Imbolc

(Yes, I posted this last year, but it saves me having to go waaaay back to last February)... :)

Celebrated on February 1 or 2, Imbolc or Brigid's Day marks midwinter. Animals begin to come out of hibernation and ewes begin lactating; light is returning. This is a time to acknowledge our individual gifts and feed our talents with supportive action. Imbolc is connected to the powerful new life awakening in the depths of the earth and thus also represents the rebirth and upsurge of personal power. Now we can plant seeds of inspiration, acknoledge the returning light, invoke patience, find virtue in perserverance, and inspire others. Symbols of the holiday are: seeds, wells, and fire.
Herbs and other plants for this sabbat include angelica, basil, bay, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, nettle, orris root, rosemary, rowan, and saffron.

If you're open to trying a Wiccan approach to welcoming in the dawning of spring and its warming light (especially welcome in the midst of all these crazy storms we are having), Jamie Wood, who wrote 'The Wiccan Herbal' that I often quote from, also suggests a nice little 'spell' (though it's not really a spell in the traditional sense, keep reading, you'll see!)... You need three things to do this - a yellow candle, a blue candle, and some basil oil, which you can either buy at a specialty shop, or make yourself by sealing fresh basil leaves in olive oil in an air-tight jar for at least 6 weeks before using. :)
As Jamie says, 'this spell is intended to remind you of the peace and importance of relaxation during the dark times, especially if a wicked case of the winter blues hits.'.. Perfect. :)
Now, prepare your candles - carve the word 'light' into the yellow one, and the word 'peace' into the blue one, then anoint them both with the oil. As you light the yellow candle, picture the first rays of sunlight filtering back into your life - imagine how the warm sunshine feels on your skin. Know that the same light already burns inside of you. Now light the blue candle and breathe 'deeply of peace and tranquility'. Say to yourself the word 'Serenity' three times, imagining what peace looks like in your life. Know that the calm of peace resides within you. :) I like this one.

I felt a similar sense of peace (somewhat begrudgingly, but it was there) this morning while standing in the cold at the bus stop. The bus hadn't shown up again (it seems to be rather unreliable at 7:30) and as I shivered and scowled, I caught sight of the trees across the street, ablaze with golden light. As I really looked at them, I could see the sunlight illuminating every branch, every shimmery piece of bark, every pinecone, and I thought 'warmth is coming'... Yay! Bring it on Mother Nature, I'm so ready... ;)

S

So I was browsing the shelves of a nearby bookstore a few weeks ago (it was too cold to walk around outside) and I happened upon a book that some of you (who know me well) would snicker at for sure - it's called 'The Power of Kindess - The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life'. I will admit that I was partially attracted to it because of the cover, at first, which is a basic white paperback, with a pretty green baby plant sprouting. In January, an image like that can be very inticing indeed. :) However, I also was a bit curious about the subject matter, as I have been known to feel often like I have no time for people, or friendships, or even relationships of any kind, and am often left feeling drained and frustrated when my interactions with others don't go the way I expect them to (which is all the time - people are unpredictable things, afterall)... As a result, I am often totally unfulfilled in life, bored, and perhaps a bit lonely (I do have friends, but they're mostly more like acquaintances and I tend to keep myself very closed off from others, which makes it difficult to form any deep friendships). I also have puzzled over why some people can come off so friendly and open, and instantly attract people to themselves, and EMBRACE that fact, while others (myself included in this category) come off as prickly, pushy, rushed, and basically unreachable; afraid that 'taking on a friendship' will mean having to add phone calls and chasing people around for their time to our already crowded and exhausting schedules. This, despite the fact that we (or I) yearn for more rewarding interactions with people.
So I began to read it. And what a wonderful (but challenging) set of ideas to live by!
So I thought I'd share. Each chapter discusses an element of expressing true kindess, and how that element, coupled with a shift in your life perspective, can open up vast possibilities for you, as well as making you an all-around happier person. Sounds good to me! :) The elements discussed are: Honesty, Warmth, Forgiveness, Contact, Sense of Belonging, Trust, Mindfulness, Empathy, Humility, Patience, Generosity, Respect, Flexibility, Memory, Loyalty, Gratitude, Service and Joy. Each is presented with a very down-to-Earth perspective, enhanced by interesting anecdotes, myths and stories, as told by the author, in a way that you could imagine yourself hearing them spoken by a friend, over a cup of coffee. He presents the ideas, but doesn't force them on you. However, when my mind at first resists some of the behaviours he suggests, he is quick to point out how our very make-up as humans NEEDS this kind of interaction with each other, and without it you become lost, depressed, lonely, unfocussed and ultimately dissatisfied in life, much like I've felt over the last few years..
Anyway, I thought I would maybe share each one (or an idea of it) but I'll throw it into another page (see the Sharing The Power of Kindness link on the right), as I don't want to bore anyone to tears unless they're curious. :)
Other than that, I just checked the forecast for Negril, Jamaica today, and it's a whopping +29!! Sure beats 'flash freezing', freak lightening storms, and high winds, (with rain AND snow) like we're seeing here in Ottawa today. :)
Just a few more weeks to go. :)
S

On the lighter (or darker??) side of life... :)

Ahaahaaahaahaaa!!!! According to Elle Magazine, this is one of Spring's hottest new looks... Honestly, you can tell fashion is starving if we're now ooohing and aaaaahing over an outfit that can be achieved with a pair of insane granny panties and a role of saran wrap... And one only needs to insert a metal fork into an electrical outlet and don their grandpa's oldest pair of glasses to achieve sheer sex appeal... Apparently... Owww! Smokin'.... ;)

I'd like to run through the aisles of that fashion show and knock a few heads together I think!

Ah! So I missed blue Monday - which was two days ago, apparently... That was the day that I had promised myself to buy a new plant to light up snow-bound life, and to kick off the start of a new growing season (at least, inside, anyway)... I think I'll have to go buy one today! I did acquire a new plant on Sunday, a pointsettia, but it's still recovering and I'm praying it's going to 'make it'... I had noticed it sitting by itself in the living room at my grandparents' farm. Seeing as they are now residing at their 'apartment' in Kemptville, I figured perhaps it would be a good opportunity to help out the plant, and add some more greenery to my dining room. :) However, silly me, I left it in the car for the afternoon, wrapped in a blanket, while I visited my grandparents. By the time I got home, it was withered and in quite the state of 'shock'... One interesting thing I noticed was that the withered leaves were warm to the touch - so much that it felt like it had a fever! Anyway, it's now hanging from the ceiling, infront of our long window in the dining room, and I'm hoping a little TLC will revive it to its previous 'perky' state.
So the next big day coming up is Imbolc (more on that later of course!), or Groundhog Day. It marks the end of the dark quiet months, and the time when new life begins slowly to stir underground. With the weather the way it has been, I've even heard birds in the morning lately that don't normally sing like that in the winter - makes me wonder if perhaps they've migrated a little earlier this year or something... I can already feel life picking up the pace again, as we head (at lightning speed) into February. I have to get myself organized so I can take things 'in stride' this year, instead of letting it all pile up and then come crashing down on my head in regular intervals like last year. :) Work is picking up, with several potential contracts coming down the pipes for me (in addition to my full-time one here). I'm busy preparing myself to give a presentation to the Director General of the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it. It's strange, but I feel quite at home talking about the system, and what it can do for them, but ask me to talk about the weather, or myself, or anything 'theoretical' and I get flustered as hell... Anyway, where some bigger things are looming (our trip to Jamaica, our wedding in September, residing the apartments in the Spring), which all require a great deal of planning and money, incidentally, I'm slowly catching on to the art of not sweating the smaller stuff. I've decided that our own house does NOT need a remodeling makeover, which has alleviated a lot of pressure for me. I can now be content to buy key items for each room to make it 'complete' the way it IS, instead of always fretting about the fact I want to buy an X but can't until we take down this wall, and put up that shelf, and paint it this colour, and rip up the floors, etc. To heck with all that, I say! We're young, there's two of us in a decent sized house, the best thing to do is treat it like we did our apartment, accepting it for what it is now, and making it special in smaller ways. Just deciding that makes me feel so much better. :)
I also tried Waverly's suggestion of dividing up the year into 'themes' so as to know when to focus my energy on different activities, instead of carrying the whole load of ideas in my head, all the time, and then never feeling comfortable to devote time to any one of them for fear of neglecting the next. However, my attempts at dividing the year became difficult when I started trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do this year. Things soon became cluttered and crowded when I thought of work, social life, exercise, gardening, crafty stuff, the house, the apartments, my relationship, traveling, etc. And the crazy part is, realistically, I won't do half of what I thought up anyway! But I know that I tend to think of March as being the time when I start to come out of my hibernation and start planning for the Spring. :) That's exciting. I'll be in Jamaica for the last 8 days of February, and will come back to the dawning of another year of gardening (slowly this time!) and big projects.
Anyway, happy not-so-blue Monday (even though it's late) - go buy yourself a cute fern for your desk - it'll brighten your day!!! :)
S

So, it's Sunday evening, and I'm using agonizingly slow internet at my parents' farm - so I've given up any hope of amusing myself by surfing the web and have decided to write something instead (knowing that it will probably take half the night to actually post it).

Anyway, I'd love to be watching tv at the moment but the dogs are all over me if I try to sit on the couch. At least if I sit at the computer, the three of them pile around me on the floor. I'm on the 'GSD' shift at the moment (meaning, the three german shepherds are inside with me for their hour of house-time). Then I have to still do the four crazy Parson Russell Terriers and finally, the old guys can come back in (a golden retriever, a sheltie, and a Parson Russell who isn't old but she's quiet).

So has gone every evening for me for the last four in a row. I arrived here Wednesday with my dog, Tigger, unpacked the van, and started my adventure as a 'farm girl' extraordinaire. Let me tell you, it's exhausting, though I am slightly proud that I have managed to get through it without killing anything.. :)

My day starts at 7:40 am, when the young terrier, who hasn't yet learned the wonders of sleeping in, begins to scream. (For those of you who haven't owned a terrier before, this is akin to what a regular dog would sound like if you ran over its leg with your car, or some other similarily horrible incident... They SCREAM, and I've timed one of them at two high-pitched barks per SECOND, in two-minute intervals while I'm trying to take a much needed nap...)

So I stumble out of bed and throw my boots on to greet the day (yes, on the farm, boots and pj's are incredibly functional and fashionable, don't you know). :) Anyway, so first off, I head out to the 'dog room' where I'm greeted with various ear-splitting screetches and bellows, and I grab the three GSDs and throw them into their run, enduring a literal 'pummeling' of claws and teeth as they excitedly greet me, to open the door to the outside run. That one done, I do it again, twice more, with the various terriers. Then I find somewhere for the old guys to go outside.

I then alternate trying to make coffee, feed myself, feed the cats, and get dressed with feeding the puppies and Tigger and making sure everyone has time to do their business before I close down the runs of the smaller dogs who need to stay warm.
That done, I throw on my horse attire (ie: it's allowed to smell like a stable) and head out to the barn to put the horses out into the fields, muck their stalls, change their water, put new bedding in stalls, put hay out for breakfast, and hay in stalls for night, and sweep the aisles, before changing stallions (one out at a time) and heading in for lunch (yes, it takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to get all that done by myself).

By this time, the dogs all need to go out again, so I do that while feeding myself lunch.

After lunch, I've been taking two of the GSDs for a walk to the back of the farm, and then I spend the better part of my afternoon cleaning up after whoever has decided to poop on the floor or track shavings across the floor (myself included), and rotating them through time in the yard, time in the house, and time in their runs.

I usually just start to settle into something relaxing, like thinking about opening a book, finding some good music to listen to, or whatever, when I realize it's 4:00. That's feeding time at the ranch. :) So I get back into my barn clothes and boots, and stomp out to the barn to bring the horses all back in, give them their grain and fill up their water dishes, and then lock down the barn for the day.

By the time I get back, it's time to feed the dogs. So I get all their dishes ready, then bring each group in and crate them with their supper.

During this brief lapse in animal company (minus the cats who are still following me around and throwing my stuff on the floor, jumping into the dryer when I'm loading it and not paying attention, and sitting on the dining room table), and Tigger, who eats in with me, I decide to try to make dinner. So I make some little thing for myself to eat, and scarf that down before Tigger decides he needs out again (he's having a tough time adjusting to the water so when he needs out, he means it), and so all the dogs need out.

After supper, I lock the runs down in the garage (as in, I close the doors to the outside runs, so it stays warmer in there) and I start the shifts of each group getting an hour inside with me while I attempt to relax. I just threw the GSD's out a few minutes early because they'd finally become quiet, when I heard a funny popping sound coming from the kitchen. They were in the washroom where I'd stowed a garbage bag, and were busy trying to eat a pizza box. Now the terriers are in and I am doing a fairly good job of ignoring their skittering little bodies as they fly all over the house, sniffing and nipping and getting into things... And now one of the old dogs is scratching and whining at the door.

I managed to handle this for five days. I have one more to go. I certainly couldn't do it forever though. I'd go friggin crazy... (Someone just opened a kitchen cupboard door, be right back...) Anyway, my day will end at 10:00 (I can't stay awake much beyond that, because of my helpful canine alarm clock), and will have involved one more shift of dogs coming in, and one more session of them all going out to do their business, before they all are brought in and put to bed with a cookie for being such 'good dogs'... :) I don't know how my parents do this!

Anyway, so yes, tomorrow it's back to Ottawa, back to a job that bores me to tears, and back to my own home, where I can hopefully learn to appreciate how unstressful it is to take care of just ONE dog, instead of 9...

'Night!
S

So, just in keeping with the second part of my resolution, which was to make healthier eating choices this year and restore my exercise program, here is an excerpt from Marylin Smith's blog 'the Healthy Plate'. I stumbled upon it this morning on yahoo and the refreshing thing about it is it's good old fashioned common sense, doled out in small steps. No miracle cures, or crazy birdseed diets. Her approach is to give you one thing to ADD to your lifestyle each month throughout the year, instead of taking away. So, for the month of January, if you're interested in being nicer to your body this year:

"This month all I want you to do is to add one more serving of fruit and one more serving of vegetables to your diet every day. That's it. That's all you do for the next month.
A serving of fruit is one medium-sized fruit, ½ cup (125 mL) cooked or canned fruit or ¼ cup (60 mL) dried fruit. Notice there is no mention of juice. You're probably drinking way too much juice anyway and I want you to eat the fruit not drink it. You only need ½ cup (125 mL) of juice a day which is a ton less than what most people are drinking. And when I say juice I mean 100 per cent juice. The real thing; not a fruit beverage, not a fruit cocktail, not a fruit drink. So eat more fruit, don't drink more fruit.
A serving of vegetables is ½ cup (125 mL) cooked or raw veggies or 1 cup (250 mL) of salad or leafy greens like spinach. Try to pick really deeply coloured fruits and veggies. Wash them well and eat the peel if possible. Of course that doesn't mean the orange rind, banana peel, onion skin, the list goes on. But apple peel, potato, peel, sweet potato peel, carrot, you get the idea, are all good. "

Yay, I can do this!! :)
S

Happy New Year and welcome to 2008 :)
Last year, the calendar companion I subscribed to suggested that at the start of the year, we should consider a new intention for the coming year, a quality to bring into your life. My intention for this year would be balance, across all areas of my life - friendship, work, play, thinking and doing, me and others, etc...

For example, where I have reconnected with many past friends on the internet over the past year, in the new year, I'd like to work on renewing and building on tangible friendships that I have here, the ones I've neglected for so long and are now hanging by a thread. Also, with my health - high on stress and low on time (or so I thought since my mind was racing all the time, while I aimlessly puttered around and got nothing done), I tended to opt for easy meals, canned everything, and gave up on my morning situps, my gardening, my evening strolls, etc.
Tonight I cooked a healthy, simple meal of peas, rice and pork chops tonight, and Luc and I both felt instantly better. No cream sauces, no canned veggies, no stovetop stuffing, just healthy basic foods. Also, my Mom and Dad gave me some pots and dirt and indoor gardening tools for Christmas and I spent an evening last week up to my elbows in dirt, plants and pots scattered all over the dog room, and me totally in a state of pure calm and relaxation. The next day I was in the best mood I've been in all year, and managed to share a wonderful evening with my sister, without getting tired or cranky as I normally would have. It was then that I realized I need to start doing physical things again and lay off the 'thinking and planning' that I do constantly. Also with my exercising - Luc bought a small corner tv stand and I set up my tv in the room I had originally planned to be my exercise room. Just need to find some cables for the dvd player and I'll be able to start my pilates again. :) Even simple things like doing the dishes - that used to be 'my time' where I'd turn on some music, fill the sink with nice hot water, and wash and dry the dishes by myself, which helped me unwind. Over the last few days I have returned to doing that, saving the dishwasher for only those days when time won't allow me to wash the dishes, or when we have too many to do. I'm hoping it will not only help me to find 'me time' again, but it will also hopefully help cut down on our insane electricity bill, which came in at $350 for two months - Eeeeek!
Finally, I want to strike a balance between work and non-work life... I am at a point in my career where I've coasted long enough and now have to invest a little time and energy into pushing it the direction I want it to go before it stalls altogether. With that in mind, I have to realize that for 7.5 hours a day, I am wholey 100% dedicated to work-related activities. So that if there's a 'lull' in my day to day work, I fill it with more work, so that I get things done, thus eliminating that ever growing to-do list, and I feel more satisfied with myself, instead of feeling guilty all the time. That would leave my evenings and weekends open for enjoyable things like painting, having coffee with friends, gardening seminars (I signed up for about 20, ha ha), and spending time with Luc. :)
Where does the internet fit in all this? Max 1 hour a day! To me, that actually sounds like a lot still, until I take into account that currently I spend on average 5-6 hours a day on it... :( That's crazy.
Anyway, in keeping with the theme, I have now hit my one hour limit. So I will say good night, and I wish everyone good health, happiness, a little adventure, and most of all a sense of balance in their lives throughout 2008.

Ta ta!
S