Polishing our Syrendell Sprites

Elena polished her Syrendell sprite today. She decided she didn't want to add anything to it - it was just as it should be. We bought some lovely organic beeswax polish and she applied it. I loved how hands-on this project was and the girls took such tender care of their own special Sprite.

The Mountain Sprite

In yonder valley there dwelt, alone,

A youth, whose moments had calmly flown,

'Till spells came o'er him, and, day and night,

He was haunted and watch'd by a Mountain Sprite.

As once, by moonlight, he wander'd o'er

The golden sands of that Island shore,

A foot-print sparkled before his sight --

'Twas the fairy foot of the Mountain Sprite!

Beside a fountain, one sunny day,

As bending over the stream he lay,

There peep'd down o'er him two eyes of light,

And he saw in that mirror the Mountain Sprite.

He turn'd, but, lo, like a startled bird,

That spirit fled! -- and the youth but heard

Sweet music, such as marks the flight

Of some bird of song, from the Mountain Sprite.

One night, still haunted by that bright look,

The boy, bewilder'd, his pencil took.

And, guided only by memory's light,

Drew the once-seen form of the Mountain Sprite.

"Oh thou, who lovest the shadow," cried

A voice, low whispering by his side,

"Now turn and see," -- here the youth's delight

Seal'd the rosy lips of the Mountain Sprite.

"Of all the Spirits of land and sea,"

Then rapt he murmur'd, "there's none like thee,

And oft, oh oft, may thy foot thus light

In this lonely bower, sweet Mountain Sprite!"

~Thomas Moore

Syrendell Sprites

We picked up our Syrendell Sprites when we met the Tan family at the Fiber Arts Retreat the other weekend. Right when we got home, the girls wanted to paint theirs. We also purchased some small silks and the awesome Eco Twig House for our puppet shows! It is even more beautiful in person and will be getting a blog of its very own soon :)

The girls ran outside to pick flowers for three of the sprites and they were so beautiful that we had to take pictures of them in their natural state.

Here is one of them with a birdie sitting on her head!

We went to our local craft store so each of the girls could pick her own special color. "E" chose a very bright pink and "C" chose a very bright yellow. Definitely springy sprites and it made it so special and fun that the girls got to design and paint their very own!

You can see how *bright* they are in this picture. The paint also dried very quickly and we ended up with some paint lines that I tried to smooth over, but the paint had already dried. I spoke to Syrendell and they said we could lightly sand them out with a fine grain, but the girls have since insisted that they like them this way.

Time to put them in the Eco-Twig House. Hey...that looks like Snooks in there! Yup, little Snooks the snail came home with us and was the hit of the party with the girls all the way home from the retreat!

"C" loved hers so much that she kept stopping to give her sprite hugs. I happened to catch this one :)

Here are some of our beautiful new silks...

And the girls had so much fun playing with their new sprites. We did purchase some beeswax and "E" polished hers today. "C" might want to add some flowers to hers so they aren't all finished just yet and we were able to sand off a bit of paint that the girls got on their faces and hands, thanks to the tip from Syrendell!

We're loving our new sprites! Thanks Syrendell :)

Forestry Field Trip

A few months ago, we went with our local homeschooling group on a lovely forestry field trip. We were separated into two groups: older and younger.

We began by greeting friends and then listened to a presentation by our three forestry hosts, before heading off to explore...we counted rings on trees, held beautiful huge pine cones and the kids loved sitting on their homemade benches and stumps while the rangers told us all about the native trees and bushes...

We then headed over to the wash (which was dry due to our drought) and got to learn about and pick some miner's lettuce. Guess during the gold rush, they used to eat this as a salad. We tried and it was really yummy. The girls kept going back for more and I had to stop my veggie loving gals before we ate it all up :)

We then moved to the work shed and examined samples they had laid out for the kids to touch...counted more rings and learned all about the insects that burrow into the trees and eventually weaken them. Their trails were fascinating...

Following this presentation, we were handed over to another ranger who covered the various tools the forestry service uses to prepare for and combat fire season in California. We have yearly wild fires and even were evacuated from our home a few years ago, but luckily, the amazing firefighters come to our rescue and we've been safe every year!

We then met up with the older group for a fun game! The kids broke up into two groups and each group had to put on the fireman's outfit, carry a bucket of wood shavings to the ranger, answer a question, the "douse the fire" with the shavings.





It is always so wonderful to see how the bigger kids help the littler ones, without any requests from the mommas. I just love homeschoolin' kids :)

After we were done, each child received a sticker badge, a coloring book and a little coastal oak tree to plant in the yard! So fun! I also wasn't aware of this, but the forestry service has free trees and even firewood available for those who need it or ask for it. It's a government service, so your tax dollars are at work! Just contact your local branch and they will direct you further :)

Thanks for reading!