decoration and celebration

celebrate nature!
follow this link:
http://rhythmofthehome.com/autumn-2010/fallen-leaves/

Seasonal decorations

Greenwich park is perfect for little nature treasures...I feel so lucky living near it!

Other places have inspired me too like bergamo in Italy...is it because we nearly always go there in the Autumn Half Term?!!

When you want to bring nature into the house is so easy especially this season as it is the season of gathering and picking...

Morgana 2008, 'Autumn stroll'
(note the very worn boots!)
This is a little secret road off Shooters Hill Road off it and in between Vanburgh Park Road...and there is a cute little cottage there with a fab garden!
It's like a little oasis as Shooters Hill is terribly busy and noisy!

Our Autumn nature table last year...soon I will post the one from this year...my phone is playing silly and won't take pictures...sorry!

So...stay tuned and wait for our very recent lovely decorations!

Autumn treasures

More Autumn treasures!

All you need is a walk to the park, or even just around the block if there are any trees around your street. ( we live in Londopn- Greenwich, which is very green)
Collect acorns, leaves, conkers, etc...etc...
apples from the farmer's market and wool or garden string, sticks...and VOILA'...you can make pretty mobiles and Autumn decorations...
just like we did...

Autumn festivals

I know it is soon the pumpkin festivals and Halloween...one thing at the time please, Michael's Dragon just passed and we can still smell the Harvest Soup and bread...then there's the first bonfires and roasting chestnuts...well pretty much for the next three months...oh....and nice vanilla and cinnamon cookies dipped in hot chocolate...hang on hang on...the leaves only just started falling!!!
But what is it with this world around us spinning faster than ever as if it wants to catch up with the future so much...what is next on the list becomes important...there is no rush...NO RUSH! STOP...and enjoy the moment...live in the NOW...more than anything doi it for the sake of your child too....avoid going to shops because they throw it at your face...HALLOWEEN masks and pumpkin fun and CHRISTMAS CARDS already!!!!!STOP, for GOD'S SAKE .........................................!!!!
anyway I thought that you can SLOWLY get ready for the mood of the festivals ahead...by understanding their meaning, the anticipation, or the journey we take to go there...when it is gradually getting darker each day a bit more....it is never sudden...it is gradual...people just don't take notice...I think Autumn ( and Spring ) are the so called seasons in between, like a transition...Autumn is all about gathering, the energies going downwards and inwards to Mother Earth...it's the gradual slowing down......after the excitment of the Summer where we were dancing with the Sun and we were away with the fairies...!Summer time is where we experience what is like to feel not grounded...then Autumn comes and we land on the ground and become each day more grounded...

Have alook at this link with my favourite blog:
http://rhythmofthehome.com/autumn-2010/martinmas-celebration/

Autumn treasures

Autumn treasure

Autumn treasures

Autumn treasure number one!

precious moments

Golden Light

Golden Light
yellow and bright
Gentle winds
blow warm
still
Cool is the night
when the pale Moon
shines until
the golden light
again...

Greenwich life...

Sleep is what we need most of during transition periods like the change of seasons. Wrap up warm too.

Today I woke up after a long sleep...what a luxury to be able to stay in bed until 8.45! when I am usually up at 6.30 am every morning. After a bit of cleaning and tidying up I am going to swim with my daughter...I am going to Greenwich Park today to collect little 'treasures' ...we'll see....I'll keep you posted!

two weeks ago I had the luxury to have a thursday morning all to myself as my nanny job started from last monday...so I went to ST ALFEGE ( photo ) to listen to a piano recital...there was a young pianist from the Trinity college playing Bach, Mozart, ....wow what a treat! For your knowledge, these are lunch time concerts at 1.00 every Thursday and they are free! ( Donations )

The Church interiors are beautiful and the golden Autumn light at this time of the year makes it even more gorgeous inside...

Autumn light in Blackheath and Greenwich

Amazing skies in autumn light...taken around Blackheath and Greenwich....the last couple of years...

Original and amazing

Blossoming jewellery, vintage fabric cushions...etc..my friend's Cinzia who is an eco - conscious friend, talented artist , Waldorf inspired mama, gardener, cook, entrepeneuse...and much more...

check her blogs and websites...


http://blossomingtandjewellery.com/


http://www.re-makefab.co.uk/


http://www.facebook.com/pages/CinziaC-Jewellery/128163330539986

Cinzia's boy, Eugenio, here was two..he is now three!

And here Eugenio was just a doll !

On being happy

http://networkedblogs.com/7D4RY

Parent and Child relationship;


Home sweet home!

Home is the immediate surrounding of the young child; its smells, the light and colours that are around him, the mood and the atmosphere that fill the space around him…all this have to be subtle, yet strong; defining the child’s environment as safe. Home sweet home!

Yet…how many homes are really like that? There is usually a certain degree of loudness, maybe yelling or just a loud radio, or the vacuum cleaner, or the washing machine, the computer or the phone…perhaps even the decoration is too loud!

We have to remember that the critical years between 0 to 7 are so important in the child’s development. Here the child absorbs everything. He is at one with his surroundings.

As parents and carers we truly need to be caring. This means that the child needs to breath in our love. The child needs warmth. He needs to feel safe and loved. He needs to feel cared for and nurtured. All the child’s senses are engaged and it is very important to protect the child from external influences that may awaken his senses too early.

Once more the child should not feel threatened or intimidated by loud noises and stranger’s loud voices; nor by toys which are too formed.
 The best toys are the  ‘domestic’ ones a mini home corner with miniature cooker, pots and pans, ironing board, etc...  You could have a kitchen shelf, table and chairs, a cooker with pots and pans, an ironing table, a laundry basket, clothes driers, soft cushions, a soft dolls ‘house’, a tent made of cloths and sheets…and much more. the grown up could be busy around the house with various domestic activities, such as cleaning, baking, preparing snack, sewing, knitting .or painting…and the child/children should be content and should be able then to go deep into their own business and imitate the domestic environment with their creative play...the whole play experience is homely and the senses are engaged in a safe cocoon space which does have indeed a familiar experience.

Familiar is a lovely word that explains the child’s need to be in a loving family/ social nucleus, and with people and things that he recognizes and with which he feels safe. That is also why the rhythm is important in our sessions; the familiarity and the comfort of knowing where things are, what is happening next…the routine, all these helping to form good social skills and good habits by example and imitation.

The child experiences all the subtle gestures, the welcoming words, the reverence, the atmosphere filled with love and joy, the adult world at ‘work’, busy and absorbed in crafty activities, yet relaxed and sociable. It is good for children to see adults being adults. Mums and dads don’t usually need to play with children all the time. The children need to see the adult example and they need to copy that and use their imagination and reproduce the adult world in they play world. This is how they learn and how they engage with the outside world.

The doing is the most important thing and the being is the doing. The adults being there is not enough. The children need to feel the adults being fully engaged and relaxed while at work.

When the occasion is right and it is fun for both of you, you can do an activity with your child, such as cooking- always a winner...Cooking is something I do all the time, everyday...and my daughter experience is to see me in the kitchen most of the time. But there were special moments where we needed to bake a chocolate cake for some birthday or celebration or other...what a lovely excuse to have messy-yummy fun in the kitchen. Yes the kitchen is for me the heart of the home!

The pictures I put here are about 4 or 5 years old, my daughter is nine years old now, and I think it is because of all the cooking at home that she is now not only a good eater ( she eats all the vegetables and pretty much all what we eat..healthy and varied food) but a good cook too...the other day she fired some courgettes for the pasta all by herself...slicing them first...she likes to make apple crumble and she does it all by herself ...I just do the oven bit as I don't let her near it when it's on...but she can stir, whick, chop, etc...

We have made quiches togehter, cookies, bread, cakes, soups...well...pretty much everything!

I will have a day soon, I think, when I say that will be her cooking day...she will cook for us! She can choose the menu and do all the cooking for mummy and daddy...she would love that!

OUT and ABOUT...outdoor time

A walk in the park, or the woods is the lovliest thing ever to do with your child..children..now as a nanny and parent I am basically home educating and these activities really add richness and dimension to your days. Autumn is the best time as all the things fall on the ground ready for you and your children to pick them...must not be too greedy I say...let's leave some for the squirrels and little creatures! Conkers...tigs, stones, cones,leaves...nuts...berries...and also sopt the spiderwebs, and much much more!

 Trees have been there always waiting...inviting my girl to climb them...Morgana is a natural tree hugger and climber...she feels at home on a tree!

It is sad when I often see adults out and about with their kids... lately especially ...I noticed more...They chat amongst themselves...which is fine...but often I spot them texting or chatting on the phone...long chats...

sad...what do you think...the adults are probably watching over but not fully observing or sharing the outdoor time with the children...I don't want to judge...but to me it seems rather important that the kids see the adults enjoying the experience...

On the the other side there are quite a few adults...and it seems more dads than moms...that actually 'play' with the children...that is nice to see and there is nothing quite wrong with it but for me the ideal situation is to be engaged in some activity ( could be mushroom picking, walking the dogs, painting...anything...really...even better...collecting willow twigs for basket making, or bark for a boat...twigs, for mobiles...something artistic or useful, or both...

I'd like my friends bloggers and followers to come with ideas.

I really like the idea of forest schools and I am intrigued...but it still seems very 'formed' and contrived...

I like to feel the connection with nature not because I have to but because i want to...It's not a question of let's go out wrap up warm and get some fresh air and then back indoors into a stuffy room for a hot cup of tea...it's more than that//it is about being relaxed out there in all weathers...

For us parents and nannies the need to chat is vital! We need to compare notes all the time, and to share

parenting information. Yet if adults are in the group with a sense of purpose and are willing to learn and share skills, sing, join in and help around, the child will feel more relaxed and will benefit from the session. It doesn’t help to be there with the child and text your friend on the mobile phone! Let's leave these triviality of modern life...the technology and learn to be in the moment like children do. Let's be content and happy to be just for the sake of being....smell the flowers...slow down...stop thinking...just stop and breathe...observe the little child in front of you and  leave the adult world for a while...just for a while!

a few years back, my sister Laura and Morgana: playing during the break of our long day rehearsals of Treasure Island production in the Dengie, Essex. Outdoor could mean just the back garden or a pretty local churchyard, open space, a common/heath, a field, playground...etc...

children love running and jumping, each season offers different things...

out and about, church in dengie, essex, front garden of old house in Essex,

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Playground

 

Royal Gardens!

By the pond, Cator estate, nearby our current home...when do you find the time for outdoors...? Well, I am sure this was on the way back from school...we walk to school and back each day and it could take us 45 minutes to an hour and a half if we stop and play and look at things...I am sure this one shows excitement after spotting a squirrel running up the tree...

So, invest in thermals, get ready for the outdoor experience!

Claire de Lune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LXl4y6D-QI

On Rhythm and Repetition

The Dance of Life


The Dance of Sun and Moon

Of the Day and the Night

The dance of Life

Of the four Seasons

And of brighter light

The dancing Sun

Shining, lighting the way Summer fire all around us,

And within us

The rhythm of the heart

The pulse of Life

Breathing in and out

With the Universe

The importance of Rhythm and Repetition

Rhythm means repetition with variation, and it is vital and healthy for living organisms. Our bodies dance to the tune of many rhythms, all of which harmonise into one vast symphony when we are healthy. Our internal organs have a rhythm of their own but we are all in tune with our environment, the elements and the natural rhythms of life.

Children need a healthy rhythm in their lives in order to maintain their own inner rhythms.

Daily routines create in the child a sense of security and belonging; children thrive on rhythm in their lives. A rhythmic home life in the years of childhood and rhythms in their life of learning will give them something of inestimable value for life. From the basic first rhythms such as eating and sleeping to daily patterns, centring around meal times and bed times; as long as the rhythm is a familiar one, the child feels relaxed, confident and secure. Also, the transition from one activity to the other has to be gentle and slow so not to cause a sudden change.

Like the seasons, we breathe in and out and children live at the same pace and more in tune with nature than us adults. Children need to experience the qualities of the natural rhythms to build a stronger connection with nature and with themselves as individuals.

So let the child experience each waking hour of the day and the sleeping time, and the buzzing activities and the quiet times, and the day and the night, and the days of the week and the months and the seasons and the years…let the child flow between these and live and play in freedom; let the child remember and learn; let’s enrich the children’s souls.

Let the children feel safe and let them trust themselves. This will bring self confidence and support learning.






Encourage your Child's Contact with Nature. Young children are so full of life, and


they see everything as being alive--up until puberty, according to Piaget! Value your

child's outside play. Provide rain gear as well as snowsuits and go to the park. Look at

your yard from a child's perspective: where can a secret hiding place be, a garden, a

place to dig holes? Also bring nature into your home: on a table, arrange items you

have collected on walks, and change your arrangement with the seasons. Be sure to

provide opportunities for sand and water play, for planting wheat grass in spring, for

watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.



Ways to Encourage Your Child's Creative Play


The most important thing you can do for your toddler is to "childproof" your house so

that your child can explore freely while being close to you. Set aside a low kitchen

cupboard or drawer and fill it with pots, lids, wooden spoons, measuring cups, and

other cooking items to play with. Household objects provide a much richer experience

for a child than purchased toys do. In addition, some of the following suggestions for

three to six year olds can be started with a younger child:

Create an Inviting Environment. The way toys are displayed will determine whether

or not they are played with. Putting toys on shelves each night and setting up "scenes"

on the floor or on a low table--perhaps a farmyard or several small dolls and a boat--

will invite your child to play with them. Remember that much of play is suggested by

what the child sees.

Having activity areas can also encourage play. Putting the dolls in their beds each

night and waking them up in the morning can help them be livelier companions in

play. Or you can create a kitchen area with a simple stove-sink combination--a

wooden box with a hole cut in it for a metal mixing bowl sink and painted burners.

Toy dishes do not last very long; try getting wooden bowls and small pots from a

secondhand store.

You might also create a workbench area, an art area, a costume corner. Since your

child will probably want to be near you much of the time, activity areas are best set

up in various rooms rather than off in a secluded "playroom."
A few songs and verses for a nice ring time with your children...

Now I walk in beauty


Beauty is before me,

Beauty is behind me,

Above and below me. (repeat)

Over the rainbow trail I go - On toes to 8 counts of drumbeat

Hither I wander, thither I wander -Drum and step deeply on hither, wither

Over the beautiful trial I go. - 8 counts on toes to drumbeat

(repeat)

Mother Earth's children rise in the morn

Mother Earth's children gather corn.

Dance to the wind, dance to the rain,

Dance to the Earth who gives us grain.

Mother Earth's children put feathers in their hair

Mother Earth's children string beans to wear.

Dance to the wind, dance to the rain,

Dance to the Earth who gives us grain.

Mother Earth's children walk softly as the deer,

To the hearth with the golden ear.

Dance to the wind, dance to the rain,

Dance to the Earth who gives us grain.

A little fire they will make

Bread of golden corn they'll bake.

Dance to the wind, dance to the rain,

Dance to the Earth who gives us grain.

Bread of golden corn they'll eat

Then Mother Earth's children fall fast asleep.

(humming softly) Dance to the wind, dance to the rain,

Dance to the Earth who gives us grain.

(Repeat 'Over the Rainbow Trail I go

Hither I wander, thither I wander

Over the beautiful trail I go.” between all songs

and verses, same movements, no drumming.)

My paddle's keen and bright,

Flashing like silver.

Follow the wild goose flight,

Dip, dip and swing.

Dip, dip and swing it back, flashing like silver.

Follow the wild goose flight, dip, dip and swing.

Land of the silver birch,

Home of the beaver.

Wood where the mighty moose,

Wanders at will.

Green lakes and rocky shore,

I will return once more.

Follow the wild goose flight,

Dip, dip and swing.

Dip, dip and swing it back, flashing like silver,

Follow the wild goose flight, dip, dip and swing.

(Repeat verse.)

May we all fly like eagles

Flying so-o high

Circling the Universe

On wings of pure light

o witchi ti ti

Witchi ti o oh

o witchi ti ti

Witchi ti i oh

Witchi ti i oh

Witchi ti i o oh hoh

(Repeat verse.)

Mother Earth to you we're singing,

Listen to our song.

Thanks for golden harvest bringing,

Listen as we sing to you,

Sing to you, sing to you,

Songs of rain and sunshine.

On the trail where we are going

Ever will we sing.

When the winter comes with snowing

Still our hearts will sing to you,

Sing to you, sing to you,

Songs of rain and sunshine.

(Repeat verse.)

The moon on the one hand,

The sun on the other,

The moon is my sister,

The sun is my brother.

The moon on my left,

The sun on my right,

My brother “Good morning”,

My sister “Good night”.









And in Life's noisiest hour,

There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee,

The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy.



You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within;

And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart

Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulse's beat;

You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light,

Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve

On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake.



And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you,

How oft! I bless the Lot that made me love you.

The Presence of Love

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An early autumn story for your children

The Three Apples


The old apple tree stood in the orchard with the other trees, and all summer long it had stretched out its branches wide to catch the rain and the sun to make its apples grow round and ripe. Now it was fall, and on the old apple tree were three great apples as yellow as gold and larger than any other apples in the whole orchard. The apple tree stretched and reached as far as it could, until the branch on which the three gold apples grew hung over the orchard wall. There were the three great apples, waiting for some one to pick them, and as the wind blew through the leaves of the apple tree it seemed to sing:

"Here in the orchard are apples three,

Who uses one well shall a treasure see."

And one morning Gerald came down the lane that passed by the orchard wall. He looked longingly at the three gold apples, wishing, wishing that he might have one. Just then the wind sang its song again in the leaves of the apple tree and, plump, down to the ground, right at Gerald's feet, fell one of the three gold apples.He picked it up and turned it round and round in his hands. How sweet it smelled, and how mellow and juicy it was! Gerald could think of nothing so good to do with such a beautiful ripe apple as to eat it. He put it to his mouth and took a great bite of it, then another bite, and another. Soon there was nothing left of the apple but the core, which Gerald threw away. He smacked his lips and went on his way, but the wind in the apple trees sang, sorrowfully, after him:

"Here in the orchard are apples two,

But gone is the treasure that fell for you."

And after a while Hilda came down the lane that passed by the orchard wall. She looked up at the two beautiful gold apples that hung on the branch of the old apple tree, and she listened to the wind as it sang in the branches to her:

"Here in the orchard are apples two,

A treasure they hold for a child like you."

Then the wind blew harder and, plump, an apple fell in the lane right in front of Hilda.She picked it up joyfully. She had never seen so large and so golden an apple. She held it carefully in her clasped hands and thought what a pity it would be to eat it, because then it would be gone.

"I will keep this gold apple always," Hilda said, and she wrapped it up in the clean handkerchief that was in her pocket. Then Hilda went home, and there she laid away in a drawer the gold apple that the old apple tree had given her, closing the drawer tightly. The apple lay inside, in the dark, and all wrapped up, for many days, until it spoiled. And when Hilda next went down the lane and past the orchard, the wind in the apple tree sang to her:

"Only one apple where once there were two,

Gone is the treasure I gave to you."

Last of all, Rudolph went down the lane one fine fall morning when the sun was shining warm and the wind was out. There, hanging over the orchard wall, he saw just one great gold apple that seemed to him the most beautiful apple that he had ever seen. As he stood looking up at it, the wind in the apple tree sang to him, and it said:

"Round and gold on the apple tree,

A wonderful treasure, hanging, see!"

Then the wind blew harder, and down fell the last gold apple of the three into Rudolph's waiting hands.

He held it a long time and looked at it as Gerald and Hilda had, thinking how good it would be to eat, and how pretty it would be to look at if he were to save it. Then he decided not to do either of these things. He took his jack-knife out of his pocket and cut the gold apple in half, straight across, and exactly in the middle between the blossom and the stem.

Oh, the surprise that waited for Rudolph inside the apple! There was a star, and in each point of the star lay a small black seed. Rudolph carefully took out all the seeds and climbed over the orchard wall, holding them in his hand. The earth in the orchard was still soft, for the frost had not yet come. Rudolph made holes in the earth and in each hole he dropped an apple seed. Then he covered up the seeds and climbed back over the wall to eat his apple, and then go on his way.But as Rudolph walked down the lane, the orchard wind followed him, singing to him from every tree and bush,

"A planted seed is a treasure won.

The work of the apple is now well done."

Happy home recipe

Happy Home Recipe




4 cups love 3 cups forgiveness

2 cups loyalty 1 cup friendship

4 quarts faith 5 spoons hope

2 spoons tenderness 1 barrel laughter



Take love and loyalty. Mix thoroughly with faith. Blend with tenderness, kindness and understanding.

Add friendship and hope.

Sprinkle abundantly with laughter.

Bake with sunshine.

Serve daily in generous helpings.

Life grows

The wishes of the soul are springing,
The deeds of the will are thriving,
The fruits of life are maturing.

I feel my fate,
My fate finds me.
I feel my star,
My star finds me.
I feel my goals in life,
My goals in life are finding me.

My soul and the World are really one..

Life grows more radiant about me,
Life grows more arduous for me,
Grows more abundant within me.

Rudolf Steiner

here comes the sun

Here comes the Sun...oh no..it's gone!

waldorf at home

http://celebratetherhythmoflife.blogspot.com/2010/09/storytelling-with-children.html

http://shonastudio.blogspot.com/

http://acornpies.blogspot.com/search?q=how+to+make+a+fall+swag

http://lifeunity.blogspot.com/


are some of my latest favourite...check them all out!

Autumn

Autumn term: for homeschoolers and Waldorf parents and anyone else with children




Autumn is around the corner...

The mood is a celebration of nature and its abundance with the harvest and our reverence for Mother Earth.

Leaves are falling and the wind is cooler…



Leaves on the ground are turning,

Yellow, brown and red.

Smoke from the bonfire burning,

Climbing overhead.

Here comes Autumn to bring the mist and rain.

Summer has gone for another year,

Autumn's here again.



Sunflower fairies with her seed children and the mushroom children and the pumpkin fairies….Brother Wind and Sister Rain, blowing cooler winds and washing all the apples…Leaves are dancing in the wind…Mother Earth is full of colour.

Autumn is here, soon the nights will be cooler. Blackberries in the hedgerows and leaves red and gold.

Involve the children picking conkers, cones and leaves to bring for a

nature table.

Each parent has a different repertoire of rhymes and songs which are seasonal; we are sure you know plenty too! The subjects are wind, leaves, apples, rain, etc… and they can be found in various books but our favorites are ‘’the Singing Year’ by Candy Verney and ‘’Autumn’’ by Wynstones press.

Here are a few songs and rhymes from a selection of  various resources.

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater,

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife but could not keep her.

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well.

Falling leaves

All the leaves are falling down,

Orange, yellow, red and brown.

Falling softly as they do,

Over me and over you.

All the leaves are falling down,

Orange, yellow, red and brown.

Father sky, Father sky

Widely loving blue and high

Mother Earth, your warming glow Makes the seeds and apples grow

A farmer once planted some brown pumpkin seeds,

With a pit-a pat, pit-a-pat…

He watered them often and pulled out the weeds,

With a tug- tug at this , a tug-tug at that…

The pumpkins grew big, and orange and round,

Their green leaves growing all over the ground.

And when they were ready that farmer did make

Riddle-dum-die…delicious pumpkin pie!

Sally goes round the sun

Sally goes round the moon

Sally goes round the pumpkin patch

On a Saturday afternoon.

For the golden corn and the apples on the tree

For the golden butter and the honey in my tea

For fruit and nuts and berries

That grow along the way

For birds and bees and flowers

We give thanks every day

This one is for the grown ups!









To Autumn

John Keats


Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,


Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;


Conspiring with him how to load and bless


With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;


To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,


And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;


To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells


With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,


And still more, later flowers for the bees,


Until they think warm days will never cease,


For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Time to prepare all the jars for a chutney-jam-preserve making session!