Next steps

Oh what wonderful spring days.  I am loving the warmth when I take Narina out to play.  Today we spent most of the day outside.  To the park in the morning, where she is whizzing down slides with pride and excitement, and around the farm this afternoon.  We also managed to clean up around the wood store.  Those chips that fly everywhere when Dan chops wood come in great for kindling.  There is a great pink elephant in my living room that I am really wanting to talk about, as it consumes most of my thoughts lately, but it is just going to have to wait.  For now I am trying to focus on this precious time with my daughter.  She is in such an amazing space of growth at the moment.  Today I vacuumed the front room while she played with stones on the front lawn.  The free flow energy between us felt incredible for us both.  It is going to be such a great summer!

spring is here!

Waldorf Wednesday: Biodynamic Cooking; Planetary Grains

I had the greatest intention of writing out a bit of research I have been doing into biodynamic gardening and cooking.  I was given this book as a Christmas gift and have been slowly adding new recipes into our rotation. We spend a lot of time cooking each day. 20-30 minutes for breakfast, about the same for lunch and at least an hour for dinner. We eat well, and like to show love through food but even with such good intention we are getting repetitive. We are having a hard time finding the time to really think about new meals.  In one of the chapters of The Biodynamic Food and Cookbook, there is brief mention that there are 7 grains for 7 days and that this theory, based on planetary relationships of grains, can serve as a guide while cooking.  After some discussion about how to change our household shopping and cooking we have decided to add this chart to our wall so that when stuck, we can base meals around the grains that coincide with that day. 

Sunday: Sun: Wheat
Monday: Moon: Rice
Tuesday: Mars: Barley
Wednesday: Mercury: Millet
Thursday: Jupiter: Rye
Friday: Venus: Oats (sewing your oats?!)
Saturday: Saturn: Corn

We are slowly forming our weekly rhythm and I think this could be a nice addition in doing so.   I like the idea that I bake our bread every Sunday.  Right now it is whenever I have time.  Sometimes that is never and we buy our bread.  It doesn't feel right to do that on a regular basis because I love baking bread so much.  Perhaps that is one more thing I can do regularly and take refuge in its predictability. 

What are your family rhythms? 

Waldorf Mums

This is a little poem I came across that has been floating around the web for a few years.  It made me smile...

Waldorf Mums


Waldorf mums wear cotton socks

Woolen sweaters, Birkenstocks.

Waldorf mums have long full skirts,

Big silk scarves and layered shirts.

Waldorf mums have fluffy hair,

They’re kind and firm and make you share.

Waldorf mums drive Volvo cars

And talk of fairies, gnomes, and stars.

Waldorf mums love Waldorf meetings

Where they greet with Waldorf greetings.

Waldorf mums make Waldorf dolls

From purest wool and cotton balls.

Waldorf mums drink lots of tea

Which has been grown organically.

Waldorf mums serve fruits and meats.

Veggies, grains, and not much sweets.

Their favorite word is “nourishing.”

They love to hike and knit and sing.

They leave the gluten out of bread

And make you spend twelve hours in bed.

And if you fall and scrape your knee

They give you rescue remedy!

Japan

For those who know me, they know how the tsunami in Thailand changed my world.  I was visiting my family in Canada and spent the remainder of my trip aching to get back to my home in Thailand to help, to see, to be part of the biggest natural catastrophe of my life.  I needed to see who was still alive, how my small village was, to smell the rank seawater that had flooded our wells.  Fish on trees meters up above our heads.  I had a friend in Indonesia whose community was hit much worse than my own.  His community was also fishermen, but they didn’t have the expat community to help rebuild.   The land where I lived has healed.

My hope for Japan is that in a few years from now the land will have healed making personal healing a little bit easier.  My thoughts are with the people of Japan and their pain and confusion.  My love goes to people searching for family.  For memories, livelihoods and possessions that have been washed away.  I keep hearing people say "at least they are lucky to be alive" but I know if I lost my family and had lost my computer and my old printed photos, I would feel very alone in the world. May people find each other.  My heart aches for you. 

Michael Hall Steiner School Mansion Market

This past weekend was my first craft show of the year.  I have decided to focus on Steiner schools this year.  There is a lot of work that goes into craft fairs.  I am learning as I go, but what I picked up last year was that I needed to make sure I had all financial abilities available.  Often times it is the smaller things on your table that will cover your table fee.  

I love fairs a lot.  The interaction with people really is a fun part of my "job".  I love children who come up and ask to hug the dolls, or dreamy partners daydreaming of buying their child a doll one day.  It is very heartwarming. Although selling is important, in a fair it is mostly about networking and product awareness.  I learn what works and what doesn't very quickly.  In some fairs more than others.  

I had a lot of fun with the root children.  We cut a silver birch into rounds and I had felted a cave which they spiraled.  The idea was the cave held the little children as they were working on their clothing and the spiral of birch was the children slowly coming up onto the earth for spring.  You can see it a bit in the first photo.

While I was selling, Dan went on the Early Years tour of the school.  It was fun to see his photos afterwords. It is an inspirational space full of love.  I can imagine Narina playing, growing and expanding in the world there.  There are a few captions under the photos below.

 

Kindergarten Seasonal Table

Narina's artwork on the left. 

The dolls are asleep in their pram, the playsilks hung on pegs.... don't you want to play?

A grain mill!  Dreams of Narina milling her own grain is enough to make my eggs drop by the dozen 

 

ceiling mural

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round....

New Dolls and the Girl Who Wouldn't Let Them Go

Last week I made three dolls for children under the age of two.  They are a bit simpler, no fancy hair and flannel cotton for the body.  This makes them more "economical" at craft fairs and these dolls tend to go first.  I think Narina put some juju on them, though.  She was quite taken by them after my outdoor photo shoot and tried to hide them behind her moose.  Then when I approached she ran to the front door, started banging on it yelling "help".  When none of the three sold, I couldn't help that my little girl manifested it! 

Skipped Waldorf Wednesday because...

The rhythm of the house has gone haywire.  Mama is a crafting freak! Its days before the first sale of the year and I am trying to even out the goods.  Older dolls need touch ups and love, newer dolls need final touches, like hands!  The Root Children are making me so happy.  I finished off some lily of the valley today as well as a daisy.  I have them sitting on our nature table because I really want to enjoy them.  They do make me happy.  I tried to put them all away to wait for spring to come, really I did.  I suppose it doesn't matter too much, all the daffodils are up and the snowdrops and crocuses have come and gone.  Spring is here on the farm.

Sheep, Oast Houses, Needle Felting, Tippy Toes

The past few days we have made sure to pop over to the pasture to say hi to the mamas and their lambs.  I am getting ready for my first Steiner school market of the season coming up next weekend.  Lots of fiber flowing around these parts.  Dan said he found a tuff of wool and some red wool felt in the garden yesterday.  I know we all have been walking around with thread on our socks.  I love it.  I have been wondering what to do about a company sign for the markets and finally thought, why not make a needle felted mural.  So I did!  Not the best needle felted creation, but it was a good start to a fun new way to use fiber. 

The Root Children Have Come!

The Waldorf family classic "The Root Children" by Sibylle Von Olfers has made its debut in our home.  I have had such fun creating them and still plan on adding snow drops, daisys and a few others before spring is officially here.  Narina is still only 1 and a half, so she calls them flower babies.  I think that is perfect.  They make me smile and I look forward to adding them to our family nature table next month.