#Lughnasadh + Taste-Testing @drinkmana + Some Random Ramblings

Lughnasadh - also known as Lammas - for those who don't know but are interested, is the first harvest festival in the Celtic calender, falls on August 1st, and originally coincided with the first reapings of the harvest.

 

The God, Lugh (pronounced "Lou") who is associated with the festival is known for being a master of all crafts, as well as a lover of games, so along with the first harvest Pagans traditionally celebrate their crafts at this time too, and games and festivals are generally encouraged.

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I'd planned a long writing session and a meal involving plenty of bread and fruit to celebrate.  But my day didn't go quite to plan.  However, I can at least link my activities on August 1st to Lughnasadh.

I spent most of the morning dealing with some poems one of my narrators had submitted for me to listen to, which - though not actually writing - is at least part of what's involved in the craft of writing.

In the afternoon I went with my Dad and Uncle Phil (Dad's brother) to help clear out my Aunty Bev's freezer, and we grabbed some dandelions from her garden for Artemis and Mollie.  So, technically some harvesting was involved, and I was certainly grateful for the bounty of veggies from Aunty Bev's freezer, which helped to fill my own.

By the time dinner time rolled around I was too tired to care what was for dinner, so Kelly fetched me some chips (fries) and sweet-and-sour sauce from the Chinese place around the corner.  I did have some bread with it though, to mop up the last of the sauce, so at least the bread made it in to my meal.

So, like I said, not exactly as planned, but I can technically link it all to Lughnasadh, so I'm counting it.

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July 22nd was my two year anniversary of becoming officially vegan.

I posted about it on both Facebook and Twitter, but when I posted about it on Twitter, I got a reply from someone at Mana™ asking if I'd be interested in a free taster pack from them.

In the interests of full disclosure, I'll be honest, I don't generally go in for meal replacement drinks, and prefer to get my protein and other vitamins from tofu, fruits, vegetables, etc.  However, I have tasted meal replacement drinks and protein powders and such in the past, it's entirely plant-based, and they were offering me it for free, so I figured I'd give it a go.  Also, all opinions expressed below are entirely my own, and the only thing I'm getting out of it is the free taster pack they sent me.

So, what's my verdict?

Taste-wise it was pretty good, though I definitely didn't love it.  It's the best tasting powder/meal replacement I've ever tried, which - considering how vile the others have been - isn't hard to beat, but should count in their favour if you're going to go by my opinion, because I'm not a fan of these kinds of things as a rule.  And it was quite filling too.  It's not something I'd continue getting, but this is because I don't generally go in for these kinds of things, and is not a reflection on the product.  Of all the ones I've tasted (especially those I've tasted because I aquired them free with other things since becomeing vegan) if I was actually going to buy one, I'd be most likely to go with Mana.

 

So if  you're looking for a meal replacement option for a liquid diet, or a protein drink (or powder to add to other things) because you work out a lot and don't feel you're getting enough from what you're eating, they're a potentially good option for you, and I'd recommend you give them a try.

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The weather's been cooler, which is nice.  I do wish it would make its mind up between warm and dry and cold and wet though, because the constant changing messes with my asthma.  It's not as bad as when we had the heatwave though, so at least there's that.

 

The petkids certainly prefer the current weather, as I'm sure you're not surprised to hear.  Especially Mollie.

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I had a review phonecall from the asthma nurse during our heatwave.

 

Considering my asthma's been worse in general since I had that bad reaction to the Covid jab, and the heat was making things really tough on me, she wanted to put me on some allergy-suppressing tablets.  Trouble is, they only, "Might help," and they have ingredients in them which would irritate other issues and allergies, so to take them I'd be irritating one issue to possibly improve another.  And even if they do help it would be only a small amount.  So I said, "No."

I think she disagrees with my decision, but I think you can appreciate why I don't want to take something to try and help one issue if it's going to just cause problems for another.  Especially when it might not help at all, and if it does any help it would give would be minamal.

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The group I roleplay with on Tuesdays is taking a break from Abarrant while the GM moves, so we're playing Pathfinder instead for now, swapping superheroes for fantasy heroes.  I'm not sure what will happen with the Pathfinder game when the GM's move is over.  Anyway, Kelly and I are both playing elves, but mine's a druid and Kelly's is a rogue.

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Mam took this photo of Logan with Izabel a little behind him when she came over the other day.  Logan was up on the back of the corner piece from a corner sofa we're currently using as an armchair, and Izabel climbed up to get a closer look at what he was doing up there.  With how tiny Izi is, especially compared to Logan (who's a big boy for his breed, having reached the maximum size a Cavapoo can reach, while Izabel is at the opposite end of the size scale) Mam says it should be titled, "Little and large."