The Charlotte Mason Workshop

It is blowing a cold wind at the cemetery today, but the clear blue sky and pale sun are setting off the bleakness in a raw and beautiful way. I laid my flowers a couple of days ago, so my visits yesterday today were just for me to reflect, remember, and grieve afresh my amazing husband who tragically only had 44 years on this earth. Happy, jam-packed, thankful years, not without sadness and difficulty along the way, but overwhelmingly full of goodness and laughter.

So I will return to my family, smile, and dig deep for the perspective which allows me to accept my huge blessings as well as grieve my loss. Tomorrow I pray for joy, the gift from God that sustains me in my sorrow. This time of year is a lot for my heart to bear, if you also find yourself heavy with grief, I send you my love, we can do this...

I confess to never having heard of the poet George Herbert (1593-1633) before, but the title is so apposite for me, it had to be my Advent reading this year. Chicken broth and candlelight to give me a moment of calm reflection each morning, this is how I approach the season that more than any is "mingled sorrow and joy"

Talgarth, between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountain. Another happy day browsing in 15 of the many bookshops in Hay-on-Wye, this time with my fantasy-fiction-loving 17 year old who had her own agenda for coming with me!

STEM Club features electronics, microprocessors, robots and programming as well as LEGO Spike Prime kits. This little pin header is perfect for using the Raspberry Pi 500s to write code for physical components (LEDs, buzzers, sensors...)

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Number one son is now moved in here, it's been a long but successful day in near perfect weather!

Big transitions take some adjustments on all sides, but the invention of instant messaging really does alleviate some of the difficulty. We share snag lists/to do's and can get missing items ordered in a trice on a phone, I do love how technology can keep us connected.

RHS Wisley didn't disappoint today, we hid from the rain in the glasshouses and soaked up sunshine whenever it appeared...

I love the geometry of dahlias, there are doubtless Fibonacci numbers in here. This isn't a colour that would make it into our garden, but I can appreciate it somewhere else!

I've had a massive grin on my face as I've been making this case to hold all the notebooks I've made on this course, huge thanks to everyone at Southern Bookcrafts but especially John Green (who toured the UK this summer on his bus pass as "Brother on a bus") for his expert tuition.
Now it's "back to work" for me, the end of my summer fun!

I've purchased a work of art! This huge canvas by local photographer Konrad Cox captivated me when I saw it at the 'Palais des vaches' gallery at Exbury. I looked at it for ages, then came back and stared some more. It isn't often that I am mesmerised by a single image, I confess to getting bored unless there is deep significance or symbolism in the picture for me personally. I've never bought from a gallery before but I simply couldn't leave it there. Now it's happily installed above the mantelpiece in the family room, I am finding it a very therapeutic image to look at, to still my mind, to jump out of the jam-packed daily schedule, to ignore the tyranny of the urgent.

The picture is titled 'Blackwater 53'.

Blackwater in the New Forest is an ancient place of tall trees, a winding river, and shady resting places, but also a seasonal ice cream van, toilets, and the trappings of modern day tourism. You don't have to walk far to get away from that though, even at the height of summer.
And this is what the picture does for me.
It is as if I am invited to step through into a peaceful, unspoiled, timeless landscape where the pressures on me are instantly rendered insignificant. I have spent many hours in the forest, often just settling down by a river or leaning against a beech tree, either vaguely keeping an eye on the children or else taking time out to restore my soul, and in recent years, to grieve.

I can now enter that heart space just by immersing myself in this picture, safe and warm and dry by my woodburner at home. It won't replace my walks, but it will be a beautiful reminder that self-care for me means going out to the forest to soak in the pleasure, the peace and the eternal perspective it gives me.

I see Richard's love of nature in this image, I have no doubt he would have appreciated the skill needed to create it (being a keen photographer himself), this is a tribute not just to Richard, but to who I became along the way being married to him. This is a "Richard and Diana" picture, and I love it.

Thank you

My Sunday morning "thought for the day" ☺️

This summer I have been continuing my 50 challenges/activities on my bucket list, things to stretch me, push me out of my comfort zone, new experiences that make me feel alive and also help me grow into the person I'd like to become (if I am granted the opportunity).

This week's experience was pure joy, my daughter taught me how to throw a pot on a pottery wheel, proper 'Throwdown' style! It was messy, but hugely satisfying to create something out of a lump of clay. There are so many songs and poems written about God forming us out of the ground, like a potter working with clay. We are his masterpiece, each one unique (I couldn't make an identical pot again ever!), his joy in having formed us must surpass many times my feelings about my little pot, what a blessing it is to be so treasured. Allowing that to settle deep in my heart changes everything for me, it means I can wake up every day and find joy in the everyday things, my small successes, despite my mistakes, because the Creator knows every part of me, none of my imperfections need be hidden, I am loved with my wobbles and wrinkles and weaknesses one and all... And so I rise and face another joy-filled day.

Isaiah 64:8 "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Bookbinding session 2, a three-quarter bound book and a stub binding. Made a couple of mistakes but I'm really loving the quality of the end product. Do you know it's just washable PVA the club uses? Since Richard made me a press using chopping boards and coach bolts, there's nothing to stop me carrying on at home. Oh, well apart from all the work I have piled up around me, that is!

I don't suppose it would surprise you that I met another CM family at the bindery today, teenage girls and customised notebooks are a great combo. Would definitely recommend having a go, I've done quite a bit using online videos before now.

Harvesting ahead of Storm Floris, a glimpse of why children always had August off school to help with these tasks!