Beltane Blessings

While the North celebrate Samhain or Halloween those of us down here in the Southern half we welcome the union between the Goddess and the God, The Festival Of the Great Rite, it is popular time to be hand fasted as well. Beltaine is the time of new life. It is a time when baby animals are born. New plants grow shoots. Flowers bloom. Trees rebirth their leaves. It is a time when all things male and female unite to become one.
 As this is a fertility ritual, in days of old it was often said children conceived during this time where not illegitimate but children of the god -
So to my Northern sisters and brothers Samhain Blessings to you and yours, may your hearth fires burn brightly during the dark months, and to my sisters and brothers here in the South I wish you and yours abundance and health.

He finally got it!

Is this some serious procrastination or what.. haha .. 5.5 years ago D was up in the Gulf and I did what every Navy widow does from time to time.. I went to the mall to fill in a day off from work. There is a great shop at the mall and it sold all sorts of kitchen bits and bobs.. and there I found a pudding bowl and bought it.. here it is in all it's glory, maybe not as good as an old fashioned ceramic one but it would do the trick, since Derek is mad keen on Steak and Kidney Pudding I thought it would be something he would love when he got home.

Now I can see you sitting there, wondering where the procrastination fits into this.. well you see, Derek came back from the Gulf,  then went to Asia, came back and then went somewhere else.. you get the idea and in all that time he never got his steak and kidney puddin'.. not until now ...

He waited 5.5 years for this - my first ever attempt. Now it might not be to conventional because I couldn't get my head around stuffing a suet pastry lined bowl with raw meat and stock and expecting to get anything out other than a globby mess.. so I cooked the meat first in a good stout, thickened it ever so slightly then piled it into my mould, I then steamed it for 2 hours..

this is the result..  oh my goodness, the pastry was light and filling and the meat so tasty.. served with mashed swede and carrot and peas,  why on earth did it take me so long.....

Cars, Kids and BBQ's

It has been a steady old weekend for us here. I keep forgetting that 10 days ago I was in hospital with Pnemonia and when I get tired tend to push myself a wee bit, forgetting the reason for the fatigue .. I have been busy soaping again, made 4 batches this weekend, Carrot and Orange Face soap with real carrot pulp and carrot infused Olive Oil, Citrus Twist with grapefruit juice, lemon, limes and citrus essential oils, ground peel and poppy seend, then there was good old fashioned Lavender and the last and my fav Pink Champers.. smells like ginger beer bubbles or sweet champagne photos here   It smells so good and the soap curing room smells divine.. .I am looking forward to getting to the East Coast and getting my soaping business under way.

We only have 11 days with my son before he moves back to New Zealand with his girl friend. We are all trying to make the most of the time we have before he goes. I will miss them.. 9,000km is a long way away. They have been off fishing the last two nights, they had loads of fun but not much fish.. so we bbq'ed chops for dinner tonight and not the promised fish..haha.
Then all the kids big and little went out to clean my sons car that is being sold tomorrow..

We were all a bit worried it would still be here unsold when we leave.. *sigh* but Mum will be without her car , as he still needs to get to work till Saturday. Funny how that works eh :-)

A little bit of soap

As promised the piccies of the latest soap..  I am really pleased how they turned out.. There is a bit more info about them over on my shop blog..the link is at the bottom of this post.
This one is Comfrey/Nettle, it is looking a bit icy on top, it stuck to the mold so had to toss it in the freezer for an hour.

This one is Coconut and Lemon-grass.. It was an in pot swirl, I am happy with the result, I didn't cut the whole block as it is still a bit wet but it smells soooooooooo good.

I had an appointment with the Doctor today, and while I was waiting I picked up a magazine and browsed the articles.. one caught my eye it was '30 tips from cosmetic experts' one of the first was 'Never use soap on your face'.. I had a wee chuckle because it went on to say use one of these products.. all chemical bars or soap free yet chemical cleansers in a tube.. all containing stuff I doubt I could pronounce, funny thing is since I have been washing my face with real soap, made with real vegetable and nut oils, with nothing out of a test tube added, my skin has never felt better... don't use soap.. well Mister Cosmetic specialist.. you need to re write your article and announce Never use chemicals on your face!
To see a full range of my soaps and there descriptions take a look here

On My Feet..

I have had a few emails and messages asking how I am doing and if I am ok, as I haven't posted here for  a day or three.. I am up and about.. feeling a bit better every day but still taking it a bit easy.. well not today maybe. Today I over did it a wee bit perhaps. I did have good reason.. well in my mind. You see when I was confined to bed with nothing but the laptop for company, I heard the distant call of a bit of online shopping, I thought it might be good for what ailed me.. sooooo I shopped at a couple of me favourite places.. Heirloom Soap Supplies and Aussie Soap Supplies  what you see a pattern forming? Maybe just a liddle one.. well yesterday my treasures arrived and I had to try them out. So today I made, some Comfrey Salve with Rosemary & Lavender essential oils, ( I had been waiting on the Rosemary e.o) and two lots of soap - Comfrey & Nettle scented with Lavender, Eucalyptus &Rosemary essential oils and a drop or two of sweet grass fragrance just to sweeten it a little ( smells so nice), and I also made Coconut and Lemon with a yellow swirl. I will take some photos tomorrow when it is out of the molds. I have a fair bit of herbal infused oils that need to be used before we go, the carriers won't ship anything that is open.. a jolly nuisance. I had thought perhaps to pack it myself, but if it spills or breaks and they find it has opened lids then we loose the insurance.. so I will make soap and hope it is all cured by the time we go.
The salve will be available in my wee store in the net day or so, I am hoping to be selling my soap by late December early January, just getting the bugs ironed out and the paperwork all finished. So add to the soaping a few loads of washing and a house vacum and I am about ready for a nap.. bet I will be in strife when the man finds out what I been up to today.. *smiling* well had to do something yesterday was sat on me butt making banners for my other blog and Made It shop and labels for soap and salve containers.. here is my handy work if you want to take a peek. From My Hearth 

She's Got The Look

This about how it is.. 

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Laptop Luxury

Firstly thank you for all your get well wishes, I am not feeling as bright as I did yesterday - possibly because I decided to get up yesterday afternoon and sit in the lounge.. couldn't even knit a dish cloth.. pffft

A couple of you asked some questions yesterday, so to answer those...

Sue.. your right, I think this has been brewing awhile, it has been an incredibly intense 20 months and I have a tendency to just push through no matter how I am feeling... a wake up call perhaps to slow down and listen to my body a bit more... and delegate!

Rina... Tall, fair, good looking, sexy accent and a Dr to boot.. I am sure he would make a wonderful catch for your daughter.. she will just have to come to W.A to snag him *smiles* and yes we are still heading to Melbourne -Mornington Peninsula to be precise, we leave here in 5 weeks... my son and his girlfriend are moving back in here tomorrow, he is leaving in 2 weeks to go live back in New Zealand.. lots of changes.

Since, I have had nothing better to do today then enjoy the luxury of a lap top in bed, I have had a chance to catch up on blogs, and follow links and more links.. there is some really great stuff out there in blog land and I wanted to share a couple of awesome wee places I found today. You may already know some of these great people if not, take a look, I found it worth while.

Toward Sustainability:  Julie is a mum treading lightly and making a difference over in Newcastle, in NSW

By Way Of The Moon:  I couldn't find her name more is the pity, a Queensland lass though

MamaMoontime: Cool creative stuff for Mums and lil chillin's

A Handmade Life: A Canadian Mama with lots of good ideas and recipes

Random Little Things

Dim Sim aka Sacred Temple Kitty surveying her kingdom

Your normal blog...will resume shortly

This blog was never going to be about my personal health, but Goddess help me it is looking like that right about now. Today is Wednesday and it is the start of my second full day in bed if you do not count the time I spent in hospital over the weekend and start of the week.
My little chesty cough I had on Friday had by the early hours Sunday got REAALY bad - when in the ED (ER) faint at the feet of the triage nurse great way to jump the cue  It wasn't planned but it really worked! Four hours and six Vetalin and Atrovent nebulisers later I was sent to the SSU, the ED Dr admitting my temp was to high and my lungs had no plans on cooperating any time soon...  one chest x-ray later, I was told I had shadows on my lungs, you have Pneumonia.
Home now after a rather to and fro debate between a tall handsome South African Doctor and a red lipsticked, blonde English Doctor - England won and I was allowed home, after South Africa made it clear if there was any change I was to go back immediately.. makes you wonder what she was hiding when England says she didn't want you to be contaminated further! South Africa packed me up with two types of antibiotics, steroids, several inhalers and spacers and a "if I had my way you wouldn't be leaving lecture"

I slept most of yesterday, most of this morning - and I have decided I find it very hard to let go. My husband bless him, is one in a million. He knows my house routine and followed it without asking, Monday he did all the washing, sheets, towels ect, organised the kids, fed animals, sorted home work, travelled to and from to the hospital and before I came home he even ironed the sheets for our bed.
He has been doing all the fetching and carrying for me, and I need to remember to shut up and not give him instructions with everything I ask.. He can do it! I'm trying not to worry that in two days two more people are moving into the house, and there are things that need doing.. there will be some of our furniture returning and I am stuck here unable to help.
I got up this morning (duh me) and cleaned our en-suite toilet and hand basin and then walked to the out door bin with a little bag of rubbish.. A 20 minute lesson to why I am in bed exhuasted! So here I sit feeling like I have been in the spin cycle of the washing machine, lungs sounding occasionally like a set of my Great Grans bellow's, sometimes tired, sometimes frustrated and sometimes a very bad patient. I do not think I will ever say to one of the kids again, your sick stay in bed! 

Derek and I did get to spend a day or two out and about before all this last week.. here are a couple of photos. We are both fans of the Australian band AC/DC and years ago I said to D I would like to go and find Bon Scotts memorial site.. so we pulled up into the Fremantle Cemetery and my husband said to me "Dont tell me I never take you anywhere" Bless him. We think some of the memorial is missing or we just couldnt find it.

A beautiful spring afternoon on Rockingham Beach foreshore, it was almost 30c here last Thursday we had fish and chips and a stroll along the broad walk. 

Amidst all the pre removal things going on, Derek took me on a date to a beautiful little Elizabethan Village where there happens to be a great wee pub  while we were waiting for our meals I took this photo out the lead light window, ever so pretty.

I promise I will return you to your normal blog shortly - time for a nap

Jinxed it

I jinxed it - For some odd reason when ever the kids go away, I end up with a sinus infection of something.. this time I have taken a good slap, I sound like a cross between Elmo and Mickey Mouse when my voice is around long enough to say something and I have a chestie infection and I haven't had one of those in 7 or 8 years. Someone suggested since I tend to be a "bottle uppper of things"  it is my body letting go when it feels free to do so. To spite feeling like I have been through the spin cycle of the washing machine, D and I had a few nice days.
 In my last post said I mentioned how everything we had to have happen, was all pending..haha well the next day everything happens while we were trying to have our couple of days alone.. we have had contractors in to fix a shower leak, we have had our pre pack inventory inspection and yesterday, we had our pre vacation inspection - so it is all over bar the shouting. Our dates are set and we leave here the 19th of November. We still have to find a house on the other side but thats ok..

So thats where we are at.. I'm sitting in bed with the laptop, it's 9.41am and I have no plans to do anything more strenuous than breath today..the kids come back tomorrow so I want a be a bit better by then..

Random Little Things

Mister P is a bit of a sookie boy and I could hear him barking, so after 5 minutes of said yapping I went to see what his problem was, he had climbed onto the patio table to sunbath and couldn't work out how to get down. All he had to do was step on to the chair behind him..numpty dog, but I love him!

Pending ...

I am looking forward to this coming week.. I do at times feel a little guilty for saying I am going to enjoy a week without kids in the house. Do other parents say that or is it a sometimes insane nearing 50, step parent trait? Anyways, the two young ones are at my Dh's sisters and then going on to their maternal Nana's for a few days.
D has got 3 days leave, so we are going to spend sometime getting things ready for DHA's  pre-removal inspection on Friday. I always keep the place clean and tidy as well as good repair, but there are a couple of places where a little paint got scrapped of the wall with furniture, as well as a cat who takes great delight in swinging of the mesh security door/fly screen so that needs to be fixed.. the rest of the time we are just going to spend sometime, enjoying each others company.
Early yesterday morning I went to let the dog out for his morning potty run, and thought how quiet the yard seemed, we re homed all my aviary birds on Saturday and it is very quiet now without there chatter. Some of the larger plants (standard hibiscus) are ready to be moved to my MIL's and an array of smaller plants will be going to their new home in a couple of weeks. Flights and kenneling are all booked for Mister P and Dimmy so that is one less thing to worry about.
If you have never had a Military posting, where you have to up and move everything you own (kids, cars, animals, house lots) across the country or sometimes over seas, you won't fully grasp how you can feel like your in a holding pattern after getting your posting orders - everything seems to be "pending" the waiting for inventory managers, waiting for pre removal inspections, waiting for pre pack inventory inspections, waiting for disturbance allowance, waiting for DHA home find access, waiting for pre pack, waiting for uplift - then like a blast of compressed air everything is shot out at once.. and off you go. Sometimes bumpy and sometimes smooth, we have had both.  It is an interesting and at times white knuckled exercise in tolerance and patience, not to mention one of most insanely stressful things apart from deployment a Military wife/husband can go through.
We are living in a street with several Navy families, our direct neighbors left last week and by the end of next month there will only be civilians left, we are all posting out.. so I know I m not alone in this madness - so you can see why 3 days with my husband is going to be rather nice.
And just because I can, Im going to plug my other blog - my Made It shop blog.. there are some photos there of what else I have been doing. I was going to post it here but just ran out of time...  The reason for the second blog is I would like to be able to actually sell off it when I am more established. here is the link.

Random Little Things

Not sure why I took this photo, just one of those moments I guess or perhaps artistic license - yes  I prefer the latter, it doesn't make me look quiet as eccentric for having a camera in the closet with me. What? you mean you have never thought about photographing the inside of your clothes closet?