First, out into nature …
Laureli, Cariana and I headed out at ten o’clock to explore Clayburn Village. We parked by the old schoolhouse since much of the village parking was taken up by trucks and utility vehicles. The usually sleepy place was bustling. The schoolyard was a great place to start – up a makeshift ladder into a tree, round and round in the playground, then down the lane to examine some hawthorn trees. Next we found the access to Clayburn Creek. An apple tree nearby provided plenty of tiny windfalls to throw in the water – they float so made for great races in the fast-moving water. We finally tore ourselves away to explore the lane behind the main street houses, discovering many interesting things including a prolific kiwi vine, the scent of soapmaking, and at the bed and breakfast, a treehouse complete with zipline. Circling around to the fronts of these properties, we learned that the road would be closed next day for a film shoot: The Man in the High Castle.
Foods and Nutrition …
Lunch of the day was zucchini soup and protein smoothie. We sampled the homemade chicken broth and discussed which garden herbs were used in it before blending and heating the soup. Meanwhile, we put together the smoothie that included foraged greens, apple and blueberries. We discussed our plans for the afternoon and then Cariana made the flour and salt clay.
Honey-Do …
Cariana cheerfully agreed that she was young and flexible enough to do some floor level cleaning in the kitchen – baseboards and under the kitchen sink. Laureli felt that her expertise in banister cleaning could greatly improve the look of the stair rail so we set the timer and went to work. Twenty minutes passed quickly and no one wanted to stop cleaning, but I assured them there would be more another Tapestry day.
Miniatures from Flour and Salt Clay …
Cariana found a couple of pieces of furniture from the 12:1 scale dollhouse that their great-grandfather built for their mother. We planned to make food and toys – the furniture was to help us get the size right. These are very tiny pieces.
I baked our miniatures that evening. The next step will be painting.
I shared with the girls my dream to build some woodland houses out of found materials in nature and we watch a DIY video for ideas. This inspired us to clean up, go outside and look for twigs, moss and other treasure that had potential to be re-purposed for tiny houses.
