~sunny, sun, sunshine~

ahhhh the sun has been shining here for three days now, the nights have been clear and chilly but the days have been glorious.

so glorious i have spent most of the daylight hours sitting in my nook looking out over my wild garden.

 

Beltane dawned grey and damp but i wandered the garden among birdsong and feeling blessed to be there

 

 

 

my little maypole~a hazel branch with ribbons set in the west of my sacred garden area. i have decided to keep it there and change the ribbons at each festival~but also thought of adding permanent adornment, a hag stone, feathers etc. 

 



 

this me dears is a concoction of spinach, carrot, apple and ginger. swampy and i are having similar concoctions every day for our lunch in an effort to shed some weight. we have also started swimming twice weekly again after a long break. i just need to now get into daily yoga practice.

 

the case is my ukulele...a concert size which is one up from the tiny soprano

 



i couldn't resist a couple of pictures of mismi and inca~we found some packing beans so for a few days mismi enjoyed leaping around in them until i caught him eating the end of one and i confiscated the beans and replaced them with play balls (which really are not to exciting!)

 



 

inca on the bed exploring the cushions from the camper

 



 

 

i have had a hard few weeks as i am going through a big fibro flare up. i have also been diagnosed with sciatica. its been going on for a long time...years in fact. i would get funny twinges that would stop me in my tracks then go. i ignored them as months and months would pass between the 'twinges'.

this last year i have been getting more and i just passed it off as another fibro related pain~now i am at the point where it is weekly and it lasts for longer. as i was going to see my gp anyway i asked about it. sciatica, another ailment to add to the list. 

 



~*smiling*~

 

*another blogging gap*

 

 

its been one of those weeks, trying to get everything sorted for our trip away (Avebury & Glastonbury!)

i have sorted through all my pendants, wrist bands, leaf pouches etc (robyn, i will have some on etsy when i return home!) ready for our little craft fair, plus an increasing pile of 'stuff' in the kitchen ready for me to pack away into Pretty Pagan.

 

my little mismi has been poorly, sleeping way too much, not dooking or war dancing~after the way we lost our dear cody, always puts me into a high state of fear & anxiety. after 36 hours of this we had a trip to the vets, a good examination & the miracle of getting a sample to be tested. at 7pmwe  had the pronouncement of a urinary tract infection. so he is on antibiotics & feeling so much better~his dook has returned & he war dances around happily.

so i am happy, i guess there are some folk out there who think how could someone possibly love a ferret so much, they have had so much bad press that a lot of people can only think of them in terms of biting and going up trouser legs!
mismi & inca are like having little cats in the house~when they are in for play time (twice daily, sometimes all day as they have the little bottom drawer of the wardrobe as their own little snoozy place) they have free range of one half of our house that is 'ferret proof' with a pine 'gate' keeping them from exploring flynts area of the house. this also means that we can come and go from the back door without the worry of them escaping. they come when called & will follow you around trying to 'help' & begging to be cuddled.

 

 

i am having a few investigations with the possibility i too have an infection, but i am still waiting to hear back from my gp~although speaking with a friend who had the same, i have all the symptoms of kidney stones *eeep*


*the next day*

i ended up going out with swampy at that point to buy cable ties. swampy is busy ferret proofing the new 'holiday home' for mismi & inca when he realised it would be easier to cable tie the wire mesh over the cage rather than keep adding little bits of wire and twisting them secure.

why? i hear some people ask, why add more wire to a cage?
well, i put inca in the old holiday home, a 'L' just to make sure she could not escape & she managed to ooze her way through a small gap of less than 3x3cm so we have to ensure she cannot escape from this one!
i think they will love the cage though, a 'J' for jumbo! we busy not only fixing the wire mesh, but making new platforms from fleece, a big fleecy hammock & planning where to fix their play tubes...they are going to have such fun!

***

so
the game of thrones

*whoot*

oh my i love it so much!

i actually started to read 'a song of ice & fire' (that title is so glorious it gives me the shivers) before i started to watch it on tv & me being me wish that they had the budget to film so much more of the story...but it is wonderful...more than wonderful...i have no words to describe how much i love it!
i continually swoon over the costumes & maybe a miniscule swoon over jon snow & as for brienne of tarth...what a warrior goddess she is! i admit i have the hugest grrl~crush on her!

well now the clock is ticking & i have a lot to do today, start to pack things into 'pretty pagan', i have some vintage Persian wool in the most gorgeous muted colours (photos to come) that i am splitting into single ply for a crochet project with my smallest hook.
the trouble is i am having trouble sourcing more as i cannot find anything in this country from 'the craft collection' or 'paragon' online...goddess knows just how vintage this wool is...i also need to make up label's for my wares going on sale at our Stonewylde craft fair next weekend...plus i am hoping to squeeze in making a skirt from my sew what! skits book over the next couple of days!

will i do it?!

i will keep you posted!

 

 



~questions answered~

jill asked about the incense and soaps i mentioned in my last post.

i am pleased to say that eibhlin has a website and you will see a link on the left of my posts to her site

namaste holistic therapy

she will soon have an online shop for which i am glad as she was telling me about new products in the pipeline using hops which i am very keen to try.

***

the incense i bought from star child this time was

cernunnos

'Cernunnos is the steward and guardian God of the animal realm and the consort of the Great Goddess. He embodies the male capacity to nurture, protect and support. Far from being dominant, he watches over the animals and is at one with them. Burn this incense to attune to Cernunnos and the animal realm. It may be especially inspirational to men who want to get in touch with their own inner masculine power to care and nurture'

and

brigit

'Brigit, Queen of the heavens, is but one of the guises of the Celtic Triple Moon Goddess. As a patron Goddess of poetry, smith craft and the healing arts she is celebrated as a harbinger of culture who blessed humanity with the civilizing arts. Her most sacred feast day is Imbolc (1 February), when she is celebrated in her Maiden aspect. She presides over the life giving waters and the regenerative powers of the womb. Burn this incense in honour of the Great Goddess and to invoke her gift of inspiration'

*words taken from starchilds site*

the one we were burning the night of the photo was brigit and it was just gorgeous.

***

well i have just about settled down to life without wheels although still having problems with my cough and the virus has finally hit my m.e and i am feeling so weary.

yesterday i went for a walk with swampy and flynt and struggled so badly to keep up~just lifting my feet to walk took all my effort and so i spent most of the day on the sofa reading book one of 

a song of ice and fire...

game of thrones

oh my, who has been reading this?

it took me a few attempts to really start it because of all the names/connections but used the useful list of families in the back to help me.

i am now well and truly addicted and will be on the hunt for book two 'a clash of kings' this week.

i have not seen the first tv series yet but have them ready and waiting to start watching~i have had a lot of history/archaeology programmes recorded which i have had to catch up on.

now i have caught up i shall start watching and my friend chappie (who is on book 4) tells me that the series is keeping very true to the books.

***

i shall be starting up production for *alittleeclectic* this week~i shut up shop due to going to the gathering but now it is time to start up again...especially with my fly agaric brooches, i sold them all!

i also have moonstone, green moss agate, smokey quartz, tourmilated quartz, among others to make necklaces.

***

finally, as requested...

mismi is settling in really well and now has a routine at home too~he has his harness on twice daily and leads me around the house and garden for about 30-40 minutes and it gives me the chance to get him what i am calling 'hand friendly'.

while he is wandering around i wear a leather gardening glove to stroke him. yesterday he only nipped a little so i am hoping that very soon i can discard the glove.

the trouble is ferrets have very thick skin so their play nips to us are quite hard and they of course do not distinguish between other ferrets, humans or dogs...poor flynt has had a couple of nips to his leg in passing but i think he is learning to pass quickly!

poor swampy is still a little nervous of the nips but i am having to work on him because i will be going to wimbledon this month leaving him to look after mismi.

he was castrated last week so now all those raging hormones that make him want to get out and find a mate and cause a wee bit of aggression are now fading and this means we can now sort out a friend for him. i hope its soon because he keeps doing the playful war dancing at us and flynt and we of course are too big for him to really play with.

look here and you will see some 'war dancing'

~success...~

...well i hope so.

that is on the wheat meat front by the way.

i only made a small batch as i was not sure how it was going to be and made up my own recipe.

to the dry ingredients, that is the vital wheat gluten, i added nutritional yeast flakes, garlic and onion powder, sage and thyme. the broth it baked in was made up of veggie stock, maple syrup, garlic powder, tomato paste...this mix was also used to mix up the dry.

well i mixed and it immediately became very rubbery...yes that sounds horrid but that's what it is supposed to do!

then i gave it a good knead for five minutes, let it stand for five, then gave another quick knead.

i then divided it into two rough steak shapes and put them in the dish with the broth.

then it was a twenty minute bake, turn and baste, another twenty minute bake, turn baste, bake another twenty minutes.

i actually gave it an extra twenty minutes before taking it out and letting it cool before wrapping and putting in the fridge.

where it sits waiting for me to turn some of it into a stir fry for tea.

i have to say i was a little impatient and just cut a small slice off one end just to see what the texture inside was like~it looks okay, dense, hopefully a bit chewy rather than spongy which is what i am looking for.

so tonight i just need to decide what stir fry to make...

sticky sesame wheat meat (you know i don't know whats worse seitan or wheat meat?!)

crispy sweet and sour

crispy hoisin

we shall see

~*~*~*~

so...

ferrets

i owned two ferrets before i met swampy, waxer, a sable (the ones with the little robber mask) and ferdy, a dark eyed white.

for years now i have kept on (and on and on) about getting another ferret or two and by chance i saw an old post on a small new forest pagan group i belong to~someone needed to rehome their young ferret mismi...

*sweeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt*

of course i had to find out if he had been re-homed and no he had not!

well swampy has known i have wanted a ferret for pretty much as long as we have been together and although he keeps pretending to be worn down i know he wants one too.

how do i know this?

well not long ago he said 'i have been thinking about ferrets'

so there you go

we are popping over to see him tomorrow, taking flynt with us to see how he will be with him (and other ferrets!)

 luckily he was socialised as a young pup with all kinds of animals including cats and lambs and for the last two years have taken and shown him the ferrets at the new forest show.

he has also never shown an inclination for chasing cats so i am pretty sure he will be fine with ferrets~especially considering they are the size of smallish cats anyway.

so hopefully we may well be bringing little mismi home with us.

i have been looking at new cages and a travelling cage (because of course he will be coming camping with us) and a lead and harness.

then of course he will need a friend or two...

i am so excited!