Pail-Of-Snails!

Ngaio, my nearly 3 year old daughter, Loves Snails..
it all started when we got her this Pull-Along Plan Toys Snail..
she calls him "snailey guy" that was when she was just 2 but maybe younger... the years blur!

For her birthday, which is coming up on the 28th of November i am making her a snail themed party.. i was sort of kind of thinking of making a snail cake and im going to make a giant snail so the kids can do Pin-the-feelers-on-the-snail.. and i found wonderful snail print fabric on etsy that im going to sew up something with, as well as this beautifully made skirt and pinafore set from 3lilmuses which i splurged on for her.. because its just so lovely, i couldn't resist...but there real reason i'm writing this is because in my search for snailey crafts to do with the kids i found this so wonderful knitting pattern for these wee snails and slugs. im almost finished making my first one and its just sweet and so simple.. i had to share! as soon as i am..ill post a picture. my plan is to knit a whole bucket full and give her a pail of snails...

with love and snails,
fern

halloween

we had a pretty great halloween this year. there were all sorts of fun events and happenings..here are a few pictures of the kids. elwynn was a knight in shining armor for school, and ngaio was a faerie. rue was a snowflake.. evening costumes..elwynn as a pirate and ngaio little red riding hood (yes, it looks like she was eating chocolate, but no.. hehehe).
not the best photography, my camera battery was dying.. always at the worst time.
elwynn drew this most amazing skull and we carved it out as a jack-o-lantern.. it was very cool. this photo does not do it justice.
also, a picture of our very own black cat..

the days are certainly getting shorter quickly...night time falls and its black and cold. so far no snow in clearwater yet, but we are having very hard frosts.. it feels a lot like winter. but despite that the days are crisp and beautiful! we are taking lots of walks down the leafy streets, checking out the river and beach in all of its autumny glory. its my most favorite part of the year. i love the smell in the air especially. i love wearing mittens and hats and scarves and cozy sweaters. i like my leg warmers too!

we just got back from a trip to a forming eco-village about 5 hours north of here in and abouts the kakwa provincial park.. its a stunning part of BC.. the fraser river surrounds the property making it almost an island.. we hiked around the whole perimeter, close to 500 acres i think. it was pretty beautiful. wild and foresty. there is a herd?flock?murder? of alpacas and llamas on the land too. they are SO CUTE! im so mad at myself for not taking pictures. i was going to go find the sunday morning before we left, but the rain was falling in big fat drops and my camera isnt a fan of precipitation. a friend did take a bunch of pictures thoiugh, so when he sends them to me ill post some. they are really like faerie tale creatures. so graceful and... fluffy! on our way home we ended up breaking down, our veggie oil system failed us for the first time since february, when installed. timothy got it sorted out, but it was pretty worrisome for a few minutes. being stranded in the cold and rain on the side of an almost dead highway, in the middle of pretty much nowhere. not a great feeling. especially since i had stayed up till 2am talking with some of the most rad folks ive met for a long time. .i felt rather hung over and headachey, and kids stuck in cars..well, im sure most of you know how that is. but we got home.. no moose sightings to speak of (boohoo) rain and fog and snow didn't deter us. it was a trip to remember for sure. this map shows the vision for the eco-village.. so far there are just a few cabins and a farm house, a barn and pastures, a garden (certified organic) but this is what it will one day look like.,.

today was a beautious day.. here are a few pictures of our walk in the leaves.
in the pictures are..ngaio, rue and our sweet friend milo!

not working..will add pictures later..

5th october.

Autumn has fallen hard and fast here.. the rain has come, the mist and the falling leaves and sweet heavy smell of change in the air. i Love this time of year...the farmers market is overflowing with a rainbow of yummy things.. & the trees!.. i think that i missed out on photographing a lot of it this time around..we go on so many walks, and i forget my camera, and every day things are a bit different, different hues of orange, yellow and brown..less green, more leaves scattered on the grey concrete.

i especially love cooking at this time of year..its that comfort food thing. squash and beets and yams and potatoes, fresh meat & herbs! everything is so fresh and abundant in october! but there is this looming knowledge that soon enough the snow will fall and ill be left wishing for and missing the days of salad greens and kale and corn on the cob..but we make do, and spring is just around the next few corners, right?

on the homefront..my sister, and room mate has been gone for the last few weeks..we have inally adjusted to it and she arrives home tuesday.

ngaio has started her preschool program at the local elementary school. i didn't quite know what to expect but i'm totally blown away. the teacher "amy" is just wonderful. she isn't trained at a Waldorf teacher, but she is.. she is just lovely. the room is full of draped fabrics and there are fabulous wooden toys, and beautiful pictures and plants..nature tables and water tables and wheat berry play stations. i couldn't hope for anything more, honestly..and its free and close to home..5 days a week for 3 hours a day. and rue can also come with us, since its a parent partisipation group. im going to do some felting crafts with the kids which im so looking forward to, but so far, i'm just having fun exploring the new space and people with ngaio. they are making an "im precious" book these days with hand and foot prints and artwork about who they are. its really perfect.. they have outside time everyday around this big old willow tree on the side of the school.. bubbles and stories and jumping and playing...Oh, and the school is starting construction on ajn artificial wetlands project on the grounds..which all of the children will be a part of creating and maintaining. they got a grant from a wetlands conservation group. its just so cool! im thrilled with this town!

rue is crawling & fast these days.she is into everything. its fun to watch her explore the world..but she is a bit under the weather, and so a bit sad these days too.

so, its not as easy as i thought it would be..

i figured that having the computer at home would make it easier to keep up with everything onliney but its proving harder than i imagined!

our days are full of lots of not much of anything, but it leaves little time for me to sit at the computer and really write anything. i finally downloaded all 786 pictures from my camera today! it was very exciting re-looking at pictures from the last 6 months or so...i can't even believe how much elwynn, ngaio and rue have grown up and changed! ngaio looked like a baby when rue was born..now she is all long and girlish, and not a baby much at all. elwynn has shorter hair and is getting big, finally..some days a few years past i thought he would be 2 feet tall forever.
rue is all movey and eatey these days...its flashing before my eyes. i don't want to blink and have my babies leaving home. ak. its a scary thought..well, i admit some days i wouldn't mind less mess and less noise, but mostly i do enjoy it, and i'm trying to just be in the moment and not miss anything. i recently read a blog of a mom who was in a plane crash with her husband.. they survived, but are in really rough shape. life as she knows it. changed. forever.
it can happen so fast.

i had a moment like that today. ngaio, rue and i were out on a walk and our dog finn ran out into the road and a car came so fast, even though it wasn't going very fast at all and HIT him. i was stunned. he got up and ran to me, but i was so scared. for that split second everything went in fast forward and slow motion at the same time. we were on a quiet country road where all of the dogs and kids run around on the road. ive never seen anything/anyone hit that close to me. it shook me to the core. he just has some damage on one of his legs and paws..he isn't in pain, i gave him rescue remedy right away and took him home to rest..but he could have died! it could have been one of the kids.... it was one of those life changing moments. not a huge thing, but something so small can change us forever.

so its 7 and almost time to do the bedtime thing.. i havn't been sleeping well..there is so much to lie awake and think about. i admit living without timothy is harder than i imagined it to be. mostly its okay but i get moments of panic and loneliness that feel pretty terrifying. its all just a lot to cope with alone. but ium trying and hoping that its just a temporary thing while we both regroup and do some healing and work..

on another note, i have become pretty obsessed with bach flower remedies.. i have about 10 books out from library and on loan from friends and im reading and reading any second i have the chance. its very fascinating..a lot like homeopathy (well it is homeopathy really) which is another passion of mine.. ive ordered the set of 38 remedies and im dreaming of making remedies for everyone i know.. waiting on mail is a hard thing to do!!

well, baby is sad and snotty and nursey, so ill be off,

love and revolution!

fern

pictures..finally!~

sphats falls, just a few minutes from our home

timothy & the girls

almost crawling!


rue-bee & mama

rue learning to sit..51/2 or 6 months old..

elwynn & ngaio enjoying a lollipop @ the school playground..it was a joyous occasion as they have never been allowed one before.

elwynn, aug.2008@ spahats falls

rue & the umbrella, taken in dunster @ the Robson valley music festival aug 23rd.

rue-bee, 7 months old! sitting in her play corner in our new living room..

re-connected!

so finally, after more than a year! im back online. we live in a rural part of a smallish town on the north thompson river aka. clearwater.. sadly, our home isn't "in" town so we only have access to dial up..but i've never been happier to have slow internet in my life. anything will do. our days of getting out to the library are so few and far between that keeping up with anything on the web is nearly impossible. actually, we go to the library often, but im usually in search of good bedtime stories and something to occupy me on the off chance i have a minute to read to myself.. not to mention ngaio who has her hands in everything she shouldn't as soon as we pass through the doors. and rue who decides that she is famished whenever we aren't snug at home, namely in the car or at the library. but, no more complaining..as far as summer has gone (really almost gone, we are having hard frosts already..) we had a pretty good one. we moved, yes. stressful..but since then our days have mostly consisted of playing at the river (the raft) and just enjoying the time together. we have enjoyed saturday farmers markets, most especially the strawberry festival. all you can eat local starwberries.. pure and utter bliss! and we (timothy, ngaio, rue & i ) went to an amazing music festival just a few hours from here in the robson valley. it was such a sweet weekend.
a really family friendly, amazing music, wonderful folks good time.
i think i have a bit of a summer hangover today actually. *sigh*

i have much to do here today, school just started for elwynn and there is always piles our house stuff to do. but i wanted to take the opportunity to just say a few words here, just because i missed it so much..

im trying to DL pictures, but its proving difficult with this connection.

till next time,

fern

its a long road..

wow. time flies... its almost august! stormy rainy summer days. we moved again.. just to the next town over from little fort. its a bit sad but our garden is still being cared for by timothy who for now is staying in little fort. my sister moved here a few months back to be a nurse at the clearwater hospital and she and i looked at the lovely little house and decided that it would be fun to live together again.. . i love our new house . its really close to the most beautiful private river beach..a few minutes down the road is a farm with horses and sheep and the local school is about 2km away (its got a rad playground) ive made a bunch of new friends with kids elwynn and ngaio's age and babies too. i feel like im finally finding community out here in the north thompson valley. i even met a daddy who wants to knit with me (and watch football, but hey! a knitting group. woohoo!) there is lots of fun stuff going on here in clearwater. the farmers market is amazing and there are often community bbq's and music in the park and that kinda stuff.

rue is getting to be a crawler! she is up on hands and knees rocking back and forth. every day is a leg and arm strengthening marathon. it wont be long at all before she is on the move. its a bit sad and pretty exciting...the little person in her is emerging and she is pretty lovely.

elwynn is all about art these days. he spends hours and hours drawing, colouring, sketching..its pretty inspiring. i havnt had a minute for anything creative, but lately rue has been wearing a pixie hat i knit while pregnant..white bamboo yarn..and ive had about 8 requests..so one day when i have tiome to knit again ill be busy.

ngaio is.......2. im worn out on 2. i love her so much but i want to throw her overboard sometimes.. even often. its pretty hard to be pateint when the whining and screetching are blowing my eardrums. most everything is a huge drama these days. im counting the days to 3.. someone please tell me its the magic end to this not so much fun time.

time is up..

love to everyone who may read this.. one day soon ill have internet again. maybe.
pictures some day too!

until next time.

fern

april droughts bring may sprouts..

We have been busy busy bee's this spring, but i wanted to take a second to put up a few new pictures of my girls. Elwynn is at school today and we are visting grama G.. these were shot just now with grama's camera..

rue-bee is nearly 4 months old now& ngaio is 2 and a half!

hello

hi to everyone that has written on here! its so nice to know that somewhere out there there are people who think of us sometimes. often i feel like we have dropped off the face of the earth onto another much smaller much more isolated star somewhere in another galaxy. i know we aren't that far away, but the momets that i get online, or on the phone, or out of our tiny town are so few and far between its almost impossible for me to connect with anyone. so im sorry to anyone who is waiting to hear from me.. it may be a while.

we are doing well, the garden is starting to be what i think about day and night. im so in live with all of the little sprouts popping up in our tiny green house. mostly its too cold for anything but rhubarb and bulbs but things are greening up quickly. yesterday it was 24 degrees out after a -5 night. crazy mother nature!

hawkfeather if you are reading this..im so sorry for your troubles. ill email you next chance i get.
love to you and your family and it would be great to have more likeminded folk around here. we are about 1.5 hours north of kamloops. on the north thompson river. not much to rent up here though.. but worth looking i think.

must go..babies..poop. hungry bellies.

love and all that stuff.

fern&folk

spring has sprung!

officially but not really totally yet where we are. in fact, there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground when i awoke this morning.. funny sincejust yesterday i was outside in a tee-shirt on my knees starting to weed the garden..but the days are getting longer and there are definite signs of spring around. ngaio and i saw a butterfly a few days ago and the cows down the road are all birthing their calves. i got to scratch a brand new calf under the chin one sunny morning last week. it came right up to the fence to meet me and elwynn. it was just beautiful. mama still had the umbilical cord hanging out of her! she hadn't yet passed her placenta. its sad to thing that they are born just to get big and be eaten, yet they are still so tame and trusting of humans.
im looking forward toi having a huge garden this year. timothy has already started a few things in one of our sunny south facing windows, i'm sure it will just be a few weeks and we will have the shelf full of small green sprouts. yay!

may can't come soon enough.. my sister is moving up to the north thompson!! hopefully the clearwater hospital wont close (dr. shortage) because she wants to live in little fort or clearwater to be near us.

elwynn, ngaio and rue-bee are doing well..ngaio just got over a rather nasty sickness but she is very much back to her old self now. its amazing how fast they bounce back at 2!

elwynn is happy to be free of school for spring break. its hard getting up so early for such a small guy, but summer will be here soon enough.

rue is almost 2 months old now. time is flying by sooo fast! she is absolutely the most sweet baby in the world (they all are though!) im just sooooo in love. i can't get enough of her smiles and little "coo's & goo's"

so that's our short update..

no knitting in sight but i did get some beautiful white and pink and red veregated HPY in the mail a while ago from uruguay..im just waiting for some free time to cast on some longies.. one day..right?

home!

well, i hanv't knit a stitch..but we are home and so happy to be! there is at least 2 feet of beautiful white snow surrounding our little cozy home and town, but it seems like we missed most of winter while we were away. spring is on its way i think..

ngaio just threw herself onto the floor of the library..gtotta go.

Avalanche!

well, the roads are closed due to mother nature.. avalanches and slides all over the place..both routes home closed! we are about an hour and a half from where we started and are staying with tim's grandparents till they re-open the road..probably..hopefully tomorrow!

on a happy note, we went thrift store shopping today and found lots of rad treasures..some beautiful soft fleece lined jeans for elwynn and a bunch of fancy baby/toddler clothes..so, its not all bad. i hear they are thinking of opening a thrift store in little fort..yay for thrift stores!

i really wish my knitting bag wasn't in my mom's van! she is meeting us up there (little fort) tomorrow because we couldnt fit all of our stuff and kiddos in our van, but now im itching to knit something..rue sleeps lots still and i know i should take advantage of it. i always want to knit when i havn't got my stuff. grRrR.

xoxo fern

finally, home is on the horizon..

January has come and gone since being here, in the big city, but we are finally heading home!
the next few days will be full of packing up and goodbyes then we are on our way homeward Thursday morning.

i'm feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety..at the long snowy drive with 3 kids&a dog&cat!
at being home in our own little house, but without any extra hands to hold and help..wondering how timothy will find some work in the deep of winter...but i know that everything will fall into place as it should.

life is so beautiful with a baby in it!

my sweet family!

this is love..






*sigh*

it is so nice to finally put to use all of the wee woolens that i lovingly knit... the little pants, of which i knit 3 pairs, fit her perfectly. they go up to her armpits and cuffed, they are the perfect length! i love these little pants. they are butter soft and she wears them most every day.

this little curly purly soaker fits her super well. the other ones that i knit are too big on her yet, especially the leg holes..she has these loOong scrawny little legs. im loving the tight rolled cuff..with a premie prefold under it makes the trimmest little diaper..i love prefolds!



.
she hates diaper changes.

and finally! a name for our baby..

we have decided to name her.... Rue Bee Olive Suzanna Sabine.. its a weird untraditional name, i know.. i love "ruby" but timothy was not so keen on it. this way we have the name i want but also a plant name and bee..its cute. i love it. its totally her name. i'm so glad we waited and got to know her a few days...

Rue is almost 4 days old now. it feels like she has always been here, in my arms. she is just the most serene baby i have ever met, well, except for bum changes! she has a very loud voice when needed.. that is all i will say about that. we are still adjusting to being a family of 5, but for the most part it feels like our family is finally complete.

some pictures...

1: suzie schulz, RM and baby..1 day old!
2: Big sister Ngaio & babe.
3: day 2. .so awake!
4: not 1 day old..sleeping in the sunshine
5: mama and babe
6: the grrls
7: