Boreal Witch

My friend Mona and I had scheduled some time Saturday to hit the Ft. Wainwright garage sales and the "Everything's Free" event over at the UAF Patty Center. Mona's mom and her friend had just come in that week from New Mexico, and they planned to come with us. I packed up a car load of old stuff (and I am not exaggerating here, it truely was a car load) and dropped it off in the Patty Center parking lot first thing Saturday morning and then headed over to Mona's house.

I'd forgotten how interesting elderly women are.

The four of us browsed the tables at the UAF event, and before we knew it, we had a car load of stuff and needed to go back to Mona's house to drop it off. (It's fortunate she lives so close to the University!) While at her house, Mona loaded up her old computer and a bread maker and we went back to UAF. I was absoletely amazed at the items that people donated. I picked up some big Legos and a complete set of Lincoln Logs (mostly for Robinson than for Arthur). I also found some glass beads in the right colors to finish a mosaic table for the patio that I've been planning. I also found some really nice sweaters.

I think, however, my crowning find was the Pepsi-Cola Lady. Mona's mom and her friend both commented that they had seen an elderly lady bring it ("that was the only thing in her car") and that they were surprised she'd get rid of something so valuable. As I brought it to the car, several other people commented on it. Even Robinson (who hates everything used I bring home) said that it was pretty cool. It is a rather beautiful piece of old art, and will look lovely in my kitchen.

The whole day consisted of us laughing, joking, and talking. It was nice spending time with a group of women and discussing everything from great garage sale finds to birthing children. I thought about my own grandmothers most of the day. My paternal grandmother is the only grandparent I have left and I try to call her once a week to see how she's doing. Sometimes she'll tell me interesting family stories. I often wish that I was able to go visit her more often, but tickets from Fairbanks, Alaska to Wisconsin are not cheap.

I wondered also about my own generation - what will we be like when we are grandparents? I couldn't really come up with a good answer, at least not yet. But, someday.

Blessed be.

It was nice to have Robinson home for two extra days during Father's Day and the Solstice. We didn't do much, to be perfectly honest. Arthur and I made Robinson breakfast in bed (he got to sleep in until almost 9 o' clock - quite the luxury!), we had a BBQ lunch to celebrate the Solstice, and then we went downtown to check out the festivities and have dinner at Pioneer Park.

For Solstice lunch, we had some Shrimp Skewers and Red Cabbage Slaw. I just kind of threw the slaw together at the last minute, but I think it turned out pretty good. Here's the recipe:


Summer Solstice Slaw Serves 8-10

1 small head red cabbage, shredded
2 small carrots, shredded
1/4 cup brown sugar (plus extra if needed, to taste)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbs. dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

And, of course, I made rhubarb crumble.

While at the Solstice festival, Robinson and Arthur got to meet...a stormtrooper! I don't think Robinson or Arthur were as impressed as they should have been (I mean, this guy is part of the Emperor's Army), but both were very polite.

After all was said and done, Robinson and I talked about a Midsummer tradition. We already have a great Yule tradition, but we have yet to come up with anything for Summer Solstice. I suggested a hike or nature walk, and then doing some kind of activity after the hike, such as flower pressing or learning about the local plants and animals that we saw. We're in no hurry now, I suppose. We have a whole year to think about it.

The fleeting Sun brought warmth and love
As He slowly diminishes from above
The height has passed, dark comes at last
To remind us of our cycled tasks.

Blessed be.

I love Wiccan holidays, but I haven't always celebrated them like I feel I should. Now that I have Arthur, I feel the need to be a little more religious. Just a bit. Thank the Goddess it's surprisingly easy to celebrate Yule and Midsummer here in Fairbanks because it's a community affair. I don't think there are many (if any) other Alaskan communities that celebrate these holidays like Fairbanks. Which, I think, is an awesome way to get Arthur excited about being part of this community as well as Wicca.

I myself have been getting things ready for the Solstice. I don't usually go all out - no big ritual or song and dance - just a special dinner and a prayer. Of course, since Father's Day is on the Solstice this year, we'll make some special plans for Robinson, too.

It's been so hot this year that my rhubarb is growing amazingly well - so well that I've already made lots and lots of rhubarb crumble using a new recipe. I often search for recipes online, try them out, and then modify them to my own tastes. The recipe I found had too much sugar in it (I try and limit my sugar consumption), so I cut it back, but I also added more butter to the oatmeal topping to make it more cake-like. The original recipe had so little butter in it that the topping looked more like cornmeal. Yuck!

The changes, however, were pretty amazing. The topping turned out beautiful with a rich consistency. The rhubarb was a bit tart (but still good, even Baby Boy liked it), so if you prefer your rhubarb desserts super-sweet, you might want to up the amount of sugar from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup.

Here's my new recipe. I'm planning on making it for dessert on Sunday, topped with a little ice cream. With it's rosy-red color, it should be a perfect way to end a meal.

Midsummer Rhubarb Crisp
Serves 8-ish

Filling:
3 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 tbs. orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbs. butter, melted

Topping:
1/2 cup minus 1 tbs. butter (use the 1 tbs. for the Filling, above), melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup oatmeal
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

1. Mix filling ingredients together, stir well. Sugar should coat the rhubarb evenly. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish.

2. Mix topping ingredients. Mixture will be thick. Take topping in your fingers and crumble evenly over the top of the rhubarb mixture in baking dish.

3. Bake for about 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees, or until topping is golden-brown. Serve warm.

Blessed be.

About an hour into my sleep, I was awoken by a cry.

It continued for the next 10 minutes, every minute becoming more urgent than the last.

Arthur...I thought, go to sleep!

Finally, I got up and fished around for his pacifier, hoping that it (as it did 99% of the time) would do the trick. After climbing into bed, I realized only too late that it wasn't going to work. He was still upset about something or other and whatever he was so mad about, it would take more than a pacifier to fix.

Ten minutes later, I went back in his room, wrapped him in a blanket, picked him up, and rocked him back to sleep.

In retrospect, he must have had a bad dream and, being frightened, couldn't get back to sleep on his own. He needed to be close to someone to get back to sleep. He needed to know that he was safe, that he was protected. As I watched his eyes close and his breathing steady, I smiled to myself. We all like to know that we are safe and loved and (to go further) our accomplishments are recognized .

We don't always feel this way. I know that there have been many times when I've felt abandoned - by friends, parents, sisters, and God, but my faith has always brought me back. As I look at my surroundings, I remember how safe I actually am and how amazing this world is. I've cultivated a good relationship with my family after being a pretty bratty teenager and I've finally made it to a point in my relationship with the Universe that I no longer feel like it is a necessity to "get-down-on-my-knees" pray, but rather whisper prayers throughout the day, letting them be caught in the wind and swept to the heavens. I pray for health, I pray for love, and I pray to be a good mother.

He laughed in his sleep while I held him and tired though I was, I smiled. I picked him up and put him back in his crib.

Sweet dreams, my little one.

Blessed be.

I was starting dinner, and when I had a brief moment, I checked on my boys. Robinson was leading Arthur up and down the driveway, helping him walk. I knocked on the mudroom window, hoping to get their attention. I did. I signed to Robinson, "I love you," and he responded, "I love you, too." Arthur lead him to the side deck. Arthur climbed up the stairs and gave me a big, sloppy, baby kiss.

Tears came to my eyes as I was hugging my baby. I was filled with love.

Blessed be.

My mom, bless her heart, was overweight for most of my life. She had three kids in rapid succession, so it's no wonder that she wasn't able to lose the extra weight in between kids. Now that I have a child of my own, I understand what my mom went through. Not that she ever complained about her weight, but I could tell that she was not pleased with it.

I hang out with some pretty normal-looking women. At least I did. All of them have since lost their baby weight and I feel a little self-conscious being with them. Mind you, I am not huge. I am, however, pretty short and any extra weight really shows. I guess that right now I am probably at least 10 pounds over my ideal weight. Because of this, I decided that I should probably become a bit more serious about what I am eating and take more time out of the day to exercise.

I developed three new rules:

1) Walk at least a mile everyday
2) No eating after 8pm (a nightly green tea or water is okay)
3) No sweets/desserts until after dinner

So far, things have been going pretty well, so well that I thought I could add a fourth rule to the mix:

4) Start biking (doesn't matter how far or where, just as long as I do)

My main goal is not to lose a bunch of weight by crash dieting or restricting my diet. That is unhealthy and ultimately sets one up for failure. What I hope to gain by this is some self-control (which I lack greatly) and some healthier habits. I am trying to maintain a South Beach-esque diet because it worked wonders for me pre-pregnancy (I went from 142 to 127 lbs, a size 8/10 to a size 6), but I'm not strictly following it. I am trying to eat more vegetables and protein, while limiting my carb intake.

I won't lie. It's hard. I bake a lot and love dessert (chocolate is my vice), but I also love myself and my body. I figure by being picky about what I eat, I will eventually become a much healthier person, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

I pray that those out there who seek to lose some weight start out slow. Develop a few rules and go from there. Make them become your new habits. Add a few more rules when you're comfortable. Simple. Don't worry about calories at first, but do get out there and exercise. Exercise is a great way for your body and mind to relax.

Blessed be.

Arthur's friend Cedar went to the emergency room Friday. It seems that he had a horrible allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. He's just fine now, but it was scary for his mom and a bit scary for all of us, I think.

The mosquitoes seem to be exceptionally bad in Fairbanks this year. I'm not sure what it is, but they are out in force and have amassed a rather large army intent on carrying our little ones away. Arthur has so many bug bites on his arms and face, he looks as though he's got the chicken pox. The other babies in Arthur's playgroup sport similar looks.

Needless to say, we started talking about bug spray and whether or not anyone had found something that we could use on the babies. Cedar's mom had some stuff from Mexico, but the rest of us hadn't found anything we liked. I had checked out some of the bug sprays at Fred Meyer's, but all of those seemed a little too much for my baby (and I'm not about to put anything with DEET on him).

I went to Sunshine Health Foods and happened to come across some California Baby Bug Repellent Spray. For $16.99. My jaw nearly dropped when I saw the price, but, as I read the ingredients, I began to understand why. All-natural. Organic ingredients. Pure oils. Baby safe. Supposedly repels ticks, flies, fleas, and mosquitoes.

What the heck? I though. Why not?

I asked the cashier if she had tried it and she said that she had and loved it. I felt like she was being honest with me and not just pulling my leg in the hopes of making a sale.

So, this morning, when Arthur and I went out to play, I sprayed the repellent all over him but not on me. The mosquitoes avoided him (but went after me). So, it really did the trick (and smelled great, too!)!

Now, to be fair, there was a breeze this morning, so the repellent may not be as effective as I think, but I'm going on a walk with Baby Boy today and will test the limits of this spray. To be even more fair, the spray works by scent, so you do have to keep reapplying it. Once your baby doesn't smell like the product anymore, watch out for the big cloud of mosquitoes that will swoop down and carry him away. I found, however, that the spray works for about 45 minutes to an hour before you have to reapply, so, not too bad, considering it doesn't have any chemicals in it. (Not that DEET products work that well anyway.)

For the time being, I'm glad to have found something that keeps Arthur from getting more mosquito bites. I'm planning on letting the other moms know about it when we meet up tomorrow, so they can try it for themselves.

Blessed be.

Thursday night, Robinson asked me, "If you could do anything this weekend - pie in the sky - what would you do?"

I thought about it for quite a while before I said I'd go hot air ballooning.

I chose hot air ballooning because a) I've never been, but always wanted to, and b) I thought it would make for a pretty exciting weekend. (Exciting weekends for me usually mean I get some project finished or Arthur does something incredible.)

As it turns out, I had an exciting weekend without a hot air balloon: Robinson took Friday and Monday off, so he stayed home for four whole days! It rained on Friday, which was great because the garden's water tank needed to be filled and the weather was so nice the rest of the weekend. We grilled yesterday and will be grilling again today. I felt very blessed to have him home to help out with Arthur (even though I feel pretty confident of my parenting abilities at the present) and to get some of our outdoor projects done (now that I think about it...did we even do any outdoor projects?).

Okay, so it seems we didn't do much in the way of projects, but we were able to spend lots of time together as a family. We went on walks everyday. We cooked together. We ate together. Speaking of eating together, Arthur has started trying to eat his food with a fork. It's pretty cute to watch him get all excited about stabbing a piece of food and then holding it up for the world to see. We didn't have any baby forks, so we had to go out and buy some (Fred Meyer normally has a great selection, but not in this case; however, the forks we selected do work for the time being). They didn't have any metal ones without safety knobs, just plastic. (Since when do forks need safety knobs, anyway?) Arthur is very excited about his accomplishment and feels very "grown up" to be eating like his Mommy and Daddy.

We also spent much of the weekend playing together. We went out to Pioneer Park twice, once to play in the gravel and the second to feed the ducks. Arthur got a huge kick out of feeding the birds. He would shriek with excitement every time the ducks or seagulls came near. He didn't quite understand the concept of throwing the bread to the ducks and often ate the pieces of bread I handed to him. We also saw a beaver on the bank, but it was too far to get a good picture of it. It's wonderful to be able to live in Nature.

Now that I think about it, we actually did get some of the yard work finished. Arthur helped Robinson mow the lawn. I think he would have continued pushing the mower if Robinson would have let him, but instead Arthur "supervised" from Robinson's back.

What made this weekend really special, though, is that Arthur has taken his first steps all by himself. He hasn't quite realized that he can probably walk by himself if he really tried, so he still wants help from a piece of nearby furniture or his Mom or Dad. We contacted his Grandma and his Oldma and they were both very pleased that he was starting to walk. I am still so amazed by the things my little boy is starting to accomplish.

Blessed be.

This post (really and truly) has nothing to do with nude beaches. I've never been to a nude beach (although I have gone sunbathing in the nude...but that's a story for another time).

Arthur was going to have some of his friends over to play in his new pool, so I was getting him ready for some water fun. As I pulled his diaper off, he crawled away from me and knelt by his pool. I thought it was so cute that I snapped a picture of him. I'm thinking of getting it enlarged and putting it in the bathroom. For whatever reason, I've often thought that it's cute when people put pictures of their kids splashing in the tub or playing in water in their bathrooms. I can't explain it, but there's something oh-so-adorable about a kid playing in water.

Kids really are mesmerized by water, aren't they? They can make anything into a water toy (Arthur uses a metal basting bowl to scoop water out of his pool and onto the deck) and they enjoy watching the water move as they splash around in it. Watching him get such a big kick out of the water makes me wish that I could be that child-like again.

Water is one of the five elements and represents life and emotion. Everything on this planet needs water to survive. I am constantly reminded of this in the mornings and the evenings when Robinson and I water the garden. After a really hot day, the plants are so grateful to get a long, cold drink. You can almost see the difference right after you water them. The sun wilts the leaves, the plant droops, it suffers. Once that same plant gets a drink, it springs back to life, leaps up, refreshed. I can almost hear it say, "Ahhhhhh!" Now that there was a good rain and we have some water in our tank, I won't feel so guilty for not watering the garden as often as I should, especially since we've had such hot, dry weather lately.

Back to the playdate. Arthur had a great time with his friends Cedar and Jade. It was utter chaos, but what more could one expect with three one-year-olds? Water was everywhere. Toys were snatched from one baby and given to another. Pool water was drunk. Babies laughed. Swim diapers were constantly taken off and new ones were put on again. Chocolate cake was eaten. Sippy cups were shared.

It was a blast!




O! Drops of water
Sweet and clean
Rain down upon
My hair so sheen.

Kiss my face,
Bless my heart -
Always keep me
In love with Nature's art.

Blessed be.