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    STONE SOUP

    GUY FAWKES NIGHT

    Mark your calendars! November 5th is Guy Fawkes Night, an evening for bonfire fun.

    In 1605 the British rogue Guy Fawkes was arrested in a cellar filled with barrels of gunpowder. Luckily, he was caught before he had the chance to strike the match that would blow up the kegs and King James. Yup, Guy's plans went up in smoke and he was sentenced to death.

    "This sorry tale has been preserved in British folk culture ever since, with an evening of fun on November 5th. An effigy of Guy Fawkes is burned on top of a large bonfire, and the night crackles and sparkles with fireworks.

    "On the days before November 5th children make "Guys" from old clothes, stuffed with paper or straw," as explained in All Year Round, a wonderful book of festival lore and activities. Children would then wheel their straw men through the neighborhood and ask passer-by's for "a penny for the Guy". The penny stash would be used to buy wood and fireworks for the celebration on the 5th.

    In pagan times, the transitional times between the seasons were always celebrated with fire rituals. The enthusiasm for the annual Fawkes event may be tied to the folk memory of these ancient seasonal bonfire celebrations.

    Times have changed, alright. These days it would take a wheelbarrow of pennies to buy one log! And you can bet that sending our kids out to beg on the streets would raise a few eyebrows. Now they just beg from their parents!

    But, why not embrace the Guy? Who doesn't love an occasional bonfire; it's a good excuse to clear up garden rubbish, burn all evidence of Goodwill craftbook shopping, roast potatoes,  stay out late to gaze at the stars, and dream into the flames and the flying sparks.

    If you can't manage a large bonfire, maybe gather one or two small children and organise a backyard campfire or an indoor fireplace party to celebrate the end of autumn? And don't forget to bring your Dancing Rain Dolls...they enjoy watching the fire, snuggled next to the kids they love.

     

    YESTERDAY'S SOUP
    Main | A JAR OF JOY »
    Thursday
    22Oct2009

    Lost & Found

    Hello everyone,

    Hard to believe I lost track of time and haven't visited with you here in months.

    Maybe you know how it is.

    It's been two weeks now and we are still looking for five pairs of missing fabric scissors. That's right, 5 individual pairs, not a set.

    And don't get me started about pens. I think there is a black hole where pens are sucked into when we turn off the lights in the studio each night.

    Oh, if I mailed you that plastic pattern template for the 18-inch DRD Baby Doll by mistake, just let me know, would you? Then I can quit looking behind all the bookshelves and finding only dust bunnies large enough to eat Seattle.

    So, we lost a few months but now we are glad to have found our way back to our blog where we can share thoughts on life here at the Dancing Rain Dolls Studio.

    I thought I would sort through your mail (thank heavens for email in-boxes) and then share the answers to the top ten questions DRD received while I was crawling around on the floor looking for missing studio supplies.  And while I pull together the results I hope you are having fun kicking fall leaves, taking a 10-second mom nap while stopped  behind a school bus, or just resting in your bathroom with the door shut, dreaming about that next Dancing Rain Doll project you would lke to make before the holidays.

    Stay tuned!

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