January 16-20, 2012

This week in our Monday morning circle, Ruth T. told us that our house (Cascadia) was owned by someone in the logging industry before it was turned into a hospital during the 1950s. After many years, it became a private home again, until we moved in in 2004.

After a short break, the music group practiced their songs, ‘All Men Shall Be Brothers’ (Ode to Joy) and ‘Song of the Church Bells’. We are practicing for our Palm Sunday concert.
In the afternoon, we stayed at the centre and did ballroom dancing. We practiced our Tango steps.

On Tuesday afternoon, the eurythmy group did eurythmy and the painting group did painting.

On Wednesday morning the Farm group walked around Lonsdale Quay. Everybody else stayed back and worked in their workshops.
After lunch, we broke into our painting, reading and writing groups.

This week in our Thursday morning College, Manijeh and Mina came to the centre and gave us an introduction about Iran. We learned that Iran is in the Middle East. The map shows that Iran has the shape of a cat. Its ancient name was Persia. Also Iran’s capital is Teheran. After their introduction, we saw slides of Iran, and Manijeh told us about the places we saw.
After a short break we all went to Sophia house to practice the bells.
In the afternoon, some of the companions went for a walk and others stayed back and started to prepare for Carnival. We sat in the dining room and drew shapes and patterns from Iran.

Friday morning, everybody worked in his or her workshops.
In the afternoon, a group went swimming while others stayed back and sang with Forrest.

January 9-13

This week in our very first Monday morning circle for 2012, Patricia told us about Marietta’s Papa’s memorial service.  She also told us that a new Camphill will be opening in New York State called Camphill Ghent.  After a short break, Marianne’s music group started to work on a new song called ‘Song of the Church Bells”.   In the afternoon, we all went to Summerhill for our new season of ballroom dancing.   Ruth T. started to teach us the basic steps of the Tango.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning, the basket workshop went to Kaspar House garden to cut and sort willows.

Tuesday afternoon, we broke into the three groups – painting, clay and eurythmy.  During eurythmy, Ruth T. quizzed us on the Zodiac signs, sounds and gestures.

Wednesday morning, the farm group went to see Aiden’s artwork, which is exhibited in a show at the Ferry Building Gallery in West Vancouver.

In the afternoon, we broke up into our reading, writing and painting groups.

This week in our Thursday morning college, we had a forum meeting about what will be happening this year from now until the end of 2012.    For starters, we talked about what we will be doing for our festivals.

For Carnival we will have a Persian theme with food, dancing and music. During Holy Week we will be learning about the history of Gold.  On May 7^th, we will take a trip up a mountain for Ascension and on June 22^nd, we will go up to C-dar farm to perform our Saint John’s play.   From July 21-29    some of the  coworkers and maybe some companions will go to Vancouver Island for a conference called Living Gold.    On September the 29^th we will be celebrating Michaelmas.

After a short break, the bell choir practiced their new song ‘Amazing Grace’. In the afternoon, everybody went for a walk.

Friday afternoon, a group went swimming, while others stayed back and sang with Forrest.

Hello and welcome back to our Cascadia centre. We hope that you had a wonderful holiday. On Tuesday morning we all put on our costumes and we practiced our ‘Three Kings’ play. In the afternoon we broke up into our groups. One group did painting, another group did clay and the last group did eurythmy. During eurythmy, Ruth T. taught us about the colour red and had us draw what the colour red looks like in a form. Wednesday morning we practiced for our ‘Three Kings’ play. After a short break we worked in our workshops. The basket workshop worked with clay and they built a model of the three kings going to Bethlehem and giving the three gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold to Jesus. In the afternoon we broke into our groups – one group did reading and writing and the other group did painting. On Thursday morning we had a meeting about ‘what is our vision for 2012?’ Some people said they would like to set up a teahouse and have tea and cookies. Others said that they would like to perform more plays. After a short break we performed our ‘Three Kings’ play. In the afternoon, everybody went to the garden and cut willows and sorted them in groups of different sizes. Friday morning, the three kings took all of the decorations off the Christmas tree.

They took the tree outside and everybody followed them singing “We Three Kings”. Also this morning, one group made apple sauce while another group took all of the Christmas songs out of the blue song books. In the afternoon, we stirred the preparation, sang the ‘Three Kings’ songs and ate apple sauce.

December 12-16, 2011

Monday morning, we all went to the Kay Meek Centre for our last play rehearsal. 

Last year, after our “Snow White and Red Rose” performance, our companion Mary made a wish. She wished that our next play would be “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and that she would be Snow White. All the other companions thought it was a great idea and so Ruth T. and the other co-workers agreed. So on Tuesday, we performed the play, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” three times.

This play takes place in a dark and scary forest until Snow White finds the dwarf’s cottage. The seven dwarfs agree to allow her to live with them.
The Queen tries to kill Snow White by dressing up as three different people; a peddler, an old woman and a farmer’s wife. In the end, Snow White marries the prince and lives happily ever after. During the play, Lorna’s bell choir and Marianne’s lyre players played the music. We wore fantastic colourful costumes that were made by Ruth T, Shayan’s Aunt Mina, and a lot of other helpers. We would like to thank the Waldorf school students who took part in this play. We would also like to thank all of you for coming out and watching our play. Hope to see you next year.

This week in our Thursday college, everybody learned about the animal kingdom. For starters, Sean taught us about the very first life forms that appeared on the earth. Then Jule taught us about the sea creatures and the different zones that are in the sea. After that, I talked about mammals and then I asked everyone questions.

After a short break, we gathered into the big room and reviewed the play. We were happy that Mary’s wish came true. We also felt that everybody put a lot of effort and work into this play.
In the afternoon we practiced some scenes from “The Shepherds’ Play” for our Christmas celebration.

Friday morning, we worked in our work shops and in the afternoon we sang Christmas songs. Hanna and Jule played the bells. We are looking forward to our yearly Christmas party at the centre on Wednesday at 3:30.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

December 5 – 9, 2011

On Monday morning, we all gathered into the big room to have our ‘Fairy Tale Christmas’ picture taken for the Outlook and the North Shore News.

In the afternoon we practiced our play.

Tuesday morning, we sang Advent songs and then we worked in our workshops. In the afternoon, the eurythmy group went to Waldorf High school and practiced for the play, another group went to Bridget house and did clay and the last group stayed at the centre and painted.
In the evening some of the co-workers and companions went to the Christmas ‘Just singing ‘round’ to play Christmas songs on the bells.

On Wednesday morning, Monique and Takashi got Christmas trees for the three houses, Kaspar House, Sophia House and Cascadia House. Also the farm group went and got hay bales for our Christmas celebration at the Centre.
After lunch, we broke into two groups – one group did reading and writing and the second group did painting.

This week in our Thursday morning college, John, Takashi, and Phyllis taught us about the plant kingdom which is made up of flowers, grass, trees and vegetables. John taught us that plants grow under ground and above the ground’s surface. After that, Felix taught us about flowers. We learned that flowers come in different shapes, sizes and colours. They also have different meaning – like a rose represents death and a dandelion represents jealousy. Then Takashi came up and talked about vegetables. There are root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, wasabi), stalk vegetables (asparagus, green onions, celery), leaf vegetables (spinach, lettuce), fruit vegetables (tomatoes, pumpkins) and flower vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli). After our lesson, we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Joe.
After a short break some of the companions went to Waldorf School and practiced for the play the last time. The rest of our companions stayed back and practiced the bells. In the afternoon, we rehearsed all the music in our play.

Friday morning, everybody worked in their work shops and in the afternoon we stayed at the centre and sang songs with Forrest.

November 28 – December 2, 2011

On Monday morning, Cely lit the first candle for Advent. Then the companions took turns walking around the spiral, putting down apples with lit candles in them. Also we opened the first window for Advent.

Tuesday morning, we sang our Advent songs and then we opened the second window. In the afternoon some of the companions went to Waldorf high school and practiced for the play; some went to Bridget house and did clay and others stayed at Cascadia and painted.

Some players posing for the photographer

On Wednesday morning, we all went to the Waldorf high school and practiced our play. In the afternoon everybody went for a walk.

This week in our Thursday morning college, Ruth T. talked about the community that lives under the earth. She told us of gnomes living underneath us and that they are trying very hard to help us grow our vegetables in our garden. Also we learned that the gnomes are working with different minerals like copper, iron, silver and gold.
During college we could hear the coworkers practicing their Christmas songs for ‘Just Singing’ Round’ so we hammered like gnomes on wood, metal, and rocks to the tune of the “Little Drummer Boy”. After snack break the bell choir practiced their songs with Lorna for our fairy tale.
In the afternoon, some of the companions went for a walk while others sang to the tunes of the Christmas songs played on the bells.

Bells are ringing as coworkers practise for Christmas

Friday morning, the companions worked in their workshops. Some tried on costumes and others sang Christmas songs. In the afternoon, some went swimming while others enjoyed singing pop songs with Forrest.

Nov 21-25, 2011

On Monday afternoon everybody stayed at the centre and sang songs with Forrest.

Tuesday afternoon, there was a music rehearsal for the fairytale: the coworkers practiced the songs on the bells to fit in with the story. Some people painted and the others did clay.

On Wednesday morning the farm group went and got greenery for the Christmas wreaths. In the afternoon we broke into our two groups – one group did reading and writing and another group did painting.

This week in our Thursday morning college, Felix taught us about the Hutterites. We learned that a priest named Jacob Hutter started the Hutterites in Germany. In the 19th century they moved to Canada. They were a Christian community who had one goal and that goal was to be with God. They lived in Manitoba and some lived in the U.S.A. They grew their own crops and livestock. We learned that the women wore long dresses. Also, they wrote their own music and sang it. The Hutterites were isolated from the rest of the world. They did not pay any attention to politics or war. Today there are 347 Hutterite communities across Canada and only two of which are in British Columbia.
After a short break, we practiced the bells for our fairy tale. In the
afternoon, Hanna showed us how to make a Christmas wreath.

Friday morning, everybody made Christmas wreaths and in the afternoon some of the companions went swimming and others stayed back to finish their wreaths.

November 18, 2011

On Monday morning, the young coworkers practiced Christmas songs with the bells and Lorna for Just Singing Around (JSR).  In the afternoon everybody went to Summerhill and practiced for the play in December.

On Tuesday afternoon, one group went to Waldorf School to practice for the play, another group worked with clay at Skills Centre #2 and the last group painted at the centre.

On Wednesday morning the farm group went on an excursion.  The basket workshop prepared for the Waldorf Schools Christmas Fair by putting prices on the baskets and wrapping them.   In the afternoon we went into our two groups; one group practiced the bells for JSR and the second group painted.

This week in our Thursday morning college, Patricia talked about her trip to Finland.  She also taught us some history.  We learned that Finland’s name is Suomi in their Finnish language.  The capital of Finland is Helsinki.  Both Sweden and Russia fought for land in Finland. In 1809, Russia conquered Finland. Patricia told us about a man called Elias Lonnrot. He helped develop Finnish pride in their language and culture.  Many people from Finland settled on Vancouver Island.  After that Patricia showed us some slides from her trip.

After a short break, some of the companions went to Waldorf School and practiced the play.  Others stayed back and practiced the play with the bells.

In the afternoon, Jade read to us ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, while the coworkers played the bells and Ruth T did eurythmy.

Friday morning, Leslie read to us a letter that came via email from our good friend and former coworker, Claudius. He is now working in Germany. After that everybody worked in the workshops.  In the afternoon, some of the companions went swimming while the others stayed back and sang with Forrest.

November 7-11, 2011

Monday afternoon, everybody went to Summerhill and practiced for our Snow White and the Seven Dwarf’s play.

On Tuesday morning, everybody lit a candle for all who had passed away.
In the afternoon one group went to the Waldorf School and practiced for the play, another group went to the clay workshop and another group stayed at the centre and painted.

On Wednesday morning, the farm group worked at C-Dar farms. Everybody else worked in their workshops. In the afternoon, we broke into our groups and did reading, writing or painting.

This week in our Thursday morning college; Ruth T. talked about the
Saint Martin’s Festival which is celebrated on November 11th. She told us that Saint Martin was like a knight, brave, kind, respectful and generous. When Saint Martin met a beggar he cut his cloak in half and offered it to the poor man even though it was freezing cold. She said that in the celebration, children with their lighted lanterns walk in a procession through the forest following a horse and rider who is dressed as Saint Martin. The children sing Saint Martin songs. Some of our coworkers talked about their memories of Saint Martin’s Day. One told us that she loved to walk beside the horse and rider and she loved to see all the children. Another one told us that she was frightened by the darkness. After that some people acted out the Saint Martin’s play while everybody else sang the story.
After a short break we practiced for our play with our hand bells.
In the afternoon one group practiced the hand bells for Christmas and another group raked leaves in the front yard.

Friday morning, our centre was closed for the Remembrance Day holiday.

October 28, 2011

This week in our Monday morning circle, Ruth T. told us that we will be setting up for our yearly Halloween party.

The theme for this year is Gypsies.

After lunch, we went to Summerhill to practice for our play in December.
On Tuesday morning, the garden group set up for Halloween by making the tunnel and setting up the tents. Everybody else worked in their workshop. In the afternoon, we went into our groups and did our normal activities.

Wednesday morning, the farm group went to the farm and everybody else stayed back and talked about Halloween and read Halloween jokes.
After a short break we went to Waldorf School and practiced for our play from 10:30 until 2:00.

In this week’s college, Monique talked about the gypsies. She told us that that they are from North India and they moved from Iran to Persia to England and Scotland. She also told us that they had many jobs like fixing horseshoes, basket weaving, making wagon wheels, fortune telling, playing music and dancing. Today, gypsies live in many parts of the world.

After a short break, some of the companions went to Sophia house and practiced the hand bells for our fairy tale. In the afternoon some people helped decorate the house for Halloween and others went for a walk.

Friday morning everybody carved pumpkins and decorated the mosaic.

 

In the afternoon some went swimming while others sang songs with Forrest.

On Monday night, from 6:00 until 8:00, we’re having our Halloween party on the mosaic at Cascadia. We hope you’ll come to see us.