The Leaning Tower of ....Christmas???

We made it through another Christmas without Rye.  It felt slightly easier for the most part and I spent less of the day this year crying in secret or trying to get control of the crying, although I did at one point ask "who are we missing - we are missing someone- we can't start" and then realized that he would not be coming this year either.  It still often feels as though he will just walk through the door - a little late maybe- and join the family again. We march.

A couple of years ago our family started drawing names for Christmas - our group was getting big and it was financially and time unreasonable to get a quality gift for each member and then it took hours - literally- to open them.  On Christmas each year after we open gifts, we draw again for the next year.  We have a whole year to put together a gift for the person we drew, and find a little "stocking stuffer" gift for each of the others.  We have a dollar amount limit so that no one is supposed to be getting more than anyone else - keeps it pretty even!  Unless you are the recipient of the Tower of Christmas! Then it is an over the top gift event!

This year was my year to get the Tower - from my sister.

You can see to my right in the above photo - the Tower.  It is a set of various sized "nesting boxes".  The tradition started last year when my niece was gifted the Tower, full of all kinds of things 13 year olds might like for Christmas.  I got really excited about it being my turn for the Tower and forgot to take a picture of it before I started opening!  The above is a set of finger-less gloves with Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" on them - so fitting!

A Christmas Broom!  Made by hand by sister and so so so cool!  It is perfect and a joy to have such a decoration at my house!  The picture does not do it justice!  It was on the front of the Tower - thus my angst about not getting a picture before I started opening.

We take turns opening gifts, so it does take a bit of time to get through and I am right in the middle!  We start with Mom and Dad because they always have more than everyone else, and then we go youngest to oldest and end with Mom and Dad.

I had already played a bit with the broom once I knew it was for me - so it wasn't actually attached to the package anymore by the time everyone else had opened!

Box 4 of the Tower - Crystal ball - aka Calcite Sphere.  Said to have uplifting energy attributes and healing properties among other things!

Ree Drummonds aka Pioneer Woman newest cookbook!  Not ever a bad bite from one of these recipes!  This was box 6.

 We are going backwards in succession a bit - Box 1 had this sparkly Chamomile Tea - Twilight Tea - it has actual sparkles in it!  In another of the boxes was a beautiful night shirt with "sweet dreams" all around the hem of it, and some Eucalyptus/Mint bath salts- so comfortable and wonderful!

Socks - which I badly needed!  It was one of the only things on my Christmas list!  I actually threw away the ones I was wearing at Christmas day - turns out they had holes in both of them! You can see that some of them (Center above) have some relevant sayings on them, and the ones on the left match the new shoes that were in box 10 of the Tower!  My magic shoes from InnerArt that I told you about in an earlier blog- the old ones were worn out and I needed new!

These are called Mandala pattern.  They have many original art designs at InnerArt.

 Opening Box 5 of the Tower, while wearing the gloves and a pair of the socks that say "Magic is Real"!  Awesome!

A beautiful leather journal and a marvelous pen to write in it with!  Incredible work in the leather and for any of you who are bent like me - smells and feels wonderful - like magic itself is infused within.

Box 2 had these beautiful Dragonfly note cards and the "You are Magic" cards.  40 quote cards to "help you follow your gut, tap your intuition, and manifest your dreams"!  The Universe on Speed Dial! There is also a little stand in the box to hold up the card of the day.  I have gone through and picked out all my favorites - but there really is not a bad one in the bunch!  They will help me to keep marching as we go through.  

So now I have the Tower of Christmas boxes, so whomever I get next year (we forgot to draw this year so we will draw on New Years) will get the Tower of Christmas next year!  I hope I can do as good a job on it as sister did this year for me!  Magic is Real!

I hope that your Christmas/Yule was wonderful and that you were able to find some joy.

Blessed be in 2020.

Thankful

Thanksgiving day has always been a big holiday for us.  Usually we are at hockey tournaments and out of town or out of state even for this holiday, but this year we have no hockey and we aren't travelling.  This is the first year in about 15 years that we aren't doing hockey or hockey related Thanksgiving.  We don't quite know what to do with ourselves for holidays anyway since there is always an empty chair at our table, no matter where we are.  Holidays are hard - also no matter where we are.  It is hard to find "a reason for the season"  so to speak, and find meaning in what we are doing.  That's really a daily thing.  Every day! We had planned to go to my moms house this year for the celebration, but a giant winter storm moved in and we got 6" of snow and then it rained all night on top of that and driving is a hazard from where I live - so we are having a thankful "snow day" here.

It has been a long time that I have had a snow day that didn't still end up being a work day anyway - but today since it is Thanksgiving and everything is mostly closed, I get to sew and write and be thankful!

This is the view from our front porch, out toward the road, which has just been scraped but not sanded - the scraper truck got stuck!  Yikes!  Thankful I didn't try to drive anywhere today! Thankful also that these trees have survived - beetles, drought and wonky winter weather and they stay beautiful throughout!

Thankful for this view too - even the tree eating moose in it!

I am thankful for these two guys - husband and son - no matter what - marching with me.

And for the great kitchen I have to cook and share in, in my cozy house with a roof over it and my cozy bed inside.

Thankful for these boys - Reed and nephew Chance.

I am thankful for the 23 years we got to have this guy - and his friends - in our lives.  We miss him terribly, and the pain is the same every day, daring us to get out of bed and function....but the memories, ahhhhh the memories....

I am thankful for the mother, and grandmother who taught me to quilt - and who quilts with me.  Quilting has saved my life more than once, giving me something creative to do - making gifts that have meaning - thus giving meaning to my day.

I am thankful for friends and kids and family who keep me marching - knowing that I have to keep going so that they also will.  I am grateful for their courage and bravery and joy!

I am thankful for the friends who sit with us when we cannot go any further, and who take us out of our comfort zone (basically make us get off the couch and go do stuff) and who let us experience joy without judgement when we cry sometimes through the joy.  They are there for us.  There are many more than are in the pictures - I don't have pictures of all of you~

 Aunt Cinny at quilt retreat - I think she may have been thinking about

giving me the bird - she didn't though! She keeps me going...

Thankful for these three who have come with us and struggled with us through all of the crazy crap.  Who also have had their own struggles and crazy crap and trauma, and who keep going despite it all.  Keep f'ing going.

SO thankful for the family of friends and co-workers I have at the school!  Here we are at the annual Holiday meal - this group serves 500 people from the community at a fun, free event with prizes and games.  It is an incredible amount of work and it is done with such love.... this group amazes me daily, not just for the volunteer stuff they do but for he work - hard work that they do every day as well!

Family at the highland games - thankful for that experience and the history behind it!

I am thankful for the love of tea.  I love coffee too but tea allows us to take a moment each day for ourselves.  Coffee gives me the get up and go, but tea lets me enjoy the results of the day.  And there are lots of teas that can be drunk at night and still lets me dream sweetly- I haven't found a coffee that will do that!

I am thankful for hockey family.  No matter where in the world you go, when hockey folks find out you are also hockey folks, you are also family.... no matter where you are from.

Thankful for the joy of hockey!  The way it brings kids from 1 to 95 together to play, have fun and experience joy.  Look at those smiles!  

 Thankful for these people.  My parents and my grandparents.  I am here and who I am because of these people - straightening out my crown - helping me remember whose grand daughter and daughter I am, and reminding me of the reasons to keep going -on the daily. 

Thankful is hard - it took me all day to finish this even with so many pictures to show things I am thankful for.  I hope thankful is easy for you and that your day has been filled with things that will become memories to be thankful for!  Blessed be and be thankful.

A little Birthday Magic

I had a birthday recently and turned 52.  It was a pretty magical birthday this time.  I don't usually look forward to birthdays anymore, but I remember being a kid and so looking forward to my birthday and what surprises that would bring! I have a winter birthday and it is rare that we do not have snow on my birthday.  This year we had no snow.

I got my birthday from Sister Chelle and Niece Ellie a few days early so that I would be able to use it on my birthday!  A little birthday magic... for real!

The little card says "$13.00 - exactly the right amount for a magic wand"!  

There is a line crossed through the 13 because when I asked if I could keep the card with its special message for me, the owner carefully crossed out just that part so that it could become a keepsake.

This is from one of my favorite shops here locally in Wasilla - Black Birch Books and Magical Gifts!  Okay - the real name of the store is actually Black Birch Books and Curiosities, but for me it is Magical gifts!  The store is an eclectic mix of new and used books, magic items (including a whole wall of wands), good energy, amazing people, and anything you could dream of needing, as if it would almost magically appear for you if you wished it to!  

The Spirit of a Reader - greeting customers coming up the path!

The owner is an amazing lady who does great things for the community and for kids (she hires homeless kids from the MYHouse group often), and she hosts authors, donates time, talent and items to fundraisers for good at least once a week, and she is always willing to lend an ear to listen - really listen, when you need it most - even if you didn't know you needed someone to listen at that time.  She is also a Military Veteran, and we are so thankful for that as well.

(Grimm the dog with my magic wand and my newest book "Cyclops" by Clive Cussler)

One of my favorite things about the store is this...Grimm the dog.  Grimm has been the Black Birch store greeter since it opened.  This post was supposed to be written much earlier in the winter season, and I suppose it is fate that I was not able to write it for some reason or another earlier.  Grimm has recently passed away from cancer.  The Universe provided a pause as though knowing that I would need to write this story later.  He was not a young dog, and he was in fact quite old, but he was so loved  by anyone who walked through the door of the store.  This is where he waited for the next customer to come through - as long as there wasn't a child in the store!  If there was a child in the store - he was young again and ready to show them around - through the maze of books and amazing things to see, hear, smell and try....Grimm knew all the best spots.  He was a fan of kids and kids were fans of Grimm.  He usually came with me when I was shopping...I think he could tell that I am dog people - I am certain I smell of dogs, and my dogs would always smell me with envy when I got home - bringing the smell of Grimm and the bookstore with me. I will miss him too.  

(See more of Grimm's story here)

There is also a GOFund me site listed there in Grimm's honor, to help pay for some final expenses and to fund some Children's events at the store!  He would think that was so cool!

A closer look at the store front and the spirit of a reader - greeter!

So this is the wand that spoke to me when I was in choosing mode!  It is perfect for me - beautifully smooth,  turned wood, finished with a soft espresso wood oil (I think it is anyway- it's not chemical), but it is just wonderful with a perfect grip for my hand and just the right length to work as a "pocket" or "purse" wand!  Watch out world - I got a pocket wand!  It has become my everyday wand that I carry with me for those times when I might need to add to the magic around me, or to just make sure no one messes with me MoJo!  A little bit of magical fun each day.

If you are in Wasilla, stop by the store on Main Street and visit a little, browse a little and get to know some of the shop spirits and sprites (and maybe the people too) - You won't be sorry!

Be a Reader and Blessed Be!

The new face of Yoga? aka Twister with dogs!

A few years ago - ok it was three - three years ago- it was recommended that I start doing some meditating or yoga daily along with my writing and quilting so as to have some "intentional exercise and meditation".  To help me sleep, wake, function, and hopefully keep my blood pressure down a little.

So I put "yoga mat" on my Christmas list that year.  Sister in law had my name that year and got me the whole shebang - yoga mat, dvd's with beginning and medium yoga workouts, and some flip cards too, just in case the yoga lady moves too fast through a pose and I can't figure it out by watching the dvd - don't laugh - it happens!

I started getting up 15 minutes early to do a few beginner moves on the yoga mat in my office.  Everyone else was asleep, just me and the dogs doing some yoga.

That was the plan anyway!  I got everything dialed in and ready, started my dvd and as soon as I sat down to do the criss cross applesauce pose (my own name for it not the dvd), Ripley - the old lady dog decided that the mat looked like a great place for her to lay as well!  I could see her thinking "I knew we should go back to bed today - I like this bed - its very easy to get onto".

I was able to do a few poses with Ripley before Brix needed to join - I'm sure he was saying "She's taking the whole mat mom- hey!  What are we doing?  I can do downward dog - I am a dog!"

So then there were two.... dogs on the mat.....

I was able to do the Tree pose and part of a Warrior pose with both of them sitting on the mat but that was about all, and it ended up being more of a Twister with dogs event than a yoga workout!  My Downward Dog ended with more of a face licking contest to see who could get the most licks in and was mostly frustrating and not relaxing!  In the summer time I can do the yoga outside and that works pretty well on the lawn with the dogs because they get distracted by other things in the yard - I'm not the only entertainment.

They were both a little sad that I didn't stay and snuggle with them on the mat.  Now I do the yoga while they are outside on their own morning missions in the yard.  Yoga is once again a serene and calming morning routine, and I have discovered that I really like yoga, but I might be too old for Twister!

Blessed be no matter your workout!

Bean Me Up Alaska Style! These are NOT your Boston Beans!

If you have been reading my posts on the regular, you know we are some bean eaters here!  We love them because they store easily, are versatile for many cooking situations, and they are filling for any group of fishermen or hockey players who come along!  I gave  you a recipe earlier for our "Cowboy Beans" (click there for that recipe) and here is another that will trip your trigger nicely as well!  As we move into the more chilly season, it's a great one for warming up the crowd or taking along as a hot dish for potluck or hospitality room.

A few years ago I had a situation where I needed to make a hot dish for a memorial service - yes - we've had a lot of them lately.  The catch was that there were some food allergies that had to be avoided for this group, so my usual Pea and Cheese Salad would not fly.  I also LOVE Baked Beans!  Most of my family however, does not like what they call "sweet beans"!  So long ago I came up with a recipe that ended up solving both of my problems and are delicious!  Its a savory baked bean!  This also works in a crock pot so another level of WIN!



This recipe makes a ton of beans so you will have some to share and can, or to feed a crowd of hungry hunters!

Alaska Baked Beans

1 Quart dried navy beans (about 2 pounds)  I have also used red beans and even pinto beans for this recipe as well or a mix of red and black.  Soak them overnight in water enough to cover them.  If you don't have time for the soak overnight, give them a simmer for a few hours on the stove top until the skins crack.  You can also use canned beans if you would like - when I do that I use red, navy, pinto, or a mix of the three.  Rinse them a bit before using and drain.

2 large onions diced                                                                     

3 large sprigs of sage chopped fine

1 can of tomato sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

1 Tbsp Cumin

3 gloves minced garlic - or more - we like lots of garlic

1 Tbsp dry mustard

1/4 C mustard

1/4 C Ketchup

1/4 C Molasses

2 C Chicken broth or Beef broth (I use low salt or home made broth) click on broth to see recipe.

2 tsp salt and pepper

1 package of stew meat - brown the meat in a skillet

       you can also use canned or shredded meat of your choice. Pork, beef or moose.

You might notice that this recipe does not include bacon - I have a family member who cannot eat bacon, sadly, so we use just the browned moose meat and the smoke to make up for it.

I use a crock pot to cook the whole shebang - Use your big boy crock pot on low for about 9 hours.  Check your beans for doneness and serve em up!

To bake them in the oven bake for 4 hours at 350 degrees in a deep dutch oven.

If you are planning to can them only cook in the crock for about 4 hours and the oven for 2 or they will be over done in the canner.  For quart jars, process in pressure cooker at 10 pounds for 60 minutes,  pint jars for 45 minutes.  Let set for 24 hours and make sure "button" has been sucked down.  Store as you would any canned product.  Cool and dry.

Enjoy and blessed be!

Dragonfly DragonRye

It is said that Dragonflies are messengers from heaven, bringing us messages from our loved ones who have run ahead.  Bringing us comfort with their gentle touch, the zing of their wings, and the amazing ability they have to stay on a shoulder, hand, elbow or even eyebrow with a seemingly effortless ease.  Being there for us.  Just being there.  It is very rare in the spring and summer when I am thinking of Rye that a Dragonfly does not come by to land on me and bring me a hello from him, or to comfort me with a little visit.

My cousin Joy Lynn is an artist!  I have lots of family who are artists, in all varieties of medium, but Joy Lynn is an artist with paint and easel and water color and oils.  The way Van Gogh and Starry Night was artistry - only better even!

Joy Lynn painted this beautiful work and I don't remember what she called it, but I call it my"Girl in the Wind" and I have it hanging in my office at work.  It reminds me to gather my blessings around me and look at whats going on around me as well for blessings.  I know I can keep F'ing going when I look at this beautiful print.  I know I can take a deep breath and get through the day, no matter what is swirling around me.....and hopefully be a nice lady too!

When I went to pick up the print of "Girl in the Wind" she also gifted me with the Dragonfly blessing that you see.  An incredible original watercolor piece she calls "DragonRye".  The pictures do not do either of these pieces justice, but know that they are incredible and vibrant.  I was so moved and blessed by this gift and the story she told me about how it came to be.  Rye woke her in the middle of the night - of course!

Here are Joy Lynn's words about how this DragonRye came to be.... such a precious gift for me with a message from my son it seems.

Here is something I painted in between currently working on commissioned pieces; as a gift for my cousin Lisa. It was a piece painted in love as a celebration of her son Rye’s life. I finished it a couple of days before the anniversary of his passing, which was three years ago. God moved me with compassion and I finally was completely unstuck creatively, except for a tiny drawing or painting here or there, but creativity didn’t flow easily it was hard work. But as God’s love flowed through me for my cousin I was finally able to paint this Dragonfly. I have been super stuck creatively for almost three years and this labor of love is the first time I have been moved so deeply with God’s compassion that I could paint and had to paint again. It was painted with love and sheer joy in between laughing and crying. So many wonderful emotions were felt during this painting’s journey.
😇🙌🎨😘❤️🎉

Blessings,
Joy Lynn

9”x12”
#Watercolor
#JoyfulAspirations
#PropheticHealingPaintings
#LabourOfLove
#LaborOfLove
#Dragonfly
#DragonRye

She said that some of what look like water spots on the painting are actually her tears mixing with the colors and the paper to become part of the masterpiece.

Here it is in it's silver frame, gracing the wall of my home office right above my desk.   I am hoping that she will have both of these made into fabric that I can use in quilts! Along with a couple of her other art pieces!  I'm not sure I would be able to cut is though the fabric would be so beautiful!

You can see her other art at her Joyful Aspirations Facebook site Here and her website Here. 

including this one....

P.S. I want this one in fabric too!

I hope that you have someone in your life who blesses you with incredible art of some type and who helps to uplift you when you need it the most.  Thank you Joy Lynn ~ Joyful Aspirations  Blessed be.

Oh Good Garlic!!!!

I talked a while ago about trying to grow garlic in Alaska. You can see that post here. I saw some at the Alaska State Fair that was beautiful - I think it was from the Kenai Peninsula and it was called Khabar.  Mom and I wanted to try garlic again and so we planned way ahead and ordered our garlic in the winter of last year (late fall actually) to be recieved in September-ish of this year for planting.

Our garlic came from Filaree Garlic Farms and the bulbs are fat, juicy and happy looking!  It has frozen quite hard here (before we even got the bulbs to plant) and so we both had our garlic bins and areas ready to go before the garlic got here.

That bag says "Purple Glazer" one of the varieties that we ordered for this year.  I had 6 of my Purple Glazer bulbs come back in the spring and harvested a lovely bit of garlic - even though moose came through and ate all the tops off of my onions and my garlic - strangest thing ever - that was a first for me!  So this year I had to dig and find the garlic to harvest it.  What a mess!  But tasty garlic!

So we have Khabar, Purple Glazer and Metechi varieties.  Mostly what are called "hardneck" varieties.

So you take the bulbs apart into plantable cloves- keeping the paper skin on the cloves.  The paper skin you see at left here are the ones from the very outside of the bulb.  Save it to use in your chicken or veggie broth - it adds a lot of flavor to those broths!

I started with this 6'x6' space filled with good compost and garden soil (part of my Wicked Good Dirt Hill).

There are a few different methods recommended to plant garlic but our directions from Filaree said to plant them 6" apart in rows 9" apart and about 2" deep.  I admit I fudged a little and mine are closer than that - Im at about 6" and 6".  I did get them the 2" deep though! Some are now a little deeper since a baby moose came by and trod around in the garlic bed to see what I have planted there!  I wasn't abe to retrieve all of the cloves out of the depth that his little hooves trod them darn it!  My fingers are crossed that they survive!

I put a label on each end of each row in case the curious Wicked Ravens get ahold of the tags - I might be left with one at least at one end?!  I have to still cover the garlic bed with leaf mulch and some screen to keep it from blowing away.  Some folks recommend putting blue board insulation on the garlic bed over the top of the leaf mulch, but I have not found that to work so well for me out here.  I have had better success with just the screen and leaf mulch - a think layer of it - 4"+ - and you let the snow (hopefully) do the rest.

Then you leave it to come up in the spring.  Garlic takes a year to mature - you plant in the fall and harvest in the fall!  That takes a big love of garlic and passion for gardening!

If you are looking for a challenge and you love garlic (which we do at Wicked Raven Farm) give a little garlic a try!  It is worth the work and the wait!

Blessed be as we slide gently into winter shouting Whoo Hoo!  Bring on the snow!

****UPDATE****

I got exactly zero garlic that came up!  Even though there was lots of mulch and snow cover - when I dug down to check on them after every bit of the garlic at my mom's place (Snowfire Gardens) not only came up but was about a foot tall already, there were just frozen rotten cloves.  Darn!

I don't think I'll try garlic again until I have a better (warmer) spot for it.  I might see about putting it over the leach field or septic next year and see if that helps, but for this year I think I'll just take a pass!

I hope that if you have tried garlic you have had great success, and pass on the variety that might grow in Big Lake, Alaska!

Blessed Be!