Tuesday 28 August 2012

September is here again!

September, new beginning, new diary and bags, clothes, new pencil cases and crayons...have you got everything? I have...most of it. I love this time of the year, getting things ready for the exciting new term.
The feeling is very hard to describe, but the adrenaline is high, I am sure, for the little ones starting school; the first day at school, mixed with curiousity, excitment, fear, anticipation! It is the same for me and for lots of adults too, I believe. So many of us, even without children, start a new course or a new job, for most of parents with school children is a blessing to just get back to a routine; then we will know what day of the week it is and if it is swimming day or pizza day, or maths homework day!
For the parents of little children routine is more than a blessing, it is vital! For routine shapes our days and routine is repetition and a comfortable space where the children feel cared for an secure.Some of the things we do daily, like dressing and feeding and doing things in a certain way and eating food at the same time, at the table, playing and going out, seeing the same friends, growing together, learning and sharing; this is also part of how the little child relates to others than himself, to his family and to the community. That is why I take my children (my daughter, and the children in my care) to regular local things: the library, the market, the playground and a few weekly groups. I don't have a favourite, but if I had to choose it would be the outdoor group in Oxleas Woods; I run this group myself, but I also have been taking the children there before when other Acorns leaders run it. it is such a lovely thing to walk and discover and sing and play in the woods, and to share a picnic. Whatever the weather I go armed with wellies and waterproofs and enjoy seeing dewdrops on spiderwebs, musrhooms on fallen tree trunks, birds nesting,bluebells and much much more, each season comes with its beauty, even the winter is special with the bare branches and the vast skies with amazing views on top of the hill above the meadow.
because of my routine and schedule with the children I have changed the day back to the original Outdoor Session  day - to Friday, I hope to see the regulars and perhaps newcomers too!

 For details go to http://www.greenwichacorns.org.uk/outdoor-pch-group.html




Then, I also take the children to Jo's group on Monday am at The Conservatoire Blackheath,which is a lovely group for 0 to 4 years old where we create and imagine and interact with the teacher's lovely stories.
Morgana, my daughter goes to drawing and art lessons there too, she loves it!

I run a Parent and Child group session indoors too, as you all know already, and it has been such a lovely place for all of us to learn, grow and share; the way I see the group is a place for the parents to do some domestic, creative work for us, for the spirit of togetherness and of the community, then the children enter free play and relax in this calm environment, where the adults are busy working and interacting, without directing or actively teaching, but just being there and using song, gesture and a lot of care.The rhythm of the session is always the same so the children feel safe and learn with repetition.
A lot more info on

http://www.greenwichacorns.org.uk/timetable.html

http://www.greenwichacorns.org.uk/outdoor-pch-group.html

I advise all of you to book now as places fill very quickly!

So,off to the shoe shop for Morgana's  needs her new season's shoes!

xxx

Susannah


Some songs and verses I sing or say to the children:

When we come to the ring and greet each other I sing

Good morning Dear Earth,
Good morning Dear Sun,
Good morning Dear Stones, Stick and Flowers, every one,
Good morning Dear Creatures and Birds in the Tree
Good morning to You and Good Morning to me!


Down is the earth
Up is the Sky
Here are my Friends
And here am I: two eyes to see, two ears to hear and two feet to walk and run;
Here are my hands
Give yours to mine
Good Morning everyone!


When we come to the table for the meal I sing a blessing:

For the golden corn and the apples on the trees,
For the golden butter and the honey for our tea,
For fruits and nuts and berries that grow along the way,
For birds and bees and flowers, we give our thanks today.
Blessings on our meal and our family.
 


Blessings on the Blossoms,
Blessings on the fruits,
Blessings on the leaves and stems,
And blessings on the roots

(hold hands)
Blessings on the food!

 
In my ring time I sing about apples and squirrels and the falling leaves and the whirling wind and in my storytime I sing: 

Mother earth, mother earth,

Take or seed and give it birth.

Father sun, gleam and glow

Until the roots begin to grow.

Sister rain, sister rain

Shed thy tears to swell the grain;

Brother wind, breathe and blow

Then the blade green will grow.

Earth and sun and wind and rain

Turn to gold the living grain. 
 
 



September activities in my group will be gathering leaves and sticks making boats out of bark and leaves in the woods; indoors i will be scrubbing, cleaning, then grinding flour and making bread.

Some songs will be about The Miller, and the Wind and The Mill


When the wind blows
Then the mill goes
When the wind drops
Then the mill stops

Clickety - clackety,
Clickety - clackety,
Clickety - clackety,
Clack!
~~~


Blow, wind, blow! and go, mill, go!
That the miller may grind his corn;
That the baker may take it,
And into rolls make it,
And send us some hot in the morn.



At story time I like to talk about nature and one of my favourite story is the Squirrel nutkin which I simplify but it helps to be inspired by the classics like
The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes

TaleOfTimmyTiptoes.jpg

And the song goes like this:

Squirrel Nutkin with its coat so brown
Quite the loveliest in London Town
Two bright eyes for him to see
Where the sweetest nuts will be

( change London Town to Woodland Town for the woods)



I love squirrels and the children see them everywhere so it is part of their daily life!


 
Happy end of Summer/early Autumn to you all!
 
 
xxx
Susannah

Thursday 23 August 2012

Camden Market

So, this is Camden,
All change please
not me
not us
me and you
you and I had something here...

Hello camden,
we meet again
once upon a time a long time ago
yet
seems only yesterday

I am so tired
I want to go home...

Not now,
not yet,
just one more little look around...

Not in this flesh,
three times seven year cycle,
dead cells...
yes
walking on my dead cells
I am
now
walking on this very lock

Market frenzy
The West yard
Colours
Sight and sound
take me back
take me back
all those years
and yet...
Here am I

Alive,
feeling this vibrant energy
the underground rumbling
the alternative shouting
th original and the fashionable
screaming
STOP

Exfoliating my dead cells
flakes falling to the ground
renewing
feeling the vibrations
minds buzzing
and me
in the centre
calm
right in the middle
of this whirling
the stalls
around me
calling

Then,
a pulsating heartbeat
fast and furious
looking ahead
into the future

Now,
a steady pulse
in tune with the Universe
calm and centered
being present,
now,

in Camden market.

 
Here we are
amongst the crowd
Lost in thought
searching for some
lost meaning
of Life
 
 
 
 
A pair of jeans
A ring or two
Something old
Something new 

 
 
People watching people
 
Lost in a crowd of watchers, wathcing time going by
Time goes
Like dirt between toes
Tired limbs
A heart that doesn't glow
with the same shine
No more
 

The beat and the heat
The melodies and the songs
My heart once sang
The swaying and dancing
The passion once in my body
now transferred to colours and images
faded like the memorabilia and the dusted junk
Amongst these stalls



The meaning of love

Fashion item
Lost sounds and images
of past feelings
That driving Passion,
A pulling Force
The yearning
The wanting
desires not yet fulfilled
Some experiences
not quite savoured
Fast track line took me someplace far, yet...
Only now can't quite recall
This or the other
A blur
What remains is the empty feeling
of something that is still yet to happen
Another time and place
Not here
not now

But soon, somehow...


 
 
Discoveries and secret wishes
Wannabe now or never
Fuzzy feeling
Something new
Something old
Same old stories
repeated through generations
passed down
The past moment
frozen and killed
Lost in time
Found again
Only the realization
like a morning birdsong
Waking
breaking
a dream
 





Sunday 19 August 2012

It's a lazy afternoon

Summer is here in Greenwich today ( Saturday 18th August) it is only 29 degrees but feels more like 35 degrees...as it humid. So after a morning of cycling all the way to Greenwich market to browse and get some (non) essentials, back home for lazy lunch - salad, crackers goat cheese and baby tomatoes, then reading my book, sitting by the window,catching a bit of a breeze...and the melody in the background, soft jazzy tunes....yes indeed a lazy Afternoon...

Tomorrow we will venture into Town...
London still feels new and exciting even if my steps will be repeating, my feet walking on the very pavements I walked on before; yet, somehow, it will feel different as the big city breathes, and grows, and I will look at things with older eyes.

London markets, high streets, parks, art galleries grow, evolve, change; people come and go, new generations and turist who feel they 'discovered' these amazing things, and me, who remembers the older days, and how I felt camden Town was the most original place on earth!

Will be taking photos...stay tune

Sunday 12 August 2012

Roman Holidays

Back from our Roman Holidays. We are suntanned, cooked al dente or a bit overdone; Morgana a nice caffelatte colour and me, a sun-kissed tomato!

Of course, no need to say it was always sunny and hot! We went to the beach and to our local swimming pool, conveniently placed a due passi from my aunt's house, where we stayed.

I'd like to add that the ospitality, or l'accoglienza, has been, like always fantastica!
Both my aunt and my dad and all my family have been so nice to us, making this Vacanze Romane very special! I didn't have to cook for 10 days, which is a break from my usual 3 meals a day routine- and I cook from scratch, as the British say, which goes without saying for us Italians!

Talking about food (and what else,apart from the Sun?), we had all sorts of local specialities, as usual: roast peppers, baked toamatoes filled with rice, pizza, pasta, con zucchine, cacio e pepe, and much more. Here I must mention the famous gelato, of course, inmancabile!

I must thank my dear sister for introducing me to GROM, which now we think as the best ice cream IN THE WORLD! not only; I personally think that instead of saying gelato we will say a GROM to mean ice cream! GROM is a surname, nothing more! The Grom family makes ice cream using traditional methods using only fresh and pure ingredients, no additives, no schifezze! More info on:

http://www.grom.it/ita/home.php

You can find Grom also in Usa, Paris and Japan!

And here now the images that, as always, speak for themselves...

Limoni di mia zia Liana

Al mare



Grom!





Bamboo
Alla piscina




We visited a brand new place, an emporium of all Italian flavours, where you find all types of food and drinks made in Italy. It was in impressive four floor building packed with delicacies.




http://www.roma.eataly.it/



Like Grom, you can find EATALY in other parts of the world, here, for example the one in New York:

http://eatalyny.com/

Now waiting for one to open in London?!



On the last night in Rome, we went to Castel Sant' Angelo for a tour and a jazz concert, with a quartet that played Coltrane, Duke Ellington and their own compositions; a nice concerto all'aperto.



And then the spectacular viwes from the terrazzo, with views of the capital; we didn't see any stelle cadenti,even if it was the best night for shooting stars, we only saw an angel!



Ciao!

xxx
Susannah