"Growing Gardens..."

Cambridge International Examinations IGCSE Paper 2: Design Assignment

Design the cover for a children's game called "Growing Gardens". The game is intended to teach children to recognise and appreciate flowers, fruit, vegetables, wild flowers and weeds as well as measuring and counting.

Prep:

Completed design done under exam conditions:

The End :-)

The garden in October

Mustard, potato & pea seedlings in the old veggie patch...

A Scarlet Runner Bean seedling ready to start climbing over the new veggie patch gate's trellis...

The Mulberry tree begging to be relieved of its burden...

The Stoechas Lavender seedlings growing strongly (right in front)...

The little Azaleas in full bloom...

The Pin Oak (finally) in her Spring attire...

The Roses celebrating!

The sky's not the limit!

Having turned the corner at 40 a few years ago and year end upon us, I'm in a reflecting (or is it reflective?) mood... In fact, I'm in a frustrated, angry and depressed mood! How ugly is that to deal with and I suppose you don't want to read about it. And yes, I know it's not a Godly response, but sometimes being real and honest and allowing thoughts to flow helps me get perspective and lets me deal with these emotions. It helps me find hope.

So I'm glaring full-on into the face of my failures and I want to scream!

I was raised in a subculture that insisted I could do anything I wanted to do, be anything I wanted to be, if I were willing to make the effort. The message was that both the universe and I were without limits, given enough energy and commitment on my part. That was until I was confronted with MY limitations which are now dressed up as failures. And yes, I made choices too, choices that have consequences, and some of those consequences now have me frustrated, yet others are beautiful.

But the truth is we do have limits. These limits define who we are not, they illuminate that which we are not passionate about. And that too is valuable. In a way it's freeing, because on the other hand they also reveal who we are, where our passion lies and what we are indeed capable of. I will therefore not tell my sons that they can do all things, that the sky is the limit. 

"Space" taken by Prince 1 with his cell phone

Instead I'll help them discover their limits and I'll not foster impossible expectations. I'll help them find their strengths, their passion, and if possible their purpose. I'll sacrifice my dreams for their dreams... and I'll redefine success in the process.

What is success? What affirms one's worth in life and what leads to true happiness?

Is it a piece of paper issued by an academic institution? Is it a piece of paper with large figures issued monthly by a conglomerate that has bought your soul, your freedom? Is it a perfect house, a luxury car, designer clothes, private schools, au pairs and overseas holidays?

Or is it waking up next to someone that makes you deliriously happy, someone that shares your dreams, admires you, believes in you and makes sacrifices for you? Someone that after 25 years still thinks you are the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world? Is it possibly having the luxury of time to commune with your Creator as you savour a cup of coffee and watch the mist roll down the mountain from your bedroom window into the paddock where your horses are peacefully grazing? Is it possibly snuggling up with your children as you share a good book read aloud around a crackling winter's fire while other parents are rushing in the cold to get everyone to school on time? Is it possibly having the eyes to see and appreciate the small miracles as they unfold before you daily: the first blossoms, the first goslings, the first tooth, first step, first word written, first chapter book read and first cake baked?

Isn't it who we are that matters and not what we've achieved or attained? Don't happy, healthy relationships determine our success and worth and ultimately lead to true happiness? Maybe I am successful...

"Leaving soon..."

Prep

International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Art & Design Paper 1 completed!

It's 34 degrees...

It's Monday and 34 degrees - everyone has had enough of books and of sitting indoors so we pack our work into the car and set off into the forest...

...in the general direction of Gubu Dam. 

Where the Princes swim and then settle down in the shade of the pines to do some more work They write essays and I continue crocheting squares. I might yet finish this throw sometime this year...

The car overheats, seems she can't handle the temperature either, so we take the opportunity to pass the camera around and take some more photographs...

The end of yet another perfect day in the country.

So he's busy writing his first real exam today...

So he's busy writing his first real exam today, one of a handful that will usher him into a new and exciting world where he can flourish and live his dreams.

It's a milestone - one that has come too soon for this mother's heart. It signals yet a new season in our lives, somehow the seasons seem to grow shorter as they grow taller...

I try hard to capture the memories, desperate to revel in their energy and presence. I try to record the conversations and the laughter in my mind as I know that too soon it's going to be quite, too quite.

It was just the other day that he blinked in amazement and snuggled warmly, skin to skin, on my tummy. The Crown Prince of Avalon. 

I remember when he was not yet one month old and I was suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of the task at hand. I remember the moment of fear and how I wondered whether I would ever "get him big".

I remember how he would playfully try to touch my face with his foot as he nursed, how he tried to smile and feed at the same time.The "nog tee" and the "nog see". Helping as best he could when his world was invaded by "baie babas".

I remember a confident, unthreatened toddler loving and protecting his little brothers. I remember the puzzles, the lego and the drawings.

I remember the dreams of a wannabe inventor that was at his happiest in the garage creating.

And I remember the challenges and the self-doubts, the moments of panic, as I wondered whether I was up to the task of unleashing the creativity and beautiful complexity of this right-brained man-child.

And then I relive that moment of relief that washed over me last week when an educational psychologist and friend confirmed that, that which had concerned me for years, was developed to an age-appropriate level - and all he needs is time.

Don't we all?


"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens...He has made everything beautiful in its time."
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 11