Samhain ~Halloween

In Ancient times Samhain (Sah-win) was believed to be the time when the veil was thin between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Our ancestors could return to visit us, to give help and advice. People set out lights in hollowed out turnips to guide the spirits of the dead, and put out food as an offering.

~Circle Round

These ideas live on today - although the 'spirits' have become the ghosts and ghouls and skeletons, the offerings have become the 'trick or treating' sweets children beg from doors. The lights are ours still in our hollowed gourds and pumpkins.

We like Halloween. We remember that it is a time to think about the people who have died who we knew and cared about. We talk about what we remember about them.

To good to resist though is the spooky, spoofy stuff that make children wild with delight and excitement. There is room I think for both; the sober, heartwarming and the scary-silly.

What we like to do:

Pumpkin carving!
Pin the tail on the black cat (any guesses which book my painted cat was copied from?)
Apple bobbing
Outdoor fire with toasted marshmallows
Dressing up
Harvest soup and fresh bread
Chocolate apples

We have relatives visiting and so are getting ourselves geared up for some fun!

Esmé Eats

It has started. The independence from me in the form of other foods.



Bittersweet.



But mostly sweet. Snow White and her apple.

'Lazy' Saturday Morning

Saturday lunch time and the boys pour through the door. They have been to football practice and then swimming and usually for a quick stop at the supermarket, returning home ravenous.

As I dish up food Isaac looks at me;

Claire! You still have your pajamas on! What have you been doing today?!
Incredulous. Do I?
Oh yes, I do don't I ...Mmmm lets see, what did I do...?.

This happens far often than warrants observation, usually morning slips by busy busy and then we are all hungry and I am the last dressed. But today when they have been out and I at home with the babe it must seem more noticeable than usual. Well? Did I lie in bed until 11am and then hurry on up as I heard wheels crunch over gravel?

Begin mental reelings, wondering what I have done that might interest him....

I made breakfast (soaked oat porridge and raspberry yogurt smoothies), emptied the dishwasher, filled the dishwasher, put a load of washing in the machine, assembled snacks and drinks, waved goodbyes.

Spent a good twenty minutes on my knees sorting out Lego's from playmobil and plastic figures of soldiers and knights and superheros from the toy-soup on the sitting room floor into their rightful basket and tub and box homes.

Swooshed outdoors with brimful of wet clothing and hung them out to dry on the line, I fed the chickens who clucked and pooped around my feet - whoever let them out early forgot to feed them - then I fed the guinea pigs (which involved my wandering around the garden looking for suitable grass and dandelion leaves).

Back indoors, changed the babe's nappy and then vacuumed the upstairs (also involving huge amounts of putting dirty dropped on the floor clothes away, and toys in baskets and books back on shelves before I could even see the floor). I made beds (or rather pulled back duvets to air them off).

I lay down then, gulping a glass of water on the way to feed Esmé and let her sleep. Which she does.

I slip out of bed and run myself a bath, while it is doing so I pull washing out of machine and throw in nappies. I knit a bit then have a bath.

Out in time (just) for The Beauty to wake up, put PJ's back on and hop back into bed for five minutes to feed her again. Change her and roll on the floor for a bit with her looking at some stuff in her little basket of toys, then pop her back in to the sling (yes, she was in it for all of the above).

I call dh and give him a shopping list :) munching crackers and humus at the same time (poor dh's ears!).

Outside for hanging out more wet laundry, then sweeping and washing slabs near the outdoor table where chickens should not go but do and then poop everywhere. This leads to picking up about 700 spilled conkers and putting them in the trailer of the tractor and sweeping up bark chippings I myself spewed everywhere when my the bag spilled the other day.

Back inside for assessing of what to put together for lunch...

Then it's the pouring in through the doors of boys of all hungry sizes.

So what did you do?
Oh this and that... well I knitted a cat!
Did you? ohhh great - can I see it!
You can.

...and so the fiction of my morning is woven :)

But I did knit the cat :)

Winter Hat V

Hat number five and it's not a Willy Hat! It's the hat from the Stitch and Bitch Book. I have one just like it only in girly colours which I knitted from odds and ends ages ago. This one is knit on two needles and then has an invisible seam. The yarns are two cashmere-merino local blends and the black is a Debbie Bliss cashmerino. So it's super soft. Which is what a hat is all about, cos' who's gonna' wear it if it scratches or itches or whatever?

Isaac likes it. It's a boy hat he said.





George the cat jumped up on to the fence to join in, he's a real scatter brained cat; the one who frolicks and footles and plays. Like Sliky Malinky he is a stalking and lurking adventurous cat. With bright yellow eyes and a warbling wail and a kink at the end of his very long tail. He is cheeky and cheerful, friendly and fun.... Ahem. Ok so I'll stop! I once realised I had read that book so many times I could recite the entire thing word for word. Which I did. On car journeys for a week or so over and over and the boys joined in. Phew. Fortunately for my own sanity it has been a while since I read it - but I do like it I have to admit, it's one of my faves from that collection.

Isaac wanted me to photograph him on the fence practicing balancing beam gymnastics (serious face required as is my commentating and pretending each time he is from a different country). He is sure to be in the next Olympics he thinks. But just in case he does not make the squad for Gymnastics he has his trump card - his BMX'ing. Which also he thinks is almost good enough for Olympic standard. Which team will he decide to be in? Ahh it's a tough ole choice he thinks but thankfully he has a few years to mull it over.

Favourite Albert Einstein Quotes

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

Information is not knowledge.

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

The environment is everything that isn't me.

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.

The only source of knowledge is experience.

How we do anything is how we do everything.

I never think of the future , it comes soon enough.

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.

The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.

The blue tree

Where to put our ever growing collection of fallen leaves?



The perfect answer! Outdoors they fall and indoors we stick them back up to enjoy their splendor as much as is possible.



Bizarre! Just found another 'blue tree' in my photo account. A photo I took of an amazingly brilliant art-tree way back in Wales. We loved driving past this tree and although we did not see them, there were several others dressed just as vividly. Anyone from Wales see them? They were scattered far and wide.

The Sweet Shop

Isaac decided to make a 'sweet shop' with the conkers. They were sorted into size: small, medium, large and extra large and the currency used were differing sized leaves.



This is eight pounds and forty pence. That's for one conker-sweet by the way, not a bag full, just the one.






A boy all ready for some serious shopping. Backpack ready for loading up. I think he bought, peppermint creams, chocolate caramel, strawberry creams and fizzy whizz bang chocolates (we just listened to - and read - The Giraffe and The Pelly and Me so the fabulous sounding sweets are obviously on the mind!)

On giving

I am a novice at embroidery. This is my first projects but the split stitch was easy enough to master. The felt is wool and it is stuffed with wool fleece too. Now I must be a simpleton of the highest order thought because every single time I attempt blanket stitch - easy peasy blanket stitch - my mind goes blank. Over the years I have used it a bit for the odd thing here and there and every single time I have to find a book to show me directions. This time was no exception. This block is one of the first I am making for baby gifts, getting a head start on the Christmas gifts here. Although when hand made is the order of the day how can I start any later?! I seriously enjoy making gifts. I get so much enjoyment that it is an indulgence for me, I get seriously excited about it. People do so find it hard to accept things though - have you ever noticed that? Accepting wholly and without any other feelings of obligation of reciprocation; some folks find very very hard. That would be the ultimate gift in return though - wouldn't it? The whole hearted acceptance and enjoyment of the gift.

It has taken me a while of thinking this way myself, I am still practicing it and rememberiing: to accept something fully is a true gift to the giver. I have learned to swallow and gratefully accept. Gifts abound :)



Testing it out on Esmé. She liked using her five new teeth to pull at and try to rip off the blanket stitch.

Yellow

Conker fun

Couldn't sit Little Red Riding Hood alone so here she is.

Winter Hat IV

This is just, erm, another willy hat. Excuse, please, the obsessional and repetitive nature of the knitted items on this blog right now. I used Julie's fabulous rainbow wool for Felix's winter hat. I knit the whole thing last night watching A Thin Red Line, so however long that film is, that's how long it took to knit up. I feel like I have made so many of these hats know I could knit them blind folded. Or even (gasp) watching a subtitled film.



Excuse the repetitive pics too, he is such a lovely little thing though I couldn't help put so many up. These were taken early-ish today while I was waiting for some bread to defrost so as to take a packed lunch to our home ed. group and Fe decided to water the bench because apparently it looks a nicer colour when wet. Or maybe that was just the shock this week - seeing the wood dry for the first time this rainy summer.



Cast on another hat today for big brother Isaac who told me this morning on my bed when Felix was modelling his new one that willy hats were too babyish and he wanted a bigger boy style hat. Mmmmm hmmm I can do that. Yes I can.... even though it will be tough withdrawal from the making of the familiar comforting yearly willy hats to a brand new style. A new era in children's hat making. Daunting. Here's hoping I can rise to the challenge and meet approval in big-boy hat making. A silent nod of assent and a winter of wear will be quiet enough thanks. Yessss Sir! On I go into the unknown......