craft frenzy, or, what to do with odd socks

 The chickens and I have been overcome by creative urges over the last couple of days.

Sock dolls (thanks to the wonderful inspiration from this book ).

A commission for a robin.

Painting by Lady M.

and "potato bag doll".

It has been a joy using up all the cut up pieces of old clothes from the "rag bag".

oh, it's the school holidays...someone tell me homeschooling wouldn't work!

Recovery Saturday

After a week of dental emergencies, head lice and skin punctures, I am ready for a day at home to recover. Playing nurse is NOT my forte, and I often faint at the sight of blood...particularly when spurting forth frm my youngest child's sweet hand! So poor little shocked nervous me needs a day of knitting and baking to bring the equalibrium.

Mmmm...roasted pecan and orange muffin...



The week at Steiner teacher training; two examples of the painting exercise based on a story of a little rooster who thought he told the sun to rise, and set off to tell it to stay down to prove it!


The girls amusing themselves with playing schools for hours...

Discovered Ravelry, a passionate novice knitter's inspiration!
Eagerly awaiting this Australian film...

The Tree

Today we painted a tree. I have mine and two of my fellow student's trees. All are beautiful, I think. The technique is wet on wet watercolour painting, which is such a soul activity and the children at Steiner schools do a lot of these!


Studying to be a Steiner teacher is like studying how to be a human being- I mean, really, when did going to school ever make me feel like I was learning how to live, how to feel, how to truly think, how to manifest with my whole being.
I must share the verse we all recite each morning together. It is so inspiring, so rousing, so solemn, so bold:

"We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what comes towards us, out of the future. We must acquire serenity in all feelings and sensations about the future. We must look forward with absolute equanimity to everything that may come. And we must think only that whatever comes is given to us by a world-directive full of wisdom. It is part of what we must learn in this age, namely, to live out of pure trust, without any security in existence - trust in the ever-present help of the spiritual world. Truly, nothing else will do if our courage is not to fail us. And let us seek the awakening from within ourselves, every morning and every evening."
--RUDOLF STEINER

Anna had a stall at Ceres to sell her divine dolls and other preceious crafty peices, all proceeds going to the bushfire relief. It was such a divine day. The chickens and I went along, and we loved sitting behind the stall felting little treasures to sell. I did more robins and Chicken one accomplished four flower fairies- SOLD OUT.

The Light, the Darkness and the Beings of Colour

I have just come out of a very beautiful dream of a week, floating amongst the transluscent rays of colour, being lifted and lilted upon the dance between the light and the dark. I have spent another week with an amazing woman, who teaches the incredibly elusive transformational colour painting of Liane Collot d'Herbois. This week we dove into the willowing, curly depths of Indigo, and the light rays of the Sun God Ra, yellow! She told the incredible story of Parzifal, a tale which speaks to the soul of a modern seeker such as I. A week of painting thin veils of coloured water one upon the other, dreaming into light filled hues for days, journeying, through story, into King Arthur's court and contemplating of one's path and destiny has changed me just that little bit more, and rippled to my fanily in the most subtle healing ways. I am so happy for the opportunity to grow and explore in this way!

St Christopher wading through the waters, an orange movement on its head!
An indigo and viridian veil painting which became a Green Obsidian crystal.

A wet-on-wet study of yellow...daffodil.

The charcoal drawing after an intimate Goethean observation of the top of a thistle! with bee...

Yellow rays in charcoal.

And exploring Camberwell Market this morning way, if not as airy and lofty, in a different way very fulfilling, having found the dream silk-velveteen dress of the year! Gotta love shopping in 7am Sunday morning semi-dark 5 degrees!!!