Of #Dog Toys, #Tortoise Habitats, #Imbolc Celebrations, And The Rest Of My Week

Another week is over, and we're already in February. Can you believe it?

Weatherwise, it's been another cold, and mostly rainy, week. Still no sign of my snow. A couple of years we haven't had it until late February or early March though, so I'm still holding out hopes for some.

Anyway, what have I been up to during the past week? Let's take a look, shall we?

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The main highlight of last Tuesday was that we had the monthly delivery we get with stuff ordered online for Mollie and the dogs. There wasn't anything for Artemis this time, since we've been getting the tortoise stuff from the reptile centre we got Artemis from, so we can be sure we're getting the right stuff (especially while we're new to this tortoise owning business). There was a toy each for Lilie and Logan though, along with their food and treats, and some things Mollie needed. Well, there has to be a toy for Lilie and Logan, doesn't there?

I'd get one for Mollie more often too, but she doesn't really need one every month. Same will apply to Artemis. They'll get new stuff from time to time too though. Yes, I spoil them. No, I don't care if you disapprove of my doing so.

However, When it comes to the dogs, toys don't last them long, since Lilie loves to remove the squeakers. But if I don't get her the cuddly toy with a squeaker kind, she gets so upset Kelly ends up going in to town to fetch her one anyhow. So a cuddly toy with a squeaker in it is what they get. This time it was elephants (I get them the same, because when I didn't, they only argued over them). I actually posted on Facebook and Twitter right after I gave them the toy that I bet she'd have the squeaker out of at least hers by dinner time. Yeah... It took her almost an hour, but she definitely made it before dinner time. And, yes, that's for both toys. Hey, at least it's only the dog stuff she chews these days.

Sorry. No photos of the dogs with the toys. Given Lilie's reluctance to nap lately, I just wanted to distract them with the toys so I could get some things done online. It worked too. Between them settling with a chewie after their walk, them being busy with the toys, and eventually exhaustion making even Lilie have to admit defeat and take a nap, I managed to get caught up on most of my eMails, as well as the posts I hadn't read from the blogs I follow.

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On Wednesday, Kelly went in to town to run some errands, as well as get some stuff we needed and wanted for Artemis. While he was gone, I alternated between organizing Artemis' morning bath and cuddle time, playing with Lilie and Logan, and doing a few bits of housework, and Mollie took a nap.

When we got Artemis, we'd gotten the basic tortoise setup, but there were a couple of things that weren't essential, so weren't included with it, that we knew we could do with having. Those things being a cave the tortoise could hide in, and a good flat rock slab for when Artemis feels the need to bask beneath the heat lamp. Since they weren't essential, we didn't rush to get them, but waited until Kelly needed to go in to town again anyhow. We have them now though, and Artemis only had to wait a couple of weeks for them. Not that the tortoise seemed all that bothered about the wait.

So, after I got it all set up, I had Kelly grab you photos. Probably should have waited until after I changed the food, but it was about lunch time when this was being done, and I change the food in the evening. I do it in the evening on purpose, because of the greens being what I'm having for dinner that day too, and didn't want to mess with the tortoise's feeding schedule for the sake of changing the food when I was redecorating the habitat. Plus, it's only now that I'm posting this that it occurs to me the food in the bowl probably doesn't look too fresh. Well, at least now you know why that is. Anyway, here's what Artemis' habitat looks like:

We had to slightly change how the wooden archway was. The sides are steep enough that when Artemis tried to climb it, the tortoise would fall in the attempt. So I sunk it deeper in to the wood chips, so only the very top - which is only slightly sloped, so Artemis can climb it more safely - sticks up above the wood chips. It does mean Artemis has to burrow beneath the wood chips to be in the tunnel, but since Artemis was burrowing beneath the wood chips in there when making use of the inside of it anyhow, that's not a problem. Artemis seems to like it the way we now have it, and we're glad the tortoise hasn't fallen while attempting to climb on top of it, so everyone's happy. The setup is still basically the same. The wooden arch just doesn't stick up as high as it does in the photo above featuring the side of the vivarium it's in.

Anyway, here's a photo of Artemis exploring the new layout:

Sorting those things took us to Wednesday lunch time. Not much happened after that though. Other than pet playtime, I tried to take it easy the rest of the day. I'd been coughing a bit throughout Tuesday night, and woken up all sniffly Wednesday morning, so was worried I might be coming down with something. I drank plenty of fluids - including some elderflower and cranberry tea - and ate a couple of oranges to boost my vitamin C - trying to use natural methods, and hopefully avoid needing anything more - and hoped that would be enough to stop anything developing. Or at least keep it from getting too bad. I also made sure to rest by taking a short nap, and making a point of actually settling to sleep right after toast and sweetie ball time (which now includes the extra step of turning off the tortoise lamps for the night). Luckily, the dogs were willing to co-operate with these plans. Even Lilie.

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Thursday morning I woke up early, so figured I'd get up and do some writing. Besides, I also needed to do a bit of post rescheduling, since I needed to move the interview that had been scheduled for this past Friday to another date. Well, I didn't "have to" as such. But it was easier on the person who the pet belonged to, so I agreed to, especially since I had a post of Mollie's I'd been planning to post the following week, so could easily bring that forward to fill the spot. After I'd done those things, I sorted some eMails until it was time to turn on Artemis' lamps for the day, have breakfast, drink more elderflower and cranberry tea, etc.

Lilie has apparently decided naps are sometimes acceptable again, though admittedly often only after a bit - in some cases a lot - of persuasion. It's an improvement though, and meant I managed to get a bit more writing and eMail sorting time in the afternoon. It would have been a lot more, but the combination of the early morning and feeling rough meant I decided to join in with nap time for the last hour or so. Even with that nap, I ended up cutting my reading time short, and going to bed right after toast and sweetie ball time again.

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Friday was pretty much the same as Thursday, with only the minor variations caused by having different chores and eMails needing my attention, etc. I was still sniffly, but the cold hadn't gotten any worse, which I was glad of.

Honestly, there's not much else to say about Friday, unless you'd be interested in a play-by-play of what I do in a day? You probably wouldn't, but if you are, let me know, and I'll consider doing one of those, "A day in the life," posts. Although, do bear in mind that my fluctuating sleep schedule means it would just be a look at one day, and not an example of what every day looks like for me, since the next day could go completely differently. I might have things I call, "The usual day to day chores and things," that get done each day, but the time and order they get done in usually varies. Still, if you want to see an example of a potential day in my life, I'll do one of those posts. Just let me know.

Oh, by the way, you've probably heard - if you haven't, congratulations on that, and nice to see you crawled out from under the rock you've been hiding under, since I'm sure even my tortoise has heard, and Artemis spends a large chunk of the day beneath a pile of wood chips - the UK officially left the EU as of 11:00pm Friday night. I'm not going to talk about it, since I try not to discuss politics on here - or at all - if I can help it. But I figure I should at least acknowledge that it happened, even if I don't want to start a discussion about it. I really don't, so please don't try to make me, otherwise I might go join Artemis under those wood chips. Just saying.

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I ended up getting up early again Saturday morning, because apparently that's how my current sleep pattern is working. So I messed about on the computer for a while until breakfast time. I did sort a few eMails and things, but since it was the weekend, I didn't worry about whether I was being productive, and instead mostly browsed whatever I felt like online, played one of the accessable games I have on my computer for a while, etc.

Then I dealt with a couple of hours of dogs in tired toddler mode (puppy jail was used, and threats of it being used again were involved too). Once Lilie and Logan finally calmed down, I dealt with Artemis' bath, and then I decided to take advantage of the fact it was a nice day, and sat in a sunny spot with the tortoise for a while, so Artemis could get some natural sunlight (it's not essential, since we have the UV lamp in the vivarium, but it's still a good thing for the tortoise to have when possible). Artemis loves cuddle time, and was enjoying the combination of the cuddle and the sunshine, so stayed like that for a good long time. I loved it too; it turns out tortoise cuddles are an incredibly hygge experience.

After that, I spent several hours curled up with Logan watching DVDs, while Lilie took a nap with Kelly. Then, when the dogs were done napping, had some time playing with both Lilie and Logan, only stopping those things to come back on the computer for a while in the late afternoon to deal with a couple of time sensative things that don't come in until the afternoon (which, I admit, mostly means checking the deal of the day eMails, to see if there were any good book deals I wanted to take advantage of that day, though I did sort a couple of other time sensative eMails too).

For those who don't know, Saturday was also the start of Imbolc celebrations. Officially Imbolc happens on February 2nd, but it's a generally accepted rule that celebrations run from Sunset on the day before, and last until the next day's sunset. Whether I pay attention to that, or just do something on the day, depends what the plan is. This time I started my celebrations the evening before though, since poetry reading and writing was to be my main way to acknowledge the sabbat, since Brigid (the Goddess associated with Imbolc) is a Goddess of healing, poetry, and smithcraft. Considering I'm a poet, honouring Brigid is potentially a good call in my case, and reading and writing poetry is a favourite way of mine to acknowledge Imbolc. So I decided my Saturday evening reading time would involve poetry reading, and read both "Laughter Lines: Life from the Tail End" and Doggerel: Life with the Small Dog" by Sue Vincent (since they're short books, and I started my reading time right after dinner).

The other thing we did to kick off the celebration of Imbolc was to have pizza for dinner, and discover that I was right I could add the jackfruit pepperoni to my vegan garden party pizza and have the best of both worlds. YAY! Yes, we ordered. I had a vegan garden party pizza with pineapple and jackfruit pepperoni added to it. Well, in our defence, bread and dairy are foods associated with the holiday (or vegan dairy alternatives in my case) and pizza covered both of those. Yeah, that's our excuse, and we're sticking to it. Plus, Papa John's had a 50% off all vegan items thing on over the weekend, and it meant I could get a pizza big enough to feed me for two days, plus those extra two toppings, for less than the cost of my usual size pizza. I had to take advantage of that, didn't I? *wink*

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Sunday is meant to be one of the days I take off from writing, and try to limit online activities (I'm trying to do this on both Saturday and Sunday, in the interests of better self care, hence my "playing" more than working when I was on the computer Saturday morning). However, since we were in the midst of Imbolc celebrations, and my focus for that is honouring a Goddess associated with poetry, I decided to set aside part of my Sunday for poetry writing. So I did that when I once again woke up early, along with sorting the reviews for the books I'd read Saturday evening (which you'll get to see in my media shares and reviews post on Thursday).

After breakfast and pet care were dealt with, I did mess about on the computer some more, but avoided doing any work/writing, or worrying about if I was doing anything productive. Just messing about while all the petkids were napping. I had considered going to watch some more DVDs, but Lilie and Logan fell asleep in their computer room beds while I was sat on my computer chair drinking a cup of tea and talking to Kelly, so I decided to mess about on the computer for a bit while they napped instead. Mainly to avoid waking them back up, since doing so could have resulted in Lilie deciding nap time was over, and I didn't want that to happen. Lilie may think she doesn't need naps all the time, but she totally does, whether she agrees or not.

Later, to finish off my Imbolc celebrations, there was leftover pizza for dinner, and more poetry reading before bed for me. This time I read "Open a new door: a collection of poems" by Robbie Cheadle and Kim Blades (again, you'll get to see a review in Thursday's post).

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Which brings us to Monday, which is today to me right now, because it's when I'm putting this post together, but will be yesterday by the time you're reading this. At least, assuming you're reading this post the day it goes live.

I was up early again, so took advantage of that to start sorting the eMails that piled up over the weekend when I was mostly ignoring them - which they have a habit of doing on those days when I just mess about on the computer, and don't focus on trying to be productive - so I could get as many as possible dealt with before the dogs got up. As it turned out, this was a very good thing, since I had the stuff finally waiting in my inbox for something that's meant to be going up as part of a tour for someone tomorrow, so needed to get that scheduled.

This morning, after breakfast, Kelly went to do some shopping, and I took advantage of the fact Lilie sits by the stair gate to wait for him to come home, and Logan settles easily if you just show him one of the chewies the dogs have scattered all over the place, to prep my food for tonight without "help" from the dogs (if you know what I mean). Then I bathed Artemis, changed the water in the bowl/pool that's in the vivarium, etc.

Now the petkids are all napping - like Artemis is in the above photo, which was taken just a few minutes ago - and I'm using that quiet time to get this post written and scheduled, since I didn't get a chance to deal with it earlier this morning, which is what I normally would have done.

My cold hasn't developed in to more than a bit of the sniffles and a slight cough (the latter only at night) so I'm hopeful the elderflower and cranberry tea, combined with lots of oranges, is doing its job, and it will go away soon. Can but hope, right?

It's actually lucky that's the case though, since I've got an appointment to see the consultant about the lump that formed when the area of my tongue that got cut while I had the broken tooth healed, and the appointment is for 10:20am on Tuesday February 4th. So I'll either be getting ready to leave for it, actually at the appointment, or already done with it by the time you're reading this - depending on when you read this post. The hospital called asking if I could make that time. No. I didn't expect to be seeing someone so quickly either. They didn't seem concerned with how I sounded as regards the slight cold over the phone, so hopefully they won't be annoyed at me showing up a little sniffly.

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So, that was my week. How was yours?

The #Ocean, #Crafting Kits, Memories, Shoes, Toys, Weather, Dentist Appointments, And Kitchen Accessories

(Above photo of the ocean taken on August 23rd 2019).

Since it's been a couple of weeks again, I've got another post filled with two weeks worth of random stuff for you. Enjoy.

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For those who like to know: my August Makerly kit was a dream catcher kit.

I really need to start doing these kits again... I'm getting quite a stack of them now.

We need to finish that unicorn - well, alicorn, if you want to get technical, since it's got both a horn and wings - we're meant to be finishing the painting job on too. It's almost done, but we keep not getting to it. Soon, I hope.

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I got some new shoes. I didn't want to go shoe shopping, but I needed some, since I'd almost worn through the soles of mine. Not surprising, since it's been a few years since I had new shoes.

Anyway, here they are, for anyone who might want to see them:

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I always get Lilie and Logan a present when I do a Pets @ Home order to get their food and such. This time it was dinosaur teddies, because I saw them, they were on sale, and I happen to like dinosaurs. Here they are:

I have some photos of the dogs with the dinosaurs, but I'll let one of them show those to you in their next post.

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August 11th was the anniversary of when we lost Kero. It's been five years. I still miss him like it was yesterday.

I miss all the furbabies I've lost. But - for those who might be new here, so don't know - my Westie boy, Kero, was very special to me. I mean, they're all special to me, but... Well, I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say. So I found losing Kero the hardest, and am still finding it really hard five years later.

I'm glad we have Lilie and Logan, and I love them to bits. But they can never take Kero's place in my heart, or fully fill the void he left in it when he crossed over the rainbow bridge.

I tried not to think too much about it around the day. Facebook didn't help, since most of my memories lately have been things involving Kero, including a post I wrote the day after we lost him about how I was missing his barking, even though I'd probably have had a headache if he was there to bark, since there was plenty going on he would have been barking at that day. I still feel the same way.

I wish Facebook would show me more of my non-Kero related memories than my Kero related ones.

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I had dentist on August 14th. I was completely convinced for some reason it was at 11:00am, so got there a little before 10:30 for the appointment, which was a bit earlier than I needed to be, but not by much... Or that's what I thought. Turned out it was for 12:00pm, so I was actually more than an hour earlier than I needed to be. Good thing I had my Kindle with me, so I at least had something to do for that extra hour. Hey, at least I had the right day, and wasn't late!

They put a mask over just my nose, and gave me gas and air to have me slightly sedated while they did the work. Then he shot as much of the anasthetic stuff as he could in to my gums. Even with that, the best he could get was for me to be numbed and relaxed enough that the pain was slight enough that I could tolerate it enough to tell him to just do what he needed to do.

It wasn't so bad with the filling that needed replacing... I only felt a bit of pressure and slight discomfort with that. But the pulling of that tooth they broke during surgery earlier this year had me clenching my fists enough my hands hurt, even with everything he'd done to get me relaxed and numbed. But, hey, at least I didn't hit or bite him, and he was able to do it.

To be totally honest, I mostly just tolerated it to get it done. Partially to try and avoid being given stronger sedation via an IV, and partially because the tooth had started really bugging me. Enough that I was using clove oil to help deal with it, like people used to use on the gums of teething babies. For those who haven't done that: it works fantastically, if you like - or are prepared to put up with - the taste. It only gives relief for a few hours though, so you'll want to be prepared to apply a few drops to the sore area of the gum a few times a day - just so you know.

Afterwards, I sat in the waiting room for a bit, because he seemed to want me to. I wasn't concerned myself, since I was feeling OK - despite resembling a lopsided chipmunk - but I stayed for a bit to make him feel better. Then I came home, where I was greeted by two incredibly excited puppies, and the smell of the soup I had cooking in the slow cooker.

I don't usually do soup at this time of year. But I thought it would be a good idea for dinner the day of a dentist appointment, since it would be easier to eat with a potentialy sore or still slightly numbed mouth. It was fitting as it turned out, since it was a chilly and rainy day more suited to October than August, so soup appropriate weather. In fact, temperatures have been cooler most of the time over the past couple of weeks, and within the comfortable temperature range even when they weren't. Mostly it's been dry though, with only a few days as rainy as that day was. It was really nice, in my opinion. At least, until this past weekend, when temperatures rose again, and it was up in the high 20s, which I didn't like at all.

Anyway, as it happened, there was another reason besides the weather that I actually ended up glad I was planning soup for dinner the night after my dentist appointment (and the following night too). It turned out to be hard enough eating that. I guess a bit of tooth broke off and stayed in the gum. Not sure if the dentist realized and didn't think to mention it to me for some reason, realized and that's why he advised me to take painkillers when the stuff was starting to wear off (and gave me some spare gauze stuff to use if it hadn't stopped bleeding by the time I came home, despite having changed the gauze just before I left, and knowing I didn't have far to travel to go home) or didn't realize at all. All I know is, I definitely noticed afterwards, when the stuff wore off properly. Ended up on painkillers for a couple of days, and then using clove oil for a couple more days, because it made the healing a bit awkward and painful. Actually, a lot painful.

It's over with now though... Thankfully! Well, apart from some of the pain, since that's not completely gone. It's not as bad as it was at first though, I can eat normal foods again (though with some discomfort sometimes, if something rubs against the sore area) and I'm not reaching for pain relief the moment the previous dose runs out. In fact, I'm only bothering with any for bed time now. Hopefully the last of the pain will go away soon. Kelly - who had something similar happen in the past - assures me it will.

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Our kettle died ages ago - I did mention it on here - and we kept not getting around to replacing it. We'd just been boiling water in a pot to make hot drinks in the meantime. That way takes longer, but it was better than having no cups of tea.

Unfortunately for me, that meant there were no cups of tea when we had the cooker issues. On the bright side, that fact helped me get around to replacing the kettle, since I wanted tea, and at least I could make a kettle hurry up and arrive.

So, as of two weeks ago, we have a new kettle, which was being tried out within minutes of arriving, since I hadn't had a cup of tea in about a week by that point, and wasn't about to wait any longer. Haha!

I've honestly not gone that long without tea before in my adult life. Even in hospital there was tea. Not great tea, but tea all the same. I don't drink cup after cup of tea most days, but I usually have at least one cup in a 24 hour period, whether herbal or regular. So, I'm sure you can imagine how amazing that first cup of tea after all that time tasted to me, even though it was just a regular tea with almond milk and sugar in it.

Anyway, I also got a tofu press, which means I no longer have to either stand for ages pressing down on a chopping board that's on top of tofu, or find something heavy to do it for me, if I want firmer tofu. It also means I'm more likely to do recipes involving the firmer tofu, since pressing it will now be easier. A tofu press is something I've been wanting to get for a while. Since tofu is something I use a lot - it makes a great meat substitute, and a tasty alternative to scrambled eggs - I'm sure my little tofu press will get plenty of use... Almost as much use as my kettle. *wink*

Oh, for those who might be wondering: no. We don't have the hob replaced on the cooker yet. I'm not impressed.

#Furkid Friday: Herbal Remedies For #Pets

Here's an interesting post from my friend, Sally.

It discusses the use of some herbal remedies for pets.

Go check it out, especially if you have furkids of your own.

Sally has several other great posts under the pet health tag on her blog, so you may wish to take a look at the other posts too.

Monday's random mutterings - March 9th 2015

My degu buddies are two years old today.

Can you believe it?

It seems like only yesterday we were bringing them home, and now they're two years old, and more than twice the size they were then!

I still remember the day we brought them home; they practically exploded out of the top of the box they'd been put in for transportation from the petstore when we opened it. Well, Jacob, Joshua, and Jenks did, anyway. Jasper was too scared; he always was the more easily frightened and upset of all the boys, and stayed huddled in a corner of the box until I lifted him out. Poor little guy!

Anyway, they've been an entertaining addition to our family. Though, I have to admit, they can be quite a handful sometimes - well, OK, I admit it... Most of the time - and are just as stubbourn as they were as babies - if not more so - and still only do things when it suits them... So, not much different from humans, LOL!

Anyway, happy 2nd birthday, Jacob, Jasper, Jenks, and Joshua!

Speaking of Jacob...

It's also the birthday of one of my cover artists, Jacob (the one who drew Zeena the faerie dragon) on March 12th.

So, happy birthday, Jacob!

And, while we're on the subject of birthdays...

My brother, Wayne, has his birthday coming up on March 15th.

So, a very happy birthday to you too, Wayne!

Yeah, I know... A lot of birthdays this week!

***

Mothers' Day - or "Mothering Sunday" - is on a different date in the UK to other countries; for some reason we just have to be different.

Anyway, this year Mothers' Day here in the UK will be on March 15th... This coming Sunday.

So, happy Mothers' Day to my Mam, and to any other Mothers who read this; be you in the UK or not!

***

It took until Saturday morning for me to have a working phone.

Yes... Really!

I got a message from them Tuesday saying they'd left me a message on my phone's answer service. A message which, of course, I didn't get, due to the phone not working. They also asked me for another number so they could call me... Despite my having told them in the original fault report that I had no other phone; hence me contacting them via Twitter.

To cut a long story short, what followed was a few days of back and forth between me and the phone company - both by e-mail and on Twitter - with several dozen checks of the phone and its wires in between, because they kept saying it was fixed, and asking me to check it again.

Anyway, I ended up with a new number, even though I only moved about four blocks, and was told I could take my old one with me. But, to be honest, I care more about having a phone that works, than the minor inconvenience of needing to give out a new phone number. And, hey, at least they gave me another one that's simple, so easy to remember.

Plus, I got a message this morning telling me I'm going to get compensation for the time I was paying line rental for a phone I couldn't use, which makes me feel a little better about it.

So, anyway, all's well that ends well when it comes to the phone issue.

***

I FINALLY have an appointment to go to the hospital about my tooth!

I know... It's a miracle!

The appointment letter arrived during the move; just as well really, because I was having trouble getting hold of them to give them our change of address. I even left a message for them to get back to me, but they didn't return my call. Or, maybe they did, but took so long that the number I gave them no longer worked by the time they called? *Shrugs* I'll probably never know, and will try not to lose sleep ofer wondering about the answer to that one... I mean, I lose sleep over enough as it is, LOL!

Anyway, the appointment is for ten days from today... March 19th. I've got to be at the hospital for just after 9:00am... Good thing the hospital isn't far from where we live. Though I'll still be up really early anyway, I expect, since I sleep even worse than normal if I know I need to get up early the next morning. That's why - when I have a choice - I try to make appointments for either late in the morning, or some time in the afternoon; preferably the latter! I also like to try and avoid rush hour traffic, which won't be an option this time... Getting to the hospital in rush hour traffic is going to be fun... NOT!

Oh, well... At least I FINALLY have an appointment.

***

Interested in herbalism/traditional medicine?

Check out this post on some of the things peppermint can be used for.

The essential herbal blog also has interesting posts about the uses of other herbs; they do a herb of the week feature, so it's worth following them... Especially if you have an interest in herbalism/traditional medicine, or like to cook with a variety of seasonings.

And, no, they aren't paying me to promote their blog - though it would be nice if they did, LOL! I just think it's a cool site.

***

This has been all over the news, so you'll probably already know about it; unless you've been hiding under a rock for a little over a week... In which case: well done for getting up the courage to crawl out from under your rock!

But,anyway... In all seriousness... Because it is a serious matter.

Leonard Nimoy - Spock of Star Trek - died at the end of February.

Very sad news indeed! Though not entirely unexpected, since he's been ill for some time.

I'm pleased to be able to say that he did, at least, make it to a decent age; he was 83. Not that making it to a decent age makes it easier on those who were close to him, I suppose. But perhaps the knowledge that he led a long and full life will give them a little comfort? I hope it will...

Rest in peace, Mr Spock!

Hand-Made Ostara Eggs (FD)

There is nothing more enjoyable at the Vernal Equinox than sitting down with your children, grandchildren or neices and nephews and making Ostara eggs with homemade, plant-based dyes. Children are amazed and delighted by the colours you can create with a bunch of everyday ingredients from the kitchen. They love the fun and messy magick, and any concerns about synthetic food dyes is removed.

Certified food dyes (approved by the FDA) may include colours synthesized from petroleum derivatives and coal tar. While some food dyes are based on natural ingredients, many come from things that, although natural, you still may not care to ingest:

Have you heard of carminic acid also called cochineal? - It is a commonly used red food coloring which comes from the dried, crushed bodies of pregnant female scale insects called cochineal (obviously where the name comes from). Now while this is not harmful it may not be something you want to use especially if you are vegetarian or vegan or just a supporter of animal rights - they may be an insect but they still fall under the category of animals :)


By using plant-based dyes at home, for colouring Ostara eggs, not only do you know exactly what you’re getting (no chemicals or bugs), but the colours are far more vibrant and natural than their synthetic counterparts and knowing their source is gratifying on a deeper aesthetic level.

Children seem to find that mashing food up and seeing the resulting colours form, is also much more fun that simply dropping a tablet or a few drops of liquid in a cup.

It can also form the basis of an improptu lesson - on history and nature, as well as the exploration factor - the children get to experiment with which plant materials work in what manner, and can get creative with items from the refrigerator, pantry or garden.

Some of the materials work best when they are boiled with the eggs (see below), and some work well made ahead and used by dipping or soaking the eggs. If you choose to use one of the juices, freshly squeezed and straight is best. However some can be used from canned products and their juices in the can, such as berries and seem to work very well.

Bulky materials can be boiled with the eggs or boiled and allowed to cool for dipping. Obviously the longer you let the eggs soak or boil, the more intense the colours will be (for the boiled versions, remove from the heat and allow to cool in the dye bath).

Of course you CAN use commercial dyes, paints, or any number of other decorative ideas for creating decorative blown Ostara eggs and we will also look at some of these ideas, for those of us who don't mind using synthetic products - as long as we are not going to eat the eggs.

How to Blow an Egg
Here is a quick how-to guide on blowing an egg...

You will need:
Eggs
A scalpel
Bowl
a wooden skewer or long needle

1. Gently swirl the point of your scalpel into the end of the egg, pushing as you go slightly, until it pierces.

2. Repeat at other end but continue to widen the hole at the other end by swirling the scalpel around so it chips away at the sides. Make it large enough to just insert the skewer.

3. Insert the skewer and jiggle it around a little to break up the yolk.

4. Place your mouth over one end, the other end over a bowl and gently blow into the egg. It might take a few puffs before it starts to come out, but once it gets going it will all come out with a few blows. If the yolk appears stuck, shake the egg and try the skewer again.

5. Now hold a finger over the bottom hole and place the top one under running water so the egg catches a little water. Shake it around a little and blow out again.

6. Leave to dry and then they’re ready to decorate.

Tip: If the egg cracks slightly as you’re piercing it, you can still try blowing. Make sure you blow from the cracked end otherwise the pressure will cause the crack to fully break. You can seal it when you decorate it.


Dye Colour Sources:

Red
Red onion skins, use a lot (boil with eggs)
Canned Cherries with Juice
Pomegranate Juice
Raspberries
Madder Root
Cayenne

Orange
Yellow onion skins (boil with eggs)
Cooked Carrots
Chili Powder
Paprika
Dandelions
Orris Root

Yellow
Lemon or orange peel (boil with eggs)
Carrot tops (boil with eggs)
Celery seed (boil with eggs)
Ground cumin (boil with eggs)
Ground turmeric (boil with eggs)

Yellow Brown
Dill seeds (boil with eggs)
Mustard Seeds (boil with eggs)

Brown
Strong coffee
Instant coffee
Black walnut shells (boil with eggs)
Strong Black Tea

Yellow Green
Bright green apple peels (boil with eggs)
Daffodils

Green
Spinach leaves (boil with eggs)
Liquid Chlorophyll
Bracken
Carrot Tops

Blue
Canned blueberries and their juice
Red cabbage leaves (boil with eggs)
Purple grape juice
Black Rasberries

Violet Blue
Violet blossoms
Red onion skins, less amount than you need to make red (boil with eggs)
Hibiscus Tea
Red Wine

Lavender
Diluted purple grape juice
Violet blossoms plus squeeze of lemon (boil with eggs)
Blackberries
Red Zinger Tea

Pink
Heather
Iris Blossoms
Beets, fresh or canned
Cranberries or cranberry juice
Raspberries
Red grape juice

Eggs Symbolism
Below are some traditional symbols used on eggs. In addition to these, you could also use symbols that have meaning in your Path. Pentacles for the elements or earth, the divine, humanity. Cauldrons for rebirth and wisdom. Cups to represent Water: emotion, healing, adaptability. Swords for Air: clear thought, intellect, learning etc...

Geometrical:
Circles: Protection, everlasting life, continuity, completeness. The Sun, and cycles of life.
Triangles: The elements of earth, air, fire and water. Or fire (the alchemical symbol for fire is a right side up triangle). The Trinity. Sun, Moon, and Stars.
Suns: The life-giving, all embracing nature of God, especially as the Sun is seen as the God. Fire and warmth, enchantment, prosperity, good fortune. (It is the most ancient and significant symbol, appearing on almost every Ukranian egg, from a small circle or dot to an elaborate many-rayed affair).
Tripods: Man, Woman, and Child. Birth, Life and Death.
Dots: Usually represent stars. Also can represent the Sun.
Curls: Protection.
Spirals: Mystery of life and death, divinity and immortality.
Crosses: These are usually equal-armed crosses, though not always. Represents the four directions, the four ages of man, the four elements, rebirth and eternal life.

Nature:
Plants: Rebirth and nature. Very popular symbols.
Trees: Strength, renewal, creation, organic unity, growth, eternal life.
Leaves: Immortality, eternal or pure love, strength, persistence.
Flowers: Beauty, children, female principles of wisdom and elegance.
Fruit: Continuity, good fellowship, strong and loyal love, love of the Divine.
Sunflowers: Motherhood, life, love of the Divine.
Wheat: Bountiful harvest.
Stars and Roses: Popular symbols for purity, life, giver of light, the eye of God, the God's love for humanity. Also success, knowledge, beauty, elegance, and perfection.

Animals:
Stags: Leadership, victory, joy, masculinity.
Horses: Wealth, prosperity, endurance, speed and the motion of the Sun.
Rams: Leadership, strength, dignity, perseverance. Ram's horns symbolize strong leadership, dignity, and perseverance.
Horns: Mobility, wisdom, triumph over problems, and implies manhood and leadership.
Bear paws: A guardian spirit, bravery, wisdom, strength, endurance, the coming of spring.
Birds: All kinds, are messengers of the Sun and heavens, pushing away evil, fertility, fulfillment of wishes, good harvest.
Bird Parts: (eyes, feet, beaks, combs, feathers) carry the same meaning as entire birds.
Roosters: Good fortune, masculinity, coming of the dawn.
Hens: Fertility. Hen feet offer protection for the young, and guidance.
Goose feet: Symbols of soul or spirit.
Butterflies: Ascent of the soul, pleasure andfrivolity of childhood.
Spiders: Patience, artistry, industry, healing and good fortune.
Fish: Abundance, sacrifice, regeneration.

How to Hard-Boil Dyed Eggs Method 1.
This is one method to use for Dyed hard boiled eggs, you can use the same method to dye blown eggs as well, you will just need to place a weight over them during the boiling stage to keep them under the dye water.

What You Need:
Eggs
A pot of water
Vinegar
Natural ingredients (see above) for colours

Method:
First of all, plan on only doing about 3 - 4 eggs at a time. You'll want them to have room to bob around in the pan, and not be piled on top of one another. Before starting, poke a small hole with a pin or needle in the end of each egg. This will help keep them from cracking while they boil. You'll really want to have at least a minimum of a dozen eggs, just because it's a lot of fun to experiment with different colours.

Start your water boiling. Use enough to cover about an inch over the tops of the eggs, but don't put them in the pan yet. Add 2 tsp of white vinegar, and bring the water to a boil. Once it's boiling, add 3 - 4 eggs using a slotted spoon (helpful hints: Do not use eggs right from the fridge - allow them to come to room temperature, this aids in preventing cracks and do NOT let your kids drop them in the water. Trust me on this one!). Next, you'll add your coloring material. Here's where it gets really fun!

To color your eggs, add one of the above dye items. You'll have to experiment a little to see how much to add, but try different amounts to get different shades of each color. Once you've added your colouring, allow to simmer for 20 minutes minimum.

After they've boiled, carefully remove the eggs from the pot with your slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to dry. If you'd like them darker, you can allow them to sit over night in the pot of dye, but the vinegar can weaken the eggs' shells. When the eggs have dried completely, dab a little bit of vegetable oil on a paper towel and "polish" the eggs to give them some shine.

Keep your eggs refrigerated until it's time to hide them, eat them, or show them off to your friends.


Remember to never eat eggs that have been sitting at room temperature for more than two hours.

Tips:
If your kids are more into the colouring than the eating of Ostara eggs, use blown eggs and try brushing your colored eggs with a thin layer of glue, and then sprinkling some glitter on top, or you can add beads or other decorations.
Eggs can take on the flavor of whatever you use to dye them, so unless you enjoy coffee-flavored eggs, put some considerable thought into using dyed eggs in recipes. Use a wax crayon to make designs and sigils on the eggs before dying - the waxed area will appear as the colour of the original egg once you've finished.

Creating Hanging Eggs
To create hanging eggs trees, you first need to make a lot of hanging eggs, you can join together as a street, a Coven or these are wonderful for a large scale festival. You could even choose to make a hanging egg tree as part of your families festivities and make new eggs to add to your collection each year. You can then hang them and bring them in and box them away for the following year.

You will need:
Blown eggs (lots and lots)
Dyes, paints, glitters etc
Beads, ribbons and any other decorations you may like to add
Needle long enough to extend the length of the egg

Method:
Blow your eggs as per above method
Dye eggs, paint them or cover them with glitter
Further decorate your eggs in any manner you choose (just remember NOT to cover over the piercing holes used for blowing the eggs as theese will be used to create the hanging section).
When your egg is finished being decorated, thread through it using ribbon and the large needle, thread a bead at the endand knot off, then thread the ribbon back through the egg again, slide a bead onto the other end and tie off leaving a section to hang egg
You can finish off by painting the egg with varnish if you choose to weatherproof it somewhat, however if you are making an indoor egg tree you wont need the added protection (and chemical exposure)

Other Ostara Egg Ideas
Faberge Eggs - The art of creating these detailed, jewelled eggs is something more for adults than for children but the basic ideas can be adapted for anyone.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4963606_make-faberge-eggs.html
http://www.ask.com/food/Eggs/How-to-Make-Faberge-Eggs.html
http://russia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/02/09/how-to-make-a-fake-faberge-egg/
http://www.eggcrazy.com/

Chalkboard Eggs - These are great fun, simply paint the blown eggs with chalkboard paint, and decorate and redecorate with coloured chalk!

Surprise Eggs - Simply Blow the eggs, and decorate but rather than leaving a small hole, make a lager hole at one end, fill the egg with sweet treats such as M&Ms the glue into a colourful paper patty pan to seal the end (be careful to turn the egg upside down during the glueing process and use very little glue to prevent the glue getting onto the sweets - or maybe just stick with wrapped lollies to be safe)

Guilded Eggs - use gold leaf to give your dyed eggs some richness.

Stenciled Eggs - You can make simple stencils from contact, cut out your desired shape and stick on before dying (please note don't use this with boiled dyes - only for use with cold water dyes such as food colouring!)

Marblized Eggs - These are absolutely gorgeous to look at and no where near as hard to make as you might assume. A combination of oil and dye creates a marbled effect on the eggs.

Beaded Eggs - these are very intricate but absolutely beautiful to give as gifts each egg represents hours of work , time and effort, but they could be a challenge for those who find egg dying a little on the borning side.

Wrapped Eggs - Cover your blown eggs in a thin layer of craft glue and wrap the carefully in tissue paper or thin craft paper.

Herb Stenciled Eggs: Lay a leaf or stem of herb against the undyed egg, then wrap the egg in stocking to hold the leaf in place, then dye as susual - this will leave a stenciled image of the leaf or herbs on your egg.

Glitter Eggs - Cover your blown egg in a light layer of craft glue and roll it in glitter, set aside to dry, then repeat this process several times until you have a thick layer of glitter and your eggs sparkle.

Crackle Eggs - This effect can be achieved by using a speciality crackling effect, paint a layer of acryilic paint over the egg and allow to dry, then paint on crackle paint, then again allow to dry, then paint again with a contrasting colour paint, as it dries the crackle effect will become more noticeable (detailed instructions come with the crackle medium) - available from art suppliers

There are so many arty crafty ideas for decorating your Ostara eggs you just have to allow your imagination to flow....

Further Hints and Tips
Using Empty Eggs Shells:
Empty egg shells by themselves are light-weight and fragile. You can strengthen them further by putting on layers of newspaper covered with layers of paper towels . Use white glue, homemade flour-and-water paste or wallpaper paste to apply the paper to the egg-shell, just like when you’re making papier mache.
Before decorating the egg shells, you can cover the holes in the ends with melted wax or with tissue paper and glue.
If the decorated egg turns out to be a masterpiece and you want to preserve it for a long time, evenly coat the egg with thinned white glue, clear nail polish, or spray shellac.
For hanging the egg shells for displaying, you can run a loop of ribbon, yarn, string or wire through the holes. Tie the end to make a hanger for your decorated egg.
Make a stand for your decorated eggs out of a small bottle cap, an empty film canister or a section of a cardboard tube.
If you have any broken eggs , don’t throw them away – you could glue a fuzzy chick figurine inside and make a cute display piece by itself or clubbed with other Easter ornaments, or as the basis for a Faberge Egg.

Using Hard-Boiled Eggs:
Refrigerate the eggs whenever you’re not working with them.
Make sure the eggs you color aren’t cracked. If any crack during cooking, dyeing or decorating, throw them away. Also throw away any eggs that have been out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours (they are not longer safe to eat).
For dyeing the eggs you can use artificial egg dyes or natural ingredients like turmeric, coffee and other day to day items from the kitchen. If you want to try dying your eggs the natural way, see above for more details. If you use artificial coloring, go for specially-made, food-grade egg dyes.
For dyeing you can hard-boil the eggs in the water with the dye, which gives you a less consistent color. It’s great if you like the variegated look.
For a more consistent color cook the eggs separately and let them sit in the dye solution. The longer the eggs sit in the dye, the darker the color.
Place shaped stickers, like flowers, hearts, bugs or other shapes, on eggs before dyeing. You also use celery leaves. After the dye is dry, remove the sticker for a perfect silhouette.
Draw on eggs with a clear wax “magic crayon” found in many decorating kits or use an ordinary white crayon. The wax protects the egg from the dye. After the dye has dried, wash the egg with hot water to remove the wax and try dipping into another color for a cool tie-dyed effect. If you plan to eat the Easter eggs, be sure the label says nontoxic on any crayons, pens, paints or other art materials you use. Or, use edible decorations like herbs.
Wrap a few rubber bands around an egg before dipping it into the dye. After the egg dries, remove the bands, revealing white stripes. Try placing the rubber bands in different places and using another color for a striped rainbow effect!
Add sequins or sparkles to eggs while the dye is still wet to make an egg fancy enough for the diva in every family.

Source:

Ostara symbolism and lore (FD)

Ostara Deities: Eostre, the adolescent Spring Maiden, the adolescent Spring Lord, All Youthful and Virile Gods and Goddesses, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses, Love Goddesses, Moon Gods and Goddesses, and all Fertility Deities including :Persephone, Blodeuwedd, Eostre, Aphrodite, Athena, Gaia, Cybele, Hera, Isis, Ishtar, Minerva, Venus, Robin of the Woods, the Green Man, Cernunnos, Lord of the Greenwood, The Dagda, Attis, The Great Horned God, Mithras, Odin, Thoth, Osiris, and Pan.

Symbolism of Ostara: Renewed promise of life, The Union of the Goddess and the God,
Fertility, and dispensing of the old and making way for the new.Resurrection of life , The Season of Rebirth

Symbols of Ostara: Eggs, bunnies, new moon, butterflies, cocoons, dragons, flowers,trees.

Colors: lemon yellow, pale green and pale pink. Other appropriate colors include green, all pastels, Robin's egg blue, violet, and white.

Ostara Foods: eggs, egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, honey cakes, first fruits of the season, fish, cakes, biscuits, cheeses, honey and ham. You may also include foods made of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, as well as pine nuts. Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green vegetables.

Plants and Herbs: acorn, broom, celandine, cinquefoil, crocuses, daffodil, dandelion, dogwood, elder, ginger, Gorse, honeysuckle (woodbine), iris, jasmine, jonquils, irish moss, lavender, lemon balm, lilac, Lily, lily of the valley, lovage, marjoram, meadowsweet, narcissus, oak, oakmoss, olive, orris root, peony, rose, rose hips, sage, snowdrops, strawberry, tansy, tarragon, thyme, trefoil (purple clover), tulip, vervain, violet, willow, woodruff and all spring flowers.

Incense: jasmine, frankincense, myrrh, dragon's blood, cinnamon, nutmeg, aloes wood, benzoin, musk, African violet, sage, strawberry, lotus, violet flowers, orange peel, or rose petals.

Gemstone: agate, amazonite, amethyst, aquamarine, bloodstone, clear quartz crystal, garnet, lapis lazuli, moonstone, red jasper and rose quartz.

Spellwork for Ostara: Spellwork for improving communication and group interaction are recommended, as well as fertility, balance and abundance

Animals and Mythical Beasts: rabbits,snakes,unicorns, merpeople, and pegasus

Candle Colors: Yellow and Green.

Tree: The Alder, a tree sacred to the God Bran, who is said to protect the British Isles. Trees are very
important to Witches, and indeed important to us all. They are the lungs of the Earth, purifying the very air we breathe as they shade us and protect us.

Taken from this page.

Healing energy (FD)

This week's "Pagan Blog Prompt" is the following:

"How do you deal with illness?
Does being sick hinder your magic work?
Do you employ magic to make yourself healthy again?
What about others? Do you work magic to heal other people?"

Last week it was:

"The weather is warming up and the time for planting is close. While some gardeners focus on edibles (veggies and fruits), a lot of Pagans grow herbs for kitchen use as well as magical use.

Do you use herbs in your practice? Do you grow them or purchase them from someone else?

What are your favorite herbs to work with?"

I didn't end up joining in last week. For one thing I had several posts I wanted to get posted (still do, actually), for another thing, last week's prompt didn't really inspire a post. But this week's did. I only mention last week's because what I'm about to post about is connected to it. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

I haven't learned as much as I'd have liked to have by now about herbal medicine, but I know a little, and I use what I know when it's called for.

Mainly though I use the properties of lavender and camomile. And the reason I use those most is because the main time I need the help of herbs seems to be for relaxation (either for myself or others). I have also used lavender to make a rather tasty lavender syrrup, but that was just for my enjoyment; and I did enjoy it!

Anyway, the other things I use a lot are peppermint and cherry; peppermint is great for sickness and menstral cramps, and a cherry and cinnamon tea usually helps with a cough.

I'd love to say I grow them myself, but I don't. I buy them. If I want fresh I'll get it from one of the local shops (the fruit and veg shop does a beautiful bunch of mint). But for dry I get it from an internet supplier.

I try not to use "modern" medicine if I can avoid it. For serious things I obviously can't, but for headaches and coughs and colds I will only use over-the-counter medicine if it's really bad, and - for myself - only "children's" stuff.

Anyway, I also do energy work when needed, though what I do will depend on who it's for.

If it's for myself, it's more a sort of meditation thing; partly because it's easier to do it that way on myself, and partly because if it is me who needs it then the chances are my energy is pretty low and that's all I can manage. Although, if it's a cut, or other kind of injury, rather than an illness, then I do a sort of mental ritual that involves visualizing energy flowing from my hands to the injured area.

If it's for someone who I can be with - someone I can have my hands on or near - then I employ the same technique I use for cuts and injuries on myself. I also offer my advice on herbal remedies when I can, though I leave it up to the person to decide if they plan on taking my advice (they often don't, but that's their choice).

I have two methods I use for long-distance healing/energy work. The first - the one I use most - involves me using the same method I use if someone is able to be near me, though I obviously have to also visualize the energy reaching them. The other one is one I don't use often, because it requires a little more preparation, and because it seems to drain me more. It involves me lighting a candle (and often also some incense), then visualizing the energy flowing through me... From the tips of my toes right up to the top of my head... Then flowing out in to the world, where it travels to the person, enveloping them in its warmth. Then I let the candle, which is usually a tealight candle or other small candle, burn down to nothing. When I use this method I like to have a focus object; something that belongs to the person, something that was given to me by the person, or something that reminds me of the person. I use the object to help to focus every particle of my energy on that person, and keep it focused on them; handling the object from time to time as the candle burns down (to keep the person foremost in my mind while it finishes burning). I think that's why it drains me so much to use this particular healing ritual. The last time I used it was a few months ago, when I syncronized the start of it with the start of the energy work of a friend to heal another friend who was seriously ill in hospital at the time. And, yes, the friend knew we were doing it.

So when I tell you I'm sending positive thoughts, you now know what I'm doing; I'm doing the first of the two long-distance healing rituals.

Courses and catch-up attempts

Other than the last 2 lessons for the "Fantasy Novel Writing" course, all the courses I'd signed up for before are finished, and I have all the lessons for them. When all but that one and another that was 15 lessons long were finished, I decided I'd sign up to get a few more courses. It's lucky they're courses you can do at your leisure, because I ended up signing up for:

Handmade Soapmaking
Herb Gardening
Historical Novel Writing
Horror Writing
Maths For Everyday Life
Numerology Principles
Opening Hooks
Pen Names And Pseudonyms
Penny Dreadfuls - A Litarary Tour
Permissions
Play Review Writing
Play Writing As An Art Form
Play Writing For Beginners
Play Writing - Script Process Introduction
Poetry As Health Therapy
Poetry For Beginners
Publishing The E-Way
Pulp Fiction Era

***

The "Herb Gardening" and "Poetry As Health Therapy" courses are already finished.

Many of them I'll probably never use, but - as I've said before, and probably will again - since they're free, and you can do them whenever, I'm grabbing any of the ones where I have even a vague interest in the subject. At least that way, should I change my mind in the future, I have them. Especially since we saw recently how easily the site could disappear, so who knows if it will be around should I decide in the future that I want to grab the courses after all, right?

***

OK, well... I've just spent a few hours catching up on blog posts from the last couple of days, so now I need to get to other things that I let myself get behind on somehow. I don't suppose you know what happened to the last couple of days? I lost them; I think the clock was on fast forward on Friday and Saturday or something!

The other 2012 "to do" list

I told you earlier about the projects I hope to get done in 2012. Well, now I'm going to tell you about the other things I'd like to achieve this year. So...

* Establish a routine in which I manage to do a bit of each of the things I want to each day (this includes a bit of Yoga and a daily meditation session).
* Finish collecting the courses I want to do from E-Mail College.
* At least make a start on doing the above mentioned courses.
* Start working on the writing projects I keep promising myself I'll do.
* Improve my skills with tarot reading.
* Learn to read runes.
* Improve my knowledge of herbal remedies.
* Get to a point where I can take Kero for a walk to the park by myself.
* Learn the routes to the seaside and town.
* Start checking off things from my "what I want to do before I turn 30" list.

Nothing spectacular or impressive, I'm afraid, but there you go.

Furkid thoughts: Kero's Monday adventures

Hi humans, it's Kero here.

Well, I want to tell you about my eventful day on Monday, but first I have a photo to show you that was taken last week or something; the humans were taking photos of things Mami had been making, and I did my, "hye, look at me... Over here... Cute puppy who wants to be included," act. It worked like a charm, and they took this photo:


So... Monday...

I didn't know what was going on really. The humans said about that doggy daycare place, but I didn't know what it was all about. Anyway, we had an early walkies, then a ride in a taxi, and we went to a place with dogs already there. Mami talked to the human there for a bit, then my humans left me there. Can you believe it? They left me in a place I didn't know! The cheek of it!

As it turned out though it was a nice place; I got to know her dogs - a German Shepherd, a Black Labrador, a Collie, and another large dog, none of whom I can remember the names of - and got groomed. Don't I look super adorable?


Mami had her use something called "evening primrose oil" on me to be on the safe side, if I understand it right then it's because of how Westies can sometimes have skin issues. I don't have any, but Mami and the doggy daycare human agreed it was better safe than sorry. Anyway, it's made my fur so soft and fluffy that Mami can't stop petting me. Not that I mind the extra attention, of course!

We rode in another of those taxi things to go home, and we were almost home when Mami - while petting me - noticed that my collar wasn't on me. The doggy daycare human must have noticed about the same time, because she called Mami and said about it. She was meant to bring it to us that evening, but she couldn't remember where we live, so we went to the park on Tuesday to meet her, which meant I had to wait until then to get it back. I hate not having my collar on, so I was very pleased when we got it back and Mami put it back around my neck! But, back to Monday...

I needed a nap after my busy morning getting groomed and being in doggy daycare....



Then, after nap time, another new experience for me; I went out to dinner.

I've never been inside those food places before, so I wouldn't go in at first, but Mami said, "it's OK, go in," so I did, and nobody got mad at me, so I carried on inside. I did try and sit up on a chair, but the humans said I wasn't to do that, so instead I stayed by Mami's feet (well, mostly). I didn't eat though; I rarely do when a lot of people are around, and a lot is going on. And, believe me, a lot was happening.

I made friends with a large Husky (at least, I think she was a Husky, she might have been a Husky mix, or even something else that looked sort of like a Husky) dog named "Echo" who was at the next table with her humans, and a couple of little human pups kept trying to make friends with me (I mostly just ignored them though). Plus there were a couple of other full grown humans in there who were admiring me.

Mami says we'll probably go back there. I wouldn't mind doing that; the humans in there are nice and think I'm adorable, and I love it when people adore me!

Anyway, after that we went home, and all slept... I needed a good sleep after my day. The nap I'd had on the sofa between doggy daycare and dinner out just wasn't enough!

That day was almost as exhausting as the trip on the trains when we moved here!

OK, I need to go for a nap so I'm refreshed and ready to go walkies later. Bye for now.

Licks and sniffs,
Kero

Cooking and crafting (FD)

I've made some more things recently, and I thought I would share them. So... Here's some more bread I've made... I've also made a LOT of holiday cards, and a few presents for people. I wont tell you who the things are for - in case the people read this - but here they are: First, the cards I made. Cards with stars, trees, bells and angels on them: Cards with baubles and presents on them: Cards with candy canes on them: And several cards with snowmen and snowflakes on them: Then a couple of birthday cards I made for birthdays that are coming up soon. A farm animal themed card: And cards with dogs and tigers on them: Then there's this pillow I made. On one side it's snowflake shaped flowers: On the other side it's plain green: I stuffed it with a mixture of stuffing and the lavender I had left from the lavender pillows we made at Litha (which still smelled beautiful, by the way). So, basically it's a lavender pillow, only it's a lot bigger than the ones we made at Litha. I figured it would make a nice sleep aid for the person I made it for. And two tiger keyrings I made: And, finally, something I am willing to tell you who it's for... I made this little bauble for my Mam: I've made her a little holiday ornament each year for the past few years, and I think she likes it, so figured I'd make the little bauble for her this year. I filled it with herbs - not that it took many to do so, since it's not very big - to give it a nice holiday smell, so it's a sort of herb sachet and bauble in one.

Potion Making

The following was taken from this page on http://demilunes.blogspot.com. Please be aware that - with the exception of the parts not required for what I wanted to post about - I copied the post directly from that blog, and had nothing to do with the writing of it. I just thought it was useful information and wanted to put it on my blog (if nothing else then so that I can find it more easily in the future). Anyway...

"First, making a potion can be very simple, as it can be very elaborate... I better like simple! Since not all of us has access to bonfire in the middle of a meadow or on a shore, I'll propose you something most of us has but seldom use; a chocolate fondue kit. You know the one you can put a tea light under? It makes reasonable size potion and you can safely brew you potion all day long with that.

You'll need:

Cauldron/Fondu kit/ Pot-pourris Burner
Tea light
Glass stick, or twig, or wooden spoon (those are great since you can carve symbols into them!)
Mortar and Pestle
Ideally Spring Water, but boiled tap water can do.
Herbs and Essential Oils

Herbs can be substituted by their essential oils, and vice versa. For herbs, you need to crush them hard enough to break them and free their essence, but turning them into dust isn't a necessity.

Previously take your water to boil. By the way, if you don't have any fondue kit, you can make your potion on your conventional oven, you just have to watch it more closely when it brew. Pour it in your cauldron. At his point you can request help from the fire and water element. As a rule of thumb, have about 2 tablespoon of herb for a cup of water. Crush each of them into your mortar and sprinkle on the water. If you feel like strengthening your potion, you can say aloud the name of the herbs/oils you add and why you do so (ex: "Ginger for success", "Rosemary for memory", "Pine for ideas"...).

You can also say something like:

By the Fire and Water,
By the essence of (herb),
Make it as I wish!

When all your herbs and oils are in, let them soak while your think of your goal. Concentrate on it, and when you feel like it's the time, take your stick and stir 3 times; counter-clockwise for banishing potions, clockwise for others. You can also say aloud your goal.

You can also say a more complex incantation, like this one:

By Water and Fire, By the Air and the Earth,
May the hidden powers come to help,
And grant me my wish.
(Ain't it harm none) It is my will, so mote it be!

The potion we made in yesterday was:

Calming Potion

Chamomile
Lavender (+ 5 oil drops)
Mugworth
St. John's Worth"

Mam, courses, weight and vegetarian items (FD)

My Mam did do a post about what happened to make us leave the party early, so visit her blog if you want to read about it.

***

After my Zen Philosophy, Yoga, Chinese Astrology and Aromatherapy courses finished a week ago, I had Kelly help me sign up for another batch of courses. They were:

Cosmology And The Universe
Creative Visualization
Fiction Writing
Freelancing
Origins Of The Universe
Planetary Guide
Subconcious Dream World
Thirty Day Novel

Half of them I already have all the lessons for, and the other half should finish in a couple of days, then I'll be having Kelly help me sign up for another batch. As I've said before, I'm grabbing all the ones I like the look of while I know they're still free and available. I mean, why not? After all, I can do them at my own pace, so it's not like it's a big deal if I don't keep up with the work for all the lessons. Plus, some of them are information only courses.

***

I lost 1 and a half pounds this past week. I was surprised actually. Especially since I weigh on a Monday... Two days after the day when my meals mostly consisted of party food. I expected to have at least stayed the same if not put some back on. But, nope! 1 and a half pounds lighter! Must be all the extra walks with Kero?

***

Asda have always claimed to have a large selection of vegetarian meal options available, and The Vegetarian Society kept insisting that they - meaning Asda - stocked meals by Cauldron Foods. But I'd seen no evidence of this. Yes, they had loads of soups available for vegetarians, but that seemed to be it. However, I was bored this morning so decided - for reasons unknown - that it would be fun to type, "vegetarian," in to their search box on their website to see what food items would come up. Well, I'm glad I did! All the things they claimed to stock were right there in front of me... Meals by Cauldron Foods, Asda vegetarian meals, the other Linda McCartney foods (all I'd been able to find before were her sausages).

And why hadn't I found them before? Simple! When you have vegetarian sections in various departments, you expect to find the stuff in those sections... Not just some of the stuff, but all of it, right? Well, apparently that's not how Asda work since the bulk of the items were - by the look of things - actually hidden among the meat and fish items instead of being in their own section as they should have been. Idiots! Still, I know now, so I can actually have more choices for foods, and actually have the option of grabbing the ocasional microwave meal without it having to be cauliflower cheese, maccaroni cheese, or micro chips and/or microwave pizza. All of which are nice, but I get a bit fed up of having no choice but the above mentioned options all the time. And, let's face it, it's nice to actually have something because that's what you've decided to have, not have it because that's your only option. I mean, I don't plan on having microwave meals all the time, but sometimes it's easier to grab a microwave meal, and it will be nice to actually have a few options to choose from on those days!

Mind you, I'm kinda kicking myself here, because... Why didn't I think to check in the other sections? But, at the same time, why should I need to? I thought the whole idea behind a "vegetarian and meat free" section in most departments was so you could go directly to the items not containing meat or fish without having to wade through stacks of animal products to find what you're looking for. Or, is that just me? *Shrugs*


***

This will do for now, because my dinner is just about ready. I will check all your blogs - and respond to comments on here - after I've had dinner, walked Kero, etc.

Midweek mumbles

I was going to post some photos today - the ones I took last week while out with Kero - but I can't... Apparently Blogger doesn't want me to, since I've now tried three times to add them, and they don't want to add themselves to a post for me at all. *Sigh* Anyway... The workmen are still here... So much for the work taking no more than four weeks! I've finished getting the lessons for my Walking For Health, Freelance Writing For Magazines, and Aromatherapy In Pregnancy courses. I'll be done with the Aromatherapy (as in regular aromatherapy), Chinese Astrology: An Introduction, Yoga: An Introduction, and Zen Philosophy courses in the next couple of days, then I'll have Kelly help me with the word verification needed to sign up for the next batch of courses I want to grab from the site. I must be doing something right with trying to lose some of this weight, since I'm now 2lbs lighter. I weighed on Monday, after weighing the Monday before. 2lbs is good, I think. The weather's still mostly sunny and cold with the odd bit of rain from time to time. I'm about half way through knitting the first of the two armchair throw things for my Mam to go with her sofa throw thing. Haven't gotten around to taking a photo of the sofa throw thing yet though. I'll get to it soon though... Honest! And that's about it... Nothing else has really happened here. So, I'll let this do for today, get to your blogs either later or tomorrow, and I'll get those photos posted when I can. In the meantime... Enjoy whatever's left of your day, and have a good week!

Sunday's random scribbly thoughts (LBE and FD)

As I mentioned a little in yesterday's post, now that I've finished the first batch of courses I'm doing more. I originally did: Alternative Medicine: A Guided Tour Creative Writing Story Telling Vegetarian Eating Yoga Explained And this week I signed up for: Aromatherapy Aromatherapy And Pregnancy (since I think if you're doing one, you might as well do the other) Chinese Astrology: An Introduction Freelance Writing For Magazines One Minute Workout Walking For Health Yoga: An Introduction Zen Philosophy There are also others on the site I plan to sign up for in the future (by which I mean, when I've finished getting the lessons for those I just listed). Don't be too proud of me for getting the coursework done though, because I haven't been. I'm WAY behind. I figure though that I'll grab the information now (while I know it's available and free) and do the lessons in my own time. I'm grabbing them in batches though to make it easier to keep track of whether I've gotten all the lessons. The One Minute Workout one has already ended, since it's only a very short course. It wasn't too bad, though I did think there would be a bit more to it than, "here's how to do different kinds of stretches, depending on whether you're sitting or standing," which is all it really seemed to be. Still, it was free, so I suppose I shouldn't really complain. *** My washing machine has given up. We don't know why, but it just refuses to do a cycle. I can only assume it's an electrical thing? I could be way off though... I don't know much about how washing machines work, after all! Whatever the issue is though, we are without a working washing machine. I'm not all that surprised. I kept telling the guy who came to look at it when it wasn't spinning before that - despite his insistance it was fine - there was something not right with it. I may not know how they work, but I know how they should sound, and mine didn't sound right to me. I'm not bothering to call the guy out again. If he didn't find the issue before, I doubt he'll find it now, and I'm not paying another £40 (roughly $80) to have him come out and tell me he thinks nothing is wrong with it again. So, for now my Mam is doing our laundry, and I'm buying her some soap powder and softener to do it with (and for her own use for her laundry, since it's only fair). Then, when I can, I'll get a new washing machine. *** I had to replace the house phone on Wednesday. The one we had was a cheap standard phone we brought in October when the cordless phone we'd had for about 6 years wouldn't hold its charge any more. Well, on Wednesday that phone decided it didn't want to work any more. What happened was that someone was trying to phone us, but every time I answered it the phone would make a funny beepy type noise, then go dead. After a few times we got sick of it and unplugged the phone. When I checked between calls there was no dial tone or anything. I knew it couldn't be the phone line though, because our modem is connected to the phone line, and I was online just fine. So, I went and brought a new phone - a red cordless one - and when I plugged that in the dial tone was back, and we've had no issues since. I never did find out who was trying to phone me though. *** The Sky box in the bedroom isn't working. It keeps saying something about a technical issue. I don't care though, because I'd already decided to stop the multiroom package with Sky and just have the one box that's in the living room. I had it set up originally because of a combination of a good offer on it and the fact we were going to be at my parents' house with them, so there would be 6 people wanting the TV, and I figured I'd beat the crowd by having one in our room. Then, when we moved back here, I kept it because I wasn't allowed to remove it until 12 months had passed with me having the same contract, and only about 5 or 6 months had passed. We don't really need it with just the two of us though. Especially with how the main box (the living room box) can record two shows at a time, or record one show while you're watching another. Plus the fact that most shows are repeated sevral times, and many channels have a +1 channel so you can watch something an hour later, anyway. So next week I'm just going to call them and tell them to stop the multiroom package. It'll save me £10 (roughly $20) a month anyway! And I can have the radio or an audiobook on in the bedroom without it costing me for more than electric (well, and the cost of any new audiobooks I'd buy, obviously). *** I've been sleeping pretty good lately (hope I haven't just jinxed it). I'm sleeping at night, going to sleep soon after I start trying, and sleeping for a good few hours. OK, not solidly... I'm waking up at least once an hour for at least a couple of minutes... But I'm getting a good few hours sleep in total, and waking up feeling refreshed, ready to face the day, etc. I'm hoping it continues for a while... Makes trying to get some kind of walking and eating routine sorted so much easier when I know roughly when I'll be sleeping! *** On Thursday, I finished knitting the sofa throw for my Mam, and have started work on the first of the two smaller versions for the armchairs. I'll get a photo of the throw when I can. I meant to try and take the photo Friday, but I forgot. I'll get to it though... Honest! *** Mam came to get me Friday morning. She had Emma-Jane for the day and we were going to walk to town if it was nice. It was nice... Until when we were in town (without the car, which was parked outside my place). We almost got a taxi home, but we did walk in the end, since it ended up being just a short shower... Which was quite lucky really, since we didn't have the raincover for the baby's pushchair with us. We were both tired after doing that walk, since neither of us have walked that far in a little while. I think my Mam was glad she'd come to mine by car and could, therefore, drive back to her place instead of having to walk all the way back in to town to get the bus. There are busses that go most of the way from here to town, but they only come about once an hour, and by the time you get to the bus stop you're generally at a point where you figure, "I've come this far, I might as well walk the rest of the way," so we've never used a bus to get in to town properly from here. If it's too wet to walk, we just call a taxi (unless Mam has already offered to take us, then we wait for her to arrive). We didn't do much in town, just ran a couple of errands and had lunch. There's a bakery in town called, "Greg's," which does a really nice sandwich called a cheese savory sandwich. It's grated cheese, onion, carrot and lettuce with a little mayo to bind it, and it's pretty much the only vegetarian sandwich they do (the only other one being egg and tomato, but not always being available). The only other option there is a vegetable pasty or cheese and onion pasty, but I'm not a huge pasty fan, so I usually go with the cheese savory sandwich. That's what I had Friday. Mam had a chicken one of some kind (chicken and mayo, I think) and Emma-Jane had a sausage roll and the buttons off a gingerbread man (should have been the whole thing, but I guess she didn't fancy it at that moment, because she ate the buttons then said, "gone," as she went to drop it over the side of the pushchair... It was only saved because Mam was actually right beside her and watching her, so Mam grabbed it in time). *** There's another new magazine I like the look of that's relatively cheap and Kelly said he'll get on the computer for me to be able to read. It's called "Baked And Delicious", contains recipes from around the world (apparently), and comes with free bakeware. Mam and I picked up a copy each of the first one - for just 99p (a little under $2) with free cupcake moulds, and it seems pretty good, so we're both getting it. We would have just had one of us get it, but though we can share the recipes, it's more difficult to share the bakeware when we live in different places, so we both agreed it would be best to have seporate subscriptions to it. *** For anyone who may be wondering... The scaffolding is still up, but from what we can tell the workmen have very nearly finished. I hope so! They've been pretty quiet recently, but I really want that scaffolding to go away! *** Like I said, it rained a little on Friday, but not much. It rained a lot more yesterday. It's nice again today... Another of those sunny but cold days you get a lot in Spring... Memories of Winter lingering still, but a promise of Summer hinted at in the sunshine. The kind of day you think of when you think of Spring, I suppose... Well, it's the kind of day I think of when I think of Spring anyway! *** I really don't get why people like some of the music they do these days. Mam was playing a song from a CD she and Wayne picked up the other day, and it started off nice enough, but... Just as I was thinking how nice it was to hear some new music that wasn't filled with rap and/or swearing... A little way in to the song a new voice took over with rap and swearing, which - in my opinion - ruined the song. Rap is bad enough in general, but I can deal with that OK. My big issue is with the swearing. It's the same with most things... Why do they have to swear? Instead of, "f****ed up," why can't they say, "messed up," or something like that? It would sound so much better, I think. *** OK, on that note, I think I'll let this do for today. It's taken me a VERY long time to write this post, and I want to get the dreaded housework done out of the way so I can spend some time working on my knitting (probably while watching the TV). Enjoy whatever's left of your weekend!