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.

new directions

This last week has proved to us all the importance of staying flexible with the plan.
Life happens and when one understands that life is for learning then anything is possible.
The plan can act as a road map, but sometimes you just need to chuck the map aside and go off road.

A couple of weeks back the girls and I discussed a few possible paths forward for their current interests, one being portraiture and painting in general. Studying Georgia O'Keefe seemed a good plan as we have read a bit about her before and looked at her paintings. We also have some interest in studying bones right now and so have some specific subject material for her New Mexico phase.

So all was set......and then we visited a friend last weekend. In her lounge, a large painting of a female nude hangs on the wall - voluptuous and goddess-like. The painting immediately captured the girls' attention, drawn in by the subject, the colour, the lines, curves and shadows. They wanted to know how the painter had made her so life-like. 

They wanted to paint a body too.

Now I don't know anything much about the nude in art history nor do I know very much about techniques for drawing the figure (any tips in the comments greatly appreciated).

What I have learnt is to recognise when curiosity is sparked and interest is engaged and really listening to and tending this glowing tinder is the only way to truly respect our children as constant knowledge seekers* and competent learners.

This image of the child is a vital starting position without which we cannot fully take seriously their lead. We hold this image and are excited to follow their lead.

And so we are figure drawing and where best to start but with your own mama.
I realise this isn't for every mama. I'm ok with it.

In fact, the unexpected route bears surprising gifts - a chance to really study a real body, the challenge of translating the complexity of the human body onto paper, conversations on anatomy and more.
As we are all in new territory here, I emphasised staying playful and light as they began drawing.
So far they are excited by the process and ok with the results too. There is talk of sculpting a figure from clay further down the track and I'll suggest trying one with wire too. They are also keen to model themselves and so they will draw each other sometime.

With the girls directing their own learning at times it just feels like I fling a few books around, suggest possibilities, help set up and clear away and otherwise just keep up with the enthusiasm.
I'm ok with that too.

*This term I took from the Reggio approach.

to emerge

Last weekend while I was home alone, I also spent some time getting my head in order.  Often I see how we do child-led learning and daily life here as a dance which mirrors each of us as we organically evolve; spirally outwards and back in, collecting new knowledge and skills, integrating that with what is already known and making new connections on the way.

As mama and co-creator of our days, every now and again I need a stretch of time to gather my thoughts. Taking a seat on the sidelines, I reflect on where we have been and look ahead to where we might be going.

So last weekend I spent my mornings brainstorming possible pathways which the girls' interests might follow, noted questions still unanswered and tagged resources we might need to gather. I took most of the information from the two spiral bound notebooks in which I note down interests, questions and observations on a near daily basis ( I have written a little about these before here.) These notebooks (which, by the way, sometimes resemble an accumulation of scribbles on scraps of paper) hold the  reminders and inspiration from what has gone before. Trying to hold it all in my head just doesn't work for me :-)
These mindmaps I create I share with the girls. They make adjustments; add current ideas and cross-out pathways that no longer are interesting to them. I'm ok with that. Mostly they just get excited and want to get started.
The pathways that are left are a combination of new ideas and old ones that they want to dig deeper into. These pathways may last a day, a week, six months and possibly years.

Mushrooms continue to be a fascination for Sky. This began with a poster we were given by a friend and doing a little local foraging last autumn. She now has an ongoing collection of fungi she finds in our garden and on walks. We were given a glass terrarium that she now keeps these in and monitors their growth and health. She loves to draw and write and so,  as you can imagine documentation is everywhere.  This has also led to us researching growing mushrooms (intentionally) in the coming growing season.
I won't decide when Sky is done with this project, Sky will decide that for herself.

Portrait painting also became an interest for both girls over the last couple of months after being given a few prints by Frida Kahlo.  Sticking them on the wall above the dinner table we found ourselves talking a lot about what we saw, about Frida's life and about portraiture in general. We got some books out of the library and got to work on some portrait painting. They loved it and so we talked about studying other artists' work and techniques. Georgia O'Keefe will be first up since we already have a book with large prints of her work here. What I have discovered over the years is that I begin with what is easy so as to catch the enthusiasm and get things started. When we can we will also head to the library and find places to look at others' art for more inspiration(still no chch art gallery open yet due to the earthquakes).
And so, in this way, new pathways emerge.

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

I have reactivated the "Good Connections" list over on the sidebar. Now and again I'll add some links that I think you might like too. Hopefully this will also lead to tidying up the sidebar in general. Cross fingers.

winter

A study into life in the depth of winter.
A study in death.
A study in bones.

A study in friendship and firelighting sans matches.

Furthering our study into crystals, and beauty and turangawaewae.

A study in the importance of ritual (and in courage!)

Where have we been for the last couple of weeks?

Studying how to live well in the midst of Winter.

Share, if you wish, what you have been studying. Of course, "studying" in the broadest sense of the word. We'd love to hear.

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.

bringing it inside

 We didn't manage to get far on our walk yesterday morning. By the time we had reached the saddle the cloud had engulfed us and the temperature had dropped significantly. We aren't interested in epics just yet; at this stage we are interested in building up a culture not testing the limits. So we headed out into the landscape without expectations of how far we would get, but rather taking cues from the girls and their comfort levels.

Sky and I did manage to find some treasures while out there, as we stopped for muffins and a warm drink. 

Today we got to bring them inside and let the microscope do it's magic. 

There were oohs and aahhs and WOW and even a pushy cue with just the 3 of us( 4 including Charlotte.)

Invoking wonder at the world right beneath our feet has just got to be foundational to appreciating the Earth we belong to and more specifically, the place where we live. 

Seems to me it just might be a beautiful way of growing caring and engaged young people.

We played with the focus and talked and imagined and drew in our journals.
We pondered the nature of the universe and the building blocks of life.

Under the microscope lichen transforms into a futuristic city, a radical skate park, a prehistoric forest and a poem. 

Stepping away from the microscope the humble lichen lays on the stage.

Green and coarse.

Silently holding a universe.

Endnote: To those who are feeling a little flat or despondent about life or if you are just in need of a small but significant lift in general:  borrow a microscope, scrape some lichen from where ever you can find some and prepare to be transformed.

easter

At last we are walking more as a family. It's been a slow unfolding but this is the year that we wanted to be a whole lot more intentional about getting into the outdoors more often and for longer.

"Intention"- it's my word this year.

I have the outdoors in me. I spent most of my days in my formative years on the water paddling or in the hills walking with a fair bit of climbing thrown in.

I then worked at various jobs in the outdoors for a while: teaching kayak skills, raft guiding, guided hiking and running school camps. I loved all of it but I had the university itch so traded that for a head full of ideas and a large student loan (:-)

Don't get me wrong, I loved university - the learning, the debating and the ideas - it's just now at 42, still paying off my student loan and with a broader appreciation of learning, I'm not sure I'd make the same decision given the choice again.

Being in the outdoors was my complete passion and although I left a large part of it behind when I went to uni, it has nevertheless remained for me a deep pool of sustenance and part of my identity.

Of course I have always shared this love for being in nature, out of doors with the girls but it's only now that they are 6 and 8, that it feels like good timing for us to step it up to more multi-day trips.

We have done a few over the years but now we want more.

Easter Sunday seemed like a good day to get outside and head up Te Ahu Patiki (Mt. Herbert): a decent day's walk and excellent views in, quite literally, our backyard. As for the landscape, the Banks Peninsula is like a cemetery for me: large stumps from ancient totora forests cover the now grassed land.

I can't help but feel the loss.

Learning to be together as a family and tackling challenging tasks can be exactly that - challenging.

For the first 2 hours of walking, there was a large amount of stopping and starting: we call it our settling in period. Expect way too many drinks of water, clothes adjustments, toilet stops, general complaints.

Then there's the mama complaining about those who are complaining -she's certainly not helping things :-)

Gunter gently points out in the midst of one of these episodes that we just need to do more day-long/multi-day walks so we get better at rolling with the settling in period. He's right.

On top of all that, there was my own internal struggle with the goal. I wanted to reach the top, I thought it would feel good, but of course, I also wanted the girls to enjoy getting there, noticing dew on grass, skinks sunbathing on the rocks and not feeling rushed on.

Just being where they were, available to the present moment.

As I finally surrendered into being ok with how things were and not reaching anywhere in particular, we all found ourselves quiet and content. Ahh.

We had finally settled into the day and then happily walked the rest of the way to the top.

The girls loved it. We all had a great day.

Isn't that often how it goes.

long-term projects

I've loved Lori's Camp Creek blog for a while now.

Earlier on, when Ruby was still under 5, I was drawn to it because it of my interest in the reggio emillia approach; her posts gave me confidence in my belief in long-term, child-led learning.

I also like the juice that comes from the discussion in her comment section.
Recently she posted a link to a TED talk by Gever Tulley about the power of tinkering. Check it out over on the sidebar.

I then went on and clicked around the TED talks for a bit and found the talk below.

It's a great description of a possible path to long-term projects.

My hope is that within a school setting the children still remain the key negotiators in what they are learning. Without this the long-term project becomes another take on a theme study.

I see the school timetable also imposes an end date. With the freedom of having no school timetable to stick to, our long-term projects can last for as long as the girls want them to and can be revisited again and again. With schooling families, I guess the hope would be that parents will pick up where the school finishes, that's assuming good communication links.

thinking about home

For a while now our family has been scribbling on scraps of paper, thinking, talking and dreaming about what our home may be one day.
There has been a lot of scribbling; drawings, notes, numbers, concepts, coloured pencils, doodles and perspective.
We have learnt a lot about fully listening to one another along the way too.
Our section on the hill, our financial resources and our wish to finally "come home" has been our impetus.

It has felt like a long and windy route.
At times it has felt like blizzard conditions; the track markers hardly visible and I haven't always been able to hear Gunter over the shrieking wind.
At other times it has felt like just grey, overcast skies.
When we have talked about our ideas with people other than our friends who know us well, we usually feel like we miss the boat; the people seem to paddle far ahead in their mind, led by their pressumptions and prescribed ideas.
We sense that they never really heard what we said.
Often though we haven't been clear in what we've been saying; while trying to formulate our own imaginings, we trip ourselves up on our own cluttered ideas and feelings of inadequacy.

What has really made the difference recently is having a bunch of friends get involved with the details and figuring solutions out alongside us.
A couple of naieve decisions made a few years ago has got us in a bit of a silly situation and The Harbour Pool ( I wrote about this group here. I need to write more; it's a very exciting group) decided that this is a project for the collective and not just for our individual family to juggle.
Phew.
Including our dear friends in on the conversation has made all the difference.
The project has now got forward momentum and the possibility of fabulousness.
Now there is little chance of our family sinking under the weight of our own limitations (in our minds and our pockets) as there are ten other buoys keeping us afloat.

One of these dear visionary friends has been feeding us with concepts; ideas to play and have fun with.
This morning her "pick" was sitting in my inbox.
At first glance I presumed the platform (pictured) was a joke.
Apparently not.
When I returned home later in the afternoon, Gunter and Ruby had been looking and linking and chatting and dreaming.
So I had another look.
I watched the slideshow and fell in love.Without the help of friends, my heart wouldn't have been split open, expanding my mind, filling me with a rush of possibilities and dreaming up new ways of being at home.

our dear charlotte

Meet our dear Charlotte.

She is a much loved and carried around member of our family.

Charlotte is Ruby's baby.

When Ruby found her just on three years ago, it was pretty much love at first sight.

We were visiting friends and they pulled out some playthings for the girls, among them was Charlotte.

As we went to leave that day our friends, noticing the bond that had been made between mama and baby suggested we take Charlotte with us. They explained that Charlotte didn't have a great quality of life stuck in the hall cupboard at their house.

Ruby was hesitant. She knew the love was deep and questioned her own ability in giving Charlotte the best life possible.

She decided on a foster arrangement; she would do a bit of respite care now and again but give Charlotte back in between times.

Well, once she arrived home Ruby quickly realised that returning Charlotte to a life in the hall cupboard just wasn't possible and we went about formally adopting her.

Like so many mamas the world over, Ruby has her in bed each night and insists on giving Charlotte the warm blankets.

Like other mamas, she wakes in the night to check she is covered.

She comes everywhere with us and as with a lot of families with babies, it is sometimes a real squeeze to get out of the door while also remembering the spare clothes, blankets and carrier for Charlotte.

The carrier we made for Charlotte early on has worked really well. Ruby wanted the flexibility of a being able to carry Charlotte both on the front and the back. The pattern we came up with was super easy; basically it is a double-sided rectangle with long straps and velcro as a fastener. The rectangle pulls up between the legs and fastens around the chest.

Here is what we did:

• Choose 2 pieces of fabric.
• Measure distance from chest to back and cut out 2 rectangles of the same length.
• Sew 3 sides of the rectangles together, right-sides together and pull through.
• Measure the length of straps you need - we have the straps coming over the shoulders, crossing over the back or the front and coming back around, ending with a tie. A bit longer is better than a bit short.
• Cut fabric this length and double the width you want the final strap to be. Sew right sides together and pull through.
• Slot the unfinished ends of the straps into the unfinished end of the rectangle and sew the end shut.
• Add a length of velcro on both sides of one end of the rectangle. Sew the other side of the velcro to the other end. This fastens around the chest.

Strap your baby on and head out into the world knowing your beloved baby is snuggled up to you.

Thank you Charlotte for the love you have provided for Ruby.

We feel lucky to have you.

more self-led research

A research project of sorts that arose out of the positive response that we got from making the gratitude banner earlier in the year:

• questions that Ruby has been pondering since she was about 4 years old. Questions investigating stories and truth and different people's beliefs and our origins.
• a chance to ask these questions in a way that was non-threatening for her and for the receiver.
• choosing a wide-range of people she felt comfortable to ask with a couple that were slightly more challenging.
• discovering elements of formal writing.
• getting mail in the post and listening to what people have to say.
• thinking about presenting our findings....I can feel a graph coming on.
• reflecting on the concept of reciprocity and thinking about how she might respond to the participants.

What fun to get so much post in the mail and the letters have been so encouraging and thoughtfully answered.
Whether your children go to school or not, it's been a great way of introducing issues around research, encouraging others to take children's questions seriously and exposing Ruby to the array of people's responses in a safe environment.

crafting with our hands.

We are nearing the end of The little House series.

This is Ma pregnant.

As with the big 6.3 quake in February this time around we continue to find comfort in crafting with our hands.

Lately it has been handcraft central here with Ruby falling in love with the immediacy of finger knitting and Sky the immediacy of needle felting.

We at last cracked the way to finger knit fast.

H..e..l..l..o. The secret is to stand on the long end of the wool and let it run under your foot as you knit. I know this may seem obvious to all you veteran finger knitters but not to us.

Since Ruby has discovered this she has been making bracelets, necklaces, pot stands and flowers, belts and handbag handles.

Sky on the other hand is deeply into making broaches and wands with her felting needle

Cut a star or oval out of a piece of felt or a blanket you have (a thicker one gives more strength to the form.) Needle felt wool onto this. Sky is still enjoying playing with the colours swirling into each other but it could also be a letter or a picture. You can add beads or buttons if you wish. Stitch a safety pin on the back for a broach or a stick on the back of a star for a wand.

Looking toward next week, Ruby is particularly keen to begin spinning with a drop spindle as in here and here.

We both like the idea of it being 30,000 years old.

Basically I've been putting her off and investigating spirals instead to connect with the form and movement of spinning.

Well that's what I tell myself; I think it has mostly just been putting her off.

We've had a lot on.

I'll keep you posted.

As for tomorrow we are heading down to London street to stitch hearts.

This is just what I need after little sleep last night and a day of wondering what is around the corner.

The Winter Street Festival was planned for tomorrow night, but because of the possibility of falling buildings (not that there are many left to fall) it has been postponed.

We thought the stitchers could be a presence anyway, stitching in public (during knitting in public week)and sharing the love again here among the brokenness.

needle and thread

They keep finding stitching projects.

They got really comfortable in using the materials and tools during their hours of stitching in March and now find stitching possibilities at every turn.

The authentic context provided the initial impetus to learn the skill and from there it has directed by their own curiosity and need.

Their work basket is now a permanent fixture next to where we do a lot of our shared reading.

Extra hair bands are always good and this one came about one day when Sky's hair was annoyingly falling into her face. She attached a bit of elastic at the back for stretch.

Problem solved.

And a wee purse to hold her precious buttons in. Cute blanket stitch. Tricky looping.

My stitching basket has been fairly untouched for a while now except for a wee crown I stitched for a 2 year old friend a couple of weeks back. An easy but always treasured homemade birthday gift.