Happy Anniversary... my sweet!

Happy Anniversary, my sweet!

You've been my best friend for 11 1/2 years; my lover and mate for 10 1/2 years; and today my husband for 8 years. What has seemed such a small space of time, has been amazing. I cannot imagine a time that you were not in my life. I still remember the first day that I saw you and how I felt. Before you, I could not imagine love at first site. After you, I cannot imagine love any other way. Our little joke, "We met in Biology and found out we had Chemistry"... still makes me laugh.

During our time together we've laughed on the beach, had 2 beautiful babies, bought a house, sat talking for hours in front of a fire divulging our inner most secrets, cried together in a hospital, danced to Celtic music with a glass of wine, survived some horrific incidents, joked, traveled, and have fallen even more in love. Here's to 8 more years of dancing, joking, secrets, crying, and love.... Happy Anniversary, my sweet!

Promises of Spring and Dancing Fairies

My daffodils (lovingly called daff-i-down-dillies in this family) are about 3 inches tall. The other day for the brief moment, the snow had melted away. I gazed at the little promises of spring that were popping up in my garden with wide eyes. My imagination could see a beautiful spring show of purples, pinks, reds, whites, and yellows. How I longed for spring with excitement. With the flowering bulbs will come my hostas and shortly after buds and flowers on the trees.

My tulips and hyacinth haven't begun popping up yet, which is a first. Its been cold enough this year that my spring bulbs did not start popping up in November. But my herbs are starting to wake up. Little shoots of chives and delicate chamomile and strawberry leaves have already begun to show themselves. I do not worry about them because they have been through four years and they are well rooted.

For now, I will enjoy the snow a little longer knowing that the promises of spring are under a white blanket and just a month away.


My sleepy little house



My spring bulb bed, with the flower remains of last summer.



A sundial that is resting its face



An herb bed that promises herbal teas this summer




My dancing fairy that frolics around covered phlox


and...


My sleeping woods

Apple Tree Wassailing, The Experience

As I stated in an earlier post about Apple Wassailing, the tradition (as recorded by history) began in the 1500's in Southern England. Apple Wassailing traditionally takes place on January 17th (the old 12th Night of Christmas), in which family and friends chant and sing to their apple trees to help ensure a healthy crop for next year. To be honest, traditions like these were to help bring people together and celebrate. What else are you going to do in the middle of a freezing January night?

Here are some pictures on the way to my mother in law's house. Amy and I had to sit in the back of Andrea's Jeep. We laughed all the way.

Once we got to my mother in law's house around 6:30PM, we gathered in her log room and chatted a bit over hot apple cider,we made on her farm last Labor Day weekend. Susie (my MIL) used the organic mulling spices I gave her as a Christmas present, in the cider. It was delicious!

After chatting for a few moments, it was time to pick the Wassailing King and Queen. We read Robert Herrick's Poem, which describes how the king and queen are picked. We all chose an applesauce muffin from the his/her platter. And then carefully picked through the muffin looking for the green pea that would designate the queen and the bean that would designate the king.

Amy was the first one to find the queen's pea and then shortly afterwards the king was picked - my nephew Jared found his bean.

And then we chatted and laughed some more.

The King and Queen's duties were to pass out chants to those picked to read and the song sheets. Odie was picked to pour a little bit of apple cider in each person's cup.

First, we started out with the chants.

As the chants were read, a few people at a time would toss their apple cider on the tree. Kids went first!

After a few chants were read, we all gathered to sing a wassailing song. It was cold so, we only sang 3 verses at a time.

We visited 3 more houses - my brother in law's, a friend named Sherry (whose house was full of furniture from the early 1900's, she had bought in Italy-it was beautiful), and one of my best friend's Andrea. At each house, we went inside and laughed and talked some more. There was no shortage of jovality.

Andrea's house was the last stop. She had beef stew brewing in the crockpot all day, so when we walked in we all dove right for it. Andrea looks like a ray of sunshine.

After we Wassailed Andrea's very large apple tree, we went back inside and popped open a few hard ciders and wine. And enjoyed folktale singing by my mother in law...

...and Celtic and Folktale singing by Amy and Andrea, backed with Odie's guitar and banjo.

And of course, next year's Apple Tree Wassailing is already in the works!

Free Treasures

Let me see... back in 1999 when Aaron and I were living together in college in his nasty college house in which he had 6 other male room mates, he and I were cleaning the basement when we came across a bucket of china dishware. We actually had to clean out the basement because that old house had a massive carbon monoxide issue. The meter went wild the moment the gas man (hard to say without laughing) entered the house. Oh well... wasn't my first exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide.

In anycase, we made a bunch of runs to the dump from all the years of college students leaving this and that behind. There weren't may treasures buried in that basement, trust me I searched. And then we came across some dishes, which definitely caught our eye. We asked everyone if they knew anything about them. And sure enough, no one did. Who knows how long they had been down there. I figure a student came with a family member's odds and ends china collection and had decided not to use them and stashed them away. Aaron and I did the same thing. Neither one of us wanted to throw them out, so we stashed them in storage through a couple more apartments and our current house. I figured one day, I might be able to use them. The pattern is pretty, dogwood flowers, and unique. They look like vintage 1950 something. They definitely fit my eclectic personality. People who have eaten my homecook meals have complimented me on my old farmhouse eclectic dishwares. From the mismatched gravy bowls and pitchers, to the sugar bowls; my different English tea cups and my teapot that Granny brought with her from England a long time ago. I love them all. I do have one complete china dishware set that my mother gave me, which does come out on special occassions.

In any case, Aaron needed a bucket while he was working on his truck yesterday. I walked into the storage area and saw those plates we had found way back in 1999. I thought to myself, "Now that I have a lot more space, since we remodeled the kitchen, maybe it was time to pull them out and use them." So, I cleaned them up, a lot of dust has collected in the last 10 years, and placed them in my cabinets.

There are 15 saucers, 5 plates, 2 regular sized bowls, 2 large bowls, 10 small bowls, 6 tea cups, and a sugar bowl. Because there are 15 saucers and 2 large bowls, I think... at one point in time they were 2 complete sets, with 8 pieces per set. I wish there were more plates and less saucers but that's okay. Maybe one day I'll find more pieces to my set. I'm not worried about them being worth anything. The fact that they are pretty and set in my cabinet is all the worth to me in the world. It means, I have something pretty to pull out when guests come.

Psst! My cookie jars are empty.

Longing

It is said that the Celtic Spirit is one of strong Longing. In fact, a lot of the old Celtic Poems and Verses spoke of longing. Longing became its on entity in these poems and verses, so much so that it was always capitalized as if Longing was an actual person.

Tell me, men of learning, what is Longing made from?

What cloth was put in it that it does not wear out with me?

Gold wears out, silver wears out, velvet wears out, silk wears out,

every ample garment wears out - yet Longing does not wear out.

Great Longing, cruel Longing is breaking my heart every day;

when I sleep most sound at night Longing comes and wakes me.

~Excerpt from an old Cymric (Welsh) poem

Everyone knows the three basics - food, shelter, water. If we have all three of these, we then move to a deeper more sensual/want or longing. What do you long for? Think about this and take some time. This is important. Everyone has a longing deep inside that means much more than fame and money. Something that goes deeper than the materialistic. Some may long to help the needy and in doing so achieve a deeper satisfaction on a higher plane. Others may long for a relationship or union with nature. While others may want to birth and raise a family. No one person's longing is more important than another's.

I can laugh and say "I long for a clean house." But honestly, my motto has always been that when I am on my deathbed, the last thing on my mind is going to be "Gee, I wish I would have cleaned more." That's the difference between a wish and a longing. What are you going to long for on your deathbed? Will you have achieved this longing before that point? If you haven't moved towards achieving what you long for, what is blocking you?

Knowing what your longing is may be something that is on the tip of your tongue, while others may need to meditate and really think on what their longing is. God knows in today's society are deep wants and longings are sometimes suppressed. For me, I know exactly what it is. I've known for a long time. I have moved towards it only to have it paused to raise a family. Now, I'm back to yearning for that longing. I want it so bad I can taste it. When I'm on my deathbed, I want to be able to proudly say that I had achieved my longing and that I spent most of my life working with it and not against it. I have revealed my longings in several posts but I will hold off on revealing this time because I don't want this thread to be about me. I want to hear what everyone else has to say?

Decluttering and the Mist Filled Path

I started a book called The Mist-Filled Path, Celtic Wisdom For Exiles, Wanderers, and Seekers by Frank MacEowen about a year ago. I was trying to share the book with my mom, which never works because she doesn't share well , when I finally had to go get my own copy. In any case, in the beginning of the book MacEowen brings up a very important point that I would like to discuss. He begins by discussing the 'sleep walkers' who are people who walk from day to day without substance. Night fades into day, day into night becoming a large blur. Sleep walkers are people who aren't 'alive' in the sense of living life with a purpose. Sleep walkers feed on 30 second soundbites and quicksilver images that promise them a much better and fulfilled life if we just had a Slider Station or some other 'convience' contraption. We slowly fill our homes and our sacred spaces up with these devices until we drown in our own clutter. Eventually, the clutter is cleared out and placed in yard sales, taken to the dump, or to Goodwill - giving the person a good feeling and a few moments of peace from all the clutter. But its quickly replaced with more clutter, more technology to make life easier because after all that's the 'good life' right? In the end all it is, is clutter. All these 'conviences' and must haves are not life. They don't deepen our existence, purpose, or wonderment. These objects weigh us down, forcing us out of our homes, our sanctuaries, to seek areas that are more simplistic in nature - a vacation from all the clutter.

Of course, I'm not stating that a person should live in an empty home. Some objects are objects of comfort such as a bookshelf, plant stand, an antique desk, our favorite coffee mug, etc... But one must realize the difference between objects of beauty that make us comfortable and objects we think deepen our lives but only add to clutter. A person can go out and buy themselves a meditation pillow and the CD's to go with it but if that's as far as they go to deepen themselves, then in actuality all they have done is to create clutter. It then becomes something else to throw in a closet, under a bed, or into the trash.

Its odd how an introduction to a book can really make you think. I've always been a woman of simplisty. In fact, most ever corner in every room of my house is clean because I've always felt clutter begins in the corners. But then again my family lives on a fixed budget and I have not been able to buy modern gadgets and 'as seen on tv' products. After some pondering on the intro to this book, I am more cautious what I bring in the house. My home is my sanctuary and as such my goal is to make sure clutter does not rule it. And of course, another goal is to make sure that objects don't become an obsession or social status in my life.

Apple Tree Wassailing

This weekend I'm going to be doing a bit of a different tradition - Apple Tree Wassailing which first appeared in Southern England in the 1500's. Apparently, the tradition includes family and friends surrounding an apple tree and singing or wassailing. This tradition takes part on January 17th (old "Twelfth Night) and the purpose is to ensure a good and healthy crop for the coming year. An example of a wassail chant is

From the South Hams of Devon, recorded 1871

Here's to thee, old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud And whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel--bushel--sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!

The plan is to start on my mother in law's farm - waissal her apple trees and then continue on to my friend's house to waissal their apple tree. We are then going to have stew at my friend's house. Afterwards I believe, there is one more stop but I'm not sure.

This is a new tradition for me but I will definitely share my experience in a future blog, hopefully with pictures when I get back. Actually all the chanting is right up my alley *wink*. I think the fun of being with family and friends will trump everything though.

For a little more information on Apple Tree Wassailing (including history, etymology, chants, etc...), check out this website:

Apple Tree Wassailing

Ledger wins posthumous Globe for ..The Dark Knight',

I believe all I simply have to state is - The award was well deserved. It is ashame that Ledger could not accept it in person.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Heath Ledger won the supporting-actor Golden Globe on Sunday nearly a year after his death, earning the prize for his diabolical turn as the Joker in the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight."The award was accepted by the film's director/co-screenwriter, Christopher Nolan, who said he and his collaborators were buoyed by the enormous acclaim and acceptance the film and Ledger's performance have gained worldwide."All of us who worked with Heath on ..The Dark Knight' accept with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride," Nolan said. "After Heath passed, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema."The Globe win boosts Ledger's prospects for the supporting-actor honor at the Academy Awards, whose nominations come out Jan. 22, the one-year anniversary of the actor's death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.Only one actor has ever won a posthumous Oscar, best-actor recipient Peter Finch for 1976's "Network."

In Honor of Tatiana

I suppose before I start this blog, I should explain a little about myself. I have certain passions in life that I feel very strongly about. My children, my husband, my family and animals. There is one animal in particular that I fell in love with when I was a small child and that was the tiger. I emmulated them, I drew them, I collected pictures of them and when I got older I developed a passion to want to save them. This was my main reasons for obtaining an Animal and Veterinary Science degree. I think it puts me one step closer to being able to work with the endangered tigers. I can picture it, so therefore, I believe... one day I will be able to travel to Asia and work with them, to help save them. On a personal note, I believe the tiger is my totem, my spirit guide. I believe he walks with me, comforts me, and protects me.

When I saw the news that a tiger was shot at the San Fransisco Zoo - I was crushed. And the moment I realized who the 'victims' were - I did not need to see more to know what had happened. They had taunted this animal, teased her, threw sticks at her and what crime did she commit? She acted in her nature and for that crime she was punished.

I've read several news reports and watched several news reels and a few quotes have haunted my mind. Such as: "She seemed to be very well-adjusted into that exhibit."; "The zoo has a response team that can shoot animals."; "It's not a safe place for kids," said his mother, Marilza Sousa. "People go there to have a good time, not to get killed."

I suppose the zoo should have safety measures in place that allows people the right to taunt, throw objects, tease, and hurt large beasts if that is what "a good time" is. And I suppose if nature overcomes the animal then "The zoo has a response team that can shoot animals." After all the tiger was nothing more than just an 'exhibit'. *Please note the sarcasm*

In this case, Tatiana needed more protection than those three boys who acted on their own accord against normal human morals. They happened to get caught and nature punished them, in return nature was punished. It just doesn't add up. Of course, there really isn't anything natural about a Tiger being pinned. I think that's the harshness of this reality.

Tigers are rapidly disappearing. Of the 9 subspecies of tigers that once roamed this earth - 5 subspecies are endangered; 1 is considered nearly extinct since there is no way to save it; and the other 3 subspecies are extinct... completely gone forever. The reason Tatiana was in the SF Zoo was that she was transferred from Denver, after successfully mating and producing offspring, in hopes that she would do that same again. Instead these 3 boys and their negligence set efforts to help save the Siberian tiger back. All for "a little fun".

Police investigate shoeprint in SF tiger attack
SAN
FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Police are investigating a shoeprint found on the railing
of a San Francisco Zoo exhibit from which a Siberian tiger escaped and killed a
teenager in a Christmas attack, the city's police chief said on
Thursday.
Chief Heather Fong told reporters police want to know if the print
matched the shoes of any of the victims, including two brothers who survived
maulings, but said there was no indication yet they had incited the 350-pound
female cat named Tatiana.
"There is a shoeprint on the railing," she told a
news conference. "Our forensic analysis will allow us to determine if any of
those shoes match the print that is on there."
"We have no information as of
this time from the investigation that tells us that someone's leg was slung over
the rail," Fong said.
At the same conference, zoo director Manuel Mollinedo
said he believed the tiger escaped its enclosure over a wall nearly 13 feet
high, or about three feet below the minimum height recommended by the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The wall and a 33-foot moat separate the
tiger's enclosure, which dates to 1940, from the public viewing area, Mollinedo
said.
"She had to have jumped," Mollinedo said, ruling out an escape by the
cat through the back of its enclosure as doors to service areas were
locked.
Carlos Sousa, 17, was killed by Tatiana after the caged cat escaped
its enclosure. The tiger fatally gashed Sousa's neck and attacked his two
friends, brothers aged 19 and 23.
Fong said the brothers fled when they saw
the cat had killed Sousa, and the tiger caught up with them about 300 yards away
at a cafe on zoo grounds. Police found the tiger there and shot it dead.
The
two brothers, whose identities have not been released, were taken to San
Francisco General Hospital, where officials said they were expected to recover
from their wounds.
(Reporting by Jim Christie; editing by Todd Eastham)