse / Song
"With joy we greet the morning sun, who shines with love on everyone
who shines in the sky, on the land and the sea,
And fills me with light when he shines on me, Blessings on our meal today."
~ author unknown to me


Bedtime Song
Taps as in "Day is done, gone the sun, from the lakes, from the hills, from the skies.." US Military Vespers I believe, anyway reminds us of camp, summer etc!

July Projects
We don't really have specific projects for summer - the goal being to relax the schedule.. that said, our children usually come up with several summer projects anyway as they go.. at the moment they are both making little stop motion scenarios on their own.. and the neighbourhood children are all building Foofles (cardboard houses see photo below), next week they'll be into something else. Oh yes and I lie, this week we wanted to make pasta from scratch and we did! Oh and we are continuing Sunday Sketches at Blue Chair Diary.. besides that.. no projects :-)

Happy Summer - get outside!

Ritual and Rhythm - Burying Our Pet Fish

Ode to Splash - Life as Art - Burying our pet fish

Friends have asked about rituals marking various times of change in our lives and in our children's lives. I have promised a note on our ritual to mark the death of a family pet - we have fish and they all have personalities :-) the children do get quite attached. Under the title of better late than never here is the gist of our last passing, a fish named Splash.


We have a place in the garden where we bury lost pets or found dead birds etc. It has had a couple of names, Magic Mountain and more recently the Grave Garden. Because our animals are small we simply wrap them in tissue and place them in one of those 4" wooden match box boxes.


One of the children adds a seed to the box with the body and we close it up. Sometimes we decorate the box, sometimes not.


Then we go off the the Grave Garden and each of us take a spade and a heart shaped stone or a pretty rock or perhaps the children have made a Popsicle stick cross.


We each dig a scoop of dirt, the box is placed at the bottom, and the dirt is thrown back. We light a tea light and leave it burning in a glass candle holder on a flat rock. We send a wish or prayer and toss our stone on the grave, or place the cross, and that is that.


We love the seed idea, my son came up with it, life from death, I don't know - the children like it. We also celebrate los dios de los muertos with Halloween and our shrine to the dead has notes for departed friends both human and animal :-) Splash was also honoured with a fairy tale by A Pink Dreamer written by a blog friend from far away in the Greek Islands - how cool is that?!

Many thanks to those who leave comments - we always enjoy them!

June Rhythm and Routine

If you have not followed this blog before these monthly planning pages lay out a general structure for each month in our home; including a theme and seasonal table, a way to wake, a table candle blessing, a couple of projects and a verse for going to sleep. These are our goals, the follow up varies from great to imperfect but having the plan helps it to happen and helps bring rhythm to our days! We just keep on trying :-)


June Festival / Theme
No festival. Its spring! School's out at the end of the month! Yipee / Yikes!

Seasonal Table - Spring
Let the children go to it - seashells, special rocks, braided grasses. Pick a handful of meadow flowers or clip a vase of garden blooms. Use any special school projects and anything you've collected in your spring box from over the years!


Breakfast Verse
Flame Fairy, our default breakfast candle lighting verse, for now. We learned this in preschool at Waldorf.

"Flame fairy will you come and light our candle bright, with your guiding light. Blessings on our meal today."

Waking Song
The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (we changed man to one and we make up our own verses all over the place. This is a highly charged, boppy song, perfect for mornings. The children picked it, they love it; daddy may be sick of it by the end of the month :-)

"When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the one who wakes up next to you
When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the one who goes along with you
But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the one who walked 1000 miles to fall down at your door.

When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be.. When I come home yeah I know I'm gonna be.. When I'm lonely yes I know I'm gonna be.. When I'm dreaming yes I know I'm gonna dream.."

Find full lyrics on Google of You Tube, but if you don't know the song, you may want to pick another!


Bedtime Song or Verse
Request for 500 Miles by Peter, Paul and Mary 1962
"If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone, you can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles. A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, you can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles."


June Project 1 Year End Teacher Gifts
As always it is such a busy spring We are going with one project as so many are due at school, not to mention all those year end shows in theater, ballet, track finals etc. Last month we thought about our teacher year end gifts (we make something simple each year, but we have to make a few so it takes time). We thought about rock paper weights with one of our sketches transferred onto the rock but that's as far as we got last month; so now we're on it, but not paper weights, rather sketches transferred to a marble tile, that's what we will try next week. We'll post the results, promise!

And please, do a sun dance would you?!

Time Lines

Submit, submit, submit! I can't seem to focus on all the submissions
I want to do and yet there they are, almost complete,
crying to be finished and I can't seem to get at them!

Do you ever fly this spiral? The studio is a circus of tea stained lace and textured paper, art dolls and rosettes - the sun is shining and yet the (have) to do list is way too long, laughing children home already
- I shouldn't even be doing this now!

Ok just had to vent! The creative mind - blessing and curse! Time for an affirmation, after all; we all know dreams do come true!

I will complete. I will submit (on time :-)

I have completed - I have submitted on time!
I have completed - I have submitted on time!

Have a great day!