Miraculous Mycellial

Autumn brings with it all sorts of beauty.  We are eager to explore fungus and learn more about it this year.  At Longshaw this week, lots of fungi spotted.  With the kids this week we are going to go through our new book and see if we can identify some of these.

Autumn days

Oh how I love Autumn... and not just my daughter!!!  The colour changing - the day by day mini changes, the excitement of the weather changing, and also looking forward to Strictly Come Dancing! Today was definitely a day to be outside as the weather was probably as hot as a good Summer's day, nice and still as well.  We popped to swimming first thing to take advantage of the nice empty pool at Dronfield early in the morning now that it is school time again. There is nothing like getting into a still pool and behind the only thing to disturb the stillness of the water. I am so grateful that we home educate as it gives us so many opportunities to explore and really enjoy activities without the crowds.  Swimming is no exception.  The lovely small pool there, is heated and always has a good selection of toys, including balls in a sock type thing, which the kids say are Sea Krates (a type of Sea Snake). For a change the kids play included a fair bit of swimming, but also a fair bit of maths - they were orderng, sorting and dividing the toy ducks into different groups.  A bit of science going on too, working out how many Sea Krates are needed to allow the kids to relax on and float on the water.  At the moment, they both use arm bands, and Autumn generally does more swimming about because she is shorter and can't touch the floor in as much space as Evan can.  Autumn has always had utmost confidence in her swimming abilities, apart from a blip for about 6 mmonths when we didn't go very often and she forgot that she could swim.  When this happened I made a pact to go frequently to give them a chance to build on their confidence each time.  We try and go a few times a month.

We aren't allowed to take photos in the pool, so I made up for it by this photo of the kids "hair"drying themselves.

Next we popped to Dronfield library.  I have discovered why we keep getting overdue books today... you only get 3 weeks loan, which in my experience is fairly short, and shows reminds me when we don't get round to going swimming for a while.  We brought back a few books, and got a load for Evan's Tiger project which he started last month, but kind of stopped after a short time, but he is eager to reinstate it again.  Hunger took us home.  On the way, on this beautiful morning I asked the kids if they fancied going to Chatsworth for the afternoon, and they thought it was a good idea so we had an early lunch and headed off.

Chatsworth was brilliant, and there are some amazing sculptures on display as part of a Sotheby's exhibition.  Around this piece we met a helicopter load of very rich people, who no doubt were among the few who were seeking to decide on a sculpture to purchase.  I say helicopter load, not just for fun, but because later in the day we heard them heading off in a helicopter back home.

This was Spiral of the Galaxy, which we overheard a guide explaining about... the idea of one side of the shell was rough and weathered, as if over time, whilst the other side was shiny and new with such brightness.  Obviously this reference to life is a useful one to reflect upon.  Looking at life through the lens of a child, everything is brand new, shiny and exciting, and as time goes on, things become duller and less interesting.  That is not to say that as we get older we have to think in these ways.  My recent journeys through personal development, with particular help from The Magic, is helping me to see life all shiny and new like children do, rather than always through cynical eyes.  I feel so incredibly blessed that I get to experience my children's childhood with them so fully, as it brings a new perspective and vigour for life that I don't believe I would have without this amazing wonderful experience.

Evan asked me to draw a picture of it, and he wanted me to show the fact that it echos too.

This is a mound that has something to do with the pond close-by, but we couldn't work out quite what.  However, the kids loved playing here, and exploring different ways of getting up and down the very steep sides.  Sliding and running seemed to be the most effective methods, Evan talked about the forces involved here (bit of science going on!)  I loved hearing from Autumn that it was okay for her to get dirty, as her clothes could be washed, so she happily slid down the muddy bank on her bum.

The Dream machine - (La Machine de Rever) or something like that, here was made in 1970.  Autumn enjoyed the colours and was interested in the wheels.  I feel like we have a dream machine in our home, and we can set it to work every day making all our dreams come true.  What an exciting experience.

Then we explored a lovely tree - it became the Octobuggy; Went in the maze; Went through the coal tunnel - Evan managed to go through as well, despite being scared; paddled in the Cascades; Ate enormous ice cream; foraged for Sweet Chestnuts.

Further on through the gardens in the Kitchen garden we found these flowers which were completely teeming with bumblebees and butterflies, not that this shot shows it too well - there were quite often bees and butterflies on the same flower, and it would have been impossible to count them.  Evan commented that he thought we should definitely get some of these flowers for our garden so we could encourage such wildlife.

The Kitchen garden was really stuff dreams are made of.

A Diamond, which seemed to act as a scarecrow, fascinated us all, and held such beauty.

Upon seeing these carrots bursting from the ground, they were firmly placed in our list of vegetables to grow next year.

"At harvest time there’s no better taste,

Than an apple fresh plucked in the fall. 
It’s just as delicious ‘round the world,
No matter in what language you call. "

Excerpt from Ted Sherman's Apple Harvest 

Nothing makes me feel more alive than seeing my kids really enjoying nature and all it has to offer.  This is just divine, surrounded by trees, and fruit in beautiful sunshine, kids together. Amazing days. 

This lovely collection of mushrooms were the best specimen we found today, but it has inspired us to go on a mushroom hunt in the next few weeks.

After the sculptures we managed to do the maze, and Evan was a complete pro.  I managed to lose them both a number of times when they ran in different directions.  But we were reunited.  Mazes are great fun.  But this mini maze as Evan referred to it as was his favourite.  He really appreciates the beauty in the world, and this was no exception.  He said it was his favourite bit of the day :)

Here is Autumn in a fanatastic Willow withie sculpture, there were loads of them around, it was fantastic to explore a new bit of the gardens, despite being here only a few weeks ago.

I almost feel faint recalling all this beauty in our afternoon. And these pictures are only a small snippet of what we saw.  I am grateful beyond words for this magical day.

Exploring the interesting texture of the snake - an important emblem at Chatsworth we discovered on our last visit, there are quite a few.

The beauty didn't even stop when we went to the toilet.

These fun chairs are made up of half dollars, the kids love them.

Among all the many sculptures there is this propeller - there were no signs around it, so not sure if it has always been a sculpture or if it had a former life on some aeroplane somewhere.

Autumn begins

Well, I thought it was going to be a normal day of hanging out in the morning and then friends round for the afternoon, but things became so much more.  We started off by Evan making the beginnings of an Octonauts calendar (before I even got out of bed actually), he is eager to work on it more, but we decided to go climbing before our friends came round, so we headed off, and after a few chores on the way we got there.  We were lucky enough to be joined by a couple of other home ed families, just by chance, and they had a good time.  I bumped into a friend from my NCT days with her children, and her son, about 8 years old struck up a lovely friendship with Autumn.  Autumn, got pretty hot, and stripped off pretty quickly down to her "Monday" pants.  Evan stopped climbing and decided to draw a picture of Autumn on the cheese.  This picture was taken by Evan so that he could use it to draw from .  I helped him to look at the shapes her body was making and after he struggled a bit, and got quite upset I helped him sketch the key triangle shapes.  I love that this project was entirely self-directed, and simply facilitated by the fact that I often bring drawing and painting materials out with us everywhere, and he simply went into my bag (probably searching for biscuits or chocolate) only to discover paper and pencils instead!

I simply adore this photo that Evan took, showing Autumn's spirit, strength and joy altogether.  Someone commented on how she looked powerful, and I had to agree.  I am so incredibly proud of Autumn, and the power and strength she has, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally.  I enjoy her company so immensely, and I love that she shares these wonderful things with those around her.

Evan was particularly proud that he was using some of the more difficult holds in this photo, and asked for this photo to be taken.

On returning home our friends came over and as we had planned to do some work on our new Seasonal table we worked on it together by doing some flat wet felting of some Autumnal leaves.  The process is particularly child friendly as it involves some really fun things as well as not needing any sort of perfection.  At the end of the day Evan said his favourite thing of the day was throwing the leaves on the table (which was the last process in the felt making).  I've not taken photos of the whole thing, but here is the process:

1)  Tease out bits of desired wool

2)  Lay down on a square of bubble wrap slightly overlapping, Vertically down, ensuring no wool is too thick or clumped together.  Do this about double the size of your desired piece of felt.

3) Repeat the process with the same colour of wool but this time with the wool fibres horizontally positioned.

4)  Place on small bits of wool teased out in the formation of the pattern or picture you desire.

5)  Spray the wool with a water spray with a small amount of liquid soap, or dissolved solid soap in it.

6) Slightly wiggle the wool fibres with the tips of your fingers saying "tickle tickle" or "wiggle, wiggle" or "little little" or anything similar which encourages a small massaging motion to begin to bring the fibres together.

7)  When it is starting to shrink slightly cover it with another square of bubble wrap.

8)  Roll up the bubble wrap and secure in place with a few elastic bands along its length.

9)  Do a variety of rolling, squeezing, rubbing and whacking with your bubble wrap roll (BWR).

10)  After a good 5-10 minutes of fun activity with your BWR, remove the bands and unroll.

11)  Check the felt has 'come together' and beginning to feel solid. (if it hasn't reroll and repeat  #9 for a few minutes)

12)  Once done, plunge into cold water and rinse soap off.

13) Squeeze a bit of the water off, and now for the best bit....

14)  Screw the felt up in a ball and chuck it (hard) onto the table.

15)  REPEAT #14 as many times as you feel like... if holes begin to appear, massage that and surrounding wool with a bit of wet soap.

16) Rinse, dry then enjoy - you can cut it up, sew on it, sew it onto stuff, whatever you like.

_____

After a few weeks of tricky situations when spending time with friends in either our or their homes I have decided that Evan and his friend need to be with us or outside during their play.  This led to a very great need to let off steam, so after the felting and a bit of rambunctious play upstairs under our supervision we decided to go to Graves park for a run about and explore in the woods.  I love that this fantastic place is on our doorstep.  The new excitement was the hay bale which had mysteriously been deposited in the stream.  The best bit today was the clay at the root of a fallen tree which is very clay-y. Thankfully welly boots were the order of the day, and such play was totally brilliant and so much fun. The stream just next to it meant that the clagged up boots could be cleaned before returning home.  Not before a clay ball or two could be made, a clay screen on the Gup (AKA the roots of the tree), and lots of trampling in the clay and splashing in the stream.  We searched for some lovely Autumnal leaves to add to our newly installed Season table at home.

Walking up the hill after our lovely time out - I love these moments of freedom the kids enjoy, and the chats I overhear them having about their surroundings and often exchanging ideas about nature.

We finished the day off by doing a little Autumn painting, Evan's was demonstrating a very windy day when all the leaves flew off. Evan put some more acorns on the table and his newly felted leaf. I have included a beautiful piece of embroidery that my friend made for me a couple of years ago, which is very treasured and totally typifies what this season table is about.  I have also included a screenprinted piece of fabric that I made during my teaching degree, which I have always loved.  I look forward to us adding more to this over the years.  

To complete this very crafty day, Pat came home from work and assisted Evan making a painted wooden door for a new game idea he has. What a day!!!!