:: big egg ::

 Phoebe came in from collecting the eggs the other day with wonderment and lots of giggles...

there was definitely something different with one of the eggs...

L to R: bantam egg, regular hen's egg, 'whopper' egg

so she set out to see just how much different...

 Phoebe loves to bake and knows perfectly well that an average hen's egg will weigh approximately 60gm...after a bit of thinking she worked out that this beauty is more than half as big again...

 it was agreed that she would have it sunny-side up for her breakfast and indeed it was a DOUBLE YOLKER!

and a breakfast enjoyed at least one and a half times as much as usual, maybe even twice as much :)

:: shelter building news ::

 Spring is definitely in the air in our nook, drifts of pale lemon yellow pine pollen are floating visibly through the much warmer air and leaving sulphuric stains and crusts on everything outside. 

And bees have been busily about their business in the very first plum blossoms. Precious.

 Pruning has all but finished - we have tried to keep to beneficial lunar gardening times for pruning - we are nearly done. Lots of long straight waterspouts here - could be useful...

 The warmth, the pruning and the new-found energy of Spring has propelled me to make a little more push toward completing the shelter house we began with Phoebe. 

While visiting the South Island in the middle of Winter, we went to the Otago Settler's Museum.  There we saw a 'Wattle + Daub' wall panel, rescued from an actual early settler's house and could clearly see how to re-create something similar to help clad our shelter house - adapting it to fit what we'd already created.  It is just like weaving, really, with sticks.

 These are my tools: a decent pair of secateurs and some mean-looking loppers.

They make nice, neat cut-off edges - a bit safer, too - because so many stick-ends could grab!

Inside has had some input, too.  Aaron, Phoebe and one of her cousins who was staying in the holidays borrowed a concrete mixer and the children made the concrete while Aaron did most of the spreading and levelling.

A little embellishment also enhanced the design - a border of marbles, glass gems and stones.

And Olive always watching on, chewing her bones...

:: earnest crafting ::

my creations

Visiting a friend and fellow-Taruna student recently, Phoebe spied some magical little people nestled into her 'Seasonal Table' - it was a Winter Family, a Father, a Mother and a babe in a crib..."Can we make some, puleeeeease?" came the request almost as we walked back in the door at home.

I truly thought I'd done pretty well at 1) remembering how to make these wondrous wool felt dolls and 2) the creating of them.  We were taught how to make them while on the Course in Rudolf Steiner Education, last year at Taruna College.  I'd made about three at the time and thought that was a skill embedded in my cranium and finger tips forever, however time passes...

Phoebe's creations

What was remarkable was Phoebe's effort she put into making the same figures - these above and below are all of her own making. 

also Phoebe's creations - with fine detail - baskets, aprons with flowers on, wrapped braids...

I was fairly taken aback at her persistence to learn how to make them in totality and the rapid expression of her newly learned skill - in total she made 8 figures and at the beginning I showed her every single step, until on the final few she made them each, entirely herself.

And then, there is the hot water bottle cover -she was inspired to make her own, after I'd set out to make us a family set...one of the cut covers just disappeared, along with the child,to her bedroom for a portion of the day...listening to something Roald Dahl, I believe...

Again, more "Mother-incredulousness" as I witnessed her stitch away completely free-form - she had a picture she liked and just began embroidering as if drawing - wonderful!

Lady Vermillion

Those small hands are capable of very crafty business! 

:: flower petal rag rug (something I've been meaning to make for ages!) ::

These past couple of days I've been working away at this mat. My energies probably could have been spent more productively, perhaps.  There is a project I really do need to be working on.

 But this sewing project grabbed me.  I've been meaning to make one of these mats for ages, you see.  Since I first saw similar mats in a holiday place in Fiji...in 2003...10 years ago!

Before I can mobilise my energies for the other project that I really do need to be attending to, I appear to have 'needed' to craft and craft and craft...

I think what I'm actually doing is the rumination and 'turning over of' in my mind what I'm about to dig into that I really do need to attend to (-you know - that other thing)...

 And in a way, creating this mat, tidies up a lot of fabric scraps into something lovely and useful.  Scraps from items of clothing I've made for Phoebe, curtains for her room, dolls clothes, op shop finds - like the, ahem, "contrasting" retro curtaining for the backing...lots of memories...

quite randomly-shaped pieces were cut - I quite like a project like this - completely freeform

and spiralling ever inward, just like my thoughts and feelings as I sew...turning over memories and imagining new ones to come out there in the future...

....is now!

:: training Olive ::

 meet Phoebe's dog, Olive - a Shih-Tzu - whom Phoebe loves and adores and also has the unenviable task (since she is her mistress!) of training!

 the weekend before last we had beautiful weather and some friends come to stay, one of whom is an expert dog-trainer!

 Since Olive has huge potential for training (read: needs lots more training, since she is still a puppy) it was agreed a lesson was in order...

 Phoebe learnt a new technique for letting Olive know a)who's in charge and b)I'm not happy with that behaviour, Olive

 There was also the method of using a stick (not as any form of punishment!!) as an extension of the trainer's arm, allowing control over the dog at a greater distance - eg - commanding 'sit' and 'stay' and being able to walk further away from Olive, while she thinks Phoebe is right next to her - the stick is part of the trainer = genius.

soon Olive was trotting along pretty happily on the lead, much to the delight of us all :).  Thank you so much, John - much appreciated.

:: little house update ::

 the shelter we have been building as part of Phoebe's Class 3 'shelter' study has been slowly creeping along. Partly because there is only a little bit of this:

and the scene usually looks more like this:

(note the missing character from this shot!) Partly, pondering what to do at each stage, partly time available and mostly, interest - after all a project is much more fun if one actually wants to be involved!  And this we as adults learn more slowly, it seems.

As the little house takes shape and the structure with it's leftover pond-lining cover is now a little bit weather-protected, there suddenly seems to be a lot more interest - outdoor play is now centered in the little house. SO, we shall see how swiftly this project will complete from here...

We just need another push to get the cladding attached to the exterior - this sounds like fun - clay daub onto wire mesh...hmmm...old clothes only, methinks.

This picture shows a remarkable plant weaving and winding it's way right up into the upper reaches of this large, old apple tree - I'll admit it's not the clearest photo - so - the plant - a cherry tomato plant - is higher up the tree than Miss P, who is climbing up amongst the boughs - it extends all the way to the very top left of this photo.

and the tomatoes are still ripening!

:: the good wood ::

This is Aaron, Wendy's husband. So this post may not have the elegance of Wendy's posts.

I have been chopping wood and thought I would share some images of the process including the 'tools' I use to make it easier.

The Saw Horse
I think this is what it is called. Made out of 10 pieces of treated 4x2 it is an old invention with incredible usefulness and increased safety. Oh and better for your back as well.

Saw Horse with wood stack in back.

I have been gifted access to about 5 acres of Kanuka timber. The farmer next door to us has dropped the lot in order to return to grass.

Saw Horse and Chainsaw

Kanuka is a very good burning wood. Very hard and full of heat. Really important to cut as soon as possible after felling as it gets harder by the day. The only downside is that the pieces can be small due to the stringy nature of the way it grows.

Tyre Chopping

I found this idea on http://www.instructables.com/ an amazing website with a constantly increasing number of member submissions on how to do just about anything.

* Get a tyre tube and place it on a wood block
* Put a number of pieces of wood in
* Hit real hard with splitting axe
* Done!

This is such a simple - Recycling - and safety idea.
Not long ago when not using a tyre I was chopping wood and one piece flew out at me and hit me so hard on the knee that I almost passed out. And it happened twice!

You can walk around the tyre chopping away until you have the number or size of timber that you want. So easy.

I also use a splitting axe. This is quite different to a wood 'cutting' axe as it has a large head - bit like a sledge hammer with a cutting edge. Very useful and a timesaver.

Garden fence and mist on DOC Reserve

And woolly wet (needs a haircut) DOG

:: snowcoat ::

you wouldn't normally get to see this - because I'd be a little reserved about going public with my 'makes'.  I was 'encouraged' to post this today :).

We have some travels planned to a home education camp in the middle of Winter - somewhere where it's highly likely there will be snow, even!  It does get cold here, but not that cold.  And Miss P did not possess a warm enough coat to help layer in the warmth....

...that is until a lovely 100% pure NZ recycled (upcycled?!) wool blanket in 'sunshine colours' snuggled up next to some floral retro sheet scraps in the ECS - 'essential creative stash' - and the above pattern (I did learn the skill of pattern-drafting, yet - for $10 I have saved myself HOURS in that rusty skill department!)

Also in our stash were some lovely old buttons, Miss P particularly liking the faceted clear glass one...and here she is - one happy and warm girl in her new 'snowcoat'.

As well, this snowcoat ticks my 'use what we've got' box - in total, I spent only the $10 for the pattern. The blanket probably cost between $2 and $10 (op-shopped long ago for another project), the sheets were left over from previous curtain-making efforts and the buttons, thread and interfacing from the 'collection'. And I feel even better for that :).

:: getting up, above it all ::

Fennel flowers and Poverty Bay

Yesterday we were engulfed in a lashing of Wintry wind and rain and felt snug (and smug, until the powercut!) inside by our woodstove as we each worked away at our pursuits.

Stunning view

And today's trip to 'town' couldn't be more of a delightful contrast and as we picnicked above Poverty Bay, we talked of the different headlands we could see, stretching out South, pondering the forms of the landscape before us; Phoebe getting an aerial look at how far we need to drive to get to 'town'; Phoebe wondering whether there was a possible shortcut?; noticing the markers for the ships sailing into port and feeling really satisfied by a hearty soup we'd put into our flasks for lunch.

Mermaid?

 

Fresh air, sunshine, nourishment and getting up above it all!

:: autumnal mandala garden ::

Autumnal Northern Hawke's Bay

A lovely, long, dry and warm Summer (well, not so lovely and way too dry for the vast majority of NZ!) has given way to a golden Autumn in these parts.

our rainbow permaculture mandala garden

We have been blessed with just enough rain to sustain our gardens' green good health and have been eating well from them all Summer through.

Blue Bay, Opoutama

After Summer's often frenetic pace - just keeping up with the garden was a feat this year - it has been necessary to mark the change of seasons and give consideration to the new pace of the new season.  One night last week we went for a walk here and soaked up the beauty...some much appreciated reflective time.