*~*~*~JuLy PAgaN FAmiLY CirCLe!~*~*~* - Page 3

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by Maiasaura 

OK, Spider-man

will post more later

  Epic hehehe
 

Originally Posted by redveg 

Morning all:)  I hope everyone had a great holiday:)  Today I am going to get some tomato plants in the ground.  I bought them, mine last week I decided they were not going to make it in time so I bought some bigger plants and am hoping to get some tomatoes this year.

Have a good day all:)

Oh fun!  I've been having to pull mine under cover (they are in reasonable enough sized pots that I can) because WE HAD FROST!!?!??!?!  WTF?  lol  DOesn't mother nature realize this is the subtropics dammit? lol  It hasn't been heavy frost, but once or twice over the last few nights it dipped to freezing here.   None of my plants seem to have suffered though.   SPeaking of gardens... I sat at the park today with a notebook while the boys played, and drew out diagrams of ideas for fitting in some various veggie plants in my odd ball backyard :D   It was good fun.

Sorry if I'm only 'sorta' here... I'm stressing a lot over financial stuff, it's school holidays so I'm occupying boys, and I'm a bit nervy over lucas's paed appt as well..  but mostly the financial crap *sigh*  I'm sorta retreating into a cave lately...

[redveg]

Originally Posted by revolting 

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.

I have two alters, one upstairs in my bedroom has a statue of Isis that I just love a pencil drawing of Odin that reminds me of a father type figure, a iron bowl I use for burning incense, sea shells from back home, some stones that had a cool energy when I found them, special items or photos from the family some cute candle holders with some candles:) and a few little charms.  The one downstairs is very basic because I am working on it.  I would love a kitchen alter and am doing some thinking about that too.

[MaxsFox]

I hope everyone will forgive me if it takes me a while to pick up on all the names.  I'm not good with names in general, and the repeat avatars make it worse for some reason.

Late baby (Singin?) - I'm sending eviction thoughts your way!  I'm sorry that baby is taking his/her sweet time to come out, but I'm sure s/he has a good reason for it.

Kitty death - Badger asked me about death recently, and I explained to him that bodies don't last as long as spirits do, and that when they wear out Kali recycles the old one and helps us find a new one for e fresh start.  Not sure if that fits with your beliefs, but Badger seemed to like that answer.

Gardens - our brand new apartment is on the second floor, so we don't have garden space.  All we have is access to a front porch and a fire escape.  I really hope Max follows through on his promise to make me window boxes.

Altars - we have an old boarded up fireplace in the bedroom of the new apartment, and it's quite pretty, so that's our altar space.  It's very simple right now, just a framed picture of Kali and an old incense burner.  We plan to expend it as we find items that seem to fit.  It's our first family altar (Max and I have been a unit for under a year, and lived in a house with an unfriendly roommate up until last month) so I'm excited to see how it will develop.

[Aeress]

Welcome Tristan!

Garden- Raspberries, lots of them, I just picked another pint. Plus with our CSA, we are planning on making berry jam today, yummy!

I have lots going on in the garden, the lavendar is just beautiful right now.

Hey Gals, are you making any salves or ointments right now? I ordered some from etsy since I have done any harvesting or drying yet, but I plan to soon. I got a bug bite stick, for the itchies the girls have been having and some cream for my hands.

Singin- I had three different break downs before my last babe was born. The last one was two days before she came and I did a huge energy release. Does your midwife do energy work? *hugs* I know how hard you have had to work for this baby and what you have gone through, so I imagine this time is very emotional for you. A friend just had their baby, so maybe yours is on its way. *hugs*

Weather/shifts/energy- yep, all of the above are affecting me.

Altar- very neglected, which I am sure doesn't help the above. Time to shift my focus.

*hugs* to all!

[vydalea]

somehow it got to be july 7th.  ??  how did that happen... anyway...

Quote:

Originally Posted by redveg 

Let me start by saying I love the US, I don't agree with a lot of what is done by the people in charge here.  The big thing that bothers me, might be petty but it's when Americans say the US is the best country in the world.  I think we are One of the best countries but not The best.  I think there are other countries that do things so much better than we do and we could learn from them. 

YES YES YES YES YES!!!

 

Originally Posted by revolting 

Now if only we could change the national anthem to "This Land Is Your Land."

seriously.  i like to listen to that on 4th of July weekend, the tinny sounding woody guthrie track.  it makes me feel like jumping in my car with all of my belongings in it and heading out full of possibilities... not that that is a viable OPTION...but it's a nice thought...

Originally Posted by Aubergine68 

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.

yes.  woah.  big time.  i actually have on my to do list for today to revisit the description of the cross and the new moon - haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maiasaura 

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

HOORAY!!! i am so happy for you!!!

Welcome, Tristan!!

Singin: Sending you BIG BIG HUGS   Will be thinking of you!!!! 

Update on the garden: zukes popped out the other day... but the garden is being overtaken by WEEEEEDS!  Must get out there and give my babies a little breathing room... can someone send me some serious motivation??

[witchygrrl]

I'm going to see Christopher Penczak speak tonight on his book, The Three Rays of Witchcraft. I'll provide a full report soon.

[singin_angel]

Thanks all for the hugs and thoughts! Babe is still hanging in there. MIL is now staying with us for a week...hoping the baby will come...*shrugs*

Altars - I have one right now on a bookshelf in our room. It is pretty much all pregnancy related stuff. I just changed the statue from a pregnant woman to a man and woman holding a new baby. Thought it might help the energy shift. Otherwise, it has a candle from my blessingway, a birthing necklace, some incense and water with rose petals in it. I want to help DD make one but not sure where to put it and how to go about it yet.

Beautiful weather here today. Walked around for a bit and hope to go out again when it is a little cooler for me.

Maia - so glad to hear that things are going well, even with a rocky start. Hope you enjoy your stay!

Love hearing about what's growing in all the gardens! Yum!

[redveg]

Originally Posted by witchygrrl 

I'm going to see Christopher Penczak speak tonight on his book, The Three Rays of Witchcraft. I'll provide a full report soon.

I am going to see him on the 27th of this month:)

Morning all:)  Looks cloudy and like rain. Going to try to get some things in the garden today.  Everyone have a good day.

[Aeress]

Morning all! We are debating going to a homeschool park day, I am feeling lazy, but I know it would be fun.

Any plans for the weekend?

[witchygrrl]

Redveg, awesome. He was great! I bought his book that the talk was based on, so I am reading that now.

Singin--hang in there! The babe will be here soon enough! Happy birthing vibes sent your way!

We're getting ready for a much less crazy weekend than we had originally planned. We're off to VT to see the ILs. Dh says he's been missing them, as he barely got to see them when they visited last. So hopefully this works for him.

[wombatclay]

weekend plans- there is something wrong with the minivan.  DH has been putting it off and putting it off but I think I need to insist that it go to the shop this weekend.  :(  Other than that, the "supah coopah" is still not done.  So that will top the list.

astro- I have felt super cranky confrontational this week.  Is there something going on, or is it just me being preggo and sleep deprived?  Seriously, I would probably argue with "the sky is blue".  It's not my normal tone so I'm feeling a bit down about it.

random- we're finishing our third week of "formal" homeschool using Sonlight.  It's going pretty well, especially with the hacks provided by the secular sonlight group.  We'll be adding handwriting and science this coming week (alternate days), and then adding formal french and piano lessons after the next four week settle-down phase.  By the time dd3 arrives we should have a pretty solid routine AND enough done so that even if we slack, we'll have stuff to report for the 1st quarter in early Nov.  And I'm feeling like I dodged a bullet... the school district we're in has a homeschool liason office that helps with the paperwork/requirements and they've been wonderful.  But the district just a house down from us (we're the last house in our district) has a new superintendent and they have totally changed the hs playing field for families in that district.  There is a lot of concern about /how/ families will be able to hs there (the NY regulations say that annual assessments must be done by a certified teacher, peer review board, or "other person" chosen with the approval of the superintendent... in the past, parents were approved as that "other person" but the new supe has said absolutely not.  Since parents aren't specifically prohibited OR allowed in the regulations there is a lot of confusion/consternation about what to do).

Hmmmm... looking at that from the outside... maybe there IS some sort of universal confrontational vibe working at the moment?

[vydalea]

clay, so nice that you live in a district that helps you complete paperwork and meet requirements for homeschooling! 

got the motivation to get in the garden & weed yesterday and this morning...woah!  there is a lot of work ahead of me which I think will be our weekend plan!  I'm hoping the scattered showers stop over the garden this afternoon and give it a good soaking.  It seems just on the verge of explosion and I am really craving fresh tasty homegrown veggies!!  I know I could go to the farmer's market but there is nothing like walking out into the backyard and having a snack!  right? 

i have a little impromptu altar on my kitchen windowsill.  Doing dishes seems to be my solace/meditative time - there are fresh flowers (daisies & roses) and a statue. i want to set one up in my office where I write and spend any creative/spare moments I have.  in due time...

witchygrrl - i'm interested to hear your report on the talk you went to. 

happy friday, all!!

[wombatclay]

It's a bit of a get a little, give a little... there is a liason and an office that will help out year round.  They provide forms and assistance in filling them out and links to resources and reminders of deadlines.  A half dozen or so of the local school districts banded together to fund the office, and in general if you go through the office (use their forms, stick with their deadlines, etc) you don't run into any problems dealing with the district.  So that's the "get".  But the "give" is that the forms are more detailed than the actual state regulations require (and the office wont handle incomplete forms), the deadlines are based on the public school calendar rather than how a homeschool might function (and you need to meet their deadlines to use their services), and so on.

But despite the down side, I'm really really REALLY glad we're in a district that contracts with the office rather than in our neighbors' shoes.  The neighboring district doesn't contract, and their new leadership is being pretty blunt in their application of the regulations.

[Aeress]

I am glad our district is pretty relaxed as allowing parents to do what they want to do as long as they follow the regulations. I was concerned that we would have problems since last yr, the principal, who we report to, started off pushing her forms but as soon as I pointed out the regs, she was fine.

 Clay- I guess I would be concerned with them continuing to push more than what is required, so I wouldn't feel comfortable using such help, though having a resource would be nice.

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by singin_angel Altars - I want to help DD make one but not sure where to put it and how to go about it yet.

Maia - so glad to hear that things are going well, even with a rocky start. Hope you enjoy your stay!

Love hearing about what's growing in all the gardens! Yum!

How old is DD again? You can just maybe say "Would you like your own altar? What would you like to put on it?" and then offer her some choices?

Thanks I'm home now. We had SUCH a great time

Yes, I like hearing about the gardens, too! Glad I asked Mine isn't doing so hot-- I have a couple of tomatoes but nothing is really doing well at all. Which is fine-- I don't want the maintenance of a garden when I'm working on moving.

Originally Posted by Aeress Morning all! We are debating going to a homeschool park day, I am feeling lazy, but I know it would be fun.

I know that feeling! I want to try a bellydance class that's this afternoon, but I just got home and DS and I are being uber-lazy. Except we have like a kabillion loads of laundry, but I love laundry...it's like, you can multi-task while it does itself

Though, I'm usually glad on those kinds of days if I can get off my lazy bum and actually Go Out.

Clay-- lucky you that you live NOT in that district, ugh! I'd freak. I wish I could homeschool again. Unfortunately I need the federally-funded babysitter

M and I had such a great visit. I'm hoping it was our last one before I move up there. My yard is all pretty and mulched. I picked up DS last night and he's got WAY too  much gross laundry-- imagine the laundry of a 10yo boy that spent a week in the wilderness I oughtta just throw it all out! Blech!

The MLS and the website for my house oughtta be up by the end of the weekend, and hopefully the signage, too. I'm really feeling hopeful this time.

Here's the rub, and I have to somehow figure out what to do-- the town we want to move to has the best school! But I haven't seen anywhere for rent that includes heat. And no way can I afford to heat my own place in the northeast. There are tons of places that include heat, but not in a town with a great school district. Ugh!
 

[vydalea]

Maia, didn't Tracy say now's the time to revamp/add things to our TMs?  Maybe you could put something about an apt with heat incl in a good school district somewhere on your board??  just a thought.  ??

[MamaChicken]

Finally put up a little altar in the kitchen. And then baked a bunch of goodies... Honey wheat bread and an apple crisp!

[Wolfcat]

Originally Posted by Jade's Mom 

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?

Bug had a lot of questions when Great-grampa died last year. We told him that just because you die doesn't mean you go away, and we get to be here until our bodies get too broken, then we go somewhere else. Also, it's good that we die, because we put back all the energy we used and we make room for other people.

He went through a bit of "who's going to die next" and then started on "I hope I won't die soon," now he's got "super powers" that keep him from dying. We just answer his questions as they come up.

Originally Posted by MaxsFox 

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.

Mmmm, Kali is my fav.

Originally Posted by revolting 

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.

      

As you can see, we have some spheres, a wooden mortar (for dry herbs only), feather, some candlesticks, etc. On the right side of the first pic, we have a gold mesh tray on which we put Stormie's altar to Ganesh. Mine is a generic altar with a Kali statue. The broom, some additional stuff and a necklace of wooden skull beads hangs over it. We don't actually do anything with it most of the time, except Stormie leaves offerings to Ganesh (he likes meringue cookies). I'm a very spontaneous, practical witch, but I like the altar as a "reminder" so to speak.

And yes, it's half of the top of my dresser.
 

Originally Posted by MaxsFox 

I hope everyone will forgive me if it takes me a while to pick up on all the names.  I'm not good with names in general, and the repeat avatars make it worse for some reason.

Late baby (Singin?) - I'm sending eviction thoughts your way!  I'm sorry that baby is taking his/her sweet time to come out, but I'm sure s/he has a good reason for it.

Kitty death - Badger asked me about death recently, and I explained to him that bodies don't last as long as spirits do, and that when they wear out Kali recycles the old one and helps us find a new one for e fresh start.  Not sure if that fits with your beliefs, but Badger seemed to like that answer.

Gardens - our brand new apartment is on the second floor, so we don't have garden space.  All we have is access to a front porch and a fire escape.  I really hope Max follows through on his promise to make me window boxes.

Altars - we have an old boarded up fireplace in the bedroom of the new apartment, and it's quite pretty, so that's our altar space.  It's very simple right now, just a framed picture of Kali and an old incense burner.  We plan to expend it as we find items that seem to fit.  It's our first family altar (Max and I have been a unit for under a year, and lived in a house with an unfriendly roommate up until last month) so I'm excited to see how it will develop.

I like that way of explaining death. And Bug is earning the nickname Badger, cuz that's what he does... he badgers us... lol

[redveg]

Morning all:)

Spent more than 6 hours in the car driving yesterday.  Picked up my girls who were visiting my sis.  We all had lunch together, chatted for a few then back on the road to make it home before fireworks.  Our town had it's Old Home Day yesterday and while they missed most of the activities they made fireworks:)  Today I am just dragging.  I have to get out in the garden and weed, laundry, all the basic keep up has to be done today:( 

Maia, glad you had a great visit.  Hope you find a place that includes heat.  That is a huge savings.  Any bites on your house?

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by vydalea Maia, didn't Tracy say now's the time to revamp/add things to our TMs?  Maybe you could put something about an apt with heat incl in a good school district somewhere on your board??  just a thought.  ??

That's a good idea. I did put the MA state logo on my map and on my desktop to put the energy out there. I found THE PERFECT townhouse apt on Craigs List yesterday, but can't go for it cause of my house, yet! Gah!

Originally Posted by Wolfcat I'm a very spontaneous, practical witch, but I like the altar as a "reminder" so to speak.

Me, too. I lurve practicality I don't have any altars right now because of the house being for sale.

Originally Posted by redveg Maia, glad you had a great visit.  Hope you find a place that includes heat.  That is a huge savings.  Any bites on your house?

No, not yet, but then the MLS isn't up and running yet. It should be, before the day's over, and the sign up, too. When I get a link to the website (yep, it's going to have its own!)  I will post it here, if I'm allowed! But the guy who came to fix the A/C told me he's had customers asking him to keep his eyes peeled for houses for sale. And his mom wants a 2nd house for a rental. So *cross fingers*!!!