Natural Kids Team Blog

I just had a post about the last stages of my breastfeeding relationship with Narina posted on the Natural Kids team blog.  I didn't know what weaning was going to look like. I mean, was I going to breastfeed until she was four  or was it going to be something that lasted only nine months.  I loved breastfeeding and look forward to doing it again with our next little one in November.

Click here for the post

Mayfair at Emerson College

The Emerson College sign pokes out of a tree lined drive way as we drive into Forest Row.  I have been up it a few times.  Views of biodynamic farming plots peep through the drive up to the parking lots.  Women in long skirts.  Men with beards.  Lots and lots of children.  The smell of the ground as we parked in the meadow made me feel like I was home.  One thing I love about going to every Steiner related function I have been to so far is how you are greeted with smiles.  The culture where I live doesn't offer smiles first.  If you smile, people will often smile back, but I don't remember the last time I was smiled at by a stranger.  When I stepped inside the main building at Emerson College, a woman walked by dinging an art piece bell.  A man followed her smiling with his children and through the front door a family waked in and each of them smiled fully at me.  It filled my heart.  There were people from all walks of life.  Face painting under a huge weeping willow, clay sculpting, a maypole, storytelling, and music.  It was so beautiful.  We were with friends who are expecting their first child in a little over a month and to be able to be surrounded by the energy of young children who are being raised in a way that I hold dear was something I was really happy to share. 

Both Dan and I would love to study at Emerson College.  It has a lot to offer and is a cornerstone (with rounded edges) to the Steiner community in the area. 

From the Emerson College website

Emerson College is an Adult Education school based on Rudolf Steiner's insights. It was founded in 1962 and has trained and transformed thousands of students from all around the world towards being wholesome and free human beings.

The College is at the heart of a new initiative called Emerson Trust which aims to respond to the needs of our times by inviting new initiatives, and working with the local and global communities in the fields of research, healing, community, housing and more generally, social renewal. 

Students from the UK and from many countries overseas are studying in several domains: biodynamic agriculture, storytelling, visual arts and sculpture, the new foundation year in anthroposophy through the visual arts, biographical counselling, and more.

Introducing....

The newest addition to my etsy shop.  The little lavender angel.  This little precious doll is designed as a gift for older children through to adults.  In my mind I think they would make perfect thank you gifts for Steiner teachers or parents.  They are made from re-purposed doilies and stuffed only with lavender.  The hair is a crocheted wig of mohair I have stitched securely onto the head.  I loved making them and can't wait to give some away myself. 

Glasshouse at St. Ronans

Last weekend we went on a short but sweet little journey to The Walled Nursery.  Taken from their site:

"The Walled Nursery Hawkhurst is a Victorian walled nursery boasting 13 Victorian glasshouses including a Melon House, Vinery, Fernery and Peach House."

"The Nursery is situated within a Victorian Kitchen walled garden. One of the most intact Victorian kitchen gardens in the UK. The garden served the large house originally owned by Charles Gunther, the house is now St Ronans School."

Well this past weekend there was a gallery showing in some of the glasshouses and it was amazing to see.  With a cute little sign over the water pump warning of the new tit chicks that were nesting inside, the place was charming the moment you entered.  It is hard for me to wrap my mind around the time frame when these buildings were first erected. I suppose that is a North American thing, where anything over 100 years old feels old to me.  I felt like I was in a steampunk's dream... only everything was painted white instead of black, gold and purple. Their website gets more into the history and what they offer should you want it.  For now, some photos:

Natural Kids Team

I have recently been invited to join the Natural Kids Team.  I can’t tell you how excited this makes me.  Whenever I look up natural toys or look at other doll makers that I am inspired by, I see their stamp.  There are so many talented people who work as an online collective for natural products for children.  I have much to learn from this group and feel it is a real honor to be part of their team.  Please take a look at the links I have posted here:

Blogger

 

Facebook

Twitter

Flickr

Spring: Life in pictures

The lunch dishes are still on the table.

There are piles of dishes, tools and papers on the counter.

But the mint is growing strong and the chives are sharing their flowers.

We have lavender, a few different types of mint and rosemary taking over one bed.

Calendula and parsley in one of my patio boxes Dan made me.

A forest of dill.

Plenty of thyme (and hyssop).

Our roses are blushing.

Narina is learning words like "lupin" "daisy" and "poppy"

The garden gnomes and fairies are starting to hide in the shade of our plants.

The peg bag stays outside all day and the line is well used.

Aquilegia from Canada, a little touch of one of my homes.

Roses and Pears

Sage flower

I love this blend of colours. Roses and foxgloves!

Tractor watching

Lavender smelling

Brothers

Something that I have thought endlessly about since I found out I was pregnant was the concept of siblings.  My mother says one of the greatest accomplishments of her life is having children that love each other as much as my brother and I do. 

I have just spent three days with my brother. He was on his way to Kenya where he is doing research on small mammals.  It was three days in which we were able to cover a lot of ground.  From where we have been to where we are going.  There was a lot of processing about our family and the changes it has seen over the past ten years.  It was a short but powerful visit.  My daughter adores him and there is a part of me that still finds it strange that I am old enough to have a child that can sit on his lap. I sometimes, when I allow myself to think about it, ache at our distance.  Distance is something for another post, but what I really wanted to get to is the prayer that my children will love each other as much as my brother and I do.  That they will be there for each other through thick and thin.  That they will understand somethings about each other that no one else in the world can.  I also pray that my little growing family is never as far apart spatially as my parents and brother have become. I am not sure that is a fair prayer as I want my children to explore the world in the same way I have, or at least have the opportunity to.  Again, that is a topic for another post.

Missing post

Yesterday I posted some big news here on my blog.  I have no idea where it went.  So instead of posting it quickly again, I am going to take my time and share with you my experience. 

I am pregnant. 

It has been 12 weeks, 8 of which I have known and have only told a very small percentage of people in my life.  Yesterday Dan, Narina and I went to the new hospital in our area and had our first scan.  Everything is looking good and our new addition was welcomed by us all.  He/she even waved. The sonographer was incredible and made our day very special.  My pregnancy has been very smooth.  A little nausea and a lot of tiredness.  Luckily for me, Dan has been home a lot giving me lots of opportunity to nap.  I took a month off of sewing after that last sale so that the times I was awake I could spend with my family.  Narina is still breastfeeding and has reacted to the changes in hormones/ energy with a lot of desperate attachment.  I say desperate because it seems beyond separation anxiety, and almost seems frantic at times.  Both Dan and I are patient with her process and we try to provide a nice rhythm to our day, including lots of time in the garden, to help reassure our little one. 

Yesterday, after our scan, we went to a hotel near to the hospital and used some free coupons for swimming in their warm pool.  We haven't done a family outing for a long time and I have missed them.  It has been a very long time since we were all in a pool together and even though we kept it short, it was a magical way to celebrate our family.  Narina was so happy, giggling and kicking up a storm.  We tossed her and pushed her and bounced all the way down the pool. I spent a lot of time when I was pregnant with her in the pool and after she was a few months old we did a natural swim class for just under a year.  It felt as though the four of us were connecting in the waters that connect us all.  It was a very special day for me.

There is more to say, of course, but I just wanted to introduce our fourth family member:

How we celebrated May Day this year!

 In the centre of our village is a hill. On top of the hill now rests a church that dates back to 1119 AD.  The vicar that works in the church now shared with me that the hill has most likely always been sacred.  Being the highest point in the area, it was most likely a pagan prayer ground and it is also where the beacon is located (the basket on a tall pole where fires are lit to warn other villages of pending danger).  It is at this point, in front of the church, where the morris dancers start their music and dance celebration every year at the exact moment of sunrise (5:37am this year).  Villagers come and watch, traffic grow impatient as the street is occupied for a short while, and the sounds of sticks banging, bells ringing, and magic fills the air.  The first year we went I was pregnant with Narina. We missed last year (there was no way I was getting up that early by choice) and this year we were able to share it with our sleepy little girl.  She loved it and clapped hardily after each tune proclaiming "Great Song!" as each one ended. It is a tradition that makes me so happy to live here.  It makes me love our little village and the community that I now call home. 

Happy May Day

A few years ago I was married on May Day.  It all took place in an ancient yew forest with our best friends drumming as we exchanged our vows in the form of different types of wood that we crafted together to form a tree. The tree sits on our mantle all year long, reminding us of the ways which we shared our love.  That wedding was a big day in my life for many reasons. To be able to share with your friends and family a love you have waited for, is amazingly powerful.  It will be the last time my father will ever be able to visit where I live (if I continue to live abroad) due to his deteriorating illness.  It was the only time I have ever had my closest friends in on place all at the same time, let alone all of Dan's closest as well.  So as I sit here, amongst all the big events of this week in global news, I touch the yew ring Dan carved for me and am thankful for the chance to feel this love this lifetime. 

Will you accept this piece of Birch as a symbol of  my vow to be loyal to you throughout your life.

Will you accept this piece of Oak tree as a symbol of truth in our communications throughout your life

Will you accept this piece of Hazel tree as a symbol of changes that we will experience and through which I will stand by you.

Will you accept this piece of Ash tree as a symbol of the love that I feel for you now and hereafter.
 

 Will you accept this ring of Yew tree as a symbol of longevity of our union.

May it last until the stars grow cold.