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As we settle into new life here in Wagga and setting up the new house we finally exchanged our Winter theme for a Spring one.  Son't you just love the Spring Fairies? They are so much fun to make!

Believe me when I say Spring is really here this far north and I am enjoying it and the children are sooooo very keen to get into the pool as soon as possible. They look out the kitchen window each morning and just bask in the Summer possibilities.

Next week we are hoping to get started back into lessons, even though we are still not completely organised. In fact my desk and other lesson essentials are still in Melbourne waiting to be shipped here.

I am really looking forward to starting some Spring themed activities from the Spring book I had in my giveaway recently.

The younger children are really searching for some structure and the big kids are saying they need to do  some more constructive work which to them means lessons.
They are starting some new English based work that we bought before the move and are anxious to get started on them.

With the start of new themes and chores next week I hope to get some more time for relaxation and crafts and perhaps some more blogging too!!

Linking to Nicole today

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

King winter sat on his throne one day
And he said to himself, said he:
" I must admit I've had some fun,
I've chilled the earth and cooled the sun,
And not a flower or tree
But wishes that my reign were done.
As long as time and tide shall run
I'll go on making everyone,
as cold as cold cane be"

Tomorrow (today as I publish this) is the Winter Solstice for us and this year I am actually semi prepared before the day. Well at least I have a few ideas for us to celebrate with, although perhaps not all the materials for each of the crafts I can think of.

Some of the themes that spring to mind that we will perhaps explore are obviously to do with light and warmth.

Therefore we will be looking to make and/or display these  ideas throughout the day.
* We will have our fire on to warm the family room where we gather mostly
* we will be reading from our winter book list
* we will light some of our candles and oil lamps that are around our home.
* we will be making chicken and vegetable soup for our evening meal. You really can't go past chicken and vegetable soup for a comfort meal I think.
* we will have a beautifully rich hot chocolate with whipped cream and perhaps a marshmallow or two thrown in.
* Spiced Tea also sounds inviting and here is the recipe:
6 cups of water
1 teaspoon of whole cloves
2 1/2 cm of cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons of black tea or 5 tea bags
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 cup of coconut sugar or honey

Combine water, cloves and cinnamon. Heat to boiling.
Add tea; cover and brew for 5 minutes, then strain or take bags out.
heat orange juice, lemon juice and sweetener to boiling; stir and add to hot mix
Makes 6 to eight cups.
 NB tea can be replaced with apple juice or cider

* make a star wand-
find a piece of dowel or stick from the yard
Cut out paper or felt in a star shape.
Place star shapes together and either partially glue or sew around the edges.
Fill in the centre with some fleece creating a slight puff look
Finish sewing or gluing so it is completely sealed around your stick.
Complete and ready to play ( if gluing you will need to allow drying time)

* make golden starts from gold glitter pipe cleaners and transparent coloured orange and yellow beads.
Simply twist the pipe cleaners into a star shape and then just thread the beads on in alternating colours

* make a little felt gnome and pouch
*colouring pages about winter or solstice
* word searches or word mix ups (I generate these on line) using winter and solstice as a theme.
* make tissue paper snow flakes
* make tissue paper stars for your windows or hanging wreaths.
* make origami stars
* make a paper lantern using wet on wet water painting and then 'oil' it for a transparent effect.
* decorate bees wax candles with cut out shapes
* decorate a mason jar with tissue paper images.
This is done by tearing up tissue paper and gluing on to the jar with watered down pva glue to create the image you like. Over lap the paper to achieve the desired look.

*making a sun banner-
cut five triangles out of calico and sew into a banner.
Draw and colour a sun pattern on each one and embroider with golden yellow, red, orange and gold on the sun pattern

* We will be definitely making some hand cream from beeswax, olive oil and  coconut oil for those winter chapped hands. One of our dear children is suffering from this so it is a number one priority.

* reading aloud and drawing winter images or images of warmer times while sitting around the fire
This is a sweet little story for your little ones:

We have finally started to have some Winter weather over the last few weeks and after Myffwyn's birthday which is on the first day of Winter for us, we changed our various Seasons displays to reflect this.

Our main season's table has some interesting snowmen and a wood elf perched up on the  grapevine wreath wrapped in winter coloured ribbons with some red winter berries on it.  Don't you just love that beautiful painted yellow moon up there with her?

As time goes by we will add some snowflakes and winter lights as well as a few other winter treats.
In the brick fire place we have Mother Earth with her little babies in a basket along with King Winter.
To keep them company we have Jack Frost along with Jill Frost and their adorable little frostlings. These have been dry needle felted  and are very soft and lovely.
On another book case we have the pipe cleaner tree I made bare of any colour - neither leaves or blossoms and it looks very bare indeed without any colour.

Behind that we have a home made carved wooden tree that is polished with bees wax along with some Winter elements on a half  circle display ring. These were made for me by our son a few years ago and painted by one of our girls for me. I especially love the pine tree that for me really speaks of Winter.

I am looking forward to creating more Winter memories with our younger children as we celebrate this most favoured season.

I am linking to Natural Suburbia for Creative Friday this week

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

“The fair maid who, the First of May,
Goes to the field at break of day
And washes in the dew from the hawthorn tree,
Will ever after handsome be.”

Even though May is dedicated to Our Lady we still like to celebrate the first of May with the traditional May Day theme

There are many interpretations of the first May Day, and many different theories and origins, all with the same principle ~ people through the years loved to celebrate the coming of spring on the first day of May!

Maypole dancing evolved into Ribbon dancing around the maypole in the 18th century, and is possibly derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France.

In old European villages, the youth would go into the woods and cut down a tree, removing the branches and covering it with violets. At daybreak they blew horns and celebrated and the towns would know May Day had arrived.

By the Middle ages, English villages had a May Pole, and everyone ~ from adults to children would all go into the woods to select the tree, making it a parade and singing songs as they went back to town. Often large cities like London would leave the maypole up for an entire year, so it was ready for the next years may day dance.


In Yorkshire, dancers gather in a circle, each holding a coloured ribbon attached to a much smaller pole. As the dance commences the ribbons are intertwined and braided either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons or leave them as a beautiful design on the pole.

Today May Day and dancing around the May Pole are still traditions in many European Countries and the United Kingdom.

Here are some activities and Ideas for the day~ 


♥ Make Mayday baskets we have made cornucopia ones, filled with flowers and stickers and poems and paper filled with paper gifts in the past
Get the  children to  decorate and fill some May baskets.  You can the them leave the baskets on the door knobs (or steps) of friends or family members.  Here are a number of simple ways to make May baskets.
CONE BASKETS  - either use a plain colored cone party hat, or make your own cone by cutting out half circles and wrapping them around into cone shaped.  Add paper or Chenille handles
CUP BASKETS – use paper, Styrofoam, yogurt or margarine cups for baskets.  Poke holes on opposite sides of the cups and tie on handles.
CIRCLE BASKETS – use large cut paper circles or large doilies.  Tape a ribbon handle to opposite sides of the circle.  When held up the circle will fold into a open-ended basket.
BOX BASKETS – use small box bottoms, cut-down milk cartons, or berry baskets.  Add handles and decorate.

♥ Make May Day Crowns ~
Let every child be Kind or Queen of the May by making a flower crown to wear.
Cut the centers out of paper plates and have the children paint both sides of the rims green.  (or use green paper plates)
Cut various colors of tissue paper into small circles.
Then let the children crumple the circles and glue them on their paper plate rims to make flowers.

Variation: Glue strips of colored tissue or crepe paper streamers to the sides and backs of their crowns.
Variation:  Place real flowers on their crowns by making slits in the rim so that the flowers can be poked through.

♥ Simple Game~
RING AROUND THE ROSIE
Here is an adaptation of the usual “Ring Around the Rosie” game for May Day.
Have your children stand in a circle around a pretend Maypole.
Let one child stand in the middle and choose the action at the end of rhyme.
As children march around the circle recite the following rhyme.

“Ring around the rosie.
A pocket full of posies.
Flowers, flowers
All (fall down, twirl around, bend way down, touch the ground, etc.)
Choose another child to stand in the middle and repeat the chant.

♥ Craft ~
In the past, children used to celebrate May Day by having hoop races -- now you can, too.
Supplies:
Plastic hoop (hula hoop)
Ribbon
Small bells
12-inch wooden dowel

Use a plastic hoop and decorate it the way children did hundreds of years ago.

Cut 6-inch lengths of thin ribbon. Tie as many ribbons as you can to the hoop, all the way around. Make sure the knots are on the inside of the hoop so they won't get in the way when the hoop rolls.

Tie a tiny bell to the end of every third or fourth ribbon.

Practice rolling your May Day hoop by touching it with the dowel. How fast can you go? Invite your friends to a race!

♥ For more activities~
Colouring page
Wreath colouring page
May day word search
May Day Anagrams
May Day Crossword and Answers key
Picture crossword and Answer key
Sudoku and Answers and Easy Sudoku
And to keep the Blessed Mother in the picture this site has a list of other sites that have colouring pictures of Mary
These are a couple of our past Mary themes:
Fatima and May Crowning of Mary
May Crowning and Bookcase display

For a  sugar filled idea~
Take a plastic baggie and fill it with candy and then in the center of it tie a pipe cleaner and make it look like a butterfly!! Wrap the pipe cleaner in the middle of it!!

Simple Song~
"I Made a May Basket" (sung to: "A-Tisket, A-Tasket") A-tisket, a-tasket, I made a May basket. I filled it up with flowers bright And hung it on the door just right.

THE MAY QUEEN
by Alfred Lord Tennyson

You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear;
To-morrow ’ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;
Of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest merriest day,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.


There’s many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine;
There’s Margaret and Mary, there’s Kate and Caroline;
But none so fair as little Alice in all the land they say,
So I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake,
If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break;
But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

As I came up the valley whom think ye should I see
But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel-tree?
He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday,
But I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

He thought I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in white,
And I ran by him without speaking, like a flash of light.
They call me cruel-hearted, but I care not what they say,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

They say he’s dying all for love, but that can never be;
They say his heart is breaking, mother–what is that to me?
There’s many a bolder lad ’ill woo me any summer day,
And I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green,
And you’ll be there, too, mother, to see me made the Queen;
For the shepherd lads on every side ’ill come from far away,
And I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its wavy bowers,
And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo-flowers;
And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray,
And I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-grass,
And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass;
There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the livelong day,
And I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

All the valley, mother, ’ill be fresh and green and still,
And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill,
And the rivulet in the flowery dale ’ill merrily glance and play,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear,
To-morrow ’ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;
To-morrow ’ill be of all the year the maddest merriest day,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.
Blessings to you and your homes,
 

As we have moved into the Autumn season we have changed our  seasons table to reflect this in our home.
As this is my most favourite season followed by Winter I just love the crafts we can do with the season.
The colours just reflect the warmth and cosiness I anticipate and love about this season.

Of course the table changes as the children like to redecorate it to their own tastes and with their own added extras too, and sometimes we actually have a season's table war with children vying for their version to be the one that is left the longest.
Another place  we decorate is our brick fireplace with the bakers oven insert. Here Mother Earth sits with other seasonal delights: Autumn leaf people, gnomes and felted seasonal vegetables and felt leaves, both cut from felt and from  fleece.
These  have all been hand made by myself or family members.
In fact the Autumn fairies (in the above picture were made by Rogan a couple of years ago.

After Easter as we come more into the season we will be making more Autumn items for our changing season table.
Linking today with Creative Friday
Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Isn't this a beautiful sight?
We have finally come to the time of year I love best.
Warm fires, candle light, lamp light and togetherness.

There is something about a fire that invites people to share a space together, either doing things together such as playing cards, board games, or just chatting and crafts. Often you will find us just being together in our own little worlds reading books, but being open to each other during this time of rest and relaxation, a place of sanctuary.
So much can happen here in this space while really doing nothing more than being in the company of those you love and love you back.

Did I mention I love fires and all that they bring to mind? Oh, yes I have I am sure!
I am also thankful for the strong young men in our family who chop this for us. Of course our girls can and do chop wood too, but essentially it is the guys job on a regular basis.
As we lit our fire the other day it was amazing to see the return of the 'knitting' phase that was very evident in our home last year.

Our younger children started 'spider knitting' again which is really French knitting but on these cool, yes cool,   knitting nancy things. I know they are plastic  but seriously they make it so easy for younger children to get started with. By the way the children call them spider knitting because it looks like a huge spider web as it grows.
Last year Corbyn did not have the ability or the patience to really do his, but boy has he make a long 'spider web' now. He is so proud of his achievements, being able to do what the others have been doing and so is a very happy little camper
Of course as the cooler weather draws in we can now legitimately enjoy a cup of warm cocoa.
This one is one of my speciality ones that we save for not every day.
For this very large cup take:
2  slightly heaped teaspoons of cocoa
2 teaspoons of coconut sugar
4 heaped teaspoons of milk powder (full cream is our preference)
Mix thoroughly and pour on boiling water till about 3/4 full
Then top with pouring cream to desired height (use milk for a not so rich version if you like, but cream makes it oh, just so very very nice, really it does....go on try it)
Mix well again.

For even added specialness add whipped cream on top of this again.

How do you like that little cupcake on the side?
Well let me tell you it is grain free and I have to admit THE most delicious chocolate cupcake we have tried so far. The frosting on top.....mmm yummy too.

Oh you want to know all about it?
Well look for a post soon on our baking successes and failures and how we rate all the ones we have tried since going  Grain 'n' Sugar FREE!

In the meantime enjoy your seasons where ever you are! I am so delighted with ours!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

It is Blackberry season here on our property and we have had a lot of avid berry pickers over the last couple of weeks. One morning I came  down to breakfast with the little 'love token' pictured above on the table ...just for me. Flowers and berries picked just that morning by Eden on an early walk. I treasure these gifts of love that are a mostly daily event.....how blessed I am.
She even made this foil bowl for them to sit in, so very like her making individual touches in presentation. Don't they look very juicy and inviting?
I think they were very quickly divided amongst small little ones who were very anxious for a taste.
This is a view up to the back of our home from down toward the dam. I was walking down here with our children and just loved how the house looked through the trees. When we finished building these wattle were not even grown, they started to grow from scattered seed and now they present a lovely 'park like setting'. How beautiful!
It is very hard to see but can you see the mama swallow and her babies on the top of the basket ball net? The father was off scouting for food for these ever hungry babies. We have a family of swallow every spring and summer on our veranda in the same place, they are one of my favourite birds, in fact I think they are my all time favourites. I love to watch them fly around and the beautiful but subdued colours they have are so sweet.
As part of  our lessons this year I am trying to take the younger ones on a nature walk every couple of days, well the original plan was daily but I think we will vary this with some other sport activities.  We collected some finds to come back and draw in our nature notebooks.
Moran was the first to come back and in fact I found her already set up with her finds and drawing already as I came back with Myffy, Corbyn and Arwen.
Of course we found blackberries to draw as well as some moss and gum nuts. Corbyn thought these old dried out gum leaves were very interesting and Arwen kept picking the individual gum nuts off the branch. While out walking I looked at their summer camps they had made and the places they had built fairy houses in the past because I  'just had to see mummy'
As the children have been spending lots of time outside they have seen more insects, perhaps the warmer weather has something to do with it too? Arwen caught a bee and a butterfly that she had to have in a jar for a few hours. It is lovely to see her enjoying this activity and she often asks me to come out and play with her, luckily she has some special sisters and brothers who take this up when I cannot.
After Rogan picked two buckets of blackberries he kept asking to make jam or a pie with them. My reaction was that a pie was much better and I think really he enjoyed having it to share with us for sweets that night.
Another collection of bees and butterflies! The children are convinced they have seen a new type of bee around, one they have not seen before. Arwen once again loved these ones, they had to have clover flowers to climb on and she  actually put them to bed because' they were tired,' what she failed to mention  was the fact she put them on Autumn's bed and not her own.....a pleasant surprise for her big sister.

As the children pick all the blackberries and the cooler weather starts in I am sure these bush ramble swill become a little harder to find interesting things on, but for now the beauty of a late Summer nature walk is a joy to behold.

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Today was Mid Summers day here in the Southern Hemisphere and I confess that every year I wish I could do more with this day but as it is but 2 days before Christmas it really does get lost in the pre-Christmas rush.

Each year I think how wonderful it would be to have a Mid Summers Eve party and make some Fairy houses and have a big party theme.

Here  is a brief summary of this day ~
The summer solstice marks the opposite point in the year as the winter solstice. It is the point when the day is the longest and the night the shortest, and has traditionally been a time for celebration and revelry. While the winter solstice celebrates hope and rebirth, the summer solstice is a time when people could revel in the warm weather, the fresh crops and the life that was all around them.

Here are a few Ideas I would do for a some quick activities ~

- A bonfire with dressing up and throwing of glitter has been a popular theme for us
- Rhythm of the Home
- Cupcake filled cones
- make giant tissue paper flowers
- make a sundial
- make Sunshine Tea (put 6-8 teabags—and some honey if you like— into about 4 litres of cold water in a covered glass container and leave in the sun for 4 or so hours, or until it’s strong enough. Take out the teabags and chill. Shake—to mix the honey—and serve over ice.) Have a Sunshine Tea Party
Summer Short Stories
Summer Poems
Colouring Pages

Here is a short Mid Summer Nights Dream BBC Animated film - there are so many you can google for the fun of it!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

It seems as if our Rogan has been the major contributor to organising our seasons tables lately.
As we started Spring earlier this week Rogan brought out our annual items for display.
We have made these over the years and I really am hoping we will be able to craft some new things together over the next few weeks.
I really like the spring fairies and wool roving birds we have for our All Seasons wreath. All these including the wreath were made from The Children's Year and All Year Round.

I am linking this post to Creative Friday and hope to be involved with out creativity each week in this meme.

 Blessings to you and your homes,

Today here in Australia we celebrated the first day of Spring and what a beautiful day it was too.
We have had a few Spring type days here lately and it has been lovely to think of Spring arriving.

So today it arrived officially in glorious style. The sun was shinning and there was a very definite feeling  of hope and  joy in the day.
 Funnily enough I think the children had a Spring type day as well. Rogan and Arwen went digging for worms to show.
They put them in this jar for a while and then re dug them a hole when we had all admired them long enough. Worm, worms, worms. Of course then Corbyn and Myffwyn had to go collecting there own worms. Except Corbyn took his butterfly catcher and came back with a caterpillar.
For the first time in many months we had a meal outside. It is hardly fancy cuisine but it was lunch and we enjoyed the beauty of the day.
Trahaearn was able to be on the veranda as well for a period of time as it was pleasant and he was rugged up in his 'bear suit'. You can't see it but the hood has little ears on the top, too cute. We will be spending more time outside each day if this beautiful weather continues.

Myffwyn made some sort of whimsical place on the swing set with a tulle dress up dress and her umbrella. Moran had a circus operating for a short period of time too.
Rogan was very busy today in honour of Spring snapping pictures of the various blossoms and trees around our home and in the bush areas.
 I hope you had a beautiful day today, in what ever season you are in.

 Blessings to you and your homes,