the little travelers * travel blog

silk worms

We have so many beautiful items in our home made out of silk that I like to raise a batch of silk worms each year as a reminder to the kids as to where all these beautiful items come from. It is a lot of work to create silk! First he selects himself a good site and begins the process of spinning his house.
There. Now the rough form is in place and he fills it in.

His home is finished. Now the inner transformation takes place. In a little over a week he will emerge with wings and leave his silk home behind to be spun into all sorts of wonderful things.

Here he is transformed. I only use 'he' because of those eyebrows! I just can't imagine a 'she' sporting those whompers! They emerge as flightless moths. Usually in commercial silk production the cocoons are boiled while the caterpillars are still inside. Only a small portion grow into moths for the eggs. The romance The silk, which is then boiled, cleaned and spun into tread. Then the eggs are laid. At this point (luckily) they can be frozen until next spring when we raise another generation. Once a year is plenty for me.

Thank you silk worms for all your beautiful gifts!

This is an easy way for children to connect with where things come from aside from 'the store.' There is a process to all things and that realization has been absent from many peoples' awareness in the recent generations. it's always all about connection...

Easter

At Easter we eat jelly beans.  Real ones.  As Buddha says, "Everything in moderation, including moderation."  This is the day my little one looks forward to all year long- "jelly bean  day."  I do have some issue with associating a holiday geared toward rebirth and renewal with jelly beans, but alas, it's happened.  When she sees jelly beans in the store throughout the year she always asks, "How many more months until Easter?"  One year we skipped Easter entirely as we were flying to Japan the day before.  I was planning on celebrating a week late, but then was so overwhelmed with settling in over there that I just let it slide by.  That was a two year jelly bean hiatus!

We all know those kids who never get sugar and end up obsessing over it.  I would certainly never store any in my house on a regular basis but the occasional splurge I have found a better solution towards balance than 'forbidding' it.  

The little buckets are planted with wheat grass. Just buy real wheat berries, soak them overnight and plant in dirt about 5-7 days before event. I've used these in larger containers as centerpieces for birthday parties too with adding a few bright gerber daisies in the middle and tying a ribbon around the dish.  If you have a wheat grass juicer you can juice it afterwards, but we feed ours to our bunnies.