connection and healing

 

Every year, since 2010, I have chosen a word (or two) for the year. Sometimes I choose well, sometimes I don't. This year, I have chosen Connection and Healing as my words. To go with my word of the year, Lala Bug made a new journal for me (my last one was full) and a new 5-year journal for me. (I have now completed two!) Her handmade journals are stunning and mine are personalized and so special. One of the joys of having creative, skilled, talented big kiddos.

 

 

 

natural dyes: a which name? re-post

My kiddos might be big, but, oh, they do love our traditions. So egg dyeing is happening as I type. They are dyeing some hard boiled eggs and have already dyed some shells that I carefully cracked near the top. The pictures immediately below are a sampling of today's creativity.

Below is a blog post that originally appeared on my blog Which Name? on March 18, 2010. A version of it also appeared in the online magazine, Rhythm of the Home, in April 2010. Unfortunately, not only is the magazine no longer being e-published, but the magazine URL now belongs to someone else, so all my article links are dead-ends.




recently, when my mom brought over the children's books on fiber arts, she also brought over several books on using natural dyes for fabrics and yarns, knowing that my interest in natural dyes had been rekindled. i skimmed the books, learning things i had not known, wishing for more detail on fabric (rather than yarn) dyeing, knowing i am not ready to purchase chemicals to use as setting agents, and finally settling in on the natural food dyes i know and love.

but this time, i am not using them for fabric. i am using them for food.

with easter just around the corner and mike's mom over for a visit, we put some of my food dyes to the test.


using foods for natural dyes (of eggs, non-synthetic cloth, and non-synthetic yarn) is incredibly easy. some foods are natural dyes (or as we know them, staining agents!), such as coffee, tea, turmeric, mustard, grapes (wine), berries, beets, etc.

here is how to make your own egg dyes:
your food for color + 1 tablespoon vinegar + 2 cups water = egg dye
(the vinegar is the setting agent.) bring all of the ingredients to a boil, them simmer for 10 or more minutes
pouring your mixture through a sieve will give a liquid that leaves you with a solid color. leaving the food material in the mix will give your egg a mottled color.

to obtain various colors:
red: beets, cabbage, red raspberries, strawberries
yellow: onion skins, turmeric, mustard
blue: blueberries, blackberries
green: mix your yellow and blue dyes
orange: mix your red and yellow dyes (today's updated note: sour grass makes the most incredible orange)

i used red raspberries for red, blue and blackberries for blue/purple, and a combination of turmeric, mustard, and onion skins for yellow.

at the suggestion of my crafty friend liz, we made leaf imprints on some of our eggs. to do this, simply press the leaf against the egg, wrap the egg tightly inside an old nylon stocking, twist to keep taut, and dye for as long as you can bear to leave it sitting.



the egg below was dyed in blueberries and was left soaking for well over an hour. i left it tightly wrapped when i removed it from the color and let it dry slightly before removing the stocking and peeling off the leaf.


and because i could not bear to let all those simmered berries go to waste, i used them to make berry cobbler!

2017-2018: nearly mid-year

As I wrote the post title 'nearly mid-year,' I gave myself a mini panic attack. The truth is, I have been struggling with anxiety for awhile now, but this fall, it has been significantly worse. The roots run deep and are varied, but one small piece is that I am homeschooling growing children, time doesn't stand still, and I have been mentally thinking forward toward what is coming next and behind at what we haven't done. The transition between elementary teaching and high school planning has felt, well...short.


We had a full and productive fall, our home learning has been beautiful, and smoother, especially as I embrace our version of Waldorf-inspired at home. You won't see tons of main lesson drawings here, or consistent form drawing, but you will see lots of stories, art and creativity, singing, and movement. Our Us-schooling makes for a happier, motley mix of activities, using a motley mix of resources.

I wish I had carved out more time to blog learning period-by-learning period again this year, as I did last year. (Our homeschool charter uses learning periods that cover 2 months at a time, and last year I blogged about what we had done each of those learning periods before moving into the next period.) We have done so much! I didn't capture it that way, though. So...here are some things we have done since my last post update.

We spent a lot of time on math and science during late autumn. The kids wanted to participate in our homeschool group's math and science fair and quickly chose to work together on a project about fire. Fire has been fresh in their minds and relevant to them as their Grannie was evacuated from the intense and destructive fires in Northern California. We also explored Mystery Science activities and Lala Bug's weekly math class meant that we were all playing with math very consistently.

One of our consistent anchors has been a weekly nature study or exploration. We have one spot we visit regularly, but we happily take detours when something seasonally magical comes our way, like over-wintering ladybugs or a super (Wolf) moon and spring tides with an  >8 foot change between high and low tides. When not pulled by unique events, we explored fungus, lichen, moss, winter solstice, and more.

The holidays flew by. We took a break from our main lessons during part of December. It was much needed, but the grounding feeling of rhythm has been missed, and so we made a slow re-entry last week and dive back into year-long and into new activities this week. I am taking some deep breaths as transitions are always a little hard....

Happy learning and living to you all!

the first weeks

In the event many of you are reading loads of wonderful back-to-school or back-to-not-school (homeschool) posts (wherever you happen to read them), let this be the post that lets you know you aren't alone if all has not gone smoothly. Oy.

The first 3(?) weeks here have been rough. I planned, I (thought I) was relaxed, I was excited for the new school year, the first day started well, and then sliiidddde, crash. Rhythm hasn't come easily, we have had significant kiddo struggles, main lesson hasn't gone smoothly, there have been more sibling squabbles than usual, the kids have not been listening well, it has been extremely difficult to transition them out of play and especially out of books they are engaged in, etc. And my block plan? Forget it. I didn't even make it out of the gate.

The final straw came last week when I slammed my finger in a door. Oh my goodness. I haven't had something hurt so much in a very long time (despite having consistent back pain the last 6+ months from an old injury). The injury took down the day, because it meant a doctor visit instead of activity day with our charter, it meant lots of tears from me, and the pain put me in a grumpy mood. While it doesn't seem to be broken (and blood is circulating), it is my dominant hand and it has continued to hurt enormously.

The next day, I descended a little further into gloom just from witnessing others having success. In our charter resource center for math class (where we were after more anger and frustration from my child over completing the homework), I watched one mom engage her 6th grader with joyful, loving praise. Another dad chatted to me about how much he loves homeschooling because he can watch his middle school daughter create and do things she loves and he has found she is so helpful around the home without even being asked. Had I found the same?

No. This week left me feeling like a failure. I had seriously off-track children, no joy, I felt lack of authority in my home(school), my kids didn't step up to help when I injured my finger, my kids were unhappy ("Can't we have any fun?!") and I felt insulted by it all. Whew.

Do you ever feel like the right voices come to you right when you need them most? I listened to a podcast from Hand in Hand Parenting that happened to address some of the very issues we struggle with. I needed the reminder that my kids are good. (They are so good!) I am good. We are all wanting to do the right thing and that it is healthy and necessary for me to offload my feelings to another adult so I don't do it on my kids, or, at the very least, I am lightened so I can engage with them the way I want to. Where had I gone off track? Then, I re-read a piece on temperament from Waldorf Essentials, with the thought it would help me consider my kids' temperaments in our homeschool. What it did, instead, was highlight for me that, even though I fundamentally know it comes down to me, I had gotten off track. I had become unbalanced. I am melancholic-sanguine, which is a hard combo to be. (We feel things deeply, want to do right by others, and have a difficult time with follow through.) I had definitely slipped into an exhausted, resentful melancholy. I find it hard to hold the space and limits consistently.

Sustaining all that is needed to homeschool a growing family of individuals, some of which have high needs, is, well...hard.

So that is where I am, fully aware and doing my best to quickly work my way back to balance, despite the crazy going on around me in my family and the world.

So...back to the school year. This realization made me stop and reconsider. Instead of feeling like everything is a flop, what IS working? There are individual successes! (I am letting the kids know I see these, too!) As a little tribe, our weekly nature walk using Exploring Nature with Children and John Muir Laws has been wonderful. Also, Waldorfish Weekly Art has been a success. I am letting these success lift me up, particularly as regular art and regular nature time were both difficult to establish previously! Also happening around here is a lot of reading. Honestly, so much that it has been difficult to transition kids' attention to anything else and I have been feeling, well, annoyed. But the last few days, several people in my homeschool world have serendipitously commented on the joy their kids are finding in books and in the library and I heard a voice in my head reminding me I would be distressed if they weren't reading. So...success!

This weekend,  we had a birthday celebration for Lala Bug. All the guests were homeschoolers or former homeschoolers, and listening to the kids talk about the differences they perceive was so validating! They feel supported, like their interests and needs matter, and they like spending time with friends of both (all!) genders and ages, who are kind. This is what we hope for as homeschooling parents!

When I need a reminder to focus on connection and happiness in the home, Julie Bogart always seems to say just the right thing. Permission from a veteran. I read this Simple Homeschool article about what to ask ourselves as we begin the year that I thought was good and simple. I also made note about a little daily list of questions that come from Melisa Wiley in this Brave Writer podcast, but were highlighted by my friend, Jess, when she incorporated them into a beautiful art piece for her wall.

Today, did we:
Play and use our imaginations?
Do meaningful work?
Read a good book?
Have an encounter with beauty?
Ponder or discuss an idea?
Attempt something challenging or new?
Express gratitude?

So, here is to refocusing and moving forward. What has been working well for you?

52: 31

52 weeks of photos. A special moment during the week of July 30, 2017

This week had many special moments, but I didn't have many photos. The kids were in day camp, so not too many special photos of them, and while they were, I had lunch with my mom, coffee with my dad, did a whole lot of errands, school year planning, house management tasks, went thrift shopping and to lunch with my best friend visiting from out-of-state, and ended it all with an all day holistic homeschool conference. Many special moments fueling a productive and self-caring week.

planning 2017-2018, part 2

I started blogging about my planning for this coming year in part 1, linked here.

Shortly after I did so, we went up to the lake for a week. This was the perfect break from the draw of the computer for planning (which can lead to wonderful, positive connection and information, but also, for me, over-researching, self-doubt, questioning 'Do I have enough? Do I need that book too?').  Worry and overwhelm are tendencies I will always have to work hard to manage, so I just have to stop and be quiet sometimes, so as not to over-plan. Follow through can be hard for me, too, so not over-planning is important for many reasons. (I am melancholic-sanguine. Either that or highly sensitive with ADD! Probably all, actually.)

The week was the perfect chance to just be with my own thoughts, to watch and be with my family, to sink into some books, to journal, and to draw.

One of my take-aways from Jean Miller's Plan It Out class was how to make art more doable in our homeschool. Jean talks about the Lively Arts of Waldorf education. They are key to bringing the lessons alive to children, but I had lost some of them (or never had them well established) and I have a child for whom creating is extremely important and who has had very few requests. (Knitting together, learning to draw, and learning Italian.)

So I spent some time drawing. If I don't ever do it, I won't ever get better, right? And if I don't ever model it, it will be hard to encourage us along, right? Earlier in the year, I had said I planned to draw something, anything, daily, but I haven't stuck to that goal, so this felt satisfying.

 

And I spent some time reading. I can now highly recommend Spelling by Hand by Jeremy Hermann and Let's Play Math by Denise Gaskins.

Spelling by Hand is a short, quick read. I thought it 'read' a bit stilted, almost like a translation of Rudolf Steiner, although the author is a young American. It had some very simple, linear, clear ideas of how to teach spelling in short lessons that are active and build upon each other. While he discussed what to cover in each grade, he didn't dwell on grade, in the event children aren't at grade level. We have some special challenges here, so spelling is something that we need to actively work on now. (It was not a priority before, as we were dealing with higher needs.) I am looking forward to putting his ideas into action.

Let's Play Math is a book I am reading as part of an online homeschool group that discusses math. There has been much resistance to math in our home, leaving me frustrated, tentative, and worried. However, I shifted gears this past year, set expectations differently and brought math more playfully, and I notice an increase in skill and willingness to come along on the math trails with me. I am half way through this book and it is excellent. I love the way she discusses math as a series of questions to answer (curiosity!), not a formula to apply. She discusses playing with math, hands-on math, reading math, the history and culture of math. It has been an encouraging and inspiring read so far.

Home again, Lala Bug pulled out the magazines and started collaging. She asked us to join her. Why, yes, please! I used to create a 'Dream Garden' or 'Vision Board' each year or so, inspired completely by an online class I took from Erin Goodman of Exhale. Return to Center. (I don't think she is writing or doing this type of work anymore. She is amazing and works now as a Reverend.) My collage is made, roughly using a 3x3 grid (you can find this by searching 'vision board' on Google or Pinterest) and magazine cut-outs to create a personal visual of what I want for the year ahead.

I am also considering a paid online art course. I have felt that art is something we can learn if we just do it regularly, but perhaps a motivation and some tips would be valuable and the consistency could be good. So I tested out the sample lesson from Waldorfish, and am considering their package of lessons. I am still deciding because of cost, but I enjoyed the lesson and loved the comments the kids gave me about my results. I will have them try it out, too.

More planning to do, but I am on hold now as I wait for more information from our charter school, 4-H, and therapists, and as I consider what is essential for us right now. The kids have camp, so I am heading into a week of tasks from a long list I have made for myself...reading, errands, more decluttering, and some self-care/pampering.

I'll be back again with a post that shares a little more about what I plan to teach this year and resources I plan to use. Until then...

52: 30

52 weeks of photos. A special moment during the week of July 23, 2017

30 days of herbal allies - a photo project

During April, I joined the Herbal Roots Zine's 30 days of herbal allies challenge. I chose to connect with my camera again. It was a joy, pleasure, wisp of self-care, and challenge to connect a word with a plant each day and it was sweet to have my kiddos begin to join, notice, and spot plants or photo opportunities with me. I shared each photo on my Facebook page, each day, sometimes with a little comment. Here are my 30 days of photos and the comments I included.

(Poppy)

(Comfrey)

 

(Nasturtium up a Redwood Tree)

(Nasturtium and arugula)

A couple years ago, in a tired, homeschool mama moment, I exclaimed, "Ahh! I have lost my brain!" Little Brown Mouse said, "I know where you lost it, Mama!" He went out the front door and returned a minute later with a dried Nasturtium seed. Don't they look like little brains? That one has a sense of humor, I tell you.

(Tomato and basil)

(Nasturtium)

 

(Nasturtium, Poppy, Oxalis, Rose, and more)

(Jasmine)

(Redwood)

Volunteer edibles. Given my garden, I think Arugula.

  

(Yarrow)

A few years ago, as M and I enjoyed an anniversary dinner, I told him I was thinking about what word I wanted to choose for the year ahead. (I always have a word to meditate on for the year.) I had a word in my mind that seemed fitting for where we were at that time, so I was surprised when he looked at me and said, "I think the word should be Renewal." That had been the word I had been thinking of. So it was. And so it seems fitting that, today, on his birthday, the word of the day is Renewal.

 

(Borage)

When we went on our walk around the neighborhood this morning, Brown Mouse and I raced, but Lala Bug kept stopping, identifying plants, and picking weeds. She added a few non-weeds to her bunch and came home with this beautiful wild bouquet. When I said the word of the day was 'healing,' she said "Oh! That Dandelion!" It was a beautiful dandy, flourishing between the cracks in the sidewalk. She picked it and added it to her bouquet before knowing the word of the day. While dandy is healing and had I had my camera, I would have snapped a photo, this little bouquet certainly served as a beautiful balm of its own today. Does anyone know what those purple fireworks-looking flowers are?

(Teeny tiny grapes)

(Jerusalem Artichoke)

Non-edible, just beautiful.

(California Poppies) 

These will grow anywhere. The most beautiful of weeds.

(Nasturtium)

Open to it all...sun, rain, (snails!)...Gnome umbrellas...

(Carrots)

Farm box this morning.

(Lavender and a bee)

Today is Earth Day, and to be honest, I took this photo 3 days ago in my parents' garden. I had forgotten about it until I started scrolling through my photos, trying to choose a photo for today's word. It seemed too fitting to not use. That's widespread oregano in the background.

 

(Plum)

(Poppy)
The kids have been "helping" me with this photo project, curious about the word of the day and pointing out when they notice something they think fits. In this case, Lala saw the "birthing" Poppies and said "Look, they are learning how to be in the world!"

Herbal salad made by Lala, with lemon balm, parsley, borage, rosemary, and...something else?!

(Chickweed)
I really wanted to use a photo from our nature journaling visit to a regional park, but the photos I took didn't seem appropriate for "weed." This photo is from our garden and is nutritious human and Misty rabbit greens!

(Dandelion)

 (Rose)

(Forget-me-nots)
The word of the day + the name of the flower + the location I took the photo = poignant

(Birch)

The end.