Mother’s Day Musings

First off, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!

So, the day is mostly over…and my list of what I wanted to do hasn’t changed from last year…

What I would like this Mother’s Day:

• To go for a jog on the beach, without kids banging on the door as I walk out of it
• To take a long, hot bath without kids banging on the door to get in the bathroom
• To take a nap without kids banging on the door to wake me up
• A hug, and some original artwork, from the munchkin, a magically clean house and a dinner I didn’t cook
• To have Daddy Man magically realize all of this, and make it happen

What will probably happen this Mother’s Day:

I’ll end up taking the kids to the beach so Daddy Man can clean house.  He’ll insist that I take a bath and a nap, but both will be interrupted because the kids cause a ruckus trying to color on the walls instead of on paper (or something similar) while he’s trying to cook dinner.  And I’ll be the one doing the dishes.

The day started out pretty well…I got a bath, and a back rub.  But, as some indication of how the day has progressed, I’ve just finished steam-cleaning after tripping over and spilling an entire glass of fruit juice that a small child left on the floor.   Oh, and I’m reading this parenting article, and quite enjoying it.

Oh, well…at least the hubby has taken the kids to the park so I can have the chance to blog!  Its been awhile since I’ve done one of these hodge-podge, potpouri style posts, so lets see what I can dig up to chat about!

What’s for dinner:  We’ve been continuing our gluten free dining explorations and experimentation.  Today, I baked a quick bread from a GF flour mix I mixed and matched today.  It was delicious, but I think I need to mess around with the ratios a bit more, and add a wee bit more baking soda next time.  I’ve figured out how to make a couple of flours from scratch, which has drastically reduced the cost of GF baking–making your own rice flour, for example, about halves the cost of buying pre-made (more on this to follow at a later date).  Here are some of our culinary forays:

Bean burgers with guacamole and greek yogurt in a lettuce wrap

Marshmallow-free “rice crispies” made with puffed rice (gluten free!)–click the pic for the recipe

Strawberry-mango-apple fruit roll-ups in the making

We found a huge patch of wild onions to add to our dinners!

And in other news, we are entirely unpacked in the apartment.  We need to pick up another bookshelf or two, and I think its time to bunk the kids beds, but otherwise, its pretty cozy.  We can’t just pick up an stroll to the beach whenever we want anymore (now its more of a 15 minute bike ride), but there is a huge park right across the street and a pool here at the apartment (as well as a year-round pool at the park).  Chickadee won’t be changing schools til the fall, since there are only 6 weeks left in the school year, and Sharkbait is in the lottery for a spot in pre-K.

And an announcement: I was offered a job at the beginning of April. I haven’t started it yet, and I’m not sure when I will, because I’m awaiting the completion of my security clearance screening. I’m going back to working for the Navy, but as a civilian this time, as an industrial hygienist. The security clearance process takes about 6 weeks, as a minimum, and can take more when there isn’t a rush on it and/or they are backlogged. In one way, its a awesome–the job will make us much more financially comfortable, and it has good advancement potential and pays fairly well in the civilian world as well. In another way, I’m bummed, because I really love my job now…but the part-time thing is barely keeping us afloat financially. Its been a wonderful stop-gap, an amazing learning experience, and I’ve met wonderful people (and I’m not just saying this because my boss reads my blog), but (as my boss told me when I told her about the offer) its an opportunity that’s too good to pass up.

Meanwhile, we’ve changed our altar a bit.  It’s all ready for the transition of spring-into-summer.  Here’s a couple of pics:

The burn block is a 1oo+ year old piece of teak from the door of a 19th century sailing ship that a friend of mine from work gave to me when I mentioned wanting to find some teak to burn incense on. Teak, if you are not aware, has the some of the densest fibers of any tree and is fire retardant (not fire proof, but the fire has to be pretty darn hot for it to catch–its one of many reasons that it was used on the decks of ships.  Magically, teak is a symbol of longevity and resilience.

This week’s recommended (Pagan blog) reading:
By Candlelight: Celebratory Ritual (blog post)
How Persephone Killed the Gods for Me (blog post)
How Can a Naturalist Emerge in Paganism? (blog post)

What (book) I’m reading now: 1493 by Charles C. Mann 

Quote for the Week:

 ”We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”

—Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Moment of Zen: Fallow time

I didn’t really get a chance to talk about Beltane, and I’ve been about sparse on the blogging for the past week or so (still have to make up for the I week for the Pagan Blog Project, lol).  It wasn’t intentional, and it wasn’t because we haven’t done anything or because I’ve ran out of things to say for the moment… I’ve just needed some time to let things marinate in my brain and germinate below the surface.  As a result, blogging has been a bit like a trip to the dentist.  Plus its been a bit busy around here.

I used to call this “being in a funk”, and I’d sort of wallow in it for a bit, and then feel guilty for it, and then finally yank myself out of the rut in a mad frenzy of activity before wearing myself out again.  Awhile back I decided to change my view of my funk into something that is more constructive in the long run.  I’m not the first person to make this connection either (and they’ve said it better than the level at which my brain is functioning right now):

Technically, fallow refers to not planting seed on a field, allowing it to rest, to be unproductive.

These days, being unproductive is a rather radical suggestion.

But it’s one worth considering. Who are you when you’re not doing, producing, creating a future in the present? Is it possible to try, even for a few hours, not to achieve anything? What might happen?

There’s a beautiful image from the ancient texts of a still pond in the middle of the forest where eventually all sorts of animals come to drink. It might be interesting and informative to see what visits you when you’re quiet and still.

Fallow time can be a Sunday afternoon, or it can be an entire phase of one’s life. But it’s important to allow for it and to respect it as part of a process, a part of life. I used to feel anxious in fallow times and it’s only been recently that I’ve been able to consider the possibility that the anxiety is extra, that there’s wisdom and trust in pausing. It’s worth trying out.

Source: theKitchn, Weekend Meditation: Fallow Time

It might be a time for all of our activity to take a break, but seeing as most of us lack the resources for doing that for any real length of time, I choose to think of it more like crop rotation.  Right now, blogging is my crop being rotated out of high production, and once its phased in, something else with marinate for a bit.  Fallow time isn’t truly unproductive.  Its about giving the soil time to rest, to let it become healthy again.  Sometimes we need to do that in our lives, and there is no shame in it.

Parting Thought (set to music):

(Sweet Honey in the Rock performing “On Children”, the lyrics of which come from the writings of Kahlil Gibran)

P.S. The hubby is nagging me to go to bed (lol, I started writing this around 2 this afternoon, on and off between doing stuff!), so I’m proof-less posting.  Please forgive any boo boos on my part!!

Catch-a-weed

One of our favorite edible and medicinal foraging plants is one we never end up eating.  Sure, we could make tea, or a coffee substitute, or take a bath in it, or use it on wounds.  But…we generally have too much fun with it and it never makes it there!

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Spring=Change, & Musings

HAPPY FIRST BLOOMING!!  It’s SPRING!  Our weather totally wasn’t ready for this two weeks ago…  But now, we even have a nest outside!!

Another sign of spring? Check out the momma Mallard nesting next to our front door.

Check out all these eggs!

This Pagan’s thoughts on Easter+__________:

The theme of a god or goddess who dies and resurrects is as old as the seasons and finds its way into just about every mythology I can think of. There is no good evidence to tie Ishtar and Easter together beyond the fact that they use the same life-death-rebirth theme which comes free in every mythology starter kit. Correlation does not imply causation.

by the author of the blog Stone of Destiny (in the comments)

I had to thank him profusely for that.  For the past few days I’ve been inundated with the “Easter comes from Ishtar” meme on Facebook.  And so, my public service announcement (which I guess makes me fall into category #4 in his actual post) is that Easter does not come from Ishtar, and (for that matter) Eostre might have nothing to do with it either.

There are plenty of things I find more annoying than this habit among Pagans, but…its still pretty annoying. If someone wants to celebrate Ishtar at Easter, that’s their own business (as well as the-possibly-not-historical Eostre for Ostara)…but promulgating it as some sort of persecution complex about how all our holidays were “Co-opted by Christianity” or trying to make it some superiority gig because “ours came first” is just…well, I’m never sure if its ignorance (willful or not), deliberate disingeniousness or just plain intellectual dishonesty, but either way, I’m lacking the energy to point it out for myself this year.

Meet Sapphire, the Ostara Fairy! First Blooming is the time when the trees start to leaf, the flowers start to show off their riotous beauty, and its the favorite time of year  for  Sapphire, who loves the bright colors of eggs, the soft fluff of newborn bunnies and the fresh scent of spring air.  Chickadee says that she lives in a field of tulips, under a tent woven by spiders, from their spider silk (not the sticky kind).   She has a path of bottle caps as stepping stones that lead the way from her tent to the Crystal River, where her very best good friend Emerald lives (you might remember that Emerald is the fairy for Beltane, but if you don’t that’s okay…we’ll be talking about her soon!).

Sapphire’s job is to organize the springing of Spring.  She talks and sings songs to the soil to help seeds sprout, puts baby birds back into nests when they fall out, and finds the best patches of sweet clover for baby bunnies.  We can help her do these things too, in our own neighborhoods, since its really hard for her and her friends to be everywhere.  Sapphire knows that she can depend on the little witchlets to take care of their Place, so that she can concentrate on the Places of the world without a witch.

Our altar for Spring!

Right now I’m…making dinner and having a drink.  I really like simple and easy dinners after a long day.  Especially anything with an easy clean-up, one dish to wash is best! Two frozen chicken breasts, two dozen halved brussel sprouts tossed in olive oil, and a halved yellow squash face down on a baking sheet (all sprinkled with a smattering of garlic salt, basil, and lemon pepper) at 375 degrees F, and 45 minutes later, dinner is served!  Delish!

We are watching the neighbor’s baby, which has brought out Chickadee’s desire for a baby sister.  The hubby and I are pretty sure we are done–we’ve replaced ourselves, and I tend to think that environmentally, that is enough.  Still, sometimes I get the urge to have another cuddlebug…and while that could probably be a blog post all on its own, what I was really going to mention was the conversation that just came out of this event. It went like this:
Chickadee: Mom, I want a baby sister.
Me: Babies are expensive and a lot of work.
Chickadee: Well I can feed her, and rock her, and make sure she doesn’t choke.
Me: They are still expensive.
Chickadee: Well that’s not fair! Babies should be free! Why does it cost so much to buy a baby?!?
Me: Phee, you don’t buy a baby! They don’t come from the store!
Chickadee: Well, duh! They come from your va-GI-na. But you still have to pay to get them out.
I have to say, I’m a pretty darn proud feminist liberal momma at the moment–my six year old not only realizes that affordable medical care should be a “duh” idea, but she ALSO uses the correct terminology for lady parts (all my fault, with help from the hubby).

And, while we are on the subject of vaginas…really? REALLY?

And now, for something completely different…

• Check this out!  Totally on my list of summer fun places to take the kids!
• Also, a GF recipe for cakes and ale!
• And a totally adorable craft!
• I might be starting a new job soonish…but first, I need to stop procrastination blogging and finish my security clearance package!  (it can take months for a security clearance to come through, in the mean time, the busy season at work is picking up)
• I’ve been thinking about writing a book on Pagan(ish) parenting…but its just an idle thought.

Our table full of forage…

One last pic…making sand faeries with Chickadee

Love Potion #37

It doesn’t smell like turpenine or smell like India Ink–that would be Love Potion #9!

Love Potion #37, on the other hand, is quite tasty and looks more like liquid roses (or blood for the macabre-like-my-hubby crowd).  And, it won’t find you love.  However, it might just put you in the mood for it.  Use it with a partner or alone, its great for anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, and grown-up Beltane celebrations!

Warning:  If you have problems with alcohol or alcoholism, this is not the recipe for you!

Love Potion #37
wide mouthed quart jar
a 750 mL bottle of Amaretto (I like di Amore–its pretty tasty and rather affordable)
4 T hibiscus
4 T damiana
4 T honey
1 T mulling spice
1 T jasmine
1 t cardamom

Put herbs and alcohol in the jar, shake daily for the first week.  Infuse 4-6 weeks in cool, dark place. Strain out alcohol and rebottle.

Love Potion # 37 is technically a tincture, though not as strong as your typical medicinal tincture.  Its made in pretty much the same way(if you aren’t all that familiar with tincture making, check out the video below!), although it contains a bit less alcohol than using 100 proof vodka (50% alcohol is the typical amount of alcohol in a tincture).

You can drink it straight (its best cold), on the rocks, topped off with either water or sprite for a less alcolic beverage (I quite like it this way), or made into an amaretto sour or similar drink.  It is effective in spells and rituals based around one’s relationship, as well as divination concerning love and relationships.

The Herbs
Here’s a list of the herbs in the tincture, and their applicable magical correspondences and medicinal properties…
Damiana–lust, love, and visions (magical); digestive aid, nerve and reproductive tonic (medical); reputed aphrodesiac
Hibiscus–lust, love, and divination (magical); digestive aid and improves circulation (medicinal)
Jasmine–love and dream prophecy (magical); liver tonic and digestive aid (medicinal); reputed aphrodesiac
Cardamom–lust and love (magical); stimulant, digestive aid (medicinal); reputed aphrodesiac
Allspice*–luck and healing (magical); digestive aid (medicinal)
Clove*–love (magical); digestive aid, male reproductive tonic (medicinal)
Ginger*–love and power (magical); mild stimulant, promotes circulation, and digestive aid** (medicinal)
Orange peel*–love and divination (magical); digestive aide, liver tonic (medicinal)

*from the mulling spices
**you may have noticed that all of these herbs are digestive aids, if it seems peculiar that I’ve listed this as a related medicinal property, think about the parts of the body where the digestive system is located in conjunction with the associated chakras…plus, who wants sex when their tummy hurts, lol?!?

Enjoy!

Making it (more) Magical: Another option to consider when making potions is to “brew” at the appropriate point in the moon’s cycle, for one full cycle (as well as other considerations like time of day, etc). Also, use the time “shaking” or mixing the potion to charge it, particularly the first week. If one is doing any energy work in conjunction with making the potion, I’d recommend doing so during the mixing, straining or bottling steps.

(If you were wondering, why #37, its my own notation for making concoctions–it would more accurately read 3-7 for the 7th “try” of the third series of love potions…the first series is water infusions, second series is for oil infusions, etc)

How to Host a Mermaid’s Birthday

We tend to celebrate Ostara after the fact.  Chickadee’s birthday is on Ostara, and we’ve gotten in the habit of celebrating it the weekend prior and Ostara the weekend afterwards.  This way we have some recovery time between the two, and one doesn’t get lost in the shadow of the other too much.  So last weekend, we hosted the Mermaid Birthday Slumber Party.

If I had time (or money to blow), I might have done something like this (or a simple skirt with elastic at the bottom and “fins”) for the girls to decorate.  We might even have done a little craft like these two, with clothespins.  I could have checked out Disney’s site, since they have plenty of printables and other activities (I’m neither a Disney princess loving or hating parent–my parental motto is “outside time, books, and tea to the max, everything else in moderation”).  We might even have made a mess in the kitchen making sand dollar cookies (they are even gluten free!).  We might even have done these adorable fish bowl drinks (obviously the kid’s version) or played mermaid games that mom made or even gotten (or made) all the girls these adorable frou frou hair clips!.  And this, how adorable!

Holly Carp!  I certainly don’t have time to do all of that, or the money to get someone else to do it for me.  If you do, more power to you.  I mean, the pintrest pics are adorable when you search “mermaid party”.  But there’s part of me that can’t help but wonder who is that party really for–the kids, or the mom?

Lets just say that Chickadee’s party wasn’t as cool or pretty as any of those, and leave my bitchiness out of it!

She loved it anyway. It probably could have been (with more time and the money) more like the pintrest mermaid parties, but…what little girl wants mom (or dad) to coordinate and finagle an entire evening?  Kids want to play (without our interference).  So, mostly we let them play.

Stingrays–we made symmetry paintings with glitter glue pens and yarn for tails. I got the idea from a preschool science program I created for work.  The only “tricky” thing I had to do was cut out the stingray shape onto some construction paper.

We did a couple of themed food and art projects, but for the most part, the girls played in “the kid room”.  I kept the (short and easy) activities for when the kids started getting too out of control, or bickering (a bunch of 5-7 year old girls, and its bound to happen a time or two).  And when it came time to settle down for the night, we put Little Mermaid on.

We ate pizzas that we cut to look like sea shells and fish.  The girls made rice krispie “sushi” (thanks to Little Miss’s mom bringing the fixin’s over)–and likely had much more fun making a mess in my kitchen than if I had made them ahead of time as a snack.  We painted some plaster mermaid figurines that I picked up at work (I live in the city of mermaids, so it might come as no surprise that the maritime museum has an entire mermaid section), though there are some cute mermaid crafts that could have been done on the cheap (but still cute) instead–I did like the clothespin mermaids. We also made stingray paintings, and a great alternative would have been these paper plate jellyfish using ribbon and sewing leftovers.

Rice Crispy Sushi

Just make Rice Crispy square mix as you normally would (the recipe is usually on either marshmallows or the Rice Crispy box), and spread a layer on a fruit roll-up, use gummi worms for the middle, roll it up and cut.  You can also use Swedish fish, and make it look more like nigiri (the rice with the fish on top, that sometimes has the little seaweed “ribbon”).  You could also do this with alternatives–your own fruit leather, dried fruits, etc (for events like birthdays and such, I don’t usually sweat the red dye and massive amounts of sugar).

A small tip–so, we made these “to go”, in the morning, rather than chowing down on them at night.  Chickadee ended up taking a piece in her lunch for the week.  Honestly, its an adorable idea and the girls had a blast, if you can stand the temporary sugar shock!