Candle Dipping

Today our school plan is Candle Dipping (Earthways page 98) using the Dip-a-Candle Kit from Magic Cabin. I am going to time how long it takes to dip a decent sized candle... if it takes too long we will make Pine Cone Fire Starters (Earthways page 100) instead. So that's my back up plan. It is interesting that Earthways and the people at Magic Cabin give different instructions for melting the wax. MC says to put the beeswax pellets IN a can of water IN a pot of water and that the wax will melt and spread over the surface of the water. Can number 2 (use cleaned Juicy Juice cans for this) holds plain cool water for dipping the candles before the next dip, so they cool faster and are ready for another layer of wax. Carol Petrash also recommends two cans... in hers BOTH have chunks of beeswax and are set side by side in a pan of simmering water to melt. One is removed from the heat and used for the dipping -- when it gets too cool, place it back in the pan of hot water and use the other for dipping. The interesting thing about the MC directions is that when the wax level gets too low to make a candle the height you desire, you add more hot water (to raise the level of the melted wax) instead of adding more wax. I would think that this helps stretch your wax and help it go farther. So I haven't decided which set of directions I will choose.

Instead of doing a circle time story, I'd like to do our story at naptime -- same story for both children. I have been experimenting with moving components of the schoolday around. For example, Natalie gets her letter lessons at bedtime; then she can sleep on it. Today I will grab a main lesson book for her from the church so she can do some drawings the following day. The story for the preschool children is "Autumn" from Eurythmy for the Young Child page 38. Today the weather changed and it is finally cold! So we will begin talking about animals going to sleep for the winter. Yesterday there was an epidemic of box turtles crossing the road. I guess they felt that the nip was coming in the air and it was time to get on with the business of burying themselves.

Morning glories are valiantly trying to open this morning but seem a bit shocked by the temp.

Natalie left this morning with our coffee grinder and a bowl of corn so she'll be sharing that at school.