Thats What She Said

Since I have lots to share and no two things go together, how about I put this in "daybook" fashion, mmmkay?  Should this be a weekly thing?  Anybody anybody?
Favorite picture of the week:

 The minions curled up watching Backyardigans this morning.  Notice the "summer legs".  Every time Butterbean's knees heal, she falls and skins them again.  I swear we don't beat them, these kids are just forever running, jumping, climbing, and talking (the last one - they.never.stop.)


Least favorite thing of the week: Stinkbugs.

If they ruin my garden it's very possible you will find me curled up in the fetal position, crying.  For the love of all things holy, I spent $50 on heirloom seeds ... if I have to quit my job to hand squish these f$#%ers off my plants, the Mister will have to get over it.

Song I can't stop singing: Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones

Do I need a reason for this one?

I can't stop eating: Organic Pink Lady apples, and this amazing Coconut Lime Berry Cake.  If you make it, cut the sugar in half - it does not need an entire cup.  The Mister woke me up Saturday morning and requested this ... if he hadn't gotten up with the kids and let me sleep in, I would have told him to piss off.  But it's so easy and sooooooo good.

What I made this week :  Scrap-fabric flower headbands for Mooch.  She loves headbands, and since The Mister is usually the one getting her ready in the morning, these help her not look like a little hobo.

Rant of the week: I'm sorry, but I cannot get over the bashing Mrs. B took over the whole Circle Of Moms blog contest.  If you missed it, the contest is here (please vote for your favorite blog, whatever it may be!)and Mrs. B.'s blog post about the hoopla is here.  Yes, the bashers have apologized and have been removed from the contest, but I honestly cannot believe the hate spread by a bunch of alleged "Christians".  What an insult to the sweet wonderful Christians I know.  It would take up this entire damn post to cover all the misconceptions about Pagans, but allow me to hit on two that are burning me up right now:

Pagans do not believe in Satan.  Satan is a Christian concept, not a Pagan one.  The horned god that you see represented in Pagan works is the fertility god (just how deer sprout horns in spring when they are most fertile - get it?)

You don't need to pray for our children, and honestly ... isn't that a little disrespectful?  Isn't that implying that our children are in some sort of danger?  If raising your child to respect all forms of life, to take care of our Earth, to spread goodwill, to commit random acts of kindness, and to appreciate beauty every day is putting my child in harms way .. then by all means, pray away.  

And - the most dreaded - Thing I Have To Accomplish This Week:

I have to completely re-work our downstairs playroom/computer room.  I live with 2 clutter bugs and a two year old.  The clutter bugs would sooner chop off their pinkies then throw ANYTHING away ("Why are you throwing away that piece of paper Mooch scribbled on two years ago?  I WANT TO KEEP THAT!"  "Mommy, I need every single McDonald's toy I've ever gotten!  Yes, even the boy ones!")  I bought a few things to get the organizational groove on, and I need to sort and organize a ton of Mooch's school work from the last year, all our books (will I ever really read For Whom The Bell Tolls?  Prolly not.  Sorry, Ernie) and sooo much other crap stuff.  This is especially important now that the weather is heating up - our downstairs in a finished basement and is lovely and cool all summer long, I want to be able to enjoy it and not walk in and want to scream.

^ Connected to this project ... I need to dispose of some poor neglected fish.  Still alive.  I think a 100 lb dog and a cat who thinks he's a dog are enough pets for a little house.  What's the nicest way to do this?  We have a stream nearby, I'm thinking about sending them to live there.  

I'll be back, my lovelies ... here's a tease of a project I've just started ... what could it be? ;-)

All-Clear, and Ag Day

She's OK!
Dermatologist checked Mooch out and said she has hereditary moles (moley moley MOLEY) and that they are fine.  My aunt had reminded me the other day that our Pop-pop was covered in moles, and that she probably had the same thing.  Mooch walked into the dermatologist's office and unfortunately they had the room set up for the appointment after her - someone who was getting shots.  Frickin syringes everywhere.  She looked at me and collapsed in tears on my lap, sure that the whole "you're not getting shots today" thing was a bald-faced lie.  Luckily the promise of a milkshake afterward got her through.  Thank you again for all your good wishes and love sent her way.
Saturday was the University's Ag Day, one of my all-time favorite events.  The Mister was working so I filled up the tires on our sweet John Deere wagon, packed up all our essentials and headed out with the minions.  We stayed for almost 4 hours and had so much fun!  

Mooch being dressed up as a buzzy-bee at the honeybee exhibit.  See that booth thing in the background?  Full of bees.  One of the entomology students (jealous) stood in there and talked to the kids about the importance of honeybees while they swirled around her.  Butterbean was too into her ice cream.  The University has a creamery that just opened, featuring ice cream made from the milk of the cows we have in our Ag department.  Isn't that awesome?

A baby calf!  Right next to her was a big mama cow who had given birth 6 days before.  The girls absolutely loved the cows, the calf was licking Butterbean's fingers and trying to nurse.

I met up with a neighbor and her son, and the kids were going crazy on the hay bales, racing back and forth (probably burning off the sugar rush from the ice cream). 

Mooch with You Dee, our school mascot!  Butterbean was terrified of the giant blue chicken.

Petting bunnies.  I really, really want to get a bunny, but that may put The Mister over the edge.

Dancing!  The bands this year were really good.  Butterbean danced for about a minute, but I could barely tear Mooch away.  Look at this face!

Hay maze!  I probably could have just thrown a bunch of bales in our backyard and they would have been in heaven.
Look at this cute lil' buzzy bee

And pony rides.  Mooch is an old pro at pony rides since we have approximately 85 gazillion farm festivals around us, but this was Butterbean's first time ever.  She LOVED IT.  Like, threw a screaming tantrum when I went to get her off loved it.  Kid, these rides are $5 a pop!

I hope you all had a peaceful, lovely weekend.  We are celebrating Beltane all this week, planting like crazy and being outside as much as possible.  I have to take pictures of the goings-on in our yard, there have been some MAYJAH changes :-)
Peace and love to all my lovelies!!

Underneath my candy shell, I am chock-full of Pagan-y goodness.

Hello all my lovelies.  I don't know what the hellfire has gotten into me, but I am as unmotivated as I could be.  I'm struggling to get through this leeeeettle bit of work I have to get done at work, which may be due to the fact that not of it is pressing and almost no one is there this week.  (Must be nice, faculty!)
Anywho, I have blogged before about Jenna Woginrich's amazing book, Made From Scratch (her blog, Cold Antler Farm, is here)  Be warned before reading - I am now obsessed with homesteading.  Like, am planning to live as MUCH of my land as possible, whether the Mister likes it or not.  Luckily, he is completely on board.
Mister: We are NOT sneaking chickens into our backyard.
Me: You don't love me. *pout*
Mister: No, I don't love getting fined by the city or pissing off our neighbors.
Me: I will only acquiesce if we build another raised bed.  And you have to help me get the other rain barrel ready.  Do you think we could afford solar panels?
Mister, doing this weird head/eye-rubbing thing and turning a funny color: I need a drink.  Did you just use the word acquiesce?  Do you even know how to spell that?
Me: Yes.  (Thank you Dictionary.com)
So YAY on marital harmony and mutual goals.  
One of the amazing points that Jenna makes in her book is integrating re-purposing and re-using into your daily life.  Whenever she needs a new appliance, or furniture or whatever, she heads to a secondhand store.  It struck me as so simple because, duh - #1 it's cheaper, and #2 it's completely green.  With that in mind, I've been stalking our local Goodwill more than I usually do, since I need some updated kitchen stuff.  I am coveting a cast-iron skillet, as well as some big earthenware crocks for storing sauerkraut in, since I have planted a lot of cabbage this year.  I wandered into the book section the other day and spotted a paperback copy of the first Harry Potter book for $1, and hardcover copies of both Cider House Rules and Gap Creek, two of my all-time favorite books, for 50 cents each.  
I was psyched and all but as I left and stomped back to campus the obsessive homesteader voice in my head started up. 
"But if I had chickens I'd have my own eggs, and they could eat the bugs out of the garden, and we could have meat hens so we could have our own fresh chicken, and it would be so fun oh I want them I want them I WANT THEMMM!"
When I looked up and saw this:

So clearly the Universe is telling me to chill the fuck out, I will get my damn chickens eventually.  In the meantime, keep on cluckin'.


I don't know about you but personally if I see one more post on FB about "Easter isn't about chocolate, it's about JESUS!!"  I may lose what's left of my mind.  Add that to dude in a dark suit who walked up to me on the street and attempted to shove a pamphlet into my hand, with no explanation.  When I asked him what it was he said, "It's about the way Jesus died for your sins"  "Oh, umm ... tell him thank you, but I don't need your pamphlet."  It's around every Christian holiday that I want to shut off every form of communication with the outside world, sit in my backyard with my family, and just BE without anyone trying to ram a Bible down my throat or lecture me.  
A few years ago I sent an email forward to the mothers in my extended family on Mother's Day, which was a funny little story about a girl giving her daddy "tea" and he thought it was really cute until he realized the only place she could reach water was in the toilet.  I forwarded it with a message saying, Happy Mother's Day, I love you all and hope you have a day filled with peace and quiet.  Nothing controversial, right?
Sigh.
I had forgotten about my signature quote at the bottom, which was this: 
A living planet is a much more complex metaphor for deity than just a bigger father with a bigger fist. If an omniscient, all-powerful Dad ignores your prayers, it's taken personally. Hear only silence long enough, and you start wondering about his power. His fairness. His very existence. But if a world mother doesn't reply, Her excuse is simple. She never claimed conceited omnipotence. She has countless others clinging to her apron strings, including myriad species unable to speak for themselves. To Her elder offspring She says - go raid the fridge. Go play outside. Go get a job. Or, better yet, lend me a hand. I have no time for idle whining. ~David Brin
The next day I got an email response from my cousin, who is Christian - like, did missionary work on her honeymoon Christian.
I won't bore you with the entirety but the gist of it was, it's cute that you believe in an Earth mother, but that has no basis in reality.  If you would just *read* the Bible, you'd see how much sense it makes to be Christian.  
There were also a few allusions to the idea that my parents hadn't raised me right.  And she ended it all with a quote from Napoleon FUCKING Bonaparte.
Umm, no.
I sat there after reading it and shook for 10 minutes straight.  The only thing in my mind was - why?  Why would you attack me when I was trying to be nice?  Why do you need to make it about MY personal belief system?  And WHY ARE YOU SUCH A DICK???
I waited a day for responding to her, and then responded truthfully - that I loved her and her kids and respected their religion, and the only thing that I asked from her was that she respect mine right back.  That my parents had raised me to be kind, be gentle, and be truthful, thankyouverymuch.  That I had in fact read the Bible - why would she assume I hadn't?  
It went back and forth a few times.  What I said to her in the last (thankfully) email was : The minute you start screaming about your beliefs, people cover their ears and walk away.  But if you LIVE them, if you inspire others, if you get around rhetoric and get back to spirituality, you influence so many other people.  I don't need a book written by man, or a church created by man, to interfere in my spiritual life.  No one tells me what is right or wrong.  I have Christian friends who are some of the most lovely, sweet, gentle souls I have ever met, and they inspire me.  I have Pagan friends who move me with their love of our Earth and each other.  And a lot of other religions.  I'm always baffled by the Christian mindset that you need to convert everyone - really?  How boring.  How about, love everybody.  Forgive everybody, cherish everybody.
So I'm trying not to let the busybodies ruin a perfectly fun weekend with my family.  Cause in our house, it IS about the chocolate.

It's the most witchiest time of the year ....

I now know that my life has more or less always followed Pagan principles, I just didn't have a definition for my beliefs.  It just always felt right to honor and respect nature, to not cause harm to any living thing, to heal with and use natural elements instead of chemicals.  The one sided-ness of Christianity was never anything I could get behind ... even my five year old knows that to create life, you need BOTH a seed and an egg.  Honoring just the Father, with no mention of a Mother?  Except for Mary .... yet she has to be a virgin to be honored?  Paganism celebrates the God as well as the Goddess, acknowledges that they both rule different elements and seasons, and the creed "An it harm none, do as ye will" is the one rule.  The simplicity of that keeps me focused and peaceful.  There is no room for your own interpretation .... you are either harming someone or something or you are not.
I'm challenging myself every day to bring about more understanding of Paganism.  I avoid labels of any kind because I don't like the knee-jerk reactions that they provoke, but I would love to be able to sum up my beliefs without the negative connotations that come with it.
So let's start with Samhain.  

No, not that one.  
Samhain (pronounced sow-en) is a Pagan sabbat (any of eight pagan religious festivals commemorating phases of the changing season) which honors ancestors who have passed, and the Earth's transition from the abundance of summer to the cold of the winter.  The word Samhain in Celtic means "summer's end".  It is also a time when the veil between the spirit world and this world is said to be very thin, which is why skulls, tombstones, skeletons, etc are typical Halloween decorations. On this sabbat, we honor the dead with a "silent supper" - a plate of food set out next to a glass of wine; with telling stories of those who have passed and remembering the time we had with them.  We hope that they will show us a sign that they are with us, but communicating with them is hoped for, never commanded.  Pagans believe disturbance of the dead immoral, as they have earned their rest.
In our house, this is when I also clean and organize as much as possible to make our home comfortable during the winter.  I dread the winter every year, so I start craft projects for me and the kids to keep us occupied, and stock up on birdseed for our birdy friends.  This year I will also be planning my garden (yayyyy!) for next year, and in March I will start a lot of seeds.  And with my sweet new fire pit, I have fires on the patio on cold evenings to look forward to.  
If you are interested in learning more about Samhain or any of the sabbats, I encourage you to educate yourself.  Just typing in Samhain on a search will give you loads of reading material.  
Hope you are well and Blessed Samhain!
)O(

 

Falling Leaf Moon

Tonight is one of the most powerful moons of the year ... the Falling Leaf Moon, the full moon before Samhain.  A night for extra potency for your rituals and prayers, and for us - a night for our first fire pit!  I have been wanting one for a while - my parents have a gorgeous chiminea AND a huge fire pit my Dad dug and lined with rocks.  Is there anything better on a crisp fall evening than a fire?  
And, ok - fire pit?  It's actually kind of a fire bowl.  One of these:

I was sure to point out to the Mister this is *not* my "forever fire pit" and reserve the right to upgrade to a fancier one if I come across it and the price is right.  But for now in will serve nicely.

Tonight comes a ritual of my dedication to the Mother.  I have been planning and researching this and I'm excited and for some reason also have that wiggly feeling in my belly.  The closest thing I can match it to is I feel like I'm about to lose my virginity - again.  I'll also be placing some protection around our house as well ... see Mrs. B's article on witch's bottles for more on this.


Moon facts and myths are always fascinating to me.  Butterbean loves saying hi to the moon and will drag me outside after her bath saying, "MOON, Mama!  Hi moon!" then blows a kiss and tells the moon goodnight.  Mooch loves watching the moon "follow us home" when we drive home, and if she gets scared at bedtime we talk about the moon watching over her as she sleeps and chasing bad dreams away.  


Some interesting moon facts for you :
Ocean tug

Tides on Earth are caused mostly by the Moon (the Sun has a smaller effect). Here's how it works:
The Moon's gravity pulls on Earth's oceans. High tide aligns with the Moon as Earth spins underneath. Another high tide occurs on the opposite side of the planet because gravity pulls Earth toward the Moon more than it pulls the water.
At full Moon and new Moon, the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up, producing the higher than normal tides (called spring tides, for the way they spring up). When the Moon is at first or last quarter, smaller neap tides form. The Moon's 29.5-day orbit around Earth is not quite circular. When the Moon is closest to Earth (called its perigee), spring tides are even higher, and they're called perigean spring tides.
All this tugging has another interesting effect: Some of Earth's rotational energy is stolen by the Moon, causing our planet to slow down by about 1.5 milliseconds every century.
Egghead The Moon is not round (or spherical). Instead, it's shaped like an egg. If you go outside and look up, one of the small ends is pointing right at you. And the Moon's center of mass is not at the geometric center of the satellite; it's about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) off-center.
Moon trees More than 400 trees on Earth came from the Moon. Well, okay: They came from lunar orbit. Okay, the truth: In 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa took a bunch of seeds with him and, while Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were busy sauntering around on the surface, Roosa guarded his seeds.
Later, the seeds were germinated on Earth, planted at various sites around the country, and came to be called the Moon trees. Most of them are doing just fine.



Full Moon

The point of maximum psychic energy occurs When the full face of the Moon is visible in the clear sky. Many people perform sacred rites and rituals during this time. Sometimes for worship, sometimes for magic and sometimes for both. Healing, divination, dreamwork and practically every other form of magick seems to get a boost if performed during the full Moon.
Just a few facts, but there are oodles of pages out there with everything from suggestions for full moon rituals, to meanings, myths, etc.  
How are you celebrating this gorgeous moon?
)O(
 

WOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I won a gorgeous set of carnelian runes from one of my favorite places to visit - Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom!  What a way to start my day!  Wanna see?

 Aren't they purdy?  And what will I use these for ... well first, let's talk about carnelian.  

Carnelian Gemstone meaning

Carnelian (also sometimes referred to as cornelian) is found primarily in India, as well as various sites in South America. It is a variety of chalcedony. The most favorable pieces are a deep red to red-orange hue. Carnelian has a long and storied past, and was once considered strictly the property of the noble class. People holding a high social status were often buried with this gem stone.
Want more pep in your life? Keep a carnelian with you and feel the energy flow to you. Carnelian is used for these benefits:

• gives energy
• protects from bad vibrations
• guards against poverty
• helps give a sense of humor
• calms the temper

Healing properties of Carnelian

Carnelian is an energy booster. It helps the insecure person to find strength within them so they can come into their own. It is said to increase the appetite.

So yes to everything except the increase in appetite.  I'm hungry all the time as is.
You can use runes the same way you use tarot cards for readings.  They can also act as a charm or a talisman, depending on the inscriptions.  I have made a few using found rocks on our property and buried them for protection and peace - just inscribe them with whatever rune symbol represents your intent.  As a simple blessing you can collect rainwater and sprinkle a few drops over the runes while meditating on what you would like to accomplish, or saying a simple prayer.  You can either bury them or carry them with you.  This site has a great listing of inscriptions, but there are tons of sites out there so if you don't see what you want just google it!  http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/charms.html
)O( 

Honoring The Goddess Within

How much do you take care of your body and treat it as the sacred vessel that it is?

Since I've started on this journey I've been considering this.  I've always had beliefs deeply rooted in caring for the Earth and creatures without a voice.  To summarize, we re-use everything, recycle, compost, utilize rain barrels, and line dry our clothes.  My girls are cloth diapered and I am actively trying to incorporate more vegetarianism into our lives.  But in considering "food miles" and carbon footprint, I couldn't help but think - *I* am worth taking care of as much as everything else.

It's not hard to see the connection between eating healthy, exercising, and feeling better.  But I believe the connection between caring for your body and your spirituality goes overlooked.  When I eat more vegetables, when I run (I love to run - that's my meditation time) I'm more peaceful, more alert, more aware of Mother Earth showering me with her gifts.  I believe it is Her way of emphasizing the connections between every living thing on Earth.  The same way that if you are rude or disrespectful to someone else, you can't help but have a little of that blackness creep into your own heart - if you disregard your body and focus solely on your spirituality, you are slowly poisoning yourself.  And in honoring the Great Mother within us all, don't we honor each other?

There is my food for thought for the day - hope you are all well and at peace.

)O(