free resources: wire

We spend very little money on materials here at our place.

Our house has plenty of open-ended, raw materials and these are used most days and yet most have arrived freely at our doorstep.

Found objects in nature, gifted supplies from friends who are clearing out or upcycled, repurposed and rescued items all are welcome here. 





Engaging with the creative process doesn't need to be expensive or even, truth be told, part of your budget. 

You could spend a bomb - you know those shops full of prefabricated craft supplies and prepackaged "craft projects". They all cost money and apart from their questionable manufacturing and how far they have travelled to arrive on the shop shelf, the step-by-step style of many of them seems a bit of drain. 

Yep, go ahead and fill some time but don't expect to explore any new territory. 

Just saying.



Developing an eye for spotting possibilities takes time. Checking out my nana's fabric stash, repurposing cardboard packaging and regularly going through Gunter's wood scrap bin have been particularly fruitful places to forage. 

These free materials give us a sense of abundance that is necessary in exploring new ideas - if you are always saving the stuff for a "better, more important " project, nothing will get made. Trust me, I know, this was part of my childhood story.

All that said, clutter does nothng for my creative flow nor my peace of mind. 

With all this foraging of materials, I can't deny that I have had to become pretty proficient at knowing what to keep and what to move on out. We live small so it's grown into quite an art in itself :-)



A material we have only recently begun to explore has been electrical cabling. Who knew that cabling was an essential part of a studio? Not me. But I had read a few posts a while back (here, here and here) and been inspired and then a friend passed a pile of the stuff on to us. She had used it in some local floristry work, using the copper wire inside the plastic to bind wreaths and was clearing out.
And so the exploring has begun.

The colours, the different grades, tying options, mounting possibilities, combinations of materials are all areas being worked.
I have visions of floating ships through our living room but for now Ruby and Sky has other plans.
Perhaps I'll sit and explore some wire myself.

settling into habit

Gunt and I have begun our morning yoga practice once again. 

Oh yes, hear a long sigh of having arrived. There has been a distinct ebb and flow to our practice over the last eight years. Mostly ebbing (and yes you would be right to calculate Ruby as being 8).

We both know that for us yoga practice is the key to feeling more alive in mind and body and we think it's a fairly necessary maintenance program now that we are comfortably in our forties.
I'm loving the very early morning starts - time to light the fire, take a peak at the stars, wash my face. Setting aside a generous amount of time has moved it from something I squeeze in between other morning tasks to being a valuable and rewarding part of my day deserving of a chunk of time all of it's own.

When I set aside a generous amount of time, I really begin to make progress on where I'm wanting to go.
I know, not rocket science.

So this has all got me thinking about the relationship between freedom and discipline. You could also try out the words freedom and structure or freedom and habit.
Often these ideas seem to be thrown into opposition. In some circles structure and habit may be perceived as suffocating to the creative spirit. Not here.

These qualities give form to the day and supports us to show up to work we want to be doing.
For me that may be getting to the yoga mat or writing a blog post, wrestling with finishing a sewing project (yes, wrestling is the perfect word) or planting seeds for the garden.
I see it the same way with the girls - the time that we gather together in the day means that we have dedicated this time to get to work on things they really want to get their teeth into.

At first we needed to persevere with committing to this time together, but now as we sink into this habit we reap the rewards of simply putting aside the time.

Lori from  Project-Based Homeschooling recently posted a quote about "protected time"(always check her comments for more conversation on the topic).
I really like this concept of protecting time.

Patricia from  Wonderfarm also wrote about "habit" a while back in her post "How we homeschool - good food for thought.

And Miranda from nurturedbylove wrote about unschooling and music practice a few years back which covers similar themes.

Well, yes, that little list is like a inventory of favourites. I acknowledge those writers who have gone before me and who have influenced my own thinking - how I appreciate my on-line community of thinkers.

So, what makes all the difference for us? I mean what makes this any different from the traditional ideas around structure and discipline and children.

The difference is this structure and discipline is not imposed from the outside, rather it is self designed. 

We co-create the structure, we negotiate if it needs changing and the self-discipline grows from reaping the rewards.
None of it is compulsory.
There are no extrinsic rewards or punishments.
There is quite simply learning about self-management and doing the work we love.

Indeed, we are all on this continuum. 

Here it is given time to grow, organically and with subtlety; patience grows with us and experience beds in the habit.

Importantly, alongside this "protected time" are great expanses of free time (a "protected time" also). Time for integrating, dreaming, synthesizing, rehearsing ideas or perhaps to be bored.
Flowing with whatever your heart desires.
Sometimes,  this might just be silence.

today will be a good day...

  Yes, more crystals (here is what we did)

 On the way to the library we stopped at a favourite flower garden down the road.

We sat amongst the beauty and drew,

 And then brought it inside on our arrival home.

Some days are made up of just simple goodness.

We have a blackboard on a wall in the kitchen. At the top above the scribbles and lists and love hearts and "Wall Come" are the words "today will be a good day."

And so it was.

blue sky and a tree

Blue sky and a tree. 

Bark to be precise, to make bark boats. Yes, in winter.

Blue sky because I have missed it so.

Miserable weather pushes patience up the queue of life lessons to work on.

A blue sky day brings relief from such things.

A morning stirring up solutions and hoping for crystals (inspired by the inspiring youngest of the chaos team) and lantern making in preparation for Saturday night's solstice celebrations with friends including the annual lantern walk.

An afternoon of Winter wreath making and sunshine absorption.

May happiness and freedom be yours.

Happy Winter Solstice

structure and freedom

We haven't been getting out much this last month. Winter has arrived, the section is soggy, the wood pile is quickly disappearing and I have been draining off the water tanks which obviously have far too little capacity.

The pull to stay inside next to the fire is winning over the pull to head out right now and yet the days are full, with projects and play, stories and investigation.

We usually have several lists on the go at any one time which help keep track of the current questions and plans and projects on the girls' minds.

I keep a spiral bound notebook for both the girls close by so I can jot down questions,  passions and some possible directions. These books are invariably jammed with scraps of paper that I have scribbled on during the day.

Now and again I also do a bit of a mind map of all the current interests whirring around our home; these are great to get things out of one's head and down on paper. These are all attempts at keeping in step with the dance of respectful, child-led learning.

Being intentional about supporting the girls to follow up on interests and plans is part of what I see as my job description; gently reminding them of yesterday's ideas, pulling relevant books from the shelf, making sure we are stocked with necessary materials. Not in a hovering-over-their-every-whim kind of way but supportive and useful.

This dance continues to evolve with the children. 

Mostly my intention has been to be present. Presence increases mindfulness and my ability to flex with my own wants and needs and those of the the children. And as they grow, these  change. 

When the girls were younger their days were anchored around the predictable rhythm of our days (early morning and bedtime rituals, mealtimes, naps etc). They spent their days playing by themselves, each other and alongside me. I'm not a sit-down-and-play-baby-activities-with-my-baby kind of mama - I'm not an entertainer (only sometimes when I have my clown suit on :-)). Rather I set up our home environment so opportunities were accessible and mostly got on with my day with them alongside me.

This shifted gradually but significantly around the time that Ruby turned seven. 

Her imaginary friends no longer were visiting daily and she had more definite plans of things she wanted to make and learn about. We kept track of these ideas and plans then too but didn't get far with making them happen. Ruby wanted to make and do some more challenging projects but was resistant to putting aside the time to make them happen. She seemed to be stepping outside her comfort zone and we needed to change something in our days to support this new direction. We took a while to find what would fit and then took the time to lay down the pattern of this new habit.

Now, on the mornings we are at home, we gather after breakfast to see where we are at with projects, check in with where help might be needed to figure out the next step or just get on with creating and/or investigating.
Yesterday this looked like:
> doing a few rows of weaving.
> pulling out the buttons and the cuisenaire rods to play with grouping numbers in different ways (out of the blue, Ruby decided she wants to make a start on multiplication)
> both working on a profile portrait (born out of  having had a couple of Fridas above our dining room table.
> checking out measuring angles on a protractor. Ruby was creating a periscope kitset of sorts for her cousin's birthday present and needed to clarify details.

We all like this new structure to our home days.
I like how the clear intention creates the space for us all to fully engage with paths we want to make progress on.  It reminds me (as I kickstart my yoga practice once again) that the structure/discipline/habit creates the path to where I'm wanting to go
I think Ruby likes being in charge and feels supported by the structure.
And Sky seems happy and engaged, full stop.
Rather than the structure running roughshod over the girls creativity, it reminds us to consciously engage with some of the projects we  have on the go and to take the next step, whatever that is.

fit for the fairy queen

Thank you dear leaf.
You saved the morning; in fact you set the whole tone for the day.
I had had a restless night, the wind in particular was relentless and in our wee bach, full of drafty gaps, we get the full brunt.
We needed milk; I agreed with the girls, it was a hot chocolate kind of day.
To get to the local store we needed to head out into the weather. I knew it had potential either to be invigorating or just hard work with attitude to match.
As we stood in the porch putting on our hats and gloves and scarves and coats the weather got decidedly worse. The hail was horizontal.
I was feeling challenged, trying to keep my grumpiness in check.
We headed out, hoods down against the hail.

And then, well, we found you.

Actually Ruby discovered you, scooting along the guttering, in such a hurry to somewhere.  She saved you from the great dark pit; she wanted to catch you before you disappeared down the drain.

A boat fit for the Fairy Queen.

Perhaps you were late for an engagement with the Queen herself.

We guarded your voyage the rest of the way down the hill, clearing the path and assisting with detours around insurmountable barriers.

 

You were ragged by the end of the voyage; your prow had a irrepairable tear and the hull was taking in a lot of water.
We carried you home to calmer waters, no Queen in sight.
Sky will remember you and tells me she will tell her babies the story of you in bed tonight.
Ruby will too; the day she rescued the boat fit for the Fairy Queen..

handmade puppets

A recent birthday found Sky back with a needle in her hand stitching up a puppet for her three year old friend.
We make handmade presents here - an opportunity for the giver, an inspiration for the receiver and a whole re-education for all involved about what we value. There is quite a list of gift possibilities we draw inspiration from these days but it is the puppets Sky keeps returning to.
These are creations where her complete ownership can stay intact; her skills bringing alive her ideas.

Introducing Pengy the Penguin (loving those names).
> We find ourselves often drawing up patterns for things we want to make.
Drawing has always been one of our most useful problem-solving tools (as written about here). Beginning with a picture is a good place to start and allows us to figure out how the pieces might fit together.
Gunter and I have never drawn for our children and avoiding this, I realise, is a post in itself. For now let it be enough to say enjoy your children's own experiences of the world through their drawing (not showing them how to nor doing it for them).By doing so we allow them to retain ownership over their personal creativity.
I realise strategies are helpful.
When the girls were toddlers and floundering with  how to draw something we supported them by talking about their experiences of the subject. Toddlers live through their senses and can access sense memories easily. By talking about what they saw, heard, felt and smelt, they very soon had begun to make a start at making marks on paper. As they have grown and actual likeness to the subject has become more important, at times they will access books to look at other reproductions of the subject.
Both "Magic Places" by Penni Brownlee and "It's Not a Bird Yet" by Ursula Kolbe are books that have supported me in supporting our children in their own creative journeys.
>Anyway, back to Pengy.
Once the drawing is complete, with the creator talk about and choose the shapes that might need to be cut separately, draw the extra parts and cut out the pattern.
> Find some felt or an old blanket you might have, pin the paper to the fabric and cut out the fabric.
Note on scissors and paper patterns...buy them their own fabric scissors. 
> Stitch the puppet up using whatever stitch the child feels up to. The running stitch, as seen on Pengy,  is a great stitch to use ... well, on the run. Blanket stitch is pretty but takes a little more time.
And of course a puppet can also be easily transformed into a softie by stuffing with wool or scraps of felt and adding a bottom.

some slippers

A few nights ago I contributed to an information evening about unschooling.
One of the participants talked about her struggle with the thought of letting go the reins of control over the direction of her children's learning. Her honest contribution to the conversation was invaluable - letting go is a fundamental place to begin in the process of trusting our children.
She wondered what she could do to prevent her from constantly stepping into the lead.
I suggested she take up a hobby.
I was serious.

I'm a very slow knitter but I do enjoy the meditation it brings me - I like the busyness of my hands and the quiet of my mind.
Knitting allows me to sit alongside Ruby and/or Sky with ease and quiet when they are working on something that may be challenging them. It supports me to be available to them and at the same time prevents me from becoming too focussed on what they are doing. It keeps me slightly detached so as I avoid jumping in with my own agenda and becoming frustrated and impatient. It is simple to lay down my needles to give them or the problem my complete attention and then to pick up the needles again when I am no longer needed.

I don't do much knitting but I enjoy it when I do.
Above are my indoor slippers I finished last night.
Wool from an old jersey which we unravelled and washed.
Leather from a skirt I bought at the local $2 second-hand clothing shop.
A simple flower from some scraps of felt.
I like how light they are and the fact that when I wear them I can still feel the floor under my feet.

Thriving.

Wasn't it our feminist foremothers who reminded us that all the best (as in real and sustaining) (r)evolutions happen around the kitchen table.

Well, right now, making, constructing and building is all high on the interest list and it all tends to happen at the kitchen table.

(R)evolutionaries in the making.

To give you a taster, this is how it goes most mornings right now:

Sky: Before breakfast has been eaten, just about to begin playing the piano.

" Mama, I love Brownie( the horse) but can I make a unicorn today after I do this."

Mama: smiling at her enthusiasm but all the while scuffling around my head to check that this idea will work for me.

"Yep I think that will work. I'll get you some breakfast, you play some piano, and then we can take the next step."

And so, yesterday we made a good start on two unicorns. Of course Ruby jumped on board the moment we began.

Sky drew the head, I helped her enlarge it.

We chose some fabric, a perfect fluffy cream from my Nana's fabric hoard. As we cut into it, I talked to my girls about their great-Grandmother who had died before they were born and about the path the fabric has taken to get to our table. It was good to have the opportunity to share the stories and we all felt great to at last put he fabric to excellent use.

Then we cut, we pinned, they figured the mane and then sewed it all together.

We then chose buttons for the eyes - always the most time consuming of the tasks.

We reluctantly put them aside but planned to finish them today - there wasn't much to do.

And so to this morning: the postie arrives at the door with a parcel - an Easter parcel full of goodness and love from their cousins.

Ruby: "Ok, I want to make them a box full of goodies Mama. I can give them one of my eggs and stitch them a rabbit. "

Mama: hesitating for a moment (doing the internal check),"We have 2 hours before the post office closes at 12pm (and then, gaining confidence as I remember the blown eggs we painted just a couple of days ago) but I think we can do it."

And the spiral of creating, mess making, telling stories and problem solving started again.

This morning a concrete cutter worked on earthquake damage next door. We turned up the music and danced while we stitched.

Uni the Unicorn (Sky likes simple names) will wait in the push chair for another day.

(old woolen blankets - a wonderful resource)

If you need a curriculum, make it your child.

Listen. Surrender. Set the boundaries that you need, if need be.

Dive in.

Accept that thriving is the new normal.

a few things

We made playdough last weekend.Joy.

Playdough is still something we regularly come back to in our home.

The girls have loved it since they were really wee and I'm sure these memories are half of the attraction still now; it's fun to play with but it also allows them to feel embraced by these warm, loving memories of their younger years.

It's apparently great source of vibrant language development; a friend who was completing her PHD in child verbal language development a while back, used playdough tables as a highly effective strategy to encourage verbal language usage and experimentation.

Let me just make it clear, this is not our reason for loving playdough - no need for encouraging verbal language around this house. Ask Gunter.

With all the cooking of beetroot going on in the past few weeks, we had some spare beetroot water to add as dye and added a few drops of lavendar essential oil just because it's our favourite.

The girls usually make it these days. We make the cooked version because there is nothing better than kneading a fresh batch of warm playdough.

Magic Places Playdough

(I still hold my copy of "Magic Places" dearly. The author, Penni Brownee, continues to do fabulous work for littlies. )

Mix together in a pot:

1 cup four

half a cup of salt

1 cup cold water

1 Tbsp cooking oil

2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp colouring

Stir all ingredients over a med-hot heat until the mixture gathers together in a glob.

Knead Immediately.

Store in an air-tight container.

We have a stash of clay waiting in the wings as well. The girls keep dabbling: they love it, but have got to the point of really wanting to get their work fired. I'm slowing working on it: trying to find someone in the community who has a kiln and also figuring how to build our own little DIY homemade model. Sounds fun don't you think?

Any links or ideas?

We also caught the ferry across the Harbour this weekend.

A favourite while waiting at the wharf is to check out the undersides of the buoys - always a disappointment when they have been cleaned but pure delight when we find a thriving ecosystem to marvel at.

Marvelling: a bit of time and a bit of quiet and such a rich quality of feeling and deep connection.

In the between spaces I also wrote a new local food post over at lyttel-town. No, not pansies, they are just pretty and there to welcome us every time we go outside right now. Rather chickweed - the wonder green that is found everywhere alot of the time.

a drawing bag

We enjoy Thursdays.

Thursdays are slow, at-home, quiet days where we can sink into whatever is exciting us or make progress with projects that have been lurking around for a while. Making paper is one of those projects we will do today. Sky has plans to dye wool with beetroot juice but I 'm not sure whether I am up to the possible messy outcomes.

Thursdays come between the two fullest days for us: full with the community garden, piano lessons, seeing friends in town, sometimes swimming, sometimes climbing and Drama class. Oh, and errands of course. We manage to live a little out of town and be connected with town friends and fun by organising our weeks well. We want to use the car as little as possible and on the whole, we prefer a predictable rhythm to the week, and so we have built a rhythm of "home" days and "out" days.

The survival kit for Sky on the days we are away from her creative space is her "Drawing Bag," packed with pencil roll and paper, sometimes nature journal, sometimes watercolours. Often treasures. It is on hand ready to record a spiral in nature, diagram the steps in a game, spontaneously draw a princess, a fairy, a rainbow or a rabbit (some of her current favourites).

I made the drawing bags a few years back in the hope that they would be easy to grab on our way out the door. They have not disappointed and have made great birthday presents for friends on occasion too.

The bag is a simple drawstring - yep, I do love drawstrings - and the pencil roll is fairly easy, backed with felt and decorated with ribbon. The strip you can see at the top of the pencils is totally unnecessary; don't bother with the extra fuss.

Yesterday her bag carried her nature journal and some new inspiration we picked up for $2 at one of the local oppy' - "The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady" by Edith Holden. A real beauty and just perfect for Sky's current flower project.

----------------------------------

Over on the Lyttel-town blog I've recently posted some inspiration from Nicole Foss' (of AutomaticEarth) recent visit to Lyttelton and her thoughts on the ongoing economic and energy collapse and how people and communities can prepare.

I am convinced that we have no idea of what our children will live with and through. Growing strong, resilient girls who are used to thinking outside the box and whose sense of agency is foundational is a solid start.

handwork

There are tufts of carded wool and thread remnants on the living room floor tonight. It's been a good day with much making for a friend's wee babe who will soon be arriving. This desire of ours to make most of the gifts we give can make some weeks feel full with just keeping up with the gift-giving in our lives. Our gifts are mostly pretty simple and we use materials that we already have on hand mostly. In this overloaded culture of ours, we figure that the gift is no longer about the thing itself so much as the energy behind it. (Actually at times we gift time instead of another thing, but that's another post.) Sometimes there has been so much love and attention on these gifts that they are hard to part with which leads to the inevitable making a second to keep.

The girls usually come up with the idea for the gift themselves. Their ideas are sometimes more complicated than I am feeling up to but we talk about possibilities and limiting factors and then we usually make a start. I did not work with my hands a lot as a child, not like Gunter, and so as an adult I am not totally at home with creative dexterity. I am willing and capable but I lack total ease. I watch Gunter and I appreciate the difference.

The girls work with their hands as much as possible; in the garden, outside at the workshop bench, grappling with constructing some art project or sitting with handwork. We like the idea that working with our hands stirs healthy brain development.

As our hands become strong and skillful so does our brain.

“The density of nerve endings in our fingertips is enormous. Their discrimination is almost as good as that of our eyes. If we don’t use our fingers, if in childhood and youth we become “finger-blind”, this rich network of nerves is impoverished-which represents a huge loss to the brain and thwart’s the individual’s all-around development.” - Matti Bergstrom, Swedish neurophysiologis.

I'm tired now. I haven't quite committed to making writing happen during the day but I am so enjoying being back in this space and writing again. Check out the link "A Child's Wish" under the good connections on the sidebar and be inspired.

her book of worries

Shifting has meant a bit of driving, which has meant quite a bit of listening to "Clarice Bean: Don't Look Now."

During one such ride over the weekend Sky declared she wanted to make a book of worries just like Clarice Bean and that she already knew what her number 1, 2 and 3 worries were!

It seemed like the obvious thing to get started on today.

We have made quite a few books and think this method is the nicest; tidy without too much fiddle and it includes a blast on the sewing machine.

Pretty paper for the cover; upcycled picture, magazine inspiration, previous artwork. Whatever works.

Cut to the size you want and fold in half. Then cut the same size paper for the inner pages and, here's the trick if you don't want any splaying of pages, fold the pages separately, one at a time.

Lay pages and cover together and line up sides.

Then blast down the spine with the sewing machine...beautiful finish, just like that.

If you like, you can make the base of the cover longer than the pages, fold up on the inside of cover and sew along seam - this way and you will make a small inside pocket.

Unsurprisingly, this year has been hard on Sky's sense of safety in the world.

There have been so many opportunities to face our fears, breath deep, watch where our mind grasps on, cuddle quicker and for longer. Her worry book is a great place for her to name her fears and draw what they look like.

She's got a lot of relevant life-long learning going on this girl.