Spring Equinox

Ostara's Maiden by Michele-Lee Phelan

Happy Ostara & 

a Blessed Spring Equinox!

Once again, night and day are equal in length. Winter is officially over and spring flowers are everywhere. I'm still a bit reluctant to leave winter behind as we had NO winter at all over here. Mother Nature is confused... Area's that normally have little to no snow had the worse snowstorms and bitter cold. Over here we are used to at least some cold weeks with snow, ice and low temperatures. This year Skadi didn't leave her mark in The Netherlands. No snow at all and apart from some minor freezing over night no real cold. A seemingly endless autumn changed directly to spring. I really, really missed winter, still do. Don't get me wrong, I love spring. It just feels so strange. Ah well, I'll just have to adapt and hope for a better winter next time. :)

Halloween / Samhain

Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain 

to all my pagan friends and readers!

Blessed Beltane to those in the Southern hemisphere.

Blessed Lammas

Lammas (or Lughnasadh) is the first of three harvest festivals. The first harvest is grain harvest. We celebrate the goddess in her aspect as Grain Mother, Harvest Mother, Harvest Queen, Earth Mother, Corn Mother. It is also the festival of Lugh, the celtic god of the light (and sun).

In the Southern hemisphere the wheel of the year turns to Imbolc.
To all my friends in both hemisphere: I wish you a blessed lammas or Imbolc!

In the nick of time

Yes, again life got in the way of blogging. Life hasn't been easy, 2012 definitely wasn't our year... So now we have our hopes on 2013! :) I'm ending this year on a positive note though: in those difficult times we got to know who our real friends are. We are very blessed with wonderful friends and some family that support and help us wherever they can. So I won't lament over lost friends or disappointing people, we are very thankful for those real friends. In return we try our best to be good friends too!

Let's see what I can tell you about the past two months. Again focusing on the positive things!

Early November I attended another workshop with Vivianne and Chris Crowley. In March I was at their workshop "Change, Growth and Renewal" and loved it. This time the theme was "A Samhain Journey", focusing on the Dark Goddess and the Lord of Death and Rebirth, working with meditation, story-telling and ritual to connect with our ancestors of spirit, blood and land and to learn to harness the creative energies of our deeper, hidden selves. It was very interesting and gave me a lot to think about and work with. Vivianne and Chris are wonderful people, down to earth and with a lot of knowledge they are happy to share. Chris also has a gift for guided meditations; his voice takes you away within seconds!

On November 9th I went to the "Zorgfestival" in Amsterdam, a festival for people who work (or want to work) in the health sector. Together with other 'experience-workers', we ran a workshop / lecture about our experience with mental health issues.  I was first to tell my story about eating disorders and depression, answer questions, etc. The audience were teenagers, students that are going to work in the health sector. The others told their story, read poems they have written and did an interactive part. It was a success and we got lots of compliments.

In November and December Ron and I went to the full moon celebrations. This year we attended most of them. With a varied group of people we do a ritual outside in the dunes near Haarlem. Meditations, stories, sharing, ritual work and more. I love it! Ron is the 'fireman', he makes and looks after the fire in the middle. Afterwards we gather around the fire with food, drink, drums, chats etc. In November I made a video that gives an impression of the 'after-party':

Last Friday we celebrated the last full moon of this year, the 13th gathering. It was the largest group of people, 15 men and women. The organizing couple announced we will continue the celebrations in 2013. Yay!

On the morning of Yule (Winter Solstice, longest night of the year, Midwinter) at sunrise we were at the same spot to celebrate the returning of the light. This time only with 3 people, but that was okay too. We did a simple but beautiful ritual. Afterwards we burned the Yule log, enjoyed hot chocolate and ate 'snert' (Dutch pea soup). A wonderful day with friends!

Last Sunday we were volunteers at the "Langste Rollade Ter Wereld", a world record attempt to make the longest rolled rost in the world, surrounded by a Dickens-style market with old trades (smithy, beekeeper, leather work and more) and a living nativity scene. The attempt was successful and the new record is 155 meters and 25 centimeters (509.35 feet)! Here's a video of the result:

It was made by a group of traditional butchers with free-range and organic meat. Afterwards the rolled rost was cut into pieces and donated to food aid for people that can't afford much. All the proceeds of the event went to another good cause.

This morning at sunrise we walked a labyrinth on the beach between Bloemendaal and Zandvoort. It was the fourth time that friends of us made a labyrinth there on December 31st, and our third time to walk it. It was very windy, but a wonderful experience, shared with friends. I made a lot of pics and some video's. I shared them publicly on Facebook in the album "Labyrint 31-12-2012". Just click the link to see the pics.

Well, that's it for now. See you next year! :-))

Yuletide blessings

May this Yule 
by the turning of the wheel 
bring love, peace, health,

happiness & good fortune;

hoping the rebirth of the light

shines new rays of hope

on you and yours!

Happy Holidays to all of you, my friends!

Relaxing yurt weekend

I got to know the yurts in Otterlo when I spent two weekends there with the Lowland Systers last year in March and November. When Ron heard my stories and saw the pics he said he would like to go there too!

So last weekend we stayed in a yurt with 3 friends and we had a great time. We all needed the peace and quiet after days/weeks/months of stress and other stuff. The weather cooperated nicely, it was dry and sunny. Ron and I drove to the yurt friday afternoon, the others arrived in the evening.

Saturday we woke up slowly and spent the day doing whatever we felt like! The men did some archery, I went for a walk in the woods, we all relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. In the afternoon the hottub was fired up. The men tried it first (very hot!), later in the evening the ladies joined them. In between we had a barbecue! After soaking and relaxing in the hottub we went back into the yurt. I slept a lot and very well!

On Sunday we had another quiet morning. Slowly we started packing and clearing out stuff. In the afternoon we drove home after a wonderful weekend with friends, fun and relaxation. Just what the doctor ordered! ;-)

Disneyland Paris

Thursday Ron, Joke and I returned from a 4-day/3-night stay in Disneyland Paris. We had a fabulous time! Because of the snow and x-mas decorations it was a true winter wonderland. So beautiful... We stayed in the Santa Fe Hotel in a simple but well-equipped room with double beds, decorated in Cars-style. A shuttlebus service was available to go to the parks.

The first day we left early, because it was a 500 km (310 mi) drive. When we arrived we moved into the room, unpacked and rested for a while. We decided to take the bus to the parks to look around a bit. Joke had been there before with Leo, so she knew where to go. The parks were covered with snow. Around 5pm the Once Upon a Dream Parade started, my absolute favourite thing to do (watch). Main Street looked wonderful. A few times my eyes filled with tears of sheer happiness. Finally there, as I've always wanted ever since the opening in 1992... My inner child enjoyed herself to her heart's content!

After an early night and deep sleep we had an early breakfast, so we could leave for the parks early too. Guests of the Disney hotels are allowed early access before opening hour. The first thing we did was Space Mountain. Holy moly, that was quite a ride! I loved it, although I was a bit unstable when I got out. Some attractions were closed because of the weather and/or refurbishing. We did all we could and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. From thrills to wonderful attractions like "It's a Small World" and "Peter Pan's Flight". It was very tiring but I walked on adrenalin! We never had long waiting times; that's the benefit of going on weekdays outside holidays. For dinner we had booked the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Great entertainment and the food was good (except for the cold potatoes).

Wednesday we 'did' the Walt Disney Studios Park. That one is smaller but also great in a different way.The absolute tophit was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! Woohoo! Inside it looked spooky and the ride was awesome. The Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular was abridged because of the snow, but still spectacular. It was very cold on the grandstand, so after the show we had some hot chocolate and went into the theatre to get warm again. When we had seen what we wanted, we walked to the other park again to shop and of course watch the Parade again. I bought and got some wonderful Tink-stuff! We had dinner in The Steakhouse about which I can be brief: a big disappointment, not something I'd recommend. But we didn't let that spoil our fun too much! We returned to the hotel, very tired (and Ron with painful knees) but very satisfied after another great day.

Thursday we decided to skip the parks and drive home early because the weather forecast was bad. The homeward journey was long. In France and Belgium it wasn't that bad, but in the Netherlands we fell into an early traffic rush hour. We were home around 6pm. First we picked up the dogs at Ron's sister; they were so happy to see us! I had missed them a lot, and the cats too. We ordered dinner in and talked about our adventures. What an experience, what an amazing time...

A selection of our (800+) photos are in my Facebook album "Eurodisney December 2010".

Back from Lier

We're back from a two weeks vacation in Lier, Belgium. We stayed at a private paradise of friends in the middle of nature and had a great time. The weather was very hot, but we also had some cooler (well, less hot...) days with an occasional shower. This was our third year there, but it will never become boring.

The dogs had a great time too, living outdoors most of the time. Foofur knew it, but it was Arwen's first time there. She enjoyed it fully, and so did Foof! Running free, rolling in the grass, dozing in the sun... On our walks along the river Nete they met horses, donkeys, cows, rabbits, birds... Arwen went swimming in the river. I panicked a bit when she went into the flow, but she is a great swimmer. She dawdled to come back. :)

We  buried Boris' ashes on a partly hidden spot on the property. He enjoyed it there sooo much and it was the last place where he was happy. We made a circle of stones to mark it. He's at a good place. We buried his ashes, but Boris will always live in our hearts.

We visited the famous Zimmer Tower in Lier for the first time. Of course we had made pics before on the outside, but we decided to do the complete tour and it was very interesting! We also did some shopping and sightseeing. Lier is a beautiful old city.

We like flea markets and the like a lot. It is always nice to visit one outside our own area. In Belgium we visited one jumble sale around a church and two huge car boot sales. Our last full vacation day was the Belgian National Holiday, so we could choose which one to visit!

There was a lot of chamomile in the meadows nearby, so Ron sneaked behind the fences and picked a big bunch (see picture on top of this post). I infused the chamomile flowers in oil and put it in the sun. It's sitting in the kitchen windowsill at home now.

All in all we had a wonderful time, our batteries are recharged!

Making herbal oils

In Lier several herbs were growing along the river Nete or nearby. I decided to take some St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and Camomile (Matricaria chamomilla), because there was plenty of it. Early in the morning Ron and I made the beautiful walk along the river and picked the flowers. From each plant we only took a few; we didn't want to harm them! Unfortunately a week later the banks were mowed to the ground...
I didn't have jars with me, so I temporarily put the flowers in Belgian milkbottles. I added "arachideolie"(peanutoil?) to make macerates (explanation). At home I put them in pharmacist's jars. They are now upstairs, in the window-sill or outside. I think I'll filter and bottle the oil during the next full moon.

I'm back!

Foofur and Boris walking along the river Nete

We are back from a wonderful vacation in Lier, Belgium. We stayed on the private property of friends, a lovely cottage surrounded by nature in the middle of nowhere. The river Nete was around the corner. Foofur and Boris could come with us and they had the time of their lives. Outdoors all day, watching the beautiful trees, birds, waters, etc. The weather was very good, although towards the end it was a bit too hot for me. I've slept a lot, read a pile of books, walked with the dogs... We have enjoyed ourselves very much. We relaxed and charged up our batteries in a way only nature, peace and quiet can provide!

Cats & Dogs Elf Dance!

I saw this at Gandalf & Grayson and decided to let our pets star in their own elf dance video! So without further ado I present to you: Boris, Foofur, Freyja, Bastet & Maia!!!!!!

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