Blessed Samhain!

Blessed Samhain, everyone!  I wonder where this new year will lead?

We had our Samhain ritual last night, and it went fabulously.  We had a great turnout - about 14 people.  The circle dance was awesome.  What have you all done for Samhain?

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

Our Children and their Faith

Velody over at Treegold and Beegold wrote an amazing post today.  Her intention is to start a discussion, and I think it's a marvelous thing.

I may not have too much to discuss, simply because I agree with her.  I've stated before that we are raising our daughter Wiccan, which might be slightly more difficult than raising her simply as Pagan or Heathen because so many Wiccans especially are against children being part of the faith.  As she says, Heathenry is a community faith and Paganism an umbrella term.

I really feel that something has been forgotten in parenting as of  late - we are raising adults, not raising children.  Adults need to have foundations and ethics, and one of the ways they get that is being raised within a religious structure of some sort.  Raising them within a religion does not necessarily mean forcing it on them.  Wicca will be the predominant theme in Brianna's childhood, because that is what we practice in our home.  I'm the head of our local Wiccan Church.  I'm the High Priestess of on of our local circles.  There is no way she is not learning about our mutual faith, even if I didn't want her to learn about it.  She is being bombarded with it, so to speak.  By the by, she learned how to say Goddess and Beltane the other day.  I was so proud, haha!

Regardless.  Wicca will not be the only thing she will learn, regardless of it being predominant.  She will learn about philosophy from her Grandfather, about Christianity, Druidry, Catholicism, Buddhism and more from the other people we surround ourselves with.   It is important for us to raise her as Wiccan, but we want her to have a knowledge base with which to make her own decisions one day.

Far from forcing a religion on her, I think it is our duty as parents to give her a basis for faith.  Regardless of which path she chooses for her self eventually, her ability to have faith is what we are giving her.

What do you think?  Is raising a child within a religion forcing it on them?

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

GOYB: Week 3 Check In and Week 4 Challenge

Ah, week 3...

It honestly went both better and worse than I thought it would.  We ate out a lot because we were running around so much with our lame-o computer issues, which by the by SHOULD be taken care of now but no guarantees.  I've been eating worse since Brianna's birthday party - pics soon - and was really dreading stepping on the scale.  Luckily, I only went back up to 224.  I thought I'd be right back up to my start weight.  Interspersed with all the bad eating, I did keep track of my foods most days.  I use the Lose It app on my phone.  I even kept track on those days when I went hundreds over my calorie limit.  Every day but a few I stayed under my maintain weight calories though.  

As for my goal of eating breakfasts more often, I think 5 or so days I did in fact eat breakfast.  I'm hoping to continue that this coming week, or rather, for the next few days until Saturday check in again which I hope I'm able to do on time this time.  

So for week 4, in addition to continued breakfasts, I also want to up my water intake.  No real number, just make sure I'm drinking water again.  I've fallen away from the habit.  I'd love to try to get some exercise in as well, even if it is only a few minutes here and there that I can squeeze in.  We have vacation coming up in 16 days, so I at least want to try!

Goddess Bless,

Stacy

Trick or Treat!

Hi all!

Still having computer issues.  I'm writing this on our old computer, so that I can at least put something up!  Even if it is several days after I wanted something to be posted...Ah well!

The story so far?  We bought a new HP.  It had some weird errors.  We took it in for repairs, which took more than a week.  Got it back, it still had weird errors.  Brought it in, exchanged it for a different machine, same model.  Had the exact same weird errors.  Brought it in again yesterday, and now we are exchanging for an entirely different model.  Lets hope it works.

I can't really do a lot on this old thing anymore...but I wanted to share with you all one of my all time favorite Halloween cartoons.  Last time I saw this before finding it on You Tube was the early 90s.

Enjoy, all!

How are your Samhain preparations going?

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

Samhain Altar Decoration

Samhain Altar Skull!!  I bought a cardboard skull at our local craft store, and painted the heck out of it!  I wanted it to look like a Sugar Skull or a Day of the Dead Skull.  I hot glued flowers in the eyes.  I love it!  Instead of some of the more traditional images on Sugar Skulls, I added some witchy ones.

What are you putting on your Samhain altar?

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

Get off your Broom: Week 2

I have the old computer hooked up, so I'm back to posting occasionally when my internet is working!  Seriously, this sucks.  Someday I'll be able to post Monday through Friday again.

Regardless, right before I lost the new computer to the repair center, I joined The Domestic Pagan's  Get Off Your Broom fitness challenge.

 I've been trying shift my focus from dieting to a life change over the past few months, and succeeding relatively well with a few set backs, of course.  So I thought it would be a good idea to join the challenge, and see what I could do.

Saturdays are the weekly check in, and the day we set a goal for the next week.  It is obviously not Saturday.  That's okay though, because it is the thought that counts.  So, I'll start by giving my starting stats from back in August, and then my current ones.

August 23 2011 (start):
Weight: 230 lbs
Chest: 50"
Waist: 49"
Hips: 52"

October 14 2011 (current):
Weight: 221 lbs (down 9)
Chest: 49.5" (down ½")
Waist: 47.5" (down 1½")
Hips: 51" (down 1")

The mini challenge for this week was to talk about emotional eating.  I tend to eat more when I'm stressed.  Over the past few months I've been able to begin recognizing that stress feeling in my stomach as stress instead of hunger, and deal with the stress instead of eating.  Still, I've had some setbacks.  While I have several medical issues that contribute to my weight gain over the years and still hinder my weight loss, I have no problem admitting that it was my lack of willpower that got me here.  Eating makes me happy, because it gives the illusion of decreasing my stress.

My goals for the next week are first, simply to start eating breakfast again.  I had been doing really well for a while, and then it just sort of tapered off.  Second, I want to weigh myself less often.  The number on the scale is a good indicator of where we are with weight, but not fitness or health.  I want to concentrate more on health than on the number.

Also, I'm really loving how my numbers look above.  I usually take my measurements once a month and compare them to the previous month instead of my start month.  I didn't realize I had actually lost as many inches as I have in total.

So that is my check in, I suppose!

I also want to bring to everyone's attention that today is the last day to enter in Velody's Halloween Bow Giveaway!  Go and check it out!  I entered.  I can totally see Brianna in one of those bows.  Too cute.  You should also check out Velody's Etsy store.

Back to semi regular posting, as internet permits!  How are Samhain preparations going?

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

Giveaway Winners!

**Drumroll**

Through Random.org, some strange algorithm of which I know nothing has chosen my giveaway winners!  Lets reiterate what the prizes are:

Prize Number One:  A free copy of my eBook!  

Prize Number Two:  A copy of the first Cookbook I ever got - by an author local to my province, Jean Paré.

Prize Number Three:  An awesome, sassy recipe box, plus matching recipe cards!  Whomever wins the recipe box gets to choose one of two.  Here is a picture:  

Thanks so much everyone for all your congrats and well wishes, and thank you all for "playing"!  Prizes given are based on the order in which Random.org selected the numbers.  Here are the winners of the giveaway:

Prize Number One:
Comment 13  Lyn said...

13

Congrats on the book Stacy!

Prize Number Two:
Comment 11  Bridget said...

11

Congrats on the book release! I think it's awesome! Would this be the one we were testing recipes for? I think I told you how my whole family, especially my husband fell in love with the pumpkin pancakes.

Congrats again!

Prize Number Three:
Comment 4 SushiQ said...

4

Congratulations! I can't wait to check out your book!

Congrats to you all!  Bridget and Lyn, I will be getting in touch with you within the next couple days!  Sushi Q, I will get in touch with you as soon as I have your email!  Feel free to leave it in a comment or to use my contact form.

Hope everyone has had a lovely time of it while my computer is wonky!  It still isn't fixed, and so posting shall continue to be erratic.  Thursday today; what are everyone's weekend plans?  It's Brianna's 2nd Birthday on Sunday, so be prepared to be inundated with pictures come next week if I have my computer back!

I also really want to thank all of my followers - new and old - for hanging around during this whole lack of posting craziness.  You all rock!

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

Guest Post - Ancestor Altar Cloth Tutorial by Velody!

Here is a guest post from the lovely Velody - please forgive any errors and or text things as they are my issue, as I'm posting this from my father's laptop.  I don't get my computer back until next week!


Velody is a Heathen crafter who blogs at Treegold & Beegold. She is married to an eclectic pagan and has 2 young children that are being brought up with a bit of both traditions.

Whether you celebrate Samhain or Winter’s Night this time of year about remembering where we came from and those who have passed away. Once my oldest, Lil’ R turned 3 I’ve been trying to do crafts regularly with him and think that crafts are a great way to introduce him to our faith. Since we have zero seasonal altar cloths in this house I thought this would be a great time for us to make an Ancestor Altar Cloth.



Materials:

18” x 27” piece of white fabric

Pack of sponges

Acrylic Paint, assorted colors

Scissors

Marker



Notes:

Those are the dimensions of the piece I cut but they can be modified for your purposes.

I hemmed my piece of fabric myself but if you are not able to sew it you could purchase a white placemat, table cloth or other already made piece of white fabric.

I happen to have a lot of acrylic paint in the house but if you wanted to make sure you could wash this then use fabric paint.



Instructions:

Hemming the Cloth

This first part if for hemming the cloth. If you are using an already finished piece then please skip this section.

This is to hem the fabric while creating mitered corners.

Fold fabric over 3/4” and press in place.



Once all 4 sides are pressed fold over each corner and press. Notice how the creases line up?



Fold the fabric to make a triangle of the corner and stitch along this last crease you just made.



This is what it will look like after it is sewn.



Snip off the excess fabric beyond the stitching.



Turn the corner so that the right side is out and along the original creases. Voila, you have a mitered corner.



Repeat steps 2-6 for the remaining 3 corners.

Now to complete the hemming stitch along the exposed edge. I used a decorative stitch but a zig-zag stitch would suffice. This picture shows the wrong side of the fabric. See how the stitch covers most of the exposed edge?



Here is the right side of the fabric.





Decorating the Cloth

I picked up a pack of 10 sponges at Dollar Tree for $1 and that is what I used to do this part.

Take the sponges and draw a few different leaves on them. If you need some help see the leaf images I put on the Mabon Thanksgiving Wreath Post. Cut out your shapes.

Think of a few simple images that represent your family and it’s heritage. We did a Puerto Rican flag for my Husbands side, the Army Star because many in his side (including himself) also served in the Army, a beaver to represent Canada for my mother’s side and the symbol for the Army Air Core that my great-grandfather on my dad’s side was a Colonel in.

The Beaver

This is the Army Air Core symbol. I marked which colors go where. Symbols like this I applied the paint with a brush.

 The Puerto Rican flag with the paint applied. (The sponge was blue so it’s a bit tough to see the blue paint)

For the leaves I filled a paper plate with paint so could just dip the sponge directly into the paint.

Now press your sponges onto the fabric. Make sure to put something under the fabric such as paper towels or cardboard.





Put the sponge on the fabric and press evenly all over to ensure that it stamps the full image. Lil’ R didn’t do that so he needed help.



Keep adding stamps, overlapping the leaves if you want and filling as much space as you desire. This is a very personal project so do what ever you and your family would like. Finally it will be complete and just put it somewhere to dry fully.



I hope you enjoyed this project and if so please leave a comment letting us know what personal symbols you chose for your family. Please follow my blog or subscribe for future tutorials.

Also don’t forget the Halloween Bow Giveaway contest that is going on until the 17th. There is still plenty of time to enter.

-Velody

*waves*

Hi everyone!

Bye everyone!

Wait, what?

No really.  I'm going to be off for a few days - our internet is still buggy (working right now, thankfully) and our computer is still making strange noises and what nots and blue screen of deathing as in my previous post.  (Thanks for your comment, Jane!)  As mentioned, Jane's comment got us thinking that instead of backing everything up from this old and decrepit computer, we would go get a new one.  Which, being in the financial position we are, wasn't an easy decision.  We figured that I would lose more if this computer died (with all my cookbook stuff on it) and then we would have to go get a new computer anyway, so we just went and got one.  We pick it up tomorrow, as well as we have an internet tech coming tomorrow.  Oy.

So, I'll be back when I can.  Sorry for the sporadicalness lately!  Also, for all the made up words in this post.

You can find me on Facebook or Google+ if you like, as I can access both of those easier on my phone.  :)

Hope to see you all again soon!

Goddess Bless,
Stacy

Modern Dependence

You know, I like typewriters.

I really do.  They always seem so elegant in those old movies, when in reality I know first hand how messy one can get changing the tape.  Still, if your typewriter broke, you could write by hand.

Today we are so connected by the internet that it is nearly impossible for one in the western world to function without it.  Do I NEED to write a blog, be on Facebook, or Google the answers to my questions instead of looking them up in a dictionary as I used to?  No.  But the internet and by extension the computer is how I talk to my publisher, how I send her my manuscripts, how I ask people to review my book.  It's my work.

So when my computer shows signs of death, I freak out a little bit.  And that seems kind of dumb.

I mean, seriously.  Lets look at some of the commonplace freakouts of the common people through a few different centuries:

1100s:  Freak out because they don't have enough food.

1300s:  Freak out because of the Bubonic Plague.

1500s:  The cow died.  Don't have food.

Let's jump to today:

OH MY GODS the computer died what will I doooooooo?!

Kind of silly, but seriously.  I feel kind of dumb.

And no, obviously my computer isn't dead yet.  Although, If it does go I can still post occasionally on my phone.  Regardless, my computer pretty much constantly makes this noise that sounds like a tornado siren or air raid siren.  It is kind of unnerving.

So, if I suddenly don't post, it's because of my computer.  Or my internet, which also has been buggy.  Yay for country living?

Regardless, I hope to be posting some things for Samhain soon.

By the by, commenting on my other post can continue until Friday, so go enter to win!  Also, check out the first review of my book by Pagan Dad!

Sabbat Cooking - Samhain Book Release! Also, Virtual Coffee.

Image by Stuart Miles

Well friends, we have arrived.  I excited to say that my eBook is officially for sale!
So sit and stay a while, and enjoy a coffee...isn't that a pretty picture?  


If you are interested, you can go view my author pages on Facebook and the Wyrdwood Publications website.


I'll be around all day, coming back on to talk to everyone - remember, anyone who comments gets entered to win one of three prizes!  Want to know what they are?


Prize Number One:  A free copy of my eBook!  


Prize Number Two:  A copy of the first Cookbook I ever got - by an author local to my province, Jean Paré.


Prize Number Three:  An awesome, sassy recipe box, plus matching recipe cards!  Whomever wins the recipe box gets to choose one of the two, so I'll insert a picture:

I think they are too cute.  If it is un-readable, the blue one says "Make yourself at home! Clean my Kitchen!" and the orange/peach one says "It's another day in paradise minus the paradise."


So start commenting, share this with your friends, and if you buy the book, let me know how you like it!  


**EDIT** Commenting here to win a prize will be open until Oct. 7th.  Also, check out my book's first review over at Pagan Dad!


Goddess Bless, 
Stacy