This year has not begun very well; covid hit first my husband, then me, though we were able to keep it from my immune compromised sister who lives with us. I had to reschedule my vertebral ablation for that. Then I got a toothache, and a big infection. Again we rescheduled the ablation… We had noro virus sweep through the house, starting with my sister, then, when I was taking care of her, I got it. Taking care of me, my hubby got it. We were a sad and weak household. Once again the ablation was delayed. Each time my back got worse, after two months, I was a hurtin’ pup. FINALLY I had that two month delayed procedure, and by then could hardly move about. Today, the day after, is always the worst for pain, by tomorrow it will be very much better, and by Friday I will be skipping merrily along my garden path, blithely tossing pea seeds in the ground!
My Appalachians
I believe I may screw myself up to take a drive along my favorite mountain roads to refresh my mind and renew my spirit. As soon as I can lever myself off my hotpad, that is. And wait for my comfort kitty Rufio to move as well. One small victory at a time!
Our sleepy ridge on the South Mountain complex awoke this Christmas Eve to a richly colored sky and a feeling of joy and anticipation. My son came for a brief but oh so happy visit, surprising my husband who thought he had to pick him up in several hours at an airport over a hundred miles distant. Dinner with family, blood and chosen, could not have been better! Well, maybe the cranberries got a bit toasty, but otherwise…
I’ll be better about posting after the new year, especially after my surgery in February. I’m rather looking forward to it.
I am so grateful for the gift of The Christ-child, the promise of Life everlasting, and victory of Good over Evil. I know the end of the story, and look in hope to the future. To be alive is to hope. Fröliche Weihnachten.
My husband calls me alternately an impossible optimist and a doom and gloomer. I guess that’s fair. I try to look at both sides of our world, or country, my community. Some days are filled with so many good things…no, really every day is filled with good things, I just have to look harder on some days. Some days the reality of world problems, loss of freedoms on which our country was founded, and local crises get to me more. Or maybe they are just more in my face.
I try to keep the optimism in the forefront, I have no desire to walk around with a black cloud over my head. It isn’t healthy. But neither is the Pollyanna approach I see some of my dear friends taking. Another blogger I follow said it well. I try to implement her plan… always try to see the good…in people, in situations, in the future. But have a permit and carry, because the world is not an exclusively nice place.
That said, it is a beautiful place, and where I live, I see extraordinary beauty all around me. I try to rise before the sun, and stay up long enough to see the stars in their glory. Each sunrise is different, each star shines with a different twinkle. Last night it was a blustery night with whispy clouds scudding across the sky when I put the trash out for pickup. But as each area cleared, I saw new beauty, and in the past few months, Saturn has reigned supreme in the starry sky. Bright and clear it shines.
My own favorite star is the Morning Star, actually not a star at all, but the planet Venus. In my Tolkien studies (yes I am obsessed) I came across a wonderful Anglo-Saxon quote from the poem Crist “`eala earendel eggla beorhast/ ofer middengeard monnum sended”. This translates to Hail Earendil, brightest of angels, sent over Middle Earth to men. Tolkien then transformed this into a story of one who successfully brings a message to the Valar (sort of semi-gods) asking for aid that essentially saves the world from a fallen Vala. He is then set in the sky in a “boat” made of silver and glass with a brilliant gem as a beacon of high hope for the world’s inhabitants. This is the the Morning Star and the Evening Star, and my star. Tolkien aficionados will know how very abbreviated this tale was rendered here! My apologies to them!
Are you prepared? For what, you ask? You name it! Prepared for winter, if you’re in the northern hemisphere. Ice and snow, power outages and windstorms. Southern hemisphere dwellers aren’t left out of the fun, though. A good windstorm or cyclone, monsoons and parching summer heat, wildfires and so on. we all need to anticipate more and increasing lockdowns, unrest and shortages. Shortages of paper products, food, medicines, conveniences and workers.
Home brewed tinctures and syrupsOlive oil lamps are safe around childrenLearn to prepare foods for longer storageGrow your own…even a few pots make a differenceRosehips pack a heavy punch of vitamensDrying food is easy A hand sewing kit is quick to put together
But the market is just minutes away, and our power lines are underground, you say? Believe me, no one is exempt. If a storm takes out a transformer, or our enemies take out our satellites, or lockdown is lengthy, everyone will feel the pinch. One big earthquake with an accompanying tsunami, another hurricane like Andrew, a reservoir that is contaminated, these are real threats that I have seen in my lifetime.
So okay, you have food, purchased or put up. You have water in bottles and buckets, and you’ve stockpiled toilet paper and OTC medicines (but what about your prescriptions.) You’ve got books to read, real books, and games to play to entertain your children. Good job!
Can you cook that food? You have a grill, okay, but when the propane or charcoal is gone…can you build a fire? Without a propane lighter? Can you feed yourself and family over a fire? Do you have an alternate water source? That doesn’t require electricity or fuel?
It seems overwhelming, the myriad of things we depend on infrastructure for, but under catastrophic conditions, infrastructure falls apart, and what was once just a walk in the park becomes difficult, or impossible. Maybe you live in a suburban townhouse, and have a postage stamp yard. Or just a balcony off your apartment. Start today thinking about the future. Start today to teach yourself or learn from others how to take care of yourself and your family. Believe me, no one else will do it for you in a crisis. Certainly not the government. Nope, you are your last best hope. Community can help, especially if you help build that community and interact with it so you know people personally. But in the end, it is up to you. No, it can’t be done overnight, but one day at a time, one project at a time, one new skill at a time.
What causes me to think this way now, today, this month? I am putting my garden to bed for the winter, or most of it. My activities have moved indoors to quieter tasks. I watch the news and shake my head, scan social media and feel sad for so many. I am glad I live where and how I do, but I am not totally ready for a really prolonged time of structure breakdown, whether from another snowstorm like 1996, an enemy attack or a supply chain collapse. I work at being ready. Will you?
This mornings sun dispel the remaining dampness of last nights rainy ending.
last nights fire for fellowship and roasting marshmallows ended at the perfect time, as we were wrapping up, with a sprinkle, then a wash. This morning’s sun rose in a rosy, fiery blaze, heralding the perfect fall day.
Philologist’s Thought. I gave a thought to our use of certain words, and their origins and usage. Autumn, a word we get through our French ancestors after William the Bastard conquered England, seems to sound smoother than fall, derived from Old English and Germanic fael. The first may mean passing, as in the years passing, or perhaps increase, suggesting harvest. The second to fall or fail, die or decrease. I think we have an innate, perhaps subconscious, tending towards the more positive term.
I find myself using the term fall more than autumn, perhaps because of my Germanic lineage and language, but perhaps also because I have a bit of a tendency towards the negative. I counter that vigorously with purposeful optimism with a reality chaser. As a person with ADHD, my dopamine levels are low, but I chase that chemical with will and action. I think those tendencies may slip unconsciously into my speech.
What word do you use? What words do you choose, the French derived or the Germanic. As my mamaw used to say, blood will tell.
This week a quilt I made several years ago and kept because I knew I would find the right recipient, went to its proper home. It is a special quilt because the fabric is from one of my favorite artists, Sarah Jane Studio, and is hard to find. It went to my sister’s veterinarian, a wonderful woman who saved my sister’s service dog more than once. She is now pregnant with a boy, and I think that he is the absolute perfect child to get this quilt.
I have a wonderful little garden shed that serves both as a storage and activity place for my gardens and a dye shed in which to work my magic.
Last week it was cloudy but only damp, not actively raining…mostly. Actually perfect for dyeing, since the sun can bleach out color quite easily. I used last year’s and this year’s goldenrod, this year’s coreopsis, onion skins, and some really old alkanet. I used two enamel pots, one rather rusted iron pot, and a lovely copper pot to do my dyeing, and since I wanted saddened colors, used ferrous sulfate and alum as my mordant.
LI dyed several pieces of linen (one indigo shibori dyed) and one piece of a fluffy wool. Oh they turned out wonderfully! I exhaust dyed another linen piece the next day for a lovely pale warm brown, perfect for the jacket and dresses I have planned!
I am so pleased with the results, my next dye day will be to set up my indigo pot and make blue magic. This week, I hope, if the weather holds. Maybe next year I can grow my own woad!
The site is in the mountainsMusic for the courtCourt is setting upPlanningOn the thronesThe first presentation
This being my first event as an East Kingdom resident, I am very happy for the way the event went. Normally larger, the weather and a rival event kept the populace from attending as well as had been hoped. Still, the fighting was crisp and well played, the two merchants who did attend, one of which was Rock Top Bookshop to my great pleasure, were well equipped and I made purchases from both. A lovely iron footed pot and some Complete Anachronists to add to my collection.
Because the large War of the Wings was cancelled, this smaller event was added to the Royal Progress of Their Majesties Emperor Ioannes II and Empress Honig II. They turned out to prove delightful, full of good humor and fun and generous in both speech and deed. I will enjoy this reign.
The weather was really not nice, though it certainly started thusly, it quickly turned cold and wet, a fall storm blowing in from the southwest. Pine needles fell in a blizzard of rust, spatters of cold rain stung the face and hands, temperatures fell at night, and after court I left for warmer and more enclosed spaces…my home!
Yesterday was an incredibly windy day, sustained at 38mph and gusting over 50mph! What rewards from that, you ask? Daffodils! Jonquils! Forsythia! Catkins!
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