sunny Sunday afternoon

Posted on by
Reply

While my children and husband were doing this on Sunday afternoon:

IMG_7936 IMG_7918IMG_7938

My sister and I were at the DCA doing this:

IMG_7948IMG_7953

Making jewellery is not really something that inspires me and winding thread round a bracelet or a metal washer requires a surprising amount of concentration but it was great to spend an afternoon doing something creative with my sister and other women.  Seeing what everyone else made, it is clear that the effectiveness of the technique really depends on the combination of colours chosen. I’m not quite sure what to do with my selection of washers – some sort of necklace, I think – but its a surprisingly effective way to upcycle an old plastic bracelet.

making it

Posted on by
Reply

Rather unusually I’ve spent two sessions with both my kids making things this week.  The experience provoked some reflections on art and craft with pre-school kids.

What made the difference between our enjoyment of the two experiences?   Providing easy to use materials.  Doing open-ended activities where the materials and the children determine the outcome.  Enjoying the process as much as the result.  Having some new and pleasing materials to experiment with.  Not trying to make ‘something’ by following instructions.

IMG_7840 IMG_7843 IMG_7842

Our successful (second) session was prompted by some ‘washi tape’ that I bought at the weekend – I love the pattern.  I’ve read lots about it so I thought we could have a go together.  We also used white paper, paper squares (you can lick and stick – or use a sponge) and boring old masking tape.  Both kids were engrossed.  We stuck squares, cut tape and stuck it.  They were totally in control, just needing some help with the cutting of the tape.   K was engrossed in carefully cutting and sticking and hole-punching (those are her creations above).

IMG_7839 IMG_7835 IMG_7837

D found some paper fasteners and asked for a hole punch and went off in another direction.  As he finished each creation, he dashed upstairs to store it in his bedroom before coming back for: ‘more paper please.’   Maybe its just me, but I love the results.  Television was forgotten and so was tea.    If only all crafting could be like this.

Our first session was prompted by D watching Mr Maker.  ”We can make a goldfish out of a milk bottle,” he said.  We had the materials – paper plate, empty plastic milk bottle, gloopy glue and orange tissue paper.  The experience of putting it all together was not fun: messy glue, tissue paper, far too much interference and direction from me and in the end an orange bottle that neither child has any interest in.  Lets not do that again. (But if you want to try it, you can see the instructions here: milk bottle fish)

mellow yellow

Posted on by
Reply

IMG_7813 IMG_7758 IMG_7798 IMG_7766 Slipway Family Safe Haven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few photos from a lovely Bank Holiday Monday spent at St Andrew’s.  The sun was not out, in face it was all quite grey, but we found our own little rays of sunshine.

 

 

oh daddy, my daddy

Posted on by
1

DSC_0091Do you know where that comes from? ‘Oh daddy, my daddy!’ cries Bobby in the Railway Children, when she finally sees her father getting off the train.  I’ve felt like crying that too in the last few months as I try to come to terms with the loss of my father.

Just before Christmas, on the 20th of December, he died after three weeks in hospital.

At the time, I wrote to friends:

After coming up to be with us for a break, he got very ill and did not really show signs of recovering.  It was very sad to see him so restricted – he was very keen just to go home.
We have a great assurance that he is now home and released from all the ways his body failed him.  He fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith. For him, in the words of one his favourite writers:  “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”  (C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle)
While I remain convinced that this is true, the loss is still huge, the gap in our lives very tangible.  I’ve spent the last couple of days going through my Dad’s things: papers, shirts, shoes, magazines, letters, socks, pens, reading glasses, books, books and books.  What a strange mess of things he has left behind yet I still find in them something of the essence of who he was.

colours

Posted on by
Reply

These are a few of my favourite colours from our holidays – so bright and beautiful.

In no particular order, these are:

Apricots drying in the sun, at Montagu

Bouganvillea, wall, sky, Montagu (we spent two days there)

Silvermine Nature Reserve – fynbos (the natural vegetation of the Cape)

Granny, K and a railway bench

Great-Granny’s crop of tomatoes, ready in the pot for chutney making

The family umbrella which accompanied us to the beach every day

Beach huts at St James and more umbrellas

Toes, bricks and swimming pool

Daddy, little K, waves and sky – feels like flying

 

Travelling shoes

Posted on by
2

IMG_6367Its cold and wet and dark outside (4.30pm).  The snow of last week has melted and its raining.  But we are packing for almost a month of sunshine.  Twelve hours from now, we should be safely at the airport all set for a long and eagerly awaited trip to Cape Town.  It could not be better timing.  I am looking forward to a rest, a change, to reconnecting with family and with each other away, to a healthy dose of sun and bright, bright colour. Meanwhile, there is a little more packing, organising and tidying to be done.

 

Le Petit Prince

Posted on by
Reply

D has been playing a new game today.  It started in the bathroom: “Ma, I think I heard a squeak.  There must be a mouse in here.”  After he had “found” the mouse he was busy finding it food.  ”Mice eat cheese,” he told his little sister.  ”Peas? Peas?”  she replied, laughing at him.   A little later he had made it a bed in a cardboard box that has been played with a great deal in the last week.  ”Do you want to see my mouse?” he asked me.  ”Come and see, its sleeping in the box.  Shhhhh, don’t wake it up.”

Oh, I love it when life imitates art.  Immediately I was seeing Antoine St Euxpery’s beautiful drawings and hearing his words:

“This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside.”

I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:

“That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?”

“Why?”

“Because where I live everything is very small . . .”

“There will surely be enough grass for him,” I said. “It is a very small sheep that I have given you.”

He bent his head over the drawing.

“Not so small that–Look! He has gone to sleep . . .”

 

hiatus

Posted on by
3
hi·a·tus

n. pl. hi·a·tus·es or hiatus

1. A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break

This gap and interruption in my blog reflects what has been happening in my life: a huge interruption in space, time and continuity.  Definitely a break.  It is literally with a deep breath that I have opened this page and started to type.  Words and the space to compose with them have both left me for a while.  I hope I can again capture here the continuity of life, because life is going on and is full of many beautiful things in 2013.

I will try to write a little about the reasons for this gap as we go through the year, when the time seems right.  For now, here are a few photos that capture some of the ordinary good things that happened during the break.