The Sleeping-Dragon

Not gone

2009-03-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't deserted you all, honestly! I've been working on my new blog and website as part of my therapy. It's self imposed therapy as I don't see a specialist and have no intention of doing so either. I have started to write a daily blog tracking my thoughts etc as away of keeping tabs on my bi-polar syndrome. If your interested then it's at www.solorn.co.uk . I've made it public even though it might not make much sense.

I will be back here on Monday to do a proper posting, I just thought I'd let you know that I was still alive and kicking hard.

I want....

2009-01-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

I'm not normally a greedy person. One who flits from thing to thing possibly but not greedy. Today I find myself wanting things, itching for them, knowing that they are wanted from my heart and soul rather than by commercial greed. I want...

- a house with a little more land so I can grow veggies, without having to travel to an allotment, and have more chickens.
- my health to return and to stop feeling so exhausted all the time.
- to shop at real butchers,real green grocers and markets,and to never step foot in a supermarket again.
- to find something I really enjoy and make some money doing it.
- to be more self sufficient and start coming off the grid.
- to find some self confidence and follow through on things.
- to store, can, jar, preserve, buy in bulk, home process.
- to eliminate plastic from my kitchen.
- to stop just thinking about it and actually do it.

Perhaps these things are what I need. A simpler way of living and lessening my impact on Mother. I think I'm being shown a way, a path, and I have not been deserted by Deity as I once felt I had. I'm being gently nudged on a journey where the destination is me, who I really am, not who people have wanted, or expected, me to be.

I may be the 'strange pagan' in the family and often frowned upon by the last generation but I am who I am. I am a Mother, a Daughter, a Sister. I am the Maiden, Mother and Crone. I am part of the Mother and I no longer want to fight to my survival only, I want to fight for hers also. Little thing, small changes, all of them are like pennies in a jar. You save enough and soon you find out that you are wealthy beyond your dreams.

My dreams are small in many ways but they are mine to have and hold. Maybe one day I will achieve them BUT if I don't then I shall at least continue to reach for them. What are we without our dreams.

Apologies

2008-12-27T05:57:00.001-08:00

I'm going to keep this brief, as I'm still not doing very well, but I just wanted to apologise for my blog absence. I was in the middle of typing up one of those posts that take a few days to collate properly when I got ill. Not just a cold but the kind of ill knocks you so flat that you have no idea what day it is. From being a little sniffly on Sunday night I ended up in hospital on Christmas Day. My temperature had hit 102, I couldn't breathe, my nail beds kept turning blue and I felt as if I had been steam rolled by several, very drunk, Norscan Gods in party mode.

Today is the first day I have been able to sit at my computer and read my blogs and forums but I am still quite unwell. Better than I have been but still poorly. I shall update properly as soon as I feel well enough. Right now I'm off to have a nice hot bath, wrap up warm and spend some time with my chickens for the first time in days.

Blessed be to you all. I hope you've all had a good Holiday Season so far.

Still Here, Still Pondering.

2008-11-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all the messages of concern with me not posting. I've been unwell and feeling discombobulated of late. After a trip to the Doctors last week I'm feeling a little more grounded and less like a fraud. Have you ever felt that everything you feel could just be in your head? That, if you told the Doctor, you would sound like an idiot? Thats how I was feeling and now I wish I hadn't waited so long. She was wonderful and listened to everything I said and came up with a diagnosis. My bi-polar medication has been increased to get me through the winter months and she told me that she believes I have ME, Chronic Fatigue Syndrom, and that I should have been diagnosed earlier. There is no cure for it but there are ways of coping that I will learn and perhaps become a useful human being again.

I have considered going to 'Support Groups' for my bi-polar but I'm unsure. I don't think I could cope with other people talking about how their bad days affect them etc. I suppose thats part of my solitary nature and, because it's outside of my comfort zone, I would find it very hard to walk in to a room of strange people. We all have our own ways of coping with what the illness beings us. We tend to be creative, flighty, loyal, tactile, nervous, and we all wear masks. We are a little like obscure superheros, you get to see all the good stuff but we wouldn't let you see under the mask and know who we really are.

Enough of that though, lets have a little something lighter. Yule is creeping up on us faster and faster and I'm happy to say that most of the shopping has been done now and I only have a few things left to get. I have a couple of things left to make also and, when I next get a good day, I will crack on with it. Last Friday was good as I made my first ever pumpkin spice cake and something that looks so amazing when it's made it makes me giggle just thinking about it. The ingredients above should give you a clue. Once you mix the golden syrup and sugar and heat it for a while, don't stir it! you throw in a large spoon of bicarb and give it a single stir. This is what happens....

Pour this mixture in to a greased pan and you have...CINDER TOFFEE! It takes about 5 minutes to make and the kids love it. Technically, it's also fat free so thats good enough for me.I shall be tucking some in my pocket tomorrow as I will be traveling to Bath for their Christmas Market held at the Abbey and will need to keep my energy levels up. I shall also take my camera and take you all some lovely pictures. I need to rest again now but I shall write a properly coherent post within the next few days and let you all see the beautiful City of Bath and my chooks, they are doing wonderfully.

Blessed Be.

Agony and Ecstasy

2008-11-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

A migraine has been holding me back from posting for the past few days. 3 days is quite normal for me to have a migraine, the nausea is the worst part but today I'm feeling stubborn and won't let it beat me. I've been pottering around thinking about this months list for the Dragon Lists. I thought I would do this month a little differently so, once I've finished this post I shall update the other blog and let you see what I've done. Other things have been on my mind too, slowing me down and putting me behind schedule.

Like any parent I have difficult times with my children but lately it seems to be an almost explosive situation. My Eldest doesn't want to be in the house with the Boy and Poot is stuck in the middle. My Boy has problems and it's taken me 5 years to get some help. We have meetings with CAHMS, CAF, psycologists, schools and doctors. It's a never ending cycle of meetings and phone calls. All that has come out of it so far is that there is a possibility of Boy having some form of Autism. My main fear is that he has bi-polar disorder ...like me.

I hide the fact that I have bi-polar disorder for many reasons. I shouldn't though as, once people find out, it helps them to understand me more. I watched Stephen Fry last night on the TV, he was exploring his own depression and asked a question I have been thinking about since. He said, 'If you had a button that you could push and make the bi-polar go away, would you?' After thinking about this all last night I have decided I would answer 'no'. I love my manic side. I love the freedom I feel when I'm manic, the creativity that washes over me, the energy I have. I've spent the last 2 years without medication, learning how to regulate my highs and lows and making really good use of the high spots. Now I'm back on medication due to all that's happening at home and I hate the fact that it dampens my creativity so much. It's a strange thing to say that I want the agony and ecstasy of bi-polar disorder. It's hard for others to understand. The only way I can describe it this: Think of one thing you love to do, I mean really love, like gardening, painting, sewing, then have that ability taken from you. That's what the medication does to me.

But less of that. On Friday I celebrated Sahmain at Chalice Well in Glastonbury. My darling Morier booked us tickets without me knowing and we took Boy, Poot, and Poots friend up to the Well. The kids went and found tokens and enchanted creatures to help with a story told by Raven Tales about 2 giants. The giants were in attendance, all 3 metres tall of them, and led the children round the gardens. There was ginger cake and pumpkin soup and huge hot chocolates with cream to keep out the cold. At the end of the night there was a Sahmain Ceremony that we all joined in with. Morier and the kids chanted with me and participated and I left the Well with a feeling of peace and wholeness that I haven't felt for a long long time. We will be going up there for Yule as there is another ceremony that day. Even if your not pagan I would recommend going up to Chalice Well and feeling the peace there.

At home the chickens are settling in well and have been busy in my garden eating all the dandelions and slugs. One of them has a taste for my pansies, which I am trying to curb, and they all like my forget-me-nots but just being with them makes me happy. They chatter all the time and it's very soothing to listen to, they even reply if I chatter back though my neighbours must think I'm loony. It's not everyone who goes in to the garden at daybreak and spends 5 minutes saying 'bok bok bok' to 3 pom poms with beaks. I will leave you with a picture of them now so you can fall in love with them just as I have. The children have gone to the library so I have 2 hours of peace that I intend to enjoy.

Blessed Be.

Always so busy

2008-10-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by the lovely Aromatic. I won't tag others, as I think everyone else has already done this, but here are my answers.

the rules..
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Six Random Things

1. I don't like Kath Kidston. Sorry craft bloggers but I find her style garish and ugly.
2. I procrastinate so much I never get anything done and I hate it.
3. I would like to throw away about a quarter of the items in my house.
4. I am learning to be settled in a house for the first time in my life. It feels strange.
5. I am not a witch, a wiccan or a druid but I am, most definatly, a pagan.

And now to normal service. Last weeks shopping came to a whopping £54.94. I went over budget as I bought myself some decent coffee instead of the cheap horrible stuff I've been living off. I did treat us all with a final box from Riverford Organics which came to £44 but that will last us a couple of weeks at least by the time I have prepared and frozen a few things. Of course, when the box arrived and I'd had a good look through it, I then changed my menu for the week. That's not a bad thing as I have managed to add more vegetarian meals in so I will save the meat. It seems that lately I have to prepare very fast and easy meals. There is a lot going on in the personal side of my life that is throwing the whole family for a loop. Not least of which has been a trip to Southampton to pick up my chickens! If anyone considers getting Silkies them I heartily recommend Hamble Valley Poultry. They are lovely people with beautiful, well loved, birds. They didn't make me feel like a new chicken owner but gave me lots of tips and advice that you can't find in books.

The Dragon Lists are now activated again so I am in the process of writing up the November 'To Do' list in readiness. If anyone has any ideas about other types of list they would like to see then drop me a comment and I will see what I can rustle up. So to finish up today here is the weeks menu. Oh, and a little point about the menu. I write a weeks menu but I rarely stick to the correct order. It depends on what's happening or what people feel like so I will no longer be putting in the days, just 7 meals:)

Chicken curry with rice.
Lasagne.
Stew and dumplings
Home made vegetable soup with home made bread.
Vegetable chilli with wild rice
Baked potato with tune and cheese
Cheesy veggie bake with roasted butternut squash

Blessed Be.

Situation Normal....

2008-10-21T04:07:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to disappear for so long but things went a little pear shaped in my household and I just haven't had the time. I'm behind on e-mails, comments, posts and my regular forums too. In the past 2 weeks I've had 2 friends in hospital, a birthday, my son in hospital, 3 police interviews, 4 meetings about children with various agencies, a child home every single day without a break and I'm on new medication that is making me feel awful. Now that I've made my excuses I will attempt to write a coherent post and catch up with things.

I'm still doing very well on the food shopping front. Last weeks shop only cost £56 for a family of 5 and that was with a few extras that I found on special offer. I've been reading several forums lately that are saying you can't eat well on a limited budget but I think I might be proving them wrong. We had to see a nutritionist last month, as my son had a few problems, and she confirmed that we had a very balanced and healthy diet. It's just something that needs planning in advance and making use of what you have in the store cupboard. I do have a small admission to make though, my store cupboard has a tendency to gain things now and then that has nothing to do with me. My Mum is a prolific shopper and I quite often get small bags of food from her. In the last bag were 3 tinned pies and 3 jars of Chinese cooking sauces. I'm really not going to complain as that will make 4 1/2 meals for my family. As well as the £50 a week shopping budget I have added a further £30 a month for store cupboard basics from Costco. Things like rice, pasta, bread flour, will all come from there but, apart from the first shop to initially stock up, it should only cost about £10 a month.

I don't want to make it seem as if I don't have anything nice in the house. I do! I limit the children's access to sweet things and offer them fruit instead but I do buy chocolate, cakes and all the other things that we like to indulge in. I just don't think that you need to do it an expensive way. A packet of instant whip pudding is only 8p, if you buy Morrisons own brand, the kids love it with peach segments which are only 16p. 24p for a pudding for 3 growing kids can't be wrong and they only get pudding once a week. Bargain of the week last week is from Sainsburys. They have a value curry sauce that is only 4p a tin! It makes a decent mild curry if you add it to chicken or chickpeas and green lentils. That brings me on nicely to this weeks menu. I will start from tonight on the list as things are so messy right now. I WILL get back on track, just bear with me, my life is a little like a circus routine currently.

Tuesday - Sausages, mash and cabbage
Wednesday - Bubble and Squeak
Thursday - Chicken casserole
Friday - Fish in parsley sauce with veg
Saturday - Home made pizza with salad
Sunday - Mince Cobbler

The Bubble and Squeak is not something I normally make but the cabbage I have is bigger than my head and won't be all used up on Tuesday. I like mine with melted cheese and fresh black pepper, the kids like bacon bits on theirs, but it's cheap and filling and very good for you if you dry fry instead of using oil.

I was asked in the comments on my last post what an allotment was. Very simply it's a piece of ground you rent from the local government in order to grow things. They are in high demand and short supply and I had a long wait. I've only managed to get up there twice in the past 2 weeks but it's looking much better now. I will upload some pictures of it soon. Time to put the bread on and get Poot some more medicine, looks like a second case of Glandular Fever for my house, which she will frown at and make weird faces while drinking it.

Blessed Be.

It was a long week

2008-10-11T02:32:00.000-07:00

Some weeks seem to escape from you. I've been trying so hard to keep a normal routine but that's not easy when you have a sick child at home getting under your feet. Friday came round and she decided to try a day back at school, I cheered and bounced and made plans! That was probably the worst thing I could have done as, by 11 o'clock, things had gone belly up and I was screaming and ranting. The problem is no where near solved and it will take a few days for several things to happen so I will continue to live in this strange limbo like state. Before I confuse you all any further I shall change the topic and attempt some normality.

Dinner for the week has been planned and the shopping ordered and wow, I'm doing so much better this month! I'll let you in on a secret, last month I spent approximately £450 on food. Ridiculous wasn't it. So far this month I have spent under £100 and that's with £9 delivery fees as I ordered from Tescos. I will admit that we splashed out a little last night and bought pizza but once a month take out is a small pleasure that we both deserve. I'm managing to be much more frugal now that I have an idea of what I was spending. So, on to the weeks menu.

Sunday - Shepard's Pie with mixed veg
Monday - Home made beef burgers and syn free chips
Tuesday - Tuna melts
Wednesday - Spanish omelette's with salad
Thursday - Mexican beef chilli with tortillas
Friday - Home made bean burgers with cous cous
Saturday - Home made Meatballs with pasta

Looking at my menu it seems as if I have a lot of meat in the dishes but in reality I don't. The Shepard's pie is actually only made with half the quantity of mince that you would normally use, the rest is made up of green lentils. The same with the chilli, no one notices that you have substituted lentils for meat if you season well and cook it properly. It keeps the costs down and makes things go that little further. You could use anything you wanted as substitution. My Nana sometimes used barley, I've used every colored lentil going and dried peas as well as millet and quinoa.

Now on to the bits of bright shining news that have kept me sane in the past week. My chicken coop has arrived! It is currently in two very large, and very heavy, boxes in the hallway but Morier said he would help me put them up today. We picked up two feeders yesterday and priced the feed too. I'm so bouncy right now when I think that I will have my girls very soon. Morier said I could join the Silkie Club of Great Britain so I could get help and support for when I start showing my ladies so all of that is ready to send off too. Only a couple of weeks to go!

The other thing is....I got my allotment! After a year of waiting and sending weekly e-mails I picked up the keys last Saturday. It's tatty, full of grass and weeds, and has a large family of mice living on it, but it's mine. Well, half mine. I know that I will never be able to take on a whole plot alone so I am sharing it with my Mum who is an avid gardener. We have a battered old shed that we have filled with stuff and a compost heap that's almost sentient but we are both so happy. I've been up there a few times this week and begun to dig and clear. One half will be rotavated once it's cleared but the other side will totally hand dug so the raised beds can be fitted in. We have apple, plum, pear and greengage trees already on the plot so we are working round them.

Time to go and be useful. I'm still in my PJ's and have lots to be getting on with. Oh, and apologies about my list blog. Blogger got all snarky with me and decided it was a spam blog and stopped me doing anything to it. I've emailed them but nothing has happened so far so I may have to remove it and try again. We shall see.

Blessed Be.

Thankyou Aromatic

2008-10-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your kind words and support. Your a star. I have now started a new blog that will run along side this one with nothing but lists in it. You can find it at:

Dragon Lists

I hope this helps someone!

Under the Weather

2008-10-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

Many apologies for me disappearing without warning. It's been a week or two filled with ill children, even my husband was off work for 2 days. My Eldest has glandular fever and I think I might have the virus too, just not as strongly as her, so I feel like a wrung out dishcloth.I've not managed to get things done the way I would like and a few things have slipped a long the way but it's not been too bad. I have kept myself busy, albeit a very slow kind of busy, and I think I might be picking up a bit now. If only I could shake this headache!

My list for October has now been written and meals are planned for the rest of the month. Morier scared me by doing a summary of our personal accounts and showing me just how much we were spending on food in total.It's been years since we did this and it's quite frightening to see the bad habits you fall in to. I started off this month with a fresh outlook and a determination to get this under control and I won't let silly things get in my way. I have to watch what I'm doing with the non-grocery money too. No Rayven, you really don't need a pasta maker as you don't have the patience, but ok you can have the burger press as you will use that. I have done my first weekly shop of the month and it looked so tiny compared to the normal mountain of shopping bags. That was a little scary in itself but I know I have plenty of food in the house, I just have to override the compulsion to deviate from my list. Speaking of lists, I have an idea I'd like to run past you. I'm beginning to have a useful set of lists now that I often pull bits from to add to this blog. I was pondering starting a separate blog to put these lists in but would like to know if anyone thought it was a good idea. They will be my monthly tasks, daily extras list, menus and special occasions organising. Would these help anyone else but me? Or am I trying too hard and looking a little pretentious?

Sunday has turned in to a day when I get little time for myself so I've decided to put up my menus on a Friday instead. I tend to get a whole day to myself so have plenty of time. So here you go, the week ahead.

Friday- Stew and dumplings
Saturday - Chicken pot pie with mash and veggies
Sunday - Full Sunday Roast
Monday - Home made lasagne
Tuesday - Tuscan bean soup with home made soda bread
Wednesday - Tune steaks with Mediterranean cous cous
Thursday - Sausage casserole

I am in the middle or organizing my recipes but I promise to put a few up soon. I have a large ring binder full of my favorites that is getting quite messy now but as soon as I find time it will be done. Now i need to go and get on with some more organizational tasks. Today's task is to schedule any Doctors, opticians or dental appointments that have been over looked. I am also cleaning out one of my kitchen drawers and making up bread mixes to pop in the freezer. I will put all the dry ingredients, except the yeast, in zip lock bags with the size of loaf it's for and the date written on the front. Then they will all be put in the freezer. It will mean that I just have to grab one, and dump the contents in the bread maker, without all the hassel of weighing etc. Time to be a busy old bird for the first time in 2 weeks.

Blessed be.

Happy Solstice

2008-09-22T02:42:00.000-07:00

I've just made 2 Lemsips and I'm surrounded by crumpled hankies. That describes the past few days perfectly. Even my Eldest is poorly and currently looks a little like a hamster and has no neck. This is not how I needed to start the week off as I have a long list of things I need to get a roll on with. Firstly though, I did promise I would put a list of this weeks meals. So here we go. Oh, and when it says chips I mean Syn free chips a la Slimming World. I don't own a deep fat fryer, I hate them!

Monday: Home made fish pie with calabrese and carrots
Tuesday: Home made veggie soup with home made bread
Wednesday: Chicken stir fry with chilli and ginger
Thursday: Bacon and leek pasta
Friday: Steak pie and chips
Saturday: Tuna steaks with fresh steamed veg
Sunday: Mince cobbler with Blackberry Charlotte for pudding

It might not be awe inspiring but as Autumn settles in I turn to simpler food.I'm happy to share the recipes for any of these too. Today's dinner might change within the next few hours as I'm considering a more Mabon focused meal of beans and pulses to celebrate second harvest. We shall see. Speaking of food I find myself absolutely mortified at the amount of money that has been spent on it this month. Me and Morier, the husband, talked about it on Sunday evening and have decided to go back to the old way of buying food on a weekly basis. I have sat down and created a food budget for the week and we shall see if it makes life any easier on us. I have also sat and worked out the 'extra' purchases for next month. The big spend will be my chickens and their coop etc. Then there is a sight test for me and a couple of pairs of shoes needed in the family. Of course, I know that something else will fall on my head and cost me money but all we can do in that department is keep fingers crossed.

Now before I get totally side lined I need to ask you all something. Would you like a present? Earlier this year I was the lucky recipient of a Pay it Forward package and it's my turn to now Pay it Forward to. If you want a present from me then you will need to send me your address by e-mail and I will pick someone at random. The only stipulation is that you do the same and Pay it Forward to someone else.

No pictures today but I will have a few to share with you next time.I am now going to continue to torture myself with Lemsip then go and collect a few things for my Mabon alter. Happy Solstice and Blessed Be.

Habits

2008-09-19T03:02:00.000-07:00

Being organized is simply having a well formed habit.

It's true, if you don't believe me then try it.My mother will tell you that I was always a messy child, it's only with age that I've started to take more of an interest in a tidy house. I've been slowly forming good habits over the past year, step by step, To begin with it was a real chore to make my bed every morning, now I do on auto-pilot. I bring down a load of washing and stick it in the machine before my day even begins. All it takes is a few weeks of concious effort, in many cases, to form a habit that will actually help you. Unlike the habit I have of reading blogs for a good hour every day! So start small, don't worry if you forget now and then, and get more organised. Start by adding in something to your day, something small, but make sure you do it at the same time every single day. Little things like:

Wipe down the sink properly after you brush your teeth in the morning. Shine the taps too.
Never go up, or down, stairs without taking something that needs to be put away. There is always something on my stairs to take up!
Deal with your paperwork as soon as it arrives. Don't let it pile up and get out of hand.
Re-cycle one extra thing this week. Did you know that you can re-cycle the inside packets from cereal boxes? Put them in any plastic bag recycling station at your local supermarket.

I know, you can get these tips from organizing sites all over the web. It's all laid out and full of pretty print outs and things to download. I'm hoping it will help people a little more to see a real person, with a family and pets and commitments, being able to put it in to action and make it work. Apart from my good habits I have a list of things to do every day. This isn't one of those ones you write yourself and ends up taking up 2 pages in a notebook and you never get it all done anyway. This is list of very quick things to do every single day of the month. Todays task is to donate 3 books to a charity or school. I actually got that done yesterday, when I took a HUGE bag of stuff to the charity shop, so today I will pick something different from the list. You are still allowed to write a daily list of things to do but don't overload yourself. Set a list of 5 things to do, that really need to be done, and then add 2 optional ones to be done if you feel like it.

I think the best thing about forming good habits is the freedom you get from it. I know women who spend hours and hours a day cleaning their homes and they never really seem to enjoy life. Sure their house is fit for a Royal visit but they missed sitting in the garden with friends, laughing over something stupid and wasting time, because there was a cushion out of place.

So liberate yourself today. Form a habit. Oh, and that lump at the top of the page? Thats Shentu, who sat on my hands and keyboard while I wrote this post.
Blessed Be.

She's Home

2008-09-17T04:51:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post something for the past week but I've been having difficulty functioning. Mona is home now though and I feel better inside. I'd like to thank all of you for the wonderful comments and e-mails you sent me, they were really touching and it made me realise what a great community spirit there is in blogland. I really want to thank Somerset Seasons for the poem, would you mind if I printed it off and framed it? Reading it right now makes me cry but I know that in time it will bring back very fond memories I have of a wonderful familiar.

I missed posting my weeks meals on Sunday too and I do apologise for that.I will rectify that this coming Sunday. My 30 Days of Nothing has been spiralling in the wrong direction so far this month. With vets bills and everything else I think we've probably spent more this month than in the past 6! It doesn't mean I'm going to give up, in fact I've become more determined to change the way I spend and live. After looking at the food bill for this month I've been working out ways to make it cheaper and more efficient for the future. From now on I will be planning meals a month in advance, instead of fortnightly, this will help me write a comprehensive shopping list. I will also keep a price book so I know where the best deals are etc. I will buy my meat monthly from a local butcher who has good prices and good produce. They also do a lot of special offers and I can't resist a bargain. Fruit and veg will be bought on a weekly basis from my local Aldi, they have incredibly good prices and the veg tends to be seasonal and of good quality, and it will work out at half the cost of my Riverford order. All sundries will be ordered from Tesco and delivered once a month. The last thing on my list are the stock cupboard items I can't live without. Rice, pasta, flour,tinned tomatoes, the things that you can always make a meal out of no matter what happens. My Mother has offered to take to Costco so I can use her membership to buy bulk staples.

This is going to mean I need to clear out my cupboards properly and make space for storage of goods. It's brings me nicely on to the topic of this weeks task that I've set myself. Kitchen cupboard clear out time! Autumn is settling in really well and the air smells of wood smoke and that crispness you get before a cold snap. It's the time of year when people start to think about Christmas, or Yule for some of us, and we start buying a few extra luxuries each week to put back for the Holiday period. Before you begin doing that it's a good idea to clear out the food cupboards and take stock of what you have. While your going through it, check the dates on everything and have a clear out. I have several jars of black olives my Mum gave me that I will never get through alone so I will give a few to friends. I have all of the gluten free flours left, from when I suffered an intolerance for a while, so anyone who wants them is more than welcome to collect them to make room for other things I need. Aside from the cupboard items it's a good time to go through the freezer and get rid of the odd things that get thrown in there. Left overs in bags that have no labels, things that have been in there so long you can't remember when you bought them, and the stray peas that always end up rolling around at the bottom of the drawers. Give it a good de-frosting and prepare it everything you will want to buy and stock up on. Write a list of what's in there in order to help plan future meals, you never know what you might find!

The cupboards are now calling me, telling me to get my behind off my chair and do something useful. It will be interesting to see if I can do it quietly enough so as not to disturb all the sick people in my house, I have 2 kids and a husband at home today, but I need to carry on getting things done even if I feel horrible too. Blessed be.

Goodbye and the Future

2008-09-10T01:02:00.001-07:00

Today I am still very heart sore, still feeling broken inside, but I'm coping just a little better than yesterday. On Monday Mona, my darling feline companion, passed over to the Summerlands. She was 15 years old and very poorly but put up a good fight and she stayed with us longer than we expected her to. I am still crying intermittently but I know that will pass and I will remember her without sobbing.I'm not going to concentrate this post on the loss of an old friend so I will revert now to my normal rambling in order to help myself get through today. Blessed Be Monababy.

Spending money makes me feel sick. Honestly, way too much of it seems to be sliding through my fingers and in 90% of the cases it's money that needs to be spent. Take yesterday for example. I spent £10 on various bits and pieces such as wooden lettering, flea shampoo for the cats, snacks for the children's lunch boxes. All of it was needed except perhaps the 90 pence on chocolate bars but even they have been hoarded for emergency use. The Christmas shopping is in full swing for me and I'm grabbing things whenever I can. The food shopping is going to need a complete review and overhaul next month in order to bring that back in line. It's always about money and I'm quite sick of it.

So, action plan time. I've been very good and managed to be organised and keep to my action plans for the past 6 weeks or so. Remember, little changes make all the difference!

1. Write all recipes and their respective shopping lists to add behind the weeks calender view.
---This is not as odd as it sounds. In my control folder I have calender print outs, a fortnight at a time, and I write down what is for dinner every day on it. Then behind that page I put all the recipes I need for those meals. Adding a shopping list to them would make it much easier when I go to do my shopping.

2. Work out the situation with buying meat!
---I seem to end up with bits of stuff from all over the place rammed in my freezer. I need to write my menu a month in advance, instead of fortnightly, and order all meat from the butcher at the start of the month.

3. Make and bake more.
---Everyone in my house loves a good pie, weather it's meat or sweet stuff, and I should make more and freeze them rather than buying them in. I have found a great place to buy the pie dishes, all recyclable of course, and I always have the ingredients in to make something from scratch. I am going to start having a batch cooking day at the start of each month and begin to build up a nice stockpile in my freezer.

4.Jar it, can it, store it.
---I love jars, a lot. It keeps food much better than these paper packets you buy your flour in etc and keeps opened items fresher for longer without the risk of spillage. I've found a really good place to buy the large kilner jars to storage and they are a very good price so I will start to pick up a few every month until my storage is sorted.

I think 4 items is enough for now. The '30 Days of Nothing' could be going much better but it's been one of those months where everything has needed cold hard cash and I have little control over the extras I've had to pay out on. So far though it's given me a massive insight in to areas I need to change, have more control over, or stomp on all together. I am getting there, it's slow and difficult and frustrating BUT..I AM GETTING THERE! No one told me the simple life would be complicated. No one told me how hard it could be to reach. Even if they had I would still be on this path.

Time to tuck in my daughter who is poorly with a stomach bug. It's a Wednesday, it's a curse.

Blessed Be.

Busy Busy Dragon

2008-09-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

See that grey lump in the picture? Doesn't look like much does it. I can tell you though that it just cost me £72 to have replaced! When your washing machine is making chugging noises to rival a troll in a drinking contest you know you need to do something. On the bright side my machine is now happy and I don't have to spend stupid amounts of money trying to replace it. I've also made the arrangements to have my boiler and shower fixed, my guttering to be sorted and my back door mended. Luckily the last 4 won't cost me anything as the Housing Association have to deal with the house repairs. In some ways this goes towards my goal of better living. Mend whats broken and not throw away and get it repaired before it's too far gone. I can't cope with anything else breaking down right now, unless it's me of course, and the bank balance isn't enjoying all of this either. Cheaper in the long run though as my Nan would have said.

I've been very productive really even if I feel as if I've sat at my PC all day. My veggie box arrived full of tasty goodies, my washing machine is well again, appointments have been made for CAF meetings and repairs and I've done a few things from my September To Do list just to complete my day. I've replaced 2 lightblubs with new energy efficients ones and cleaned all the lightshades in the hallway and dining room and tested the smoke detectors.The front door has been cleaned and so have the front windows and sills and I planted a squash, a cucumber and a sage in the garden.All of this on top of the washing, putting away of clothes, and general cleaning! Ok, so reading all that back to myself makes me feel much better about sitting here again:) Almost forgot..I put up some listings in Ebay!

Now I can get back to something nice. I remembered to snap a picture of my latest craft project and new skill. I can embroider! Ok it's not amazing or really complex but I got round to trying it and I love it. So much faster than cross stitch and I don't have to go cross eyed reading and counting charts. This is my second attempt at a piece, the first one took me only 3 days to complete, and I'm trying to use a few new stitches in it. I can't do french knots so I will add a few beads as finishing touches. Once the first one is ironed and framed I will post a picture of that up here too. I'm considering doign a few of my own designs and selling them as PDF downloads. It would be a good way of getting me back in to drawing again and be a boost to my neglected Etsy shop.

Now I need to go and find my good walking shoes for the week end. The Soil Association is having an Organic Food Festival at Bristol Harbourside this week end and Morier, the husband, said I could go. I will be strong and only buy things I need to stock my kitchen with and that are within my budget. If I don't then I'll come clean and admit it. This month is all about admitting things that I've tried to fluff over, time to de-fluff people..time to de-fluff.

Blessed Be.

Life is like lace making, complex.

2008-09-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

So here I am pondering life and what my life entails. I'm on day 3 of a Month of Nothing and I'm not sure there has ever been a time when I have had to spend so much! Not that there is much I can do about though. Our car desperatly needed replacing as the engine is making clunking noises, and she's taken up smoking on occasion, and then there was the dreaded school uniform run, and to finish up I need my washing machine fixing. I have to put these in the bracket of 'extra expenses' and I know that next month will be much better on that front. I've also started to write down every penny I spend in order to see exactly where it goes. It's been years since I did this and thats a little scary. When you are comfortably off you don't always think about the pennies and you don't keep track of whats happening on the money quite so much. I'm being honest about things though and I hope that it will give me a clear picture of what I'm doing and where I can make changes next month.

The past few days have actually been really good for me as I've spent them getting things done instead of writing lists about doing things and then procrastinating about what to do first. I'm not very ordered in how I do things, I planted some sage, washed 3 dishes, hung the washing, THEN dug a trough for my log edging round the border and finished the washing up, but it's getting done at least. While I've been busy with my hands I've let my mind wander and I realize there is a lot to be done before the Winter months set in and there are things I want ready and in place.

Most of the things are small and easy to accomplish so I will work on them first. I need to buy some drying racks that fit on my radiators. Did you know that that it can cost you up to £174 ($340) a year to run a dryer that isn't A rated? I have central heating so I will make the most of it and dry as much as I can indoors. I also want a rack to go in my bathroom as it's always warm in there. I need 6 breeze blocks to put my water butt on, I should get around to decorating my bathroom and I want to fill my freezer with home made goodies that use all the produce I currently have ready in the garden. Of course I will be using this blog to record all of that and to babble on endlessly about not much in reality.

As of Sunday I will post up my weeks menu so I can keep track. I will also be posting more on the little things I do so I know what I've done. Not as odd as it sounds as I have bi-polar syndrome and it's shot my memory to hell. I've chosen to be a little more open in this blog than I was on Livejournal, LJ is great for the whining and quick come backs but I'm finding I need something with more depth. I've already met some lovely people through my ramblings, heres to many more.

Closing now to finish planning my menu for the next fornight and to take stock of whats in my cupboards. 8pm? Still loads of the day left! Blessed be.

Taking Stock

2008-09-02T04:55:00.001-07:00

Autumn is here. It might not be an official date for it's start but I can feel it inside of me, smell it on the breeze and hear the plants in my garden breathing a slow sigh of relief after the busy summer. The children go back to school this week and it's time for me to breathe a deep sigh of relief too. I like the summer holidays but the children have a way of constantly provoking each other and it often feels like a war zone when they are all in the house together. I also feel less ability to get on with things when they are constantly arguing and there is no peace around me. I'm taking stock of my goals today as the house is peaceful, both girls are out and Boy is playing with friends in the park across the street.

My goals last month were simple and I admit to messing up a little with a few of them, mainly due to a holiday in Cornwall.

I forgot my canvass bags once or twice but only ended up with 3 extra carrier bags so I'm not going to shoot myself for that.

All of my meals were planned in advance in my Control Journal and behind each calender page I printed any recipes I would need and put them in plastic pocket to stay clean. I didn't cook much last month, due to holidays and the heat, but I did use everything from my veg box and tried to keep the meals as unprocessed as I could.

I have also changed my veg box provider and am more than happy with the company I have changed to. They deliver on a Thursday at bang on 7.45 pm so no waiting around and the food is all organic. It helps that the box is cheaper than the last one too as it keeps better within my budget. I enjoy the produce so much as it has flavour, lots of flavour, something that supermarket veg seems to lack. I also quite like the fact that the veg isn't all perfect, no super model stick thin and straight carrots hiding in there, and comes complete with knobbly bits. It's not sterile like a lot of the food we consume.

I may have bought one or two things we didn't need whilst away. Like the ice cream we sampled at nearly every town we visited! Holiday aside I didn't do too badly but could have done much better. I did keep an eye on packaging on the food we ate but again, could do better. (Now this sounds like my school report!)

On the mending front I did manage to get a few things out of the basket. I still have plenty to get on with and a short list of things I want to re-fashion in to different items.

This month I will be sticking to what I have already laid out and adding to it. I need more exercise in my life so I am starting a Yoga class and will be cycling there and back. I will also swim once a week and cycle there also. Aside from those 2 trips I intend to spend at least another 3 hours a week on my bike, I have a nice list of cycle routes around town and I want to try a few out. I am going to log every penny I spend to see where the money is going and where I can make changes next month. The same with food shopping. I need to get a grip on my spending so I know what's going on. This is a challenge for most of us so it will be interesting to see my results. Lastly I am putting in to place the FlyLady Detailed Cleaning List. I can never keep on top of every area of my house in the way I would like to so I'm hoping this will help a little towards things being the way I want. This weeks Zone is the entrance, front porch and dining room. I'm sure I can do this! it's in a list form and I'm pretty good at lists. By the way, if you sign up to her website don't tick the email box. It's very spammy and irritating.

I should go back to my garden now. I'm finally making some progress in it after nearly 2 years of a horrid lawn and not much else. I need to continue shifting plants around to make room for my chooks and getting some seedlings in to the ground for a winter harvest. Have a lovely day. Blessed Be.

Still Busy

2008-09-01T05:47:00.001-07:00

Wow. That was kinda busy! The past 2 weeks seem to have flown by and it's trying to catch up with me in the space of a few days. We took the kids off to Cornwall for a few days, thanks for looking after the jungle Whiterose, and came home shattered but happy. It was fun to take the tents and camp out in the middle of nowhere. We thought it would be quiet but we were woken up by some rather loud dairy cows on their way to milking on the first day. We stayed at a site called Pennance Mill near Falmouth and it was a great camp site, clean and tidy, with lactivities every evening and a tractor ride for the kids in the mornings. While we in Cornwall I got to see the Lost Gardens of Heligan, a place I've always wanted to go to and never had hte chance before. It was stunning, very humid, and so big you could spend days there and still not see everything. We only spent a few hours there as it's my thing, not everyone elses, but it was very soothing.

We also took in places like St Michaels Mount, Poldark Mine, Lands End as well as a few of the pretty towns like St Ives. Eldest found out that she's claustraphbic while down the mine shatf at Poldark which made for an interesting time. Once above ground she was calmed by a lime green slushy and the pretty grounds the mine is in. All in all it was a fantastic holiday but I'm glad to be home and in my own bed. We really could do with a new air bed pump..thats all I need to say really:) I tokk lots of photos, ate way too much food, and couldn't bring myself to go in to the sea as it was freezing.

The holiday may have ended on Thursday but the pace didn't slow down. On Saturday me and younger 2 went to the EcoFair at the town Quarry. The sun was blazing and the fair was full of people and things to see, buy, and do. The kids made a scarecrow while I had coffee then we made our way around the stalls doing quizzes and touching everything we could lay our hands on. Poot colored her own shoulder bag at one stall and made a corn dolly while Boy tagged along with me and checked out the bees and the beautiful barn owl that was on show. I came away with a few leaflets of insterest, an application for TENONS and an invitation to attend a spinning class! Added to my haul were a free high vis jacket from a stall promoting cycling, a HUUUGE jar of home made mustard pickle, a fab Fair trade tape measure in the shape of a sheep, and a ladybird house for my garden. Whilst there I managed to meet up with fellow blogger Milla who is funny, pretty, and really nice. Hopefully we can arrange to meet for coffee when the kids are all back at school.

Well I could write loads more but if I do that then I'll have nothing to update about over the next few days. I still haven't revealed the new thing I've just learnt is and I have lots to write about last months challenge and what I'll be doing this month to continue it. For now, take care. Luff youz.

Tomorrow

2008-08-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I shall be doing two things, maybe three. Firstly I shall let you all know why I've been quiet for a few weeks, secondly I shall be going to the Ecofair at the Quarry in Weston. If anyone wants to say hello then I'll be there at around 2pm. You can't miss me, who else has 3 insane children and a backpack thats covered in bright red cherries!

I know I've broken my rule about posting every time with a picture but I promise I will rectify that and show you my new craft skill.

All Sorts of Smells

2008-08-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Updating is a slow process for me. I tend to think about what I'll write for a few days before I actually get around to making a coherent post. Sometimes I write a small list of things that I want to add in to my post so I don't forget stuff. So here's a post based on the things that I've had rattling around in my head for the past week or so.

It's been wonderfully busy here in the Rayven Household. Between trying to sort out my house, attempting to create a working garden, and going to interesting places we have little time to sit and do nothing. To throw a little more chaos on the mix we have decided to take the children to Cornwall for a few days next week..camping. I'm up to my eyes in piles of clothes waiting to be packed, washing so we have some towels, and ensuring that we have everything we need for Whiterose to feed my menagerie. On that front I have some great news too. The Housing Association said we could have chickens! We will hopefully be getting them after the holiday which will give me a few days to prepare the space in the garden for them. I'm really excited now, everything seems to be coming together nicely with the chickens, my garden finally having more edible plants in it than decorative, and my being organised.

I know many of my 'real life' friends will laugh when I say I'm being more organised. I know they will say 'I've heard that before' but it's actually true. I think perhaps I tried to make too many changes too fast before now.I was overwhelmed by the whole thing and I quit early on.This time though, I've done 2 weeks so far and I'm stupidly proud of myself. I've made myself a Control Journal, a 'la Fly Lady, and it's paying off. My menus are pre-planned, all the important things are in my diary, even daily chores like ironing are assigned a day to be done and getting worked through. Long awaited jobs around the house are being tackled and long term goals are being headed toward. In the last week I have changed 2 things, I have made my own laundry soap and started the No-poo Challenge. The soap works really well even if it doesn't smell of much or have bubbles. I used a batch of home made soap that didn't set properly and was scented with violet but it wasn't quite enough for me to be happy with. I think my next batch will have a few drops of essential oil in just to give a nice smell.

The No-poo Challenge is just odd. Let me explain. For all my life I've used commercial shampoo and conditioner but my hair has never felt really clean. My head has also itched for the past 20 years and no matter what I tried it just continued to drive me insane. For the past 2 weeks I've put aside all the chemicals and washed my hair in a solution of bicarbonate of soda and rinsed with a pint of water with a little vinegar in. My hair squeaks! Properly squeaky clean! I've had no tangles, my hair is shiny, my head has almost stopped itching altogether. It's wonderful. Just because I like my hair to smell good after washing I put a few drops of Palma Rosa essential oil in the rinse and I smelt like turkish delight all day. I highly recommend it.I also wish I had started doing this years ago when my children were small. I hated using chemicals on their delicate skin and hair but there just weren't the resources back then for me to find out all the wonderful things the Internet gives us.

Now I must return to my non-Internet life and busy myself with packing, cooking the rest of my home made chickpea burgers, and cleaning my house ready for wonderful guests from the Vipers tomorrow evening. For those bloggers in Weston, I'll see you all at the Eco Festival at the Quarry!

August Already

2008-08-06T05:48:00.001-07:00

August is normaly a busy time for me. With the Curious Pastimes main event at the end of the month there is normally a frenzy of kit making, packing and baking to do. Not this year though, this year me and Morier have a taken a year out in order to rethink why we LARP and what the future holds for us in respect to it. While everyone I know is finishing up last minute things and sorting out the junk that builds up in their kit boxes I am taking the time to re-evaluate a few things in my life.

Last Weeks Veg Box from http://vegbox2u.co.uk/

August is now the month of less consumerism for me. It will be a real test of my will power in many ways as I love to shop and bring new things in to the home. For many of us it's so much easier just buy something new rather than make do. We live in a 'throw away' society but it comes to a point where it's just a little too much to bear. We also live in a society that expects us to not care about where food comes from, what it's packaged in, how it was raised. There are so many things I want to put in place for my family, to make their lives healthier and more concious of the world we live in. So here are my goals for August, and my hopes, and we will see how we go from here.

- I shall not use a plastic carrier bag during this month. I have plenty of re-usable ones and ones that fit neatly in to my handbag. There are no excuses for using a plastic bag from a shop any more. Quite frankly it's almost irresponsible to do so.

- I shall plan all my meals two weeks ahead to make dinner times less stressful. I shall also start dinner no later than5pm so no more late meals.

- I will reduce the amount of processed foods in my cupboards and buy local, fresh, products as much as I can. I am already receiving a fantastic veg box that is full of local, organic, produce. It's fun to see what is in there each week and to find ways of using or preserving it.

- I shall not buy anything I don't need. We all do it, the question is should we. My only concessions to this are my Grow Your Own magazine, items for my soap making, and the outings me and Morier are taking the children on during the summer. Though I will be taking packed lunches etc instead of buying over priced, over packaged, food while we are out.

- Make do and Mend. For hundreds of years people have fixed and altered items instead of buying new. I'm a talented seamstress and I'm perfectly able to do this. My first project will be to empty my mending basket of the 10 or more items in there.

- I will attempt to reduce my rubbish to less than 1 bag a week by recycling and being more aware of packaging.

I think that these 5 things are a good place to start. They aren't huge changes from what I've been doing for the past few months but this is just a little extra shove in the right direction for how I want life to be. I have things I want to be able to fit and do and all this organisation should help. I have a few hours without children tomorrow so I shall make some nice PJ pants from cotton, so Morier doesn't try and set me on fire, and a few tops to go with them. Perhaps a pair of shorts too if I'm feeling on good form. Maybe even plant a few over wintering veggies as my summer crops are coming to an end. I will endeavour to take more pictures of what I'm doing and post more often about the fun things, rather than the stress.

Just to go along with my plans I thought I would put up a few things I am doing this month. Just so you can see I'm not totally frittering my Summer holidays away.

Sunday 17th August - The Mid-Somerset Show, Cannards Grave Road, Shepton Mallet. Somerset. The website is http://www.midsomersetshow.org.uk/

Wednesday 27th August - the Red Arrows will be flying over what is left of Westons beautiful Victorian pier.
Saturday 30th August- Green Festival at The Quarry, Weston-Super-Mare. Website http://ecojam.org/interact/events/green-festival-the-quarry

So here's to August and all it can teach me.

Courage

2008-02-18T06:59:00.000-08:00

It's been said in the past that it took a lot of courage for me to come through the things I have come through. The way my life was shaped for me as a child is not something I would wish on another, yet it has made me the person that I am today. Now I find that courage comes in different forms as I have aged. It is not the courage I mustered to go on a first date, to wear the clothes I wanted or to, once again, make friends in a new school. It's deeper and harder to find, harder to come to terms with. It takes courage to let your children grow apart from you and develop their own persona, it takes courage to face the illness you suffer head on and beat it in to submission, it takes courage to take that tiny step in a direction you would not otherwise go in. Some days it simply take courage to get out of bed and face the day when you feel as if it never changes.

I'm trying to get the courage to do things I've put off in the past. To start Tai Chi lessons alone, to put a new business idea in to action, to have faith in my own ability. I've let myself down so many times in the past it's almost become a habit. I start things with the best of intentions and then they fall by the way. I'm unreliable, selfish and lazy all in one person. I'm irate, highly strung and sensitive in ways I can hardly get a grip on sometimes. I'm lost in my own addled mind and sometimes, just sometimes, I feel as if I'm drowning under it all. Perhaps it's part of the bi-polar syndrome, perhaps it's just how I'm made. I have very little sense of self or permanency. I'm scared of making a home I will never own or loose for reason that may not exist. I'm not the mask that I show to everyone.

I've been spending a lot of time looking at the blogs of women I see as courageous. In many ways these aren't your 'standard' heroes. They aren't, in most cases, fighting terrible illnesses, they aren't in the front row of the protests against government or fighting for freedom but they have the courage to be themselves. They are mothers, wives, home makers. Fighting every day to do the best they can for their families, to make beautiful homes, to stick to tight budgets and bring up decent children. They almost all have their own little businesses, or make things in the old ways, to improve their environment. They grow their own veg, practice home canning, make items for the home and new clothes for themselves. They are thrifty, smart, they recycle and watch the amount of water they use. I'm finding myself following them down the same path even though it sometimes baffles or scares me.

Perhaps we all need to reflect now and then in order to bring ourselves up to speed with the changes we have undergone. To realise how different we are now from 'back then'. To see we have grown in so many ways and we need to keep growing and expanding our sense of self in order to continue. Self analysing is one of the hardest things we do in life but it is often over looked and ignored because we don't like to face up to who we really are under the costumes and masks that we wear in public. It is hard to admit that you are your own best advocate and your own worst enemy wrapped in one skin with no way out. Be self critical but don't self criticise. Analyse but don't tear things in to pieces so small they can never be put back together in the correct order.

Courage is something that exists in all of us. Courage is taking the steps to do that which scares you so much you feel as if you can't breathe. It's taken me nearly 33 years but I think I've finally found the courage to be who I am, to change what I dislike, and to move on from the past. I'm letting go of the pain, the bad dreams, the excuses and becoming who I am meant to be. I don't need to be anything more.

Please Let Me Slow Down

2007-11-08T02:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it feels as if time is being dragged away from me while I try desperately, screaming and clinging with my my finger nails, to hold on to it. The past few weeks have felt like that around here. Every time I think I can stop and take a breather something else happens to sweep me away again. I am very very thankful for the one or two days I have managed to spend in the company of great friends, drinking coffee and eating cake, and being able to vent all of my frustrations without feeling guilty.

We have had furniture arrive that we have had to assemble, the wonders of flat packed bedrooms, and old furniture to be moved out. Along side that we have had all the ripple effects from emptying a bedroom that holds far too much stuff. In the last 10 days I have removed over 5 black sacks of assorted gubbins from both the bedroom and the airing cupboard. Some has gone to a friend who desperately needs all manner of household items, some of it has been distributed among other friends who wanted things and the rest has been sent to the thrift shop. The bedroom still isn't finished by any stretch of the imagination but it is getting there.

I've been desperately trying to get some crafting time but that hasn't been going very well either. On Sunday I burned the tips of my fingers on my left hand and Boy developed acute viral conjunctivitis. He's been off school all week but will go back tomorrow, and the fingers are now healed, but it's messed with my plans. At least the house is looking tidy as there is little else I've been able to do.I think I might go and see if I can sort out some more bags for the thrift shop. The less junk I have in the house the easier it is to live in.

This weeks picture isn't a recent one I'm afraid. It's the swap package I sent to a girl on the Craftermath forums I belong to. The theme was Autumn Colours.

Slow Down

2007-10-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

Well I never intended to leave this little blog unattended for so long, where has time gone! In my defence the last couple of weeks have been very busy in my little house. Sick children, poorly cats, teenagers and me doing dumb things that make ME ill have all contributed to me not getting on with things I wanted to. Knowing that I am wheat/gluten intolerant should have put me off going to Pizza hut for my sons birthday, really it should have, but I was a twit and I'm only just starting to feel better nearly a week later. Bread is a major temptaion for me I'm afraid.

Now thats all done with and I'm getting back on track. I'm even sorting out things for Yule, I don't celebrate Christmas, and printing out organising charts and calenders. I've finished shopping for some of the people on the gift list and I've started making other items. It's quite scary that I'm becoming more and more organised as I get older. I used to be a running joke with friends and family due to my total lack of organisational skills. Now I'm planning detailed folders, buying storage boxes and stocking my pantry with basic food stuffs for that 'just in case' time we all come across.

The crafting has been slow up until now but I do have a few new pieces to put in my shop. The hair clip above is something I've been meaning to get a picture of for a while now and that will be for sale later today. There are a few more in the sketch book that may come to life soon too. It's always satisfying when you can take a scruffy picture you drew and make it in to something you can hold. It might help me get out of this rut I seem to seem to be stuck in, my muse is on holiday somewhere hot and has left me here to flap around without any direction. Get back here and be useful dammnit!

Now I have to go and sew a ragdoll together for my daughters school project, and print some sheets off, and post a hat, and play with a felted blanket, and...Oh..I think I'll have a coffee first and procrastinate a little more. Finally, I haven't forgotten that I promised a piccalilli recipe to someone. I am making a batch tomorow or Friday and thought it might be nice to include pictures for you as well as the recipe.

10 Things

2007-09-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

The Hidden Pond. A place I love.

Someone suggested that I do the '10 Things' meme to introduce myself to the blog community here. I will admit that this is totally different to the Live Journal community I've been a part of for so very long. So here goes, the un-edited version of my 10 Things.

1. I'm a list writer. I write lists about lists! For years it's been the only way I can remember all the things I have to do. It's been more important of late as I take pain medication that messes with my memory. I think I have around 20 note books and a white board to top it off.

2. I procrastinate something awful. Thats why I am sporadic with my posting. I take photos, take forever to take them off my camera, take even longer to upload them and you finally get a post. I procrastinate in every single part of my life. My husband says procrastination is a mental disease but he loves me still. I wish it would bugger off as I hate it.

3. I'm a full time Mum and have 3 children. I also have a house full of animals from hermit crabs to cats. I've known my husband for 16 years, been with him 8 and married for just over 2. I love them all so much that if I think about it too long I end up in tears.

4. I collect old recipe books and craft books. I have an incredibly old copy of Mrs Beetons cook book that I use on occasion and quite a few, quite kitch ones, from the 50' and 60's. My craft books are mainly from the early 70's and I love them for the humour value as well as the crafting inside. I once found a pattern for crocheted sanitary towels and had to be scraped off the floor of the charity shop in hysterics.

5. I'm scared of my food processor. I cut myself quite badly earlier this year on the chopping blade while cleaning it. The blade slid in to my finger like a hot knife through butter and there was way too much blood for me to handle. I've used it once since then but I now keep the blade in a tightly sealed box on top of my kitchen cupboards. I have terrible visions of it falling out of a cupboard and hurting one of my children.

6. Me and my husband are opposites in many ways. I have religion, he doesn't. He's a cynic, I'm not. We also differ in our tastes when it comes to the house, clothes, the garden. Despite all of these differences we still work well together and complement each other.

7. People who don't look after their feet make me want to smack them. There is never an excuse not to pumice and moisturise! You need them in good working order. That said, I don't like feet. they are my least favorite part of the body. I think I may have seen too many ugly pairs of feet in my younger days of working in care homes.

8. I love to bake. I can make cakes of any description and I make very good pastry. I'm a very traditionally English cook in many ways and Winter cooking is the best. Thick and hearty stews, steak and ale pies, rhubarb crumble and thick hot sauces. I've been pondering writing a cook book for a long time now and perhaps I should.

9. My style is very ecclectic. If I had to pick a single design style that described me I would be lost. I love art deco and the French country style too. Right now my house looks nothing like either of these and I still feel like I don't have a 'grown up' house. Perhaps one day I will get my cottage in the south of France and I can be all growed up. Until then I will just keep collecting strange and vintage items when the husband isn't looking.

10. I've wondered wether to put this here or not but it's an important part of my life. I'm a practicing Witch and have been for a very long time. I'm a solitary and don't do love spells etc, everything has a moral base and must harm no other. It touches all parts of my life, from celebrations to my garden, to re-cycling and re-purposing. I can be a bit of a hippy at times but also a pretentious snob. I'm unique and proud of it.

So Much To Do

2007-09-17T00:28:00.001-07:00

It's been so incredibly busy around here of late! Up until Saturday most of my energy was focused on getting things prepared for a Naming Ceremony. I was the officiating Priestess and performed a simple ceremony to name my dear friends daughter, Amelie Jayde. It all went very well and no one noticed when I fluffed my lines or was gripped with fear I would mess up. The sun shone brightly, the setting was pretty and quiet and all the guests got involved, even the non-pagans. All in all a beautiful day. Welcome to the world Amelie, may your life be amazing.

On the crafting side of things I've been trying desperatly to get things done for the swops I am in. Not easy when you have no attention span and no time to do it in anyway! I've been gripped by the evil that is the 'End of Summer Cold'. It's been decidedly autumnal around here over the past few days and it's given me a head cold I could well do without. It's also stolen the sunshine so my photo taking has been worse than normal. You would think that I could do a little better seeing as my husband is a trained photographer, it's just not to be I suppose. I made myself a promise not to post in this blog without posting a picture in order to force myself to concentrate on photos more, so todays offering is just a little something I took on the way to the shop. I'm still playing with the close up function and I'm improving, honsetly I am!

Now I need to go and post some parcels, finish sewing the last few swop items, and put together my last cabinet from Ikea..thats a whole post on it's own right there. I might just go and welcome Autumn a little in the garden and put out more bird feeders. Be well.

Not Forgotten

2007-08-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

I'm still here in blogland and I haven't forgotten about this new little corner of the web. After finishing around 40 items of costume I then attended the last Curious Pastimes event of the year and didn't enjoy it. It's been incredibly busy in my house for the past month but now I can concentrate on other things.

Right now I need to concentrate on the two swops I am involved in. The first one is one that I am running for the Craftermath forum. It's all about Autumn colour and should yeild a few nice gifts for people. The second is a Paper Dress Garland Swop hosted by the wonderful Speckled Egg. I need to crack on with both of these!

And just so you don't think I have inserted a random picture here I shall explain a little. The dragonfly was a recent visitor to my garden and has inspired me for both of my swops. It's also the first time I've managed to use the correct settings on the camera to get a close up. This should help me in future to photograph my craft work.

Time to fight my migraine now and take more pictures to share with you all. Be well.

One Down, 25 to Go.

2007-08-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

Finally finished something from my pile, read mountain, of in progress sewing. H desperately needed new costume for the Renewal Event and I had some very vague ideas of what to make. After rooting through my piles of fabric I found just enough green for a main tunic and a few scraps of duck to make the arms out of. It didn't take me long to complete it, about 4 hours in total, and I'm quite proud of it.

The trousers were made of a heavy yellow drill fabric that Kazbit gave me. H isn' sure on them and they won't last more than a few events but I think they finish off the outfit quite well. Another pair are ready to be cut with wider legs. Both patterns began life as standard Simplicty costume patterns but I altered them a LOT during the making. Sure, the top is a little too big but we only attend events 4 times a year so he needs growing room. Back to the machine again. Only another 25 costume pieces to finish in 16 days...

A New Begining

2007-08-02T03:31:00.000-07:00

This will be a slow move, and a strange one too. Deciding on a place to collate all of my crafting, sewing and baking has taken a long time and is well over due. Lets hope that my procrastination doesn't stand in the way this time.

I have hopes and aspirations for this blog and if they don't all work out? Well, nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.