Sunday Treasury: The Warmth of Fire

'The Warmth of Fire' by adolina

Fire has such a hold and attraction over us as do these beautiful items from the NaturalKids Team.

Sweet Doll outfit for y... germandolls $32.00	Wooden Toy, Autumn Fore... theenchantedcu... $48.00	Gnome Pod Necklace thiscosylife $15.00
FIRE of 4 - traditional... Rjabinnik $18.90	I Feel Your Heart Next ... BeneathTheRowa... $42.50	Needle Felted Orange Fa... darialvovsky $28.00
Scarlet - Kettle Dyed W... thesittingtree $18.00	Spring Chicks, Mini Chi... woolies $32.00	Volkswagon TShirt, Orga... jupiterschild $14.00
Red Heart Queen Doll - ... Alkelda $23.00	Wooden Vegetable play f... justhatched $6.00	Autumn Garden Fairy- N... Nushkie $32.00
Sweet Sleep Waldorf Fai... ElementalHandc... $39.99	Flower Rainbow Magic Wa... adolina $18.00	Lovely Autumn Waldorf T... prettydreamer $28.00
Red Window Star with Fl... harvestmoonbyh... $10.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Knitting a Community

Every Tuesday my mom and I go to meet up with our knitting circle. It consists of a group of six ladies, more or less. Most weeks it's not all six of us. We each have our families and responsibilities that keep us away some of the time.
Nancy is a senior citizen and she has been pre- diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Her speech is labored and she is often difficult to understand. But it's well worth it to listen closely. She is so full of life. Makes one think the 'Golden Years' really are the best years of our life!
Tammy and my mom are about the same age, have grown children and grandchildren. They're both so full of wonderful advice for a young mother like myself. Tammy is an avid knitter but my mom is just learning. I try very hard to remain patient!
Katy is a little younger than those two. She's a single woman, no children but loves her dogs like they are her children! She's very crafty and sews tea towels for her little Etsy shop. Katy is moving to Wilmington North Carolina today, to be near the beach. She will be missed.
And then there is myself and my friend Alison. We're both mothers in our 30's. She's married, I'm separated. She sews handbags and pouches, I knit toys. She doesn't knit.. at all. But she sometimes brings along a project, or just comes and talks and drinks coffee.
And we all talk, and knit (or crochet, or hand sew, or just talk). We talk about our families and our work. About fiber and knitting and selling crafts. We talk about new babies and grown 'babies' and family troubles. We talk about transitions and longings. About new adventures and old habits and songs we are fond of and contestants on television shows.
We are all different and yet a common bond, a humanity and need for community bring us together... through craft. Through working with our hands and creativity.
In the end, we've got a little knitting done (or not), but we walk away with much, much more.

Book Review: Listen Listen by Phillis Gershator and illustrated by Alison Jay

We are a big book family.  Our daughter loves reading books more than any other activity in her life.  This means that on rainy days read the same books sometimes up to ten times a day in between other activities.  It is important to our family that we all enjoy what we are reading and I can’t recommend Listen, Listen by Phillis Gershator and illustrated by Alison Jay (our favorite children's illustrator), enough.  It is an amazing introduction to the different seasons and each page is full of beautiful art so you can always spot something new.  The rhyme scheme in the book is clever using onomatopoeia.  For example, the book starts off:

“Listen listen… what’s that sound? Insects singing all around!

Chirp, chirp, churr, churr, buzz, buzz, whirr, whirr.” 

From one page to the next and one season to the next, the story is just as much fun to say as it is to look at for both adults and children.  A must have for children ages 1-4. 

Narina with Uncle Adam reading Listen Listen

Written by Rachel Ford Blanchard from OAST

On Oatmeal

Every other morning (when the hens oblige) I cook eggs and toast for mine and my girls' breakfast. Most odd mornings I make warm and sweet oatmeal. Mine with brown sugar, raisins and milk. Kaiya like hers with the same plus butter. And Zoe's is the same as Kaiya's, minus raisins (raisins, yuck!) And, of course, little miss River grazes from bowl to bowl.

I think oatmeal is such a comforting and hearty way to start the morning, even in the summer. And my little ones love it!

This morning I decided to try a baked oatmeal recipe. I have resisted trying this for some time. Oh, it looks so yummy and everyone raves about it. I really just couldn't wrap my head around it. I could only imagine it sticky and gooey and stuck to the pan.

Well, let me tell you...
Raw oatmeal, straight out of the box? Not so good... right, River?
No, not so much.
But, this... now this was so terrific. Warm, cinnamon-y, sweet.... like eating an oatmeal cookie for breakfast.
The recipe called for either one teaspoon of cinnamon or one of nutmeg. So, I did half a teaspoon of each. Perfect! We topped it off with a little milk to make it creamy and Kaiya and I put raisins in ours.

Yum! What are you cooking for breakfast?

Mini Wednesday - Nobby Organics

Etsy nobbyorganics

Meet  Nobby Organics :


I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom with five wonderful children that have inspired all of the products created here at Nobby Organics.

I have always loved creating and designing with textiles. All the items listed in my shop are handcrafted with great care and attention to detail using only natural fibers such as organic cotton, organic merino wool, organic silk, and organic linen.

I hope you enjoy what Nobby Organics has to offer. I would love your feedback and welcome all inquiries.


Find Nobby Organics on Facebook




article by prettydreamer

The Second Time Around

I am 24 weeks pregnant with our second child.  A little over half way. This pregnancy, as every second time mother has shared with me, is very different to my first.  I was very reflective and spiritual about my daughter’s gestation.  I talked to her all the time, I sang, I dreamed of what life was going to be like with her from the moment we tested positive.  Now, with my daughter nearing her second birthday and my son, due to be born a few months after that, I realize that I am just starting to imagine.  That isn’t to say this pregnancy hasn’t been spiritual.  It has been.  It has been the perfect balance of living in the moment and surrender.  I have such little amounts of time that I don’t get a chance to read birthing books that half freak me out and half inspire me.  I don’t get the chance to dwell on each ache and pain.  I just am.  

This is ideal because what I learned last time is that there is very little you can control during labour and delivery.  My memory of my birth has not faded and I understand that what is going to happen will.  What I can do is harvest love and support from those around me and within my family.  Support for my daughter and her relationship with her brother to be.  That is where I start to imagine.  I have entered the mother phase of my life a million times in the past two years.  Each time a piece of who I was, and the effort I put into myself, to be whole and connected to the empowered part of myself shines through.  Being a mother feels natural to me.  Being pregnant again has been a great experience of wisdom.  It has given me a chance to be a much more mellow woman than I was for my daughter.  I move smoothly through the transitions of gestation with a grace I am pleased exists.  

I am looking forward to celebrating my experience of motherhood within my community.  With my daughter, I was unable to do this because I was new to the area.  This time I am going to plan a blessingway.  I am going to include family living in other countries and incorporate art to decorate my belly. I am fostering ideas as we speak but am curious to know: 

What are some ways that you celebrated your motherhood while pregnant?

Written by Rachel from Oast

Sunday Treasury: How About This Weather?

'Keep a Weather Eye Open' by Alkelda

Sun, wind, rain, snow... no matter the weather, enjoy these offerings from the NaturalKids Team! http://naturalkidsstore.com

Weather - Painted Handm... ArmadilloDream... $25.00	SnowFlake - the winter ... Rjabinnik $10.90	A Drop In the Bucket- P... thiscosylife $13.00
Flutterby, Summer Berri... BeneathTheRowa... $8.00	Wooden Toy, Autumn Fore... theenchantedcu... $48.00	Needle felted Wool Mrs.... Nushkie $39.00
Wooden Cloud Stacker- W... Imaginationkid... $14.00	Dreamy Clouds Sailboat willowbaus $20.00	Orange Window Star Sun ... harvestmoonbyh... $15.00
Lovely Autumn Tree - ... prettydreamer $28.00	Fairy Garden Kit - Mini... Fairyfolk $18.00	Needle felted Winter Ma... darialvovsky $38.00
Lavender, Pink and Purp... adolina $18.00	wooden snake toy Dadswoodentoys $3.99	Needle Felted Campfire chimera $12.00
Wooden Leaf Puzzle justhatched $38.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.