Monday, November 10, 2008

Rain Clouds and Dragons


Maria's illustrations are getting very elaborate, and she narrates as she goes, which is fun to listen to. She does the voices and acts out the little dramas and trials. Standing in the gate of this castle is a king and he is being visited by a family of dragons, including a baby dragon. The flag at the top of the castle is waving, despite the rain falling from the clouds, and the rain has done little to dampen the flames of the torches on the two balconies. I am sorry you cannot see the king's horse. The horse is grazing on daisies, behind the castle.

I think her latest work was inspired by the discussion I was having with Alex and William. We are trying to come up with an illustration for original chess pieces. William knows a lot about the origins and history of chess... game play and art. Alex is familiar too and he's been helping me design pieces for a chess set quilt... a checkerboard and playing pieces in fabric. There are a lot of options and ideas to search through, and we really enjoyed the very oldest game pieces, which were once quite elaborate... so while we were talking about knights and horses and castles, rooks, kings and bishops, and sketching rough plans, Maria played along.

Max did not join us in the chess conversation, though he would have enjoyed it. He is sick. Very. He's done 3 things today... listen, sleep and vomit. He has a fever and chills, he sipped three spoonfuls of broth tonight and the rest of the day he has been either asleep or listening to Alex read from the 6th Harry Potter book. Holly lent the boys her copies of the last 2 books in the series, and I am glad for Max that he can still enjoy being read to. And I am glad that Alex likes to read aloud. There's no school tomorrow, which was supposed to be a good thing, but it's now become just a necessary thing.

Don't ask me how I am feeling... I am flatly refusing to acknowledge any uncomfortable symptoms or the fatigue I am feeling from too little sleep. I feel perfectly fine. Thank you.

Tomorrow I am going to post about quilts and other WIPs. Tonight I am going to sip hot lemon tea, and listen to Alex read. And you? Stay well. Sip tea, and keep rain and dragons at bay.

7 comments:

Em said...

I guess it's a good thing that there's no school, and Max is sick at the same time - at least he won't have to claim a day absent! I hope he feels better soon. Keep pushing clear liquids, and make him sleep a lot! I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to read out loud to my son (more than board books anyway!)

mtnchild said...

I'm so sorry that Max is sick. Maybe you could send some of Maria's dragons to slay his illness?

Take care of yourself Natalie. You and your family are in my prayers.

Yvette

Laura Jane said...

What a delightful drawing to illustrate Maria's story.

Poor Max, i hope he gets better soon. Yuk :[

And I hope your , hmm, resolute good health continues too, Natalie!

And Alex is a dear to read to his brother. The world of HP6 is a good escape when ill.

My daughter allowed me to read the last book to her aloud last year at the age of 18. I think it helped to broaden her understanding of it, and we could discuss the subtext better, which she doesn't always get. It completed the tradition of the seven book series. We enjoyed each reading. She even brought the book to me in hospital for visits so I could read to her one year, when I was admitted for a month with a back injury and surgery. Lovely memories.

nimblejacks said...

Ah yes when your kids are off for a while ill....I came across your blog through PinkPurl's My 2 managed to get Euphorbia sap all over them and it is photoreactive so lo and behold they'd washed it off and said nothing but by the next day, Leo looked like her had 3rd degree burns all over his face and Kiear had big blisters all over her! So we had 4 days of staying in the house curtains drawn to keep UV out and hubby got flu the same week. Boy was it a relief when they wwent back to school. I love them dearly and they were so good bless them but a 5yr old brother and a 7yr old sister can annoy the life out of each other when cooped up for a week. Our lovely neighbour brought some baby duckling round for them to see which casued much hilarity for Leo something tickled him about them:D Back in school and I'm back to sewing. Hope you have a healthy house this week, vomit free
Clairex

Chris said...

Hi Natalie!

I love that you have such creative kids. You've done a good job!

I hope Max is better soon. That stomach crud is the worst.

I can't wait to see your WIP's!

Chris

amy smith said...

sure would like to sit on a comfy couch and chat with you late into the day...

Tiglizzyclone said...

Maria's illustrations are so creative! Very Nice!