Of the Dark

A poem I wrote that came to me because of a few things going on in my life right now. It is dedicated to someone special but that need not be shared.....

Of The Dark

To have light one must walk through the darkness

In the beginnings before time the cosmos was dark

The light came forth and with it all of who we are

As children were are made of stardust from that darkness

The Earth lay in darkness till the sun shone and life arose

From the darkness of the womb we are born into light

Some walk through the darkness of their minds till the light of friendship and family come to them

Some bask in the darkness and praise the light as the day breaks

Without darkness there is no light

 

Susan Betke

 

 

"You'll get chiggers picking those...."

 

After work today on my way home I stopped to pick some Fall wildflowers and grasses that have gone to seed. Some of the grasses have a nice purple color to them. I was not far out on a country road and I was not having car trouble. But, a car slowed down to make sure I was OK. I thanked the woman that stopped and told her I just wanted to pick some flowers. Her response with a smile was, "Be careful, my mama always said you can get chiggers from those...". I told her I would be careful and thanked her again for stopping. Now if that isn't Alabama I don't know what is.

Please comment below if you don't know what a chigger is and I'll redirect you....   :)

Annika's brain again

 

At Children's Hospital for a regular neurology follow up....

Well, after meeting with the neurologist we have a new diagnosis. She is now being treated for Tourette syndrome. Her behaviors and tics which I felt were really just sterretyping behaviors are really motor and vocal tics. Away we go with a new / old medication that should help. She has been referred for psychiactric follow-up for anxiety. Elaina was a tag along to the visit and fell asleep by the end of the visit....

If I plant them will they grow?

On our way home from the beach we stopped numerous times so Elaina could nurse and Evan and I could stretch our legs. We parked out of the way in the shade behind a gas station during one of these stops. I spotted this very interesting tree. It had a lot of fruit in clusters on it. I picked a few and brought them home with me. Now, I need to figure out what kind of tree it is and will it grow in my back yard....

Tea cup find at the thrift store

I could not believe I found this cup at the thrift store. My favorite color is yellow and spirals call to me and I like tea.... The tea selection next to the cup worked awesome when I tried the cup out yesterday at work.

Happy Birthday Eliot!!!

My baby girl is 5 years old today. I cannot believe it. We spent the morning together. We went to the grocery store and picked out a cake and had a purple 5 put on it. We then stopped by Granny's house so Eliot could get her present from her. We then went to Wal-mart so she could pick out her own gift with birthday money. We made a side trip to bring some good vibes to a friend in a bit of a crisis and then we stopped by the dollar store for candles and Halloween stuff. We then picked up lunch and ate it on the way. We stopped at the waterfall in Helena and collected some sand for our family circle of lights tonight in celebration of Eliot's birthday. This is one of my attempts to start some family rituals. Eliot decided to get into her birthday cake before some of the other kids came home. Since it is her birthday she gets to call some of the shots.

5 years ago a 7 pound bundle of spunkiness entered this world and her name is Eliot Claire!

At the beach for the first days of Fall...

 

Family ritials....

 

Where to begin? 6 of the kids, Daddy, Granny, and myself spent a long weekend at the beach. The ocean and the pool beckoned to the children more than my ideas of family time but, hey, Elaina hung out with me. Check out that chubby foot front and center in this picture. I am reading the book in the background to help guide me but honestly, I just need to slow down and let my children lead ME where they are ready to go....

My Autumn Altar on the Beach

 

Beautiful...

There is a short video on my YouTube channel explaining it more. You can find a link to my channel on the sidebar.

The Mother magazine: Autumn as a spiritual practice: release

The Mother magazine: Autumn as a spiritual practice: release

Fall flowers picked today....

I moved my garden box... Not sure if I like its new spot yet....

I found a wonderful collection for flower at work today when I took the babies out for a walk.

New treasures....

My mother found these at a yard sale today. I have had the Celtic Folklore cookbook for a while. Now I can pair it with Cooking With the Ancients The Bible Food Book. A little mixing of cultures never hurts. She also found these three shelves! I am so excited. I just bought some more red paint. Once they are painted I can't wait to fill them up....

MUUMs group

Elaina and I nursed for a while in the memory garden before we joined the MUUMs group at church today. This was the first meeting. It was so nice to commune with other mothers. And of course we got to eat and share our thoughts on the reading from the book assigned for this semester. I enjoyed myself and since there was childcare provided the kids had fun.....

I asked if I could bring some herbal teas and a few things to decorate for the meeting. I may have gone a bit overboard but I had fun collecting all of my Mama Tools. I used a lot of items that I would use for Blessingways or other female oriented meetings.

 

This is the book we are reading this semester.... I am enjoying it so far.

 

 

Lyn's second game

 

Elaina came to watch... She doesn't know what to think about the noise. Lyn's team won but it was pretty close... Way to go Raiders.!

My baby today

When I came home today my baby was dressed so cute by Dad that I had to take her picture of course!

At Lyn's practice

I took Annika, Ben, and Elaina to meet up with Granny, Eliot, and Lyn at Lyn's volleyball practice. Ben's anxiety he has had since we had house guests went into full swing. Granny wasn't planning on staying for the practice. She just dropped Lyn off while I was at work till I could get there. She ended up taking Ben home. When they got there she just ended up taking him to her house to spend the night because we are having kid house guests again tomorrow. Poor baby. I don't think he handles change very well. Annika even had a hard time. She had a mini melt down at the practice. She just started crying for no apparent reason. The big scary world isn't for everyone. Lyn may be adventurous and Annika may never leave her hometown. Ben may be a homebody and Evan may be president on day. And that is all OK. And Eliot just may be a teacher... Check out how well she played with and read to Elaina...

A gift for the children's teachers

The new year started for classes at church today. I wrote verses on paper relevant to the color of the candle for each class.

Thank you neighbor

I have a special neighbor that understands my need to collect or just own certain items. She frequents thrift stores like I do. I set an item down the other day because I thought it cost too much. Well, she went a few days later and got it marked down. She listened to me tell her what I liked and reached into her fairy garden and handed me the exact item I had held and wanted. She had painted it but it was my treasure!! Thank you Tracie.... Oh, and I got some dried millet too....

Tracie gave me the millet too. I think it makes a great early Fall decoration piece.

And on our way home from her house Eliot and I spotted some mushrooms. Are there any gnomes or faeries under there?