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Magnifique chenille mais attention, elle pique ! Et Chai dit qu'elle fait tres tres mal. Heureusement qu'on a la crème miracle : le baume du tigre!

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“There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.” Mahathma Gandhi Teachers and students proudly posing with their grammar diplomas.

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The Nautilus. The Sailor. The nautilus is a cephalopod, a distant cousin to squids, octopus, and cuttlefish. Unlike its color-changing cousins, though, the soft-bodied nautilus lives inside its hard external shell. The shell itself has many closed interior chambers or “compartments.” The nautilus uses jet propulsion to roam the ocean deep.

Having survived relatively unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, nautiluses represent the only living members of the subclass nautiloidea, and are often considered "living fossils". We found the shell on our little mangrove beach and feel so immensely lucky and fortunate to been able to see back in time.

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"Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best." Theodore Isaac Rubin

We have just ended 6 weeks of intensive grammar class, in English, Swedish and Thai language. The boys have been outstanding and they have discovered that, despite the immense difference between Thai and Swedish and English, there are many similarities. Grammar is the key to understand language, a culture and a Nation. Shaan is in grade 5 and Jeevan in grade 4. We have made a bit of a mix between the 2 grades and will continue grammar classes when they are in grade 5 and 6. So they deserve their diplomas for his year!

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Les mangroves sont bien plus que des palétuviers. Forêts dans la mer, ou encore marais maritimes convertis en rizières, elles constituent l'un des paysages les plus originaux des littoraux intertropicaux. Il s’agit de forêts qui poussent le long des littoraux, dans des eaux calmes, saumâtres (mélange d’eau de mer et d’eau douce) et peu oxygénées. Le sol de ces forêts est constitué de vase et de sédiments, le plus souvent de la matière organique. Les végétaux qui doivent y pousser sont capricieux : de l’eau salée (mais pas trop !), à une température ni trop chaude ni en dessous de 20°, qui ne doit pas stagner sous risque de manquer d’oxygène. C’est notre piscine. Quel luxe !

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“What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?”  Khalil Gibran. I had no idea scorpions shed their skin. I found this in my garden the other day.  I am amazed at how much we can learn from Nature.

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“Du lindar av Olvon en midsommar krans Och hänger den om ditt hår Du skrattar åt mångubbens benvita glans Som högt över tallen står I natt ska du dansa vid Svartrama tjärn I långdans, i språngdans, på glödande järn I natt är du bjuden av dimman till dans Där Ull-Stina, Kull-Lina går Nu tager du månen från Blåbergets kam Att ge dig en glorias sken Och ynglet som avlas i gölarnas slam Blir fålar på flygande ben Nu far du till Mosslinda, Mosslunda mor Där Ull-Stina, Kull-Lina, Gull-Fina bor I natt ska du somna vid Svartrama damm Där natten och mossan är len Du lindar av Olvon en midsommar krans Och hänger den om ditt hår Du skrattar åt mångubbens benvita glans Som högt över tallen står I natt ska du dansa vid Svartrama tjärn I långdans, i språngdans, på glödande järn I natt är du bjuden av dimman till dans Där Ull-Stina, Kull-Lina går.” Håkan Norlen och Rune Lindström. En av mina favorit sånger. Killarnas midsommar verk från juni 2021. Vi försöker att upprätthålla svenska traditioner så gått det går på vår kurrekurredutö.

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“The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.” Ed Koch

6 semaines de cours d’astronomie. Les garçons sont super heureux.  6 weeks of astronomy class. The boys are happy with their diplomas. 

“La réussite est liée à la patience mais elle dépend également de beaucoup de bonne volonté.” Gilbert Brévart

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A much-quoted description of the flavour of the durian: “The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed.” British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1856. We love durian in the family and we were so happy when our dear friends brought us one. The skin is hard to open and the fruit is smooth as silk.

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“What one appears to be and what one is are very often different things entirely.” V.R. Christensen, Of Moths and Butterflies

Most of the caterpillars we find in the garden and on plants are the ones of moths. The more I look, the more flabbergasted I am at the creativity of Nature.  I will never discover the secret of this caterpillar as I have not been able to find the corresponding moth. But you must admit, it is stunning. Look at the way it moves, it is like a dance. Like Art.

“I discovered in nature the non utilitarian delights that I sought in art. Both were a form of magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment and deception.” Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory

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“Les chats sont mis sur terre pour nous rappeler que tout n'a pas de but.” Oscar Wilde. Ginger est arrivé chez nous il y a 5 semaines. Tout petit, tout maigre. Je ne sais pas comment Ginger nous a trouvé car la maison la plus proche est a 2 km de chez nous. Mais je crois que Ginger est content chez nous. Ca nous fait maintenant 4 chats et 3 chiens a la ferme !

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“If you need a bit of perspective, climb a tree.” Pooh Bear  

Shaan and Jeevan in the cashew nut trees just outside the house. The trees are not very high as the sea winds keeps them close to the ground. 

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein

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“I excel at pulling strings!” said Arachne. “I’m a spider!”  Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena.

Araneae. One of the most feared arthropods. But why ? Nephila. The Golden Web Spider is named because its impressively intricate web shimmers golden in the light. The modestly sized (15 cm) spider has a long, thin, jet-black body, long, thin legs, and golden spots that dot its back. The Golden Orb Web spider is shy and like to build its enormous webs (2 meters across) on top of towering clusters of trees. Not this one, though, as it has built its colossal main web just across one of our paths in the garden where we can see it resting.

And I agree with Cheryl Hayashi when she says : “next time you see a spider web, please, pause and look a little closer. You'll be seeing one of the most high-performance materials known to man”. Since I moved to Thailand and settled down on my little farm, I have come so close to Nature that I cannot even comprehend how I ever could have lived without it. Nature suffices by itself. It is deeply humbling. And Cheryl Hayashi talks about ancients secrets when she says “It's like the spiders are sharing an ancient secret with me, and that's why I'm going to spend the rest of my life studying spider silk.”  I want to spend the rest of my life being astonished by Nature. 

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“The stars we are given. The constellations we make. That is to say, stars exist in the cosmos, but constellations are the imaginary lines we draw between them, the readings we give the sky, the stories we tell.” Rebecca Solnit. The past weeks, the whole family has had their heads in the stars and in space. And as Elias Canetti says, “a head full of stars, just not in constellation yet.” We have been on a spacecraft to the moon, to the dwarf planets, to the Kuiper Belt and even to the ISS and now we are stuck in the hundreds of thousands of constellations which inhabit space. And how amazing that is! And just as Rebecca Solnit says, it is the stories we tell when we look at constellations. Did you know that the constellation called The Pleiades in the west, are seven chicks in Thailand ? And that the Big Dipper is a crocodile in Thailand?

How fascinating to read new stories in the sky. And now I get curious, what other stories are hidden in the sky ? And I cannot help thinking that school education is so ethno-centrical, so narrow minded. What if we were taught that a hunter could also be an elephant or a crocodile, would we be peacemakers on Mother Earth ? Or would we end up fighting over who sees right and who sees wrong ? The homeschooling goal of our family is to teach all subjects in three languages - English. Swedish and Thai. And what a journey we are on. The best journey ever! 

“We all live in our own world. But if you look up at the starry sky - you'll see that all the different worlds up there combine to form constellations, solar systems, galaxies.” Paulo Coelho.

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“Voyage immobile.”

Vous le savez peut être deja. Ceci est une oeuvre que j’ai crée avec les enfants l’année dernière, en avril-mai 2020, quand le monde était sous confinement total. J’ai absolument adorée peindre cette carte du monde. J’ai essayé de respecter les proportions et les latitude et longitude. Et j’aime l’idée que le monde est centré sur l’hémisphère sud. J’ai délibérément omis d’écrier les noms des continents car je veux pouvoir utiliser cette “table” comme outil pour les cours de géographie. 

J’ai découvert tellement de choses sur l’histoire des pays et j’ai été horrifiée de voir a quel point les français, les anglais et allemands ont, entre autres, pillés les iles du Pacifique. 

“L'histoire n'est que la géographie dans le temps, comme la géographie n'est que l'histoire dans l'espace.”. Elisée Reclus

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“Hark, now hear the sailors cry,  Smell the sea, and feel the sky, Let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic.” “Into the Mystic”. Van Morrison, Lit Up Inside: Selected Lyrics

The boys took sailing classes as part of their homeschooling subjects. They absolutely loved it. We are in the middle of monsoon so we must wait until the winds are not that strong to start again. The photos are taken by our friend Felix, who taught the boys. They are sailing off the coast of Koh Lanta, outside Old Town. 

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“Est-ce l'oeuf le père de la poule ou la poule la mère de l'oeuf ?” Raymond Devos. Bonne question. Je ne sais pas. Ce que je sais c’est que j’ai hâte que les poussins femelles grandissent pour qu’elles me pondent des oeufs pour mon omelette ! Bon, il y a avait 9 oeufs et 7 ont éclos. Et ma petite poule en est quand meme a sa deuxième maternité. Durant sa première maternité, elle a mit au monde 8 petits poussins dont 2 sont morts. Donc nous avons deja 6 poules de 3 mois qui devraient se mettre a pondre bientôt, je l’espère. Inch Allah !