Kids and Castles

I survived my first week of teaching in England!   The kids continue to be just great, but boy, do these British teachers work hard!!!  A lot is expected of these very young students, as well as from this not so young teacher!  I did manage to squeeze a bit of fun into the week with our study of light and dark.  I thought these photos of our shadow puppet theater would be okay to post, as they don't show the kids' faces.  They loved making puppets and experimenting with which kinds of materials light would pass through and which shadows would show up in color.  I also learned a lot about what kind of paper made the best shadow puppet screens, as I had to experiment with that since my "especially made for shadow puppetry" screen is back in California.   I found that thin tissue paper worked the best. 

My Darling Class Doing Shadow Puppetry

Today, after a trip to a new farmers' market, I decided to enjoy the sunny day at Hever Castle.  This childhood home of Anne Boleyn is only 7 miles from my home.  (There are other castles even closer, but let's stick with this one for the time being.)  I learned quite a bit about Anne and all 6 wives of Henry VIII. ("Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived") A later owner of the castle was the American, William Waldorf Astor, who did a lot of restoration and added many of the gardens.  It's really gorgeous, with lovely rose gardens, Italian gardens, a yew maze, a lake, and a water maze on on the grounds.  Today was the "Country Life Celebration" on the grounds as well, that featured a quilt show, woodturners, and my favorite, felters!  I picked up a few new felting techniques that I look forward to trying. 

Me at Hever Castle

Castle Gardens

Woodturning Demonstration



Another View

Quilted Kites