Wonderwool...

was totally wonderful!!!
But oddly enough this lady's creations were what I will remember most.
Please take a moment to look at them using the above link. Her stand totally overwhelmed me xx

I seem to be paddling up the rapids at the moment...

... but at least I still have my paddle.

Sewing Saturday

Today I had one poorly wee man with chicken pox to look after and entertain and one highly stressed boy to talk to and spend time with.
So after discussing the stresses and pressure he was feeling we started a list of things that he wanted to make.
We started off with a plan to make a knife modelled from air drying clay, while Will played with the plasticine. This has been put to one side to dry before possibly painting.
One of the other things was a medicine pouch and knife case, Torak style.
Now I just happened to have bought some off cuts of suede from the international history fair I went to last autumn. I had such a 'make' in mind I guess.
This is the suede with the holes punched all round the edges.





This is David doing the over sewing with string and a large bodkin.



This is the sewing of the knife case.



And the finishes articles...


including one I made for Will.

Sew that was both the boys looked after and entertained ;-)

Some felty creativeness.

Mother Nature and a root baby....I need to make at least one more as Will keeps reminding me, but as this one looks like it would be more at home on the set of The Sound of Music than our season corner, I have started to make something else!

These fishes are for Will to use when he is being Ray Mears. They are almost done. Stitched and stuffed, just awaiting some details on the fins and tail, I think.
And this little fellow....


I really like him. He started off as possible Torak figure but has more of a look of Windy Miller about him, don't you think?!! I'm not sure whether to give him a face and hair. I quite like the simplicity of him.


I'm going to do a cloaked figure next, I think.

This is Will playing with the Plasticine the other day after we attempted to make a roundhouse and tried using the plasticine to hold the sticks in place. lol. Will has spent quite a lot of time playing with this over half term.

This is the day we crossed over the enemy lines and went to a Home Ed group visit. It was freezing. It was misty. Will and I were both still quite very pooorly but we were all desperate to go. It is an Iron Age roundhouse built on an old original site not too far (!!!!!) from where we live in Northamptonshire.


The children got a chance to do some daubing on the walls. It was so cold!! The clay was hard to manipulate and the muddy ground made it difficult to walk around.

But David did a small but perfectly smooth patch so that he could return and say that he helped.

They also had a go at stamping an Iron Age coin using the method of the era and there was a lovely lady who told the story of the Hallaton Treasure. Will and David were captivated. Story telling is so fantastic. It is such a shame that it is a rarity.
David had a great time playing in the huge playground there with the other HE'ers. It was difficult to drag him away.
And so they are back to school this week and I am struggling to get any kind of rhythm to my days. They are more of a topsy turvy mix than usual. It is all so wierd.
Still, there's always sock knitting for comfort and familiarity!

Humbled beyond words.

I have many other things to blog about but this makes evrything else just pale into insignificance.
This beautiful little man arrived Earthside yesterday morning into my hands.
Well done Han, you were brilliant!!! And thank you so much for allowing me the privelege xx

Madder.....

than a hatter!




My socks that I have finally finished from the beautiful hand dyed wool that BMF brought back from Scotland for me. Hand dyed with rubia tinctorium, otherwise known as madder. How appropriate!!

A week ago today....

at this very moment, I was lying on the grassy patch at the top of the hill in a local woodland counting ladybirds with William.





The two younger boys were not at school as they were both still recovering from colds. So we took advantage of it and went to the woods.
The bigger boys were all playing on the rope swings and all getting on so well. The sun was shining. It was gloriously warm and the boys had all taken off their jumpers. They were inventing games and testing their strength. At one point they were almost inventing a new olympic sport....synchronised swinging!





Tom came over to me at one point and said how lovely it all was. Just like when we first started Home Education. I was thinking the very same thing.









Then they went off in search of a longer branch to hook down the other swing that someone with a Health and Safety issue, had looped up in the tree!




The peace and quiet was wonderful. It was one of those perfect moments.
I was totally happy.

And then it happened.

Tom came walking over with a very white face and clutching one hand with the other. He had caught his thumb with the folding saw and pretty much ripped the nail right off. It was torn down one side and all across the bottom, but hinged along the other side.

Whoosh. Back to reality with a jolt.