Grandfather Sun

The longest day of the year will soon be upon us. I am so looking forward to celebrating the sun!!!
I love the sun. It's strength brings me strength!
It lights up my days and makes everything green and alive!
What would I do without the sun?
We always celebrate the solstices and equinoxes with a celebration
of food and a variety show for the kids.
This is a puppet of grandfather sun that
I am felting for the small skit I will do.

May the long time sun shine upon you!

Felted Butterflies

Children love butterflies with their beautiful colored wings and graceful flight. This is a very easy, rewarding project.

Take a piece of felt (or square piece of tissue paper) and fold it in half.

Cut out the shape of butterfly wings (make sure it's on the side where the folded pieces meet)Take a pipe cleaner and fold it in half

Slip butterfly onto folded pipe cleaner and twist pipe cleaner in place leaving some length for antennas.

Slip some beads onto antennas

Owen loved making his butterfly.

While we were crafting we sang the song:
"Fly like a butterfly, fly like a butterfly
fly like a a butterfly in the sky!"

Once we were done we hung our beautiful insects on our seasonal wreath. The children often look up and sing the song! The wreath hangs from the ceiling over our kitchen table. We decorate it with seasonal themes. It's an easy way to celebrate what's happening in our surroundings and the children love it.

And the winner is...

It is that time to announce the winner to the identification of my mystery plant. Is it a Columbine? Is it Meadow Rue? Is it a tree?

Many people had guessed Columbine when in fact it's a Meadow Rue. While the leaves are quite similar to a Columbine they are smaller and their shape is a little different. Note the difference below. Thanks for all your replies, it's been fun! To unveil the winner keep scrolling down :)

"Meadow Rue"
It's part of the buttercup family and can not be eaten :(

"Wild Columbine"

Who's the winner? Drum roll please (sound of drums) and the winner is......

Tamara Marshall!!
Congrats Tamara. I hope you enjoy your Kanteen.
Smiles to everyone :)

Connecting with Mud

This weekend we drove the 4 hour drive to Corbeil where my parents live and where I grew up. I revel in bringing my children to the country side. Nostalgic feelings come over me as I watch them delight in simple things like climbing rocks, skipping down hills, and the highlight of this trip pond foraging. Zoe was on a frog hunt. Her excitement was palpable. The green little creatures her prey. They lay in the sun, little heads poking out, limbs splayed to the side. Her hands reached out inches away scared they disappeared in the blackness of the murky water. It amazes me how my children can be oblivious to the cold, wet mud. I admire their free spirits and wish to preserve it, bottle it up for the future when the inhibitions set in.

While Zoe was captivated by frogs, Owen was with mud. He threw handfuls into the pond laughing at the effects of splashing, rippling waters.

See mud flying what a delight!

Thank you for your replies!

Thanks to those of you who replied to the post: "Can you identify this plant?" It's been so much fun reading your replies. So far we've had lots of guesses for Wild Columbine. Other stabs at identifying this plant have been: Meadow Rue, Bleeding heart, and someone else think it's the beginnings of a tree. My plan is to wait until the plant flowers to give it a positive ID. So stay tuned and the winner will soon be announced.

Yurt Living

My dear friend Jen Stewart, husband Jason and 3 children are moving to Edmonton, Alberta. This is not unusual save for the fact that they've let go of most of their possessions and moving int a yurt in the woods. Here is an interview with her:
Annie: What exactly is a yurt?

Jen: At the most basic level, one might say a yurt is a glorified tent - but a yurt is really much more. The Mongols live in them year round and tend to prefer them to other forms of housing.The original designs of these structures involved five basic elements: lattice walls, roof beams, a roof ring, a door, and a felt or hide covering. When put together, it created a simple round wooden latticework frame with a combination of felt and sheep skin covering the outside depending on the season.

Annie: Where does one buy a yurt and are they expensive?

Jen: You would buy it online. We love Yurtco (so far so good). Our state of the art Yurt with all of the fixings and lots of extra windows and doors will come in at under $30 000. This yurt is the largest they make (over 800 square feet but there are ones for much much less money).

Annie: Are you building your yurt on your own? Is it difficult?

Jen: Yes we are building it. You need to build a deck to put it on if you are living in it full time so that will be a bit of an expense. (2000.00). Check out the online videos of putting up a yurt. They are easily assembled and disassembled. A distributer can usually be hired to give you a hand but a few handy folks is all that is needed. Should be all done and ready to live in within a week!

Annie: What process brought you from living to a 3 bedroom house to moving into a yurt?

Jen: We like to try new things, we aren't interested in building equity in a home. Rather, we are interested in building equity in ourselves. We believe that housing should be affordable and accessible to all. We are experimenting with old, new to us, ways of doing things. We like the road less traveled. We understand that the climate is changed forever and we want to understand what it will be like to live with fewer resources. We want more cash to enjoy. We do not want to pay interest on a mortgage.

Annie: What amenities will you be living without?

Jen: Running water, we will have to haul it from about 1 mile away. Rainwater catchment and conservation. Eventually a small Earthship Greenhouse. Flush toilets. . . We will compost our shit, which is a good idea. As I learn more, I see how disgusting and wasteful our method of handling urine and feces really is. Man, we are putting our shit into our drinking water! There are people all over the world dying for lack of water and we gaily use drinking water (which is what is in out toilets) (5 gallons of it per flush) to get rid of our poop. Which is actually a valuable resource that can easily and very safely be composted. Download for free the Humanure Handbook online. Washer and Dryer -I will not be as wasteful with my clothing. I presently have a bad habit of washing everything that has a little splash of food/dirt upon it. I will use the laundromat and hand powered methods. http://simplicityfirst.wordpress.com.../17/home-wash/ We will have outdoor shower and a Finish Sauna to clean ourselves.
I feel the sauna will be an important part of upcoming rituals and family life. Public showers and such will also be used. We will have a generator that we can use if we like. Heating will be wood from our property. Small propane stove.

Annie: How far will your yurt be from the city?
Jen:35 minutes from work.

Annie: What challenges do you expect your family to face?

Jen: Lack of Community at first.

Annie: How do you think your family will grow through this experience?

Jen: I have no agenda. I guess we will have to see! But I will say this. A wise lady once shared with me this bit of wisdom, "your actions must always be worthy of emulation," so for my children and my friends, I must be the change that I want to see in the world!!! N'est Pas?

Thanks Jen! Green blessings to you and yours.

I must admit that I have a yearning to forgo material things and move to be in the presence of trees and live off the land. I often wonder if I was born in the wrong era!

Cheers!
Annie Bananie

Can you identify this plant?

My first encounter with this plant was a couple of weeks ago. I had finished meditating by a stream when I noticed these pretty rounded edged, flat shaped leaves growing beside me. They were pretty and I wondered what name this plant was given and what wonderful medicinal, nutritious properties could it hold? When I got home I perused through my herbal books and found nothing to uncover the mystery.

Two weeks later (this Saturday) I noticed the same plant in Michele's (a friend and lovely person) front garden. She was also ignorant of it's name. Since I'd last spotted this plant's kin by the stream it had become much taller and was about to bud with flower.
Now I turn to you. Please have a look at the pictures below and see if you recognize my mystery plant.
The first person to identify the plant accurately will receive a 12oz Klean Kanteen.

Here you can spot the rounded, smooth, flat leaves. This is what I saw two weeks ago.

Two weeks later the stem has grown past the leaves and will soon be blooming with flower. Although I took this picture on Sunday (yes I spotted it for a 3rd time) this is what it looked like in Michele's garden.
In passing, apart from Michele being a great person she is also learning of plants. While at her house on Saturday she had Nettle hanging from a string and drying in her window sill. What an inspiration!