Good Friday, Garden Colour

pinky winky hydrangea

so fragrant!

heathers

the apple tree is blossoming

Pretty heather hedges, yellow magnolia tree, and unknown tree.

the last of the daffs

Azaleas, ready to burst.

Yellow Magnolia

transplanted from my mother-in-law's garden

my hydrangeas, looking promising

My garlic is already looking good!

Working in the aquaponics greenhouse.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland 2014

This was a difficult visit, but profoundly meaningful. I wanted to see for myself this place that I have read about. I wanted to bear witness to what happened here. I wanted to walk the paths that were walked by so many people who were marginalized because of who they were.

There were some places where we were not allowed to take pictures. One room was where they kept all the human hair that was found on liberation day. The hair was removed from the victims after the gas chambers because it could be turned into blankets and sold for a profit.

The other rooms where we were not allowed to take pictures were the torture rooms and solitary cells in the basement of one of the barracks.

As I gather and sort through all the pictures of our trip to Poland, these were the ones I wanted to go through first. I have not had time to fully process what I saw and heard here, and making this slide show has helped. They deserve their own space, so I've made a slide show just for this day.

Click HERE to see the slide show.

Preparing for Poetry Day

We had the chance to participate with two artists in residence at the Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre. We walked to the school, one week in snowy rain and the second week in beautiful spring fresh air and warm sunshine. We learned about how to write haiku. How it's a picture of the moment. Then we created a collage with our poem on it. We learned about bees and pollen and the 100 mile diet and what our lives and our environment would be like without bees. We learned about lichen and moss and laburnum and snowdrops and the crocus.

Happy Friendship Day

Today in grade 4, we had great fun making two handmade cards for two people in the class.
"I can't wait for J. to open my card!"
"I just want to see his face when he sees his card!"
"I can't wait to open our mail!"

We also created beautiful pastel heart art.

Christmas 2013 Video

So here is my recap of our Christmas! 

Check out my video here.

The Feast of Epiphany

Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas, dia de los Reyes Magos,  the Twelfth Night, " is about God making his sovereignty known not just to Israel but also to all the peoples of the world. To understand this story, we need imagination: the eyes not of rationalism but of revelation. The Christmas season begins with incarnation and ends with manifestation. The star that guided the Magi was governed, not by gases and gravity, but by God's desire to convey a message to his people. It is a majestic story meant to be embroidered in tapestries shot with gold. " Emilie Griffin

Epiphany 2014. Thanks, DC for another fantastic Epiphany feast! Great food, great people, a rekindling of the imagination! It was wonderful to gather together again for a meal together and to reconnect. Thanks for hosting what has become for me an important Advent tradition!

One Little Word

This year I am participating in a project called One Little Word.

And One Word 365.

Discipline is the word I've come to. 

But not as a negative, begrudging, nagging in my head thing. 

Not as a New Year's resolution thing. 

I'd like the opportunity to reflect on the positive side of it. 

To document the benefits of it. 

To unpack some of the blocks I've encountered in the past. 

To move it from a goal/dream/even regret to the daily living of it.

 It's my word of the year. I'm a little scared!