Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Knitting Thoughts

I've been knitting quite a lot this Summer and reading...keeps the mind working and the hands busy, so I thought I'd share this...
What's on the sticks you say? A baby blanket in sage green cashmere/silk moss stitch, I've frogged a couple of times, but is now on it's way forward, a half finished wacky bag that will be felted and lined ( eventually) a couple of knitted gnomes that will be for sale in the Fall and a Doctor Who type scarf for my now double digit Donovan Boy! pics will come later...

who do you think you are? Identity Exhibit



Food for thought...

It is easy to fall into the error of believing that education must make our children fit into society. Although we are certainly influenced by what the world brings us, the fact is that the world is shaped by people, not people by the world. However, that shaping of the world is possible in a healthy way only if the shapers are themselves in possession of their full nature as human beings.

Education in our materialistic, Western society focuses on the intellectual aspect of the human being and has chosen largely to ignore the several other parts that are essential to our well-being. These include our life of feeling (emotions, aesthetics, and social sensitivity), our willpower (the ability to get things done), and our moral nature (being clear about right and wrong). Without having these developed, we are incomplete—a fact that may become obvious in our later years, when a feeling of emptiness begins to set in. That is why in a Waldorf school, the practical and artistic subjects play as important a role as the full spectrum of traditional academic subjects that the school offers. The practical and artistic are essential in achieving a preparation for life in the "real" world.

Waldorf Education recognizes and honors the full range of human potentialities. It addresses the whole child by striving to awaken and ennoble all the latent capacities. The children learn to read, write, and do math; they study history, geography, and the sciences. In addition, all children learn to sing, play a musical instrument, draw, paint, model clay, carve and work with wood, speak clearly and act in a play, think independently, and work harmoniously and respectfully with others. The development of these various capacities is interrelated. For example, both boys and girls learn to knit in grade one. Acquiring this basic and enjoyable human skill helps them develop a manual dexterity, which after puberty will be transformed into an ability to think clearly and to "knit" their thoughts into a coherent whole.

Preparation for life includes the development of the well-rounded person. Waldorf Education has as its ideal a person who is knowledgeable about the world and human history and culture, who has many varied practical and artistic abilities, who feels a deep reverence for and communion with the natural world, and who can act with initiative and in freedom in the face of economic and political pressures.

There are many Waldorf graduates of all ages who embody this ideal and who are perhaps the best proof of the efficacy of the education.

—From "Five Frequently Asked Questions" by Colin Price; originally printed in Renewal Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003


dragon-poundcake from birthday party yesterday


Friday, July 24, 2009

Lost


I was feeling a little out of it today, can't get the brain to remember anything, want to sleep a lot more than I care to admit and dream up artistic ways to live life comfortably.

What did you lose today?
My list includes....

7 brain cells at the very least
a quarter - stuck in the machine
various useless body parts, hair, nails etc bet you were dying to know that one?
one pound ( yes weight, not english money)
steering - note to self, get car serviced
my calm, sane self - inside
73 words - poem, now missing

so what kind of day did you have? Oh and I didn't make a thing today, not even dinner. What a lout!

Good Shabbos to you too.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Happy?

I drove and a said a prayer of silent commune with all daughters who have either lost their Mothers to cancer, are helping them through treatment or just found out a dark diagnosis.

In the lectures about education and healing I'm taking this week, we have delved deeply into the spirit and have talked much about cancer and how to heal the body. Mind , soul and spirit takes on new meaning today.

One of these daughters (a classmate) lost her Mom today. Another is preparing to return 'home' to care for her ailing Mom. Yet another chose to write a beautiful list of thoughts that made her happy today. So, I was inspired by Belfry to post some of my own here, in the hope you too will try to think up some happy stuff that's just for you, even if today sucked.

I imagine each golden ball can be somebody's happy thought today.

A place where I am happy

A old friend

Here are my happy things today in no particular order:
  • A freshly swept floor - not today but, still made me smile
  • an empty dishwasher - with imagination
  • loud music to sing to in the car - yeah baby!
  • sparkling trees
  • painting them in silence
  • tears of compassion
  • vegetarian fast food drive through - yummy and right opposite Mc D's in Altedena!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Going Global

Doing the right thing when thinking globally and acting locally can mean many things to many people. This series of eco-friendly message art pieces we found lying in and around the science center and rose gardens......like em or hate em, they amused the kids, inspired me to tile the kitchen ( or mosaic) and kept my Dad out of trouble for a while - mostly.

'Cool Globes' travelling art exhibit
cool mosaic waves many look funky great on my backsplash...


eat more veggies, recycle, air dry clothes, you get the idea...

knitted!!!

mm. I couldn't figure out whether these were cans of beer or soda used....

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Summer silliness

I don't know about you lot, but Summer has finally arrived in So Cal this past week, phew! We've had the gray May at the beach and then June gloom seeping into July but hurrah! I got a chance ( and reason) to dig out some summer clothes and go hunting for a swimsuit, sad to say however that most of it doesn't fit as well as I remember...mmm may need to do a spot more swimming!

I've been busy teaching some lovely ladies how to sew dolls ( pics when they are done), or paint pictures with wool or sculpt trees with merino roving. So with the penmanship class underway with some hardworking homeschoolers and a few waldorfy kids, it's been a rush of 'stuff' so far. no plans for any getaways or vacation this Summer either so I'll make do with some beachtime and maybe some trips to the Topangan hills. This week, I'm delighted to be spending it taking teacher training classes at the very magical Pasadena Waldorf School - heavenly!

If my painting and sketching techniques reach 'share-able' I'll post them here next week....


guess where?

Levitt Pavilion free concert with LILI HAYDEN,
taken by Little Gandalf, inspired by the rockin' music


Donovan Boy acting up!

student work from wool painting last week - awesome jobs ladies!!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

May the Fourth bee with you

I'm all red/white and blued out from our neighbourhood parade today with kids excitedly waving flags, marching ( scouts) and catching some candy for breakfast ,so I thought I'd share this instead...be mellow, peaceful and try to catch some Wimbledon coverage (not on NBC those bait and switch rats) of the Williams sisters thrashing it out!

On a recent trip over to the Getty gardens, the buzz was on and lovely to see the bees supping among the flowers!!

My new screensaver...watch out for my book later this year of natural savers of the screens large and small!

Purple hazey buzz

Black eyed bee
early autumn daze