The Athiest, the Christian and the Witch

I have been quiet busy today.. My 27 yr old daughter is arriving from Melbourne tomorrow night, to spend a couple of weeks with us, I have so been looking forward to it.. it will be nice. I haven't seen her since before C and R came to live with us.. She gets on well with both the children who she has meet on a couple of occasions, but it is a little different for her knowing that I am now full time care giver and step mum to them, especially under the circumstances. She is a very protective daughter, Bless her and she worries how I am coping and if I am doing to much. While not a mother herself she understands full time parenting again, 10 years after her and her brother left home is not an easy task, especially when the children have unresolved issues and grief over loosing their own mum. However I am sure all will be good..
Today I have been doing those things Mothers do before their children come home for a visit, that little bit of extra cleaning - making sure there room is homely and welcoming, not to mention baking some of those treats that they don't have away from home. While my daughter doesn't share my Pagan way of life, she does respect it, and I her Christian beliefs, so I will also make her, Miss C and Master R, fresh Easter Buns.. I must admit to being a little bit partial to the spicy wee buns myself.. It's kind of amusing at times having a Atheist, a Pagan Witch and a born again Christian all under the one roof.. it reminds me of a little but very true story and it goes like this:

The morning was ANZAC day, a little like Remembrance Day in the US.. We always attend the Dawn Parade, outdoor memorial service and traditional Navy Gunfire breakfast with the old diggers (elderly retired Servicemen) this particular year, my then 25 year old Christian daughter was home for the weekend and came with us.. Well she had never seen inside the Navy bases two churches lovely historic buildings, thankfully empty! We took her in, heck I hadn't been in a church for 20 years, nor had Derek my atheist partner except for a recent funeral.. On leaving, Sarah pointed out she wasn't fond of the statues that belonged to the Denomination of the church we were in ... At this point Derek is trying to open the door that had jammed solid... I was trying so hard to contain my mirth, Sarah's next comment was "Great now we are going to get struck by a lightening bolt, thanks ever so much Mum".. By the time the door unstuck I am almost wetting myself laughing so hard, at the irony of a Christian, an atheist and a Pagan Witch being stuck in a Church.. I said it then and I will say it again, I think this is how those weird jokes start..

Autumn Quote

Bizarre to say the least, as I have not been ill so to speak with the likes of colds and things for a few years.. but in the last 3 weeks I have had an acute Sinus infection and in the last few days I have been laid low with a head cold.. so twice in a very short time span.. maybe someone is trying to tell me something! Cold or not, I managed to make my way to the store today and pick up some wonderful rusty coloured wool, and I have been happily sitting knitting a witchy, winter shawl... if I make another it will be with a 8 ply wool instead of the chunk one I am using... it will be toasty though when I am finished..*scratches head* does Western Australia have a season, that needs toasty? if not it will look nice draped over my rocking chair! When I the camera batteries are charged I will take a photo of it so far...

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
George Elliot

Pots n Troughs

I woke up feeling a tad shabby this morning, I am not sure if it is the remnants of the sinus infection, or the initial side effects of having just started HRT, the side effects I can do without for not only do they make me feel not so great, they make me second guess whether I have done the right thing in using HRT.. any how I digress. To spite feeling not all that flash I took myself outdoors into the autumn sunshine.. There have been some seedlings I have been waiting to put out, but was waiting for the waxing moon. So I have planted out my Broccolini and some beetroot seeds, although I am not holding out to much hope for them, while it is autumn, we are still having days up in the 90's and it is the sort of heat that fries most stuff.

My summer garden was a disaster! Not one veg made it to the table, it was quiet heartbreaking actually.. Gardening conditions here on the West Coast has been a challenge to say the least.. when you dig under the top 3 or 4 millimetres of mulch there is sand.. not sandy soil, but sand, sand castle building sand, just like at the beach.. If it was practical to bring in a load of topsoil or a couple of trailers of compost it might be a bit easier, but this isn't a house we own, and we won't be staying long term, so it is not a viable option...

After a bit of girl ingenuity and some eyelash batting *laughing*, I am growing some pretty nice looking veges... in a couple of old ammunition cases D managed to get from work, and a couple of old kids paddling pool halves from our local Freecyclers.

So I have lettuce, Silverbeet, Broccolini and tomorrow English Spinach all happy in anything that can hold dirt. Most of my herbs are in pots the mint, parsley, some of the thyme and the oregano - the sage is happy in the sand, as is one thyme plant. I plan on *spot* gardening and digging a little cow manure into the sand and putting in some Hyssop, Wormwood, Yarrow and Fennel.,so we will see how that goes.. funnily enough the garden has other things growing in it, Lavenders, Rosemary, Vincas, Wallflowers, Foxgloves ..just not the veges..
I have numerous potted plants.. and I found these amazing little plastic cauldrons, which I filled with Pansy's till I learn what will grow in sand! This urban beach living after having the country lifestyle is a challenge, one I am learning to cope with...slowly.

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..