Ikebana at the Shambala center

I signed up for the ikebana class not knowing what to expect. Iris was leading the class

I love the simple look of it
Oddly a panorama of oddly sized nature; Flowers are too big for a natural setting.

Or this one very odd

So we begin

Which flowers to choose? And then place?

Starting to come together

What do you think?

Not flowers I would normally put together, but really enjoyed the meditation:

Place materials in front of keeping your eyes gently on them. Sit upright. Forget yourself and allow yourself to merge with the plants you’ll be working with. These plants become the one thought. Any separation between the person who is looking and that which is gazed upon ceases. YOU ARE IN INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH THE PLANT.

Wow! love that very useful, merging with plants to give you their healing quality. It feels oddly euphoric.
I have to say thank you, with a bow.

Working outside at the green classroom

Working outside today the kids were enthralled with finding worms. They kept forming these groups of worm awe.

We managed to get some work done cleaning out the empty pizza shaped gardens.
We used tools to get out weeds.

We made mounds like pepperoni to put the plants. We so enjoyed putting these tiny plants in our new beds.

We then watered them in.

Then we cleaned the tools and put the weeds in the compost.

John Paul Gaultier

Michael and I went to see the John Paul Gaultier fashion show at the Dallas museum of art. It got me thinking about what it would be like to use flowers for clothes

There are not very many because I didn’t know you couldn’t take pictures until they found me out.
Here are pictures I found of clothes with plants. Hmmm this sounds like a project I want to do…

Using words to describe flower arrangements

We used the metal pin frogs to make smaller arrangements. We worked to achieve balance with flowers, balance with shape and size, balance with ourselves. After they were done, I asked everyone to think of one word that best describes their arrangement. This was challenging for some. They came up with words that seemed quite unrelated. Everyone came out smiling…

Using a metal frog with flowers

Today we used a metal frog to put flowers in. It is s bit tricky. It falls over if there are too many or they are too tall. Someone who hadn’t spoken or moved during class reached out to keep it from falling over. I consider that a success!

Plants to use to clean your air!

Great identifier of which plants to get for clean air!
I love a reason that a houseplant is healing, I am glad they have beneficial qualities.

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/types-of-houseplants.html

Making Rain

I had fun with a little experiment in the green classroom involving ice, two pans and the stove.
First I started water on to boil in which steam was called evaporation of water into the air.
I then put ice in a metal pie pan. I held the pan over the steam and drops form on the bottom of the pan. This is called condensation. Like on a window when it is cold outside. Slowly drops formed on the bottom of the pan and started to fall making rain!! This is called precipitation.

Christmas wreath

I gathered some grapevine and wrapped it around itself to form a wreath. Then I gathered rosemary, vine with red berries, artemesia, sage, cyprus, pine bows. The children stuffed them in under the vines to form a nice shape. Then they helped me tie it with wire to hold together. Some of the children made pictures with a tree. We then made a sign that said Merry Christmas from the green classroom. I took it to the office and they hung it above the door.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Leaf cycle dance

Song around flower mandala

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPXpR0rBHHY&feature=youtube_gdata_player