raisinglittleshoots

A Warm And Cosy Giveaway

February 2, 2016by raisinglittleshoots13 Comments

Do you remember the socks that I was knitting for Rose? With the yarn she dyed herself? They are finally complete.

And they are too small 🙂

I knew they would be too small from the beginning, as I had cast on too few stitches. I keep a little scrap of card with everyone’s stitch count and unfortunately, I looked at the number of stitches I used for Rose when she was younger.

But I would like to take the opportunity to offer the socks as a giveaway. A small gesture of thanks to you all for your continued support.

As they are hand-knit, they have a fair bit of stretch, so should fit a range of sizes, but I would suggest Euro size 28-30 / UK 10-11.5 / US 10.5-12.5 This is my approximate guess!

They are made from the softest merino wool, with a very fine silver thread that runs throughout to give a lovely sparkle. They will be best hand washed (I use the hand wash programme on my washing machine.)

If you would like to be entered to win, please comment below & Rose will draw a name on Sunday.

Please share this with friends. I shall also be sharing on the Exploring Nature With Children Facebook group

Exploring Nature With Children, Nature, Our Nature Journals, Winter

Candlemas Week ~ Exploring Nature With Children

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016by raisinglittleshoots2 Comments

This week is Candlemas week in Exploring Nature With Children, and it has come blustering in, all sunshine and wild winds.

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The pigeons were hungry!

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We were thrilled to see that Swiff, the pigeon who had been painted, was returning to normal. We noted that he has also been tagged, which is very interesting. We hope that someone is keeping an eye on his well-being. Here he is; the white bird on the right.

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A few males were ‘strutting their stuff’, puffing up their feathers and chasing the females.

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The geese were particularly noisy today also, so perhaps they are pairing up too?

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I spied the Moorhen nesting over on the far side of the pond, patiently observing the comings and goings of the other birds.

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Glorious daisies fully open to the sun!

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Spring bulbs

Our nature journals this week

Rose completed two entries. Her favourite pigeon, and slugs.

I went with the Candlemas theme, including my laundry on the washing line. Such a windy, sunshiny day!

How was your walk this week?

Charlotte Mason, Quotes, Uncategorized

Education is An Atmosphere

January 30, 2016January 28, 2016by raisinglittleshootsLeave a Comment

In Charlottes own words:

When we say that “education is an atmosphere,” we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a ‘child-environment’ especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child’s level.

You can see the summary of Charlotte Mason’s twenty principles of education here at Ambleside Online.

Family, Nature, Winter

January Nature Table

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016by raisinglittleshoots4 Comments

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I cleared up our advent nature table once Epiphany was over, and the kings had made their arrival (you can see a photo of the December table here.)

We keep our nature treasures in a special box and Rose was keen to add lots of items, so we have a real miss-mash going on!

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Flies that she has bought for fishing, crab shells we found on the beach a few years ago, a gnawed cone from a recent walk

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She found this glorious chunk of lichen recently, which made a handsome addition to our January table.

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And our rainbow fairy. If you read my last Calendar of Firsts post, you will know we had a few last week.

What is on your nature table this month?

Edit: I get asked a lot about the book on our nature table. It is by Elsa Beskow & is called Around The Year. Be aware that there is a mini edition available when buying; ours is the full A4 size.

Calendar of Firsts, Nature, Our Nature Journals, Winter

A Calendar Of Firsts: 18th~24th Jan

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016by raisinglittleshoots2 Comments

My Calendar of Firsts this week:

Tufted ducks on the pond
Geese and pigeons in the park
Playful sparrows
A beautiful, full moon.

My ‘colours’ for the week, along the top left hand page, are blue grey, but have quite a lot of sunny yellow in this entry. Hurrah!

I also included a small print out of a photo of Rose when she was a tiny dolly, that featured a Charlotte Mason quote I posted on the FaceBook group this week.

How is your calendar coming along?

Exploring Nature With Children, Learning, Nature, Our Nature Journals, Uncategorized

Winter Pond ~ Exploring Nature With Children

January 26, 2016by raisinglittleshoots4 Comments

This week’s post comes to you from my sick bed. I am really unwell this week with a horrid virus; the usual symptoms of headache, blocked sinuses, earache, etc. Ugh. As you may remember, my dad was very poorly and had to spend Christmas week in hospital, which was so very worrying. Now my poor mother in law is very poorly too, and I think it has just been too much for my immune system.

So unfortunately I had to cancel our usual Monday nature walk to see our local pond in winter, which was this week’s theme from Exploring Nature With Children.

Instead I set Rose about studying the tiny wee ‘pond’ we have in our garden. It is beyond tiny, but hosts the mating ritual of many frogs and toads each spring. By coincidence Rose found this little fella on the lawn on Sunday night

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The girls had forgotten to put away our guinea pigs, Nibbler and Prince Albert for the night and Rose remembered them at around six o’clock. As you can imagine, it was pitch black outside and she went running out with a torch. Fortunately, she spotted this little fellow on the grass before he was trampled, and was able to return him to the safety of the pond edge. It is very early for us to be spotting the amphibians of our garden, but the weather has been exceptionally mild (and wet and windy!)

Rose took this photo of our pond the next day, and took some water samples, which she inspected with our microscope that links up to the computer.

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Here is her nature journal entry for this week

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Elianna decided to use the opportunity to work on a project she is just beginning. She is researching fashion from 1900 to the current time, focusing on a famous person who represents the fashion of each decade. We enjoyed a trip out to the Manchester Gallery of Costume last week, to kick-start the project.

Well, that’s all for now. Do let me know what you are up to!