I got my first sheltie in 1993 and my fourth in 2013. I have only adopted adult dogs and have had some wonderful old dogs. Here is a glimpse of my dogs’ lives:
Dec 2000 Misty and Celie
Dixie Dec 2001
and March 2002
Chip June 2002
and June 2005
Lola Nov 2013
Lola and Daisy Nov 2013
© rw 2013
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September may mean fall in some areas, but us Labor Day weekend means the Decatur Book Festival. We were lucky to be near the gazebo when the hard rain shower came. Our fairy friend joined us!
Michaelmas at WSA was a sunny, beautiful day!
We had a bus full of hot, sweaty kids after our field trip to Etowah Mounds.
So now at mid-October we are wearing long sleeves, but have them pushed up for a zoo visit.
This year was the third for our class at the sweet potato harvest for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. This year they dug 880 pounds of sweet potatoes and picked 4 bushels of black-eyed peas!
Painting the base coat on a paper mache pumpkin. The teaser photo on pinterest looked so neat. I just used our glue/water mix for the paper mache and we didn’t get on nearly as many layers as recommended in the tutorial.
I have been wanting to make Catrina dolls for DOTD, but couldn’t find a tutorial that worked for me. So I just made it up! I used sculpey for the heads and stuck in the pipe cleaner before baking.
I considered trying to paint they eyes and mouth, but the markers were so easy!
Long pieces of tissue paper layered and folded accordion style make a nice dress and hat.
The black lace made a neat shawl and covered the torsos. At first I thought I’d need mod podge to make the skirts stiff enough to stand, but they do ok without it.
The pumpkin carving party!
My little mouse.
She got to keep 10 pieces of candy from her trick-or-treat bag. The Switch Witch brought a couple of books, a dvd, a skull necklace, but managed to make the jack-o-lantern clown. I’d been eyeing it after seeing it on pinterest.
We had two neat violin events this fall. We have been going to Los Bravos since Ivie was a tot and have gotten to know the mariachi band a bit. When they were without a violin because a band member was stuck in traffic, Ivie pitched in to help. Their full size violin seemed so huge to her!
Ivie’s violin teacher has been encouraging us to have an End Of Book 1 recital for family/friends. So when First E announced they were having a DOTD reception after the Oct 27 service, I thought what a great opportunity to have her play the some book 1 songs with a piano, food and a receptive audience already in place. Having Ben accompany on the piano was such an amazing treat!
© RW 2013
The third definition that Merriam Webster has for desk is:
c : a table, counter, stand, or booth at which a person works
So, if play is the work of childhood, then playstands were definitely Ivie’s first desk. My dad made the 2 playstands and the canopy pieces for Ivie when she was two.
And then she grew. We took out some of the bars so she could use the playstand and not hit her head. Eventually the canopy had to go, the stands were pushed together to hold toys and she moved into an old school desk.
I spent many a year in one of these desks and have no memory of them being especially comfortable. Well when your legs grow like weeds, this desk is soon too small.
So now here we are in a desk with a chair. The top lifts to reveal storage space for paper, pencils and such. I think this will last us for quite a while. 🙂
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©rw 2013
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We are very fortunate to have so many cool activities this summer!
-building guitar
-jammin’ with friends
-petting alligators
-photographing nature
-viewing the super moon
-raising tadpoles (one of our frogs is on the leaf)
-attending theatre
©rw 2013
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The weeks leading up to the end of school were a fast ride of non-stop events!
I couldn’t resist posing the sword fighting photo in view of one of the beautiful buildings at Oglethorpe U. Shakespeare’s birthday was a wonderful event.
While everything is fun when you are wearing your Animal t-shirt, it is especially great when you go on a Life and Legacy of Jim Henson tour at the Center for Puppetry Arts.
Since Grade 3 played their recorders at the school May Fair, it made sense to have a few flower fairies playing recorders on our Nature Table.
Our local paper education writer did a story on how busy the month of May can be for school kids. With a bake sale, a concert and recitals, we really were on-the-go for May. whew!
We did get the wonderful opportunity to watch a pair of wrens build a nest in an empty bee hive. The photo above with the baby birds and the one below with the almost empty nest were taken less than 10 days apart.
We even had a Craft Hope deadline in May. It took many hands to make these lap blankets for Project 21.
Now we are in our first week out of school. With camps, classes, fun library events and a short trip, it looks to be a great summer!
© rw 2013
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The weather has given us a slow march to spring, so we have had to create a little of the spring magic on our own this year. We begin with the shedding of the beard. Ivie gets to help cut the first layer.
After working on her outdoor fairy garden, Ivie left out some treats (dried fruit and pink lemonade) for the fairies to enjoy on the Spring Equinox.
They showed their gratitude by leaving a sweet pendant in her shoe for her to find the next morning.
The easter bunny’s helpers worked so very hard making bunnies for baskets this year.
The hand puppets are based on the tutorial by Purlbee. The sachets are from Craft Passion. The knit bunnies are from Little Cotton Rabbits. The plush bunny is based on the pattern from Chez Beeper Bebe. The applique on the t-shirt is just the simplest bunny silhouette that I could find on google images.
We were even prepared for the cold snap in late March with new fleece ponchos. What fun at Fabric World!
Inspired by the lovely eggs I saw at Blue Girl, I made some egg pouches for Grade 3. While they do look cute on their own, all piled together gives them what I call the ‘Enchantment Shop effect’. If you make 25 of most anything, it looks good!
The final school event before Spring Break is the annual Grandparents and Loved Ones Day. Ivie proudly shows off her main lesson books to her Grandma.
Spring also gave time for me to make my first and ninth bib for Craft Hope’s project 20: Hope for China.
So now the Nature Table Spring flower fairies are enjoying a bright spring break bounty!
HAPPY SPRING!!!
© rw 2013
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To get us started, we read Brigid’s Cloak which is a close rendition of the play the children performed last year in their study of Saints.
Of course, we could not go a year without reading a family favorite story of the Goddess Brigit from Circle Round. The Well and the Flame is a great story that weaves in caring for people and caring for the earth.
We have rolled lots of candles at our house, but this year was our first go at home candle dipping. We invited a sweet friend to join and had a marvelous time!
The candles turned out great and made a good addition to our ‘sun’ cakes on Imbolc morning! Even though our GA groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter, we see the sun growing stronger!
© rw 2013
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St. Nicholas left a little lavender doll and a clementine.
Santa’s helpers busy sewing ornaments. I found a great santa pattern at revoluzzza.
My angel in the grade 3 class play at the Waldorf School of Atlanta.
The sun greeted us as we celebrated the winter Solstice.
We so appreciated all the hard work that went into making our nativity characters last year.
A cold and windy day on Arabia Mountain.
The wise men followed a star, we followed a line of cars to the ABG Holiday Lights.
And as soon as school started back, I finished my contribution to the Craft Hope Project 19.
I had initially thought of writing this post about all the things we missed having the flu/cough over the holidays, but after looking through these photos, I realize that we indeed had a full holiday season! I’m grateful!
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©rw 2013
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To say I’m behind on posting is such an understatement! We have had an unwelcome cold/flu/lingering cough visitor in our home for the past 2 months. All 3 of us have had it. So please bear with me as I try to catch up.
Oh how lovely is the evening!
I had been using Ivie’s violin lesson as a 30 minute knitting of finger puppets. So when I saw the little lantern children from the Lothians on pinterest, I thought I could adapt my finger puppet to the table doll.
I walk about with my Lantern
I made one for the Grade 3 class, one for a neighbor and one for us to keep. I used recycled sweater felt for the capes and it seemed to work fine.
Glimmer lantern Glimmer!
I’ve been collecting lantern ideas for months and finally settled on a style that somewhat resembles the tin lantern in Farmer Boy. Our teacher agreed and so I set about collecting 25 of the bit #10 cans. Thanks Ava!
High and blue the sky
The children drew designs on their cans and then I filled the cans with water and froze them. The ice provides support and makes it easier and safer to nail holes.
Rise up oh flame!
It took 2 sessions to get all the lanterns hammered — and the second session was a cold, rainy morning. But the children persevered and Grade 3 proudly carried their sturdy lanterns through the woods on our Lantern Walk.
Dona Nobis Pacem
A girl, a doll and their lanterns! We couldn’t resist making a lantern for the doll as well, but she uses a “pretend” votive candle.
© rw 2012
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Fall at our Waldorf school is a busy season, this year with a grade 3 camping trip and sweet potato harvest has been especially active. However, we have made time for the important things of celebrating fall holidays, spending time with friends and frolicking in the leaves. You can see a peek of my kid’s red shirt.
And at Lil’s annual pumpkin carving, our skills are definitely getting better as she handles a more complex carving.
Fred grew both the pumpkins we carved this year. The white one made for a nice face . . . tilted a bit though!
After a night of Trick or Treating and distributing candy Ivie selected 8 pieces to keep (one for each year) and left the rest out. The Switch Witch left 3 Ore Gnomes as a gift for the bowl of candy. The trike was a thrift store find that I’ve been saving for the right occasion. The ore gnomes seem perfect for it. 
I fell in love with these ore gnomes and am grateful that Christine was so generous to share the pattern in the Fall 2010 Living Crafts magazine. 
look mom, no hands!
For Day of the Dead, we joined in an altar creation and celebration at First E and then enjoyed a sweet story in English & Spanish with friends.
©rw 2012
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Joy Grows 