More Brews

Today a made a number of things that fall into one of two categories: Unphotographable or Whowouldwanttoseeitevenifyoucould. But I did bottle two gallons of sacred ale, one of Melissa and one of Cardamom. Pretty, aren't they?

I replenished my yeast stash and got that make-up Melissa mead going and started a batch each of Wormwood and of Sage. My Monarda (bee balm) will be blooming any day and I plan to make a batch of ale with those blossoms. Brewing season has indeed begun!

Bubble, Bubble ...

... no toil ... no trouble!

The Most of a Sunny Day

Today was a mostly sunny day - the first one in weeks, and I made my way into the garden to face facts. Many - if not most - of the seedlings that were put in or sprouted in the past 2-3 weeks are no more. Several of my peppers are in question as well, yet most of the tomatoes seem fine enough. I did more transplanting and put in more seeds and offered blessings yet again. I harvested another half-pound of Melissa to start the infusion for my next batch of Melissa mead - one to make up for the "bad situation" batch the other day. Halley liberated herself and upon her return I hosed her down and then chilled on the late afternoon deck to enjoy the last bottle of our Hopped Porter Variation that I humorously labeled "HPV." Well - I think it's funny. This was one of the best dark ales we've ever made and I savored every drop.

My latest little "Figures of Love" were finally fully dry and I started painting the first layers. Today I cleaned earth and paint from under my nails. Today I made the most of a sunny day.

The Best of a Bad Situation

After a lovely visit from my sweet friend Granny Annie I got to work on two one gallon batches of mead. What's bad about that? Well ... yesterday I harvested and prepared a half-pound of Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) for steeping overnight. This morning I added green tea, lemon juice, cooked banana and 3 pounds of delicious local honey. What's so bad about that? Well, I hydrated the wine yeast, got a PA reading and got to vigorously stirring oxygen into the mead-to-be. Thing is, for my one gallon wine-n-mead batches, I start the primary fermentation in glass jars and normally I stir with my plastic wine spoon, and today I was stirring with my stainless steel spoon, that is until ...

CRACK!

And I watched with a stunned despair as what would have been five bottles of delicious Melissa mead cascade down the kitchen drain. So sad. So very, very sad.

Even so I was glad that I was stirring the batch in the sink. All I could really do is sigh a blessing down the drain and out into the deep, dark depths of the septic system. Such is life.

But I had yeast waking up on the counter, so I had to act fast! I had some rose petals and earl grey tea leaves steeping and bananas cooked for another project, so I measured out three pounds of honey, heated it with as little water as I could get away with, added cool water, the rose infusion, strained tea, mashed bananas and stirred it with the plastic spoon. I pitched the yeast with a cheer of love and gratitude. What else could I do?

I'll be naming this batch "Emergency Mead." It will be as close to a "straight" mead as I've ever made. In any event I continued with the rose petal batch, making the adjustments for the stolen elements. Both are bubbling away nicely.

And me? I'm delighted and grateful to have sweet friends to share it with. When the time comes. Slainte!

My Way into the Light

Daybreak arrived with a strange light shining down from a blue sky. Quite frankly, it was a bit like waking to an alien landscape. I asked, "Is that the sun?" Really - I did. Well, it came and went, dancing with cloud cover throughout the day. No rain though. Like a miracle. Afternoon came and I hit the mostly dry gardens. I harvested a few quarts of strawberries, some cat mint and peppermint. The catmint, while past-prime, will be dried for teas and the peppermint will become a pesto. Several seedlings did not survive the last several days of constant cloud cover and rain fall. Such is life. Time for contingency plans. After all, I don't garden as a hobby. I garden to grow a large part of my own food. Most folks don't understand this - even when they say they do.

The strawberries were sorted. Fresh picked garlic scapes were chopped and last week's infused vinegar was strained onto today's fresh pickings to continue the infusion. Gonna be good! I love garlic scape infused vinegar, to me it has a buttery flavor. Somehow, a bottle of mead and a bottle of cranberry wine found their way to the harvest table. Hey - the sun was shining - and I should too!

And hey - if you missed to joining us for Melissa Ale In the Garden, you can start catching up "here." And post any brewing questions you may have here or at the Blockhead Radio blog - I'll be using them to fashion next week's show, when we'll be doing a "Melissa Ale Follow-up" In the Garden!

Now ... while my little acre is mostly dry, I have more Melissa to harvest so I can start a Melissa MEAD! Later!

This & That. You?

I spun some custom Spirit Chokers and my wheels a bit again today, though not without some positive gain. I started some paint layering on a fresh set of "Impressions of Nature" and that activity always bring my pleasure.

I reviewed my links-n-notes-n-such for tomorrow's Melissa Ale In the Garden show, where I'll be sharing my process for making a Melissa (lemon balm) Ale! So you'll definitely want to tune into Blockhead Radio tomorrow (Thursday, June 25) at 11:30 AM, eastern time. I hope you'll join us in chat too, because I'll want your questions to use in guiding me in molding next week's Melissa Ale Follow-Up show, I know there will be questions, so let's have them. Heck, you can even post them here!

I made my way into the damp gardens, I made dinner and I made time for a friend. I made this and that. That's what I made today. You?

(A Healthy) Attitude

Today was one of those days filled with the ordinary angst-n-excitement of Getting Things Done. You know, the kind of day filled with tasks that take far longer than you plan, leaving you with a feeling of accomplishment for all that was overcome and achieved, pitted against the feelings of disappointment and frustration for all that is still left to be done.

But then ... I hug my dog, I hug my spouse, I watch a movie, I read the first paragraph of a "new" library book and harmony returns to me and all that crap that still needs tending matters not an iota to me, for it will all - most likely - be there tomorrow and I can continue this journey rebalanced, harmonic and with (a healthy) attitude.

More of the Same, Only Different

There is a static energy around me these days and I am doing what I am able to manage it (without actually throwing him out of the hut). My morning derailed and I ended up skirting my duties, missing already-late deadlines, picking ripe strawberries in the rain and playing with clay. Now I'm off to burn a bit of sage and wander the hut with my healing drum.

Four-Leggeds & Winged-Ones

An afternoon clay meditation offered me a summer bird to honor this first day of summer and from there the clay used my hands to make other Figures of Love. I worked on other figures and even finished and listed a new Pocket Goddess. That's what I made today, on this first day of summer.

Yesterday ... A Delicious Distraction

One too many mention of "martinis" was made this past week ... and what with it being - to my way of thinking - a summer drink ... and what with summer upon us ... it's no wonder that I found my way to the appropriate markets for the gin, the vermouth and the olives.

The spirit of generosity is all around me of late, and it seems that very spirit facilitated my sharing a sip with a winged one, though I dare say that I fared far better than this wee one.

Inspires you to pause to consider the nature of generosity, eh?

My Cool Hut Warm

I swear summer is hiding somewhere, slinking and stalking with a vicious playfulness, just waiting to pounce on my ass. My chilly ass I might add! Spring seems to be backsliding in its final days, with weather akin to the side of the season that hugs winter, not summer. It’s been cool and damp and that tea I made for the fridge got heated up, let me tell you.

I made goddess cookies just to turn the oven on. And to try out the new cookie cutter I got this week in a goddess trade. Needless to say, this warmed my heart and my hut!

I made bread too, to keep the hut warm and dry and to make up for the shortbread debacle from yesterday.

And to keep the oven comfort steady, I made a cheddar cheese pizza with italian peppers and bermuda onions for supper.

I completed more “figures of love” and plan to get those up in my ArtFire Studio this evening. I also got some other figures primed (including those freakin’ adorable “demons” The Boy made the other day). And I still working on my silly tribal dream.

And hey - if you missed In the Garden today, you catch up a little on what you missed at the Blockhead Radio Blog.

Vinegar, Tea & Impressions

Yesterday I made time to gather a handful of garlic scapes. I chopped them, added them to a quart jar and covered them with apple cider vinegar.

They are macerating nicely and already the aroma is quite vibrant!

This morning I made tea for a visiting friend. At her request I blended a delightful mix of organic linden flower and rose petals. I made a disaster of a shortbread that I dared not serve. I'm generally quite talented in the kitchen - if I do say so myself - and screwing up a shortbread is especially perplexing, if not downright embarrassing. I mean it's barely four ingredients. Ah well, humility is a steadfast friend, though one that rarely follows me into the kitchen.

The clouds finally evaporated and I made a beautiful peppermint-hibiscus-green sun tea to enjoy with supper ... and now ... and tomorrow too.

I reviewed my notes and made final preparations for tomorrow's episode of "In the Garden" where I will be sharing my technique for making "Impressions of Nature" like the one you see above. So I hope you will join me at 11:30 AM, ET on Thursday on Blockhead Radio - and we'll create a little garden-inspired art and craft together. And be sure to join us in chat!

And, shhhh ... next week I'll be sharing another garden craft technique ... brewing a Melissa ale!

See ya at Blockhead Radio!

A Tribal Dream

I do my best to honor the blessing that each and every day Is ... yet I do acknowledge the transitions of the seasons with a little extra celebration and conscious intention. With midsummer coming ripe this weekend, and a fireside with friends, food, libation, laughter, drumming and who-knows-what-else to look forward to, I felt inspired to make ... something.

Imagine that.

The muses led me to a mighty bag of fabric-n-scraps-n-notions that I salvaged from my mom when she moved a few years back. There are some "great" vintage pieces in there and among them I found these packages of rick-rack, braid and trimmings and some satin blanket binding ... and in them I saw my midsummer dream ... There in my minds eye was a bit of retro-contemporary-upcycled-repurposed-DIY-funky-goddess-tribal wear!

So now ... the magic begins!

Dream it ... Do it ...

A List of Fifteen Books

Granny Annie at Writers & Witches & Words, Oh My posted this bit of silliness, the kind I rarely engage in, yet this gnawed on a part of me that insisted I respond ...

fifteen books

Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you.... first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. Six of One by Rita May Brown
2. The Joy of Cooking
3. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (not that I've actually read the complete works - yet!)
4. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. The Shining by Stephen King
7. The No-Work Garden Book by Ruth Stout
8. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
9. National Lampoon presents Clair Bretecher
10. The Guide to Self Sufficiency by John Seymour
11. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
12. Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner
13. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
14. Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins
15. The World is Not Enough by Zoe Oldenburg (- the novel that inspired me to pay attention to fiction, something that was neither my habit nor interest as a teen. I think I should like to give this another read ... some 35ish years later ...)

Waste Not

That "chamomile start" I made yesterday continued today with the straining of the steeped plant matter, the addition of sugar, lemon juice and the yeast, all of which found a happy and loving home together in a one gallon jug.

It's bubbling nicely next to a melissa ale and sarsaparilla ale. The gallon of cardamom ale, formerly sharing this space, was primed, bottled and put away today, and will be ready to imbibe in a few weeks.

Amid the herbal brewing, I made time to enjoy a more "conventional" homebrew.

I strained and bottled the chive flower vinegar that I started several weeks back. It's a bottled springtime gem, it is.

I made dinner.

And I foraged in the garden for dessert again.

The evening winds down with two small loaves of bread I made with the brewers yeast from the bottom of the barrel of that cardamom ale I bottled. Waste not, want not!

That's what I made today.

A Chamomile Start

Yesterday I harvested the tops of the little self-sown chamomile plants and started a cold, overnight steep for the ale I'm starting today.

More on that later ...

Angels & Demons

Another afternoon of clay play lured The Boy to my table of creation and fun. I made angels, and he made ... demons! ::laughs:: I helped a little and will likely be the one to finish them. And that's cool, because it's a true collaboration and that's how we play off of one another ... with honor, respect, trust and love.

That's what I made today ... well ... what we made today! Ashe. Ashe.

Play with Paint and Clay

Told ya I was playing with paint ... and clay ...

... and love! Yep, that's what I made ... err ... continued and got started today.

Garden Crafts - In the Garden at 11:30 AM, ET on BHR

It's Thursday and that means you'll want to tune into Blockhead Radio at 11:30 AM, ET, for In the Garden - your show about all things that grow in the garden of life!

Today we meander from the path of planting and tending to our green, rooted friends and onto the path of creativity and inspiration as we begin an exploration of Garden Crafts. Today's show will be the first in an on-going series on the arts and crafts that are inspired by and made from some aspect of "the garden." Today we will review a list of several such inspirations and my hope is that it sparks YOU to tend some garden-inspired crafting an creating in your own life and work! Next week, I'll be sharing my process for making my Impressions of Nature, like the ones you see in my ArtFire Studio. So, be sure to tune in next week too!

And if you'd like to catch up on past episodes of In the Garden, be sure to check out Podcasts on Demand.

So pop a player, hop into chat and join us In the Garden this morning at 11:30 AM, eastern time on Blockhead Radio following the Morning BrewHaHa!

Ale-n-Widget

I bottled the Crazy Collaboration Ale that was started in March. It is an odd mix of maple syrup, dried apples, coffee beans and wormwood. The best part is, it's gonna be very good for us bitter-lovers!

I started the base for a Melissa Ale. It'll steep overnight with the organic earl grey tea and prepare it for primary fermentation tomorrow.

And, if you look to the right and top of this blog you'll see the widget I made today - a button you're invited to grab and post anywhere you like!

Round What???

Repost: World of Widgets Round 1

How about a game? World of Widgets.

Here at BHR we are all about fun and giveaways. So every month we are going to be doing a new round of World of Widgets. For every place that you post a BHR widget you get one entry. We have a lot of different ones to choose from from BHR widgets to Stalker Widgets. All of the widgets that on our promote page are usable. Just go there and copy and paste the code of the widget you want. Place it in your AF studio, blog, site, etc and come back here and put the link in the comments. You get one entry for every place that has the widget up. We will be out checking through out the month. At the end of the month we will use random.org to pick the winner. Rounds run till the end of the month and the winner is announced on the 5th of the following month. Every month starts a new round. So, if you don't win this month just put the link in the comments on the next round and be entered again.

Want a bonus entry..........repost this post on your blog and put the link in the comments section.

So what is up for grabs?

A RockerChic package. Pendent, Bracelet, and Earrings your choice from her Artfire shop.

Kewl.........

So get those widgets up and let us know in the comments.........we will be looking, and thanks to all of our listeners for their continued support of BHR as we expose indie artist to the world.

Coffee

Yep ... in the afternoon even. That's what I made today.

Green Peace

  

Today I harvested motherwort and oregano. The boy came home from the farm with a sweet harvest of mugwort that was prepped for drying too.

Sage flowers were harvested ...

... and a quart of infused oil started, along with a quart and a half of mugwort oil.

The day ended with ... what I am calling ... Peacemakers.

That's what I made today.

Freshly Formed Realization

I give up activities of meaning and value to me just to teach lousy lessons. Lessons that will likely skirt under or soar over the awareness of the student.

It seems that there are those who walk this realm who make decisions about their actions based on a value that will be realized in their own lives and in the lives of others around them. Actions that have some personal meaning. Actions that contribute to something greater than themselves. Actions that culminate with a shared benefit.

And then, it seems, there are those who are simply along for the ride.

So today my charge is to raise my own awareness of this freshly formed realization … and figure out how to make something of value come from it.

Soiled Hands

Today I made my hands dirty. I got some new "impressions of Nature" plaques started.

I love this detail of the sage impressions and am looking forward to painting it.

I got my hands into the soil too, to place all my tomato and pepper plants into the earth. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon I will get the eggplant, celery and celeriac in, along with the other plants still waiting their turn.

I made time for a short afternoon nap under the maple tree. I'm glad I did.

My nail brush got quite a workout before I made the grilled garlic chicken, potatoes and peppers for dinner ... and the brownies for dessert ... and the curry biscuits for the early morning meeting and breakfast in Oxford. 

That's what I made today.

A Pink Moon ...

... you're welcome. ;)

My Way to ...

Saturday, June 6

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Pleasantview Farms, 452 South Road, Somers, CT

Admission $10 ~ Under 12 or Over 70 Free

Workshops ~ Plant walks ~ Vendors

See you there!

Time to Smell the Flowers ...

... and ... 

That's what I made today. 

Sun & Rain Drops

The morning dawned in full sun, yet as the day wove itself toward noon the clouds moved in to create a perfect garden day. Before my pre-rain garden endeavors I wandered into the wooded patch of my little acre and was well met by my three guardian ferns. Their fertile beauty astounds me, charms me, challenges me and delights me. And it draws me in ...

I planted several onion seedlings and harvested the last of my second year Russian kale.

It cooked down nicely and oh so deliciously. I love how a pot filled to overflow ends up as only an inch-or-so at simmering's end.

The rain drops, light though they were, herded me indoors where I continued fixing up and stocking up my ArtFire Studio. I prepped the links for tomorrow's In the Garden show, Colonial American Kitchen Plants, on Blockhead Radio, and began scripting notes for next week's episode. I planned the few words I would share at Janice's memorial service tomorrow night. I talked to my mom and my friend Sherrie on the phone and then laughed like hell with my friend Krazy Kate when she called. Or did I call her? I took tomato sauce out of the freezer, washed the lettuce and have the water boiling for the pasta as I type.

That's what I made today.

A Toast

As if by magic my yellow Iris bloomed today. A fitting gesture, for these are the iris growing in the same garden bed as the lily plants that were given to me by my friend, Janice, some 8-years ago or so. Not only that, but Janice held a special fondness for the iris. This morning, Janice passed from this life. 

I met Janice in 1999, when we both enrolled in the Transformational Energy Healing class, along with six other brave and foolish, strong and fragile, amazing and beautiful women. Together, we disclosed, shared and learned more than any of us imagined we would about ourselves and one another. We all learned, validated and reinforced much from and for one another. Janice proved no exception.

One thing that Janice reinforced for me, and heightened to fresh definition is ... the nature of gratitude. I used to spend a good deal of time in her shop, visiting, sharing, shopping, and occasionally helping out at the register. Janice knew I was a wine drinker and one day she announced she had a bottle of wine and offered me a glass. I accepted. She poured me a glass of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. In a flash my wine snob evaporated and all I could do was laugh, say thank you, and share that I had not sipped this particular vintage since high school. 

So this evening, to celebrate the life of Janice, a bottle of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill was properly chilled and served in the fine crystal wine glasses that were my Nono's, and glasses were raised to honor the life and spirit of sweet Janice.

Cheers, my friend, my syster. May we forever be as one. Ashe. Ashe.

More Clay Play

After some laundry and cleaning and helping The Boy with a thing or two, I finally got out into Nature and made more clay play ... three plaques, two pendants and one wee pocket goddess.

I'm still sitting on the deck ... daylight is waning ... the air is cooling ... and I may just toss on a sweater and hang a bit more. Peace.