My birthday went well. I was surprised with lots of Halloween themed gifts. One is an “enchanted” broom. It pretty much runs around the floor cackling! I love it! I also got a sewing machine and have been playing with it. I still need to learn how to sew but I am not doing too shabby with what I have made. Last night I made a Halloween tarot bag, but it can be used for just about anything really. This went much quicker than if I had handsewn it like I had my other ones.

Today I attempted to make Molly some fingerless gloves with the skulls fabric I had. But that didn’t turn out so well. I took note of my screw ups though so that I can make a point NOT to do those again! Anyway after that I got out the leftover fabric from the robe I made. I have A LOT of that left so I made a reversible altar cloth. I also refer to it as my sampler because I played with all of the different stitches on the pattern knob so I can get a feel for what was a thread eater, what went slowly (the knit stitch), and if I have a preference. Anyway it turned out great!

I like this picture because you can see the pattern on the fabric, but it’s not that bright of blue. It’s actually very dark, like navy blue.

Also today the kids and I finally started our Mabon Wreath. I bought the wreath part at Dollar Tree and we added leaves we had found on our walks. I didn’t pick up a bunch of green ones, we looked for unusual and colorful ones. We will be adding to it as the Autumn arrives and the leaves change. By Thanksgiving it should be full of leaves!

So I am going to leave you with some video of my birthday. I also want to let you know I did make a page for the Birthday Ritual. I had originally found it online a couple years ago and rewrote it to fit my pantheon. Feel free to do the same! Also I updated The Pagan Mom Blog Shop because I have some fundraising in the works for our homeschool. The funds we receive will be used for our field trips! Ok, I am seriously going now. Enjoy the video!

I am still around my lovely peoples. Work has dropped dramatically and because of it we don’t currently have internet at the house. I have to wait until I get to my office in the evenings to be able to connect. Well, I can with my phone but doing blog posts from there is a massive PITA so I will wait until I can get to my office. Hopefully soon things pick back up (or I find more work which is highly unlikely given that I have put out over 100 resumes) and we can get our internet back. So what’s been going on? Got LOTS going on!

No more cable! With the recent cutoff I have once again begged the hubs to just get rid of the cable and telephone and he finally agreed. With 3 cellphones and internet we can make calls, get news, and watch cartoons. In the Spring I want to get a Roku and stream Netflix through it.

Homeschooling is tough! Yep, it’s a shit load of work. I am so not going to lie to you about that. The girls and I feel that our current curriculum (which is free) isn’t working out so well. So I am checking out new curriculum to buy come this spring.

It’s my birthday! By the time this gets posted and available to read, I will have done my birthday ritual. I have been getting questions about it so I may go ahead and post it soon so you can see what it’s like.

Type A Mom Conference is almost here! I have been trying to help with this and pre-conference blogger party for the locals (which I will miss). It’s pretty mind boggling all the things that have to be done.

Pagan Pride Day! On the 18th I will be in Raleigh for Pagan Pride Day. I have to miss the Charlotte one (which is closer) because of Type A Mom Conference so I am going further away and hanging with some of my Twitter peeps for the day.

Mabon! Just a few more weeks and it is here! I have a small twig wreath for the kids to glue items on that we have been finding on our walks. We are also going to be making some Corn Dollies in a week or so. One will adorn the altar and I think the others will hang around the house. Might save one for the Mother Grove Temple Rite and place it on the altar.

Honey Mead! I was looking through one of my books and came across a very simple recipe for honey mead. So I got a bee in my bonnet and want to make some. Hoping to pick up some honey and water this week and get it started. Recipe says it ferments for 7 days but I have been advised to let it sit for four months. That gives me time to acquire bottles, corks, and a cork pusher thingamiajiggy.

Runes! Yep, I made another set. The Futhark set I made I was having trouble connecting with. So I made my own set with some heiroglyphics.

I have the meanings typed up, just need to get it printed and into BoS.

So yea that’s what is up with me. Someone suggested I do a post on Bastet and I am working on that. It will have some history and a little bit about my relationship with her. Hopefully you all will find it interesting!

I am going through some writer’s block. I have NO clue what to write about. Suggestions are of course always welcome. I am thinking maybe I will check out Pagan Blog Prompts for tomorrow if I can’t think of anything by  then.

I did get two reviews up! One is a book review of Diary of a Drug Fiend and the other is about the Zhuniverse Tour I attended. Please check them out!

Yesterday I went to the Osun Veneration held at a nearby park. I don’t know much about Osun, Yemaya, and Oya but it was an amazing learning experience. First we listened to some amazing singing by the Sahara Peace Choir. It was like a mix of African rhythms and gospel. Very moving and energetic, even when it was a slow piece. Then the High Priestess spoke. She explained that Osun was like the woman who attracted the man, Yemaya is the woman who keeps the man, and Oya is the wise woman later in life, and all three are a water Goddess. Much like the triple goddess aspect of Maiden, Mother, and Crone. But it had a voodoo aspect where it could be incorporated with any tradition including the abrahamic religions.

Mother Grove Temple was on hand to put together an Orisa altar. One side, dressed in yellow, was for Osun. The other side, dressed in blue, was for Yemaya. I didn’t get pics of Yemaya’s altar but I did get a pic of the Osun side.

We did a beautiful job! In the center on the tray are small vials of honey with a pearl inside. We were asking for donation for those to give to the Zamani Refuge organization to help our sister city of Osogbo, Nigeria. I got a vial and had Molly take it to the High Priestess to get blessed. Then she offered about a quarter of the vial into the river as thanks to Osun.  We also offered handfuls of popcorn into the river as prayer and thanks to Osun.

After that came the drumming. Oh how I wish you all could have been there for that. It simply was amazing! Honestly, words cannot describe the powerful energy that was flowing from the drumming, clapping, and people dancing. I did get some video of the drumming, by then the rain had stopped which was a wonderful blessing! Anyhow here are the video’s I shot. I recommend if you can go to an honoring of Osun, please do so. You won’t regret it!

Things have been changing around here. The mornings used to be stifling hot as early as 8 am. Now it’s got a nice cool crisp feel to it. Some of our trees are even changing already. Not many and not by much, just a hint. It seems a bit earlier than usual but Autumn Equinox is not that far away. I like this feeling of change in the air. Who knows what it will bring?

Have I mentioned that my parents will be visiting? I don’t think I have as I have still been processing the idea that they will be here. First my mom texted me to say they will be here 9/7 & 9/8. Two days, whew. I can handle two days. But then she said depending on their money situation would depend on how long they stayed. Now I am panicking because maybe they will be here longer than 2 days. And they are coming in the middle of birthday season. My dad’s is 8/28, mine is 9/1, my sister is 9/3, and my middle daughter is 9/15. I can’t help but worry they are here for birthdays. Not a bad thing for the kidlets. But I don’t want anything and nothing is more uncomfortable than to receive a gift you don’t want from people you don’t want giving you a gift. I was raised that a gift is something you politely thank the giver for and accept it. It goes in direct conflict of me feeling like i am taking advantage of some people I don’t get along with well. See the hubs attitude is “well if it’s cash you can go on a shopping trip”. And if it’s cash I probably will and buy the kids things they need. And I do that so I don’t feel like I am just using them for cash. Because that’s what it feels like. I know people say that I should take the time to do something for me but I can’t when it comes from them. Trust me, when my inlaws give me birthday money, I go have a blast spending it.

My other issue with my parents, and well my family in general, is that they insist that I am upset about getting old. Seriously. They were nuts when I turned 30. And somehow they justified it with “you are so upset about being old”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I know when they are here I am going to hear that 35 is old and I am almost 40 and that is old and blah blah blah blah. It’s exhausting just listening to them. I honestly think that my aging bothers them the most and they are having to come to grips with the fact that they are aging.