rise and root

***

~*~*~*~



The Flame Haired Solstice Dreamer

Cold winter brings the Everfrost and jewels every tree
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
A flame~haired dreamer wanders there and shelters from the wind
And spins her dreams around the trees to break the ties that bind
She takes her thread and spins anew and how the Greenwood smiles
As she spins a spell for freedom and for her spirit Wylde

The dreamer finds an ancient oak and shelters in his lee
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
Tis summer now and birdsong weaves its magick through her spells
And humming bees drum drowsily in the foxglove's bells
The dreamer sits beneath the oak with yarn upon her knee
And spins and knits and weaves her dreams and sets her spirit free

***
"When birds fall from the sky and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people...shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. they will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow"

Hopi Prophecy

~of storms, soup & seitan~

Beltain Blessings friends

although with the grey sky, heavy rain and thunder it has not been very Beltain like!

i had hoped to get out with my fire but last night we had heavy showers, thunder and lightning and today is forecast for the same.

swampy was able to get out for a few hours break in the rain to do a bit more to our garden-laying the groundwork for the grrl-cave and getting the wildlife pond in properly.

i had plans to get out into Pretty Pagan to organise the cupboards...swampy finished all the interior wood work last week and it looks just beautiful!...but i was just not feeling well enough.

i am still feeling really poorly from this virus, still coughing but not as much or as badly.
 but i think a lot of it now is my m.e and fibro reacting to the virus and so i could feel like this for goddess knows how long now.

still so long as i can do a little a day thats fine by me!

~*~*~*~

my body has been having food cravings.
this virus has made me seriously go off my food for nearly three weeks now and i have mostly been living on tinned soup (i know!) and greek yogurt.

 yesterday i really, really, really wanted miso soup so asked swampy to take me into lymington where i knew i could buy what i needed (our village is so small we cannot really get anything more than well known basics-certainly not miso!)

well i had a pack of mixed dried mushrooms in the cupboard so bought some spring onions and tofu to add to the soup.
they did not have the miso soup paste so i had to resort to buying miso soup powder with sea vegetables and a jar of miso paste to add to the soup (i am so glad i did because the soup powder was so weak but had some lovely seaweed in).

the end result was just lovely and it felt, if it is at all possible, that my body was really feeling that it was taking something good into it.
so i will be making another bowl today.

 i also spent a while yesterday hunting down some new recipie ideas and found some really nice ones on the post punk kitchen, all recipies and the vegetarian society.

~*~*~*~
going onto the post punk kitchen remined me of seitan o' greatness

now some of my older readers who were with me when i started my blogging journey may remember my experiments in making seitan (wheat meat).

back then it wasnt so easy to get the vital wheat gluten here as it was across the atlantic (where most of the recipies were) but i found a supplier of high gluten flour that would have to do and started my journey.
the results were not too bad-my first, immersed in a boiling broth, were a bit grim to be honest making a spongy texture which i was not after.
 the one where i baked it in a big roll in my rayburn was nice~good texture and flavour and made lovely sandwiches when i was off camping (that big ole roll lasted me ages!).

then i just stopped making it, although back then we were so broke i could not justify me buying 'special' things for myself and so it fell by the wayside.

well now, looking at the price of tofu these days, not wanting to keep buying the mass produced offerings (have you noticed by the way how quorn is taking over?! although linda maccartney foods are nice, especially the cranberry burgers), seeking out a good dense texture and wanting a 'cure-all' for making stir fries, sandwiches, and stews has made me start looking again at making my own seitan.

doing a bit of research i found that veggiestuff sells vital wheat gluten~the holy grail~that i could not buy all those years ago.
so i bought a pack, some marigold nutritional yeast flakes and stock and have been researching more upto date 'experiments' in seitan making to see how things have progressed.

it seems that now the general consesus is to simmer and /or bake it to make a good, solid, chewy seitan.

so now i am waiting for my delivery~keen to get creating...i shall keep you posted!

~*~*~*~

well thats it for today, i am feleing a tad better than yesterday and determined to get out and do that organizing!














5 comments:

Miss Robyn said...

have you ever tried to make polenta? not sure if that is anything like you need.. and do you eat quinoa?

I have heaps and heaps of vegie recipes.. let me know what you want and I will see if I have anything.

I have had a lovely Samhain here.. this year, I will get to have two Samhains and two Winter Solstices!
I think I will be at Lands End or around that area for Winter Solstice!
[come visit my blog when you feel better xo]

Miss Robyn said...

ps - hardest thing is working out the cupboards in the motor home.. how the hell do you stop things from moving all over the place?

jill said...

Oh I am glad I have just read your post,I am not vegetarian but I dont eat much meat at all and have wanted a few more recipies to try out and now I have some thanks to you.Hope you feel a lot better soon it is nearly time for your stonewylde gathering and you must be well for that.Love Jill xx

C said...

Belyane blessings :) glad to hear you feeling a little better x x x

Rose said...

Sorry you have been poorly my lovely! We heard the rain was bad while we were away but it is something else to see photos....

All things share the same breath~the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.



Chief Seattle






Johney Gaul~1915

Johney Gaul~1915
1890-17 september 1918~France