lake louise...

to close out our week-long celebration of both michaelmas & autumn itself, we like to head spend time with mother nature.

in the past we have gone to the arboretum, hiking on the blue ridge parkway, & to our local bird sanctuary...this go round, the boys chose to go to the park...lake louise to be specific.


this park has a lovely pond where we can watch the ducks & sometimes the geese, there are some really amazing weeping willow trees, a great play area, & a 'primitive' exercise corner that the boys LOVE! (it has loads of bars & beams, as well as gymnastic rings...need i say more?? ;)









now for a trek around the pond...


the boys LOVE playing on these rings!

as we were leaving, we caught site of this trio of ducks leaving as well. they were walking up the hill to the front door of this house, as if were there home...and perhaps it is. :)


we took a different route out of the park, on a whim...and discovered a whole area that we have never been to before, despite having frequented this park for YEARS!

it had this really old waterwheel, waterfalls, an entire rock face that just called to the boys 'climb me!'






absolutely gorgeous!


poor ev...she stayed by my side, on the outskirts, as she was a bit too young to go on this exploration...

but in the end we found a little hill for her to climb on as well...;)

perhaps you, too, have a secret cove waiting to be explored...??

michaelmas week...

for the week of september 27th - october 1st we take a bit of break & celebrated both fall & michaelmas...

we more or less followed our plan from last year, adding & tweaking it a bit here & there...



my parents had given us a gift card for borders bookstore last christmas, we used it to stock up on some really cool books on dragons & st. george...



*st george & the dragon, margaret hodges
*the serpent slayer: and other stories of strong women, katrin tchana
*a practical guide to dragons, lisa trumbauer
*behold...the dragons!, gail gibbons



we experimented with more natural dyes...


for which, we first gathered our baskets, our scissors & our jackets (as it was a bit chilly here) & went foraging!



wild clematis...i love these!

with our baskets now full, we returned home...stopping along the way to play in the puddles!

this year we used goldenrod, carrots, sassafras leaves, & poke weed berries..the poke berry bath...as these are poisonous, i DID NOT let the children help with this one...

while the dye pots were stewing, aydin worked on winding the yarn for dyeing...

here are some silks & come cotton yarn we dyed...

the magenta yarn in front was dyed with poke berries. the brownish-orange silk in back was dyed with sassafras leaves...

the golden lovelies were, or course, dyed with goldenrod...

the carrot dye bath brewing...

a freshly dyed silk & some very orange cotton yarn!

while gathering our dyeing materials, we also gathered loads of chestnuts to roast!

(following directions from our dear friend christina's post @ moment to moment)

they were DELICIOUS!

be sure to make the cuts a bit deep, but not too deep...this is for two reasons,

1) so they don't explode while baking (really!)

2) to make them a bit easier to peel in the end...:)

bake @ 425 for about 30

we added a wee bit of butter & some sea salt to ours & snacked on them while we read story...

we, of course, made dragon bread...i love the story version in all year round, for the harvest loaf. a lovely tradition for the parent to tell the story as we all help to make the loaf.

it begins with the dry ingredients being shaped into the landscape, so set the scene for the story...

we add salt/sugar to represent the ice & snow that arrived with the dragon...

sun gold (the egg yolk) was a gift of hope from the archangel michael, along with the star iron (raisins) which was given to replenish the soils nutrients & minerals & help the harvest grow strong...

after the first rising, we shape our dragons...using slivered almonds for teeth & talons & sliced almonds for the dragon's scales...

(sorry about the angle, but his picture was being totally UN-cooperative today!)

thursday, we did a bit of dyeing with food coloring...these colors are a bit more vibrant & a lot less time consuming. a fun project after a hard week's work!

on friday, we went for our traditional walk/hike...this year, the boys chose lake louise (click on the link to view that post, loads of great photos there :)

on saturday, we closed out our week with a trip to our local heritage festival.

it was a gorgeous day..we tabled to raise money for our homeschool co-op. we bought the most delicious kettle corn i have ever tasted! and we admired the various local crafters & their creations. the boys each made a pot with a local potter who sets up shop each year & helps children make various little plates, bowls, vases, etc for FREE.

these have all become heirlooms in our house & tend to be used most often on our nature table.

as an extra special bonus, aydin's picture even made it into our local paper!