An Expression of Gratitude

I just want to pause for a moment today to offer a big THANKS to those who responded to my earlier Request. I really do appreciate all the input and ideas, and as a result I have wheels to build, just one or two at a time, and motion in which to put them. I'm a tad overwhelmed and very excited.

As a gesture of gratitude to you, and to nurture some momentum for me, I've decided to track some of my seed starting and early gardening activities over at When Weeds Whisper - a sweet little blog shared among folk dedicated to a green and herbal life of honor and wellness. So take a peek ... I started some seeds today. Again - very excited!

Peace.

A Request for You

Greetings my fine bloggish friends! I have a request for you and I really hope that you are inspired to respond in some way, any way - large or small. You see, even as the snow still falls, I am tilling my springtime fields and need a little ... oh, let's just say - manure from you!

You may know that I'm an herbalist/healer-type and that I teach classes and workshops locally, and you probably already know that I weave creative expression into my healing "arts" and love to share that with others. If you don't, you can learn a little more about these things here.

Over the past couple of years more than a few folk who are not local to me - and even a few that are - have asked about distance workshops and classes, mostly in the realm of herbalism and healing (specifically "art as a healer"). So here I am - again ... toying with the prospect of offering online classes and simmering the ideas of what to offer and how - at least initially. So, here's where I want your help, your input ...

If I were to offer an online/distance learning opportunity - with some capacity to interact with me *and* others who are also learning/exploring/growing ... what would you like to see?

To be a bit more succinct ... I'm here. You're there. What can I share with you to add some value to your life?

Make sense?

Let me know, will you? Leave a comment here, and feel free to piggy-back off of each other's ideas if you like. Of course, you may contact me directly if you prefer.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas - I really am!

Ashe. Peace.

Reluctant Better Balls

Snow fell from the heavens most of the day today, damp and heavy. I sipped the last of my morning coffee in my dispensary while labeling yesterday's jars and then started going through old client files, back to front, in preparation for purging those that have been inactive for two years. One of the first files to go belonged to an old friend. A lost friend.

Later I moved to the kitchen to make the little cocoa-oatmeal confections of which my mom is so fond. These will be included in the birthday package that will come together and most likely hit the mail tomorrow. They came out better than I ever remember. I snapped a shot for this silly blog and was pretty sure that I had already posted the recipe here for these little yummies.

How odd to discover the friend connection in that original recipe post, I thought, as I recalled that I added my homemade vanilla extract to the recipe this time.

And I am simply reminded that things change, even when we don't why ... and most often for the better. Go figure.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Creamy Self Care

My mom's birthday is coming up and she requested another pot of the balm I make for her footsies. She also requested another pot of skin cream. She uses the cream on her face and loves it. So today, after errands, I got these things made for her ... and for me too.

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... one of the best parts of making cream is slathering the blender remains all over my body after a nice shower. It's such a deliciously decedent practice of self care ... and well deserved, if I do say so myself.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Spun Order

I made a morning of managing bills, invoices and numbers, making order of things, and doing some business review and planning. I'm still procrastinating the last leg of the income taxes though. All in good time. I made time to go back through the list from the brainstorming meeting I had a while back and started to plan and plot more herbal and art workshops for spring, summer, autumn and beyond. In years past I would have had such things planned and "inked-in" long before now. I suppose I'm just a bit more fluid in my rigidity now than I've ever been, and I'm cool with that.

I made time in the kitchen to get some osso buco (from The Farm) simmering and got the dough ready for tonight's pizza. In between I journaled words and spun some new Spirit Cords ... in the colors of winter.

That's what I made today.

Comfort in Colors

Today started with making the driveway free of snow. Thankfully The Boy took care of the bulk of that because not only did I oversleep (what that means), but I over-lounged a bit too. I headed west to meet my friend Annie at Passiflora's to share a breakfast treat and very good company. Who knew that such a relaxing time could pass so quickly, yet last so long. My ride home was peppered with an errand or two and when I got home I invested a couple of hours in some herbal and nutritional review.

When that was done I pulled out my journal and began to fill in this past weekend's doodles with some color.

I found myself gathering more than a few meaningful items on my table and I doodled some more.

Then ... I added more color.

The evening wound down as I prepared dinner to the talented tunes and voice of Chris Huff. We continued to listen as we enjoyed our leftover rib eye steak (from The Farm), served with bright orange winter squash (one of the last four from the garden), mashed potatoes with gravy, a little cranberry relish and green salad. More color. Oh, and a little Vermont Ale.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Silent Music

I've been slackin', it's true. Not only here on this blog, but in other pieces of my life as well. I feel that blank time and space is an occasional necessity. Like that box I started the other day ... still sitting in the same state in which I left it, resting easy without care or expectation as the life swirls and spins around it, like a reminder that what will be will be.

And so it is.

Yet throughout this lovely sustained dissonance, I've managed to make some fabulous lip balms with a wonderful Wicked friend, share a couple days with good Folk on sacred ground, do some cooking, crocheting, journaling and even drafting some ideas for new labeling. All these things and still dancing without motion, mind open to the fullness of emptiness, and heart beating a silent rhythm I'll catch up to soon enough.

Peace.

Mysterious Observations

I've been preoccupied lately. Productive, creative even - in my own way - yet preoccupied by something not yet defined, something not quite ripe, something forming from the mysts, something that lies beyond my vision, beyond my reach. A mystery making manifest stroke by stroke, breeze by breeze, molecule by molecule, in my presence.

Like an unfinished box ... already filled.

Peace.

Delightful Ketchup!

Today I made homemade ketchup and it is so freakin' good. Easy too. I adapted a recipe from Clara's Kitchen, my latest beloved cookbook that I received in early January. I've been following Clara for a long while on YouTube and was delighted when her book came out. I love reading and rereading her memories of the Great Depression ... and recall similar stories from my own mom and her siblings and peers. Anyway ...

Today I made my own damned ketchup and I'll never (a word I rarely use) buy the HFCS laden crap they sell commercially ever again. Not that I use it often, but The Boy does. And quite frankly, after today, I may just start using ketchup like my Dad did - on virtually everything! Anyway (again) ... if you want Clara's recipe you'll just have buy her book, or DVD. If you want to know how I made mine today, here ya go:

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1/4 cup water (more-or-less)

1 tablespoon (more-or-less) of my Fiery Cider (apple cider vinegar infused with garlic, horseradish root, ginger root, burdock root, hot pepper flakes)

1 tablespoon (more-or-less) of balsamic vinegar

1 glove of garlic, pressed

1/2 teaspoon (more-or-less) sea salt

Place it all in a bowl and stir with lots of energetic love. Serve and be delighted. That's right - delighted by ketchup!

That's what I made today. Peace.

A Little Upcycling

This afternoon I crocheted a small drawstring bag using old cassette tape (remember them?) for my yarn. The plastic case may be recyclable - I hope it is ... but at least I am able to repurpose the tape in a nice low-tech, earth-friendly way. There's something oddly pretty about it too.

Like crocheting or knitting with plarn (yarn made from plastic bags), it takes an adjusted touch to allow for a more loose and consistent tension, but - to my way of thinking - it is worth it. The Boy thought it would be funny to make CD bags like this. But he thinks lots of things are funny.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Intention in Progress

The Boy was home today and after we tended to our morning matters we gathered at the table with paints and such to create. Sharing time like this is very sweet to me. I spoke to my friend who was in that auto accident the other day and she is doing well. I plan to visit her soon and to bring along some simmering pot of healing verve ... and a little creative expression of my intentions for her. I suspect that at least one of these works-in-progress may well fit the bill.

That's what I made today.

Peace.