Crafting On :: Good Intentions

I don't think I need to tell anyone how soon it is until Christmas.  I'm feeling the crunch, as I try to envision the budget and take stock of what I've gathered so far.  Right now, I'm gathering good intentions as I make a list of things I hope to get done before the Big Day.  Here are the patterns and the Knitpicks yarns I'll use:

There's this shawl in Stroll Sapphire Heather.
And two of these in Swish Dublin and Indigo Heather.
There's also some Hollyberry and Evergreen Wool of the Andes tucked in there for me, but I have all Winter.  I'm patient.

In other news, my circadian rhythm is going strong and the evening knitting is . . . not.  I fall asleep watching my beloved BBC documentaries with the children and miss all the fun.  Willow says, "Bedtime!" and I jolt awake to drag myself to bed.  It is my one cold weather complaint--my body follows the sun.  Oh, well, I'm almost to the sleeves on Roan's In Caps Tee.

And here's the Little Kina doll sweater, which will be so sweet when it is done.  Those colors should make me feel awake, right?

Well, time to make last-minute adjustments on the Halloween costumes!  Happy day!

For more crafting, visit Frontier Dreams.

Golden Cold

We had quite the cold snap here, with Sunday topping out in the mid-thirties and Monday being only ten degrees warmer.  The wind has been blowing swiftly, keeping us well-wrapped every time we go outside.  More seasonable weather is on the way, but this blast of Winter gave us some very pretty gifts while it was here.



The rime ice was still present yesterday morning, and perhaps a bit thicker, so I took the children to see it.  Well bundled in snowveralls (as I call them), parkas, mittens, hats, scarves, and boots, they enjoyed the biting wind and slippery slopes. 

Well, I'm not sure we enjoyed the biting wind, but it certainly makes one feel mortal!  I didn't put on my coveralls and I really should have.  Never have my legs been so cold!  I've been on some pretty cold campouts and hikes, but the wind beat all.  It's the first cold spell that helps to sort out attitudes and gear, I think.  Willow needs new boots and I need to take more care in my own dressing (after spending twenty minutes getting everyone else sorted out).

But, oh, that golden color.  October, golden you are. . .

Snow-crusted mittens, covered in the refuse of a Summer so quickly gone.

First Snow

Winter's chill felt pretty strong yesterday afternoon as I drove up to the Snail Place in search of snow.  Fog on the way signaled rime ice and I was not disappointed.  It was a windy, wild wonderland.

The snow and ice brought out all the spiderwebs in the forest.  Many were in tatters, the final remains of a bygone season.

It's always interesting and magical to see this meeting of Autumn and Winter, especially with this year's late color change.  We've had snow as early as October 2nd before, but this was still a real treat.

Winter's Eve

The first snow is in the forecast for today and it feels like a real shift has taken place.  Summer is gone for certain now.  We've had some company over the weekend and we went leaf peeping--oh, it did not disappoint!  The color we have been waiting for finally arrived, and I made up with the weather again.  It was so hard to choose between the photos Mike and I took (he shot the first one), as every view was so vivid.  What a celebration the forest gives us.

Nine

We gave her (our Willow) a Willow letter set from the books by Camilla Ashforth, along with the In Caps Tee.  Her cake was an Angel Dream Cake from Susan Branch--very good!

Candlelit Mornings

Yesterday was cold, not much unlike a February day.  It was a windy forty-two, and I don't think I was quite prepared for it.  It takes some time to get used to the cold, as much as I love it.  We had some pretty heavy rain on Monday, which was so welcome, but so dark.  The day ended with a beautiful rainbow, which was such a joy.  While it is cold again today, Willow's birthday promises perfectly average temperatures and abundant sunshine. 

Our mornings begin with candles, as I like the mood it brings when the children wake up.  I try to rely on natural light for all but the darkest days, since I think noticing how the light changes is as important as observing weather patterns.  I want my children to be comfortable in all weather (mostly cold, wet, or windy), and the same goes for the changing moods of the sun.  Even with the birthdays and Halloween coming up, our thoughts are turning toward Martinmas and our lantern walk.  This time of year is really perfect for such things. 

Autumn Views

 

The color has been slow to come, or perhaps, in a hurry.  Cold spells late in the Summer brought changing leaves, then they stopped and started several times, only to be brought down early by the winds from the hurricanes.  I've never seen anything like it.  I can look outside and still see so much green. 

Even at Laurel Bed Lake, which should have been way past peak, the view was largely green.  All the same, it was so nice to be there.  If the world were only that small, I'd still take it.

It was windy and sunny for our visit, almost cold, but not quite.  We came prepared, of course, with mittens and tea.

The children played in the tangle of "laurels" while I wandered the woods around the shore.  Tea-berries galore, along with the Lycopodium sending out clouds of spores, and this sweet little bunch of little brown mushrooms (the technical term).

Lots of old beaver activity, and signs of a lodge.  I wondered if the beavers haven't been relocated.  The children enjoyed finding the trees they'd damaged and cut.  This one was wedged perfectly to make a bouncy sort of plaything.

Such a lovely sight.  The trees nearest us are finally beginning to turn, though they are always late.  I remember walking the very short distance to enjoy them after Willow was born.  Her birthday is just two days away!

Dewberries, as I am fascinated by them.  These look just like the ones we saw at the Cranberry Glades.  We missed picking them this year, but we'll try again next year. 

This is the dam and spillway for the lake and Big Tumbling Creek.  The lake was built to augment stream flow, however that works.  They were sure rushing as we climbed the mountain.  This was the best spot to see the color, might be the best display we've had all year.

And with that, it's a frosty morning.  Time to dig out real coats (high of forty-eight!) and stir up some Cream of Wheat.

Crafting On

There's a blustery chill in the air, at long last, and we're reaching for hats and mittens.  It's such a nice feeling!  We're read "The Hedgehog's Harvest" by Suzanne Down for Laurel's story this morning.  It inspired me to complete three more friends for our wooden hedgehog.  Now they're settling in nicely to the felted pumpkin I made last year.  The story and instructions can be found in the Autumn 2008 Living Crafts that was sent to me so many years ago.

In knitting news, I finished Roan's helmet.  It was hard to get a straight face out of him, but he is pleased.  You can see my ravelry notes here.

I've started an In Caps Tee for him, with plans for long sleeves.  I really like the formula for the pattern, and it seems like it should be easy to modify for the colder weather.  In addition, I'm casting on a Little Kina sweater for Willow's doll Virginia.  It's a birthday gift, but I'm running short on time.  I don't think she'll mind.

Right now, I'm ready to go out and do some leaf peeping.  Everything's behind schedule this year.

For more crafting, visit Frontier Dreams.

Sea Change

We read "Snow-White and Rose-Red" this past week for Roan's studies, introducing the letters R and B. I really enjoy the Grimm's tales and it was nice to have these sweet postcards on hand.  I want to live with those girls and their mother in their cozy little home!  This was the end of his first letters block and now we'll move to number qualities.  With this move, we're also switching over to Enki.

I'm not one to change horses mid-stream, but I really missed the depth and spirit that the Enki curriculum provides.  I've now seen many of the other Waldorf-inspired options available: Waldorf Essentials, Live Education, Christopherus, and Lavender's Blue.  I feel, more strongly than ever, that Enki is the most complete program (formerly) available.  It's a teacher training in a very full, very heavy box.  DVDs to show painting, movement, copper rods, recorder, drawing, handwork, and work with language arts, CDs of songs, and lots of explanations of the pedagogy.

The Lavender's Blue Homeschool materials are great if you are looking for ease of use and planning.  They're very complete for drawing, painting, songs, and extra verses.  The container story does well with introducing form drawing.  But.  I really felt like we needed something more.  I needed four or five days of work instead of three.  I was continually going to my Enki binders to find little extras.  Circles were based on the Enki materials after the others fell flat.  I really missed all the wonderful seasonal songs and verses.

I guess I would say that I love the mood of the Enki experience.  It feels like we are going into a time out of time, reaching in all directions.  It is similar to what Padraic Colum wrote in an introduction to the Pantheon version of Grimm's Fairy Tales:

In the place where the storyteller was, the coming of night was marked as it was not in towns or in modern houses.  It was so marked that it created in the mind a different rhythm.  There had been a rhythm of the day and now there was a rhythm of the night. . .

So yesterday, I had a couple hours to myself and I planned new blocks for Roan.  Two years ago, that would have been a very intimidating task, but it was simple and fun this time around.  I really, really like the alliterative verses provided in the Enki rewrites of the global fairy tales.  For me, I think that really helps with taking hold of the letter sound.  I'm excited to hear the stories again and get back to a familiar rhythm with stories that reach back through the pages of time.

Nature School :: The October Place

As Ranger Brandy, I spent every October weekend at Hurricane Campground.  I hosted campfire programs for the hardy folks who were camping on the chilly nights.  I enjoyed this time, with the shortening days and roaring fire.  It got pretty cold sometimes! 

The First Frost

10-17-17 :: Twenty-eight degrees

Always such a welcome sight. 

Ahead and Behind

I got a little behind on my school updates, didn't I?  Maybe I didn't.  Oh, well.  We've simply been moving forward through our blocks, and I've been sizing up this new and different year away from Enki.  I think all I do is buy books now.

Willow has begun the Native Americans of the Woodlands block this week, and with it, cursive handwriting.  I was just looking over it in the syllabus, only to discover later that day that she was having a lesson from my mother.  She does have very nice handwriting, so it is one less thing for me to worry over. 

My thoughts on handwriting are several.  I do think form drawing is very important, yes.  Willow has spent the year going from the end of first grade onward in her forms, reviewing and working with more focus.  She has certainly improved.  Her printing has been hit or miss.  I do remind her to use her best writing in her lesson book, but there are inevitable typos.  I was thinking that cursive would have to wait another year, but I was wrong.

What she wrote in the picture above is after less than 24 hours of effort.  I'm impressed!  I think the difference is that cursive requires real concentration and she is someone who tends to hurry through things.  This is good practice at slowing down.  I'm still pondering over the Vimala alphabet for later on.  It may be the additional challenge she needs after tackling cursive handwriting, in addition to the character development the font touts.

In other news, we're working on spelling this year, along with some serious review of word families. Willow is a great reader, truly, but these things that are part of spelling have evaded her.  It was the one section on her standardized test that needed some improvement.  So, we're working with Spelling by Hand and starting with the easiest words.  We use our hands and we spell parts of words, like in Little Town on the Prairie.  We'll also revisit Enki's word families in the next week or so.  These are fun things, I think, and easy reviews.

My thoughts on Christopherus after six weeks is that it is not a complete curriculum.  I really do, all joking aside, own a lot of books now.  I sold books to buy more!  It's a suggestion for the course of the year, the curriculum, and I've had to reach inside to form many things into lessons.  It's an interesting transition.  Enki was, in a way, my teacher training, and I'm learning now what it takes to make lessons live inside me.  It's a lifelong effort, I think.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this all comes out.