Kids, Kittens and Cooking

Yaaaaaaaaaaay, Daylight savings ended here on Sunday... I am not very fond of it, well not when it goes into the first month of Autumn! So while it has been a tad difficult to adjust to the hour-less, I do find myself enjoying the darker evenings, and cooler mornings...this morning was great, while there is often the *Freemantle Doctor* blowing in off the ocean most afternoons, this morning the wind was cool, and as I hung out the washing, I felt those first few tendrils of an autumn morning touching my skin..
I have missed sitting here in the evening to write my blog, tonight I am feeling a great deal better and I sit with a glass of Chardy and a kitty.. who is opening Media Player and closing Blogger at the touch of a paw! You have to love the auto save function. During the first few days of having Lunar aka Dim Sim with us, I had my doubts at her ability to settle into our family, she was terrified of the kids, of us, the house.. she was absolutely riddled with fleas and worms.. the latter two got dealt with post haste, and in a couple of days her physical condition improved 10 fold.. where she hid all the time in places no one could reach, she was to scared to be touched, stroked or picked up. I have noticed in the last day or two though her disposition has changed and an amazing wee personality is starting to show, she just loves Mister P and that wonderful 15 minutes of *alone with my man time after the alarm goes off* has been hijacked by an attention seeking pooch and a Kamikaze cat, intent on administering acupuncture to anything that has the audacity to twitch or flinch... But they are both as cute as buttons and cute in my book wins hands down... *smiling* this blog wasn't going to be about the cat..
I have done other things today... I have caught up on some housework and baked..
Banana Muffins for the kids lunches.. it was in fact a Banana cake recipe, that I Muffin'ified, which is easier for the school lunch - I pop them in the freezer, already wrapped so they can go frozen straight into the lunch boxes.. here is the recipe, Banana Cake/Muffins I can't wait to try it as a cake actually..
I also made some Anzac Biscuits, affectionately known in our house as Pocket Bicci's - why? well because I ran out of hands one morning, two cups of coffee and two biscuits in the mans bathrobe pockets! Well you did ask. They are scrumptious and there is always, *Pocket's* in the cookie jar.. the recipe is over at The Witches Kitchen.. please try them they are so nice, they also come with a history, these were sent to the Australian-NewZealand Army Corp during the WW1, I have put in a link for you to see..
So here are the muffins and 'pockets' and the manadatory broken one!

Sinus and all things yukky

I started to write this post last Tuesday about 7 days ago and had to save it to draft as I felt awful, puffy eyes, swollen face, dizzy spells and nausea. *sigh* I have been struggling with an acute sinus infection - something I get periodically, usually when I have been stressed or the likes.... a little bodily response to the huge changes and upheaval of the last few months no doubt. I eventually gave in and went to the Doctor who gave me Prednisone and Antibiotics. .. anyway I am starting to feel better and hope tomorrow to do a few things of the domestic kind.. I am a seriously lousy patient and so dislike being unwell... While I have not been blogging to much myself, I have enjoyed a few moments reading your posts when I have been able to stay vertical!

Dim Sim anyone?

Well, we have been looking for a kitten for the longest time, and found a cutie today. She is part Birman, part too cute and part ratbag with the most amazing blue eyes... while she is getting a little better she is a little timid, the people who had the litter of kittens said, they didn't want to get attached to the kittens so they didn't interate with them very much, which is pretty selfish really.. so she loves the dog and is slowly getting used to people.
I wanted to give her a beautiful Pagan/Goddess type name.. however on the drive home with her, my beloved man, cracked up laughing, on asking what was so funny, he said "we should call her Dim Sim" I looked at him open mouthed and muttered something about sailors spending far to much time in foreign places, and that the cat would not be named after something of a take out menu... *sigh* my beautiful kitty Lunar, is now affectionately known as Dim Sim or occasionally Tom Yum... *rolls eyes* go figure how that happened. The kitty is below, for some reason that photo won't upload the right way around.. the things that are sent to try us...

Happy Mabon/ Ostara

Today has turned on a warmish but wonderful autumn day to celebrate Mabon, one of my favourite celebrations. The wind is blowing, leaves were dancing and rustling down the street, the clouds have covered the sky and it is wonderful, now all I need to make this perfect is for there to be a real nip in the air, but a girl can not have everything..
For me today is about giving thanks for all that I have received over the last year, the blessing to my family, the goodness of the earth and all her bounty. Today for me was spent *autumn cleaning* as well as dancing my besom through the house sweeping out any stagnant energy and negativity in the house, burning incense and candles and doing a little stocking up.. and filling a basket with harvest goodies.
It was also a time for me to go outdoors, and stand with the wind blowing my hair, arms outstretched and re-affirming my commitment to the Goddess and my path. With all that has been happening here with getting the children settled and helping them grieve in a positive way for the loss of their mum, I have at times neglected aspects of my walk.. As winter approaches it will be a time of quiet reflection, a time I truly love..
Blessed and Happy Mabon to those of you down here in the Southern Seas.. may your hearths burn brightly and warm this winter...
For those of you on the other side of the globe, new things are beginning for you, the warmth of the sun, the seeds reaching for the sun.. may your gardens be green and your lives and hearts fertile with new beginnings and dreams... I wish you a blessed Ostara..

A wonderful gift

One of the first *witchy* things I ever bought was a tiny wee cast iron cauldron, it is kind of cute.. I have never been able to cook in it, however I have burned candles and incense in it for various things.. it well, was never really a working cauldron because it is to small, so it is now sitting beside the brass keys, black candles and the statue of Hecate, it looks perfect there..
But that still left me wanting a bigger more witchy cauldron.. whenever I went to op shops and the likes I always had my eye open for something suitable..but to no avail. Everytime I visisted a shop to buy candles or herbs or resins, I looked longly at the wonderful cauldrons and the hefty price tag and *sighed* I knew one would come to me when the time was right...
Then one day, I went to buy a frying pan at a kitchen store, and there on a shelf was an identical pot to the ones sold in most witch supply stores.. I near went into spasms, joy oh joy when I looked at the price tag, it was half price... yet, I had come to buy a new pan for cooking, and again I had to wait..
Well Bless my man for the treasure he is, he took me back to that store, and there it was still 3 months later, sitting waiting, for me perhaps? D asked would I like it? *smiles* He didn't need to ask me twice..
So here is a photo of the perfect gift.. my new, huge cauldron.. I sooooooooo love it, and the man who gave it to me.
P/s ... I have also been busy adding a few bits and bobs to The Witches Kitchen for those who might like to have a look.

Making choices

I had always thought that I would go through menopause with my body doing what countless other woman have done before me. Embracing this next stage of my life with a certain amount of grace and decorum. Celebrating the circle of my life and another change within me, however what I did not expect was to undergo menopause at the hands of a man, lying on an operating table with a room full of people watching..
While I had been on a waiting list for minor surgery, I had no idea how that would pan out, nor did I feel like I had adequate time to make choices about my body. When the surgeon walked in that morning everything changed and a brief 15 minutes later I was trying to make sense of test results and options.

Common sense tells me almost 2 years later, that really there wasn't another option if I wanted to live to be an old lady, however taking both ovaries was going to be the very, very last resort.. I woke up after major surgery, very ill with no ovaries and a HRT implant. When I was 30 I had a hysterectomy.. and my last girlie bits had still given me that small sense of *woman* even with no period.. this time I felt ripped off and very very sad.
Last August, I decided I did not want another implant after the first one ran out. I didn't feel like I had control over the stuff in my body, besides I wanted to do it how the Goddess intended, naturally.
I used herbs and teas and for a time they worked, when I was getting no relief I did stop taking them ..however over the last few months I had been having a battle with myself over the choice I made... It really wasn't a hard decision to make in the first instance but as time has gone by I found myself struggling more and more with the symptom's of menopause in fact some are leaving me feeling quiet unwell.

By chance a few weeks ago I found an amazing place, a Woman's Health Centre.. thank the Goddess walking through the doors of this place was like a breath of fresh air. You could feel woman energy everywhere and the support has been amazing. They have a wonderful Doctor there Dr Jenny, a beautiful older lady with such wisdom and insight. She deals with nothing other than Woman's health.. Bless her.
She explained so much that the male gynecologist/surgeon never would or did about the surgery and what has happened to my body since, and she put it in a way I could understand.
After spending an hour with her, she was able to give me positive choices about how to deal with what was happening to me now. She felt at just 48 I was two young to be trying to do this without help, and especially now I have a *new* family to look after.. so with her help I have decided to try HRT again, this time it is a gel I put on my skin.. I can stop if I want and do not have to wait 8 to 10 months to stop which was the length of an implant.
I have no uterus I do not need to worry about the same about the link to breast cancer, however she has sent me for a Mammogram anyway...

On the drive to her office I had felt like I was letting myself down for not doing it "naturally" but I have learnt from this wonderful woman, was I in fact was letting myself down by neglecting to do anything about my flagging well being.. I need to remember that Goddess gives others wisdom to help us.. and I am thankful for that.

Happy BIrthday son

Happy birthday son, 26 years old today. You are my second born, and you will always be my baby so to speak. When you're 65 and I am getting around with my besom tied to my zimmerframe you will still be my baby.. I don't know why it is like that with mothers and their sons, or maybe it is just me with you, because of your rocky start in life.. a bit like your own son's really, except you were not premature like him... you clicked when you breathed and while it seemed somewhat cute at the start, it hid something a little more sinister - had your wee kidneys not decided to malfunction the day after you were born, we more than likely would never have found the tumor in your nasal cavity that was quietly reaching for your brain.. they found the tumour the day your kidneys kicked back in 48 hours later.. fate maybe?
I knew the night you where conceived you were going to be a boy.. I enjoyed every minute of my pregnancy with you.. although I was impatient to met you. You where 9lb 4.oz
yet your birth was so easy, no medication, no pain relief, each contraction welcomed as I stood leaning against the wall.. You lay content suckling my breast, even before the physical cord that bound you to me was cut..
Your little nasal airways blocked by the tumor, you couldn't breath well laying down and you gasped for breath so often during those first 8 weeks, so I sat up nursing you through the long autumn nights, holding you, your tiny face buried into my neck, so many nights until you were old enough for your micro surgery. I do know that they were precious times that you and I spent together and I believe we formed a very special bond. By the time your first birthday you where a happy bouncy boy, who was happily pushed and pulled about by your sister, even though there was a scant 13 months between you.
Life was not always easy for us, but we got there.. You said to me the day Courtney and Roberts Mum died.. "Your strong and your a survivor Mum, if anyone can get through this, and get them through this, you can"
Although I shouldn't be, I am pleasantly surprised by your emotional depth. You have always been one to survey the world, and quietly take it all in, often saying little, but when you do it is worth saying.
I am so proud of you, for all you have overcome, for the things you have quietly learnt, for the wisdom, patience, tolerance and love you were and are still able to give to your family.
For the strength you have dug deep to find and have shown, to your wife and son with both of them having been both so very sick over the last 7 months.. you have shown those who doubted your ability to maintain your marriage, fatherhood while coping with your sons illness, and still worked full time in a high risk job.. Not only have you done all of this, but you have done it with integrity.
I thank the Goddess for bringing you into my life and I thank her that you were not taken from us in that first few months.. I look at you with the love and pride only a mother can have.. you have given me some of the most amazing memories I have known, and remember son, I above all others, love you.

Potting and Cleaning

I am seriously exhausted tonight, it is 8.30 and I am ready for my bed.. I think a few late nights have caught up and slapped me, not to mention a hard core morning in the garden, getting the rest of my lettuce, Swiss Chard, and flower plants in and a few house plants potted before the full moon.
The moon was full here today at 11.37am, so I wanted to get it all finished - then I found a * rabbit food and straw every blimmin' everwhere* catastrophe in the garage, which I got into a tizzy over and ended up cleaning out the whole garage.. I have never worked out how that happens!
The Garden looks great, the moon looks absolutely amazing this evening and I am happy to wait a day or two and get in some root veges..
A little something arrived in the email the other day that just tickled me to bits, not to mention surprised the daylights out of me,.. My son's mother in law sent me a photo of his new past time ... I was so blessed to see him like this, so thought I would share it with you... He did mention it, but not in the depth she explained, he has a little hot house, grows everything from seed, has pumpkins taking over the paths.. boy after me own heart..lol

Have you popped over to The Witches Kitchen? It is my other blog.. have a peek and maybe tomorrow I will be concious enough to write a half decent blog.

Barbies birthday and surprises for me

I really do not like Barbie.. never have and doubt I ever will.. and I never even wanted one when I was a little girl .. it came up tonight at dinner, her birthday is today and Courtney screwed her face up and said "who cares about a dolls birthday" well after a brief little discussion on how long this doll had been filling our heads with commercial idealism, along with Bratz and then me being questioned on what I played with in the olden days *rolls eyes* Robert popped out with, Did I know the song Barbie Girl by Aqua.. I thought "oh no, I am being punished for something" as he started to sing " I'm a barbie girl, in a barbie world" ...not exactly a tune to stimulate the appetite, however I had to admit that yes, I did know it. He went on to mention it stuck in his head today after the bus driver played it on the TV.. ok stop.. rewind. The bus driver played it on the TV?
Okay, I think I must have missed something, in the years that have passed since I last raised a teenage boy... I asked in all sincerity "You have a TV on your bus?" Did you know they have television on school buses?
Not only do they have TV, they have Foxtel... I mean have you heard of such a thing, I was shocked and amazed..lol
A number of things when through my mind, who polices whats get watched? Are they just electronic teenage pacifiers?
Tonight I am feeling archaic - kids today have TV on the school bus, what ever happened to tree forts, and sling shots and *Brushy* my wee horse, you know the one - the wonderful little upside down broom who carreed me up hill and down dale.. and through many battles... *sigh* oh how things have changed.

Safe Journey Crystal

My older half sister passed tonight - at 10.05pm, 7th March New Zealand time..She was 62.
It has been 23 years since I last saw her or spoke with her. We were sitting together on my lounge room floor discussing my fathers funeral. Her passing, it is not a good thing nor a bad thing for me, it is just a sad thing, that is... Later perhaps I will feel different.. ...I have lit incense and candles, they are burning on my altar for her, along side photos I have placed there..
I have asked Hecate to guide her safely through the veil and to the next phase, that is hers..... Safe journey Crystal and Blessed Be.

-------

I am the chilly breath in the long night
That sweeps through the air
I am spirit - I am life
I am death
I am one with earth
I am one with the universe
I am one with the Goddess
I am Magick
I walk between the worlds
Nothing is impossible for me
I am a priestess,
I am a witch,
I am

~

Author Unknown

Look what I did

Wow, I have had a long weekend without the kids, and I am more exhausted now than before.. I am not sure if that's because I started Tarot classes this morning, they are 3 hour classes over 8 weeks, or because today for the first time in way to long, I went out in to the gym we have in the garage and cranked my cardio vascular system to above dormant - followed by lifting some weights!
I can hardly believe my lack of cardio fitness considering a couple of years ago, I was working as the Manager of woman's gym, I ran 5km a day then cycled another 20 before lifting weights and yes, all in one day, 6 days a week..lol..
Tonight however, I freaking near spat out my lungs after 30 minutes on the treadmill and with 15 on the Eliptical, followed by an at some free weights.... tomorrow I am sure I will be whimpering.. It has got to be good for me, all joking aside I know in my heart by increasing my physical activity and building some muscle mass it will again help in strengthen my bones and ligaments that are feeling the effects of the Rheumatoid arthritis which has reared its ugly wee head over the last several weeks, it has been laying idle for such a long time too. Got to love stress for jabbing the immune system with the big sharp " haha take that stick"

However, I do digress..... on Saturday we went to this little town on the Western Australia coast called Bunbury about 2 hours from where we live. On arriving we headed straight to a little tattoo shop, called Southwest Tattoos where I met a neat guy called Dennis, who I think was French, but that doesn't matter really.. what does was the fact he could fit me in, for a tattoo I have waited the longest time to get..
I have numerous tattoo's as some of you may or may not know.. some I regret most I do not, however I have wanted a tattoo that shows my commitment to the Goddess and the circular life I am trying to lead, an outward sign of an inward conviction so to speak.. soooooo Dennis was able to place this small but significant symbol on my wrist. I love it... so simple but to me it speaks volumes.. it will fade just a little over the next week or two, to subtle colours.. I have been thinking in fact to have a tiny goddess type figure placed underneath with her arms up supporting the moon, we will see but for know.. I am happy with this.