field trip and summer soon to follow

the "colonial" field trip with tashi's fourth grade class was really awesome. the weather was perfect, and ashlawn highland is a lovely place to pitch a tent. the kids had so much fun, with just a little drama here and there.



there were some interesting tours and demonstrations, a few great meals, and lots of laughter with fellow parents after the kids were settled in their tents.



i loved being amongst the farm animals: cows, sheep, chickens, two peahens and two * loud * peacocks.



i had a lot of fun taking photos, as evidenced here.



i can't believe we are entering the last week of school. the year seems to have gone more quickly than usual. i wish i could say we have some exciting plans for summer, but as usual dan and i are just trying to figure out how to juggle our two jobs with caring for tashi. she will be in a couple of art camps, and luckily our job schedules are pretty flexible.

did i mention that dan landed a new job? we are all pretty happy about it. the onset of his job hunt brought with it possibilities of having to move, but it looks like we'll be sticking around charlottesville for some time now.

my big hope for the summer is that we can fit in lots of weekend camping excursions. it is so incredibly lovely around here; we haven't really taken advantage of it yet.

wordsy thursday

sorry for the lack in posts. it's been a busy, sleepy week.

on full moon monday i assisted as doula in an amazing natural childbirth. it was such an honor to be there to witness the strength of the laboring mama as she sounded, danced, breathed and floated through her contractions and then pushed with pure womanly power until her beautiful wee child slid into the world. i have never before had a job that promotes such feelings of awe, joy and deep respect. i feel so fortunate and rewarded each time i fill the special role of doula in the childbearing process and i thank the goddess for leading me to this work.

i didn't get home until 5:30am the next day, so tuesday is a bit of a blur.

last night dan and i watched sideways for the first time. it made me want to incorporate the word quaffable into my vocabulary.

yesterday and today i spent the mornings watching tashi's class play, the death of baldur, a norse tale. so lovely, set in a grove at the back of the school yard. a few committed parents cleared it of tall weeds, poison ivy and debris. the kids sang and danced and projected poetic lines. quite entertaining indeed. tashi played the goddess freya. here she is with dan, who is giving her a high five.



thanks to tifanie for leading me to this site where you can round the edges of your photos and do other fun things. this particular blogger template adds the thin border to the photos, which i like for sharp angles, but interferes with the rounded affect.

may be

while dan was in another country with my camera, i was not able to post a photo of this marvelous shroom tray i found for a buck at the thrift store. i think it's marvelous anyway!



also while dan was away, our lawn grew knee high. our mower is way too heavy for me to haul out of our root cellar. not only that but, it intimidates me. so our lawn grew and grew, and once dan returned, it rained and rained so the lawn was too wet to mow. finally last night it seemed dry enough, so he mowed it down. the front lawn anyway. we kinda like it long with all the wildflowers and plantain, so we left the back lawn as is. it's more like a back meadow.



tashi loved having a long lawn and she was carving out little spaces in it. she also created this cute grass hut for the fairies.



and quite the delicious looking feast.



i made sure to gather up some of the plantain before it was mowed down. i should have made salve, but instead i made plantain ice cubes. first i made an infusion by soaking the chopped up leaves in hot water for 24 hours. then i strained the liquid. then i froze it in ice cube trays. plantain ice cubes are particularly soothing when rubbed on poison ivy. first there is the cold, which numbs the itch. and then there is the soothing plantain, good for the skin. it also cools the sun burn, or any rash. alternately, you can drop some plantain ice cubes into water or tea; it will cool your drink and infuse it with minerals. does anyone know about nature's band aid? got a mosquito bite? pick a plantain leaf, chew it a bit, and then place the masticated blob on your itchy. aaaaa, so soothing. plantain is good green friend. salve is probably best. but when you don't have time to make salve, plantain ice cubes are pretty cool.




two kinds of common plantain

the other day was mayfair at tashi's school. i was a tarot card/animal oracle reader and it was really fun. child after child was finding a familiar in the animal oracle. the earth dragon came up over and over again. all those earthy waldorf kids! and i did a few miraculous three card tarot readings for adults. it was very inspiring and i'm thinking about going into business (i once was in business doing tarot readings, but a busy life took me elsewhere for a while).



tashi's class did the maypole dance. it was really great! take a looksee!



happy may to you all. may your life make a pretty weave.