from Venice with love...

 which way to go, so many lovely little streets to explore...

 ahh, the bridge of sighs...

the boys loved the gondolas and taking photos with daddy's camera!

Our October holiday was well loved, Maya went to the terme di |Comano for thermal baths for her excema. We went up to the Dolomites and it was beautiful and then we had a day in Venice at the end. It was the first time the boys had seen Venice and they were facinated by the boats, the winding streets, the music in San Marco at night. Of course we did get lost a couple of times. We stayed in a little apartment on a canal and they were always at the window the whole time, watching all the boats go by, carrying laundry, newspapers, the police boat. I think they both want to become gongoliere's now!

Summer photos

Thinking of some summer sun now that winter is here, and wanted to share our trip to Italy this summer. We had a lovely meal with family at Callo Spelli for Matteo's 40th! And then we went down near Grossetto for a couple of days away....

It was a very good year for mushrooms in Scotland, our freezer is full and we were drying porcini for days!

My my how time flies!

It's been so long I almost forgot my password here! Well where to start, we're still in Scotland and we have a little daughter now. Maya is just one and this past year has flown by. She brings joy to all around her. The boys adore her and still fight to be with her. She's getting into everything and almost walking. She says 'ciao' and waves when she sees daddy in his biking outfit or whenever we turn the computer on, she's used to skype already! There's not much time for anything anymore, but I thought I could at least update this and say hello after quite some time...

Hello again!

I know it's been quite some time since I posted anything, but I thought I'd just add a bit about where I am and what I'm up to. I've been quite busy for the last two years working as a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher in Aberdeen, Scotland. I took on a degree course last year also which was quite stressful, but now I am fully qualified, more experienced and quite enjoying the work I'm doing. Our boys are going to the Kindergarten group next door and they wave and give me kisses when they see me. I've been learning lots about teaching and from the children themselves, and it's been a wonderful gift to be able to work with this age range and in the Steiner ethos.
My crafty-ness has been a bit on hold. I've started spinning though and I find it very exciting. I still don't know what I'll do with the yarn I'm spinning, since I'm not much of a knitter....
I've also been on a bit of a raw food craze. I had phnemonia a year and a half ago and bronchitis on and off for years and I thought I'd try raw food to heal it. It was quite amazing, I was so enthusiastic about anything raw and I felt wonderful! I've calmed down a bit, but am still happily drinking green smoothies and eating mostly raw veggies. The cakes and raw sweets are what did it for me though, so I still make them too.

anyhow, I'll see if I can be more present here too.
cheers!

a lovely london biscut blog

the sewing basket and knitting forks

So my sister started a blog, and she is a bit of a writer and does make you feel like you're in London. Just thought I'd share ( http://yourownmadeleine.tumblr.com/). We've been very busy recently, trying to find a house up here in the north, also a new job for me has taken a bit of getting used to for everyone. I've gotten into the swing of things and I do think it'll be a wonderful position, and I finally feel confident calling myself a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher. We went to a conference in Edinbough a few weeks ago which was inspiring. But I'd really rather keep to crafty/artsy things here in this space... I do have a little show going up over Easter and I've been painting a bit, patterns mostly inpire me now. I'll put something up when I get a foto. And the boys are endlessly creative, we've been making all sorts of things, wooly lambs, Damiano made a lovely boy puppet (though I did most of the sewing!), and felted flower fairies and gnomes (sewing is very crooked, but it does hold together!). But again, I don't have pictures. They've been doing lots of puppet shows for us, mostly stories illustrated with characters and cloth that just go on and on and on... But they are lovely and so sweet.

Time to rest and dream. best to all.

Yellow Iris and drawings

Yellow Iris

The boys have started covering the walls with their artwork, I wonder if this would go over well in a gallery?

Orchids in winter

A garden center we visited a few weeks ago was giving away some orchids, so we took a few, well actually we took five! Now we have one in almost every room and I'm learning how to care for them, which isn't that easy. The last one I had in Pisa died rather quickly... But they do brighten the house a bit and bring some beauty to it! Now I've started painting them too and I'll post a photo when I find my camera again, which seems to have gone missing momentarily.

Sledding

Out for some sledding down sheep hill. It's been great fun, but today the snow is starting to melt and it's quite sad, feels almost like spring is about to arrive, but personally I'm still wishing for a bit more snow and wintery weather. It's been cold, but you get used to it, and it's just beautiful with all the snow, though it has been a bit difficult getting the boys to kindergarten and getting around in general.

a scottish winter...

So we've finally moved up to Scotland and are settling in. It's mighty cold up here and gets dark quite early, but hopefully it's the worst of it and it will only get better in time. There's been snow on the ground since before Christmas which makes it feel wintry. I'm setting up my studio and sketching the boys a bit which is nice...

avocado smoothies...

So we just got back from our trip to Langkawi and Bali, and it's amazing how it disolves so quickly, how quickly you forget about lying on the beach and wading through the water. At least we have some photos to help us remember. There were many beaches and pools and dinners out. Lots of exotic fruit to try (some very strange smelly ones!) and small and large animals to see: monkeys, iguanas, flying lemurs, geckos, enormous spiders, sharks! The boys had a great time and we relaxed which we needed. Oh, and probably all of these photos are Matteo's....

From summer sun to autumn weather

crossing the Channel...

somewhere in Sardegna...

auntie Nicole's

Finally we're back to our normal little lives for a bit. We had quite a long summer vacation in Geneva and Pisa, and Isola della Maddalena in Sardegna. It was all beautiful, with nice family time all around. Now we're back here in Hathersage and we have a month to pack up our little house before moving on... It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate, even in only the short time that we've been here. Autumn is lovely though, it's nice to enjoy a brisk walk and a hot shower and not be drenched in sweat or not be able to turn the oven on because of the heat. Quite different lives we have, here and there...

painting paterns

pink on pink, a new title for a show? I'm loving this soft new style... We're off to Geneva soon to play with our cousins, and then down to Italy for some summer sun and Sardinian beaches! Will be back in the fall to pack for our big move... Have a lovely summer all!

Wet Felting

I've been having fun with felt and soapy water during the heat wave here, even though I should be packing! The boys have been making loads of colorful wee willy worms too, and playing with the water...

More Life Drawing...

I'll be sad to leave my drawing class, it's been great to pick that up again. We went to the Robert Gordon degree show in Aberdeen this weekend and that was inspiring too, who knows what will come in the future...

Scotland

Matteo and I went away this weekend to look around Aberdeen and the area in general. We stopped in St. Andrews to see a friend and then drove around in the city of Aberdeen and down lots of country roads outside...

ribbon wands & doll houses

We made ribbon wands with the children as a spring craft acitivity. They wave them around outside or wear them as crowns.

I helped make some doll houses for the summer fair, and they're lovely and so simple.

A cup ah...

Ah, the English and their tea. I've really gotten used to English tea, with milk and sometimes sugar, redbush too, though now I'm sitting down with a lemon, fresh ginger & honey concoction (you can also put in cayanne pepper for an extra kick!)

Trip-Tic

a commissioned work which has sadly left my wall....

Chalk drawings

what a lovely medium, just being allowed to draw on anything is so liberating.

here's Julien's first face, funny little guy...

Damiano's palm tree...

Wooden blocks

I made these last week with a friend of mine, they're just slices of wood, but with a childs' imagination they can become castles, trains, pancakes or whatever else they like. I still need to sand them down so they're softer to play with...