Lucky

I am lucky - pure and simple - and I have been reminded of that again today.

I had found myself in a funk, the world is a scary place right now and it frightened me and had made me a tad low in mood.

Then a gift today woke me up and shook me up - I feel as if I have been zapped awake again and can once again see positivity and hope in the future.

Having my birthday during lockdown meant my presents (that I had asked not to be given this year - tsk - but did they listen?), were belated, as everything is taking much longer to be delivered due to the unprecedented high demand us online shoppers are creating.

However cross I was at my family for ignoring me and buying me gifts I have to say the thought and love behind them is awesome and I love them all and have been thrilled by their thoughtfulness and generosity, knowing how limited their finances are right now.

On my actual birthday in May they all gave me flowers, chocolates and wine. Which I loved, and I had a wonderful day.

Then presents continued to arrive as you will see below, each one pertinent to my likes and way of life and so hugely loved - with opening each gift I cried, quite hard in fact which I am attributing to unstable menopausal hormones and deep appreciation of the consideration given to each gift.

First to arrive was a trio of books from my husband, who knows I am very much into studying and working towards growing and making my own medicinal stockpile of home remedies.

My gorgeous husband on a boat last September when we were away in Greece

Brilliant Books!

I am working towards taking an online herbology class at my Pagan school and so these books mean the world to me.

Next came a socially distanced garden visit from my second born daughter and her partner, with their gorgeous and enormous 9 month old German Shepherd/Bull Mastiff cross puppy. The visit alone was wonderful but then they left me with two little boxes wrapped up to open when they left - which once unwrapped exposed a gorgeous deep glossy black cauldron mug and candle melt/incense burner. I love the mug so much I have put it on my altar because I am terrified of chipping it and have decreed to only drink from it each year on my birthday! The burner will be used during spell and ritual work - both of which I adore and feel enormously grateful for.

Second born offspring

Partner  of second born and their massive 9 month old puppy 

Mug

Burner

Then finally, today the final gift arrived - one that again reduced me as always into a blubbering wreck of overwhelming emotions.

A little background as to why this gift is so special is that I have multiple allergies - which makes jewellery particularly difficult as I can only wear titanium. My family know that I love divination and particularly using runes - I have three sets of runes, all of which I love. Plus, I am hugely drawn to trees, they bring me much peace and happiness when around them. Family is also very important to me and I become very attached to the sentiment behind gifts and hold onto them and cherish them.

I used to always wear a watch, a metal mans watch that my husband gave me before we were married - a simple inexpensive watch that meant the world to me, but due to allergies I can no longer wear - although I still have it. My daughter enquired a few months ago whether I missed wearing a watch and I told her I did but had given up on one because I didn't know if titanium watches were even a thing, let alone affordable.

SO, my first and third born offspring clubbed together and purchased the gifts (seen below) hand crafted from someone with a small business in Israel.

First born offspring

Third born offspring

The beautiful box the gift arrived in with special tool and additional links should they be required.

A gorgeous box to keep forever

My beautiful wooden watch, carved with runes around it and the tree of life in the centre,
even more amazing is that I discovered that the hands of the watch are glow in the dark too!!

Message engraved into the back of the watch

Gorgeous wooden bead on elastic mala bracelet

Cheesy picture of a very happy me wearing both my new gifts!!

The watch is a retro wind up one and not battery run - which I LOVE, plus all the little personal finishing touches to its design. Something that is very special to me and will be forever treasured.

I feel exceptionally fortunate and super lucky to have such a wonderful family around me - they keep me grounded and remind me when feeling in even the lowest of moods that a spark of happiness can be reignited even when you thought it had been extinguished within you.

I just wanted to share this with you because today reminded me to look up and see those people who care and love me and that we matter, all of us - and we are loved, even when we don't always see it.

Love and Blessings

x~X~x

Joy Of Herbs

I love herbs, I love their beauty, their variation, their aroma and their flavour ~ that is all but coriander! Coriander is vile, especially when fresh, it is an abomination of the herb family, however when it is dried and ground then coriander is okay if used in curries and chillies or whatnot, then and only then, in my opinion, is it acceptable. 

A while ago I planted a herb garden and it is now, for the most part, thriving. I have re-potted some of the more vigorous growing herbs that have had a huge growth spurt and yet had to start from scratch with the basil, which it seems is harder to grow and maintain than other herbs. I almost lost my thyme but managed to pull it back thankfully.

The chives are hitting the end of their flowering period and we have thoroughly enjoyed their blooms on salads, sprinkled over veggies and added into mash. I will be looking at growing a variety of edible flowers now because they are so enjoyable to experiment with in the kitchen.

Today I used up the last of the chive flowers in the mash with our dinner and also harvested a variety of the other herbs I’m growing to add to my vegan mince ~ a sort of bolognese, heavy with tomatoes but also carrots, peppers, leeks, celery, mushrooms and onions.

It felt pretty damn amazing to chop and add the herbs to the mince and then a couple of home grown bay leaves too! The aroma filled my nostrils as I chopped and a thrill of excitement ran through me at being able to add fresh herbs instead of the standard dried variety.

I am enjoying so much learning about different plants, how to grow them and learning that it’s trial and error ~ some are rather tricky to grow and will take some practice to master the techniques. 

I feel that finally my black thumb is changing colour, the black is now tinged with a hint of green. Who knows how far this will go ~ I have ambitions, so only time will tell.

On June 19th I am enrolling on a online herbology course and so aim to learn as much as possible at growing my own garden pharmacy, to grow and create my own home made remedies and poultices to treat my ailments with. So, watch this space as I will share snippets of my journey with you.

~ Blessed Be ~

x~X~x