A writer does need to have a tremendous curiosity about everything and everyone…but this must go along with an honest commitment to and involvement in human nature…
Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet
Hello friends
How are you? Life has been fairly full over in our little corner of rural England and I’m needing to cast my mind back a couple of months for a catch up. After a particularly emotionally charged term I was blessed with a quiet Holy Week, filled with some of my favourite things. Our children are now too old for Easter basket making and egg hunts, but we had the delight of enjoying this long held Easter ritual with the children of neighbours and friends, followed up by devouring delicious rice crispie cakes. I also managed to sequester some time away from the general busyness to share lunch or drink tea with several good friends; wrapped in the warm sunshine it was so good to hear thier news and have some heart connected conversations. We celebrated Passover in our time honoured way on Maundy Thursday with friends and enjoyed Simnel cake and quantities of hot cross buns.
Both the boys were home for a brief time over Easter; we went for an invigorating walk up on the hills, watched the Easter Day sunrise, partook of our traditional Easter breakfast and went to church together as a family before they headed back to their own churches and lives.
The week after Easter the four of us headed up to the Cotswolds for a few days’ camping around the Education Revolution conference in Oxford. It was every bit as beautiful as I remembered it, with picturesque villages filled with chocolate box cottages , all nestled between gently undulating hills and fields of farmland.
May saw the beginning of the summer term, the last one as a home educated teen for Dancing Toes. It’s often a term of outings, and we visited Roman Dorchester followed by a cook out in the van and Somerset Rural Life Museum with our home ed co op. At the end of the month we had a fantastic day at the Royal Bath and West Agricultural Show, where Sparkly Eyes and myself helped out on the honey stall.
‘Issachar Eyes’ has a release date for September and we are busy working on the launch campaign, run by a good friend of mine, Philippa. More updates below!
As I write this summer is well upon us,and I hope you will all make time to sip tea in the sunshine and enjoy all you work so hard towards,
With love,
Molly x
Nature notes and homestead jottings
I have the happy problem that the abundance of growth is running away from me and I simply don’t have time to keep up with it. I still have some seedlings to plant out and rhubarb and redcurrants are needing to be picked and preserved (mainly freezing). Weeds are as prolific as vegetables, and we’re eating wonderful salads most days from my new raised beds.
And….I have bees! I was gifted with a swarm and amazingly they seem to be busily industrious in all the right ways. It’s a few years since I’ve had a full hive and it’s taking me a while to remember all I need to know. However, I speak nicely to them in the time honoured fashion and am hoping they will thrive and stay put in their new home.
Incubating eggs was fascinating and a great learning experience. I’d love to do some more next year. We had two chicks hatch; one sadly did not make it out of the shell, but one, Angel, hatched out just before Easter, a little ball of yellow fluff. It’s been such fun watching him grow. He’s been a particular favourite of my HWH who feeds him granola lets him sit on his shoulder in the evening while watching television!
Homeschool journal
Christian Concern’s ‘Education Revolution’ was a most inspiring event; I feel I am still living off the teaching, conversations and general enthusiasm and vision. It was great to connect with so many interesting people who all share the same vision. I was honoured to be able to represent CHESS as well as sell ‘Another Way to Learn?’ as an exhibitor, and also to speak as part of the Home Education seminar. I felt truly blessed and thankful. If you’re interested to find out more, take a look here.
Together with a friend, I led a ‘Curious about home education’ event at a local church. It was a great evening; fun to work with Ruth, one of my Rooted to Flourish buddies, and a real blessing and encouragement to meet with some home edders in the South West.
Musings for our time
My musings recently have largely been around ‘Issachar Eyes‘ as I re-read each chapter to pull quotes for our launch graphics. Dancing Toes is creating all of these and I may be biased, but I’ve been super impressed by her work. We will be running the launch from mid July. Each week some graphics will be added to a drop box folder which can be shared on social media, through churches and other networks or with friends and family. If you’d like to be a part of this and help get the word out, I’d be truly grateful … email me and I’ll send the link through when it goes live. As most of it is written by others, I can honestly say I think it is good…a much needed book for our time.
Here’s a sneak preview of the blurb:
Many of us are watching the storm clouds gathering over our nation and can see how the spiritual and political landscape has changed within a generation. As parents, grandparents and those involved in the lives of our young people, we cannot assume that the freedoms we enjoyed to live out a Biblically grounded faith will be extended towards them. How do we prepare those we love for potential challenges and hostilities as yet unknown?
‘Issachar Eyes’ is a basic manual to help us in this task. Drawing together spiritual insights, Godly wisdom and practical suggestions, it will help equip you for what might arguably be the most crucial task of our time: building up the foundations of the next generation to enable them to stand firm in times of trial and pass on the good news of Jesus to all who will hear.
Mothering through the seasons 