Wine Caddy!

A pressie for a friend!

It is a wooden piece painted up with christmas wishes put together with two wine glasses and a bottle of wine. Ok, that is Mums tonic bottle but you get the idea lol!

This would be a great handmade present for a man too!

This raw wooden piece can be purchased from most shops specialising in folk art.

Frangipani table setting!

I LOVE THIS MATERIAL!!!!!

I am madly thinking of other things to make with this fabric.

This is a table setting I made for a lovely friend who kindly looked after our dog for a few days. She has a large square table so it is a tablecloth, 8 placemats and 8 matching serviettes.

What fun it was to make!

Finshed sizes -

Table cloth - 220cm x 220cm

Placemats - 34cm x 40cm - using interfacing to make them firm.

Serviettes - 38cm x38cm

Useful links

French seams - joining two lengths together

http://www.sewneau.com/how.to/french.seam.html

How avoid the seam / join down the mddle of the tablecloth

http://www.using-sewing-machines.com/tablecloth_plan.html

Colourful Unicorn

I finally finished it - thanks to Mum!

I was really really confused with this pattern and Mum kindly worked it out for me.

I will add it to Mollies fairyland set I am slowly making.

I used a knitted horse pattern and changed it a little for a unicorn.

It is made using my hand dyed pure knitting wool and filled with wool fleece.

Sunbird Nest!

Built in ONE day!!!!!

A nest our local sunbirds have built in the carport out the back of the house.

These nests are very common in the tropics and the birds seem to like to build them close to houses.

If you would like to read more about Sunbirds follow the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbird

Needless the say, the children loved watching this process happening and are eagerly waiting for the eggs to be laid. A very special experience for us all!

Heaps of patterns

I was just on the craft mamas website and someone posted these excellent websites. They have heaps and heaps of tutorials for sewing just about everything.

http://www.sewmamasew.com/blog2/
http://thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com/

More hand dyed felt.

Mollie and I had fun mixing up all these colour with those little bottles of food colouring you can buy from the local supermarket.

I little scary that you can use these in cooking I think!

Neighbour Presents

I thought I would share with you all my idea for neighbour presents this year.

It is a cake of my homemade coconut and olive oil soap, a loofah and a little christmas gnome. Pattern for the gnome came from 'Feltcraft', and I used my hand dyed 100% wool felt.

Also a handmade card.

Excellent toy sites - fair trading and wooden

http://www.fairgotrading.com.au/ cute bags, dollies, money boxes, instruments and fair trade soccer balls.
http://www.oxfamshop.org.au/ cute toys and stuff
http://www.tribesandnations.com.au/store more fair trade stuff
http://www.spiralgarden.com.au/ of course! great toys here
http://www.windmill.net.au/ good educational stuff, huge range
http://www.peanutgallery.com.au/ nice timber toys
http://www.honeybeetoys.com.au/ steiner stuff
http://www.dragonflytoys.com.au/ more steiner stuff

This list came from www.nurturedfolk.com.
I hope this is ok Melissa!

November that was!

Ok I am late - sorry everyone!!!
I have been busy organising christmas, finshing off dolls and cloths for Bel at http://www.spiralgarden.com.au/. and spring (late too) cleaning before the holidays.

Our Home:
Well, with the weather warmer up and we are preparing for Christmas, lots of maintenance and cleaning is underway. I am in the middle of cleaning and Dave is installing watering systems, gardening and planning next year’s projects. Also training the dog to keep off the gardens lol. The kids and I are on mulching palm fronds, which is going to keep us busy for many more days. It is a good just before dinner job – in the shade and then the mulch straight on the gardens.

Learning at Home:
We are still doing workbooks of a morning for about 30 minutes. Not every morning but a couple mornings a week. Mollie LOVES it and she rips straight through it. She ends up drawing till Lucas finishes. We are busy with Christmas cards, craft and decorating too. I am working on our curriculum for next year. A little more formal ‘sit down’ work but still light and fun. I am currently working on our literacy curriculum, which is presenting the alphabet in a creative and practical format.
They both have been busy building with Lego and duplo, setting up role playing opportunities is restaurants, camping trips and dress ups – we made swords and shields last night ummmm!

Gardening
The mango trees are full of fruit, we got heaps of lychees from the big tree and the small ones are producing now too. The vegy gardens are slowing down due to the heat but I need to get them prepared for the new year planting. A friend sent me some ‘Rosella’ seeds, which is a lovely fruit to grow – they make the yummiest jam. I will post a photo when I have them up and running.

My Craft
I have been busy designing and making toys for Spiral Garden and the kids Christmas presents. With the holidays coming, I will slow down and have a rest as I have plans and designs running wound my head for next year toys.

Welcome to Summer!

Here is my Summer Doll!

She is a lovely addition to our summer nature table.

Designed and made by me.

Happy Birthday to our Boy!

Well, yesterday was our little boys 6th birthday - ok not so little anymore. He had a lovely day with family, friends, a fire engine cake and lego!
He said 'Mummy it was the best birthday ever' - such lovely words to hear!
I wanted to share with you all the story we share at each birthday at playgroup. Hope you enjoy it!

Crossing the Rainbow Bridge Story.

There once was a little angel who lived way up in the clouds above.
He loved sitting in the clouds with her guardian angel and watching the beautiful colours go by.
One day he parted the clouds and looked down at the earth below. As he looked he asked her guardian angel
‘Can I go down and experience life on earth. I would love to swim in the beautiful blue ocean, feel the warm sand and walk in the quiet rainforest.
But the guardian angel said
‘It is not your time yet’
One bright sunny morning, the little angel woke to see a beautiful rainbow lying out before him.
‘It is my turn now guardian angel’
‘Yes my child, your parents have been chosen and they are waiting for you to arrive’
‘Go now and remember, you will not be able to see me on earth but like the spirits in the sky, just close your eyes and I will be there for you’
So the little angel stepped up onto the bridge and crossed slowly over the rainbow and was born into the arms of his Daddy.
This tiny baby was ___!

Goodbye Playgroup

The time has come to say goodbye to our much love Steiner playgroup. Now that ds is 6yrs (on Sunday) and dd is 4yrs, it is time to move on. A friend who edited a National Homeschooling Magazine - Education Choices - asked me to write about our journey to steiner and homeschooling, this is what I wrote!

Journey to My Light Within.

Who am I, and how am I going to parent and educate these two children?
This is the question I asked myself three years ago, looking at our toddler and newborn. I needed direction; I needed to find the light that was going to guide me through this new stage of life.
A chance ad in a newspaper led me to a local hall and in that hall I found Steiner playgroup. From the morning circle that was filled with verses and songs that created beautiful images to the toys made from wool, wood and natural cottons to the parents who I connected with instantly. Ok, they were not on the homeschooling journey with me but they had a parenting style that was in tune with what was in me. No university degree in Early Childhood gave me what those parents gave me in that first morning of playgroup. They gave me my light!
After many hours of reading and researching I had direction. That direction included respectful parenting that protected our children’s spirits, providing a calm environment that connected with nature and with ample opportunity to use and develop their imagination. It was sometimes a bumpy ride to get my husband and family to understand where I was heading with my philosophy but I thought leading by example was the best way to explain.
With a routine that is filled with creative play, nature walks, vegetable growing, handicrafts and many hours of story telling. Three years later we have two children that have a wide variety of interests, are sensitive to others and animals, love making anything from paper, sticky tape and ribbon and are always happy to be at home playing. I am really happy with where we are in our journey and I wouldn’t change a thing. We certainly have our fair share of challenges but with an understanding and a determination to find calm solutions to problems, we usually overcome them. We take one day at a time and love it!
Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925) was an Austrian scientist – philosopher (Simmons, D 2004 pp 3) who founded the first Waldorf School in Germany. For me, and as our children are still young at 5yrs and 3yrs, I see the Steiner philosophies as a parenting guide. My aim at the moment is to provide them with an environment that will protect their childhood and give them the opportunity to slowly awaken to the world around them.
In Donna Simmons book “Kindergarten With Your Three to Six Year Old”; the author defines the first seven years of a child’s life as the “Dreamtime”.
‘These are the years of uninterrupted creative play; of imitation and imagination; of active whole body exploration; and of being surrounded by the right example of loving adults who carefully frame and form the child’s experiences, building upon the young child’s natural oneness and openness to the world’.
Then at seven years, children are ready for a more structured based learning which is presented in a creative format and then balanced with artistic activities. Educating the whole child ‘the head, heart and hands’ (Barnes 1995, pp 12) is providing a sound start to life.
There are many curriculum guides available in Australia and Overseas; the Internet has really opened up number of resources available. I really haven’t any plans for when our son reaches 7 years or when he shows an interest in more structured learning. Maybe writing our own curriculum could be fun – one that is based on nature and also our interest at the time. Anyway, that is a whole other subject. We might throw it all to the wind, grab our backpacks and explore this beautiful country of ours, what a great way for the children to really connect with the world around them. It is all part of life’s journey so let’s wait and see!

Reference List

Barnes, H. ‘Learning that Grows With the Learner’ Edited by Fenner, P.J & Rivers, K.L 1995. Waldorf Education. A Family Guide. Michaelmas Press. USA.

Simmons, D. 2004. Kindergarten With Your Three to Six Year Old. Christopherus Homeschool Resources. USA.

Tyre Wall

This has been Daves project over the last couple of months. We lost some of the bank into the creek during Cyclone Larry so to support it and rebuild the bank, Dave used tyres. The local tyre place LOVED it - they didn't have to pay to get rid of the tyres. We got the bobcat in yesterday and it is now backfilled hooray - so bring on the next cyclone we are ready! Actually there is one giving up lots of wind and rain at the moment lol.

Update on Monty!

Well we have all fallen for him and now he is allowed indoors - really just to follow me around more though lol. He is alot more open to interactions from Dave and the kids and ds thinks Monty's favourite show is 'Top Gear'

We have taken him to the beach a couple of times and he loves the water and interactions with other dogs. He had his first bath 2 weeks ago and it went well. Time for another I think! He is gentle natured dog who needs lots of love and attention. We can do that!

Creative kids!

With an endless supply of sticky tape (insert groan from dh) paper, boxes and ribbon, look what the kids have made lately

I walked into the playroom last week and dd has set her 'children' up watching tv. As I am not a fan of tv, this was a tad worrying lol!

Dd's very own computer. The little piece of paper attached to the ribbon is the 'mouse'. The milk container on the side is the keyboard and the flat piece of wood with the paper is the screen. The funny thing is, if she took 6 steps to her left, she would have ran into their own real computer lol!

Ds own Electric Guitar. The blue tool box (dh old one) is the amplifier. We enjoyed many show using this instrument lol!

Helping Mum!

Well, nothing like a couple of helpers in the kitchen. With being so busy with my toy making, the kids helped by picking over and cleaning some alpaca wool for me. This is the wool we got from the Spring Festival in the Central Coast of NSW, a couple months ago - it feels beautiful!

We made a Rocket!

This was a lovely experiement. We threaded a straw onto a long piece of string and tied it between the pool fence and the verandah. We used sticky tape to attach a blown up balloon to the straw and when we were ready, we let go - it blasted of across the grass to the other side. Of course these ideas develop and we ended up attaching another rocket set up and had races - what fun!

I am back!

Sorry it has been a few weeks, I have been busy helping a dear friend stock her new website
http://www.spiralgarden.com.au/
You will see some of my dolls and cloths on this site.

October Summary

Well, Mother Nature has turned the sun on full now! We live in the pool, under the fans or in the air-conditioned car. It really is lovely though, the mornings and afternoons are glorious and the reason we live in the tropics!

Our Home
Dh has been coming and going a little bit lately with work and family commitments. The children and I have been busy with the gardens, dog and home.
Monty is going well, still a little unsure with ds but with some lead work mornings and afternoons, he seems to be getting better. Ds has developed a racing game with the dog, which they both love to play. Dd is now walking around the backyard, still close to us but not being carried or holding hands. A few of her friends have been coming over and she sees them not worried and that seems to help. For final incentive ok bribery she said she would like a bag of lollies if she is walking around with Monty by Saturday – not crying, tantrums, screaming. We will try anything now!



Learning at Home
What has been happening in our home? A week ago, ds came to me and said he wanted to do some ‘schoolwork’. It took dh and I by surprise but now on week 2, he is still very keen. I originally was only going to do a little three mornings a week but he insists on 5 mornings a week. I am not sure how long it is going to last but he must have felt he was ready for something more structured. I was going to start this next year, but he has been bought forward to now. No problems, I have always planned to follow their natural learning path so we are. Dd was defiantely going to be in it so she has a little workbook too – making shapes, numbers and colouring in. Ds is working his way through a maths and reading and writing workbook. We have just finished our fourth Enid Blyton book. Ds loves the family / farm ones – The Children of Cherry Tree Farm, The Children of Willow Tree Farm and we have also read ‘The Story of Pip’ and Billy Bob and other Tales’. I am so happy he loves these books; we have found second hand ones at out local market, which I might get to add to his Christmas pressies.

Gardening
Well at this stage our focus is stopping everything going brown! Ds is in charge of sprinklers (under supervision) and with the little bit of rain we are getting we are keeping everything reasonably green.
We went to our local markets last weekend and bought 6 native plants to fill in some holes in the gardens. They have been given compost, mulch and lots of water so all is good so far!

My craft
A good friend of mine and a fellow homeschooling mum has taken over the website
www.spiralgarden.com.au and wants to stock some of my dolls and toys. I am absolutely thrilled. Even though I LOVE homeschooling the children, and caring for the home and family – I feel this is something of mine. We are going to look at it as a part time job for me and I might look locally to sell my toys too.
This fulfils my need to do something against the poor quality of toys and equipment found in the big department stores too.

Fabric Dyeing afternoon

Yesterday afternoon the I got together all my spare fabric, white shirts from the local discount shop and my dye kit and had fun.

Firstly I tied some material up in rubber bands and made these.

Next I dyed some old sheets and made some play cloths for the kids

Then I got out my clean alpaca fleece I got from the spring fair and dyed it all the colours of the rainbow

I also dyed some knitting wool.

It was great fun and am looking to add fabric dyeing to my toy making.

More Dolls

I have been busy with doll making lately. A friend asked for one for each of her girls so here they are. They really are a lovely doll to have!

Homeschooling for us!

Many family and friends ask us how our homeschooling life is going. I thought a series of photos of what we do during the day maybe the best way to describe our days.

Designing and building wooden towns and cities.

Mornings at the beach

Modelling with wax

Joining in with our local homeschooling group

Our days are full of reading, drawing, adventures in nature, friends, outside play with our dog, swimming and helping around our lovely property. I was talking to dh this morning and we are both really happy with how the children are going. They are both very creative, always busy and eager to participate and learn in life. Life is great so why change it!

Look what Mum send me!

Thankyou Mum!

What a great book, lots of knitted and crochet toys to make.

I am going to knit the unicorn for dd christmas present!

Housework Routine

My Housework Routine

DAILY
Morning – washing out, check gardens, wipe bathrooms, check bills, put bread on
Afternoon – washing in, dinner on
After dinner – sweeping, washing on

WEEKLY
Monday – bathrooms and towels
Tuesday – our linen
Wednesday – Ds linen
Thursday – Dd linen
Friday – dusting
Saturday – vacuum, mop and clean cars
Sunday – catch up day

YEARLY – spring clean
January & July – Our room
Feb & Aug – Dd and office
March & Sept – Ds and playroom
Apr & Oct – kitchen and living room
May – Nov – bathroom and laundry

I try and stick to this routine as much as possible as it really frees up my days for homeschooling, craft and gardening. – I have routines for those too which are alot more flexible!

Handmade Doll

I made another lovely doll over the last three days and here she it

She is made from 100% natural materials and stuffed with wool fleece. Dd now has an order for one!

September summary

Wow, September coming to end already!!!!!
I thought a little update would be in order

Our Home
Our new dog Monty has settle in really well. How about this for a dream dog - he doesn't bark, he comes when he is called, sits when asked, sleeps in his kennel all night and has a lovely gentle nature. One thing we are working on though is getting him used to the children - not sure if he has had negative dealings with children or he is just not sure about them. We are off to the butchers tomorrow for bones and a department store for a few more toys. All in all, he has been a pleasure. Dd would like him retured to the pound though, still working in her animal phobia. She LOVES looking at him through a window or door, just not close.
Dd had a lovely quiet (perfect for her nature) birthday. Lots of swimming, playing duplo and sharing her favourite meals with the family. Bix for breakfast, lavish bread for lunch and tuna and rice for dinner and her butterfly birthday cake for dessert. She has a few more toys to come, dramas with the online toy shop - oh well. She wanted a few more wooden toys for her kitchen that her Daddy made for her.
Dh has been really busy back at work at the moment - the dreaded overtime too. His pool heating is working really well, and has had heaps of blokes at work interested in his home designed and built pool heating system. He has nearly finished the retaining wall down the back - with me on the cement mixer and the kids playing in the car nearby.

Learning at Home
Well, after a long holiday down south, the new dog here at home and the beginning of the swimming season, we have been pretty relaxed with the routine at the moment. Ds is enjoying catching up with all his friends and they are both discovering all their toys again. We watched a lovely documentry on whales tonight which will spark lots of discussions over the next couple of days. Dd has been drawing and painting most of the time and playing with her babies of course.
Might have to get a little more structured next week as ds seems to be ready now.
Back to homeschooling group this week too!

Gardening.
At the moment we are focusing on trying to stop everything from going brown and dying. The sun is extremely strong at this time of year and only going to get worse so what was once a lush green acre, is now a brown dry acre. A little disappointing but normal for this climate. My vegy gardens are continuing to grow lots of tomatoes, eggplants, herbs, spring onions, corn, silverbeet and chinese cabbage. I am going to try and sneak another planting in this week, just to save the organic food bill for a while longer.
We are working on developing the gardens a bit more so a couple more trips to the nursery and maybe a little cutting nursery could be in order.
The fruit trees are going well - heaps of mango, lychee babies coming and we are still harvesting mandarins. Yum, we know Christmas is coming soon when we see fruit on the tropical fruit trees.

My Craft
I have been busy in my crafty room with painting a key rack for home, a cushion for a pressy, making a doll that a friend has ordered and getting some cards together for family and friends. The children show a lovely interest in my craft and really enjoy looking and discussing what I am doing. It usually kicks off a craft project for them. Dd is desperate to try fabric painting, I just need to get some more medium to mix in with her paint.

Planting in the tropics

I wanted to get a document together about what to plant monthly for our region.
This is what I came up with.
For other regions, look at eden seeds website for planting guides.
Planting Guide – for the tropics (from Eden seeds)
http://www.edenseeds.com.au/

ANY MONTH
Bush beans, climbing beans, beetroot, cabbage, capsicum, chilli, corn, eggplant, gourd, Luffa, mustard greens, radish, sunflower, watermelon.
JANUARY:
Rosella
FEBRUARY:
Asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, leek, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini, rosella
MARCH:
Board bean, onion, parsnip, pea, salad greens, shallots, turnip, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, leek, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini. , rosella
APRIL:
Board bean, Buckwheat, herbs, kale, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini, onion, pea, salad greens, shallots
MAY:
Board bean, Asparagus, broccoli, carrot, celery, cucumber, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini, herbs Buckwheat, kale, onion, pea, salad greens, shallots
JUNE:
Asparagus, broccoli, carrot, celery, cucumber, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini, buckwheat, herbs, kale, onion, pea, salad greens, shallots
JULY:
Asparagus, carrot, celery, cucumber, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini, buckwheat, herbs, kale, salad greens, shallots
AUGUST:
Asparagus, carrot, celery, cucumber, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, tomato, zucchini, herbs, kale, rosella
SEPTEMBER:
Asparagus, carrot, celery, cucumber, lettuce, marrow, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, rhubarb, silverbeet, button squash, zucchini, herbs, rosella
OCTOBER:
Asparagus, carrot, celery, lettuce, rosella
NOVEMBER:
Asparagus, carrot, lettuce. , rosella
DECEMBER:
Rosella

Birthday Girl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR 4 YEAR OLD GIRL!

Our little fairy girl is 4 yrs old today. Wow, how fast it goes. She asked for some wooden toys for her wooden kitchen set, picked some duplo from Grandad, a toy dog from her brother, lovely colouring book and a couple reading books and some lego from Nana and Pop. With lots of swimming and her favourite food, it is set to be a good one!

Using Harvest

From a tree full of mandarins

to a container full of mandarin poppy seed cake!

Recipe

* 4 mandarins - peeled, and deseeded

* 180g butter

* 2 eggs

* 1 C sugar

* 1 1/2 C SR flour

* Poppy seeds (as you wish)

- Put all in the food processor and whizz up till batter forms.

- Bake in greased tin at180'c for 40 minutes

Intoducing Monty!

We have taken the step and added a lovely dog to our family. His name it Monty and he is a 5 yr old Kelpie X . Dh bought him from the local pound and so far he has settled in with not too many dramas. We have noticed he feels more secure on the lead and likes to be taken for lots of walks. When he feels more at home, we will take him off the lead and let him explore his surroundings.

Anyway welcome Monty!

Online toys

Now that I have had my rant, It is time to be constructive and list the toys shops (online of course) that I love
http://www.extendabilities.com.au/ - about to close down but atill have a lovely selection
http://www.dragonflytoys.com.au/ - great books too
http://www.rudolfsteiner.com.au/ - also great fro reference books
http://www.winterwoodtoys.com.au/ - my crafty supplier too
http://www.honeybeetoys.com.au/ - haven't ever bought from them but they look great.
www.spiralgarden.com.au - another great one.

Making childrens toys is a love of mine but woodworking is something I haven't got into yet - I wonder if dh would let me loose in his shed!

My Rant!

I am not usually a ranter but the time has come.
WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THE TOY MAKERS OF TODAY THINKING!!!!
It is dd birthday next week and I usually make all birthday pressies but life has got very stressful over the last couple of weeks, so i went into the local toy shop - big mistake. Don't they realise how important toys are to children, maybe they don't and that is why they make so much c**p. Scary faces, fragile plactics structures, once they push the button - that is all is done, agressive, over the top with colours, so many tv characters, all this and really expenive. I could not buy one thing - even ds said 'look at all the plastic Mummy'
Kids need to connect with their toys, use their imagination to create and to BE KIDS. Kids toys don't need to break the budget either. I regulary add to our chidrens toys because none of the wooden stuff gets broken. I bend the rules for Lego only, just because i feel it is an educational toy that the children learn alot from it. I really feel for the children today, they should get lost in their play as their toys take them on a journey of discovery. Now they break after one session and scare them at night.
Anyway, this subject is my bugbare and one dh agress with but is sick of hearing about. It is my love of early childhood that all this comes from and the fact that from a marketing point of view I feel it is not being respected anymore. End of rant

Poppy amongst the ferns

Introducing Poppy - my lastest Steiner doll. Pattern by http://www.sarahs-dolls.com/

I have her for sale on the Crafty Mamas website

http://www.craftymamas.net/

She is made from all natural materials and stuffed with wool fleece. She is just beautiful to cuddle.

Homeschooling with Dad!

Yes, when Dh gets involved in homeschooling - look what is created!

Mum made us beanies

Me, Me - I did it, I have knitted something and boy was it fun. I know knitting doesn't sound like fun but it is try it. There are so many patterns online - it is a cheap and satisfying craft

Cards made with love!

Here are some cards I am working on at the moment. I want to develop my drawing skills so combining them with cardmaking is a win win situation. I get lots of flower ideas from my Australian Folk Art Magazines - thanks Mum!

My flowers!

Here are some of my favourite flowers in our garden.



Oh, frangipani - love the colours, love the smell. The kids are always bringing the flowers to me and arranging them on the nature table or for a centre piece for the dinner table.











Lovely hibiscus - all around the pool is a must. We have a few varieties which need a little up keep at the moment but nothing a prune and a little white oil (homemade of course) won't fix.



I will get the variety names soon.


To make white oil
* water, squirt of detergent and a slurp of oil in a spray bottle and spray on little insects sucking at your favourite plants. Best to spray late afternoon to protect the plants from sunburn.

I made Soap!!!

Here is the olive oil and coconut oil soap I made.

I got the recipe from

http://www.aussieslivingsimly.com.au/.

It was very dangerous as I was mixing caustic soda and oil but what a thrill to be making and using our own chemical free soap. Just to verify, all soap needs caustic soda but once it is mixed with oil and left to harden, all the chemical leaves the soap. I made some into liquid soap and i also had a go at shampoo. I am still working on this recipe though.

I am itching to have a go at some lovely smelly soap next, maybe chamomile, citrus. I would love to make some lovely molds too.

My journey to Luffah

Here is a luffa growing on the side of the carport. Two seeds planted in our raised garden produced hundreds of luffa vegys. You can eat them when they are the size of a zucchini but we didn't really like them.

After they dry out, here are the kids peeling them. Many mornings of rubbing the skin off and collecting the seeds

To this, a dried luffa - handy for all uses of sponges.

Our Gardens

Garden 1 (above)

Garden 2 (above)

I love vegetable gardening. The kids and I spend many hours of pleasure planting, fertilizing, mulching and harvesting - yeah!

It is such a empowering feeling of producing our own food.

Some of our all time favourites - tomatoes, lettuce, capsicum, chillis, eggplant - yum, beans, corn - dd favourite, various herbs and this year we even got some strawberries. I tried a potato cage but wasn't very successful - remember to use certified potatoes next time!

As a family, we go out at meal times and harvest - what a buzz!

A very proud mother moment - ds harvesting his own tomato to put on his homemade bread for lunch - his choice and his favourite - hooray!

My objective for this year was to learn to seed save. I had success with corn, eggplant so far!

Verses for home

We use verses or poems as part of our rhythm of the day to remember to give thanks and connect with nature

Meal times
Earth we thankyou for this food, for the rest, and home and all things good,
For wind and rain and sun above
And most of all for those we love.

Morning Verse
The golden sun is shining
Up in the sky so blue
Good morning happy morning
To you and you and you.

Goodnight
Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

Verses in our day!

For Steiner playgroup

Morning Verse
The golden sun is shining
Up in the sky so blue
Good morning happy morning
To you and you and you.

Goodbye verse
The golden sun is shining
Up in the sky so blue
Farewell, my friends, farewell
To you and you and you.

Blessing
Blessings on the blossom,
Blessings on the root,
Blessings on the leaves and stems
And blessings on this fruit.
Blessings on our playgroup and a happy happy day.


Cleaning up
I have my golden hands, helping today.
I have my golden hands putting things away

Hand washing
Flip and dip your hands like fish
Fly and dry them gently so
Flip and dip your hands like fish
Fly and dry them gently so

Gathering for Circle Time
Puffer train oh puffer train
Carry me through the sun and rain
Down and up the hills we climb
Taking me to circle time

Breadbaking
Miller, miller, grind our grain,
Grow from sun and earth and rain,
With this grain we bake our bread
With this grain our friends we feed

Healing
Healing water cool and mild
Take the pain
From this little child

Lavender
Lavender, Lavender from the soil
Lavender, Lavender give us your oil
Lavender, Lavender tell me true
How does the perfume get into you

These verses have been collected over time and I apologise for no references. I will add if I find them

A little about us

Right what have we been up to?
I have been having a big rethink about our routine, homeschooling plans and philosophies of late. One thing is for sure – they all centre on providing a positive creative environment for us as individuals and family.
We have been enjoying a Steiner playgroup for the last three years and have been slowly including some of Steiner’s philosophies at home.
Some things are
* A clean out of old plastic toys and introduce lots of natural play materials into our environment – wooden blocks, glass beads and stones, cottons and muslin play cloths.
* More creative discipline techniques i.e. sorry pictures, warming up cold hands to make them able to receive positive play better, walking in the garden to find happy self.
* Lots of sewing, clay play, wood construction, home based chores i.e. each child taking on two chores a day.
* New routine with a balance of active and quiet play. Also I have taken a step back and not having such an influence on their play. I am still keeping the routine flexible, as I believe Ds does need more stimulation. Just one of those active children that needs to be challenged or watchout. He is his father all over. Currently Dh has four major projects going!
* Nature table, candle at meal times and mealtime and nightly blessings.
* I made two Steiner dolls and the children love them. I am now adding felt and knitted animals

The children have received these changes really well. I feel it is a calm, respectful philosophy to include in our home life. I am not sure about the education side; I am still like the natural learning ideas. We have been natural learners from day one and it works well, so why change it!

Steiner Playgroup

The children and I have been attending a Steiner playgroup for three years now and it has given me the direction I have been looking for in my parenting and educating the children. Over the last year, I have stepped in and taken on a more programming role at this playgroup which i have loved. It has got me back in touch with my preschool programming days - but so much more fun.
Steiner Playgroup Ideas

· home based routine
· baking when first arrive
· morning verse and favourite songs
· free play with drawing and crayons
· finger and felt story
· fruit then baking

While children are in free play, parents sit down with craft basket and weave, doll making, knitting, sewing

Routine flows and parents watch for any behaviour guidance that maybe needed ie if being rough – warming hands up muslin wraps, wax or clay play, walk in the garden to find happy self.
I have lots of programs I can share during the course of the year. As we live in the southern hemisphere, it is based on Australian seasons and festivals

Welcome to my Blog!

Wow, here I am.
I am an Early Childhood teacher with a passion for the teaching of Rudolf Steiner so you will read alot of ramblings about my parenting and educating of our family following this philosphy. Our children are DS 5 yrs old and DD 3 yrs old and we live in Tropical Queensland.
I love any art and craft, growing our own produce and living a grass roots life.