Camping at the Cape

After spending quite a bit of time loading up the car with tents, sleeping bags, extra blankets, bikes, Kayaks, food, pillows, knitting, games........we were going car camping after all and I intended to be as comfy as possible......we drove the 3 and half hours to the Cape (Cape Cod for those who don't know) and promptly unloaded it all and set up our temporary home away from home. David did the manly thing and got the raging camp fire going .This was after not being able to start our wee camp stove on which we were supposed to cook...we could of course have been really lazy and gone to the camp store 2 mins walk away...but no we were toughing it out in the wilderness!



Sage doing some quiet contamplation by the fire...a rare moment!











Once some other fellow homeschoolers arrived we headed down to one of the lakes for a quick dip.....the weather was amazing the whole weekend which was fortunate as the weekend before and after it was bucketing rain! The park we were staying at (Nickerson State Park) was very attractive with 7 ponds and bike trails all over. Most of the kids (there were about 14 or so) spent a good deal of time on their bikes visiting one another and yelling for help once in while ( the yellers were the ones who hadn't quite mastered the bike riding thing and were getting frustrated being constantly left behind by the speedy older kids)! The picture of Maya eating in camp with her bike helmet on gives you an idea of how seriously the biking was being taken!

Most of the group arrived late in the night and stumbled into tents with cranky kids, trying to avoid the rampant poison ivy around the camp..poison ivy is a fairly innocent looking green plant that blends in with all the other green foliage but which causes much discomfort if touched! Thankfully we were all up on our indentification skills and kept yelling at the kids to stay away!

Saturday was the day of activities and after a yummy breakfast of eggs in tortillas David and I dragged our Kayaks down to the lake...not a short walk....and did I mention the poison Ivy! We made it down there and the children got straight in. David was excited to see that Maya has a natural paddling ability...she was very good with her strokes and did an amazing job of keeping the boat straight! Sage ...not so much! So they had a gay old time with the boats which ended up becoming surf boards instead and we eventually managed to drag them (the boats and kids) back to camp for lunch and then head for the ocean.

Unforunately I didn't take enough pictures at the beach but that was mostly because I was keeping a watchful motherly eye on the kids to make sure they didn't get sucked away by the ocean during their body surfing games. It was great to see them so happy and comfy in the waves as the last time we were at the beach they were too little to go into the waves with such enthusiasm. David also caught some waves in his kayak and I was totally lame and sat on the beach warming up children in between their dips....I didn't have swimming attire having ordered something on the internet to have it arrive and hey surprise surprise not fit me! After a few rotations under the waves and water and sand up the nose etc we all trekked back to the campsite for a nice refreshing shower and some 'steamers' ..not a turkish bath but clams....the kids sampled and sampled some more...... David is glad to have some keen shellfsh eating kids!

A great time was had by all!

Strawbale plastering

Maya and I attended a strawbale plastering workshop yesterday learning a little about strawbale construction and getting some hands on experience with the clay/straw mixture that gets put on over the bales. Maya very delicately helped out with little splodges of clay here and there but mostly watched and ate all the food I had brought along! I however did get stuck in there and after a brief 'how to' was plastering the bales with many other hands. To keep up everyones's enthusiasm there was a DJ complete with turntables blaring some cool reggae music. This paticularly helpled out the folk making the clay mixture which involved a lot of dancing with bare feet on the clay and straw until the right consistency was achieved.

This is a studio space that has been built with a post and beam construction in an ecovillage called the Sirius community in Shutesbury... along the lines of Findhorn in Scotland. All the materials were found locally including the wood which was from their property ( apparently most of the wood used in house construction gets trucked from 3000 miles away). It was really interesting to learn a little of the process and encouraging that people are doing it here in the North East. I'm keen on the idea of David and I doing a small strawbale studio on our property perhaps next year. This of course would involve some bale raising and plastering parties! I'm now on a strawbale buliding focus and plan to learn what I can in order that we can do as much of the work ourselves ( with local help) and save some money.

The Kittens Much Bigger!

Maya wrote:
Today Panther licked Sage and after, Daisy hurt Sage on the shoulder. Silky owns a bookstore. Daisy ate the first piece of food. The kittens are so cute!

Mum wrote:
The kids continue to nurture and train their little kitties. Sage thought it necessary to teach Daisy how to somersault as all good kittens should be able to do! Food and litter have been introduced now but I'm not sure that the kittens can tell the difference yet! We've moved them into David's office and now they have a lot more room to explore including behind all the books....David however has taken refuge in our bedroom!

Maya Says: I Lost My First Tooth!

Mum wrote: Yes finally Maya has joined the rest of her gappy mouthed peers! However that tooth fairy has gotten a lot more generous it appears... I was informed that she even leaves presents in exchange for that enamel! Luckily we got the old fashioned kind at our house and Maya got her coins.

Dad wrote: Looks cute, right? Watch out, though, there's a behemoth of a tooth breaking the gums behind that jagged front row! Could make for some interesting dentistry soon...

Bags and hula hoops

Here is Maya mastering her hula hoop skills...she can even walk sideways and turn a circle whilst doing the hula...all with hair getting in her face too! Ready to join the circus now! Actually Maya has come up with her own detailed agenda for her future. She plans to own and run a cat and dog shelter complete with a birthing room, vet's space, library ( stocking books she has written and illustrated on cats), cafe ( with her artwork on display), cat and dog playrooms, adoption room and outdoor area with cat inspired plants! She has already done a floor plan and made up applications for her 7 potential employees...a slot was offered to Sage but he thinks he prefers snakes! These plans occupied a good bit of our time today!
Yesterday we did our first letterboxing event. For those who don't know about this it involves getting a set of clues and a hike of varying difficulty to locate a hidden box containing a stamp and journal. When you find the box you use your personal stamp to make an entry into the journal and also document your findings in your own journal with the stamp found in the box..did that make sense?! The kids loved it and practically ran the whole way.....no dragging of feet on this hike! If we get into it there are plenty more letterboxes out there to be found...mostly in America but there are some worldwide! Can't imagine there's too many in Shetland though.....new hobby Dad and Mum? Of course anyone can hide a letterbox and leave the clues online for others.







I also wanted to share my little project which is the very beginning stages of a wee knitting business I've got going. These are some felted bags I've been making and selling! They are made from 100% wool from the Shetland Islands. My label is Shetland Trader ( formerly the name of a knitting business belonging to my parents back in the 70's). The image I'm using as you can see is a mermaid sporting a fairisle jumper....done by my aunt Maggie Reigler....the image is supposed to infact be me! As I said the operation is very tiny just now but I have notions of expansion but may need to invest in a knitting machine for faster production......wait and see!

Before and After

So I had been thinking that I should put up some photos of the kids and was prompted to get on with it as Sage was shorn today! So here are the before and after images of Sage! With warmer weather here and even warmer on the way it was time for the summer haircut. Sage did of course agree to this and likes his new look.



Maya of course is not feeling the need to go the same route (thankfully as we all adore her hair..except the brushing and washing part).



The kids are continuing to watch their foster kitties grow so we added a new picture of the one called Daisy Fat! They all have their eyes open and are starting to be playful and even cuter...... yikes hope we can detatch ourselves from them! These kids really are cat mad! If anyone ever needs recommendations of cat books to read we're your guys...we have even started a list of all the cat books we have read and we are almost at 50! Our recent favourite is "Jenny Linksy and the Cat club" written back in the fifties but still enjoyed by today's generation apparently!
The kids are also becoming budding naturalists (be impressed grandpa!) and we're doing quite a few nature walks these days with field guides, magnifying glass, camera and notebook in tow. We even witnessed a dragonfly open it's wings for the first time recently!

Before and After

So I had been thinking that I should put up some photos of the kids and was prompted to get on with it as Sage was shorn today! So here are the before and after images of Sage! With warmer weather here and even warmer on the way it was time for the summer haircut. Sage did of course agree to this and likes his new look.


Maya of course is not feeling the need to go the same route (thankfully as we all adore her hair..except the brushing and washing part).


The kids are continuing to watch their foster kitties grow so we added a new picture of the one called Daisy Fat! They all have their eyes open and are starting to be playful and even cuter...... yikes hope we can detatch ourselves from them! These kids really are cat mad! If anyone ever needs recommendations of cat books to read we're your guys...we have even started a list of all the cat books we have read and we are almost at 50! Our recent favourite is "Jenny Linksy and the Cat club" written back in the fifties but still enjoyed by today's generation apparently!

The kids are also becoming budding naturalists (be impressed grandpa!) and we're doing quite a few nature walks these days with field guides, magnifying glass, camera and notebook in tow. We even witnessed a dragonfly open it's wings for the first time recently!