We Love Challenge: Keeping Fit (Nicky)

Before 2019 I was in the habit of jogging every day before school. I was fit and felt great. It took discipline to get up and put my running shoes on on cold, damp, dark mornings. I was proud of this habit. Then came the start of 2019 when I had lots of problems with my back. This meant I could no longer jog, as the jarring from running caused too much pain. Instead I would walk. However, getting up and getting going was not something I did well that year. My walks were shorter and didn’t get my heart rate going like jogging did. I didn’t feel so good.

Over the holidays I upped my walking, literally. I started walking up hill. I started to puff more, which was what I wanted to do. Having Grant’s brother, who was with us for the holidays, walk with me each day was a good motivation for establishing a new habit. For four weeks now I have headed off for a 45 min walk as soon as I get up. I am feeling much better and not so puffy. Now the challenge is to keep this healthy habit going when school starts. As soon as that alarm goes at 6am, I need to leap out of bed and get those walking shoes on!

View from the top of my morning walk.

On the way down.

Comments

We Love Learning - Working with Eco Dyes (Hannah)

As many of you already know, I love making things, particularly involving fibre (a.k.a. fabric and wool). One of my goals for this year is to expand my skill set in this area by taking up as many learning opportunities as I can. When I saw rekindle was advertising a class on using natural dyes, I knew I was interested. Over the course of the class, we experimented with the different dyes, both on their own and mixed with each other. Of all the colours, my favourite was the colour made with avocado stones, which is, rather surprisingly, a lovely, soft pink. We also wrote out the recipes for each of the dyes, as well as some others we didn't have in front of us. It was really interesting to learn about Ari, the teacher's, philosophy around dying. To find the plant matter to make the dyes, she forages what has been left on the ground, leaving the living matter for the plant to continue to use. I am often in awe of nature, but I found it particularly interesting that only...

The Himalayan Trust Summit Challenge

Four years ago, I spent six weeks working as I volunteer teacher trainer in the Solokhumbu region of Nepal. The Solokumbu region is where Mount Everest is, although the villages that I worked in were much lower in the valley. I did see Everest as a tiny peak in the distance on one hike I did during my time there, but we were pretty far away. As a result, the remote mountain villages that I worked in didn't see the tourist traffic that villages higher up in the valley would see. Tourists bring the potential to earn money through tea houses and sherpa services. The lack of tourists and the remoteness of the villages meant provided additional challenges to the people who lived there. The Himalayan Trust is the charity set up by Sir Edmund Hillary to support the people of the Solokhumbu with building schools, training teachers and providing clean drinking water. During his time in Nepal, Hillary formed a close connection with the people living in the villages he visited as he...

We Love Learning: Rag Quilting (Nicky)

When school finished last year, I started getting organised for Christmas. I wanted to have new placemats for our table as the family was coming to our house for Christmas dinner. I went to my favourite website, Pinterest, and found instructions on how to make some cool mats using a ragging technique. Several hours later I had 10 double sided placemats that I really loved. My finished placemats. Next time I went onto Pinterest, ideas for rag quilting were on my feed. I loved the look of these quilts and did some research. I read articles and viewed videos. A rag quilt sample, not mine. I had always wanted to make a quilt for our bed and this method looked like a great way to start. Feeling motivated, I tested out two different variations that I discovered when researching. Investigating which variation to use. I decided that I wanted to sandwich flannel fabric inside my quilt squares rather than dacron, as it gave a better ragging effect and would make a light...

Kauri Teachers Blog Too!

Search This Blog