To begin at the beginning....

First there was the chatting with my daughter and her friends about "nana crafts", cupcakes, and sewing. Then there was the dream of a shop where all those things could be bought together and shared.

There was the dinner conversation ... a conversation that touched on many things but included some one-on-one between me and our hostess on the topics of childbirth and breastfeeding. I had just that day taken a risk on a presentation on a parent perspective on ICT and education which I had ended with a historic clip from 1965 with a voice over interview of my son interviewing his grandad. And an earlier presentation on websites had experienced a minor sidetrack as we discussed beautiful children's books.
Then I went out to visit my sister - who runs a great local store and cafe almost but not quite in the middle of nowhere. There is handmade soap, local art, groceries and ...lattes!

And I wondered - where have all the wise woman gone? Where does this generation go to learn the skills that were once the domain of frugal, crafty older women? Where do mothers who may only have one or two babies get supported and comforted with the pragmatics of experience? Where do they hear the wider story which once were de-cried as old wives tales.

When I write and edit, when I structure information I draw on the experiences of my own family and the hundreds of families I have worked with in voluntary and employed capacities. And I am constantly testing it against "is this real?" "will it be meaningful?". Without meaning to I have become one of the "wise women"

And because my skills lie in web and information I decided today to create a space - a wise woman space - for women to share and learn from each other.

Sonja