The Smell of Leather

The children, Katie, and I went on a walk to Poppaw John's today.The children got an apple to share and I got a piece of leather to use as the bottoms of a pair of shoes I am making for Bunny (he always has interesting stuff in his basement/workshop). As I was inhaling the leather (I LOVE the smell of leather), Poppaw pulled out a large buckskin leather vest and asked if I wanted it. Most people would have turned it down or maybe even taken it just to be polite. But I am a different breed.

In all my years of scouring in Poppaw's basement, I have seen much magic unfold. Magic that may have been as simple as a little girl spending hours, sitting on a stool, rummaging though a box of beads to make Indian jewelry. Or her barefeet standing tiptoe on a cold concrete floor, peeking over the workbench to watch a carved creation come to life. Or the sound of a file humming over a cow horn. Or the taste of his homemade venison jerky, and the peppery goodness that lingered on her lips for hours afterward. Or maybe, just maybe, the discovery of a box, upon a shelf that she had not yet explored. And, as always, the smell of leather. Magic. Pure magic.

As we walked back toward Mama's house for lunch, with the leather vest now keeping me warm on the crisp October morning, I thanked God yet again. I thanked Him for Poppaw, For the man that taught me how to pray over dinner (more than just God is great and God is good), and who tried to teach me (and now Bunny) to cuss. Who taught me how to shoot a gun and skin a deer, and who played Indians with me.Who sends me all kinds of healthy homegrown canned goods, and who snuck Bunny her first bites of ice cream. Who I am so blessed to have in my life. He is just something you never outgrow.

An Enchanted Childhood Playschool ~ October 17th-21st ~ The Letter C

We have a lot of fun with our letters.  We play all sorts of games, identifying them and learning the sign and sounds.  We eat snacks and food starting with our letter and try to see our letter in the world around us.  This week's books were...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

(which gave us the chance to review a butterfly's life cycle)

The Carrot Seed
(you can be sure we ate carrots for snack!)

and The Cat in the Hat

It is very awesome when your name starts with the letter of the week!!
(alphabet cookies from Kroger)

Wonderfull (Full of Wonder) Wednesday

a day late..whoops!

"The woods are full of fairies; the sea is full of fish; the trees are full of golden leaves;

let's make an autumn wish."

My Guest Post

I recently wrote a guest post for Leaves of My Tree. This has been one my favorite blogs since I watched their video of the home waterbirth of their son over a year ago. I cried. It is one of the things that made me know for sure I wanted to have a homebirth. This sweet mama just had her second baby, a little girl, born at home. I am so excited to continue to follow her writings about life with two children, two and under.

Congrats on the new baby

and good luck to all four of you!

An Enchanted Childhood Playschool ~ October 10th -14th ~ The Letter B

This week, we learned all about the Letter B!!  We read Blueberries for Sal, JamBerry, The Runaway Bunny, and Benjamin Bunny!  We painted blueberry pies, made muffins, tasted various berries, and painted a picture of Benjamin Bunny.  We also had a lot of good "outside time" taking nature walks, blowing milkweed seeds, gathering leaves and nuts, visiting Poppaw John's garden to eat the last of the blackberries, and enjoying the last days of warm weather.

Wonderfull (Full of Wonder) Wednesday

 

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in” ~ Rachel Carson

A nature walk to knock on the "fairy door".

 

Wild And Wooly

While I have always tried to be careful about keeping Bunny warm enough, now that the nights are getting pretty chilly in our little double wide (and Bunny is a blanket kicker), I am making a few warmer changes in our normal, daily lifestyle. Recently, one of my favorite blogs, Are So Happy, shared a link to their favorite woolens seller (now my favorite woolens seller), as well as what woolens they wear. Since I loved Are So Happy's Warmth Week Posts, and have incorporated some of their ideas into our life and love them, I decided that woolens were the way to go to keep Bunny warm in the winter (and fall, and spring).

The woolens still in their packages.

All the woolens, except the sleeveless undershirt that Bunny was wearing.

I placed a order for about $160.00 worth of wool. YIKES! I had to remind myself that I plan to have more children (plus, my sister's girls can wear them when Bunny gets too big), so it is really not that expensive in the end. The short sleeve undershirt I wanted was out of stock, so I happily settled for sleeveless. I also purchased a long john set, a pair of socks, a hat, and a pair of mittens. All in organic wool or wool/silk combo. The package came today, and I was anxious to open it. These woolens are gorgeous! So much softer than I had expected. I put Bunny in the sleeveless undershirt right away, and it fit great. I am using the long johns as pjs. Since her current cotton pjs are beginning to get to small, this will save me from buying more. And since wool only needs aired out and very rarely washed (it is self sanitizing), she can wear them every night if needed. I am so excited for Bunny to wear them for many chilly months to come.

Bunny in her new wool silk long john pjs.
Sooo sweet...

The sleeveless undershirt airing out
and waiting to be worn again in the next day.
(The two spots along the side are where water splashed out of Bunny's bath.)