Meteor shower...

:-( Rain, rain, rain...Didn't see a thing...Oh well, maybe next time!

Leonid Meteor shower...

Ok, I had heard vague rumours of this shower but didn't know what a 'Leonid' was, so this is what Wikipedia has to say :
"The Leonids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to stream from that point in the sky. The 2009 display peaking on November 17 may produce more than 500 meteors an hour"
Oooooh, much excitement in our household! (well, from me in any case, Mr Boo finds space a bit daunting I think, and prefers not to look at it...) I however, very much enjoy a bit of star gazing...Further research tells me there will be a Geminid meteor shower in December, (which interests me, as a Gemini y'see...) although it's always possible I was looking at an old website, I'll have to check...In the meanwhile, all eyes to the sky people! (That is to say, people, look at the sky, not look at the 'sky people', I don't know anything about the existence of such folk, if there are sky people, they may well wish to be left alone...far be for me to tell you go peeking at them...)

Samhain - The Festival of the Dead

Halloween - a time to honour the past and connect with a sense of who you are & where you come from. In days of old, death and the dead were constantly present and as such, treated with less fear. Use this time to honour and pay respect to ancestors, friends and all those who are no longer with us. It is said that the veil between worlds is thin at this time, and food was often left out to nourish the souls of the departed, whilst pumpkins carved with ghoulish faces were intended to scare away any dark and sinister spectres who might otherwise be tempted to wander your way. This time marks the last harvest, the winter slaughter, the death of the crops and the rest cycle of the land. Death and decay in the natural world, reminds us of our own mortality...

We spent this Samhain (pronounced sow-in) with a couple of friends at a spectacular bonfire/firework display in Sidbury, I think they usually hold it on the 5th November, but with Halloween falling on a Saturday this year I guess they decided to combine the two. There was a really good atmosphere, with fire jugglers and drumming and dancing, one of my friends commented that it really did feel as though we were 'summoning the dead'! There were great beams of light being cast into the sky that seemed to stretch for miles, and as the ash from the bonfire floated into the shafts of light we reflected how it looked as though they could be the souls of the dead passing from one world to the next, it was a really good way to get into the swing of the festival. One day I would love to go the vivid and colourful Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, I think that death really is treated with far too much fear, darkness and awkwardness...I don't deny that mourning and tears have their place, and I know that my heart will break whenever I lose someone close to me, but there is no reason why death cannot be a celebration: A celebration of the life that was, a celebration of moving onto a better place, whether you believe in Heaven, or reincarnation, or of blending once more into the cosmos and becoming one with everything...In the worst case, all that will happen is nothing (and I personally don't believe that, but...) , that's really nothing to fear, as you won't be aware of it will you??! A celebration of change: without change, life stagnates. A celebration of the unknown...Death should be revered and respected as the last great adventure you will ever take, it should be celebrated in full technicolour! But enough, I digress....



After a fabulously noisy and colourful firework display, our celebrations concluded at home, with spicy pumpkin soup, fondue (just 'cause my fondue pot reminds me of a cauldron really!), sweet pumpkin pie, toffee apples, hot mulled cider and oodles of sweets (no trick or treaters ever call here, we're down something of a narrow, spooky country lane, which unsurpisingly, children don't seem to want to navigate in the dark on this particular night! Nevertheless, I always buy sweets just in case...!), the table set with one extra place for any wandering and hungry souls. It was a fun and light-hearted festival this year, usually we would spend a portion of the evening being a little more reflective and talking of relatives who have passed away, but somehow this year it didn't seem called for. We honoured those who walked before us, happy in the knowledge that we are connected to them, as future generations shall be connected to us, part of one great family tree, from the oldest root to the newest bud.


Traditional symbols and associated bits and bobs...
Colours: black
Flowers/fruits: pomegranates, apples
Gods/Goddess: Persephone-queen of the underworld
Symbols: jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, cauldrons
Foods: pumpkins, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), sweet things, spiced cider

Elderberry syrup

Inspired by last night's episode of countryfile (oh yes!) we went on another foraging expedition today for elderberries. Elderberry syrup is said to be a cure-all medicine as well as being super tasty, more effective than tamiflu (and much safer!) as well as making a tasty mixer for many an alcoholic beverage (it's purely for medicinal purposes, promise!)and, we have discovered, much fun to make...we adapted the recipe based on what we had to hand and based the quantities on a few recipes we found online, they used star anise on the tv, which I bet would've been lovely, but we've run out, so here's what we did...
pick all the berries off their stalks (I reckon we had about 1.5 kg) and put in a pan, just covered with water, add a big chunk of root ginger, 20 cloves and a stick of cinnamon, bring to the boil and simmer for about half an hour. Strain through muslin and add 1lb of sugar and the juice of a lemon for every pint of juice you have (we had about 3), stir 'til sugar is dissolved and then boil rapidly for 10 mins. At this point we decided it wasn't syrupy enough and boiled it for too long, and now it's cooled its turned into jam(!) so we have returned it to the heat and diluted it with water, it's now a much happier consistancy and tastes scrummy...I am now rather looking forward to the first cold of the season!

Foraging fun!

I have just had a lovely weekend with an old pal, spent foraging in the hedgerows and woodlands for autumnal abundance! We picked blackberries and elderberries which we made into autumn fruit cobbler:

Put lots of berries in an oven proof dish, sprinkle with sugar and set aside while you make the topping...
For the topping:
100ml milk, slightly warmed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
100g plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
75g butter
100g dessicated coconut
50g caster sugar
Add the lemon juice to the milk and set aside. Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder, then add the sugar and coconut, mixing well. Add the milk and lemon juice (which will be a bit gross and curdled, hmmmm) to form a dough which you dollop onto the fruit in sticky blobs, each 'cobbler' not quite touching the next, and bake in the oven at 180 deg. for about half an hour. Yum yum!

Having feasted on such lovelies we decided to go and see what else we could find, feeling in such a joyful and autumnal mood, as I remembered spotting some sloes recently...With much excitement we went looking for, and found, an as yet undiscovered patch of sloes (the location of which I shall of course be keeping secret in true country forager style...) before going on and searching for chestnuts ( it was a bit early for this I feel, and the ones we got were tiny and useless, but we were just in such a fruits of nature mood that we couldn't help ourselves!) We then went home and spent a lovely evening drinking wine, watching a film and nattering about nonsense as we made sloe gin...

Sloe gin: 450g sloes
115g sugar
75cl gin
Prick a hole or two in each and every sloe, (with a blackthorn spike you took from the tree as you were gathering the sloes for personal preference, or a darning needle if not...) this is best done as described, with good friends and a glass or two of something warming, putting them into bottles as you go. When done, add the sugar and then pour on the gin. Give it a good shake and "ooh!" and "aah!" as the gin, sugar and sloes mingle, get cosy and merge into pretty pinks. This mixture needs to be shaken every day (or whenever you're passing, just cos it's fun) for a week, then weekly for a month or two, then strained to remove the fruit, at which point you can drink it, but if you have the will power, it really is better to leave it to mature for a year.

Mabon - the Festival of Balance and Abundance

Mabon, the autumn equinox (C.21st September): The light is leaving, it is a time to prepare for the winter months, this is the time when the tide turns away from the outer world to the inner, a time of change on many levels and I find there is always a feeling in the air of things being the way they should be. As with the spring equinox, day and night are perfectly balanced, althought this time it's the darkness preparing to take it's turn. The 2nd harvest festival, it is again a time for feasting, but this time the emphasis is very much on abundance rather than the sacrifice of Lammas. A celebration of the merry 3: apples, grapes and hops - cider, wine and beer! A time to eat, drink and be merry! sweet cakes and biscuits are baked and happily eaten, it is a time to build strength of body and mind.
For some reason, this festival has always made me feel very aware of trees. I think because the leaves are falling, and everything is looking so beautiful at the moment, and something about the ageless wisdom of ancient trees seems to match very closely with the waning of the year, but I always want to be in nature at this time, and around trees in particular. This year I gathered lots of acorns for decorating the table (as well as pine cones and lots of other seasonal bits and pieces), and asked everyone who came to our Mabon feast to pick the acorn that they felt most drawn to, to keep as a talisman for the coming year. I like acorns, I see them as little nuggets of potential, to see giant oak trees and think that they were once just an acorn is bewildering to me, we all know that to be the case, but it doesn't make it any less astounding. So I think carrying around an acorn is a good reminder of the potential we all have, and the cyclical nature of life: "The mighty oak, a tiny seed doth sow, from tiny seed, a mighty oak shall grow"
It was at this point that I left the room and Mr Boo got hold of the computer and took over this post....I am leaving his rantings here so you can all see what I have to put up with...
Those who came from a tiny oak seed should be called by their proper name- "the little fucking leaf people"- and should be given much respect. Although small, they are agile and elegant and are considered good luck if eaten whole and uncooked on a Wednesday; obviously though this is not the case during the rainy season when they should be cooked thoroughly in case of damp-induced mould. They have a curious flavour, not unlike truffles and they always leave me with a warm feeling inside that more than makes up for the difficulty in catching the sods in the first place.
Overall, I think my feelings are best summed up by this poem by reknowned pervert, insaniac and poet Walt Whitman-

I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous of dark green,And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,But I wonder'd how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone therewithout its friend near, for I knew I could not,And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it and twined around it a little moss,And brought it away, and I have placed it in sight in my room,It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)Yet it remains to me a curious token, it makes me think of manly love;For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary in a wide in a wide flat space,Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend a lover near,I know very well I could not.

Indeed, indeed Walt; and make no mistake.
TTFN.
The Boo Bear, 10-4 over and out.

(I wrote this all myself I did.)

ps You should all try Mr Boo's miracle elixir, guaranteed to prolong life and bring out the tree hugger in you. Only $16 a teaspoon. Same day delivery. Stains are your own responsibility. The size of your wood may go up as well as down.

Aaaand back to me....sorry about that...oh, my muscles hurt from laughing now!
Well, all I was going to add really was that everybody who attends the feast brings along an autumnal vegetable which we carve and put candles in to form the centre piece of the table, but somehow that seems very tedious now....Oh, much fun! xx

Traditional symbols and associated bits and bobs...

Colour: autumnal browns and oranges
Flowers/fruits: pine cones, apples, hops, grapes, fallen leaves
Gods/Goddess: Bacchus, Dionysus, any fate goddess'
Symbols: acorns, pine cones, trees
Foods: sweet honeyed cakes, abundant seasonal veggies, grapes

Veggies update!

Food from the soil!!! Yay! There is something very pleasing about pondering what to make for dinner and just popping out into the garden to see what growing...

Lammas - The Festival of Grain

Lammas (c.1st August), the first of the 3 harvest festivals, this is the time when the first loaves of bread were baked with the new wheat of the year, a celebration of the grain. It is a festival of sacrifice - the grain dying to give us life - and as such there is an element of mourning to the festivities, although themes of renewal and giving thanks are equally relevant. As the beginning of the harvest, it is a day for feasting and breaking bread with family and friends. It is a time for letting go of past grief, pain and anger, make this sacrifice for the harvest and ask yourself how it has transformed you. What are you currently harvesting in your life? What do you wish to give thanks for?

Bake a loaf of bread in the shape of a person, make him merrily, give him a name ( John Barleycorn, Lugh, Geoff, whatever takes your fancy!) and as you eat, visualize the the strength of the wheat grown tall and strong, it is ripe and contains seed; the wisdom of age combined with fertility: a symbol of life. Share him at a feast with friends and family, feed each other little pieces of bread saying as you do, "may you always be nourished" and "may you never go hungry" and other such lovelinesses...We serve the Lammas loaf with courgette and goats cheese soup, followed by roast pork with corn on the cob and potato wedges, apple sauce and stuffing, with a big, fat cherry pie for dessert, washed down with plenty of wheat beer. Foodwise, I think this might be my favourite festival (but then I think I say that for all of them!). We always save a big ol' chunk of Geoff The Bread and take a wander down after dinner to the local river, where we each take a portion of bread and project into it anything we wish to be rid of, negativity, bad habits etc and cast it into the flowing water.

Corn dollies!

To represent the element of sacrifice, we burn the corn dolly brought out at Imbolc to ensure a fertile year. Her job done she is offered to the flame. A new one is made from the husks of the corn eaten at the feast and kept safe for the following year.

This is one of my favourite festivals and always leaves me feeling cleansed and new, and thankful for all I have. It is a beautiful balance of hope and sacrifice and always feels very important to me somehow.

Traditional symbols and associated bits and bobs....

Colour: orange

Flowers: wheat sheafs, sunflowers

Gods/Goddess: Demeter the corn mother, Lugh the corn king, John Barleycorn (A cheeky chappy who represents the spirit of the barley used primarily in beer and whisky making)

Symbols: wheat, grain, corn husks, corn dollies, bread

Food: Lammas loaf, wheat beer, popcorn, seeds

Litha ~ The Festival of the Sun

Litha or the Summer Solstice (C.21st June) is the festival of the crowning of the Solar King. The peak of the sun's climb, it is a time when magic overfloweth! This is the beginning of the time of true abundance and ripeness, but also marks the beginning of the suns decline, the longest day of the year - after this point the nights begin to lengthen once more. It is a time to learn to balance between flesh and spirit, keeping your feet on the ground, even if your head is in the clouds! Awake before dawn and watch the sun rise. Toast with a glass of orange juice, or similarly bright, sunny beverage and as you drink imagine you are drinking in the sunshine, see the light and warmth filling your soul.

June always brings with it my mother in law's delicious elderflower cordial, and usually the first springs of lavender are appearing, so on midsummers day we drink elderflower and lavender cocktails - quite simply a good glug of cordial, topped with sparkling wine or champagne (you could make your own elderflower champagne of course, I keep meaning to, but so far haven't got around to it....) with sprigs of lavender to stir. Leave them in the glass and the flavour gradually seeps into the drink, 'tis really yummy! Every year we have a barbeque, and every year it rains. It has become quite a tradition, the annual, rainy Litha bbq, to the point that this year, I was oddly disappointed to find that it was actually a lovely day! As it happens, I'd also neglected to organise anything, so we found ourselves celebrating on our own, on the most summery summer solstice in recent memory! It was very lovely actually, me, the hubby and the littlun sitting in the garden, basking in sunbeams and eating burnt sausages direct from the firey furnace that was the bbq, and then throwing flowers and incense onto the glowing coals and making wishes, to be carried away towards the sun on the scented smoke, aaah!

Traditional symbols & associated bits and bobs....
Colour: red and yellow
Flowers: roses, oak leaves
Gods/Goddess: Sun Gods, The Oak King, Faery Queen
Symbols: fire, water, faeries, wreaths of summer flowers
Foods: summer squash, peppers, food cooked over fire

Beltane ~ The Festival of Fertility!

The seasonal festivals seem to be passing me by a bit this year, I haven't had the time to put much effort into them. I usually like to plan ahead a little and arrange some kind of ritual, we generally have a few traditions we like to acknowledge, but before I'm aware of it, the day is upon us and I've forgotton to buy food or invite anyone to come and join in the fun! We celebrate Beltane on the 1st of May, but made it the 2nd this year as we had invited a friend over on that day, and it seemed to make sense to have a lil' knees up then...The word Beltane is Gaelic for bright fire, and fire has always been a part of this festival, to leap the Beltane fire is to take the flame into yourself, giving thanks for life. (Usually I mark out a little labyrinth in the garden with string and have a small fire burning in my lovely little pot bellied cauldron at the centre, we then take it in turns to walk the labyrinth and jump the flames - not this year, ho-hum...) It is the festival of the union between the Green Man of the Wildwood and the fertile Goddess: in bygone days couples would head to the woods on May's Eve for passionate trysts to ensure these ancient forces were honoured, and the land (and they themselves, presumably!) would remain fertile.

Like Halloween (exactly 6 months from now) Beltane Eve is said to be a time when the veil between worlds in thin, and ghosts and faerie folk wander freely! Where Halloween is the festival of death and mourning, Beltane is all about the celebration of life, it is a time for being joyous and spending time with friends, family and lovers, a time to enjoy sensual pleasures and remember you're alive. The Feast I prepare for this festival is very simple, and actually one of my favourites...The starter is a jumbled mixture of finger foods: olives, thick grilled slices of halloumi, slivers of salty cured meats, anything nibbly and best served drizzled with a gorgeous basil infused olive oil! I love the sensual nature of food eaten with your hands, if you can feed it to your loved one, all the better! The main course is steak (my personal preference being rib-eye, served rare, there is something wonderfully primal about rare meat which for me seems to be perfect for this particular celebration...) served with warm wilted spinach and new potatoes all served drenched in melted butter and lots of ground black pepper. YUMMY. Dessert is chilli chocolate mousse, fiery and sweet. Chocolate was believed by the Aztecs to be a powerful aphrodisiac (the reason why to this day, it is still the favoured gift for men to bestow upon their lady friends!) and is proven to contain feel-good substances, which is more than enough reason for me to feel it should be included in my Beltane menu! One of my favourite traditions is the bowl of May wine we prepare and drink. For every bottle of aromatic white wine (gewurztraminer or something similar is always a winner for me, but as you're going to add things to it, there's no real need to go too fancy) add a handful of lightly squished strawberries and 12 springs of sweet woodruff, one for every month of the year. Woodruff was a damn hard thing to find, we discovered years ago when I first decided to incorporate May wine into our celebrations, but if you can find it, it's well worth growing, and once you've planted it, it'll pretty much take over if you let it, so you'll never be short of it! It's a plant that has a habit of flowering on or around May day, and the flowers have a lovely and distinctive fragrance, which is truly beautiful in the wine and strawberry concoction, and is always associated with this time of year for me.



Traditional symbols and associated bits and bobs...

Colours: green

Flowers: apple and hawthorn blossoms, dandelions

Gods/Goddess: Pan, any maiden/mother Goddess

Symbols: maypoles, flowers, ribbons, leaf masks

Foods: May wine, honey, aphrodisiac yummies

Veggie plot!

There has been a little bit of deliberation going on here as to whether or not we are ready for/deserve an allotment...Our seedlings are flourishing and it's become clear that there are far too many to just grow them in pots like I'd planned (and honestly, who grows sweetcorn in pots anyway??!) I love the idea in principle, but fear that after an initial bout of enthusiam, we would inevitably surrender it to the weeds, being just a little bit too lazy to actually GO anywhere to garden. Also, the nice thing about gardening at home is the fact that I can just pootle on outside when baby Boo is having a nap. So we have decided to dig up a chunk of our garden and dedicate it solely to veggies, the idea being that if it works, and we get really green fingered, we may just look into an allotment next year. We had lots of fun preparing this, and the littlun had his first, proper, messy baby boy, mud eating experience!

UPDATE! JUNE'09

After a slow start and battle of wills against the slugs of our village, we have thriving plant life in the veggie patch!

Seedy business...

We've been busy planting seeds! Now I'm pleased to report that the kitchen table is overrun with happy little seedlings, so far it looks good for veggies later on in the year! Growing so far: sweetcorn, beetroot, tomatoes, runner beans, & courgettes. Still to make an appearance: broad beans, jalapeno chillies, cherry bomb chillies, nasturtiums & a couple of mystery seeds that I found (but don't really hold out much hope for...)

Ostara ~ The Festival of Balance and Awakening!

The spring equinox (C.21st March), the point when light overcomes darkness, the sap rises and all the land is fertile. This is a creative time, to do, to change, to put into action all the plans begun at Imbolc, it is a time to sow seeds, both literally and metaphorically, and I've been busy, busy, busy sowing a gerzillion different kinds of seeds for our soon-to-be veggie garden! I love seeds, I love that there is nothing to see one day and the next there is a lil' shoot peering up at you, and the next it's doubled in size again...anyways, I digress..

Ostara, day of the Saxon dawn goddess Eostre (Easter), it is the dawn of the year and on this day light and darkness are perfectly balanced, 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night, before the sun tips the scales and light floods our paths once more (hopefully!). It is the festival of fertility, symbolised by eggs and bunnies, rampant little fellows that they are...this makes much more sense symbolically speaking than the story my headmaster at school told me when I was teeny which was that we have easter eggs to represent the cave that Christ was entombed in prior to his resurrection, and that rabbits were the first thing he saw upon leaving said chocolatey tomb, hence the Easter bunny... (the Christian festival of Easter alway falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, something which is so absurdly Pagan sounding that it makes me giggle!)

We didn't do our usual Ostara gathering this year, instead we merged our festivities with mother's day as we'd already planned to feed our mummies a delicious leg of salt marsh lamb, and didn't fancy doing 2 big lamb fests in a row that weekend! So we cooked our Ostara feast on the Sunday...Hmmmm, lip smackety yumminess! Nettle soup -nettles gathered that morning from our jungle of a garden, sometimes it pays not to weed for a while :-), followed by roasted salt marsh lamb and assorted seasonal veg, and then a deliciously decadent and sickly dessert which I don't know the name of, but I believe is Greek in origin, it's basically layers of whipped cream, Greek yoghurt and muscavado sugar, left overnight to go all gooey and scrummy. I like to serve it in easter egg 'bowls', isss gooood...

This year the first day of spring passed in quite a mellow and relaxed way, but as it was my first ever mothers day, I don't feel too bad about it!

Traditional symbols of ostara & other associated bits and bobs:

Colours: sunny yellows & pretty pastels
Flowers: daffodils & primroses
Gods/Goddess: Eostre Symbols: painted eggs and bunnies
Foods: lamb, eggs, dairy produce, currant buns.

Spring is a-springing!

I went for a walk today and was warmed by the abundance of crocuses, daffodils and snow drops I saw. I love, love love it when the seasons change! I'm merrily anticipating the coming of the warmer days, and longer, light evenings. It's not that I dislike the winter, I've always been one of those odd types who really actually likes the rain & I love cosy nights by the fire when the wind is howling outside, but it must be said that when the sun shines bright for the first time in the year, and you can see life so vividly forcing its way to the surface, it really does make everything seem a little easier. Makes yer soul smile it does...

My mission statement!

A mission statement is a sort of 'code of conduct' I guess, I think they are most commonly used for business purposes, but I think having a personal one is a really good idea, keeps you in check and reminds you of your values. It took a long time to work out what is important to me, and I think it still needs a bit of refining, but here it is in essence. (Although I don't like the term 'mission statement', it sounds too aggressive, so i've renamed it...it's more like a kind of petition to the gods to keep me on the right path!)

“…As I will it, so shall it be!”
(My personal goals, ideals & philosophies…)

1~I am good…
I shall be kind, friendly, open, honest and trustworthy. I shall try to listen twice as much as I speak. I shall give generously of myself and my time when I can. I shall strive to be truthful in thought, word and deed.

2~I am joyful…
I shall allow myself to be playful, carefree, light-hearted, jolly & mischievous whenever and wherever I can!

3~I am brave, hear me roar!
I shall be confident, energetic, passionate & unafraid in my approach to life generally. I shall live according to my own ideals and principles, not be acted upon by the will of others. I shall relish the opportunities given to me & enjoy the adventure!

4~I take care of myself…
I shall strive to balance peace in my soul, joy in my heart, and health in my body & mind. To this end I shall eat well, exercise often, smile daily, meditate, and rest when I need to.

5~I am learning all the time…
I shall be creative and constructive, seeking to learn new things & improve my knowledge & ability in those things I do already.

6~I see beauty in everything…
Referring to me during the speech he made at our wedding, my husband said “she sees beauty in everything”. This I think, is my most favourite thing that anyone has ever said about me. I want always to be this person and be worthy of such a compliment. I shall strive always to see the beauty in all things. I shall remember to be thankful everyday and not take things for granted.

7~I believe in things I cannot see…
My tree hugging, faerie tickling, stargazing, weird witchy ways have been at the very core of me since childhood and I feel that living in this strange & wonderful world of moonbeams & mermaids has kept me sane (well… of a fashion!). I shall honour all that is sacred to me with the enthusiastic and unshakable faith of a child, with regular contemplation of all that is magical and lovely, and with joyous celebration of the changing seasons.

8~I take pride in what I do…
My role as a housewife is one I am happy to have. Our home is a shelter, a sanctuary- friends have said we could sell time here as a kind of therapy and I’ve always been immensely proud that our home & hospitality can heal. I want our home to be a place where myself, my family & our guests find peace, warmth & joy. To this end I shall keep the house comfortable, welcoming and as clean & orderly as having a young child will allow! I will provide nourishment for body and soul with hearty meals, scrumptious cakes, cookies and warming brews, all served up in an atmosphere of cosy contentment. Ahhhhh…

9~I am a mother…
…and I believe this is the most important thing I can be. I want my children to love, to learn and to laugh. I shall raise my son (and any future children we may be blessed with!) with love, not anger ; strength, not fear ; joy, not duty ; and patience, not haste. I shall be nurturing & encouraging and remember that time spent with my child is never wasted time.

New years resolutions!

Nothing fancy here, just a list of the things I'd like to achieve this year, as discussed around the fire at Imbolc!

1)Add at least 30 more goals to my '101 things to do before I die' list (an ongoing project this, it's tragic that so far I can only think of 30 things I want to do!)
2)Learn to juggle.
3)Try to use baby signing as much as I can.
4)Do more outdoorsy things...
5)Eat at least 3 veggie meals a week.
6)Strive to be more enviromentally responsible by switching off lights and appliances when not using them, not driving short distances, recycling everything that can be recycled and trying to produce as little waste as possible.
7)Live and eat seasonally and locally.
8)Be punctual!
9)Write my mission statement. Done! (see my next post for details!)
10)Work hard to live in accordance with my mission statement.
11)Don't rush...(This is really going to clash with no.8...)

Why Barefoot??

Feet. Not a big fan of them, asthetically speaking. I have my mother's feet, she always said they were like E.T's hands...I have never met anybody with attractive feet, those whose feet are structurally sound will always have a peculiar toenail or two. Shoes, on the other hand I'm very fond of ( it's a strange girly weakness). That in mind...why Barefoot Boo?
Because I'm a big ol' hippie at heart! Because your feet connect you to the earth, because they ground you, because your skin likes to breathe and your toes like to wiggle, because being barefoot FEELS great! You know it's true! Cast your foot shackles aside and join me! We'll go paddling! :-)

Snow!

And I forgot to mention it's been snowing!! Yip yip! This is the first year in ages where it feels like the season it actually is! Went for a lovely snowy walk the other day, we decided against carrying Baby Boo in a sling for fear of slipping over, but after about an hour of forcing the pushchair through the snow I think Mr Boo was starting to think the sling may have been the way to go after all! ;)

Had a giggle yesterday, my brother and his girlfriend popped by with their shiny new sledge, which made it's maiden voyage down one of the lovely hills surrounding my home. I was suddenly struck by how fantastic it is to live somewhere you can go sledging right outside your front door! If only there were more snow...

Imbolc ~ The Festival of Light!

Last night we had our annual Imbolc gathering. I love this festival, it never fails to leave me feeling inspired and hopeful! The wheel of the year is turning and the season is underway ~ life is begin to stir as the first shoots emerge. Light is returning, but there are still dark days to come. It is a time for planning, to think of the year ahead ~ a time of hope, when dreams seem just a touch nearer as the darkness lifts a little. For each of the 8 Celtic seasonal festivals I throw a little dinner party and I invite a few friends over to celebrate and partake of a lil' magic and merriment. The Imbolc feast in Boo's kitchen is mushroom stuffed pancakes served with creme fraiche and beetroot salad (which was sadly missing this year 'cause some fool forgot to buy beetroot...). Pancakes are eaten in many traditions at this time of year as they represent the sun we are so gladly welcoming back. And they are yummy... This is followed by roast chicken (free range & organic of course!) with puy lentils in a red wine and garlic sauce, savoy cabbage and mashed swede & parsnips. The lentils are my way of showering a little good luck on my guests and the coming year, their round shape representing little coins. Following this we have Russian poppy seed cake, seeds being very relevant to this time of year with it's budding fertility. It is a truly scrummy cake, and its very distinctive flavour is really beginning to become associated with this festival in my mind, Imbolc cake, yippee! We eat around the table centrepiece, the corn dolly of the Lammas festival, who is lying cosy surrounded by candles. This is representative of the ancient 'brides bed' rite, whereby the dolly is laid in a basket or something else to suggest a bed and a wand, candle, or other vaguely phallic object ( ie, longer than it is wide!) is laid across her to invoke the fertility of the land and ensure a bountiful harvest in the coming year. We have nothing really to harvest here in the literal sense of the word, although Mr Boo tells me he plans to grow tomatoes and beans on our patio this year, so we'll see what the bride does for us later in the year!


In our house we see Imbolc as the start of the year and don't start any new years resolutions until now. This gives us all of January to think about what we hope to achieve during the coming year (...and recover from the almost certain Yuletide overindulgence without going cold turkey and throwing ourselves into a detox that will surely fail!). Themes of this festival traditionally include healing and purification (represented by water) and creativity (represented by fire ~ the flames of inspiration & passion) so after dinner we 'purify' ourselves by washing our faces with salt water and then sit around a blazing fire talking through our plans for the year ahead. It's lovely to do this with friends and really get a sense of who everyone is and the direction their lives are taking them, I had a really nice time (hopefully they did too!). At some point I'll post a list of this years resolutions ~ 'the seeds we wish to sow', but talking with everyone brought to light a few things I'd like to alter or add to my list so it need a bit of tweaking!

By the end of the evening I felt happy and inspired and looking forward to the year ahead, a time of new beginnings. Get those candles lit, turn on all the lights and ask that the light may find and fill your home this year, and may Brigid bless you with creativity and inspiration!

Witchy Boo!

xxx

Traditional symbols of Imbolc & other associated bits and bobs…

Colours: pale blues & white
Flowers: snowdrops & other winter bulbs
Gods/Goddess: St Bridget, Brigid (ancient grain goddess ~ also of fertility and fire/creativity and inspiration)
Symbols: candles, corn dollies.
Foods: pancakes(representing the sun), lentils (fortune & luck), seeds (growth)

Barefoot Boo's firstest ever post...

Well, my dear other half tells me that blogging will cause us all to live longer...hmmmm, I'll have me some o' that please! I am terribly fond of scrapbooks and notebooks, and scribbling things down, my handbag is bursting with jotters and I have diaries coming out of my ears. I suspect that having a blog is yet another way for me to offload my mental drivel, a notebook that I cannot stash away...I have not yet decided if this is a good thing...watch this space!