Our home ... reminising

I'll never forget the date of us moving into our first home. November 15th, 1996.  It's been our first and only house for 17 years now!  Doesn't time go so quickly?

When we went looking for this home, the goal was to find somewhere with a really good sized backyard and a lovely atmosphere; somewhere we'd be happy to stay and raise our family for a number of years.  This anniversary is a really good time to stop and be thankful that we've found that here.  For the most part, we've had lovely neighbours, some of whom have moved and most who are still here. I think I got to know most of them really well when I used to spend hours gardening out the front and people would stop by for a chat.

The house itself has gone through it's progressive stages of change. We bought it knowing that it required improvements. Each year was a new goal to fix up something. New fences, a proper driveway, guttering redone, the pergola completely remade, repainted throughout, bathroom renovated, outside sunblinds put up, floorboards polished, a new bedroom created by dividing the rumpus room ....  A house really can go through quite a change when there's a family growing up within it's walls over many years!!


A lovely reminder of our establishment here are our fruit trees.  They were planted as soon as we could get them in, except for the apricot tree which went in on Maestro's first birthday.  They've been bearing delicious fruit for us each Summer for many years now.  I couldn't imagine not having them here now!

There is still a list of things we'd like to do here, and we'll continue to plod along doing one thing at a time as we're able.  But I'm thankful that we've had our place, here, for so long and through all our family adventures.  Who knows what could happen further along the road. :)

Today's parable:

Here's a very interesting little parable written on today's calendar page by Mary Engelbreit:

How often do we pray for light to show us our way, only to find that faults are exposed?  I think this is very similar.

July 5th Wrap Up (term break)

Wow, did I have a lazy day today!  It's been so lovely slowing down and enjoying the sunshine.  Mariposa and I took a nice long walk to an appointment at 10am, then we did some window shopping and took a bus trip home again.  Then, all afternoon, I just pottered.  I did the dishes when I felt like it, did the laundry .. just enjoyed taking my time with nothing else to rush for all afternoon.

It is term break, after all.  I hope you've all been enjoying some time taking it easy these holidays.

And in order to balance up the way the rest of the week looked, it's fair to say that for most of our time I wasn't so sedate.

We started with an appointment with a dermatologist for Mariposa's eczema on Monday. Poor love's skin has not been improving as quickly as we'd like, even though she's now eating wheat free.  So I've learnt how to do wet dressings to give her more relief before night time, along with some other treatments.

GF cookbooks from our library.

Tuesday took us to the city for the orthodontist .. public transport was fun to navigate whilst the direct railway route is under reconstruction.  Once home again, two more trips away from home before we settled again in the evening.

Wednesday was quiet in the morning, but then Maestro had a meeting with our local librarian.  He's helping organise a special event at the library in November, esp. for Dr Who's 50th anniversary.  Maestro will be helping with the technical work, as well as collaborating with two other young men to come up with the quiz questions.   From the library, it was a dash to my girlfriend's house, where both children stayed whilst I then went to drop the car off for a service.

Thursday and Friday .. no car, and it's actually been lovely. Family and friends have visited us here at home, where we put on a huge pot of my curried pumpkin & honey soup and devonshire tea for lunch.   Dad's been a great help to me with getting some of the heavier part of gardening done.  He also bought me a passionfruit vine to plant over our back pergola .... mmm!

And now ... now I'm reflecting and dreaming of what I want to do next week. Definitely feeling very lazy and enjoying every minute of it!!

Selection of lavenders, rosemary and mints 

to go into the garden on the weekend.

Until next time,

Catherine

Music to quiet the mind

I think many of us are agreed that our lives are too full these days.  We have lives full of possessions, choices, appointments, noise, distraction, thoughts ... the list goes on.  How do we stop?  How do we actively replace the busyness of what's around us with something that's going to actually unravel the stress and promote good thinking?

Whenever we escape to the beach for a day or weekend, I'm happy just sitting and listening to the rhythm of the waves beating against the shore.  There may be the quiet sound of birds, or even children playing.  The body can just rest and feel at peace as the natural rhythms around you bring the mind back into synch. whilst you stop and listen.

Many a time I've wished for a quieter world, or one where I can at least have some control about the choice of sounds around us.  We can close our eyes to things we don't want to see, but how do we close our ears to things we don't want to hear?  How do we stop our bodies feeling the vibrations that can rattle our nerves, even when the sound is too low to be audible?

We've been having some interesting discussions about some information that comes through at times about how sounds affect life.  We know whales are confused by the noise pollution in the ocean, as they hear the ship engines over the sound of a mate's call.  There have also been reports of illness developing from families who have been exposed to the regular low vibrations produced near wind farms.  Sound does effect life!

Isn't that an interesting thought, though?  Sound .. effecting life?  I'm sure I should take up a more indepth study on the physics of sound as it is something that intrigues me.  However, with the information I do have, I know that there are things to help promote some balance and help us unwind.  It's about active listening ... to music.

Music, in a scientific explanation, is about perfect vibrations.  Any given note on an instrument, or sung with the voice, produces a tone that vibrates at a certain speed.  For example, the international concert A vibrates perfectly at 440 Hz.  The note 'A' stays in mathematical proportion when played up an octave, at 880 Hz, or played down an octave, at 220 Hz.  And if you've done some trigonometry, you may have possibly discussed that the frequency waves can be mapped out as sine or cosine waves.

Many musicians would also recognise that the mathematical patterns in music don't just stop at the vibration frequency, either.  Music is very complex when you consider notation values and harmonies, just to name a couple.  It's an active job to listen to this!  Your mind doesn't actually sleep through those sounds.  So, why is it that we can find that some music is relaxing?  Is it more that it may be healing?

In 2001, Andrew Pudewa gave a talk on "The Profound Effects of Music on Life". Andrew shared information about research done on mice when exposed to different types of music.  I won't go into all the information Andrew elaborated on, but do want to draw on the fascinating point made about how classical music is mathematically organised in such a way that promotes neuron connection.  There is something about the listening to the well organised patterns of classical music, in particular, that our brain uses to encourage connections, which promotes better thought patterns ... which brings about ... a quieter mind.

My children are now in their early teen years.  Their minds are actively going through physical changes again, (although not as much as a child's brain develops in the first six years of life.) These thoughts I've shared here, today, is a reminder to me that we still should actively involve them in good listening and playing of music.  Maestro had given his violin a rest for a few months, but I was delighted that's he's been getting it out again.  And Mariposa's doing very well at her piano playing.  They are listening, reading, and kinetically playing music. These are the tools to help develop good thinking, and to know how to find a time to heal when stresses crowd into their lives in the future.

This is a HUGE topic, and I've only shared some of my thoughts here now.  Some pages which may interest you further can be found here:
- notes from Andrew Pudewa's cds, about music not just being 'nice' but necessary for children HERE.
- 'Why Children Need Music' by Wendy-Irene Grimm HERE.
- a discussion on where concert A should really be pitched HERE. (Um .. yes, this is a very indepth argument, but I found it interesting and may want to refer back to it later .. smiles!)

Until next time!

Catherine

She's growing up

It's been a lovely day,

shared on a walk,

discussing things in our hearts;

her arm in mine.

Quiet talk of troubles on her mind,

and smiles with the loveliness

of all the wonderful things

which have been happening.

Still curious when we 

discover something new,

and happy to greet

new acquaintances on our path.

There are many questions

I'm so glad she's asking,

and I pray I can answer

so the questions never stop.

Something new

has been brewing

in our relationship;

something deeper.

My daughter is growing up,

and being her mother

is more wonderful 

with each new day.

A weekend to resettle and set new goals

Sometimes we really do need to find some time to be alone and just think things through, don't we?  Well, I know I did.

Thank you to those who replied to my last post.  I was very encouraged and now find myself ready to take on the next few years homeschooling with a much more positive attitude.

I spent the weekend decluttering my mind, starting with an early evening on Friday and a good rest.  On Saturday morning, I found myself contentedly sitting at the piano to play a couple of new pieces. When the family was ready, we headed out for church services early for the afternoon.

The rest of the weekend was spent alternating between tidying up 'hot spots' in the laundry and kitchen, and reorganising the homeschool bookselves.  I didn't set myself any time goals, and I know I'm not completely done with the bookshelves, but it's made a difference having made time to get everything back into order.  Before we were getting so busy that books were being left in piles here and there; one favourite spot being on the dining room floor.  The dining room has become the place to sit and work on lessons while I was getting a meal ready, then all got bundled up and just left there against the wall.  Having these places cleared so that the dining room is completely clean makes such a difference to a calmer mealtime.

And now that I've finished my cup of tea, I'm going to sit down with the children and set our goals for the week.  Mariposa will be starting a new science level (Sonlight's Science F), and we're going to be starting some embroidery lessons, which I'll link in with some quilting later on.  Maestro has his filming to complete for his Short Film Course, and I need to review where he's at with his history studies now he's getting close to finishing up Sonlight's Core G.    Ah .. add to that Mariposa making a chocolate cake for our neighbour.  I think we'll have to double the recipe so we have one to share here too.

Time to go!  Thank you for stopping by!

Help! My calendar's grown wings!

Is this happening to anyone else?  The time's moving so quickly that it is as though we're speeding away through the year.

See, I thought that if we homeschooled our children, I'd be able to enjoy a slower pace.  I thought we'd have numerous days where we'd be up early and outside to work in the garden for a bit.  Later, we'd come in and do some book learning together, stopping for lunch with some conversation about what we've just done.  Then we'd move into the afternoon with a read-aloud, and some activity learning with science experiments, art or music.

I envisioned a gentle flow through the day, with few interruptions, and certainly no rushing about to all sorts of outings several times a week.  Truthfully, we did have many days like this in years past.

Well ... it's certain that I've got it all wrong this year.  True, last year was building up to this, but this year is taking the cake!  Please don't get me all wrong, though.  I'm glad that each child has found activities they are enjoying, and they are learning an awful lot.  It just seems that some days are so FULL now, and there's hardly a week that hasn't got something happening.

To top it all off, the parents of the competition dance students (ie: that involves Maestro) were called in for a meeting tonight.  We were given some definite dates for the dance competitions coming up as of June ... AND through to January 2013!   I'm not ready to look at 2013 yet!  We're only 1/4 of the way through 2012.

Is this what it's really like with teens?  We're trying to open doors for learning opportunities, helping them develop their talents, and it's just non-stop activity?  Do I need to be ruthless and block out a few weeks at a time where we deliberately don't go out anywhere during the day, which means the only focus is on the dance lessons in the evenings? ( .. Actually, I really wonder how those teens who are at school cope with all these extra activities, so maybe I shouldn't be complaining!)

So, now that I've shared those frustrations with you, I think I'll again sit down with my diary and look at this scheduling that's supposed to be working so well.  I don't have a calendar for 2013 yet, but I'm going to have to at least figure out the month of January and block in intensive dance practice leading up to national competitions.  Then ... when I'm calm and amiable again ... I'll be asking my children if this is really what they want to do and can they please, again, share their goals so I know there's a bigger picture to all this frantic activity.

If you've read this far, thank you for sharing in my thoughts tonight.

Have you heard about 'The Letterbox Project'?

Today was the 3rd anniversary of the horrific fires that swept through Victoria and devasted so many lives.  It's the day now known as "Black Saturday", and it's still a very raw topic to those who have been affected.

Despite all the blackened areas still existing, one group of people are inspiring the community to come together and add colour with some beautiful mosaic letterboxes.  I saw a report on the ABC tonight, and it brought tears to my eyes seeing these wonderful people working together for such a lovely result.

This has been the inspiration of Marion Oakley, and I think you'll agree with me that the results are stunning, physically and emotionally on those people who have had the opportunity to work with Marion.

Please, take some time to check out the story I viewed by visiting ABC OPEN online here. It's only just over 4 minutes and well worth watching.

Thank you for dropping by!

A week of wet weather

Looking over the pictures I put in my last post, I can't believe we were actually enjoying a very warm day at the beach.  Since that change came through, it's been COLD! and wet, all week.

Never mind, because there are some sunny days predicted in the next few days.

The good things this week brought was:

Mangoes!  A bulk supply c/- a friend, which is steadily being devoured.  

I'll start freezing some soon, as they're gradually all getting ripe now.

Mariposa's received her Certificate of Recognition 

for participating in the library's writing competition.

Maestro's been having a go at Math-U-See Pre-Algebra.  There are some gaps that he hasn't covered before, but a lot of it has been revision.  We're putting MUS on trial in our house, and so far Maestro is liking it.  We'll have a better idea of how it 'fits' after a couple more weeks.  

(We're still using Singapore Maths for Mariposa.)

I've ordered 'The Girlhood Companion' for Mariposa, which arrived this week.  She has been trying so hard to be a lovely helper here, and making some special mother/daughter time reading and learning new recipes, etc. will be much fun.  I'm thinking that the monthly Tea Cozy Club may be a good option to try, also, especially if the writings, recipes and crafts are of the same high standard.

Maestro has started making his own website.  

I know ... how did he learn to do that?!  I don't know how to do that!  

All it takes is a friend who already knows and a curious mind to soak up the information apparently.  

He's including podcasts, polls, and a whole lot of other music/technology experiments.

We were also full-swing back into homeschool lessons, dance lessons (only 2 more weeks until the concert!), Papa back to work and my music teaching.  All the good things to keep us busy and our minds off the wet weather.

I hope you've all had a good week!

Treasured Moments (3)

We started off having a lovely weekend, but today I'm the one who's ill, unfortunately.  Having slept most of the day away, my tummy's decided I'm peckish again.  So, whilst I'm sipping some hot tea and dry toast, I thought I'd make an entry into my blog again. Besides, it's nice to reflect back on the good things that happened during the week.

Do you find yourself falling into a pattern of daily grind, skipping the 'fun' activities because you don't have time or lack energy?

Do creative arts, nature walks, drama, read alouds or spontaneous acts seem only a distant dream in your life?

Yet these Treasured Moments shared with loved ones uplift us, nurture our soul, remind us of the beauty and joy in our lives.

We want Treasured Moments for ourselves, for our children, for our families but how can we make it happen?

... Commitment ... Encouragement ... Support ... Ideas ... Plans.

You are invited to join us at the end of every week and share your plans and ideas, your targets and goals and your stories ... your 'Treasured Moments'. In this way we may inspire one another, encourage ourselves and start achieving our dreams. Hosted by Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting.

My Treasured Moments this week are:  

1.  The children have had a week of minimal screen time, which means playing lots of games, chatting, baking and catching up with friends. We've had time at the park, been out for a lovely luncheon with other families, and had Mariposa's friend spend a day and evening with us. I felt like this has been a great week for settling back into 'getting to know you' time.  Yesterday, in particular, I was delighted with the level of conversations that were happening here.

2. I've started reading a couple of new books, on loan from friends.  The first is "The Soloist".  It's a very moving book about how a journalist chances to meet with an accomplished musician. This man has extraordinary talent, but how did he come to be living on the streets?  I'm about 1/3 or way into this book, and I get the feeling that this journalist is learning what many of us would need to learn in order to really HELP someone .. there's no easy quick fix.

The other book I'm reading is called "Hold on to Your Kids".  This is all about attached parenting, and building wholesome relationships in the family.

3. Today, the children were wonderful helping out around the house and looking after me with extra pillows and drinks of water.  I even had the window opened so I could see the lovely day outside, and smell the native frangipani which has just come into flower.

So where are we at?

Once again, it's been over a week since my last post.  Finding time to write up blog posts is getting trickier.  One factor is that Maestro is becoming more tech. savvy, so uses this computer more than I.  I'm not holding a grudge, though.  He does a quick check for my emails, yells if I'm needed, then gets back to the task he was doing.  He's either working on music editing, story writing, Spanish lessons (Auralog), or emailing friends.  Is it time for us to get another computer? ... I really don't want to seriously think about that right now.

Mariposa has been recovering amazingly well from her operation.  After the more painful days (around 5-9 days after her tonsils and adenoids were removed), she bounced back and was ready to do all sorts of things.  We still waited out the two full weeks of quarantine, though, taking time for picnics at the park and some pleasant walks in the sunshine.  She then went back to her drawing lessons, a craft day with friends, an afternoon horseriding, and is having her friend for a sleepover tomorrow night.

In our 'homeschooling world', Maestro's worked hard to get through more Apologia General Science.  He felt like the units on evolution discussions took forever, so I prodded him through it and now we're into the discussions on DNA with units on biology.  He's made a DNA model, dug up worms from the garden, looked for starch in plants; it's all a whole lot more fun again now.

Mariposa's science has consisted of reading How to Think Like a Scientist. I won't give it all away, but she's actually carrying out her experiment about whether a snake hung over a tree branch really can bring rain ... with a toy rubber snake.  "Did it rain, though?" I hear you ask.  Well ... yes, it did, but I think that it was already on the forecast before it fined up to a lovely afternoon. 

We've also been out to the pet supply store and bought a basic budgie nesting box for our two birds, Oliver and Butterscotch.  It is Spring, after all, so we're hoping that this pair of birds will produce some offspring for us to enjoy.  The nesting box we bought is very much like this one.  I also found this cute nesting box you can attach outside your window, cleverly set up so you can peek in when you lift the cover from inside the house: Peek-a-boo Birdhouse.  It may be something we could make at home, with a perspex backing, and set it up similarly to watch some small native honey-eaters.

Introducing Oliver

 and Butterscotch

Our Fibonacci living books arrived and we've read them.  This week, as it's now the state term break, we're also playing lots of games that involve math ( but sshhhh! don't tell the children!)  We've been playing Yahtzee a fair bit today and the plan to use multiplication facts to find your score IS WORKING!

The number of my music students has been grown ... 14 students now!  Wow!  How did that happen so fast?  Three new girls started the previous week, all known from the dance school. I think that's where a lot of my spare time is going, but I'm enjoying it. I now have five students learning singing, and the others learning piano.  I'm finding that I'm encouraged to play more myself now, and even my children are getting more enthused about music (not that it was ever lacking before, really!)  Mariposa told me this afternoon that she's a little jealous of one of the girls, as she wants to learn those (more difficult) piano pieces too.  Nothing like positive peer pressure, I suppose.  I'll have to remedy some of that this week.

I won't start telling you all that's been happening around the house, except that there's the mess made with little renovation jobs popping up here and there.  Let's just say, I need a break to clean up this place!  But, we're happy .. and I hope you're all having a great week too.

Such an inspiring documentary : Mrs Carey's Concert

We all sat glued to the tv set last night.  I actually hadn't planned to watch anything in particular, but I'm so glad that I decided switch on to the ABC channel for a look.  A most inspiring documentary was about to begin.

Mrs Carey's Concert gives us all a glimpse into what can be achieved with determined teaching and perseverance. A look at the bigger picture, and seeing how music can offer so much to every student, takes Karen Carey and her staff off on a journey each year of building up students to reach where they never thought possible.  All students from Sydney's MLC Burwood will perform at the Sydney Opera House. Everyone comes away with something.

Carey describes music as being that which builds the intellect, creativity and explores emotions.  All 1200 students at the school must participate, and all must apply themselves to the best of their ability.

There are struggles along the way, as is the expected experience.  Students are either harsh on themselves in striving for a good result, or they're stubborn with the teachers in rebellion.  I actually particularly like how the other students help support Mrs Carey's effort to have everyone included in the program, by confronting the rebellion for the sake of everyone involved. This documentary shows both sides, with the final concert answering the persisting question, "How will she make all this work?"   

I so wish I had an opportunity to play in an school orchestra like this.  The end result is wonderful, and you can't help but have the tears well up in your eyes as you hear the final concert results after glimpsing into the lives off these young ladies.  There is definitely something to be gained by participating in the bigger picture, and we saw a little of what that's like by watching this documentary.

Bravely done, Mariposa

We're taking things quietly here over the next few days, whilst Mariposa recovers from her operation.  She's just had her tonsils and adenoids out, and is feeling very tired. 

She handled the anxiety of the unknown so well leading up to the operation, even making a new friend in the waiting room.

This morning she admitted to the nurses that it wasn't all as scary as she thought it would be.  Now we're glad that she's home and is eating small meals well. We'll look forward to happier days ahead with few earaches and sore throats, and better nights' sleep without snoring.

Treasured Moments (2)

Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting is away at the moment, but I thought I'd still do my week's worth of treasured moments.

Do you find yourself falling into a pattern of daily grind, skipping the 'fun' activities because you don't have time or lack energy?

Do creative arts, nature walks, drama, read alouds or spontaneous acts seem only a distant dream in your life?

Yet these Treasured Moments shared with loved ones uplift us, nurture our soul, remind us of the beauty and joy in our lives.

We want Treasured Moments for ourselves, for our children, for our families but how can we make it happen?

... Commitment ... Encouragement ... Support ... Ideas ... Plans.

You are invited to join us at the end of every week and share your plans and ideas, your targets and goals and your stories ... your 'Treasured Moments'. In this way we may inspire one another, encourage ourselves and start achieving our dreams. Hosted by Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting

My Treasured Moments this week are:  

 

1. Last weekend was my Dad's 70th 'surprise' birthday party.  Those of my family who could get together were there.  Dad seemed really happy to see us all in one place, and having lots of bouncy grandchildren to play with was a special bonus!  We bought him a musical birthday card, which could record a vocal message.  When he opened the card he heard us all yell out 'Happy Birthday Grandad!", then it played a lively country jig .... which I said he could dance to in celebration of his retirement.


2. We're planning some bedroom renovations with the children.  Each child has an idea of some things they'd like to change, and now that they are a little older, we're giving them some more ownership and responsibility.  It's been lovely watching them get excited about what they could do and sharing ideas together. 



3. This was Mariposa's 'week off' from bookwork.  That means she gets to do lots of 'unschooling' activities. One of her priorities was sorting through her books and toys.  We also took time to go op-shopping together and she found some lovely summer tops and skirts.  She had fun trying to find some outfits for me also.

4. Maestro had more time to do his bookwork with me, due to Mariposa's week off, and we have especially enjoyed reading his Sonlight history book "Caesar Augustus".  Very easy to read and understand; we're 1/2 way through it now.

Later, I'm sure I heard him say "Yay, Mum's going to help me more with my maths this week!" in his put-on 'cutsie' voice.  I realised then that he must be finding the NSM Singapore maths challenging, so we spent lots of time together going through that.  He's covering Fibonacci sequences, so I'm sourcing some more living maths books for him.  It was a good reminder that (i) he needs to let me know when he's struggling, and (ii) I need to clue in more to his needs / read his textbook ahead, so he doesn't feel lost.


5. Both of the children have been working fabulously together using the ACID digital music program.  My husband found he had a sample program already, so it's been downloaded to the family computer and both children enjoy working at compiling their own masterpieces.

Treasured Moments (1)

Do you find yourself falling into a pattern of daily grind, skipping the 'fun' activities because you don't have time or lack energy?

Do creative arts, nature walks, drama, read alouds or spontaneous acts seem only a distant dream in your life?

Yet these Treasured Moments shared with loved ones uplift us, nurture our soul, remind us of the beauty and joy in our lives.

We want Treasured Moments for ourselves, for our children, for our families but how can we make it happen?

... Commitment ... Encouragement ... Support ... Ideas ... Plans.

You are invited to join us at the end of every week and share your plans and ideas, your targets and goals and your stories ... your 'Treasured Moments'. In this way we may inspire one another, encourage ourselves and start achieving our dreams. Hosted by Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting

My Treasured Moments this week are:  

1. Taking time with the children to enjoy our trip to the city for an appointment, and having lunch together rather than just rushing back home.  

2. Working together in the garden, planning our new space for a greenhouse and potting up more herbs. We all got involved, and I was so happy to see the children get excited about some new projects.


3. Both children are getting more creative with their cooking, so I'm having to relax and let that happen so they can learn. Timeframes for mealtimes need to be a little more lenient until the methods are well established. There are just so many lessons to learn when preparing food.  So, many treasured moments in the kitchen, and in the eating afterwards!

4. Mariposa worked on a lovely pastel picture, as well as a cake from a new recipe, to give to her horseriding teacher. The joy she had in presenting this was so lovely.  

5. We took another impromptu moment yesterday to catch up with friends for a cuppa. Four mums and ten children had an absolute ball relaxing for afternoon tea and a chat (well, and a few other boisterous games with the children!)

To join in you are welcome to add your post on Seven Little Australians and Counting using the Mr. Linky form (please link to the individual post) and include a link back to Erins post. If you haven't a blog we would still love to hear your voice, just leave your stories in the comments

Choosing your words

Something simple and inspiring, to hopefully make you all smile:

Hoping you had a lovely Mother's Day

How did you all enjoy your weekend? I hope it was a lovely time for you all with your families.

It's a nice tradition, keeping Mother's Day. We prepared roast lamb, fresh bread and chocolate fudge cake as part of our family meal, and shared company with some of my side of the family. One sister had come flown down from interstate, which was great timing to catch up with my parents and some of my siblings for dinner.

After all the gathering and chatting, it's very like me to sit and think about how my home is running. Is it a nurturing place? How will my children look back on their childhood? What will our relationship be like when they are adults?

I suppose most of these questions come up because we naturally share memories of our childhood as adults. We remember handfuls of separate occasions, but generally it's the overall atmosphere from home that glues all those instances together.

This weekend I spent time reflecting and writing up in my diary again. Setting some goals for myself and the family never hurt. There are lots of lovely things that happen here, for which I'm thankful, but there are also many needs. A person can only ever do so much on their own. If I can at least remember those things that are lacking and keep them in perspective, then asking for help, having patience and a gentler tone in my speech, as well as getting on with the all that needs to be done without grumbling, is a much more rewarding task.

During the quiet of this morning I am spending time on the logistics of the housekeeping, then we'll enjoy a day of learning and other activities, that .... hopefully! .... the children will reflect back on in their adult years with fondness.

A bed with a view

" ... Sara knew something was going on in the sky; and when it was at all possible to leave the kitchen without being missed or called back, she invariably stole away and crept up the flights of stairs, and, climbing on the old table, got her head and body as far out of the window as possible. When she had accomplished this, she always drew a long breath and looked all round her."

Chapter 11, A Little Princess

A special place to look out the window is something that Mariposa really enjoys.  I've given up counting how many times she would rearrange her bedroom to get the best advantage at a lovely view.  I do know that last week she had the curtains pulled wide open and the head of the bed butted up to under the window ledge.  Only, this proved disappointing as she was hoping to see the full moon.  The moon rises over on the other side of the house, so she would have to wait until the wee hours of the morning before seeing it from her window.

Last weekend, there was another major furniture rearrangement made. This time it was of our initiation with heavy furniture being exchanged.  Mariposa's room became the study, and she moved into the smaller bedroom (also fondly known as the 'nursery', as both children had this room when babies).

That bed just had to go back near the window!  She's put the cane headrest at the foot of the bed, with the tallboy behind to support it.  This way, she can sit up for a while to watch the sunset, or moon and stars, in her quiet space before going to sleep.

Actually, I sit with her just before she goes off to sleep.  I read to her, and at the moment we're in the end chapters of A Little Princess.  It's a special time and place, with the best view in the house.

Autumn, April 8th

The air smells of Autumn this morning, and the light has certainly taken on a softer tone. We munch on our very ripe William pears for breakfast, the juice dribbling down our chins and running to our elbows. This is obviously best done outdoors, preferably while taking a walk around the backyard to see what's been going on. A meander by the chook run means we can toss in the pear cores, check for eggs and see how the youngest to the flock are settling in.

This may be the end of a run of fine days, so the washing is all hung out early to catch the warm breeze. They say rain's on the way again tomorrow. I'm glad of that, as our tank has actually run dry. The chooks had to have their water delivered by bucket from the mains this morning, which hasn't had to happen for a while.

Cheeky hens; they've found a new laying spot again. Since introducing the youngest birds to the flock, some of the older birds have decided to lay elsewhere. Well, I found them out today and collected the eight eggs they hid away from their 'intruders'. We thought it was a bit too early for them to go off their laying. It's usually in late May, as the cold southerlies hail the call of Winter, that our hens begin to lay more infrequently. Still, I'll start saving most of these eggs we collect now, in preparation for the scarcity ahead. Our neighbours will have to revert back to store bought eggs for a while.

We'll have lemons this year! This is a huge achievement. We've not been very successful with our lemon tree. One tree was given to us by my mother-in-law when we moved here 15 years ago. To date, we have only had one fruit. A few years ago, I moved it, where it's grown a little larger but still no fruit. I also planted a different type of lemon, which was very small at the time and has taken a few years to establish. But, now, it's fruiting!

Time for a cup of tea and a read-aloud. We're starting a new book: Tarantula in My Purse. That will keep Mariposa quite happy. Then we need to finish the last chapter of Maestro's book today, a nice way to end a term, ready for a two week break.

This morning's musings

There is no other way to describe our lifestyle over the last two months with any other word other than 'busy'. Once the momentum of activities begin, the rate of increase just keeps on compounding until I find myself, as I did last night, almost falling asleep at the dinner table.

Nothing has been especially difficult, but the flurries of activity happen in huge gusts before some quiet descends the next day. Today is 'the next day'. We don't have any running around to do, other than Mariposa's ballet lessons later this afternoon.

We had to be quick to harvest these last week.

Once one bird spreads the word that they've found a free feed, it's all gone in a couple of days.

Twice a week, Maestro has been heading out to the countryside to his longbow and quiver/arrow making workshops. On Mondays, we all head out there. We even take Midgy along so he can play with his new found friend. Mariposa has made friends with the instructor's daughter, so they spend the morning playing. This week it was a huge cubby house from sheets slung over chairs, looking very much like a yurt.

On Wednesdays, Maestro gets a lift with friends to the workshop. Yesterday was a double lesson, which meant a really long day for him. When I went pick him up, all the boys were practicing using their bow and arrows, shooting at hay bales in the paddock.

Mariposa has taken on gymnastics, which happens on Monday's return trip from the first workshop. She's really enjoying it, doing very well at the beginners level. Add to her routine, as of this week, art lessons on Wednesday afternoons, which coincides with my teaching singing in the next room.

Dancing at the local fair on the weekend; Maestro is with his competition troupe.

Yes, this brings me to how my singing lessons are progressing. I now have six students, and I teach while one or both of my children are learning their dance lessons. We're in a building that facilitates art, drama, dance, and now, singing. I've also had a couple of requests to teach piano, but that'll have to be from home, when I get better set up .... and maybe some more time!

 If you call my name, I'll kiss you!

Meanwhile, today, I have Mariposa playing with Midgy .. still in her pajamas. Maestro is still sleeping after his very long day yesterday. I'm going to start by sitting and reading with Mariposa, then we'll muster up some energy to finish off the dishes that were left after I ended up going to bed early last night. By the afternoon, I should have some nice vegetable soup ready for us to sip on. Maestro will work on some science experiments, then start a new section in his maths book. I've still got a basket of apples to clean and cook up, plus a whole heap of pears looking at me from the outdoor table, but I'll get to them when I can.

I hope everyone enjoys some quieter time this week. I plan to have my dose today!