Winter table.

Now that Christmas has been cleared away, the seasonal display looks a little bit empty. That is just as it should be though, as outside is stark and bare. A simple soft snowy white cloth, some beeswax candles to represent the light and warmth that we crave right now, and an old, much thumbed Ladybird book about winter.  In the centre is a white cyclamen - a plant that blooms in Wintertime and, for me, is symbolic of light and growth in the darkness.

 

The pine cones from the seasonal table have been used to make suet and seed feeders for the birds.  Our garden robin was an early visitor.

So, not much can be done in this freezing cold weather except stay by the fire and work our way through some of our Christmas books.

 

Luckily on my last charity shopping trip I managed to pick up a couple of old fashioned thick woollen blankets, along with some linen napkins (my current obsession).  So, for the time being we can snuggle up cosily, and I can read my elder son's Christmas gift to me and dream of what I can do with all those vintage textiles. 

Blog Action Day 09 - Climate Change

I'm feeling really quite pessimistic tonight. It has been so hard even getting any time to think abut what to write, never mind find a moment to sit down and actually do it. James has been up since 6.30 am, having been awake several times during the night - he is still up and full of beans after a pretty full day. I wonder if it is global warming that is causing it?
It has actually been an unseasonably warm day. We were at a local outdoor shopping village today and I was struck by the amount of bare arms on show. Children and babies in tee shirts, people sitting in the outside the cafes and on the benches enjoying the weather- it was more like August than the middle of October. Very pleasant, actually, and it is hard not to disagree with those who say we could do with a bit of climate change in Scotland. Apparently Nick Nairn, Scottish celebrity chef is looking forward to growing olives and lemons at his Trossachs cookery school, and and eminent retired professor of geology is excited by his prediction that the shores of Loch Ness will be the epicentre of the world's wine industry in around 80 years time (McIntosh 2008)
But that is really the problem. Here in the Occidental part of the Northern hemisphere,we think that the consequences of climate change will not be quite as devastating as they will in the developing world and some southern parts. We do not want to give up our current profligate lifestyle - multiple cars, appliances, package holidays - and now there is a chance that there might be some decent weather too - life is good! Yes, a few more gales and a bit of flooding here and there, but - hey - we are insured! Therefore no politician has ever advocated adopting the radical measures that will really, seriously, address the problem. There are no votes in austerity.
We need them to, though. My blog description says I am trying to live a simple life. For me that means being frugal - not wasting food, buying locally, not using air transport, using long life light bulbs, eating less meat, growing our own food as much as we can. A make do and mend attitude really. Having been born just over 15 years after the end of WWII, I was brought up with that kind of ethic. Many people do this much better than me and others yet aspire to it. What we need is help from our governments. We need our leaders to stand up and say -
"Enough of this reckless crazy consumerism! We will make it easier for you to do without cars - encourage the high streets to reopen and people to grow their own food. We will no longer allow supermarket companies to monopolise the food retail industry. We will stop being in the pay of companies with huge marketing departments that con you into thinking you can't live without their products. We will seriously help develop sustainable, workable energy systems that do not destroy our most precious land. We will...."
Well, I could go on and on with that list, but in essence, we need strong and radical leadership to help us do the work that needs to be done.
In 2050, my son James, and my grandson Finlay will be grown men in their 40s - more than likely with children of their own. Gordon Brown's boys will be the same age, as will Barack Obama's children. The charity Christian Aid has predicted that by that year, there will be at least 1 billion refugees as water shortages and crop failures force people to leave their homes. In addition there will be many more local conflicts and wars caused by access to resources. The scenario is frightening. what kind of world are we building for our children? A world full of fear - criminal gangs, looting and murdering over property or rights to water and food. What kind of water and food anyway? Catastrophic weather events will cause crop failures and interfere with the water supplies as it did in the floods of 2007 in England. For me it makes Bush and Blair's manufactured War on Terror pale into insignificance. Well - a bit of an exaggeration here - and especially for the young people being killed and injured in the current conflicts, but I just have this feeling that - terror - we ain't seen nothing yet!
I guess what I really want to hear from our World Leaders is " We will never stop working to make the world a safe and secure place for our children", and to actually start to make it happen. I will gladly follow them. Maybe I'll feel more optimistic if I get a better nights sleep.


Reference
McIntosh Alastair (2008) Hell and High Water: Climate change and the Human Condition Birlinn Edinburgh

Blog Action Day

Autumn nature table

This is our nature table for autumn. We really enjoy this ongoing project and everyone likes to find something to put on the table - golden coloured leaves, nuts, berries and interesting shaped twigs and pieces of wood currently adorn the autumn cloth. A couple of apples and a corn cob sit underneath a Cretan windmill brought back from a long ago holiday. A wonderful poster of fungi is pinned on the wall and the cider jug is filled with seedheads, rosehips and an ear of wheat. We made a leaf mobile from coloured paper and it hangs in front of a favourite sunflower picture. Our walks will bring in more treasures as October turns the trees into glorious deep colours, and later, the orange and black of Halloween decorations will have their place.
Each season is special, and I love to celebrate the turning wheel of the year. I do have a soft spot for autumn though - for us it is full of brisk walks, cosy fires, warming food, birthdays and other family celebrations, and then thoughts turning towards Christmas and New Year. It is a wonderful time.

Season Table and toys

This is our Summer seasonal table - still has that big old sun there and a couple of gorgeous fans I found in the fair trade shop in Linlithgow for £2 each! They have been used quite a bit already, as the conservatory gets really warm during the day. Wooden bowl full of shells, flower heads, seed pods etc, a couple of bug and butterfly spotter guides for easy access, James's gardening gloves and his watering can which he allowed me to use as a vase - containing some roses, hydrangea and lavender from the garden. Hanging above is a bee mobile with willow hives and paper flowers. The bees are made from pine cones with yellow wool wrapped around them and greaseproof paper wings. I first saw this idea on Mama4's blog - A Smile a Day. Mama's were much better than these, because she had used alder cones, which are more bee-like. Mine are far more blowsy.

I am going to be changing the location of our table soon, as this space is right by the side door - the family and friends door. As a consequence, my seasonal display often feature items such as car keys, the dog's lead, handbags, soft drink cans, and once (shock) a fag packet :0. Just to make the point - here is a picture I took yesterday just after the organic box was delivered. James immediately made for the punnet of raspberries, and i couldn't resist snapping the moment. Later on when I downloaded the days shots I noticed my 'seasonal display' lol. I have a space in mind, but it needs a lot of decluttering and some shelf building.

Now shelf building is not a problem for my clever husband. He has just constructed this masterpiece to hold James's toys and books. These were previously stored in various boxes and in different places around the house. This did not work as chucking everything into one box means that the toys at the bottom are rarely played with,and play can be limited. I felt it was important that his toys were in the family living space, as that is where we spend our time. I don't like the idea of him having to go to his room to play - he doesn't have a room anyway as we co-sleep and his older brother and sister have the other bedrooms. This is a really small house - a bit like the Tardis in reverse, it looks like a sizeable bungalow from the outside, but inside it is a typical 1930s design. Of course we didn't really expect to have such a wonderful addition to our family when we first moved here!

Anyway, I am really pleased - no - thrilled with how this has turned out. All the toys are now accessible and together; cars in one basket, blocks in another, dressing up clothes - you get the idea. James has already played such imaginative games with toys he had forgotten about, and his creativity seems to have taken a huge leap. Happy, happy happy me!

Our Seasonal Table - late spring

Gina, who writes the beautiful and thoughtful blog, Our Unschooled Family, asked to see pictures of Seasonal Tables. Here is ours. Still one or two rabbit and hen figures remain from Eostre but several things added: a sprig of apple blossom and posy of bluebells from the garden. Their honey scent drifts up to meet us as we walk past. A small wooden bowl filled with fallen petals, leaves and rosemary; some seed packets; a bright yellow sun, painted in watercolour by James, and cut out by myself; and, what a friend refers to as our Totem Pole:) This is a lovely tactile piece of wood carving, by a local craftsman, given to us as a housewarming present 10 years ago. It somehow seemed just the right addition for Beltane. I must draw attention to our flowered table cover, which is a family heirloom. This was embroidered by my Grandmother just after the war. My Dad remembers her sitting in the evenings sewing away, and how it took such a long time to complete. I love to use it, and it has pride of place from now until the end of summer (with a few careful washes). Seasonal tables are such a good way to celebrate the year.

Good things...

Just some of the good things from the past week...

Discovering a local source of raw goats' milk

My two boys playing in the garden


K's last day of formal schooling! Good luck with the exams xx

Giggling over old school photos. K and K aged 7 and 5 :)


A boy and his dog.


Chatting with Gran and Papa.



My refillable left-handed fountain pen.

What a good week! Let's have a coconut cup cake to celebrate :)

Springing along.

Well - a fairly murky photograph of our evolving Spring Table. Maybe I should have taken the picture in dayight - lol - still, I feel if wouldn't really be my blog without the bad photography. The paintings at the back are actually very springlike wet on wet watercolours done by James and myself in bright yellow and blue - what a nice relaxing way to paint - especially for someone as artistically challenged as your blogger here. The hand-decorated pot contains sunflower seedlings and was a Mother's Day present from my elder daughter, and I am trying to force a branch of flowering cherry in green vase (which i've just realised is not actually visible). There is a handknitted piglet - or as James calls it - the peeeeg, a little nutbrown hare, and what was supposed to be a pom-pom Easter Bunny, but somehow turned out more like - as my Dad quipped - the Easter Cairn Terrier! Well - why not start our own tradition?:) A basket of blown eggs that we have not got round to decorating yet, a couple of fluffy chicks, two hen shaped candles and the Gerda Muller Spring book completes the tableau so far. It is my intention to make some flower fairy type figures, and I do have the beads and felt, but somehow I feel this project slipping away.....
The weather has been so good we have not really spent much time in the house over the last week - especially with John being on holiday, so most of the happenings will be posted on the gardening blog in the next day or so.
Edited next day to add another picture of the spring table - this time in spring sunshine (still a bad photo lol). Elder son has a history tutor who comes on a Monday - as he was leaving he cried - "Oh its a shrine to Easter!" Hmmm..