The house has finally been finished. It looks great! I'm back to work, and suffering a bit of physical discomfort...but hopefully that should work itself out due to greater exercise!

Midsummer came and went, I didn't really have a chance to celebrate it this year :(...but I will be celebrating Lughnasa by participating in a local community home repair extravaganza! I dragged the hubby and kid into it too. I think it should be alot of fun, and then it's off to the countdown of the last days of summer, with a few vacation days squeezed in...

I am thinking of writing a double book review for a local Pagan magazine, Open Ways. The two books I want to compare/contrast are Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft and Shekinah Mountainwater's Ariadne's Thread. I have just a couple days to get in the Lammas edition, but I have so much to do this summer I may have to postpone writing it until school starts. So why did I decide to do that? Well...let me explain.


I remember reading an interview with a woman CEO in the Bay Area several years ago...(the focus of the article was advice for other women on how to break the glass ceiling). Basically, one of her strategies was to "ruthlessly prioritze". I took that advice to to heart, and it's worked for life in general for me. Reducing the amount of things you REALLY need to pay attention too, and doing the important things first, had made me much more productive. It sounds so simple and straightforward (DUH!), but there are so many little distractions in one's daily life...that you end up like a hamster on a wheel - going nowhere fast.

One of my favorite songs by The Mamas & the Papas - This is from the infamous 1967 Monterey Pop Festival...after which the band broke up.

Don't know why, but the video doesn't seem to be working...UPDATE: I think I fixed it, but you have to click on the broken box looking thing first (if it doesn't appear properly right away).



Anyway the jist of this post is about nostalgia, the past and being a kid during the Cultural and Sexual Revolution during the late 60's and 70's. I watched the documentary on Youtube, and felt (even as a Jr. High kid), that I'd missed out big time on the free wheeling times...and got stuck in the economic low and right-wing backlash of the 80's. I recall seeing an interview with Hugh Hefner, and he thought he'd missed out on all the "action" in the 20's. It made me sad to think Michelle Phillips is the last one left, all the rest are dead.

Nostalgia is a funny thing, I'm sure I wouldn't miss all the drugs, and overly crazy sexcapades, but at least folks were open about things, and there was a feeling of optimism and excitement. I'm still happy with were I am now, and glad I'm not in my 50's or 50's yet. I'm still interested in what's going to happen, and maybe, just maybe, I'll see another flowering of "Good Vibrations" during my earthly tenure!

The evening before May Day, I was driving to Newberg to pick up some items...when I saw a FULL rainbow over the countryside! It was so beautiful...and the drive was nice too. Since I decided not to go do the whole Rose Garden thing this year...and we didn't have any flowers to make the May Day baskets like we did last year...I was a little bummed.

I still think it was a good idea to skip the Morris Dancing/Maypole sunrise thing...we've been sick and I know sitting around outside would have gotten VERY cold this year, but I wasn't feeling up to really organizing a full out celebration.

I did bake a cake, and gave some to my family, but it wasn't quite the same. As I've been surfing around different sites and reading about Beltane, I'm finding out more about Walpurgisnacht, a German variation of May Day Eve...it sounds quite nice with Maiwein and other fun activities...

Anyhow, I've got to get ready for my early day tommorrow in Everett!

(the photo isn't me...but I'd sure like to party down for Beltane like her!)

Yesterday turned out to be a wonderful sunny day! I manage to get most of my planting done, (still have some seeds I need to plant...but it's been so cold!). I'm very excited as I have alot of herbs and pretty flowers...
(See the list the below)

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Morning Birds are chirping, and today looks to be a little more cloudy...

Many things to do today, Pancake breakfast at Norse Hall; finally cleaning up the house, and enjoying my Schwester's award (which the Beaniac and I accepted on her behalf). It was a beautiful day yesterday, and will be again today. Supposed to get all cloudy and rainy after that....

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile..been meaning too. Last week as I was driving to work, I saw the waning crescent moon during sunrise, for several days.

It was so beautiful and clear, within a golden pink sky, and very few clouds....now it's back to cloudy and somewhat rainy...and the waxing crescent is now somewhere behind it all. So quickly do things change and change back again. The picture below is similiar to how it appeared, but imagine  bare trees with discernable buds about to leaf out framed against the sky as well.  It really set my work days off to a great start!

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Went to the Hawthorne district for a Tarot reading...it was interesting, but I'm not sure I'm going to take it too seriously.  What I did like is getting 2 plates to match with a platter I got for Xmas, buying some herbs I needed and some pens my daughter needed..(evidently for a friend's b-day..4 months ago!).  She's a bit crazy, I wonder where she get's it from!

Anyway, I saw many cherry trees in bloom, which surprised me, since I haven't seen A ONE on the west side of town.  There was a tree dropping red squishy seeds also, don't know what it was, but it reminded me of several years ago when I went there and the Chestnuts were falling all over the place.  It was actually quite cold and I got a hot chocolate while waiting for my appointment.  None of the stores I usually hang out in were open, (it was too early), so I'll have to check back next week I think.

Have much to do this weekend, so will post further musings later...

There was a beatiful crescent moon very early this morning as I went out to get some stuff from the car...I tried to take a picture of it but it didn't work, so I've substituted an online one...

Actually I was thinking about all the different foods I fix, or buy during the Wheel of the Year, (the Torsk Dinner last night got me thinking)...Rice 'n' Beans for Mardi Gras, the Valentine's Day Cake, my special Corned Beef & Cabbage for St. Patrick's (& Ostara), Freezer Jam in June, Breads in August, Applesauce for the Autumn Equinox, Butternut Squash soup & Pumpkin cake for Halloween, Lutefisk & Buche de Noel for Yule, Galette for the Ephiphany/New Year...

I don't have anything special for Beltane, so I'll think on that one for awhile...am planning to make a May Day cake...I'll let you all know how it turns out!