Ugh! Been up since about 3:30 am! Reading all sorts of crap on the web. I couldn't seem to make myself get any work done. Read an article in the New York Times that pissed me off, so I had to comment there. It's been a busy early morning. I'm about to just give it up and go get dressed. And yes, make more coffee. Can't seem to stay away from the brown gold this week. I have just finished some rather tricky handsewing on a new design for a linen towel. I am hoping to have that finished within the next couple of days. I got to do some work on it outside yesterday, which was bliss! It's all white work, so the natural light is the best for getting those teeny tiny stitches just right. What's giving me grief is the fabric itself. It's a medium weight white linen and I am using two layers of it for the towel. But the fibres seem to be a bit...bendy. so my seams keep soming out a bit...bendy. Wavy really, I finally just said "Screw it!" and decided that it was just going to be that way. It's a characteristic of this particular fabric. It's really nice fabric - I only use really nice fabric. But my own preference is for the look and feel of Irish linen. I think this towel will be quite beautiful when it's done though and I know it will find its perfect home with someone :)
Looks like I've still got about an hour till morning prayers *niamh peeks outside, waiting for dawn* Poached egg on toast (homemade toast :)) is sounding really good right about now...
Have a great day! Just got new batteries for the digital camera - they're charging up now, but I hope to have some pics of my work up soon. Have a great day!
Yea me! Just got a new work bench. An old kitchen table, really :) Should give a little more space to work at. We are still working up plans for the new studio. However, a good deal of that is taking a back seat to the farm plans. Been researching hops. Actually, I know about hops. The older varieties and cultivars of hops are a whole other story. There are only a few types that are grown for the brewing industry as we know it today. But if you've done much tasting, you would see that there are some radical differences in the bittering properties and flavors that you can get with some of the, if you will, heirloom varieties of hop. Homebrewing and microbrewing is a big thing in this area and there are plenty of local suppliers and brewers looking for organic and heirloom hops. So, yea! I cannot express how excited I am about this. I've been blabbing about it for about, oh, 4 years ? and now everyone who is involved with the farm is on it too. Sweet! Anyhow, I am off to my evening devotions. Just had to blab excitedly about my new work bench and hops. I can't believe what gets me excited nowadays...
Saturday, September 29, 2007, 09:26 PM EST [General]
Having recently lost a good amount of weight after being sick for some years and then having a baby, I thought I would share some of the things that worked for me. Most of this requires a change in how you look at food, exercise, self and life. I love food, I love preparing food, especially for others. This has not always been the case. I have always loved cooking, just not eating and I battled myself through some food issues (fasting, mainly) as a young woman. But nowadays, I really love food and I will explain why a little later :) In good magickal fashion, let me start with what to get rid of in order to make room for what is desired. Food first, exercise later. possibly in another post.
In the realm of banishing:
Soda, high fructose corn syrup, white bread that I myself have not baked, most processed foods, fast food, convenience foods, excessive amounts, second helpings, gobbling, high calorie beverages, excess sodium, excess sugar (mainly, the refined white stuff), not being responsible for what I am putting into my sacred body, which my patron god has informed me is beautiful, whatever I happen to be going through. Banish crappy food.
In the realm of inviting:
Tea and coffee, using my tastebuds, lots of whole grains, oatmeal, reading every label available, whole foods, natural foods, preparing as much of my own food as possible, varying the diet, taking pleasure in the act of selecting, preparing and eating food, drinking plenty of water, indulging now and then, reducing portion sizes, eating dessert (yes, this is on the right list -just don't eat giant portions and too much goo), being keenly aware of whatever goes into my body (if we paid as much attention to what goes into our bodies as we do to what goes on our bodies, we would be in really great shape!!), never ever falling for diet fads, ignoring "research" into what's good and bad, listening to my intuition about what's good and bad (fancy that, a pagan who listens to and trusts intuition... don't get me started...) and asking my beloved PG for help when I need to resist something naughty or when I'm not feeling so confident, attractive or just in general good about myself. And lastly, always always eating really good food. Avoid crappy food like the plague unless you really truly do need to eat and that's all that's available.
I found a lot of success with first going to my patron god (Aengus mac Og) and outlining what I needed to do and asking guidance and divine help. That was a major part of my success, absolutely. Something that I cannot stress enough is the necessity to prepare one's own food. I know exactly what is going into me and I am responsible for it. I do my best to eat with the seasons, locally and as organically and ethically as possible. Money is tight, I grow and forage a lot of my family's food, but I do frequent the local farmer's market for locally grown food, milk, cheese, honey and meat, even beer and wine. I pay close attention to the origins of said food. Loooking at food very respectfully is crucial to losing weight. It is also essential for a pagan to do so. I find myself regularly appalled at the attitude so many pagans have to food. Ignorance mainly and apathy. Food is a vital necessity and it should be treated with sacred respect and there is NO excuse for anyone who claims to be pagan to do otherwise (Niamh steps down from her soapbox). Loving your body is critical to caring for it properly, which includes what you put into it. Cultivating this attitude of loving respect for your body and what goes into it will give amazing results! And, being in the middle of dairy country (I grew up on a beef farm surrounded by dairy farms :)), I naturally eat plenty of butter, milk, cheese and all that. I looooove dairy products. But I don't grate half a pound of cheese onto my chili or burgers or whatever. And I don't slather everything in butter. Just a enough to accent and enhance. I have a weakness for pastries of all kind. I have a favorite bakery that makes absolutely sublime French, Italian, Danish and Austrian pastries and now and then I have to indulge in a cherry Danish or a pain au chocolate to be eaten with a cup of lovely dark French roast. I always keep cookies on hand to have with coffee in the after noon or late morning. Or occasionally with tv or a movie. I don't deny myself. But I don't eat a dozen cookies at a sitting. I savor two cookies, with milk or with coffee. I drink whole milk. That hasn't change. I don't guzzle half a gallon of it though. A splash on cereal, some in iced coffee or a de-lovely cafe au lait. I do not eat things that have been reduced in fat or calories or whathaveyou. It's not pleasurable. If it's not pleasurable, why bother? (yep, that's a priestess of Aengus statement...) Eating has become for me a very sensuous experience and that has been an incredible help to losing and maintaining a healthy weight. Savoring increases satisfaction and being satisfied means not gorging in a vain search for gratification.
That's most of what I have found to work for me in my efforts. I might have something to say about exercise. I don't do much. I have a really active lifestyle. But I walk and hike and I have my well loved and used copy of the NY City Ballet Workout. A fantastic workout, if i may make a plug. I dance too, now that I am once more healthy enough to do so - I had enough ballet to work en pointe and I find that absolutely wonderful :)
Saturday, September 29, 2007, 03:17 PM EST [General]
It's a gorgeous autumn day here in upstate New York :) My kid is napping and I get a wee break ! Got quite a lot of work done. On one day this week anyway. I can't excuse the other days of the week when I got squat done. But I got quite far on a piece that seems important to me - I'm hoping to have that on etsy this week, we'll see how that goes.
The great outdoors are, as every autumn, beautiful and mildly bizarre. I was out for my daily walk down to the family farm when I heard some very strange, very big whuffling and grunting off in the field. Occasionally, I can hear the draft horses snorting two fields away, but this was definitely in the field I was walking beside and it was definitely not a horse. What was it? Who the hell knows?! It was quite possibly a bear - there are several on my brother's property (it is heavily forested and butts up against another heavily forested lot belonging to the gun club) - it was definitely the right sound and the right sort of place, though I did not smell anything foul (bears can frequently be smelled before they are seen). I turned around to go back home - this isn't a good time of the year to catch a bear unawares. In addition, there's a momma bear on the property with two cubs, so... Anyway, I am curious, but whatever.
On a similar note, I've been getting to spend lots of time in the woods. We are going to build a memorial grove for my son and I have been scouting out the site, in the back field, across from the old orchard, beside the woods on a little hill. I just gathered some acorns to start over the winter and I am looking forward to getting that underway next year, at long last. We also have some planning to do with regard to the farm. I am being given a rather nice area to devote to flowers, old roses herbs and bees :) We are also in the planning stages for putting in some old varieties of hops, to grow organically, for the busy local homebrew/microbrewery business - that's another huuge happy thing for me, because I have been suggesting it for a couple of years now and I finally get to make some plans for it! Yea me!
That's everything that's going on here! And my wee munchkin is waking up and demanding attention and possibly sustenance.
