I'm having a hard time posting... for some reason I keep getting a message telling me I don't have the right to post in this thread!
On the off chance that this goes through ok... hope you're all having a good day!
Sorry that I haven't posted yet. I've been crazy busy!
I too vote in every election, but I don't view myself as patriotic. I just do my civic duty, and hope that the majority votes in a way that benefits us all. Not that that seems to usually happen, but whatever. At least I am trying! But while I feel that I love the land I live on, as my little corner of Mother Earth, I can't say that I go for a patriotic/nationalistic point of view.
Hi all, I hope you have space in the circle for an odd one like me. My name's Tristan, and I am a trans man and "mama" to a wonderful 3-yr-old boy and partner to the best man ever. I'm a Druid, but I follow Kali. I live in a city, but am interested in (urban) homesteading. I work in health care, and am not about the medical system. I'm pushing middle age, but about to start college.
It's nice to meet you all! Good to see that I have some Pagan brothers and sisters here.
Welcome Tristan! nice to meet you!
Hi all, I hope you have space in the circle for an odd one like me. My name's Tristan, and I am a trans man and "mama" to a wonderful 3-yr-old boy and partner to the best man ever. I'm a Druid, but I follow Kali. I live in a city, but am interested in (urban) homesteading. I work in health care, and am not about the medical system. I'm pushing middle age, but about to start college.
It's nice to meet you all! Good to see that I have some Pagan brothers and sisters here.
Welcome, nice to meet you:) There's plenty of room for all, glad you're here:)
Singin - how are you doing! Congrats for making it to your due date! Sending you good birthing vibes and watching for your news!
Welcome, Tristan! What will you be studying in college?
Cari - Good luck on your citizenship plans! I love the mandatory voting system in Australia. I would absolutely support that here (Canada). I agree with Valerie that patriotism is different here and with Singin that we still do feel it. I once complained to a local school for letting their flag get ripped. Pride in country does exist, but it is often second to pride in cultural heritage....I do love going to the Canada Day fireworks though, with thousands of others, feeling a shared sense of identity and pride. Something magical about that....
We never did kick out the king, Sweetsilver. Australia did, didn't they, Cari? I'm not crazy about the royal visits, but always did love my grandma talking about the royal family like they were distant cousins. She was so sad when the Queen Mother died. It has been interesting to have a female (goddess-like?) symbolic head of state all my life in Queen Elizabeth II.
What is growing in my garden - we're eating strawberries, about to do another harvest of rhubarb, the caldendula and chrysanthemums I started from seed are flowering, and I have to get a serious weeding job in to clear out the thistles. My tomatoes are in flower and some baby green ones are coming. I don't know about my peppers, though. The mosquitoes are just insane here right now - clouds of rise from any patch of shade, especially under the leaves of plants in my beds. I'm wearing a bugproof shirt and hood if I venture out in the garden at all.
Anyone feeling the effects of the astrological cross on the recent new moon? Life has been pretty stressful the past few days and all I want to do is laze around and daydream. I'm anticipating the Leo new moon at the end of the month - I'm a Leo and could use the energy. Need to get to bed early tonight - I'm fighting a summer cold!
Hi Mamas,
I keep popping in, saying Hi and thinking I'll finally follow the thread and then don't come back for several months.
But, I'm hoping you can help me. We found our 18yo cat today. We think she passed away yesterday while we were out of town. We waited until my husband had wrapped her in a towel before we told my 4yo (almost 5). She asked to see Tabitha so we let her, we talked about how she died, that she was old and sick and it was just her time. We let her pet her and give her a final hug and tried to answer all of her questions. The question we are having trouble with "Why?" We've told her Tabitha was old (18 yrs) and sick and it was just her time, but stopped short of "everything dies eventually" as I don't want to scare her or for her to start worrying that Mommy and Daddy are going to die.
Without the whole God & heaven thing, how do I explain the "Why?" to her in a way she'll understand, is age appropriate and won't scare her?
Welcome Tristan and Jade's Mom!
I will make some replies probably later today when I can think about other things...I am up at this hour crying. Yesterday I had some pretty awesome contractions for about 7 hours. No matter what I did, they were there. Then I decided I should lay down for a bit, conserve some energy in case this was the real deal. After an hour and a bit of contractions laying down, I fell asleep...waking around 5:30am sad, disappointed and frustrated. I have to face another day of people asking me where this baby is...
I do go and see my midwife today. I bet I will be a mess in the office if I feel anything like I do now in a few hours time.
If you have hugs to spare, that would be great, because I feel like they would help. I know in my heart that this little one will come when he/she is ready but it is society that I am having a hard time coping with at the moment. And I didn't tell many people my due date to try to keep it vague and avoid some of this pressure...didn't work though. Just meant they have been asking longer since they didn't have a specific date to go with.
Sorry for bringing things down mamas, I'm just mentally exhausted at the moment.
Welcome to the circle Tristan!
I'm fighting a summer cold too... was shivering despite wearing a polar shirt and being under a polar trow last night while DH only had shorts on and was feeling too hot.
Dying: what is your own beliefs about death? Another way is just asking the child what she thinks... sometime, they have pretty cool ideas about it.
Looking at recipes for DD2's birthday cake... i think I will do my Almond Floor Chocolate cake as a base and make a Rasberries Mousse for a second layer...
Nicole
Anyone feeling the effects of the astrological cross on the recent new moon? Life has been pretty stressful the past few days and all I want to do is laze around and daydream. I'm anticipating the Leo new moon at the end of the month - I'm a Leo and could use the energy. Need to get to bed early tonight - I'm fighting a summer cold!
Been a big stress fest here and very very low on motivation.
If you have hugs to spare, that would be great, because I feel like they would help. I know in my heart that this little one will come when he/she is ready but it is society that I am having a hard time coping with at the moment. And I didn't tell many people my due date to try to keep it vague and avoid some of this pressure...didn't work though. Just meant they have been asking longer since they didn't have a specific date to go with.
Hoping today will be the day for you.
Welcome to the circle Tristan!
I'm fighting a summer cold too...
summer colds stink:( Hope it passes quick.
Argh!!!!
We had a playdate planned for this afternoon...
DS was happy to have a promise for 5 tickets for his fundraising supper tomorrow...
and DD2 was looking forward celebrating her birthday with her 3 friends on Sunday...
All this is cancelled because they are going on their trip this week instead as next week as planned...
We need to find alternatives fast!
Craft or baking instead of the playdate...
DS will make phone calls to find new buyers for his tickets...
as for the birthday party... looking for a fun family activity to do...
Welcome Tristan :)
Without the whole God & heaven thing, how do I explain the "Why?" to her in a way she'll understand, is age appropriate and won't scare her?
Honestly, we always explained that everything does die, that its part of the circle of life. My son doesnt really care to try and grasp abstract concepts yet but my daughter has talked to us about death for quite awhile now. We have a lot of pets and have lost a nice number so she has had a lot of experience with it. When my grandmother's husband died we talked a little more about it. She was younger so maybe that helped her be more matter of fact about it but she is very aware mom and dad will die one die. She has even talked about how it will be sad but its part of life, and how she wants to bury us under the cherry tree with all the rats we have buried there (pet rats).
Wanted to check in and say hi. I'll be reading along but probably won't post much. Don't really feel comfy at mdc anymore. Will see some of you on fb.
Welcome Tristan!
What's on your altar right now? A certain destructive toddler destroyed the one I've had up since solstice, so I think it's time for a little bit of change. I'd love some inspiration.
Hi all, I hope you have space in the circle for an odd one like me. My name's Tristan, and I am a trans man and "mama" to a wonderful 3-yr-old boy and partner to the best man ever. I'm a Druid, but I follow Kali. I live in a city, but am interested in (urban) homesteading. I work in health care, and am not about the medical system. I'm pushing middle age, but about to start college.
It's nice to meet you all! Good to see that I have some Pagan brothers and sisters here.
Hi and welcome! Urban homesteading's cool 
It's amazing how much you can grow on how little amount of land.
Without the whole God & heaven thing, how do I explain the "Why?" to her in a way she'll understand, is age appropriate and won't scare her?
I don't know...I don't remember how I've handled that with ds (10yo). But I don't think you have to worry about scaring her. She'll let you know if she's scared and what her limits/boundaries are.
If you have hugs to spare, that would be great, because I feel like they would help. I know in my heart that this little one will come when he/she is ready but it is society that I am having a hard time coping with at the moment.
Aww 
Eff society. Tell them what you told us-- the baby will come when s/he's ready, and that you need some space!
Another way is just asking the child what she thinks... sometime, they have pretty cool ideas about it.
This.
I am having the BEST time at M's!!! We had a bit of a bumpy first morning, but smoothed it all out and now everything's hunky-dory 
Wanted to check in and say hi. I'll be reading along but probably won't post much. Don't really feel comfy at mdc anymore. Will see some of you on fb.
Oh that's sad, why not? See what happens when I don't check in for a couple years. 
Welcome Tristan! :)
Singin- hang in there! Is there anything fun you can do to pamper yourself? A foot rub, home pedicure, hand rub, head rub, silly bubblegum for the brain book or magazine or dvd, just something to make today (and tomorrow, and the next day) special no matter what? And can you put a snarky "not yet" on your voice mail/answering machine?
Kitty/Death- ((hugs)) We have a book called something like "The Story of a Leaf" (we got it when my dad and then my MIL's sister got so ill and we knew we'd be having more serious conversations about death). Basically it's a fairy tale sort of story about a leaf that grows on the branch and eventually falls off and turns into the soil that allows the tree to keep living and brings about the birth of more leaves. The whole "circle of life" thing told in a very organic (ha ha!) and child friendly way. Though we live in a region where hunting is a big deal and where every fall dead deer are drapped across trucks and hanging from porches, and where people frequently raise meat for their tables. So the kiddos have seen the more direct "we raise the cute piggie into a great big piggie and then we kill it and eat it with thanks and offerings to the spirit of the piggie and the greater spirit of the Pig" too. We haven't had to deal with a direct family member or human friend passing on though, so I don't know how well things will "scale up" for the kids.
Garden- I let our garden go. With our kick butt CSA it's just not worth it for me to be hot, pregnant, dirty, and mucking in the soil in the hopes that the deer/rabbits/chipmunks/squirrels/opposum/woodchucks/birds don't beat me to the finish! I do have some lovely flowers blooming... the Iris are long gone, but the day lillies are amazing, and the gladiolas have just started to open up. And we've been putting up fencing (saplings we've cleared from the woodlot, kind of twisted and twined together to make fencing) and opening up the back play scape more.
Altar- hmmm... I need to really go over my personal altar... it's gathering dust upstairs and that's not good! But the family altar on the piano has fresh flowers (picked each day by dd2), a small offering bowl, our family offering bowl, a statue of a woman reading a book, a few plants, my kitchen tarot deck, and a few wool gnomes dd1 made. The smaller "nature table" has flowers, some fossils dd1 and dd2 found in the gravel of our drive, a statue of a woman holding a basket of flowers, a bowl of marbles and glass beads ds wanted there.
I haven't got an altar right now. My house is back on the market and I'm trying to make it look as impersonal as possible. Which is really hard when I'm living there with a 10yo boy! When I get home from M's, I will have the whole place landscaped and mulched and it will not look like my house at all 
And then, through Groupon, I ordered a carpet cleaning and a full 4-man-hour house cleaning. So at some point I will take advantage of that.
For the new people, I am back in a long-distance relationship with my high-school sweetheart after 35 years of being apart 
And my house is up for sale so that we can move to his area. We live 800 miles apart, right now. And at the moment, I'm visiting I get to see him about every two months.
Hey Everyone! Welcome Jade's Mom & Tristan - pull up a comfy seat as we can be a chatty bunch!
Sorry for being a bit distant lately in June, work was well stressing me out and then I decided to take a much needed break from the internet while on my nice long vacation with the family - a whole 2.5 weeks and now I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! 
Vacation was wonderful - lots of gardening, landscaping, building stuff with power tools, going to the library, having fun with the kiddos, catching a couple of baseball games, sleeping, eating and not stressing about work (or really even thinking about it)
Maia - I hope you are having a lovely time at M's despite the bumps in the road. And I love your question - as I was pondering that on the 4th as I made the family stay up to watch the Capitol 4th on PBS. Overall I think I've become more patriotic lately - FYI did you see the opinion piece on CNN re: US & "christian" nation since the kiddos came along and re-finding my faith how much my vote and voice count because it's my country too. With the 4th and the PBS bit - it was nice to chat with DH about the why, the buildings, some of the music selections and droooooool over Josh Groban. 
DOK - don't be a stranger!!!
Death - I agree with a lot of what's been said and we did go to the "everyone/thing" dies at somepoint when my parent's dog passed, but worked with the circle of life aspects too. DS1 just asked a lot of questions and we just gave him our answers and our beliefs. I think he couldn't have been more than 2 at that point.
Alters - I have 2 in the kitchen - 1 by our plants with my black cat statue, and an asian (I think it might be a geisha) woman statue/incense holder along with a small cluster of houseplants and a cool looking dried rootbulb I found when digging out our compost bin area. I also have a small shelf near the doorway (going to the living room) with a grapevine wreath hung above it and a little wooden sunburst in the middle. On the shelf I have a woman her arms carrying a basket, my kitchen tarot and a small green chicken incense holder. Next up is probably a family one somewhere.... but I need to unearth my desk first to see what I have collected to put on it as I'm sure I have a bunch of little pieces which will be perfect for it.
Garden - good gracious - I have lots of things growing, but little fruits at this point. My strawberries are getting nicked either by the bunnies or the birds and so far I've just been able to harvest our lettuce - which has been great, but I think this week is on the verge of bolting.
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