Human Thing

Oh yes, it's lazy. And I already posted this on Facebook...but it is so gorgeous...it'll make you smile. If it doesn't make you feel good, you've died inside.







Happy Wednesday folks...

Fizz

I'm fairly lazy when it comes to Pinterest (the 'virtual pinboard' dontcha know?). It's a great idea - you find things of interest when you're skipping about the web, then 'pin' them for later. Other people can see what you've saved and you can see theirs, it's a veritable feast of inspiration. Great ideas for kids catch on quickly and there's a big mass sharing of wonderfully fun things to do with your children. I'm only an occasional caller to my 'boards' and I'm rubbish at putting things up, but I'm also very grateful when I find a good activity.

This one involves bicarb and vinegar, always a fun combination in mini volcanoes and model rockets. The 'how to' is simple: Mix food colouring and vinegar and drop it onto a layer of bicarbonate of soda. Much fizzing and bubbling ensues which delights and amazes. The aesthetic element to this activity was particularly satisfying; watching the yellow and blue merge into green had me getting all annoyingly educational.

  

Needless to say, the boys absolutely loved it and had we had more bicarb, we could probably have continued playing for some time. I'm looking forward to being able to add more colours next time when I've sourced some more droppers. Truly fun for all the family.

(I couldn't resist putting up a picture of these gorgeous flowers that my friends brought round from their garden...beautiful.)

Parading

Drum roll...fanfare...and 'Ta-Daa!', the 2012 Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade finally had its day. There was all the usual chaos, craziness and last-minute creating as a host of magical woodland creatures gathered together excitedly, waiting to be let loose upon the ordinary townsfolk of this 'quiet' Pennine town. Crowds a-plenty turned out, smiling encouragement all along our route, waving and cheering, cameras clicking. Oh it felt good, after the week of soggy troubles Hebden has had, to be all together, paraders and spectators enjoying a moment of sunny reprieve.  

Wearing a big backpack of sparkly black and white branches and skeletal seed head shapes I was deep in the winter, surrounded by the striking and spookily beautiful. We had owls, an enormous wild boar and a pack of howling wolves on scooters, followed by a crowd of voodoo folk and skeletons. This young wolf was on foot and held tightly to my hand throughout.

I pointed my camera upwards and caught some blue sky, fluffy clouds and odd bits of my costume...

As always, the talent and enthusiam on display was amazing. In the workshops you catch glimpses of the bigger pieces but it's only when they're out there in the world that you can fully appreciate their maker's magic. There is so much to wonder at and admire...I had a moment of wishing I could be in the watching crowds, seeing the carnival of colour pass by, catching every detail of every costume, each one lovingly conceived of and created by the wearer.

My little woodland warrior was very much in the spirit of the occasion, marching and dancing and acting his part with real commitment, loving every second.

Of course the rain had to fall eventually but not until after most of the after-parade acts had performed and we'd all patted ourselves on the back for a job well done. It would have been great to have spent the afternoon in the park sitting in the sun with our friends and neighbours but in the end, we can't complain - nobody rained on our parade.   

After the Storm

Today I'm sticking with pictures as my last post was seemingly a bit 'Deepak Chopra' according to Rob. Which is fine if you are Deepak Chopra but definitely not fine if you are not...

Hoping for a brighter week for us all...

The sun and the rain

This summer in our valley and in many other parts of the country, nature is challenging us in more ways than we could have predicted. An absence of sun we're used to, grey skies and muddy shoes we can cope with, but this amount of rain has proved just too much for us and our poor overburdened rivers. On Friday night the floods came to the Calder Valley and affected many lives. Although the waters have now subsided the mess and the destruction that remains will take weeks and months to recover from. All this happening around summer Solstice has me confused and struggling to work it all out.

Despite my fears the sun really did make an effort for Solstice itself. I'd been harbouring hopes of climbing a big hill with a big view to watch the sun kiss the horizon but couldn't find any willing climbing partners, so I stayed home and made food and fire with my family.



Through the afternoon we pottered about enjoying the ease of outdoors, planting seeds and seedlings, digging earth, dragging wood. I was struck by how untamed and abundant the weeds and wild plants that grow here on the edge of the woods are. The nettles, bracken, foxgloves, lady's mantle, willowherb and buttercups are spilling out all over the place, unable to contain themselves. When the sun shines I can feel it too - the wildness that stirs within, full of potent power and creative energy. The warmth encouraging us to shed our clothes and with them, metaphorically, our old skin, helping us to feel a little more primal, a little more free. The boys seemed to really feel it this year, stripping off almost as soon as our fire was lit - desperate to join in with their dad chopping, slashing and burning in an uncharacteristically masculine display.

It was a gorgeous evening with the fire and the sun, we all felt it but the blissful heat and ease of being was fleeting...The next day was rain again, then a couple of days later, a deluge. How do we connect to the sun, to the land and to each other when we are forced into isolation in our homes? How do we find the strength to shine and bring light when our towns are flooded and we hold a heaviness that we usually associate with winter?

These are the questions that keep coming up for me when summer after summer seems to fall short of our deepest primitive needs for warmth and sustenance. Just as on the land crops cannot thrive and ripen without the sun, so it becomes harder for us to see our projects and dreams come to fruition at this peak point of the year when our powers should be at their height.

There are challenges and trials for us all in this unpredictable weather - some great and some less obvious - but there is also hope. Even as our community stands knee deep in mud and chaos, they stand together. Good-will and generosity abound as people volunteer their time, energy and care to people in need. Teams of people have been helping in schools, businesses and homes up and down the valley. No doubt this effort is being echoed in other places that have suffered severe weather. We witness this again and again after minor and major disasters all over the world; people offering love.

So I think that when the clouds gather and we're unsure where to look for the light, we can look within. We'll find it there in abundance, spilling out all over the place, unable to contain itself.

Easy peasy bunting

I have mixed feelings about bunting. The grown-up part of me that likes to think I have some taste finds bunting slightly silly and is despairing at the ubiquity with which bunting has entered the world of temporary decoration. The more child-like side of my character loves a nice bit of bunting, along with fairy lights and glittery edible dust on cupcakes.

I had been feeling like I hadn't done enough crafting with the boys recently and imagining that this was some massively important part of their childhood that was being neglected. And so, inspired by the banners at The Handmade Parade, easy bunting:

We cut some craft foam into little shapes - simple ones work best, triangles, stars etc, and hot glued them onto the top of some old thread bobbins, you could also use corks. I think I may have seen this stamping method, or a version of it, on Mayamade...

We then cut out some big coloured paper triangles, poured a tiny dollop of paint into some lids and stamped. At this point in proceedings, for reasons known only to him, Eli got really upset and frustrated and left me to finish his stamping.

He returned for the hole-punching and threading and seemed to really enjoy this bit...

And there we have it. A cheery string of bunting and an easy little project to do together.

HB1:10

Well, I've managed to blog every day this week. I can't promise that i'll manage that kind of commitment every week but it's been good to push myself a little. My challenge for next week will be to try and post without mentioning the weather...can it be done?

I've got a surprise father's day treat lined up for Rob and Eli tomorrow and the conditions could prove to be the make or break factor in whether they enjoy it or not! I'm not feeling massively optimistic about their chances of a dry day at the moment, but I'm hoping.

So, until next week I leave you with a father/son collaborative project of a technological nature, his name is HB1:10...

Have a great weekend dads!