~~Joyfully Pagan in June~~ - Page 3

[DaughterOfKali]

Originally Posted by greenmagick 

Blech, I have freaking mastitis...how does this happen barely nursing an almost 4 year old.   Made it 5 1/2 years with now issues, was just talking to my son about weaning too.  THankfully my mom ended up being off today so she came and got the kids.  I am feeling just awful, heading to the DR in a couple hours.

Hope the antibiotics get rid of it quickly!

Originally Posted by singin_angel 

36 weeks today! This is a joyous day since DD was born at 35+4. I see my midwife tomorrow...one week from today and we made it to term! If you have a moment to light a candle to help ease my anxiety over the next week and send healthy vibes, I would love it!

I will definitely send you some positive, healthy vibes! 

Maia-  Glad you will be able to have another visit soon!

[wombatclay]

Yay Singin'!  Thinking thoughts of happy healthy babies and glowing comfortable mamas!  :)

Hope the mastitis is better today.  The meds may be icky but they can make a HUGE difference, and so quickly, that I hope you're feeling worlds better by now.  Stay hydrated and rest as much as possible... thinking "no relapse" thoughts for you!

Poetry- my goal is to share a part of a poem every day this month (or nearly every day).  There's something about June that just says "poetry" to me.  It reminds me of the scene from the beginning of the Branagh version of Much Ado, with it's blend of lazy hazy summer lounging and willy nilly silly summer goofiness.  Which I suppose means the verse of the day will be:

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh nor more;
    Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
    To one thing constant never;
        Then sigh not so,
        But let them go,
    And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe
    Into. Hey nonny, nonny.

 And check out the youtube video for the lyrical version... it's one of my favorite "back of the head Hums".  :)  Not to mention one of my favorite plays by the Bard, and one of my favorite adaptations (even if they missed more than a few "beats").  In the film, this scene turns into a madcap race for the water/tubs as guests are sighted in the distance.

[Piratelady2525]

Good morning ladies!  Trying desperately to catch up on here...I missed a lot! 

So sad to hear about all the tornado damage and losses....glad that is over.  No big storms here, just lots and lots of heat, which I actually like!  We just play in the water a lot, and wear lots of sunscreen and hats. :-)

I am also loving the poems!  Keep them coming!

Excited to hear all the ideas for solstice!  This will be our first year celebrating, and we only know one other pagan family around here, so it will be a small but heartfelt celebration.

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by wombatclay big box security leaks- over the past 5 or 6 months hackers have broken into the email databases of dozens of "big box" stores and businesses... Best Buy, Target, TiVo, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Capitol One, and so on.  I lost count, but probably 20 or so national chains/firms/banks were compromised.  If, for some reason, that store had your email on file (you've had one of their credit cards or participated in a promotional event, you are on their coupon mailing list, you've purchased something through their website, you've worked there, etc) then the hackers probably got your data too.

But...how would I know if I've been compromised? I haven't had anything wonky show up in my inbox or anything. Thank the Gods. But still. Going to check out that page now.

Originally Posted by singin_angel 36 weeks today! This is a joyous day since DD was born at 35+4. I see my midwife tomorrow...one week from today and we made it to term! If you have a moment to light a candle to help ease my anxiety over the next week and send healthy vibes, I would love it!

Yay! Happy baby vibes! Stay in there, LO, till you're ripe

Originally Posted by wombatclay Poetry- my goal is to share a part of a poem every day this month (or nearly every day).  There's something about June that just says "poetry" to me.  It reminds me of the scene from the beginning of the Branagh version of Much Ado, with it's blend of lazy hazy summer lounging and willy nilly silly summer goofiness.  Which I suppose means the verse of the day will be:

So that's where you got your signature signature

Originally Posted by Piratelady2525 Excited to hear all the ideas for solstice!  This will be our first year celebrating, and we only know one other pagan family around here, so it will be a small but heartfelt celebration.

There is a mini-weekend campout in NC that is similar to PSG that we're going to. It's tiny, but growing really nicely, AND it's now at a castle of some sort We haven't been camping since we last went to PSG in '09. I have to drag out the tent and air it out and waterproof it. It's from the 23rd through the 26th. There's cell service so I'll be able to talk to M. Even on a Solstice campout, there's no WAY I can go 4 days w/o talking to him!

[greenmagick]

Whew, back amongst the living...now to play catch up lol.  I am still a bit sore and tender but so so much better than it was.  Phew.

Need to start making some solstice plans....hmmmmmmmm

[wombatclay]

Maia- Yup!  Hey nonny nonny to you all!  In terms of email... if you have had any association with any of the companies that were compromised, it's safe to assume your info was taken as well.  Change your passwords and you should be fine.  In fact, everyone should be changing their passwords every month or two, and you shouldn't use the same password on different sites.  I know, I know, a pain in the tuckus but there it is.  I was in charge of 'net security for my dept at the library and I actually set the computers to force users to create new passwords every month.  One trick is to pick a favorite saying or line of poetry and then take the first letter of each word to make your "impossible to guess but easy to remember" password... like, Mary Had a Little Lamb With Fleece As White As Snow would = mhallwfawas.  If you KNOW you can't remember multiple passwords, write them down, but keep them someplace safe and NOT by the computer... say, on a post it note you leave on the back of a wall calendar, on a bookmark in a book that never leaves your bedside table (or bathroom shelf lol), on an envelope you leave in the freezer.  Then update it as you go.

Depending on your email provider, you should be able to view your account activity... the email of mine that was compromised was an old account, one I hadn't used in years (a "throw away" of sorts for filling out forms) so I wasn't checking/changing passwords regularly.  My bad.  And I didn't get any unusual traffic in my personal in box (just a few head's up from friends saying they thought my account was compromised due to spam they'd gotten).  But when I checked account activity (yahoo mail) it was through the roof, and all international users at that.  Other than the annoyance of having spam being sent "by me", the risk is mostly phising... the article I linked goes into the details and explains the relative risks.

I can't believe Rowan turns 4 today!  We opened mermaid presents this morning (she's in a big mermaid phase) and then went to Target so she could spend her birthday money from grandma... she picked out a "bath time" baby doll.  It's kind of funny to me to have such a baby doll/disney princess kiddo since dd1 was never really interested in dolls.  Even now dd1 is more about lightning mcqueen (in the disney vein) or horses.  Dolls and princesses just never held her attention.  But dd2 is the opposite.  She is ALL about babies and princesses and "girlie girl" stuff.  It's a bit odd, but fun too.  DS is head over heels in love with Rachel Ray and spends his days cooking.  It should be fun to learn what AppleBelle-y is going to go for.  :)

Oh, I realized that the Sigh No More link above is just to the spoken word with instrumental version.  The full musical musical version is here.  The composer (Patrick Doyle) is also the vocalist and one of the instrumentalists.  The guy is seriously cool, though he doesn't look at all like I expect him to (and I say that every time I see him lol).  He also did the score to Henry V (you might know the non nobis from the film even if you don't know it's from the film, the scene it's from makes me cry every.single.time and no, I didn't link to a version of the song with the scene playing cause it really is a tear jerker, sung on a battlefield after the battle as the survivors bury the dead.  Youtube can take you to a link with the scene if you want it.)

[Aeress]

Hey Gals!

Just checking in. We have dance recital this week, so I am fairly busy with that.

[mommamanjari]

Hi ladies.

Nicole, it's good to hear you're feeling better!

So I put the butterfly on the "spirituality" section of my TM, for no particular reason. According to many cultures the butterfly symbolizes transformation, (of course!) rebirth, embracing change & freedom. I'm still not sure what I want to do with the wing. Maybe put it in resin for a pendant. Or I was thinking about incorporating it into a spell & releasing it to the wind after. We'll see. I did some tie dye with my sister the other day and one of the shirts that I made for Daisy turned out with a small butterfly mark on it too!

I hope you are all well.

[wombatclay]

A verse from The Faries, by William Allingham:

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.

 Even though the colors are "wrong", I often wonder if this poem had a hand in the creation of Tom Bombadill ("bright blue his jacket was, and his boots were yellow")... the "feel" of the two is similar.  Which of course reminds me of the story about Tom written by Charles DeLint (Tom, not paying attention and left behind when "his" story ended, lives in a modern city, nurturing trees of tales) and makes me think about the double sided nature of the Fey.

Not much here... HOT with freaky weather patterns.  I've been feeling a bit rushed, or frustrated, or something... so much to do, so little time/energy!  Maybe I should call it white rabbit syndrome?

Oh, a friend introduced me to Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs... thought I'd share the temptation!

.

[vydalea]

wombatclay, thank you for these poems everyday!  I love this latest one, the picture is painted so well not only with the adjectives but by the rhythm of the poem!!

Sooo...Yesterday my FIL had a heart attack.  I am thanking the goddesses that he is super active (5 mile a day walker) and a very healthy eater.  Basically, half of his heart was clogged due to, they think, basically genetics.  I mean, my MIL won't even let him LOOK at salt, processed foods of any kind, etc. Thankfully.  He arrived at the ER about 20 minutes before his second heart attack where he flat-lined and they brought him back with the defibrilllator.  he's doing well now, joking, eating, has good color but I am so glad he finally went with his intuition to get his hiney to the ER!

I have a question for you ladies: other than letting my spider house guests flourish (which I do) is there any organic/non chemical way to deter ants from coming into my home?  I mean, obviously, cleaning up after ourselves is a start but we all know that's easier said than done with babes on the loose!!  haha.  I feel like somewhere I remember hearing something about salt crystals sprinkled around the house...??... but I figured I'd check here to see if you mamas had a tried and true method! 

[wombatclay]

Oh my goodness.... I'm glad your FIL is ok!  Or as OK as possible in the situation at least!

ants- we have ants.  We have horror show ants.  I hate ants.  LOL  So I've probably tried just about everything out there from the talcum/chalk/diatomaceous earth/paste of red chilli peppers approach (these act as barriers because they're uncomfy for critters to walk through and/or eventually kills the ant by penetrating the body/drying it out), the borax&sugar/dried cream of wheat&sugar options (basically ant poison), vinegar/mint/soap sprays (substances that disrupt their scent trails and/or repel them and/or kill them gradually), cinnamon/black pepper/crushed dried mint/camphor/cloves/bay leaves (a cross between the annoying powder and the annoying smell techniques), and the "natural" chemical ant killers like EcoSmart organic insecticide ant/raoch killer.

I think people tend to try everything and then become totally enthralled by whatever the first working solution tends to be!  LOL  You know, the "I swear by this solution!" sort of reaction.  But in my experience you kind of have to try everything and hope you hit on the thing that will work for your particular ant colony sooner rather than later.  And different ants have totally different MOs.  We have big black carpenter ants, little red sugar ants, plain jane field ants, and huge honkin' I have no clue what they are other than evil ants.  Some bite, some don't, and after the last year or two I've run out of sympathy with the little ladies.  I hope your ant problem is easier to resolve!

[Aubergine68]

Oh, my.  vydalea, that is so scary!  Wishing him a speedy and complete recovery!

I have signed up for an extra courseload in the program I'm in over this summer and next fall because, due to budget cuts, I may have trouble getting the courses I need - they won't be offered as often.  So I'm studying on my porch swing or enjoying the weather in the garden pretty much all the time - not online much.  I feel I am neglecting my MDC and facebook time.  But Clay, if you are going to be putting up poetry every day, I will have to come by regularly!  What collection is that de Lint story about Tom Bombadil?  I'd love to read it!  The mention of mermaids reminded me of this poem by John keats:

  Lines on the Mermaid Tavern:

 Souls of Poets dead and gone, 

What Elysium have ye known,
Happy field or mossy cavern,
Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?
Have ye tippled drink more fine
Than mine host's Canary wine?
Or are fruits of Paradise
Sweeter than those dainty pies
Of venison? O generous food!
Drest as though bold Robin Hood
Would, with his maid Marian,
Sup and bowse from horn and can.

And, because this is the season to be outdoors, rather than hanging out in a tavern, however full of the souls of dead poets it may be, here is another by the same author about a witchy sort of woman who lives wholly out of doors, which I would love to be doing  in June!  I *would*  want the odd pie of venison and bottle of Canary wine catered from the Mermaid Tavern to go with my berries and rose-dew, though.

Old Meg she was a Gipsy, 
    And liv'd upon the Moors:
Her bed it was the brown heath turf,
    And her house was out of doors.

Her apples were swart blackberries,
    Her currants pods o' broom;
Her wine was dew of the wild white rose,
    Her book a churchyard tomb.

Her Brothers were the craggy hills,
    Her Sisters larchen trees--
Alone with her great family
    She liv'd as she did please.

[Maiasaura]

I haven't been much of a poetry sort over the last years, but I really do appreciate the daily poem!
 

Originally Posted by wombatclay  Even though the colors are "wrong", I often wonder if this poem had a hand in the creation of Tom Bombadill ("bright blue his jacket was, and his boots were yellow")... the "feel" of the two is similar.  

.

Oh, it does have the exact cadence of Tom Bombadil!

Quote:

Originally Posted by vydalea Sooo...Yesterday my FIL had a heart attack. 

is there any organic/non chemical way to deter ants from coming into my home? 

Ye Gods, vydalea, I'm glad he's alright! How scary.

Um...no. Not in my experience. I have tried and tried over the years, and I ended up with the big guns. I'm SO sick of ants. And fruit fly larvae, UGH, how do I stop those damn critters from getting in my compost and having babies? BLECH, they gross me out so freaking much. Nothing like maggots in my kitchen every dang summer
 

M has been mostly sleeping from 1pm to like 6:30 tonight. I got really concerned and he admitted this has been escalating for a couple of weeks now, and it's not med-related. I'm so worried...I made him promise to get his blood count checked tomorrow. I really, really hope he's not relapsing with the leukemia, though we both know that's possible

[wombatclay]

The story is called "The Conjure Man" and features John Windle.  It's in the collection entitled Dreams Underfoot but also included in After the King (a collection of stories in honor of Tolkien and MiddleEarth).  The first portion is provided b y google books (here) if you want to dive in!

And in an intersting side note...while we don't announce the name of a new babe till they're born, the name we've choosen for AppleBelle-y is from a de Lint book!  LOL

I know that poem (Old Meg) from somewhere, but where?  Argh!  This is going to haunt me... maybe someone recited it at an SCA event?  A poetry collection?  A SageWoman volume?  Grrrrr... something, somewhere....

It's reminding me of the Dancing Bear song by the Mamas & the Papas (lyrics here).  Which is a good thing.  :)  It's sort of a dreamy pagan lullaby sort of tune.

[DaughterOfKali]

So scary!  Glad he's doing well now.  Hope the problem can be controlled with meds.
 

Originally Posted by vydalea 

Sooo...Yesterday my FIL had a heart attack.  I am thanking the goddesses that he is super active (5 mile a day walker) and a very healthy eater.  Basically, half of his heart was clogged due to, they think, basically genetics.  I mean, my MIL won't even let him LOOK at salt, processed foods of any kind, etc. Thankfully.  He arrived at the ER about 20 minutes before his second heart attack where he flat-lined and they brought him back with the defibrilllator.  he's doing well now, joking, eating, has good color but I am so glad he finally went with his intuition to get his hiney to the ER!

[Maiasaura]

Oh hey, did y'all know that The Fifth Sacred Thing is in the works to be a movie? It has its own Facebook page to "Like" if you want to support it, at least verbally (written?). They have a place where, if you have money, you can support that way, too. But yay!!!

[CariOfOz]

Hey mamas :)  I stopped getting notifications on the May thread... and have now realized it was probably due to my email addy being disconnected LOL.  So here I am, straggling in late :P 

We're having an amazingly COLD snap here... and it's supposed to go on for a week.  It's cold & windy, although at least today there is blue, sunny sky to warm it up a tad... it's been overcast the last few days and that make it horrible!  And I've been working in it in the evenings... BRRR!!! 

Things are ok here,  hubby is going to be getting more work he thinks, as a driver is leaving soon.  We won't complain since he's had mostly 4day weeks, and sometimes 3days... which has make a wreck of the budget lately. 

The big news of late is that Derrick's got his visa AND he's been accepted at the program we decided on for him at the local University (it's a  prep prog... year 11/12 equiv) We are making an appt for next week to meet with their career counselor to help him connect some things he thinks he might like to do to their degree programs so he has an idea of what he might apply for after finishing this diploma.  Can't WAIT for him to start school, he has gotten more and more apathetic lately because he's bored... although after a bit of an incident earlier this week here at home (he pissed me right off)  he has gone out a couple of times and is being slightly better at least.

The little dudes are good... Lucas is still struggling with classroom life :(  We have a behavioural specialist now that is working with him, and a 'behaviour plan' drawn up for him. He has a ped appt in a couple of weeks to be assessed... I'm sure we'll end up with a diagnosis, but if it helps them make changes for him at school I'll be happy to have it.  Connor is thriving... that child is just resilient as all get out! lol  Quinn..  he just turned 5 a couple of days ago!  Hard to believe isn't it???  He was the only one of my boys I was ever pg with while being an mdc member!  I remember telling this very thread that we were having #5 actually! 

I'm in a bit of a funk myself,  work is just a mess at the moment ( my boss is a moron, the service is in chaos, and there are not enough staff by half to do the job and they keep asking me to do more... I keep saying NO) I'm still looking for another job so I can leave this group of idiots though. Money is  a mess and we're going to owe the tax dept for sure :(   but I'm just trying to do the best I can and we'll deal with that bridge when we get to it.  

In short... not feeling terribly magical or lively at the moment :(

[DaughterOfKali]

Cari-   That's a sincere hug, by the way.  ;-)  Are you going to a regular pediatrician for an assessment?  I don't know about there, but in the US, so many regular pediatricians don't know squat about neuropsych issues.  If it's a Developmental Ped, that's a little better.

Please let me know if you want to chat about life with a special needs child.  We could probably both use some kind company with someone who 'gets' it.

[redveg]

Morning all,

It feels like forever since I have been here.  I hope everyone is doing well:)  I have had a wild few weeks that have knocked me for a loop.  I was going to adopt these two pigs, they are so cute and friendly but it has not turned out well at all. The stress of the situation has spilled over to the entire family and I tell you 3 crabby teens are not fun to be around.  The under the breath comments are what get me the most.  Anyway things are looking up:)  Sorry about the chick Clay:(  I have a broody hen right now and think she is going to hatch some eggs any day now.  This will be the first time We have let them hatch their eggs so I am pretty excited to see how mama does. 

Anyone have anything planned for the weekend?  I am taking the weekend to really get focused.  I have been letting a lot of things slip by and become quite lazy about my spiritual practicing with so much going on here, my garden all the animals, looking for colleges with the kids and a ton of garbage at DH's work that has been putting him in a stink I have just let things get way out of control and it's time to get back in charge of my life:) 

Well, I am subbing.  Going to try to set aside time to get on this machine at night and catch up with you all.  Have a great weekend:)

[redveg]

Originally Posted by CariOfOz 

I'm in a bit of a funk myself,  work is just a mess at the moment ( my boss is a moron, the service is in chaos, and there are not enough staff by half to do the job and they keep asking me to do more... I keep saying NO) I'm still looking for another job so I can leave this group of idiots though. Money is  a mess and we're going to owe the tax dept for sure :(   but I'm just trying to do the best I can and we'll deal with that bridge when we get to it.  

In short... not feeling terribly magical or lively at the moment :(

Cari:(  (((hugs)))