Our little island is getting quite soggy now and I am rather concerned that we might sink. The sogginess has combined with English half term and Brodick was heaving with tourists. They were all in the shops and the cafes to get out of the rain. I do hope the weather improves for their week here. It is not much fun having small children on holiday in the rain.
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| Skimmia Japonica - perfect for wreaths |
Today has been a typical Monday with home school in the morning followed by lots of domestic jobs that are neglected over the weekend. I do like a good Monday and today was made all the better by receiving a lovely email from Waverly Fitzgerald. She has just published my piece of wreath making on her site Living in Season so there was a gentle but definite jig to start the week. I engage in a range of crafts but nothing gets me more excited than wreath making and they are not just for Christmas. But if you are considering doing a Christmas wreath there is lots you can do now to prepare. The hedgerows are full of glorious things that can be dried in readiness for attaching. I will be doing a piece on making Christmas wreaths on my new site One soul many hearts and will let you know when it is live.
So, the writing continues to move forward and I am just so incredibly pleased. I have lots of pieces due this week so it will be another week of juggling writing, Christmas stock making and home school. That said I am having a bit of a sabbatical for the rest of the week with home school to give Pete the chance to continue with his science and maths work. Next week the boys and I begin studying the cold war. It is not something I have studied before so we shall all be learning at the same time. Modern history is such an important part of education and the boys have not got excellent skills in interrogating historical evidence so the time is right to tackle such a tricky period in history.
We had a 'word' morning today where we worked through the next bit on their respective spelling lists before playing word games. I could hardly pronounce the words on George's list let alone spell them and he found that particularly amusing. I am never happier than when one of the children demonstrates that they have moved beyond me. It is happening a lot more now that they are older and it is the natural order of things.
Photographs from Helen Le, David Newell & Lisa Valancius.
I am becoming quietly obsessed with good photography at the moment and I blame the readers of One soul many hearts for this because the Contemplative Photography page is drawing a huge amount of interest. I also blame the rewilding challenge that I did in October because the facebook group included some stunning shots. For me though it is all in the seeing. A good photographer can see and capture images that the rest of us walk right passed. We all love David and Lisa's photographs as our resident photographers on One soul many hearts but I also love Bridget Mackenzie's work and this is her flickr account. I love her photos taken in the natural world. So, I can now be found lurking on people's facebook pages and flickr accounts hunting for the perfect images for the site. This is slowly being supported by others submitting photos for the site and this is, ultimately, the way I want it to go. Just a reminder that in November we are running a rolling showcase of photos that make in a response to the theme 'Keeping it real.' Some amazing images are beginning to come in but there is plenty of room for more.
Last night I posted our second piece of inspirational writing and this piece lit up the night sky as the site went bonkers. Bravery comes in many forms but this story speaks of bravery from and through the heart and it was incredibly well received. The author has used the writing of this piece to help close a door that has needed to be closed for sometime. One soul many hearts was very proud to be able to share it. I would just remind readers that notifications of new material are published on the blogs facebook page so you might want to pay it a visit and hit the like button. While you are at it you might also like to subscribe to our newsletter by typing your email in the box in the sidebar on the main site.
Using writing as a way of working through things is not a new concept but it is a concept that I explore with my students on my online course Meditation through Writing. We take both writing and meditation and establish a dialogue between them. The results have been truly diverse and I am confident that writing voices have strengthened as a result. I will be repeating this course in the new year so if you are interested in joining drop me a message and I can give you more details.
You are probably getting the impression that lots is going on and that would be accurate. I might be taking this 'keeping busy' thing a little too far but that has always been my weakness. That said, I am delighted at how things are starting to come together and can see how projects will develop in the future. Scottish island mum has not been neglected in this thinking and planning but I do keep changing my mind; evidence that more thinking is required. All I know is that I have big plans for a mum who lives on a Scottish island and appears to have quite a bit to say...
Until tomorrow. xx
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