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Eleanor Farjeon and an Owl

10/28/2012

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I love learning along side the kids in our homeschool community/co-op.  This type of education inspires and refreshes me and gives my brain it's required nutriment. This term we're studying the life and works of the poet Eleanor Farjeon. Two stories about her life that have been shared with us stand out to me in a new way.
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A young Eleanor in one of her hats (my TBG kids will get this :)
One time, she was getting ready to go out and was washing up. With one hand washing, she grabbed a paper and pencil with the other and wrote the poem Chaos. Another time she was at a party, waiting her turn to play a game. She got up and left the group, stepped outside and sat down in the night air and wrote the words to another poem about the night. People sometimes said she was a little different. What was it that made her stop (or not!) what she was in the middle of and write poetry!? 
Now, let me tell you another little story. Recently I hosted TBG at my home for a morning. We all went out and headed back into the woods for our nature walk. One of the moms stumbled (almost literally) upon this adorable little owl.
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We all gathered around to observe the little guy and several of us even had time to make an entry into our notebooks! The owl sat on the branch for a good 20 minutes or longer! Its feathers ruffled in the breeze; it blinked often yet made no sound; and it turned its head round for us once or twice in that truly owl-ish way. We were all in awe. Yet, none of us could identify the owl off-hand. We went home and dug out our field guides and searched around online.
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Painting the owl on the woodland floor
Later that night, determined to find out, my husband and I went owling in the dark, chilly wind. We crept through the woods as quietly as one can on a carpet of crunchy dry leaves. We searched through the branches with the flashlight, but our ears heard it first. It was the most un-owl noise, like a wet saw blade or 2 pieces of metal rubbing, squeaking against each other. I thought for sure it must be the weather vane turning in the wind, but we checked and it wasn't! After hearing it about 7 times, the flashlight caught a glimpse of the little owl, reassuring us that it was the little Saw-Whet Owl our group had observed.

Owling is a great adventure!

What does this have to do with Eleanor, you say? I went to sleep that night and had a dream about that owl. I really don't consider myself poetic, but in the morning when I awoke I had these silly little words running around in my head. I had to set them down on paper to make them be quiet.
I had an 'Eleanor-moment.' She and I will forever be linked now.
This is after all a living education, making a connection with with one of the great minds, isn't it?

          Saw-whet owl with your voice so strange,
          I never could imagine such a squeaky, metal twang
          could come from a bird so elfin, soft, and cute
          with your blinking eyes and turning head,
          we thought you might be mute.

          You had all of us fooled
          thinking you must have been a baby,
          but in your wisdom were you thinking
          how silly we all were, maybe?
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Photo courtesy of my friend Mrs. T :)
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Visitors and their Bed

10/19/2012

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With Our Hands

10/9/2012

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"I think a man has missed a very deep feeling of satisfaction if he has never created or at least completed something with his own two hands." -Dick Proenneke
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I relish Fall. To me it's not just about preparing for winter; it's about settling in and savoring the sights and sensations of a world slowing down. And each day brings something new.

So far, in the new school year, we have completed 2 handicrafts in our Truth, Beauty, Goodness Community. I try to choose our projects thoughtfully in accordance with these principles, and often in correspondence with the season we are in.

In our first lesson we canned tomatoes. We used a very simple recipe from the Ball Blue Book of Canning. Listening to the lids "pop" as they seal, and feeling the skin peel away from the flesh of the tomato after blanching it, were two favorite parts of the process.

"Having a sampling of summer sunshine in mid-winter satisfies more than just tastebuds."
                                                                                                                             -B. Olson
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Next, we made wreaths out of dried soy beans. Both of these lessons were 'group effort' type of projects. I am thankful for everyone's help and participation.

Each wreath took approximately 13-20 stalks of beans. We soaked the stalks in tubs/sleds of water overnight to get them pliable for working with. It was nice to do this project on the cement, and in the sunshine. Otherwise our hands would have been
C-O-L-D!
 
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Making sure the stalks all faced the same direction, we used twine to tie bundles of 3-4 stalks together. Then we tied 2 and then 3 bundles together overlapping the ends slightly to cover the twine. We bent this long tied-together set of bundles into an approximate wreath shape and tied the ends to hold it in place.
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After this the process was up to the individuals. Some wanted theirs thicker, so they intertwined more soy bean stalks and twisted and tucked them into place. Some shaped theirs into hearts or spheres. Some doubled their wreaths, by putting 2 on top of each other and bound them with more stalks.

I hope to add a plaid fall-colored ribbon to mine, and maybe tuck in a few bright leaves before I hang it on the front door.

It's a pleasure to watch people think and create with their hands busy at work. You can see the satisfaction in their faces when they finish.
 
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Savoring

10/4/2012

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The weather has turned. Yesterday was sunny and gorgeous . Today the wind is strong and the air is brisk. I'm glad we did this (above) before the cold came. Bedtime stories are much more fun in a tent, don't you think? We're reading Vol. 1 in a vintage Child Craft set. Lovely old books!
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    Welcome!

    "I am recording this so that future generations will also praise the Lord for all He has done."            -Psalm 102:18

    I am a mama to 2 sweet brothers who aspires to a "thinking love" toward my children.  

    Take a peek into our  journey towards a living education inspired by the writings of Charlotte Mason.

    Be sure to leave me a comment if you're inspired!


    I prefer to keep my text and images right here. Please don't copy without permission. Thanks!
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    "In this field small efforts are honoured with great rewards, and we perceive that the education we are giving exceeds all that we intended or imagined.”  
                    - Mason
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    “It may be that the souls of all children are waiting for the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living.”             
                   - Mason

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