Sunday Selections

On Friday I received my first monthly box from Tamed and Wild Apothecary, and I was quite pleased.  I had really hoped they would have sent me July's box instead since I ordered on the 2nd of July, but I guess they were sold out and sent me the August box.  I will say it was much more interesting than the Moon Box I just canceled.  This month focused on tea rather than herbs. 

African Rooibos Tea.  It contains rooibos, cornflowers, blue malva flowers, vanilla, and orange.  I'm glad I dropped coffee and developed a taste for tea.  Can't wait to try this one.  They also included a mesh tea ball for quick steeping.  (see above)

Two sticks filled with honey for sweetening.

 What a beautiful spoon.  Too nice to use.

 This pretty little carrying case.  I can always find use for this.

Rabbit animal spirit which signifies change is imminent.  When rabbit appears in your life, it may be time to forge a new path.  Seems that change is in the wind for me.  Just the other day I chose the 'Disruption' card my daily card from the Psychic Tarot Oracle.   I've been spending some time pondering the fact that as my pain increases I may NOT be able to participate in the dance and exercise I so love anymore.  I even told hubby that I to keep myself busy I may have to return to Brooklyn College this fall if they have any interesting classes...although I would much prefer something that was free.  

I also received this stunning agate arrowhead.  Funny, in my Medicine Keepers Collective class I was just studying about agate the day before this box arrived.  Coincidence?  Will definitely have to go back over the lesson.  Agate is a symbol of protection, and the Eye of Horus, another symbol of protection,  is printed on its Carrying Bag. 

And finally, 'Sweet Dreams Temple Oil' an old world aromatherapy blend of sweet almond oil, lavender oil, chamomile oil, vetiver oil, and cedar wood oil to aid in a peaceful sleep.  Just a few drops massaged into the temples is very calming.




 

Saturday Thought of the Day

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. 

Buddha

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday.  Another week bites the dust.  The humidity has let up some and it's far more comfortable.  On Wednesday I got all dressed and headed out to class, but the walk to the bus stop was torture.  Wasn't a part of my body that hurt, so I decided not to push it like I always do and turned back around and went home. The best decision on my part.  I really, really wanted to attend since next week is the last week for a month, but we have to put our wellness first.   And the cards agreed.

I recently got my Carolyn Myss 'Wisdom for Healing' cards and my plans are to draw one card daily and focus on that area of health for the day.  And so it was on Wednesday that I drew the following card.  What one positive action could I take to enhance my physical health?  I didn't think of it until later, but coming back home and not pushing myself to do something I wasn't up to was exactly the action I had to take for that day.  

The other night I was thinking about explosions before I fell asleep.  Don't have any idea why.  I was just worried about one.  Then, about 4 am in the morning I was awoken by a loud boom.  Thought it was gunfire at first, then I thought exploding manhole cover, but before the next boom I heard the familiar "woosh" beforehand, and then I realized I was hearing fireworks.  Probably bottle rockets, but loud enough to have been Cherry Bombs.  Very disturbing to say the least.

On Wednesday, my daughter celebrated her 51st birthday.  It seems like only yesterday that she was born.  I remember her birth so well.  They had given me something called 'Twilight Sleep'  a  combination of morphine and scopolamine (pretty much a date-rape drug), which was supposed to make women not able to remember the pain of birth, but as an added side effect, women were unable to remember giving birth at all.  And while it worked to make me forget those things, I still remember the events that occurred while I was in labor.  Side effects of the drug were delirium and psychotic behavior.

I recall that they gave me the medication explaining to me that I would feel the pain, but forget afterwards. Then the nurses and doctor left after putting the bars up in the bed.  I remember at first feeling so frightened.  My mom had never talked to me about female things.  I had to learn everything by myself, and birth was another one of those mysteries to me.  Then, the medication began kicking in.  I climbed over the bars and ran to the room across the hall.  No one was there.  I went into the bathroom, shut the door, and sat on the floor laughing my butt off as I heard the nurses looking frantically for me.  I don't know how long I sat there, but it was quite awhile...and I was having so much fun that I don't even remember feeling labor pains.  I guess that's how the medicine was supposed to work....aside from missing patients. 

Just didn't feel like eating anything heavy last night so I dug out some of my WW weeklies and found this little salad.   Boneless chicken, pineapple, jicama, red bell pepper, scallions, cilantro, cumin, and lime juice.  The salad itself was delicious, but I have to say, I am really NOT a fan of jicama.  Will never buy it again.

Throwback Thursday

During my early years of life, my parents and I lived at my grandparents home.  My mom and dad both worked and were saving money to buy their own  Life was blissful.  I loved living there, two houses down from my little cousins.  There as always something to do.  I was pretty much devastated when, just before I turned 5, my parents announced they had bought a home in Mine Hill.

When we moved there, Mine Hill was still a mining town.  In fact, it was one of the richest sources of iron ore in the country and supplied most of the iron used in the Revolutionary War.  The mines and Picatinny Arsenal were the two main sources of employment for men in the area, and both were dangerous.   I remember sitting in the classroom and hearing the telltale rumble of a mine collapse and the fear written on my classmates faces.  My dad worked at the Arsenal which was just as dangerous.  There were many explosions recorded there during my growing up years.  The last of the mines closed during the late 1960s.

This was our first house in a newly built cookie-cutter neighborhood.  In the far left, you can see the rear of Kathleen's house.  She was my best friend from the day I moved in until about the 6th grade when her family moved away.  I can still remember the day we met like it was yesterday.  I was in my new room feeling pretty bummed out from moving out of my grandparents' home when I heard through my window, "Little girl, little girl, can you come out to play."  

Look at those bony legs.  LOL!!!

 Look at the hedges to the right.  My parents had planted them shortly after we moved in.

 My house as it stands today.  Aside from an addition, a different color, (the house was originally green) shutters and the growth of the surrounding trees, the original house still stands.  I see they removed the pine trees that my parents had planted.   

We lived in Mine Hill until my sophomore year of high school.   Then my parents bought a larger home in Berkshire Valley, NJ which is located in Jefferson Township.  It meant a new high school in Roxbury, but because Mine Hill bordered on Roxbury Township, I already knew a few kids from school so it wasn't as if I was going to be totally alone.

This was how the house looked in 1964 when we moved in.  (My parents seem to have had a thing for green houses)  When I had my daughter and son I lived in the upstairs apartments.  The room on the left was the living room and on the right was my children's room.  I paid my parents rent, of course.

This was the little bungalow that was located on the property.  A guy named Tom who drove a corvette rented from my parents when I turned 19, and I had such a crush on him.

The living room was huge.  This is two views of it from different sides.  We'd had that old piano in Mine Hill, and at one time I took lessons, but I hated to practice.  My parents never really had had time for me, so they let me quit my lessons with no problems.  Wish now that I had continued.  I can still play a few little songs, but nothing that anyone would want to listen to.

This is how the house looks today.  It's now white.  The Mine Hill house was green, then painted white, and this house was green, then painted white.  I just found it interesting.

Back home.  43 years later.  Shortly before the house was sold. So many memories.  Bittersweet moments.  Gone, but never forgotten.

Tuesday Ramble

Good morning everyone.  Tuesday morning.  Looks to be another hot and humid day.  Sorry, but this isn't my kind of weather.  I wish summer could be no more than 80 degrees and no humidity.  I'd be in my glory then.  Fortunately, some storms are heading in to cool us down.

Had a great day yesterday. Left early for my classes.  The temperature still hadn't risen yet, but when it was time to come home?  That's another story altogether.  The four long blocks to the bus stop were unmerciful.  It seemed as if I walked for miles.  The closer I got, the further away it seemed.  Did that ever happen to you?

Finished my ring in arts and crafts yesterday.  It's hard to capture a good picture. This one I'll be keeping.  It's sized, and I doubt it will fit anyone else.  The beads are real Swarovski Crystal.  It's not easy sewing together all those little silver seed beads when your eyesight is not up to par.

At home I've been working with the chain I bought.  Should be able to make quite a few bracelets from it.  Here is one I started.  Needs a couple more charms I think.  Just can't decide which ones. 

The tree is more silvery in person.

The other day a friend pulled a card for me.  

It reminded me of this old poem I had read and saved when my osteoarthritis first began spreading and  became chronic. Thought I would share it here with you.

The old healer said to the soul:
It's not your back that hurts,
But the burden you're wearing.
It's not your eyes that hurt,
But the injustice you see.
It's not your head that hurts,
But your thoughts that hurt you.
It's not your throat,
But what you can't tell.
It's not your belly,
But your soul that can't digest what's happening around you.
It's not your liver that hurts,
But the anger inside.
It's not your heart that hurts,
But love.
The desire for love, the love you want to share,...
And it's love itself,
Which can cure all this pain.
The most powerful medicine!!

Source Unknown

Wordless Wednesday--Remember This?

Monday Morning This and That

Good Monday morning everyone.  How was your weekend?  I had a quiet one.  Hung out in the house on Saturday and went to church on Sunday, then, after a stop at the supermarket, right back home to prepare for the coming week.  Today I'm off to line dance, meditation, and arts and crafts. It's going to be a hot and humid day today.  Just going to take it slow on the walk when I get off the bus.

Was going to stay in on Friday, but when I heard how nice it was I knew I needed a walk.  I don't like the park in my area and am still waiting for my new half fare card, so I decided to take a nice long walk to Rite Aid.  Good thing I did.  They were having some fantastic sales.  

Got all of the above for $28.  The candles--Vanilla Cream, Lilac and Lily, Tangerine Burst, and Ocean Mist--smell fantastic.  We'll see how they are when I light them.  Sometimes the scent seems to disappear when they start burning.  That's why I like 'Yankee Candle' and 'Our Own Candle Company' so much.    Their scent remains right to the last drop.  Oh, and the Breyer's Ice Cream in front.  It's awesome and also hard to find.  Only 270 calories for the whole pint, but I usually have half at a time.  It's so creamy, totally delicious, and WW friendly so I don't feel guilty when I treat myself. And that tea?  It's delicious.  I put it in the freezer to get it real cold.  Great on a hot day like this.

Great news.  I got my new half fare card on Saturday.  The MTA said my original card had not been permanently damaged, that it had only malfunctioned.  Yeah, right.  Thanks to someone who didn't know what they were doing.  They gave me a new one anyway.

The other day I posted a picture on Facebook of an old man gazing into a mirror and a young man staring back at him. The caption read, "The sad part of getting older is that no one can see you're still young on the inside".  How true it is!  Before retiring, I was a entire generation older than everyone else and felt so out of place when I was excluded from some of the activities the other staff participated in together.  I know they didn't intentionally plan to hurt me, but it does hurt when you are made to feel like an outsider.  Like the time one of my co-workers was having something like a tupperware party, only it was to sell sex toys, and I was not invited because they 'respected' me and would be embarrassed.   In other words, they thought of me as their mother.  I most likely would not have gone, but it would have been nice to have been given the choice.  Did they not think it would hurt me to have them all whispering and making plans around me? 

Hubby doesn't work on Sunday nights so I always try to make something special.  Sunday dinner was always important when I was growing up and old habits die hard.  Last night I made Iberian Sausage and Chicken.

2 links of chorizo, sliced
Chicken thighs
1/2 cup white cooking wine 
Onions
Tomato sauce
Smoked paprika
Garlic powder
1 pkg low sodium chicken buillion
1 package Goya Con Azafran
Salt and pepper 
1/2 cup water
Olive oil

Brown chicken in oil.  Add sausage and onions. Saute. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil then simmer to allow chicken to cook through and flavors to blend.  You can serve over pasta or rice.  We had pasta during the week so we had it over rice.  With a nice salad on the side.  Quite satisfying.

Well, I'm off to the shower.  Have my classes today.  Only two more weeks to go before August break.  Gosh, will have to find ways to amuse myself, but on the positive side, maybe that will give my back time to heal .  

Have a good one.