Spring Forage: 3 Herbs from the Lawn

Tags

chickweed, clover, foraging, henbit

Chances are, if you live in North America, parts of Europe, and (maybe) even bits of Australia and New Zealand, that (at least some of) these “weeds” can be found in your yard, a neighbor’s yard, or a field in a park or school yard.

Henbit

(scientific name: Lamium amplexicaule)

Henbit crown (the best part for eating, with or without flowers)

• sprawling, annual herb
• square stems (a sign that its in the mint family)
• fuchsia tube-like flowers with a slightly fuzzy top (though flower color is variable from pale lavender to a dark magenta)
• naturalized in Eastern North America (and in other areas globally)
• popular with pollinators (including honeybees and hummingbirds)
• similar looking plants are also edible (no poisonous look-alikes)

So, this guy is one of my favorite early spring forage foods.  Henbit is easy to find and super tasty….sort of like kale or spinach, great sauteed with a wee bit of butter and some garlic, or in salad, or in a smoothie.  Plus, you can take the flowers (fresh or dried) and make tea from them (and we all know how I like tea).  Or you can take the flowers and munch on them and they taste sort of like honeysuckle (and we all know how much I like to rid the world of honeysuckle flowers).  I will make one very practical suggestion, from personal experience…limit yourself to no more than one cup of henbit (before cooking), else you may end up very, very gassy.

If harvesting for the greens, be sure to just snip the crowns.  Also, get the juicy ones, not the sort of crunchy and dry ones for best flavor (you’ll know when you feel them up a bit, lol).    Historically, henbit has been used to help heal wounds (as a wash or in tea), to induce sweating or help digestive ailments, and to bring on menstruation (if you are pregnant, you might want to avoid this herb as a precaution).  Magically, henbit is well suited to spells or rituals for clarity, energy, cleansing, and creativity.

Henbit (L) vs Purple Dead Nettle (R)

Chickweed

Common Chickweed, great in smoothies!

 

Common chickweed (Stellaria media) is one of several species of chickweed, all of which are edible.  It is characterized by tiny, white  5 cleft-petaled flowers (which basically make it look like it has 10 petals) and paired, smooth petals.  It produces saponins (which can be toxix) and should not be consumed in large amounts, but is a nutritious and delicious addition to salads and smoothies, and can be eaten raw or cooked.  Chickweed is best when young and tender.  When looking for chickweed (as opposed to similar but poisonous species), be sure your plant has:

• NO milky sap
• A row of tiny hairs growing in a row on one side of the stem that switches to the other side at each pair of leaves
• Opposite ovate or lanceolate (meaning they are ovular with a pointy tip) leaves
• If you gently bend and twist the stem, you can break the outer stem while the inner stem remains intact
• Small white deeply notched five petaled flowers (looks like 10 petals)

I usually harvest the ends–the flower and first couple pairs of leaves.  This can then be frozen, dried, or prepared fresh (freezing  chickweed lets you add it to smoothies all year long!).  Star chickweed can also be eaten in the same manner, but mouse-eared chickweed needs to be cook to moderate its hairiness.  Magically, these flowers can be used for magic and rituals associated with love, relationships, and fidelity.  Historically, it has been used medicinally to reduce inflammation (internally and externally), as a mild laxative, and in salves and poultices for mild burns and injuries.

 

White Clover

White clover (Trifolium repens) is a low growing pasture plant readily found in yards and fields.  It is characterized by its three leaves with the pale triangular markings and tiny spiky white flowers clustered together (what we think of as the flower of a clover is really dozens of densely packed flowers).  While the leaves are technically edible, they need to be boiled for at least 5 minutes before they are easily digestible.  The flowers however, make a lovely tea, whether fresh or dried.

 

Other clover varieties can also be used as tea (red clover is especially nutritious and widely used medicinally), but care should be taken when foraging because there are some similar looking species that are poisonous (most clovers are edible, but some have mixed reviews, and others are not).

Magically, clover can be used for magics dealing with protection, money and success, love, fidelity, and exorcism.  It is a masculine herb that corresponds with Mercury and Air.  Medicinally, clover has historically been used in teas for colds, coughs, and fevers, and in washes for wounds (also as a rinse for the eyes).  Additionally, the dried flowers and seed pods can be ground up as “flour” and used as a seasoning.  the dried flowers also make a good addition to incense and potpourri.

Crimson Clover (or Italian Clover), not to be confused with Red Clover (which is really pink

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June Forage: Japanese Honeysuckle

Tags

bioregionalism, edible plants, forage, herbs, honeysuckle, invasive species, know your flora, magical herbs, medicinal herbs, wildcrafting

Not long ago, when most people were still fairly attuned to nature, it was commonly noted that her flowers resembled lovers entwined, thereby making “Love Bind,” as she was sometimes called, a symbol of devotion and love. In Victorian times, it was said that if one brought a Honeysuckle bouquet into the house, a wedding would follow within the year. Prudence being the operative theme in those days, perhaps marriage was the only possible option for release of wanton desires, for it was well-known that the perfume that spills from her honey-lipped blossoms would spark dreams of passion and desire.

(source)

If there is any plant that I have a love-hate relationship with…its honeysuckle.  On one hand, its fragrant and tasty and medicinal.  On the other hand, its a pervasively invasive species that does an incredible amount of damage to native ecosystems. When it comes to plants like these (kudzu, garlic mustard, mimosa, etc), I’m particularly bloodthirsty (sapthirsty?) and more than happy to pick ’em til they’re gone (a number of parks are more than happy to let you rid them of invasive species, if you ask the persons in charge of them).

There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, most native to the northern hemisphere. The greatest number of species is in China with over 100. North America and Europe have only about 20 native species each, and the ones in Europe are usually toxic.  Taste is not a measure of toxicity. Some Lonicera have delicious berries that are quite toxic and some have unpalatable berries that are not toxic at all. This is one plant on which taste is not a measure of edibility. Properly identify the species.

(from one of my fave wild edible sites, Eat the weeds)

Our favorite way to enjoy honeysuckle, of course, is sucking the nectar out of the bottom of the freshly picked flower…but we also dry the flower buds and fresh blooms to use in teas and salves.  I’m more then happy to pick as many of the flowers as possible, because less flowers mean less berries, and less berries mean less seeds, and less seeds, mean less honeysuckle plants taking over and smothering native plants.  Unfortunately, honeysuckle is a difficult plant to control the growth and spread of.

General Description: 

Japanese honeysuckle is a perennial vine that climbs by twisting its stems around vertical structures, including limbs and trunks of shrubs and small trees. Leaves are oblong to oval, sometimes lobed, have short stalks, and occur in pairs along the stem. In southern and mid-Atlantic states, Japanese honeysuckle often remains evergreen – its leaves remain attached through the winter. In colder northern climates, the leaves may fall off after exposure to prolonged winter temperatures. Flowers are tubular, with five fused petals, white to pink, turning yellow with age, very fragrant, and occur in pairs along the stem at leaf junctures. Stems and leaves are sometimes covered with fine, soft hairs. Japanese honeysuckle blooms from late April through July and sometimes into October. Small black fruits (photo) are produced in autumn, each containing 2-3 oval to oblong, dark brown seeds about 1/4 inch across.

(from the National Park Service’s “Least Wanted” list)

Parts of interest:   Harvest the unopened blooms early in the morning for infusions or tinctures.  Open blooms can also be harvested for tea and for culinary preparations (honey suckle flowers are tasty in salads).  The young leaves and vine tips of Japanese honeysuckle are edible after boiling (I haven’t tried this myself yet)–the big thing to remember here is the “after boiling”–the leaves are said to have high levels of saponins, which can make you sick to your tummy, but are mostly removed through parboiling, and not readily absorbed through the human digestive tract anyhow. Additionally, it is reported that the vines themselves can be used for basketry. DO NOT INGEST THE BERRIES!  Reports of toxicity vary, but honeysuckle berries are generally agreed to be mildly poisonous in  most species.

How to prepare flowers:  There are a number of ways to use honeysuckle blooms.  First, consider drying them for later use in infusions.  Honeysuckle makes an excellent additive in salves, and a lovely and fragrant infusion.  The unopened blooms are best for drying, but the opened blossoms are suitable for using fresh.  Flowers can be candied, used to make a simple syrup (which can even be used in adult beverages), infused in honey, or turned into jelly.

What its good for:  Medicinally, honeysuckle has been traditionally recommended to combat inflammation, fever, infection, and skin conditions.  Magically, it is said to attract friends, love, prosperity, fidelity, and clear thinking.

Errata:  Honeysuckle is a plant that has quite a bit of disagreement about its use–which species and which parts of a particular species should be used for which ailments, which parts of the plants from which species are safe, etc.  If you choose to forage for honeysuckle as a food or medicine, please do so with caution.

Thursday Musings

Tags

blue hair, dorothy parker, smoothies, sunscreen, superhero worship

Thank the gods!  Michele Bachman isn’t running in the next election…

And in other news, my living room is a mess after Sharkbait tipped over a bowl of “kid mix” into his already upturned Lego mess, and proceeded to dance in it and toss it all about.  I was in the bathroom, cleaning the shower.  I think I’m going to leave it for The Hubby to clean up when he gets home from work.  Partly because I’m evil like that, and partly (mainly) because I have the AC off and the windows open, and all I really want to do is swing on the porch and drink lemon aid…but we don’t have a porch, nor do we have any lemons.  So, I’m going to go with not cleaning as my consolation prize.

Instead, I’m engaging in a spot of totally flighty and environmentally unsound vanity–I’m bleaching the bottom six inches of my hair, and then I’m going to dye it blue.  You might be wondering “Why!?!”  And I can really only say “Why not?”

There’s part of me (the mom part) that says “Dude, don’t you think you are a little old for that?” and another part of me (the employed part) that says “Ummm…pretty sure that’s not entirely professional…” But mostly–I didn’t really get that much opportunity to do crazy hair stuff in high school (I wasn’t rebellious enough to go behind my mom’s back, and my mom was so reasonable in letting my dye my hair in the first place, that I wanted to be responsible about it) and I just never bothered to in college…and after that, I was in the military.  I could have done it right after the military, but I didn’t (though I did get highlights and had some clip in streaks).  And I guess, I’m thinking to myself…my hair has never been this long in my entire life, and I need to get it cut (lots of split ends)…but I want to do something funky, just once.  I’m pretty sure I can do my hair for work in a way that won’t be very noticeble.

So here goes (pics to follow) nothing!

Randomly, I’ve decided to make my own runes.  And when I say “my own runes”, I mean literally making my own little symbols from my own little observations on my own little stones or such.  I’m actually thinking about using Popsicle sticks, decorating the bottom halves and and drawing them from a cup.

The ends of my hair are just a tad orange right now…

FINALLY, ITS GETTING HOT!!!  I love summer weather…the poor hubby though, he’s not a hot weather sort of guy.  Its the one area of our relationship where we are miss-matched.  He’s an Arctic Canada sort of guy, and I’m a baking hot Caribbean beaches sort of girl!

Summer weather means Kitchen Sink Smoothies for Breakfast!  I’ve been doing “everything but the kitchen sink” smoothies for breakfast as a way to get some fruits and veggies on the run.  I just don’t have enough time in the morning otherwise.  Saturday I chopped up 10 quart sized bags of fruit and veggies and tossed them in the freezer–the “rule” is to have something of (nearly) every color in each bag, and to have a good combination of fruits and veggies over the week, then I toss ’em in the blender with kefir, yogurt, juice, apple sauce, or even just water (yesterday I used canned peaches).  For breakfast today I had strawberry-sweet potato-kumquat-pineapple-lemon balm and mint-kale-mulberry with kefir smoothie…and guess what?!?  It was freekin’ yummy!  And filling…  I’m thinking about tossing in some flax seeds tomorrow.  Any ideas for simple add-ins?

Almost time for blue hair…

So…lets talk sun screen!  Along with my current hair project (btw, I’m solidly orange at the tips right now), one area where I make allowances for the non-organic, environmentally un-friendly and self-serving is with sun screen.  I’m a believer.   I have faith.  After years as a life guard and avowed sun-worshipper…in this case, I believe in the magic and holiness of petrochemical derivatives slathered on my skin.  My great-grandmother died of melanoma, my grandfather just had several melanoma spots removed, and I have vitiligo.  And yeah, I’ve tried natural alternatives (coconut oil, for example)…they don’t work all that well (I work outside)–particularly with the vitaligo and/or aren’t conductive to the sorts of outdoor activities that I enjoy, or are potentially just as bad for the environment anyhow (zinc and titanium come from mining after all).

With all of that said, I really like this stuff (and no, they didn’t pay me or provide me a free sample to say that!  though it would be nice, lol)…although, since I have to order it online, sometimes I end up getting other stuff in a pinch.  When you are looking for and using sunscreens, remember the following:

• SPF indicates how much UVB ray protection you are getting–look for sun screens that say “broad spectrum.  Labeling rules for the FDA now require testing showing UVA protection equal to the UVB protection before a company can call a product “broad spectrum”.
• Wear at least an SPF 15 if you want to prevent aging and skin cancer, as opposed to just preventing sun burn (another reason why things like coconut oil aren’t really good enough if you are in a high risk category for skin cancer), but don’t bother buying anything over an SPF 50.  When it comes to SPF, SPF 15 blocks about 94% of UVB rays, SPF 30 blocks about 97%, and SPF 50 blocks about 98%.  No sunscreen blocks 100% of UVA or UVB rays.
• Apply enough sunscreen.  Dermatologists estimate that you need two full shot glasses of sunscreen for the “average” adult body.  Most people don’t apply enough sunscreen–even among parents, most parents only use 1/2 or even 1/4 of what they should on their children.  When I put sunscreen on my kids, I put it on and keep putting it on until it doesn’t “soak in” at all (yeah, we all run around streaky for a while).
• Reapply frequently.  I cannot stress this enough.  Reapply, reapply, reapply.  The official recommendation in normal conditions is every 2 hours…if you are sweating or swimming, it needs to be more often than that.  There is no such thing as sweatproof or waterproof suscreens, only resistant ones.  We reapply every 60-90 minutes.  Also, apply your first application of sunscreen about 20-30 minutes BEFORE getting in the sun, and then a second time, about 30-40 minutes after getting out into the sun (then reapply as needed).
• Remember that sunscreen is meant to be for the times when there is no alternative to being in the sun!  If you can stay out of the sun on especially sunny days and/or during the peak sun hours (usually 10-2), do so.  For example, we generally do our trips to the beach first thing in the morning, around 7:30 am until about 10 or 10:30 or after 4 in the evening…the added benefit is that both tire everyone out enough for a nice nap or for bedtime!  If you can’t stay out of the sun, look into sun protective clothing.

A conversation I recently had with my daughter (and the hubby) went something like this…

Chickadee says to The Hubby: Do I have a proper name?
The Hubby says back: What do you mean, a proper name?
Chickadee says: You know, a name that lots of people share with me!
The Hubby says: OH! You mean a POPULAR name… (looks at me) Honey? Is her name popular?
Me to Chickadee: Yeah, we didn’t plan it that way, but it ends up that your name is pretty popular. Is that all right?
Chickadee: Oh, that is great! I have the BESTEST IDEA EVER!
Me: Really?
Chickadee: YEAH! I’m going to throw a S_________ party!
Hubby: A S________ party? What’s that?
Chickadee: A party for everyone named S________! But Mom, I might need your help.
Me: Okay, what’s the problem?
Chickadee: How are we going to have enough food?
Me: Oh. Yeah, I can’t cook for that many people.
Hubby: What about a potluck?
Me: There we go–all of the S_________’s in the world can bring a dish of their favorite food to share with the other S_____________’s!
Chickadee (unconvinced): But…there wouldn’t be enough tables.
Me: Well, what if every town with an S________ put up a few tables in their town square, and all of the S_______’s brought their favorite foods, and they could all hang out and talk together?
Chickadee: I guess that sounds like a good idea…but…how am I going to visit all of those towns to make sure they have napkins?

And in the Pagan world…there’s a current-ish (from about a week or so ago) dust up over mythic heros vs. fictional superheros as the recipients of reverence in the private practice of some Pagans.  Now, why the heck some Pagans are getting their noses all bent out of shape over what some other Pagans do in their own practices, I’m not sure.  My momma once told me “When the whole damn neighborhood lives in glass houses don’t throw rocks, or ya’ll will end up homeless.”

Look…Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter exist because myth exists, and because myth is not static, and because the threads of myth can be retwined and redyed and rewoven and rethreaded and reembellished over and over and over and over and still say something about humanity as much as it does divinity.  Not every Pagan believes in the gods or myth the same way.  I might think worshiping Tony Stark is silly, but as an agnostic-leaning pantheistic soft polytheist, I can see a case for using modern storytelling as a segue into a conversation and connection with Divinity.  Its not my place to tell someone else they are doing it wrong (or, for that matter, right).  I wouldn’t for one moment assume, in a world where there are hundreds of thousands of religious denominations, that I had any idea of what “right” looks like for anyone other than myself.

Anyhoo, to get some idea of who says what (if you even care), check out the following link, which lays some of the blogs on the topic.  But there are more, many more (and some of them are quite mean spirited).  The Hubby has some terse and downright hilarious things to say on this subject, so stay tuned for a possible interview!

And check out the hair!

And now, a parting thought before heading to the gym (since I have a rare day to myself!):

Bohemia

Authors and actors and artists and such
Never know nothing, and never know much.
Sculptors and singers and those of their kidney
Tell their affairs from Seattle to Sydney.
Playwrights and poets and such horses’ necks
Start off from anywhere, end up at sex.
Diarists, critics, and similar roe
Never say nothing, and never say no.
People Who Do Things exceed my endurance;
God, for a man that solicits insurance!

I LOVE DOROTHY PARKER!!!

Mother’s Day Musings

Tags

cooking, fallow time, gluten-free, mother's day

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

Tags

cleavers, foraging, herbs, kids, playing outside

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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