Foraging, Feasting & Felting

What a lovely afternoon on Poppy Mountain! Mr. and Mrs. Quail have babies, the sun is high but not too hot, the dandelions are in full bloom. A perfect day, really, for fun with food and water and wool.

Right away the children went to work laying out their "cloud" of wool, separating light and airy pieces of roving that would make the background of their felted wool landscape. I poured soap and very hot water over the wool and busy fingers pressed and rubbed the fibers until they were entwined, forming a small mat of brown, white and blue.

While the wool mats dried in the warm sun, we harvested a basketful of dandelion leaves. Oh, how I would love to make baskets in a future session... Back in the kitchen, the day's kid-made snack began. First, we made dandelion pesto. *Most* everyone tasted a little bit, and we decided that it wasn't too bad -- a little bitter, however.

Next up: bean and tomato salad with garlic rosemary infused olive oil dressing. The children did all the work, from slicing the cherry tomatoes to chopping garlic and parsley and squeezing lemons.

We laid out and enjoyed our modest feast: dandelion pesto on homemade seed crackers (chia, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower); cream cheese and hummus for those not desiring the pesto; and of course, the bean and tomato salad. Yummy! Everyone found something they loved.

After doing all the dishes, the children went out to find their wet-felted wool mats had dried and were ready for needle-felting. Each one imagined and created a wool scene from the Poppy Mountain story.

It's hard to believe we have only one more day in our June session of Poppy Mountain. And it's going to be a great one! Stay tuned...

How Sage and Cottontail Rabbit Became Friends

"Now, I think we can all imagine how Sage and his family found the food they ate. Either by foraging and gathering berries and acorns and mushrooms. Or by hunting. Sage's family hunted many animals for their food. They hunted big animals like deer, elk, bear, and antelope. They didn't let any of the animal that they caught go to waste, using skin and fur, meat and bone. And they thanked the animal's spirit before skinning and preparing the meat for eating.

One of the smaller animals that Sage and his older brothers and father hunted was rabbit.

One day the hunters found an abandoned rabbit den with a lone baby rabbit left to perish. Sage begged his father to let him take the baby rabbit home and nurse him. His father reluctantly agreed..."

Today we cooked our food with the sun: we made a solar oven! With a pizza box, foil, black construction paper and plastic wrap. It was a great project and fun experiment harnessing the sun's power to help us make our lunch.

While the oven preheated, the children played in the woods, building up the walls of their fort. The ground is now neatly swept, and stone chairs are placed in the center.

Back in the kitchen, we assembled quesadillas and put them into the solar oven. While we waited for them to cook, we munched on apples with peanut butter and sipped herbal sun tea. The tea was made with mint, rosemary, sage, lavender and hibiscus. It was delicious and refreshing.

While the quesadillas were /still/ cooking, the children made shaded drawings of suns. Shaded drawing -- which encourages drawing with form and tone rather than line -- was developed out of suggestions and directions given by the Austrian philosopher and founder of Waldorf Education, Rudolf Steiner.

Before the day ended, we were finally able to enjoy the quesadillas. :o)

New Moon

"Once there was an Ohlone Indian boy who lived with his family on this very hill. His name was Sage. Sage had straight dark brown hair and brown skin. He wasn't very tall, but then again he was only 8....

"One morning as Sage rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched out his lanky limbs, he heard quite a racket of chatter and excitement outside. It was normal to hear the birds shouting in the morning and maybe a rustle from someone slinking through the dried leaves, but this was unusual. Sage poked his head out of the tipi and looked around. He wondered if maybe the earth was going to rumble. But he heard no sounds from deep below the ground. Sage picked up his satchel and went out in search of the commotion... "

The children had gathered under the wisteria and this became the story place. While I told the story of Sage and his animal friends, one of the girls spied a bird's nest tucked away above where we were sitting! Such a sweet little diversion; we all had to get up and take a peek at the bird sitting in its nest.

An unplanned excursion down the road to the swimming hole proved my amazing flexibility and spontaneity and the kids loved it. It wasn't hot enough to swim today, but I'm hoping that we will go back next week.

Just through the woods is the place where Sage and his family once lived. We walked there and the children began clearing and planning for fort-building.

With tomorrow being the first day of summer, the story today brought the meaning of the solstice. A craft honoring the sun followed. We gathered sticks and created "God's Eye"-like weavings. But with four sticks crossed (rather than the two used to make God's Eyes), the shape of the yarn turned out round like a sun.

It was a wonderful first day of Poppy Mountain. Now that feeling of anticipation, nerves and excitement will transform into the creation of a new rhythm, one that will carry us onward into story, imagination and wholesome summer fun.

She'll be Comin' Round the Poppy Mountain

I set up this blog four years ago. So I thought it would be nice to have a little resurrection, so to speak. Because right now it is a new beginning. I am starting along a new path: home schooling.

(And not only home schooling my Waldorf daughter. That's big news -- and for some perhaps shocking news. Considering I am a Waldorf teacher. But for others it may not be so surprising. Since my sons have home schooled through their high school career. They're going into their senior year this fall.)

I am also starting a small Waldorf enrichment program from my home. It's called Poppy Mountain. This summer, a story is going to come alive. A story about Billie the Blue Bellied Lizard, Mr. and Mrs. Quail, Cottontail Rabbit, Sage Boy and others. They all live on Poppy Mountain. And they will be the inspiration for all our fun, summery activities. The children with me will paint, cook, build forts, make clay, draw, and much more. My hope is that come autumn time, Poppy Mountain will continue to inspire home schooling youngsters with it's Waldorf flavor.

I thought it would be fun to chronicle our summer adventures on Poppy Mountain by waking up this little blog and giving her a kick start. Won't you join me?