The Ramblings and Wanderings

Archive for the ‘Hearth & Home’ Category

Just a few of the things going on in my life right now:

Working on the 2011 Walking the Hedge calendar and day planner

The Wheel of the Year image for the Northern Hemisphere version

Writing that book I’ll never finish

Getting ready to turn 30 at the end of the month

Hosted the Witch & Stitch Circle at my house

Here's me getting ready (note my feet)

Working on the podcast

Writing the next blog post in the series on feminism and womanhood

Decided it was time to do a little re-vamping and re-dedicating of my Bag of Bones (and stones and sticks and things) I use for divination, also working on writing a blog post about that

Dem bones enjoying a little sunshine

Being a troublesome moderator, over at Bren’s forum

Troubleshooting bugs over at the Hedge

Working in the garden (stay tuned for blog post and pics about that)

Grieving my horse Morgan, who was mauled by a bear (at the family farm) and had to be put down, as well as hoping a beagle named Lacey (also at the family farm) comes home and isn’t lost forever

She was so young and pretty

I hope everything is good in your lives folks!

I write in my recipe book in a very short hand kind of way. One that assumes you already have some skill and would know what I’m talking about. I pity my some-day daughter-in-law trying to decipher it. Something like this white sauce recipe is pretty straight forward, following the recipe for a whole turkey dinner … not so much!

Butter 2 to 4 tbs melt low

Onions etc

Flour (whole wheat) 2 to 5 tbs more for thicker

Stir lots 10 minutes

Milk

Spices and herbs

Pour on something

Serve while still hot

In order to have plants in my sunroom I need:

Plants. Plants that will happily grow in my eastern exposure sunroom, don’t require at lot of nit picking and who like loads of sunlight.

But wait! First I need money to buy plants. I could beg for cuttings from friends. Or steal plants from neighbour’s gardens and porches while they sleep! Eh, maybe I can put my pennies together to buy a packet of seeds from the dollar store and rescue a few forlorn plants from the clearance rack.

But first, I have no pots to put them in! Hmmm maybe I can recycle an old teapot and a pair of boots? A coffee tin and yogurt containers? Make folded paper pots out of flyers? Use cardboard boxes lined with shopping bags?

But wait! I have no soil to put in my pots! And no money to buy soil. The dollar store soil is terrible and seems to kill things. Perhaps I could steal soil from construction sites? Pester neighbours with back yards for compost? Put kitchen waste and grass in a box in the sun and make my own?

But wait! I have no shelves to put the pots on! The poor plants (that I don’t have, who have no pots or soil) will have to go on the floor.

But wait! The floor is covered in boxes and bags of stuff I can’t put away because I have no shelves.

Huh

Maybe this year I’ll just draw pictures of plants, print out a few photos of yards and gardens I used to have, and tape them to the windows and walls of my sunroom.

But wait! I have no tape to put the pictures up with.

Maybe I’ll just go for a walk in the woods instead, hug a tree or two and listen to the birds sing.

But wait! I live in the city!

Huh

Well then … never mind.

Got some great pics from my Mom of the critters at the family farm Misty Acres, including shots of my horse Morgan and my boy-dog Tristan (who are happier at the farm with Mom than in the city with me right now). Click on the images for full size.

It’s easy to get trained

You see

By the horrid Winter freeze

To bundle up

And sneak outside

And hide from the elements

Then one sunny day in March

You wake up and hear the sound of

The garbage truck coming down your lane

And you are late again

You grab the box of recycling and race down the stairs

On to the porch

To the sidewalk

In the nick of time

And smile at the garbage man

As you turn around to head inside

Suddenly you realise

You’re outside in shirt sleeves

And standing on the sidewalk

In bare feet!

Hurrah for Spring!