Thursday, June 30, 2011
June 29 Compost toilets and Activism
June 29, 2011
I got an e-mail from Noah today that Trent went home and one from Jamie that Wiley was ok too other than teething. So now that the family at home is OK for now I can get on with the work I am up here to do.
This morning we opened our daily circle with a water trance. The one that I did in Texas in 2000 that lead me to the Reclaiming Tradition, I have done this trance many times and each time it is like the first, it awakens me to the magic I have committed my life to, very powerful.
In our morning session we talked about and discussed designs for gray water systems and black water systems and how to clean water to use on plants and for drinking water. It was very interesting and informative with very practical applications that I am sure I will use in the future as a designer/
After lunch we talked about building a composting toilet and the actually built one for the house since we are having serious problems with the plumbing. But we didn’t just build a composting toilet we build a outhouse with a seat and curtains, a compost bin and a stone path, the little house was a storage shed but we also put a water catchment forhand and bucket washing station. I am totally amazed how much work we can do in just a few hours working together. The composting toilets are very useful in situations where you do not have water or indoor plumbing and after a year of composting it can be used for the garden. Unlike what people think it is safe and odor free when you do it right. Our teacher Brook, bought one from England and spent $1200 on it and it broke in a few months and they went back to using their bucket.
The food has improved and the coffee is running freely. The mood of all the campers has heightened and everyone is happier some one is sing and playing the guitar or banjo, you hear a lot of laughter through out. There are two little boys here and their mother is in our class but they are only with us at night and meals. We have an internet café in one of the up stair rooms, the connection is iffy. For breakfast we had coffee and of course now eggs and cheese! We were all up this morning early and Charles taught a workshop on communication with birds, it was really cool to understand what they were telling you in the woods.
Our evening session was on activism and how to organize a campaign. Of course it is an activism workshop and I am with Starhawk. I have been working on the fringe of activism for many years but this is the first time I have ever actually had training in how it is constructed. Using the concepts and applying them to permaculture principles and improving the quality of life for people is so very important. There are a lot of activist here that are currently working on huge projects and some on an international scale. I feel very passionate about the work we are doing and how we are taking this out into the world. .
I got an e-mail from Noah today that Trent went home and one from Jamie that Wiley was ok too other than teething. So now that the family at home is OK for now I can get on with the work I am up here to do.
This morning we opened our daily circle with a water trance. The one that I did in Texas in 2000 that lead me to the Reclaiming Tradition, I have done this trance many times and each time it is like the first, it awakens me to the magic I have committed my life to, very powerful.
In our morning session we talked about and discussed designs for gray water systems and black water systems and how to clean water to use on plants and for drinking water. It was very interesting and informative with very practical applications that I am sure I will use in the future as a designer/
After lunch we talked about building a composting toilet and the actually built one for the house since we are having serious problems with the plumbing. But we didn’t just build a composting toilet we build a outhouse with a seat and curtains, a compost bin and a stone path, the little house was a storage shed but we also put a water catchment forhand and bucket washing station. I am totally amazed how much work we can do in just a few hours working together. The composting toilets are very useful in situations where you do not have water or indoor plumbing and after a year of composting it can be used for the garden. Unlike what people think it is safe and odor free when you do it right. Our teacher Brook, bought one from England and spent $1200 on it and it broke in a few months and they went back to using their bucket.
The food has improved and the coffee is running freely. The mood of all the campers has heightened and everyone is happier some one is sing and playing the guitar or banjo, you hear a lot of laughter through out. There are two little boys here and their mother is in our class but they are only with us at night and meals. We have an internet café in one of the up stair rooms, the connection is iffy. For breakfast we had coffee and of course now eggs and cheese! We were all up this morning early and Charles taught a workshop on communication with birds, it was really cool to understand what they were telling you in the woods.
Our evening session was on activism and how to organize a campaign. Of course it is an activism workshop and I am with Starhawk. I have been working on the fringe of activism for many years but this is the first time I have ever actually had training in how it is constructed. Using the concepts and applying them to permaculture principles and improving the quality of life for people is so very important. There are a lot of activist here that are currently working on huge projects and some on an international scale. I feel very passionate about the work we are doing and how we are taking this out into the world. .
Photos
My French room mate Louise from Montreal Quebec
The three Swales change the water flow on the land and run to over flows that feed the pond
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
June 28 A frames and Swales
June 28, 2011
Coffee Yes! This morning I went for my run and then a long walk in the woods and played my flute to awaken the Elements. Class starts at 9:00 but the sun comes up at 4:30. Decided since my headache was still with me, if I were offered coffee, I would take it. After hearing the discussion yesterday of some of the other campers longings for foods such as sugar, chocolate, eggs, cheese and orange juice. I was not the only one being physically challenged and I knew it was coming.
We opened our morning circle and called in the elements, then we made Biobrew! I have made it many times before and make mine diifferent but making it with Starhawk in permaculture class just really set the mood. You can already feel the energy shifting on the land and I am starting to feel that despite all the emotional energy I have been processing. There is good reason for it and that I am not alone. The woman that had an issue with my snoring did not leave and we have been talking a lot about our process and she offered to make that trip in to town, to pick up a few things for other people.
In our morning session we started off with some powerful intervention about our FOOD NEEDS! and yes, we will be having eggs for breakfast if we have to purchase and cook them ourselves. I over heard the cook telling Starhawk that if she knew we ate eggs it would have made her baking better, so there has been a huge communication break down.
Then we talked about water and systems of water how to use it and how to move it and collect and store it. I was much more awake and really enjoyed class and engaged in conversation than the past few days. Talking about Nestles’ and the Wacissa river made me miss home. At lunch I handed over some money to Marilyn and asked for a French press and coffee. And yes! I got it! Now I can make my own coffee when ever I want and I am a happy camper!!
I called Leslie at the hospital and talked with her for a while about Trent, but I did not talk with Trent. She told me about all that was going on with him and that they are keeping him another day till the test are all back to confirm. She said that the meningitis was caused by the rota (?) virus and it went to his spinal column. Then she talked about the baby daddy drama. Believe me, on top of everything else that is going on this shows just how stupid he is. And this will come to some kind of closure soon. We just have to trust that what goes around comes around. Please continue to send Trent, Leslie and Noah energy and Jamie and Wiley as well. I understand Jamie is concerned about Wiley being exposed to Trent and took him to be checked and he has an ear infection.
Our afternoon session was the first of our manual labor application to permaculture. And I am so glad I have been training physically for this work over the past few weeks. We build A frames to mark the contour of the land and went out into the field by the pond and marked the contour for swales, that are ditches that do two things, some trap the water running down hill so it absorbs into the soil to give your land more stored water and the other is to divert water to holding ponds and over flows. Next we build the swales and I mean hard physical labor, digging into rocky wet grass with rocks under the surface. And pulling back the soil and grass to build the burm. But is just a short time out team was done because we worked together. Other teams were sitting around watching others work, ours was the longest and we just jumped in there and did it. And it felt good. Then we covered smoothed the ditch and covered it with straw, the draiins were filled with rocks. Now to wait for rain to see if it works, but we did a good job and it looked very nice. I would have not had the same experience at home because I don’t have the thick grass, the slope or the rocks to deal with. We got the afternoon off since we did a lot of work and dinner was much better and I had a cup of coffee.
Our evening session was about Natural Earth Buildings and a man that talked about buildings made out of Cob, some straw, mud and sand mixture. We will be discussing it in the class but his slide show presentation was actually very good showing houses all over the world built out of natural materials.
I feel much better and Louise and I talked about how this work is shifting the energy here and we are settling into it. I have had such an emotional shaking since I have been here that I am just now starting to relax and get into the work. This is an intensive and it will not be easy work but I know it is important.
Coffee Yes! This morning I went for my run and then a long walk in the woods and played my flute to awaken the Elements. Class starts at 9:00 but the sun comes up at 4:30. Decided since my headache was still with me, if I were offered coffee, I would take it. After hearing the discussion yesterday of some of the other campers longings for foods such as sugar, chocolate, eggs, cheese and orange juice. I was not the only one being physically challenged and I knew it was coming.
We opened our morning circle and called in the elements, then we made Biobrew! I have made it many times before and make mine diifferent but making it with Starhawk in permaculture class just really set the mood. You can already feel the energy shifting on the land and I am starting to feel that despite all the emotional energy I have been processing. There is good reason for it and that I am not alone. The woman that had an issue with my snoring did not leave and we have been talking a lot about our process and she offered to make that trip in to town, to pick up a few things for other people.
In our morning session we started off with some powerful intervention about our FOOD NEEDS! and yes, we will be having eggs for breakfast if we have to purchase and cook them ourselves. I over heard the cook telling Starhawk that if she knew we ate eggs it would have made her baking better, so there has been a huge communication break down.
Then we talked about water and systems of water how to use it and how to move it and collect and store it. I was much more awake and really enjoyed class and engaged in conversation than the past few days. Talking about Nestles’ and the Wacissa river made me miss home. At lunch I handed over some money to Marilyn and asked for a French press and coffee. And yes! I got it! Now I can make my own coffee when ever I want and I am a happy camper!!
I called Leslie at the hospital and talked with her for a while about Trent, but I did not talk with Trent. She told me about all that was going on with him and that they are keeping him another day till the test are all back to confirm. She said that the meningitis was caused by the rota (?) virus and it went to his spinal column. Then she talked about the baby daddy drama. Believe me, on top of everything else that is going on this shows just how stupid he is. And this will come to some kind of closure soon. We just have to trust that what goes around comes around. Please continue to send Trent, Leslie and Noah energy and Jamie and Wiley as well. I understand Jamie is concerned about Wiley being exposed to Trent and took him to be checked and he has an ear infection.
Our afternoon session was the first of our manual labor application to permaculture. And I am so glad I have been training physically for this work over the past few weeks. We build A frames to mark the contour of the land and went out into the field by the pond and marked the contour for swales, that are ditches that do two things, some trap the water running down hill so it absorbs into the soil to give your land more stored water and the other is to divert water to holding ponds and over flows. Next we build the swales and I mean hard physical labor, digging into rocky wet grass with rocks under the surface. And pulling back the soil and grass to build the burm. But is just a short time out team was done because we worked together. Other teams were sitting around watching others work, ours was the longest and we just jumped in there and did it. And it felt good. Then we covered smoothed the ditch and covered it with straw, the draiins were filled with rocks. Now to wait for rain to see if it works, but we did a good job and it looked very nice. I would have not had the same experience at home because I don’t have the thick grass, the slope or the rocks to deal with. We got the afternoon off since we did a lot of work and dinner was much better and I had a cup of coffee.
Our evening session was about Natural Earth Buildings and a man that talked about buildings made out of Cob, some straw, mud and sand mixture. We will be discussing it in the class but his slide show presentation was actually very good showing houses all over the world built out of natural materials.
I feel much better and Louise and I talked about how this work is shifting the energy here and we are settling into it. I have had such an emotional shaking since I have been here that I am just now starting to relax and get into the work. This is an intensive and it will not be easy work but I know it is important.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Heartroot farms photos June 27
I can only down load a few at a time and not with my blog but I will try to keep you up dated
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
June 27 No Coffee and Trent in the Hopsital
June 27, 2011
Day 2 Earth Activist Training
I started my day with a commitment that I was not going to drink coffee even if it were offered to me in a silver cup. And it did appear on the breakfast table and I walked away and others knew I was suffering. Starhawk did not know what I was processing and told a story at the breakfast table about having to stop drinking coffee during a protect because of the extreme conditions and that they were out on the street for four days protesting. Another sign that I was doing something important. I just don’t feel coffee is a bad thing and had no intention of stopping it here and suffering like this The headache hit about 10 am and I was not able to concentrate in class which was an important presentation Zone and sections and micro climates.
I am also having a hard time with the food. Yes, we are eating healthy foods but I have had NO protein since I have been here other than beans. We are eating soups, bread and salads for lunch and dinner and oatmeal for breakfast with fruit. I am suffering because I am not digesting the beans well.
The farm is basically a very old musty barn that has been sorta made into a retreat center. We are sleeping on mattress on plywood floors and there are just rooms tossed here and there. I was lucky to get a cabin that is in the center of the cow, horse and donkey pasture and we have to walk the wet poopy trails to get there. But I do have privacy where others do not. Louise from Montreal and I are in the cabin and are enjoying our space. The bathrooms toilets are from RV’s with no real flush systems, some have valve water source some just have buckets. And the whole place stinks. We already shut down one of the bathrooms due to it being too close to the class room. The physical accommodations suck and that includes the food, soup and salad are ok for a meal or two but this looks like all we are getting.
At Lunch I checked my e-mail and had a total melt down. My emotions are on edge anyway and I am having a rough day and Noah e-mails that Trent our grandson was in the hospital and they think he has meningitis. I called everyone at home and no one answered. Lisa checks her messages on her phone and she did reply and tell me he was ok and she was watching over them. One again here is my fear and I am trying to work through it. I told the classes and we send to powerful healing for Trent and support for the family. I am sure they felt it strong, this is a powerful group of people and the work we are doing is also powerful. And I am not the only one struggling with emotions and physical discomfort. After class I was able to talk with Noah and get a better. It seems he is stable and they are keeping hin till the test come back. It was good to get to talk to him and in calmed my emotions.
In class this afternoon we actually started to design permaculture designs for this farm. We took a few things they want and worked in small groups to design a plan according to the principles and zones and concepts we have been working on. It was a lot of fun and we actully used what we were learning to apply to this site.
During the evening class we talked a lot about power and community structure and working in our designs with permaculture for peoples needs. It was a good talk and very interactive, we were able to give our input into our ideas and purpose for doing this work.
I will post photos later since it seems we are all on our computers.
Day 2 Earth Activist Training
I started my day with a commitment that I was not going to drink coffee even if it were offered to me in a silver cup. And it did appear on the breakfast table and I walked away and others knew I was suffering. Starhawk did not know what I was processing and told a story at the breakfast table about having to stop drinking coffee during a protect because of the extreme conditions and that they were out on the street for four days protesting. Another sign that I was doing something important. I just don’t feel coffee is a bad thing and had no intention of stopping it here and suffering like this The headache hit about 10 am and I was not able to concentrate in class which was an important presentation Zone and sections and micro climates.
I am also having a hard time with the food. Yes, we are eating healthy foods but I have had NO protein since I have been here other than beans. We are eating soups, bread and salads for lunch and dinner and oatmeal for breakfast with fruit. I am suffering because I am not digesting the beans well.
The farm is basically a very old musty barn that has been sorta made into a retreat center. We are sleeping on mattress on plywood floors and there are just rooms tossed here and there. I was lucky to get a cabin that is in the center of the cow, horse and donkey pasture and we have to walk the wet poopy trails to get there. But I do have privacy where others do not. Louise from Montreal and I are in the cabin and are enjoying our space. The bathrooms toilets are from RV’s with no real flush systems, some have valve water source some just have buckets. And the whole place stinks. We already shut down one of the bathrooms due to it being too close to the class room. The physical accommodations suck and that includes the food, soup and salad are ok for a meal or two but this looks like all we are getting.
At Lunch I checked my e-mail and had a total melt down. My emotions are on edge anyway and I am having a rough day and Noah e-mails that Trent our grandson was in the hospital and they think he has meningitis. I called everyone at home and no one answered. Lisa checks her messages on her phone and she did reply and tell me he was ok and she was watching over them. One again here is my fear and I am trying to work through it. I told the classes and we send to powerful healing for Trent and support for the family. I am sure they felt it strong, this is a powerful group of people and the work we are doing is also powerful. And I am not the only one struggling with emotions and physical discomfort. After class I was able to talk with Noah and get a better. It seems he is stable and they are keeping hin till the test come back. It was good to get to talk to him and in calmed my emotions.
In class this afternoon we actually started to design permaculture designs for this farm. We took a few things they want and worked in small groups to design a plan according to the principles and zones and concepts we have been working on. It was a lot of fun and we actully used what we were learning to apply to this site.
During the evening class we talked a lot about power and community structure and working in our designs with permaculture for peoples needs. It was a good talk and very interactive, we were able to give our input into our ideas and purpose for doing this work.
I will post photos later since it seems we are all on our computers.
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 26 Very long first day at heartroot Farm
June 26, 2011
Heartroot Farms
Well I am not a happy camper this morning. First, there is no coffee that I can find at 7:00 when breakfast was to start and there is no one moving in the house and I woke up at 4:30 since the sun was up and got up at 6:00 and ran a few miles. I sat outside and the sand gnats starting biting me and drove me inside. I sat up stairs in the computer room and finished my blog when Marilyn our third roommate told me that I snored and she was moving out of our cabin and I told her I was sorry and there was nothing I could do about it. I am grumpy and didn’t feel like playing my flute, which is only the beginning.
At breakfast I was hungry and feeling like I want to cry. When I saw a French Press sitting on the table full of coffee and asked whose it was, and it was for Kim Butterfly.
She, Natasha and I shared one pot, less than a cup a piece. Kim and I talked about coffee and we both come from a place of coffee lovers and being in the Café business and really loving Fair Trade Organic coffee. The host Dawn made a comment about how I had all they symptoms of a caffeine addict so I really felt she understood, I needed coffee. But here is how this turns out.. later after the Waters of the World ritual I asked Dawn, explaining that she had witnessed my addiction, for another cup of coffee. Shown the half bag of coffee and told that I could not have coffee and I would have to wait till morning. I even offered to purchase coffee when she made a trip to the market and she said yes. Later she asked Starhawk for a prescription and I knew she was going to town, we were in class and I was standing right there and she did not offer to pick up coffee, I did not like the vibes and did not mention it. But all through class I was having a hard time focusing and getting really emotional. And I just quite smoking less than two months ago so I was really feeling deprived. When we broke for lunch I asked Kim Butterfly if she would have an affinity session with me and I was able to cry and let out the emotions I had been stuffing. She told me about her Feri training with Thorn and how they had to have a Coffee intervention with the person making and supplying, but the lesson was that if you are that addicted to something you had better think about it. And that was what I needed to hear, but I really felt too that I was and am being treated with disrespect from the host, in my Southern world I would have gone out of my way to make and or offer coffee to my guest and would have made it a point to be sure that they were happy.
Where I feel I am being made to face something that I don’t see as a problem. I drank Black Tea the rest of the day and it took the edge off but I do not like it. And if things get really bad I still have a whole box of Mr.Maple left and I can cry to him. But Kim helped me a lot and she is NOT an addict but was very touched that I asked to affind with her. I have decided to refrain from Coffee while I am here and see what lesson this has to offer. Or at least I will try. And see what happens.
Later in the day Marilyn, the woman with a problem with my snoring asked me for an affinity session, she was totally melting down and was about to pack her stuff and leave because the farm is such a wreck and not supportive of the work we are doing here. I talked her into speaking her mind using "I" statements and was there when she talked with the host. But she moved her sleeping area and will give it another 24 hours. More on that later.
We started our Permaculture work off with Waters of the world and I added the water I got from the Summer Solstice ritual and then from the Wacissa river. We cast a circle, even though I don’t think the majority of people here are Reclaiming and about half of them probably don’t know much about the magic of the work that makes this Starhawk’s Earth Activest training and not just permaculture. Then we cast a circle and called in Elements in a whole different way and did some trance work into walking with the elements and expressed how the different elements came into play for the work we are doing. Last night we played Joggers and cougars, this morning we danced to several songs. There are a lot of really cool songs that are being sung here so I have got to get out my recorder.
We talked a lot about the principles of Permaculture and did a skit to play out one of those in small groups so that is the before lunch. After lunch we did some observation work out in the wild flower garden about patterns in nature and spent some time meditation on them. Once we came in we openly discussed the patterns and how they are used in nature, practical applications, social applications and in the human body. There is a lot of connections to the elements and the directions in design. But we are just getting started.
And our evening session was a long slide show and a movie about permaculture. Then we also watched her trailer for "The Fifth Sacred Thing" and she is trying to raise money for the making of the film.
That was our first day and one of the students did leave due to a very severe mold allergy, and we have a lot of that along with dampness and odors. More on the extremely rustic Heartroot Farm to come. I am very tired and processing…
Heartroot Farms
Well I am not a happy camper this morning. First, there is no coffee that I can find at 7:00 when breakfast was to start and there is no one moving in the house and I woke up at 4:30 since the sun was up and got up at 6:00 and ran a few miles. I sat outside and the sand gnats starting biting me and drove me inside. I sat up stairs in the computer room and finished my blog when Marilyn our third roommate told me that I snored and she was moving out of our cabin and I told her I was sorry and there was nothing I could do about it. I am grumpy and didn’t feel like playing my flute, which is only the beginning.
At breakfast I was hungry and feeling like I want to cry. When I saw a French Press sitting on the table full of coffee and asked whose it was, and it was for Kim Butterfly.
She, Natasha and I shared one pot, less than a cup a piece. Kim and I talked about coffee and we both come from a place of coffee lovers and being in the Café business and really loving Fair Trade Organic coffee. The host Dawn made a comment about how I had all they symptoms of a caffeine addict so I really felt she understood, I needed coffee. But here is how this turns out.. later after the Waters of the World ritual I asked Dawn, explaining that she had witnessed my addiction, for another cup of coffee. Shown the half bag of coffee and told that I could not have coffee and I would have to wait till morning. I even offered to purchase coffee when she made a trip to the market and she said yes. Later she asked Starhawk for a prescription and I knew she was going to town, we were in class and I was standing right there and she did not offer to pick up coffee, I did not like the vibes and did not mention it. But all through class I was having a hard time focusing and getting really emotional. And I just quite smoking less than two months ago so I was really feeling deprived. When we broke for lunch I asked Kim Butterfly if she would have an affinity session with me and I was able to cry and let out the emotions I had been stuffing. She told me about her Feri training with Thorn and how they had to have a Coffee intervention with the person making and supplying, but the lesson was that if you are that addicted to something you had better think about it. And that was what I needed to hear, but I really felt too that I was and am being treated with disrespect from the host, in my Southern world I would have gone out of my way to make and or offer coffee to my guest and would have made it a point to be sure that they were happy.
Where I feel I am being made to face something that I don’t see as a problem. I drank Black Tea the rest of the day and it took the edge off but I do not like it. And if things get really bad I still have a whole box of Mr.Maple left and I can cry to him. But Kim helped me a lot and she is NOT an addict but was very touched that I asked to affind with her. I have decided to refrain from Coffee while I am here and see what lesson this has to offer. Or at least I will try. And see what happens.
Later in the day Marilyn, the woman with a problem with my snoring asked me for an affinity session, she was totally melting down and was about to pack her stuff and leave because the farm is such a wreck and not supportive of the work we are doing here. I talked her into speaking her mind using "I" statements and was there when she talked with the host. But she moved her sleeping area and will give it another 24 hours. More on that later.
We started our Permaculture work off with Waters of the world and I added the water I got from the Summer Solstice ritual and then from the Wacissa river. We cast a circle, even though I don’t think the majority of people here are Reclaiming and about half of them probably don’t know much about the magic of the work that makes this Starhawk’s Earth Activest training and not just permaculture. Then we cast a circle and called in Elements in a whole different way and did some trance work into walking with the elements and expressed how the different elements came into play for the work we are doing. Last night we played Joggers and cougars, this morning we danced to several songs. There are a lot of really cool songs that are being sung here so I have got to get out my recorder.
We talked a lot about the principles of Permaculture and did a skit to play out one of those in small groups so that is the before lunch. After lunch we did some observation work out in the wild flower garden about patterns in nature and spent some time meditation on them. Once we came in we openly discussed the patterns and how they are used in nature, practical applications, social applications and in the human body. There is a lot of connections to the elements and the directions in design. But we are just getting started.
And our evening session was a long slide show and a movie about permaculture. Then we also watched her trailer for "The Fifth Sacred Thing" and she is trying to raise money for the making of the film.
That was our first day and one of the students did leave due to a very severe mold allergy, and we have a lot of that along with dampness and odors. More on the extremely rustic Heartroot Farm to come. I am very tired and processing…
Sunday, June 26, 2011
June 25 Montreal to Heartroot Farm
June 25, 2011
Ah….hot coffee and Mr.Maple for breakfast, Bonnie was right I will probably polish off the first box by the time I make Montreal. These cookies are amazing sorta like what Oreos use to taste like, but maple instead of chocolate. Bonnie is a true maple addict and now I know why. I could use some real food (sorry Mr.Maple) but think I will wait till I get off the train in Montreal. A French Breakfast sounds good even though I am not sure what that will be, I think Derrick said something like a, Twinky and a Mountain Dew? Oh and I have discovered Tim Horton’s, the Starbuck equivalent on every street corner, to heart clogging fats and bad coffee, it is more like Dunkin Donuts at home.
I am a little nervous about finding my bus, making calls and getting rides but I also know it will all work out and I will be at Heartroot Farm by this afternoon.
This will be the first morning in a long while that I have not played my flute to wake the Elements within me and run to get my body up and moving. Simple pleasures but I love them. I didn’t run the morning I went to Jacksonville. These things are good habits, to replace some bad ones. I love to run, and actually walking hurts my shins. I first started running as a very over weight teenager and found a freedom in it that was so natural to me. I go through times in my life where I just don’t run for what ever reason, but I am glad I have found it in my life again.
I started playing the flute when we went to Starfest 2009, I bought this Georgia
river reed flute with five holes, sounds like a woman’s voice so it is easy to find the notes
to a song you would sing, or it is for me. I love it. When I was young I played recorder
but never really liked the finger placements. Three of the Elemental chants I play are
actually chants I have found on the flute, the other two found me.
Quebec, from the train is green, newly planted fields, huge farms, wet from recent rain
and some Hairy cows. Rain pellets the train window, the morning light is pale yellow
and green as The farms roll by. Strange that I feel a connection to what I see and feel here
maybe from my Grandfather’s side maybe feeling it, I don’t know. Gas is spelled Gaz.
So the mad dash from the rail station to the bus station in Montreal was a bit unnerving but I did it with grace. I took a cab and saw just a dab of down town Montreal in a down pour. I really pissed the breakfast cook off in the bus station when he asked me if I wanted 2 breakfasts (I had ordered the #2 breakfast) and I thought he was asking me if I wanted two eggs. There was this beautiful woman that came up behind me in line and took the breakfast that I had NOT ordered because I think she saw that I was almost in tears because I did not understand and he was just bitchin at me. Oh, now I know why Cindy taught me, Tabernak… it means F U but I would have been afraid he would have thrown a knife at me. I was really hungry and tired. I even decided not to ask for a to go box and made my way back to my bags with open plate of food spilling half of it. A very nice woman offered to watch my bags for me, and something said yes, I can trust her. When I got back there were two women getting in bus line up that had the look with big back packs, tattoos and dyed hair. I asked and yes they too were going to EAT and another one joined in. By the time we got off the bus there were 5 of us with a shit load of luggage. The beautiful woman that came to get us just made the best of it and we all piled into this (small) SUV that had six seats and piled our luggage in on top of us. I sat in the front with all my luggage on my lap except my hand bag that was in the back. By the time we drove another 1 ½ hours to the farm I had been on the road for 27 hours straight and in some of the most uncomfortable positions, I ached all over. Then I have to say that when I got here it was not what I expected. Needless to say I am a little….humbled by the accommodations and the lack of organization and that is all I am going to say. I did rally that Louise (from Montreal) and I get into the cabin and we have been joined by other older women Marilyn from New York. The young carefree Hippy unorganized energy here is just a little too free spirit for my mind right this moment but I have met some incredible people and there are a lot of things telling me I need to be here doing this work. I am just tired and grumpy right now, I have been on a whirlwind trip and I need to relax, and I really think this is going to be ok.
The farm is.. well I will just say in a state of needed repair. But there are beautiful wild flowers and it is getting really cold and it has been raining for two weeks. We had a very light dinner of rice pasta and vegetables and some sort of salad.
I need to call home and had to ask for the phone and that was not comfortable being taken to the house which is private and we are in a barn that is communal living space.
We had our introduction and first meeting after dinner. There are 18 students but a lot of other people here just coming and going. There are two kids of a student that are distracting. We chose Affinity Groups and the young mother ended up in our group and then we had a meeting about work traded jobs, I got toilette duty…. I took it because the other work traders are all young and excited I just didn’t want to put them in the position to feel they got the shit. There are a lot of young people here and that is why I choose the little cabin away from the youthful energy of the dorm and so I have a place to be quiet.
It was a very LONG day.
Ah….hot coffee and Mr.Maple for breakfast, Bonnie was right I will probably polish off the first box by the time I make Montreal. These cookies are amazing sorta like what Oreos use to taste like, but maple instead of chocolate. Bonnie is a true maple addict and now I know why. I could use some real food (sorry Mr.Maple) but think I will wait till I get off the train in Montreal. A French Breakfast sounds good even though I am not sure what that will be, I think Derrick said something like a, Twinky and a Mountain Dew? Oh and I have discovered Tim Horton’s, the Starbuck equivalent on every street corner, to heart clogging fats and bad coffee, it is more like Dunkin Donuts at home.
I am a little nervous about finding my bus, making calls and getting rides but I also know it will all work out and I will be at Heartroot Farm by this afternoon.
This will be the first morning in a long while that I have not played my flute to wake the Elements within me and run to get my body up and moving. Simple pleasures but I love them. I didn’t run the morning I went to Jacksonville. These things are good habits, to replace some bad ones. I love to run, and actually walking hurts my shins. I first started running as a very over weight teenager and found a freedom in it that was so natural to me. I go through times in my life where I just don’t run for what ever reason, but I am glad I have found it in my life again.
river reed flute with five holes, sounds like a woman’s voice so it is easy to find the notes
to a song you would sing, or it is for me. I love it. When I was young I played recorder
but never really liked the finger placements. Three of the Elemental chants I play are
actually chants I have found on the flute, the other two found me.
Quebec, from the train is green, newly planted fields, huge farms, wet from recent rain
and some Hairy cows. Rain pellets the train window, the morning light is pale yellow
and green as The farms roll by. Strange that I feel a connection to what I see and feel here
maybe from my Grandfather’s side maybe feeling it, I don’t know. Gas is spelled Gaz.
So the mad dash from the rail station to the bus station in Montreal was a bit unnerving but I did it with grace. I took a cab and saw just a dab of down town Montreal in a down pour. I really pissed the breakfast cook off in the bus station when he asked me if I wanted 2 breakfasts (I had ordered the #2 breakfast) and I thought he was asking me if I wanted two eggs. There was this beautiful woman that came up behind me in line and took the breakfast that I had NOT ordered because I think she saw that I was almost in tears because I did not understand and he was just bitchin at me. Oh, now I know why Cindy taught me, Tabernak… it means F U but I would have been afraid he would have thrown a knife at me. I was really hungry and tired. I even decided not to ask for a to go box and made my way back to my bags with open plate of food spilling half of it. A very nice woman offered to watch my bags for me, and something said yes, I can trust her. When I got back there were two women getting in bus line up that had the look with big back packs, tattoos and dyed hair. I asked and yes they too were going to EAT and another one joined in. By the time we got off the bus there were 5 of us with a shit load of luggage. The beautiful woman that came to get us just made the best of it and we all piled into this (small) SUV that had six seats and piled our luggage in on top of us. I sat in the front with all my luggage on my lap except my hand bag that was in the back. By the time we drove another 1 ½ hours to the farm I had been on the road for 27 hours straight and in some of the most uncomfortable positions, I ached all over. Then I have to say that when I got here it was not what I expected. Needless to say I am a little….humbled by the accommodations and the lack of organization and that is all I am going to say. I did rally that Louise (from Montreal) and I get into the cabin and we have been joined by other older women Marilyn from New York. The young carefree Hippy unorganized energy here is just a little too free spirit for my mind right this moment but I have met some incredible people and there are a lot of things telling me I need to be here doing this work. I am just tired and grumpy right now, I have been on a whirlwind trip and I need to relax, and I really think this is going to be ok.
The farm is.. well I will just say in a state of needed repair. But there are beautiful wild flowers and it is getting really cold and it has been raining for two weeks. We had a very light dinner of rice pasta and vegetables and some sort of salad.
I need to call home and had to ask for the phone and that was not comfortable being taken to the house which is private and we are in a barn that is communal living space.
We had our introduction and first meeting after dinner. There are 18 students but a lot of other people here just coming and going. There are two kids of a student that are distracting. We chose Affinity Groups and the young mother ended up in our group and then we had a meeting about work traded jobs, I got toilette duty…. I took it because the other work traders are all young and excited I just didn’t want to put them in the position to feel they got the shit. There are a lot of young people here and that is why I choose the little cabin away from the youthful energy of the dorm and so I have a place to be quiet.
It was a very LONG day.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
June 24 Via Rail
On the Via Rail cross country from Halifax Nova Scotia to Montreal Quebec
June 24, 2011
Even though I didn’t sleep well I was up by 6;30 and out for my run. Waited to play my flute since it seemed the whole house was asleep and I didn’t want to wake anyone, even though Cindy really like hearing me play on Saturday morning. When I got back I played my morning songs to the Elements and Connor joined me and played my flute as we chatted in the small garden under the rowan tree. Today I didn’t see the fat pigeons. Connor is a unique 19 year old with a great sense of humor and a silly and creative imagination, he comes by it naturally cause his parents are just as much fun. I just felt right at home with him and gifted him a peacock stone I bought at the Freaky shop in Mahone Bay.
We all went to breakfast at the Athens where we ate on Saturday morning, this morning I went pretty simple with an omelet. Off to the train station. It was hard to say good by to Bonnie and we both were sobbing at the gate. Cindy said she would take care of her and I was walking down to find my place on the train. The seats look like a plane with more room and no seat belts. I choose a seat with a storage compartment in front of me instead of a seat. Which gives me a little sheltered feel and no one is sitting next to me for the long haul so I have a place to curl up and sleep. I found the washroom and the snake bar, but they have no internet service other than in stations which doesn’t always work. I was able to read Leslie’s post and up date on Trenten, but didn’t have time to respond before we pulled out of the station. So I am going to sit back and enjoy this trip.
6:00 I have been thinking of Leslie and Trent, Jamie and Noah and sending the family energy. I just have to trust that all is working out at home and I wish I could talk to them. It really hurts me that I am not there for them when they need me, but at the same time, I am a true Dragon Mom and I will rip someone apart that messes with my young. Maybe it is good I am not there, to deal with Baby Daddy shit.
I have had a nap, played with my computer playing music, and my MP3 player. Thanks to Bonnie I am jamin on Great Big Sea a true Canadian band that sounds like Emerald Rose. It is really cool to look out over the Canadian countryside listening to them. Looks a little like rain, lots of water on the ground with all the rain they have had, rivers, lush green trees, maples and birch. I really want a cup of coffee and may get one after this next station. We only stay in the stations for 10 minutes or so and I curl up in my seat so no one sits with me, but there are plenty of seats in this car so I want my space if I can keep it. I have not talked to anyone on the train but the snack lady, but I think I just need the space for a while. This train really stops a lot more than I thought it did, I seem to think it only stopped a few times but it is pretty constant.
I watched Feast or Fanime before I crashed about 10:00 pm, and I must say I was very impressed. I must send the Tracie’s an e-mail to thank them. A lot of the things I have been talking about and the conversations I had with Bonnie were in the film. It is about Nova Scotia specifically Lunenburg, but it about everyone, everywhere and the production of food for the future. I love the last bit about what would you say to the young farmers? And I wish I would have watched the film before we left, I am sure some of the people were in the market on Thursday. This work is so important and we have to be doing it NOW!
The night was pretty rough and restless but I did sleep, being thankful for the blanket I bought at the yard sale in Halifax and the fact that I had a whole two seats to myself. I am somewhat surprised that there seems to be very little service on the train, only a few times has anyone walked by and no one has asked me anything other than for my ticket or to take my trash yesterday. It is 5:25 am the sun has been up for an hour but it is raining. I was hoping for a nice sunrise over the Canadian landscape which has been mostly farms and houses. We are at the station in Charny, Quebec and there is still no internet. I still have a few hours on the train. We don’t get to Montreal Quebec till 9:05am. I want to call home and see how everyone is before I find a bus for more sitting.
![]()
![]()
June 24, 2011
Even though I didn’t sleep well I was up by 6;30 and out for my run. Waited to play my flute since it seemed the whole house was asleep and I didn’t want to wake anyone, even though Cindy really like hearing me play on Saturday morning. When I got back I played my morning songs to the Elements and Connor joined me and played my flute as we chatted in the small garden under the rowan tree. Today I didn’t see the fat pigeons. Connor is a unique 19 year old with a great sense of humor and a silly and creative imagination, he comes by it naturally cause his parents are just as much fun. I just felt right at home with him and gifted him a peacock stone I bought at the Freaky shop in Mahone Bay.
We all went to breakfast at the Athens where we ate on Saturday morning, this morning I went pretty simple with an omelet. Off to the train station. It was hard to say good by to Bonnie and we both were sobbing at the gate. Cindy said she would take care of her and I was walking down to find my place on the train. The seats look like a plane with more room and no seat belts. I choose a seat with a storage compartment in front of me instead of a seat. Which gives me a little sheltered feel and no one is sitting next to me for the long haul so I have a place to curl up and sleep. I found the washroom and the snake bar, but they have no internet service other than in stations which doesn’t always work. I was able to read Leslie’s post and up date on Trenten, but didn’t have time to respond before we pulled out of the station. So I am going to sit back and enjoy this trip.
6:00 I have been thinking of Leslie and Trent, Jamie and Noah and sending the family energy. I just have to trust that all is working out at home and I wish I could talk to them. It really hurts me that I am not there for them when they need me, but at the same time, I am a true Dragon Mom and I will rip someone apart that messes with my young. Maybe it is good I am not there, to deal with Baby Daddy shit.
I have had a nap, played with my computer playing music, and my MP3 player. Thanks to Bonnie I am jamin on Great Big Sea a true Canadian band that sounds like Emerald Rose. It is really cool to look out over the Canadian countryside listening to them. Looks a little like rain, lots of water on the ground with all the rain they have had, rivers, lush green trees, maples and birch. I really want a cup of coffee and may get one after this next station. We only stay in the stations for 10 minutes or so and I curl up in my seat so no one sits with me, but there are plenty of seats in this car so I want my space if I can keep it. I have not talked to anyone on the train but the snack lady, but I think I just need the space for a while. This train really stops a lot more than I thought it did, I seem to think it only stopped a few times but it is pretty constant.
I watched Feast or Fanime before I crashed about 10:00 pm, and I must say I was very impressed. I must send the Tracie’s an e-mail to thank them. A lot of the things I have been talking about and the conversations I had with Bonnie were in the film. It is about Nova Scotia specifically Lunenburg, but it about everyone, everywhere and the production of food for the future. I love the last bit about what would you say to the young farmers? And I wish I would have watched the film before we left, I am sure some of the people were in the market on Thursday. This work is so important and we have to be doing it NOW!
The night was pretty rough and restless but I did sleep, being thankful for the blanket I bought at the yard sale in Halifax and the fact that I had a whole two seats to myself. I am somewhat surprised that there seems to be very little service on the train, only a few times has anyone walked by and no one has asked me anything other than for my ticket or to take my trash yesterday. It is 5:25 am the sun has been up for an hour but it is raining. I was hoping for a nice sunrise over the Canadian landscape which has been mostly farms and houses. We are at the station in Charny, Quebec and there is still no internet. I still have a few hours on the train. We don’t get to Montreal Quebec till 9:05am. I want to call home and see how everyone is before I find a bus for more sitting.
June 23 Peggy's Cove
June 23, 2011
The Lunenbury Farmers Market was our first stop of the day. Bonnie stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies and the kids bought plants and flowers to plant in their garden and treats for their dogs, Rosey and Kiki. I browsed through the little booths and enjoyed the local samples of cider and cookies and listening to the children play violin and entertain. The locals all knew each other and chatted as they do every Thursday at market. I had met some of these vendors in Halifax. Everyone is so friendly in this small community. Bonnie and her family once lived right behind the market when they first moved to Nova Scotia. It was fun to see the local energy of the people.
Back to Bonnie’s and packed up, saying good by for now to Derrick and the kids, knowing I will come back to visit again. It was such a nice visit with the family and all the great things we did and adventures we had, not to mention the people I met. On to Mahone Bay for two readings and a little shop called the Drifting Spirit, then to the Yarn shop and the Freaky shop. We had lunch at the Biscuit Eater. Mahone Bay is a busy little tourist town with lost of summer visitors.
Off to Peggy’s Cove. Oh My what an experience, as if I haven’t had some really awesome ones here. Peggy’s Cove was just something our of this world and one of my favorites. The rocks looked like some giant picked up a hand full of boulders and tossed them over the land. It looked like what you wold think the moon would look like.
We climbed on the rocks and Bonnie held on tight when we looked over the edge. There is a local legend about American’s falling in and drowning. It was not going to be me today. This place is so powerful, you can just feel the energy in the land, what a beautiful experience. We went to the gift shop and I did some shopping which really stressed me out but I got it done. Then we ate in the restaurant. Earlier in the day we had a McLobster roll, really, with Nova Scotia lobster! From McDonalds! But as much as I love their coffee it was not what I expected.
Bonnie had me taste the Pickled Herring, and I can’t remember the official name but it was not one of my favorites to say the least. We shared fish and chips for dinner with no chips, I took a baked potato.
Yes, I will say, I think I have eaten my way across most of Nova Scotia (South Shore) and it was awesome. I can still fit into my jeans but I am up running more than 2 miles every morning so I can do this! We topped it off with Ginger bread, for me with ice cream and bonnie, lemon sauce, oh to Peggy’s Cove! We toasted with forks of ginger bread! The Light House was something else. And we took lots of photos.
Off to Halifax , back to Cindy and Paul’s. They were painting the house and Connor was in the kitchen cooking and making tea. In the middle of the night I woke to screams that unnerved me just to find out that it was a movie Connor was watching on TV, the city sounds make me uneasy and everyone opens their windows.
![]()
![]()
The Lunenbury Farmers Market was our first stop of the day. Bonnie stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies and the kids bought plants and flowers to plant in their garden and treats for their dogs, Rosey and Kiki. I browsed through the little booths and enjoyed the local samples of cider and cookies and listening to the children play violin and entertain. The locals all knew each other and chatted as they do every Thursday at market. I had met some of these vendors in Halifax. Everyone is so friendly in this small community. Bonnie and her family once lived right behind the market when they first moved to Nova Scotia. It was fun to see the local energy of the people.
Back to Bonnie’s and packed up, saying good by for now to Derrick and the kids, knowing I will come back to visit again. It was such a nice visit with the family and all the great things we did and adventures we had, not to mention the people I met. On to Mahone Bay for two readings and a little shop called the Drifting Spirit, then to the Yarn shop and the Freaky shop. We had lunch at the Biscuit Eater. Mahone Bay is a busy little tourist town with lost of summer visitors.
Off to Peggy’s Cove. Oh My what an experience, as if I haven’t had some really awesome ones here. Peggy’s Cove was just something our of this world and one of my favorites. The rocks looked like some giant picked up a hand full of boulders and tossed them over the land. It looked like what you wold think the moon would look like.
We climbed on the rocks and Bonnie held on tight when we looked over the edge. There is a local legend about American’s falling in and drowning. It was not going to be me today. This place is so powerful, you can just feel the energy in the land, what a beautiful experience. We went to the gift shop and I did some shopping which really stressed me out but I got it done. Then we ate in the restaurant. Earlier in the day we had a McLobster roll, really, with Nova Scotia lobster! From McDonalds! But as much as I love their coffee it was not what I expected.
Bonnie had me taste the Pickled Herring, and I can’t remember the official name but it was not one of my favorites to say the least. We shared fish and chips for dinner with no chips, I took a baked potato.
Yes, I will say, I think I have eaten my way across most of Nova Scotia (South Shore) and it was awesome. I can still fit into my jeans but I am up running more than 2 miles every morning so I can do this! We topped it off with Ginger bread, for me with ice cream and bonnie, lemon sauce, oh to Peggy’s Cove! We toasted with forks of ginger bread! The Light House was something else. And we took lots of photos.
Off to Halifax , back to Cindy and Paul’s. They were painting the house and Connor was in the kitchen cooking and making tea. In the middle of the night I woke to screams that unnerved me just to find out that it was a movie Connor was watching on TV, the city sounds make me uneasy and everyone opens their windows.
June 22 Blomidon Provincial Park Fundy Bay
Blomidon Provincial Park Fundy Bay
June 22, 2011
Rock Hounds Delight
It is Friday and I can sit down and catch up, whew…. What an incredible trip of sight and sound taste and emotions. I am on the train and I have several days of blogging to catch up on. As we rock and roll and the sound of the train whistle is pretty constant. Me and Mr.Maple..( I bought a whole box to keep company on the train)
On Wednesday Bonnie the kids and I took a trip across the province to the western coast. We went through beautiful little towns and winding roads, through rolling hills and farmland. The land became rich with the color of hay fields and newly planted crops as we made our way through the Annapolis Valley, the bread basket of Nova Scotia. There is red clay plowed for planting and tractors harvesting the first crops of hay. We made our way to the coast after lunch in Kentville and I had pouline, French fries with cheese and beef gravy. It took us a few hours to get to our destination since we took our time and the kids needed to stop and we were not in a hurry, just enjoying the ride.
The beach… was nothing like I have ever seen, Huge red cliffs and at low tide the beach is our maybe ½ mile or more, it is hard to tell, you feel so small standing there looking at the massive energy of the ocean, the cliffs and the rocks. There is ONE way down and ONE way up, a set of stairs. The Blomidon Provincial Park at Fundy Bay is a weird and wondrous place the tide was out and coming in, and when it comes in, it come in so fast that it is shocking, if you get caught out there that is it, it is sheer cliffs. But to walk the shore line near the run off from the streams is a rock hounds heaven. We had stopped at Frenchie’s their Goodwill and I bought a hoody jacket with big pockets, thank Goddess!
Yes, I pulled off my shoes and filled my pockets, walking in the ice cold stream that ran from the cliff to the beach. It is so hard to explain what I was seeing and feeling, but always aware that the tide was rising. The kids and I started looking for geodes and sea glass, breaking a rock now and then. Watching the tide. We started looking at and comparing our favorite stones till we started saying to each other, "Don’t Look Down" our pockets were full!
Bonnie drove to the top of the mountain above the cliffs and beach for a view, WOW!
It took us longer than expected to get home and we missed the kids favorite rock shop. But I gifted them with the special rocks I had brought for each of them. Once we were back at home. Bonnie and I finished the blessings for her land we had started on at Summer Solstice and did a reading. It was a very long day and the next would prove to be as if not more exciting than the last.
![]()
![]()
June 22, 2011
Rock Hounds Delight
It is Friday and I can sit down and catch up, whew…. What an incredible trip of sight and sound taste and emotions. I am on the train and I have several days of blogging to catch up on. As we rock and roll and the sound of the train whistle is pretty constant. Me and Mr.Maple..( I bought a whole box to keep company on the train)
On Wednesday Bonnie the kids and I took a trip across the province to the western coast. We went through beautiful little towns and winding roads, through rolling hills and farmland. The land became rich with the color of hay fields and newly planted crops as we made our way through the Annapolis Valley, the bread basket of Nova Scotia. There is red clay plowed for planting and tractors harvesting the first crops of hay. We made our way to the coast after lunch in Kentville and I had pouline, French fries with cheese and beef gravy. It took us a few hours to get to our destination since we took our time and the kids needed to stop and we were not in a hurry, just enjoying the ride.
The beach… was nothing like I have ever seen, Huge red cliffs and at low tide the beach is our maybe ½ mile or more, it is hard to tell, you feel so small standing there looking at the massive energy of the ocean, the cliffs and the rocks. There is ONE way down and ONE way up, a set of stairs. The Blomidon Provincial Park at Fundy Bay is a weird and wondrous place the tide was out and coming in, and when it comes in, it come in so fast that it is shocking, if you get caught out there that is it, it is sheer cliffs. But to walk the shore line near the run off from the streams is a rock hounds heaven. We had stopped at Frenchie’s their Goodwill and I bought a hoody jacket with big pockets, thank Goddess!
Yes, I pulled off my shoes and filled my pockets, walking in the ice cold stream that ran from the cliff to the beach. It is so hard to explain what I was seeing and feeling, but always aware that the tide was rising. The kids and I started looking for geodes and sea glass, breaking a rock now and then. Watching the tide. We started looking at and comparing our favorite stones till we started saying to each other, "Don’t Look Down" our pockets were full!
Bonnie drove to the top of the mountain above the cliffs and beach for a view, WOW!
It took us longer than expected to get home and we missed the kids favorite rock shop. But I gifted them with the special rocks I had brought for each of them. Once we were back at home. Bonnie and I finished the blessings for her land we had started on at Summer Solstice and did a reading. It was a very long day and the next would prove to be as if not more exciting than the last.
Catching up on the blogging
I have beeb out of service for a few days but i will soon be posting several days of blog, remember to look at the older post to see them all
Sissy
Sissy
Thursday, June 23, 2011
More photos June 21, 2011
LaHave Ferry
Gather of the Micmac Elders
Micmac Heart Beat Drummers
Micmac Altar
Lady Slippers at Peace Park, NS
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Summer Solstice and the Mi'Kmaq
June 21, 2011
Happy Summer Solstice
And what a day it was! The sun actually came out most all day but it was cool. On my morning run I did take my camera and got some really cool shots of the flowers and sea scapes.
I had my first reading at 10 am with Bonnie’s friend Linda and to my delight in her spinning and weaving room. It was full of looms and spinning wheels and yarn. And Grandmother energy! Her gardens were so full of color and her house was inviting with the smell of good cooking. I just loved her energy and we had a great reading. As we were leaving we stopped to chat with her husband, that is called the Spin Doctor and the master at working with and repairing spinning wheels. Well me missed the 11:15 ferry because… I had to go to his basement to see his wheels and talk to him about swpinning wheels and shipping me one to Florida. Oh, I got connections now! Spinning is another one of my passions but I don’t indulge in it as I often as I like, can’t sit still long enough..
Once did, spinning wool from all over and wilf hair from my beloved Willow and I have always wanted a spinning wheel.
Off to the LaHave river ferry and about this time Bonnie is giving me a hard time because I am taking photos like a true tourist, well shit I am. We have been picking at each other all week and I am sure it will only get worst, be cause we love each other so very much, it is great being with her again. So we end up in this little craft shop and the famous LaHave bakery for lunch…. I will just say… I ask the woman to write a cook book. I had Rhubarb Punch and carrot t
Thai soup and fish sandwich. Oh My!!! The food is just unbelievable, I am so glad I quit smoking so I could taste every thing on this trip, it is so worth it..
Then we went to another reading, a ramble down through the back roads and then this long winding driveway. Pulled up to this farm and I just felt an energy that made me happy. Not just flowers this time but fruits, vegetables and herbs. But under the bird feeder there were the cutest chipmunks and squirrels. I felt like I could just put one in my pocket and was surprised at how colorful they were. The Tracey’s just lovely people and our reading was in Nancy’s treatment room in the up stairs of her house. He was and artist and musician and she was a writer and a healer. I just loved them, both but then when they gave Bonnie and I a DVD that their son had produced "Feast of Famie" food security, sustainability and the family farm… well I just knew how important this meeting was and the connections we made. The film was made right here in Lunenburg. Not only that, the Japanese woman I met on Sunday was Nancy’s son’s girlfriend and these connections are very important. The reading connected her to a client in Tallahassee and helping children learn, the subject of her book… I left there with my head spinning but just wait it gets BETTER…
Bonnie and I debated to go to a local Summer Solstice ritual with the local Native tribe, they are known as the First People, the Mi’Kmaq or Micmac Tribe. We had already planned to go to this Miller peace Point Park where the Lady Slippers were in bloom but prepared ourselves to maybe go and check out what the locals were doing since we had already planned our own ritual for the evening on her land. We were late and we were a little nervous and uncertain about going. We wandered around the park and finally found the gathering. We waited until we were invited into the circle and smudged, then it all took on a whole magical experience. The Heartbeat Drummers were chanting and drumming a welcoming song and it was just felt right. Bonnie actually knew several people there and we just fell into the energy of the circle which was very inviting and native. We passed the talking stick and went to a place on the land and did a Waters of the World ceremony (they did not call it that) in the realm of the old ones and ancestors. We saw them in the forest and felt them blessing us as we sang and danced in Micmac energy. We made offerings of tobacco and looked into the eyes of the elders of the tribe. I walked a log and played my flute to the spirits of the lands and others drummed and danced and played rattles. We went back to the circle and passed the talking stick once more and sang another song in their native language. We exchanged gifts and ate and chatted with the group, said our good byes and left. It was really a beautiful experience and one I will never forget.
Back to Bonnie’s and then I got some very hard news from home. I will not go into it on my blog, I am talking with the family by e-mail. But I will ask for those reading my blog to send my family at home energy. They need to be sent prayers for strength and courage, justice and safety for our grandson Trenten. Leslie our daughter needs some support to help here through this situation. It is difficult when I am so far from home and have had a lot of fear around leaving as you already know. I feel the Summer Solstice energy is bring transformation of things that need to be taken care of and changed. My dream last night, Noah was telling me his world was on fire and Jamie was there too but I didn’t see Leslie or the kids, maybe that comes later.
Bonnie and I had been talking about her land and the center for our Summer Solstice ritual. We took lots of photos of the area and took a lot of time feeling out where the center was to be for this work. We waited till late because I was processing what my family was going through at home but made it out just before sunset. We stood in the center of her woods as the sunset (which is 9:30pm) and the fog rolled in even though there was a nice breeze off the bay. The woods took on a life of it’s own in sacred space as we shifted between realm. We chanted to the Faery as we blessed the land. We have felt shifts in the land over the past few days and we will complete our work there over the next few days. Be have a big day for tomorrow and it WAS the longest day of the year and I am still going strong at 12:30am oh it is tomorrow…
OK for some reason I can not down load the photos I want onto the blog so I am going to try to do the photos in a new post.
Happy Summer Solstice
And what a day it was! The sun actually came out most all day but it was cool. On my morning run I did take my camera and got some really cool shots of the flowers and sea scapes.
I had my first reading at 10 am with Bonnie’s friend Linda and to my delight in her spinning and weaving room. It was full of looms and spinning wheels and yarn. And Grandmother energy! Her gardens were so full of color and her house was inviting with the smell of good cooking. I just loved her energy and we had a great reading. As we were leaving we stopped to chat with her husband, that is called the Spin Doctor and the master at working with and repairing spinning wheels. Well me missed the 11:15 ferry because… I had to go to his basement to see his wheels and talk to him about swpinning wheels and shipping me one to Florida. Oh, I got connections now! Spinning is another one of my passions but I don’t indulge in it as I often as I like, can’t sit still long enough..
Once did, spinning wool from all over and wilf hair from my beloved Willow and I have always wanted a spinning wheel.
Off to the LaHave river ferry and about this time Bonnie is giving me a hard time because I am taking photos like a true tourist, well shit I am. We have been picking at each other all week and I am sure it will only get worst, be cause we love each other so very much, it is great being with her again. So we end up in this little craft shop and the famous LaHave bakery for lunch…. I will just say… I ask the woman to write a cook book. I had Rhubarb Punch and carrot t
Thai soup and fish sandwich. Oh My!!! The food is just unbelievable, I am so glad I quit smoking so I could taste every thing on this trip, it is so worth it..
Then we went to another reading, a ramble down through the back roads and then this long winding driveway. Pulled up to this farm and I just felt an energy that made me happy. Not just flowers this time but fruits, vegetables and herbs. But under the bird feeder there were the cutest chipmunks and squirrels. I felt like I could just put one in my pocket and was surprised at how colorful they were. The Tracey’s just lovely people and our reading was in Nancy’s treatment room in the up stairs of her house. He was and artist and musician and she was a writer and a healer. I just loved them, both but then when they gave Bonnie and I a DVD that their son had produced "Feast of Famie" food security, sustainability and the family farm… well I just knew how important this meeting was and the connections we made. The film was made right here in Lunenburg. Not only that, the Japanese woman I met on Sunday was Nancy’s son’s girlfriend and these connections are very important. The reading connected her to a client in Tallahassee and helping children learn, the subject of her book… I left there with my head spinning but just wait it gets BETTER…
Bonnie and I debated to go to a local Summer Solstice ritual with the local Native tribe, they are known as the First People, the Mi’Kmaq or Micmac Tribe. We had already planned to go to this Miller peace Point Park where the Lady Slippers were in bloom but prepared ourselves to maybe go and check out what the locals were doing since we had already planned our own ritual for the evening on her land. We were late and we were a little nervous and uncertain about going. We wandered around the park and finally found the gathering. We waited until we were invited into the circle and smudged, then it all took on a whole magical experience. The Heartbeat Drummers were chanting and drumming a welcoming song and it was just felt right. Bonnie actually knew several people there and we just fell into the energy of the circle which was very inviting and native. We passed the talking stick and went to a place on the land and did a Waters of the World ceremony (they did not call it that) in the realm of the old ones and ancestors. We saw them in the forest and felt them blessing us as we sang and danced in Micmac energy. We made offerings of tobacco and looked into the eyes of the elders of the tribe. I walked a log and played my flute to the spirits of the lands and others drummed and danced and played rattles. We went back to the circle and passed the talking stick once more and sang another song in their native language. We exchanged gifts and ate and chatted with the group, said our good byes and left. It was really a beautiful experience and one I will never forget.
Back to Bonnie’s and then I got some very hard news from home. I will not go into it on my blog, I am talking with the family by e-mail. But I will ask for those reading my blog to send my family at home energy. They need to be sent prayers for strength and courage, justice and safety for our grandson Trenten. Leslie our daughter needs some support to help here through this situation. It is difficult when I am so far from home and have had a lot of fear around leaving as you already know. I feel the Summer Solstice energy is bring transformation of things that need to be taken care of and changed. My dream last night, Noah was telling me his world was on fire and Jamie was there too but I didn’t see Leslie or the kids, maybe that comes later.
Bonnie and I had been talking about her land and the center for our Summer Solstice ritual. We took lots of photos of the area and took a lot of time feeling out where the center was to be for this work. We waited till late because I was processing what my family was going through at home but made it out just before sunset. We stood in the center of her woods as the sunset (which is 9:30pm) and the fog rolled in even though there was a nice breeze off the bay. The woods took on a life of it’s own in sacred space as we shifted between realm. We chanted to the Faery as we blessed the land. We have felt shifts in the land over the past few days and we will complete our work there over the next few days. Be have a big day for tomorrow and it WAS the longest day of the year and I am still going strong at 12:30am oh it is tomorrow…
OK for some reason I can not down load the photos I want onto the blog so I am going to try to do the photos in a new post.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
June 20 Rose Bay and The Ovens
June 20, 2011
My morning run was at 6:30 and it was bright sunny about 55 degrees. A little breezy but beautiful. It is really cool here but I don’t seem to be feeling it. I love that there is very little traffic on the road I run on in the morning since it is very narrow and somewhat populated. The wild iris is in full bloom and everywhere, there are little white daisy and wild roses that smell like no rose I have ever smelled. The purple lupine and lilacs just wild colors every where. The flowers are just really rocking my world as you can tell. Yesterday Autumn was feeding me wild strawberries about the size of a pea and the taste of them would just explode in your senses. I saw a bright yellow and black bird this morning that Derrick and I discussed over coffee, latter to find out it was a Male Golden Finch.
At 10am I did my first reading of the day with one of Bonnie’s neighbors an Intuitive Healer that we just hit it off when we met yesterday at the Dem. We had so much in common and enjoyed several hours of working together. I walked back to Bonnie’s. Jennifer has an ice pond that she extended an invitation to Bonnie’s kids to skate on in the winter, it was beautiful.
After lunch we went down the road where Bonnie is having her new space remodeled for her own studio. It is on the top floor of a store and the new owners are German. The space will be very nice for her massage, facials, waxing and herbal treatments. I felt good about her plans and suggested some light and glass work with colors to run the energy through the space.
As the kids set up tents in the yard and jumped in the freezing cold water of the bay near the creek. This is their first week out of school for summer break so they are having a blast. Bless Derrick for watching over him while Bonnie runs me all over the place. I took a nap this afternoon, I feel like I am on mountain time or beach time, the pace is different and the air is clear. I guess you could say I am on vacation, yet I am working and not sitting still a moment.
Later in the day Bonnie and I went to a private park called the Ovens to explore the sea caves and the woods. We had such a wonderful time and walked down to the rock edge in hope of seeing seals. The owner told us there some out but we didn’t see any. I took tons of photos and the flowers were just awesome. I know you will get tired of hearing about the damn wild flowers but they are something to see, just wait I have more photos.
We stayed up late talking Autumn decided the tent was not for her and the boys were troopers camping out. It was a long day.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
My morning run was at 6:30 and it was bright sunny about 55 degrees. A little breezy but beautiful. It is really cool here but I don’t seem to be feeling it. I love that there is very little traffic on the road I run on in the morning since it is very narrow and somewhat populated. The wild iris is in full bloom and everywhere, there are little white daisy and wild roses that smell like no rose I have ever smelled. The purple lupine and lilacs just wild colors every where. The flowers are just really rocking my world as you can tell. Yesterday Autumn was feeding me wild strawberries about the size of a pea and the taste of them would just explode in your senses. I saw a bright yellow and black bird this morning that Derrick and I discussed over coffee, latter to find out it was a Male Golden Finch.
At 10am I did my first reading of the day with one of Bonnie’s neighbors an Intuitive Healer that we just hit it off when we met yesterday at the Dem. We had so much in common and enjoyed several hours of working together. I walked back to Bonnie’s. Jennifer has an ice pond that she extended an invitation to Bonnie’s kids to skate on in the winter, it was beautiful.
After lunch we went down the road where Bonnie is having her new space remodeled for her own studio. It is on the top floor of a store and the new owners are German. The space will be very nice for her massage, facials, waxing and herbal treatments. I felt good about her plans and suggested some light and glass work with colors to run the energy through the space.
As the kids set up tents in the yard and jumped in the freezing cold water of the bay near the creek. This is their first week out of school for summer break so they are having a blast. Bless Derrick for watching over him while Bonnie runs me all over the place. I took a nap this afternoon, I feel like I am on mountain time or beach time, the pace is different and the air is clear. I guess you could say I am on vacation, yet I am working and not sitting still a moment.
Later in the day Bonnie and I went to a private park called the Ovens to explore the sea caves and the woods. We had such a wonderful time and walked down to the rock edge in hope of seeing seals. The owner told us there some out but we didn’t see any. I took tons of photos and the flowers were just awesome. I know you will get tired of hearing about the damn wild flowers but they are something to see, just wait I have more photos.
We stayed up late talking Autumn decided the tent was not for her and the boys were troopers camping out. It was a long day.
The Ovens are sea caves that from a boat looks like huge clay ovens
The power coming through these caves is just awesome
Spruce grows out from the leaves and purple cones form there too, I LOVE THEM
Just one of the wild roses
Bonnie loves the mosses and they are every where
Monday, June 20, 2011
Check out the new post
For those following my blog I just caught up with photos. There ate three days of posting. please go to older post.
Hugs, Sissy
Hugs, Sissy
June 19 Rose Bay Nova Scotia
June 19, 2011
Started my day off with looking at the clock at 6:00 am and deciding I needed to lay in bed at least 30 minutes. See sun rise here in Nova Scotia is 4:30 am and I usually rise with the sun. The house is quiet and silent. Really I could hear nothing, not even the bats in the attic Derrick and Bonnie and I watched flying out to hunt last night. I guess the insulation is really thick and no one has curtains on their windows as I mentioned yesterday, I would think to keep the cold out but Bonnie said it was all about trust and security and letting the light into the house.
Coffee and my morning run, I saw Autumn and Charlie before I him the pavement. I found myself a mile or so down the road standing in the South Rose Bay Pioneer Cemetery, go figure. Starting around the 1700 and old graves and head stones covered in moss. The cemetery sat on a grassy point that formed a triangle jutting out of rocks into the still waters of the Bay. The morning mist and the call of the sea gulls and birds just warmed my heart with beauty. I must bring my camera on my run when the sun is so bright and everything is so crisp and clear. The old spirits welcomed and comforted me, but I also felt watched and watched over. So where else would I have run too??
Back to Bonnie’s, we had a Paleo Diet Breakfast, nuts and other things that were tasty, I need to look into it later. Bonnie has been a vegetarian most her life and now has started eating meat, but it too is all about being tuned in and knowing when change is needed. Autumn and the boys entertained me with song and dance, drawings and showing their treasured items as kids will do. I loved it and just sat back and enjoyed the attention with Bonnie and Derrick’s amazing kids that have talent and imagination that is unbelievable. But it time to get my butt moving my Dem at the Waldorf school in a few hours
The platform Mediumship Demonstration went very well. There were about 15 people there and they were all totally tuned into the energy. There were some parents from the school there and several of Bonnie’s clients. I think they enjoyed the lecture and educational part as much as the platform reading. The actually reading part can be trick with a new crowd that haven’t witnessed platform mediumship before and there were only two people in the room that had. If the audience is not tuned in it is difficult to do. The first one to come through was a little girl that had died of cancer and she most have know that this first connection would set the tone for the hour. It was awesome and all those that came through found their loved ones in tears. Once Japanese woman had such sadness and grief from her father's death, she drove from Halifax to see me and was not disappointed. We will meet again but the few moments she spent hearing about her fathers love and gratitude to her for taking care of him was what she needed.
After the dem, Bonnie and I walked the school grounds and into the woods, oh what a magical place and she told me this school is why they choose where they wanted to live and I totally understand. It is such a beautiful place and the energy is awesome.
Off to the grocery store, actually the prices are not much different, but one of my things is that I want to get as much traditional and Nova Scotia food as I can while we are here. So we bought wild blueberry juice and local sausage and Mr. Maple (the crack cookies) and oh my they are to die for. I was totally into the dill pickle chips, but Bonnie bought Ketchup Layes that really tasted like ketchup potato chips. But what toped off our grilled dinner was Fiddle heads a local fern sautéed in olive oil, we chatted till 11 and then off to bed.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Started my day off with looking at the clock at 6:00 am and deciding I needed to lay in bed at least 30 minutes. See sun rise here in Nova Scotia is 4:30 am and I usually rise with the sun. The house is quiet and silent. Really I could hear nothing, not even the bats in the attic Derrick and Bonnie and I watched flying out to hunt last night. I guess the insulation is really thick and no one has curtains on their windows as I mentioned yesterday, I would think to keep the cold out but Bonnie said it was all about trust and security and letting the light into the house.
Coffee and my morning run, I saw Autumn and Charlie before I him the pavement. I found myself a mile or so down the road standing in the South Rose Bay Pioneer Cemetery, go figure. Starting around the 1700 and old graves and head stones covered in moss. The cemetery sat on a grassy point that formed a triangle jutting out of rocks into the still waters of the Bay. The morning mist and the call of the sea gulls and birds just warmed my heart with beauty. I must bring my camera on my run when the sun is so bright and everything is so crisp and clear. The old spirits welcomed and comforted me, but I also felt watched and watched over. So where else would I have run too??
Back to Bonnie’s, we had a Paleo Diet Breakfast, nuts and other things that were tasty, I need to look into it later. Bonnie has been a vegetarian most her life and now has started eating meat, but it too is all about being tuned in and knowing when change is needed. Autumn and the boys entertained me with song and dance, drawings and showing their treasured items as kids will do. I loved it and just sat back and enjoyed the attention with Bonnie and Derrick’s amazing kids that have talent and imagination that is unbelievable. But it time to get my butt moving my Dem at the Waldorf school in a few hours
The platform Mediumship Demonstration went very well. There were about 15 people there and they were all totally tuned into the energy. There were some parents from the school there and several of Bonnie’s clients. I think they enjoyed the lecture and educational part as much as the platform reading. The actually reading part can be trick with a new crowd that haven’t witnessed platform mediumship before and there were only two people in the room that had. If the audience is not tuned in it is difficult to do. The first one to come through was a little girl that had died of cancer and she most have know that this first connection would set the tone for the hour. It was awesome and all those that came through found their loved ones in tears. Once Japanese woman had such sadness and grief from her father's death, she drove from Halifax to see me and was not disappointed. We will meet again but the few moments she spent hearing about her fathers love and gratitude to her for taking care of him was what she needed.
After the dem, Bonnie and I walked the school grounds and into the woods, oh what a magical place and she told me this school is why they choose where they wanted to live and I totally understand. It is such a beautiful place and the energy is awesome.
Off to the grocery store, actually the prices are not much different, but one of my things is that I want to get as much traditional and Nova Scotia food as I can while we are here. So we bought wild blueberry juice and local sausage and Mr. Maple (the crack cookies) and oh my they are to die for. I was totally into the dill pickle chips, but Bonnie bought Ketchup Layes that really tasted like ketchup potato chips. But what toped off our grilled dinner was Fiddle heads a local fern sautéed in olive oil, we chatted till 11 and then off to bed.
June 18 Halifax to Lunenburg to Rose Bay Nova Scotia
June 18, 2011
I got into Nova Scotia at 12:40am after a long and tiring haul from Detroit. The plane was loud, bumpy and cramped, I had both seats to myself and was grateful to stretch out some. I napped a little and listened to my MP3 player since the hum of the plane was so loud, I woke to the full moon coming into the cabin window. I gave my thanks to not just having a window on the east side of the plane, but for a clear enough night and even the delay of more than 4 hours so I could experience the full moon at 30,000 feet or what ever the plane was flying at, it was beautiful, and a blessing
Bonnie and her awesome friend Cindy met me after a quick trip through customs and baggage claims and off to Cindy’s house, which I just feel madly in love with just stepping inside the door. The houses are old New England style/ Victorian I think she saif 135 years old. Three stories and narrow, with tall ceilings and a steep stair case. Cindy is an interior decorator and her house reflected every bit of her awesome-ness. I met her son Connor hanging out in the kitchen about 2am and we chatted a little while as I told her what I felt about her house and the neighbor. I gave her some tips on what to do and was sad to hear she wanted to sell the house and move on to remodeling another adventure. The house had been in her family for many years and had lots of history, but she will do what she needs to do. As I was going to sleep sometime between 2:30-3:00 am I saw a man that was cuddling with young children, which I knew to be Cindy’s son Connor and Morgan which I met in the morning, the man was her father that had lived in the house and bonnie and I share his bedroom for the night. It was beautiful and welcoming.
I was up at 6:30 and the house was still, I found and made coffee and sat in her patio area under the Rowan tree ( also known as a mountain ash) watching her huge fat pigeons she had told me about the night before. I confirmed with her, strange birds about the size of a chickens. I then found Bonnie’s keys and my running shoes, dressed and was headed out the door when Cindy came down. We chatted a moment and I was off to do my 2 plus miles, around the park where the kids were dressed and off to play street hockey. It was cool about 50 degrees and I felt great even though I had little sleep. I enjoyed my run through the city streets of Halifax and came back to Cindy’s as the neighbors were setting up for a huge 7 block yard sale, which we shopped before heading off to the market. I met Paul, Cindy’s husband and later Morgan her daughter and off we went.
The Market was this two story flea market that was in the old port area, I will get the details from Bonnie. But there was no junk. It was handmade soaps, wine, baked goods, art work and photos, there were so may things to see, the coffee was to give your right arm for since I really needed it and the maple candy, oh my….the smells and taste of everything was just incredible and a little over whelming since I seemed to be picking up so much energy with all the people and things around me. I was having a few moments of maxium over load. Bonnie and I traded off American money for Canadian money so I could shop, but there was just too much. I only bought a really cool bee’s wax candle and a jar of Blueberry Maple syrup. Then we went to the roof of this totally green self sustainable building that had been modified, including a living wall and solar electric, water reclaiming area. The top walk was a perfect place to view the deepest port in the world and there was a cool story about Halifax being destroyed after WWI by exploding ammunition ships in the harbor, a lot of the city was distroyed and Boston came to their rescue. To this day they still send trees from Halifax to be planted in Boston to show their gratitude for their ancestors, how beautiful.
So we left Halifax with Cindy and Paul’s daughter Morgan which lives and works in Luneburg and we there in Halifax to visit for the weekend. The energy og the land just changed and shifted as we went through little villages and towns, of course the road system was much the same as the states other than the speed limit being in kilometers in stead of miles per hour. Bonnie dropped me off at the Yoga Studio where she does massage and facials and such on Wednesdays, I had an hour before my first reading and took the time to tune into blogging and reorganize my stuff. I felt very comfortable with my first client and the reading went well.
Off to dinner after a tour of Lunenburg area and town, it is beautiful and as Bonnie says it is hard to describe it to other people, the energy is powerful. It started to rain and the fog rolled in over the bay, a perfect feel of the Martine energy, so powerful and a little erree, you can almost see pirate ships in the harbor. We ate at the Fish factory which at one time was where the fish were brought into market, packaged and prepared, can or shipped. It just felt pumped with masculine energy and no smell of fish as one would expect. There were rows and rows of old photos on the walls of the important men in the community, no women…
The Food of Nova Scotia
I started my day off with breakfast at Athens Restaurant, with a bunch of Cindy and Paul’s friends and had fish cakes with my eggs, hash browns and toast. Bonnie brought my a Mr.Big candy bar after my reading. For dinner at the Fish Factory I had seafood pizza, and mussels and toped it off with a bowl of seafood chowder to die for and apple cake. I tasted some smoked salmon from Derrick’s salad. Yes, all of it was wonderful. My favorite food for the day was the chowder by far the best I have ever had.
From there were went to Bonnie and Derrick’s house, the kids, Dean, Autum and Charlie were pretty wound up with the excitement of having company and the summer filled with family coming to visit. Charlie gave up his room to me and I am greatful for the space up stairs and the privacy of his room. Bonnie and I walked the land which I will be doing a lot over the next few days so for now I will just say, wow! The cove is right there and we walked the woods even though it was raining hard and cold. The flowers and trees..wow and the air and the wild flowers blooming, the smells, wow.
Off to bed about 10pm and I slept like a rock. Thank you divine universe for this incredible adventure, I am grateful and I just got here.
*No photos from Halifax but Paul took some on his I phone he will send me, I will be back on Thursday and will get some then.
![]()
I got into Nova Scotia at 12:40am after a long and tiring haul from Detroit. The plane was loud, bumpy and cramped, I had both seats to myself and was grateful to stretch out some. I napped a little and listened to my MP3 player since the hum of the plane was so loud, I woke to the full moon coming into the cabin window. I gave my thanks to not just having a window on the east side of the plane, but for a clear enough night and even the delay of more than 4 hours so I could experience the full moon at 30,000 feet or what ever the plane was flying at, it was beautiful, and a blessing
Bonnie and her awesome friend Cindy met me after a quick trip through customs and baggage claims and off to Cindy’s house, which I just feel madly in love with just stepping inside the door. The houses are old New England style/ Victorian I think she saif 135 years old. Three stories and narrow, with tall ceilings and a steep stair case. Cindy is an interior decorator and her house reflected every bit of her awesome-ness. I met her son Connor hanging out in the kitchen about 2am and we chatted a little while as I told her what I felt about her house and the neighbor. I gave her some tips on what to do and was sad to hear she wanted to sell the house and move on to remodeling another adventure. The house had been in her family for many years and had lots of history, but she will do what she needs to do. As I was going to sleep sometime between 2:30-3:00 am I saw a man that was cuddling with young children, which I knew to be Cindy’s son Connor and Morgan which I met in the morning, the man was her father that had lived in the house and bonnie and I share his bedroom for the night. It was beautiful and welcoming.
I was up at 6:30 and the house was still, I found and made coffee and sat in her patio area under the Rowan tree ( also known as a mountain ash) watching her huge fat pigeons she had told me about the night before. I confirmed with her, strange birds about the size of a chickens. I then found Bonnie’s keys and my running shoes, dressed and was headed out the door when Cindy came down. We chatted a moment and I was off to do my 2 plus miles, around the park where the kids were dressed and off to play street hockey. It was cool about 50 degrees and I felt great even though I had little sleep. I enjoyed my run through the city streets of Halifax and came back to Cindy’s as the neighbors were setting up for a huge 7 block yard sale, which we shopped before heading off to the market. I met Paul, Cindy’s husband and later Morgan her daughter and off we went.
The Market was this two story flea market that was in the old port area, I will get the details from Bonnie. But there was no junk. It was handmade soaps, wine, baked goods, art work and photos, there were so may things to see, the coffee was to give your right arm for since I really needed it and the maple candy, oh my….the smells and taste of everything was just incredible and a little over whelming since I seemed to be picking up so much energy with all the people and things around me. I was having a few moments of maxium over load. Bonnie and I traded off American money for Canadian money so I could shop, but there was just too much. I only bought a really cool bee’s wax candle and a jar of Blueberry Maple syrup. Then we went to the roof of this totally green self sustainable building that had been modified, including a living wall and solar electric, water reclaiming area. The top walk was a perfect place to view the deepest port in the world and there was a cool story about Halifax being destroyed after WWI by exploding ammunition ships in the harbor, a lot of the city was distroyed and Boston came to their rescue. To this day they still send trees from Halifax to be planted in Boston to show their gratitude for their ancestors, how beautiful.
So we left Halifax with Cindy and Paul’s daughter Morgan which lives and works in Luneburg and we there in Halifax to visit for the weekend. The energy og the land just changed and shifted as we went through little villages and towns, of course the road system was much the same as the states other than the speed limit being in kilometers in stead of miles per hour. Bonnie dropped me off at the Yoga Studio where she does massage and facials and such on Wednesdays, I had an hour before my first reading and took the time to tune into blogging and reorganize my stuff. I felt very comfortable with my first client and the reading went well.
Off to dinner after a tour of Lunenburg area and town, it is beautiful and as Bonnie says it is hard to describe it to other people, the energy is powerful. It started to rain and the fog rolled in over the bay, a perfect feel of the Martine energy, so powerful and a little erree, you can almost see pirate ships in the harbor. We ate at the Fish factory which at one time was where the fish were brought into market, packaged and prepared, can or shipped. It just felt pumped with masculine energy and no smell of fish as one would expect. There were rows and rows of old photos on the walls of the important men in the community, no women…
The Food of Nova Scotia
I started my day off with breakfast at Athens Restaurant, with a bunch of Cindy and Paul’s friends and had fish cakes with my eggs, hash browns and toast. Bonnie brought my a Mr.Big candy bar after my reading. For dinner at the Fish Factory I had seafood pizza, and mussels and toped it off with a bowl of seafood chowder to die for and apple cake. I tasted some smoked salmon from Derrick’s salad. Yes, all of it was wonderful. My favorite food for the day was the chowder by far the best I have ever had.
From there were went to Bonnie and Derrick’s house, the kids, Dean, Autum and Charlie were pretty wound up with the excitement of having company and the summer filled with family coming to visit. Charlie gave up his room to me and I am greatful for the space up stairs and the privacy of his room. Bonnie and I walked the land which I will be doing a lot over the next few days so for now I will just say, wow! The cove is right there and we walked the woods even though it was raining hard and cold. The flowers and trees..wow and the air and the wild flowers blooming, the smells, wow.
Off to bed about 10pm and I slept like a rock. Thank you divine universe for this incredible adventure, I am grateful and I just got here.
*No photos from Halifax but Paul took some on his I phone he will send me, I will be back on Thursday and will get some then.
Cindy and Paul our hosts in Halifax that live in this beautiful house
Jax to Halifax June 17, 2011
June 17, 2011
My day started off at 5am doing my Full Moon Beauty Ritual I should have done on Wednesday or Thursday, It takes me about an hour or so to take some years off my looks with natural color, removing a little hair here and there, I won’t bore you with the details, but this is a Full Moon ritual that also includes Glamour, I NEEDED it this morning!
Jamie was to ride with us to Jacksonville and I told her to be at the house by 6:45, she called at 7:00 am and said she just got up. It really was ok, I was really stressed and trying not to totally flip out and her being with us and being late would have made mine and Noah’s stress just twice of what it was already. We didn’t leave at 7:00 as planed and the trip was a train wreck, the smoke from the forest fires was horrible about half way to Jacksonville the somke go bad on I10. I understand that the Ocala National Forest in the I10 area is on fire as well as some south Georgia wild fires. NPR said there are over 400 forest fires in Florida and we are in the worst drought and fire risk since 1998. On the trip over there were times both Noah and I were very concerned, breathing deeply, we didn’t talk, we were running late and by the time we got to the airport I was a total wreck. I told Noah to just take me to check in curb drop off and not worry about parking. It was sometime after 10am and I was afraid my boarding check in was going to take longer. I got out of the car, everything ready to roll, looked in my bag for my e-ticket and realized I had not given Noah his Father’s Day card, I hadn’t even written what I wanted to say to him, which was important to me. I felt so very bad and I just started crying. I know this is hard for him too and that he is going through his own stress right now, he has done a good job of not making it harder on me, knowing I have to do this trip and training. I don’t cry easily but ever since I left him there on the curb, I have been in tears. Even on the plane, I was listening to my MP3 player that he had down loaded some music on. I have this horrible feeling and just can’t shake it. I wrote his card sitting in JAX but there is no place to mail it in the airport and in the Detroit, there seems to be a real snobbish attitude, or the three employees I have talked to were very short and rude.
Having a rough time, sitting and thinking in the Detroit Airport
I sit thinking of my beloved family and friends and Florida is on FIRE, the smoke finally cleared about 45 minutes into the flight. I am sad, I am really emotional. I wish now I would have filled my phone card so I could call home and just talk to Noah. It is a fear that I can’t explain, and yes when Psychics have a bad feeling it is just a bad feeling, you have to go with it and not manifest your fears, as I tell my clients. We have emotions too we just have to separate it from others. I have tried to shake it and it is really getting to me. I am sitting in Detroit International Airport. Now we find out the flight is delayed for mechanical problems, great… just please fix it. I thought that reading Cookie and Me would cheer me up or at least keep my mind from the mood I am in, Damn I hate feeling this way. Maybe I just need to cry, or I could splurge and buy a coffee or maybe same chocolate. The walk and chocolate really helped, I went to the bathroom and tried to cry but the auto flush toilet kept flushing while I sat there. Go figure. So what does it mean, "Due to high security concerns, all domestic customers must be on the plane 30 minutes before departing or your reservation is subject to cancellation." What????
I did some people watching and found that I was doing a pretty good job tuning into people walking by almost too good since I startled a security guard and he looked me up and down as I watched people, then I felt him watching me for a while and I guess he just figured out I was people watching and not a threat. I guess there is a security threat. I asked a woman in the nearest gift shop about a mail box, and she told me there was a mail box way……on the other side of the airport. When the call came in and they told us we were not leaving till 7:05pm I said screw it I’m hiking…. Did I tell you I hate escalators??? Huge ones about one story up and one story down… and then there is this really cool lighted tunnel with music and flashing lights between the escalators… and when I found the mail box and mailed Noah’s Fathers Day card… I felt much better and treated myself to Starbucks and bought a large insulated cup for my water, and the woman only charged me half price, Woo Hoo! I am feeling better! It is 6:25 and if all goes well we will be getting on the plane shortly. At times like this I really wished I still smoked because I could use one right now, but I WILL NOT go there, I traded good coffee and my flute. Can you tell I am a lot happier???
![]()
![]()
Our Plane loaded at 9:00pm (WE WERE SHEDULED OUT AT 4:40) and stIll sat on the runway for 20 minutes, we didn’t get in tll 12:40 AM.
My day started off at 5am doing my Full Moon Beauty Ritual I should have done on Wednesday or Thursday, It takes me about an hour or so to take some years off my looks with natural color, removing a little hair here and there, I won’t bore you with the details, but this is a Full Moon ritual that also includes Glamour, I NEEDED it this morning!
Jamie was to ride with us to Jacksonville and I told her to be at the house by 6:45, she called at 7:00 am and said she just got up. It really was ok, I was really stressed and trying not to totally flip out and her being with us and being late would have made mine and Noah’s stress just twice of what it was already. We didn’t leave at 7:00 as planed and the trip was a train wreck, the smoke from the forest fires was horrible about half way to Jacksonville the somke go bad on I10. I understand that the Ocala National Forest in the I10 area is on fire as well as some south Georgia wild fires. NPR said there are over 400 forest fires in Florida and we are in the worst drought and fire risk since 1998. On the trip over there were times both Noah and I were very concerned, breathing deeply, we didn’t talk, we were running late and by the time we got to the airport I was a total wreck. I told Noah to just take me to check in curb drop off and not worry about parking. It was sometime after 10am and I was afraid my boarding check in was going to take longer. I got out of the car, everything ready to roll, looked in my bag for my e-ticket and realized I had not given Noah his Father’s Day card, I hadn’t even written what I wanted to say to him, which was important to me. I felt so very bad and I just started crying. I know this is hard for him too and that he is going through his own stress right now, he has done a good job of not making it harder on me, knowing I have to do this trip and training. I don’t cry easily but ever since I left him there on the curb, I have been in tears. Even on the plane, I was listening to my MP3 player that he had down loaded some music on. I have this horrible feeling and just can’t shake it. I wrote his card sitting in JAX but there is no place to mail it in the airport and in the Detroit, there seems to be a real snobbish attitude, or the three employees I have talked to were very short and rude.
Having a rough time, sitting and thinking in the Detroit Airport
I sit thinking of my beloved family and friends and Florida is on FIRE, the smoke finally cleared about 45 minutes into the flight. I am sad, I am really emotional. I wish now I would have filled my phone card so I could call home and just talk to Noah. It is a fear that I can’t explain, and yes when Psychics have a bad feeling it is just a bad feeling, you have to go with it and not manifest your fears, as I tell my clients. We have emotions too we just have to separate it from others. I have tried to shake it and it is really getting to me. I am sitting in Detroit International Airport. Now we find out the flight is delayed for mechanical problems, great… just please fix it. I thought that reading Cookie and Me would cheer me up or at least keep my mind from the mood I am in, Damn I hate feeling this way. Maybe I just need to cry, or I could splurge and buy a coffee or maybe same chocolate. The walk and chocolate really helped, I went to the bathroom and tried to cry but the auto flush toilet kept flushing while I sat there. Go figure. So what does it mean, "Due to high security concerns, all domestic customers must be on the plane 30 minutes before departing or your reservation is subject to cancellation." What????
I did some people watching and found that I was doing a pretty good job tuning into people walking by almost too good since I startled a security guard and he looked me up and down as I watched people, then I felt him watching me for a while and I guess he just figured out I was people watching and not a threat. I guess there is a security threat. I asked a woman in the nearest gift shop about a mail box, and she told me there was a mail box way……on the other side of the airport. When the call came in and they told us we were not leaving till 7:05pm I said screw it I’m hiking…. Did I tell you I hate escalators??? Huge ones about one story up and one story down… and then there is this really cool lighted tunnel with music and flashing lights between the escalators… and when I found the mail box and mailed Noah’s Fathers Day card… I felt much better and treated myself to Starbucks and bought a large insulated cup for my water, and the woman only charged me half price, Woo Hoo! I am feeling better! It is 6:25 and if all goes well we will be getting on the plane shortly. At times like this I really wished I still smoked because I could use one right now, but I WILL NOT go there, I traded good coffee and my flute. Can you tell I am a lot happier???
DETROIT AIRPORT
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Ready Set to Go!!!! Canada Here I come!!!
Sunday morning I woke with the word "TIME!" yelling me out of bed, well I guess it was time to get up (6:00 am) but it is also TIME… I have really been spinning and reeling with not just leaving town, and trying to take care of all I can before I go, but with the shifts of the Ninth Wave for those of you that have been following the Mayan Calendar. Which is also another reason for me going to do this work with Earth Activist Training now, instead of last year when I had planned. And a lot of reasons why I have been interested in what Permaculture gives us as we move into the future. I have been studying this for years and 2012 is right before us, actually happening now and we have chosen to live in this time to do or be a part of the change. I will refer you to one website and encourage you to google from there. We are in the Ninth and Final Wave of the Mayan, in Night 3. I will be at Heartroot Farm in Quebec during Day 4 which is the leaf formation as well as reveals.
If you don’t understand all this, it is OK, it is time to at least be right with yourself in your life because things are changing not just in our physical world but on all levels and it is happening fast. Here are some websites:
Friday night we just had our beautiful Summer Solstice Ritual on the beach at Mashes Sands, I love that place, reminds me of growing up on Alligator Point. We walked on the sand bar and built a fire on the beach and told stories in the form of our personal Faery Tales. We ate cold chicken and laughed as the sun set and the crescent moon lite the beach. What a way for four women to enjoy the shift of mid-summer than to spend an evening sitting in the sand with best friends and circle sisters. Tis the life!
I will be touching down in Halifax tomorrow night. The first week I am going to be really busy with my old friend Bonnie Foster and her family. Saturday we are off to the farmers market then she has my first reading scheduled on the way back in her little town. On Sunday I am doing a public Platform Demonstration as a fundraiser for the school, she says the flyer she sent out is getting a lot if interest, I hope it is of the positive kind. I do draw all kinds on energy….. and Summer Solstice and time with the kids and Bonnie showing me the sights of Nova Scotia. I am really excited about checking out her land and the Faery energy there, last summer she sent me a photo of her stream and I found a wee fae hiding under a log near the water. Nova Scotia means New Scotland ya know..A
Send Energy Please
And I am not nervous about the trip, it is leaving Noah and the farm. I will just say everything else is working out, even the travel money and such. I am not taking a lot of stuff but I will have what I need.
I am going to ask all my friends and family to send some positive energy to Noah while I am gone and a little extra for prosperity and health.
Also send some healing energy to my beloved Barbara Reis, long time Client and friend and her awesome family. She has been very sick and in the hospital, on my way to visit today. And for little Kam kam my monkey boy Faery Goddess child which has been sick this week.
On the Farm
Spent Sunday morning putting up Dill pickles with Leslie and I used lime for the first time instead of salt. . Wednesday I pickled more bread and butter pickles using lime again, it really makes the pickles crunchy but makes the clear. I burned myself with boiling water, Noah got to doctor me with silvadine. We actually got Leslie out in the garden and Noah dug the rest of his potatoes this weekend The squash is gone, the really sad tomatoes were not worth all the trouble after I tied and trimmed them all up last week. But I have a feeling there are going to be lots of egg plants… and Ken’s corn is just the prettiest Thing in my garden, it is as tall as I am and if we get moor rain it will be another foot or so. Thick dark green stalks and healthy support system, the pole beans are coming in and they will soon wrap the stalk.
Last night there were fire trucks on 59 and this morning I woke to smoke choking me. I do not know where it is coming from but the air is think even though we had a nice breeze and the air was cool and damp with last nights rain. It is the Full Moon and I put out my Faery Oil, this morning one of the three bottles was gone. I looked and found myself in poison ivy under the picnic table but never found it. If it were the puppies u will or Noah will have some wild little dogs on his hands. As I have posted about Faery oil before it is really strong stuff and only comes out on the full moon to charge. And if the Fae got it….let’s just say//oh shit…..as I was typing my whole document disappeared……say no more….
So I off on my adventure tomorrow. Ken came down to work in the garden and inspect the corn project,, I have to pick up my pay check, visit Barbara in the hospital and pack. Last minute stuff. Jamie and Noah are taking me to Jacksonville early in the morning. My plane leaves at noon and I will be in Halifax by 9pm.
So my next post will be from the road… and I really hope my whole computer blogging works the way I want it to. I really want to share this journey and stay in touch, there is aplace to comment on the blog so please feel free to use it. If qaanyone wants to personally e-mail me my e-mail address is
\
SO……here we go!!!!!
www.thetreeoflifecelebration.com and www.mayanninthwave.com which is a blogspot like minedragonwing56@aol.com and I will have no cell phone service through out my trip..
If you don’t understand all this, it is OK, it is time to at least be right with yourself in your life because things are changing not just in our physical world but on all levels and it is happening fast. Here are some websites:
Friday night we just had our beautiful Summer Solstice Ritual on the beach at Mashes Sands, I love that place, reminds me of growing up on Alligator Point. We walked on the sand bar and built a fire on the beach and told stories in the form of our personal Faery Tales. We ate cold chicken and laughed as the sun set and the crescent moon lite the beach. What a way for four women to enjoy the shift of mid-summer than to spend an evening sitting in the sand with best friends and circle sisters. Tis the life!
I will be touching down in Halifax tomorrow night. The first week I am going to be really busy with my old friend Bonnie Foster and her family. Saturday we are off to the farmers market then she has my first reading scheduled on the way back in her little town. On Sunday I am doing a public Platform Demonstration as a fundraiser for the school, she says the flyer she sent out is getting a lot if interest, I hope it is of the positive kind. I do draw all kinds on energy….. and Summer Solstice and time with the kids and Bonnie showing me the sights of Nova Scotia. I am really excited about checking out her land and the Faery energy there, last summer she sent me a photo of her stream and I found a wee fae hiding under a log near the water. Nova Scotia means New Scotland ya know..A
Send Energy Please
And I am not nervous about the trip, it is leaving Noah and the farm. I will just say everything else is working out, even the travel money and such. I am not taking a lot of stuff but I will have what I need.
I am going to ask all my friends and family to send some positive energy to Noah while I am gone and a little extra for prosperity and health.
Also send some healing energy to my beloved Barbara Reis, long time Client and friend and her awesome family. She has been very sick and in the hospital, on my way to visit today. And for little Kam kam my monkey boy Faery Goddess child which has been sick this week.
On the Farm
Spent Sunday morning putting up Dill pickles with Leslie and I used lime for the first time instead of salt. . Wednesday I pickled more bread and butter pickles using lime again, it really makes the pickles crunchy but makes the clear. I burned myself with boiling water, Noah got to doctor me with silvadine. We actually got Leslie out in the garden and Noah dug the rest of his potatoes this weekend The squash is gone, the really sad tomatoes were not worth all the trouble after I tied and trimmed them all up last week. But I have a feeling there are going to be lots of egg plants… and Ken’s corn is just the prettiest Thing in my garden, it is as tall as I am and if we get moor rain it will be another foot or so. Thick dark green stalks and healthy support system, the pole beans are coming in and they will soon wrap the stalk.
Last night there were fire trucks on 59 and this morning I woke to smoke choking me. I do not know where it is coming from but the air is think even though we had a nice breeze and the air was cool and damp with last nights rain. It is the Full Moon and I put out my Faery Oil, this morning one of the three bottles was gone. I looked and found myself in poison ivy under the picnic table but never found it. If it were the puppies u will or Noah will have some wild little dogs on his hands. As I have posted about Faery oil before it is really strong stuff and only comes out on the full moon to charge. And if the Fae got it….let’s just say//oh shit…..as I was typing my whole document disappeared……say no more….
So I off on my adventure tomorrow. Ken came down to work in the garden and inspect the corn project,, I have to pick up my pay check, visit Barbara in the hospital and pack. Last minute stuff. Jamie and Noah are taking me to Jacksonville early in the morning. My plane leaves at noon and I will be in Halifax by 9pm.
So my next post will be from the road… and I really hope my whole computer blogging works the way I want it to. I really want to share this journey and stay in touch, there is aplace to comment on the blog so please feel free to use it. If qaanyone wants to personally e-mail me my e-mail address is
\
SO……here we go!!!!!
www.thetreeoflifecelebration.com and www.mayanninthwave.com which is a blogspot like minedragonwing56@aol.com and I will have no cell phone service through out my trip..
Monday, June 6, 2011
It is JUNE!!!
June 6, 2011
Yes, I know I have really been behind and I have a bunch of photos I want to post. I am just hanging out in the AC at Crystal Connection on my computer today. Trying to catch up with my blogging and life! Putting my foot down on the ground because my head is spinning........
I am so excited that we have had some rain these past few days, the garden might actually make it, and I have my kitchen counter set up to start pickling tomorrow. The okra is coming in strong and I have silly pumpkins popping up where I used the compost, remember in your compost, do not toss your pumpkin seeds unless you want them everywhere….
Noah and I spent several hours working on his Oak Garden yesterday, clearing most of the land by hand and using the natural plants and filling in with some shade loving plants and shrubs as well as trees. The work is hot and tiring but it will be beautiful. He has grand plans of making it a really nice sitting area. My herb garden is right next to it and yesterday we opened up a place to walk between.
So, the raffle (one hour reading with me) at Crystal Connection was won by Deborah Cone and I raised $130, not much but every bit helps, thank you to those that bought a raffle ticket. I am still a little nervous about traveling light on money but I have friends helping me and I will be making a little money along the way. In 11 days I will be in Nova Scotia and then off to Quebec. I will NOT have cell phone at all and limited internet but hopeful enough to keep up with my blog and my family at home. I will be working in the kitchen and other assorted chores while there. It seems they keep us working and in class from 9am-10pm everyday and one day off during the two weeks to do other things.
More Down on the farm….
I know for sure that both goats are pregnant, and we got a new little 4 month old billy goat and mean old Johnson has gone to another farm for breeding. The chickens are laying better and the blueberries are coming in. Just a few weeks and they will be full, if we continue to get rain. The deer are eating most of the ripe ones that are near the trails but there are plenty for all us critters. They are also eating our pear trees, the leaves, they wait till the pares are ripe which will not be till August or so. I guess since the weather has been so hot and lots of stuff dying the deer are seeking out what is green. They ate my only two little nectarines, and that is right in front of the dogs. They are very brave but I don’t feel too bad, everything is so dry and food scares. I will probably miss the blueberry harvest since they will be ready to pick while I am gone, and I’ll have to leave the harvest up to the family.
Getting fit for the trip
The ticks, yellow flies and horse flies are really bad. It takes a tough hide or DEET to stay out there long and with the heat, making short trips into the woods and garden at anytime other than early morning can be rough. I am really glad I have been doing a little extra exersise in the early mornings. Speaking of which, every morning I play my flute for about 30 minutes as the sun is coming up and then I go on a two and a half mile run. This has been conditioning for me to get ready for this trip and helping relieve some of the stress over the past few weeks. I have really been trying to focus on the energy of our shifting world and feeling some things fall into place. I really feel our world preparing for changes in nature. As I have said before the animals are acting different. I have noticed lots of Crows and was gifted with a feather a few days ago. Last week Noah, Trent and I went for a long boat trip on the Wacissa, I saw birds I have never seen before and only one turtle, which was strange. There were lots of fish but we did not catch any, but we tried. Trent had his very first snorkeling experience at Big Blue and this kid is afraid of water. If you have never swam in Big Blue in the Wacissa River it is breath taking and crystal clear. Well worth the trip. But there was something different about the river.
I am sure there is plenty more I could blog today but I want to post some photos since I am on the CC WiFi and it only takes seconds to do so here are some to share.
Yes, I know I have really been behind and I have a bunch of photos I want to post. I am just hanging out in the AC at Crystal Connection on my computer today. Trying to catch up with my blogging and life! Putting my foot down on the ground because my head is spinning........
I am so excited that we have had some rain these past few days, the garden might actually make it, and I have my kitchen counter set up to start pickling tomorrow. The okra is coming in strong and I have silly pumpkins popping up where I used the compost, remember in your compost, do not toss your pumpkin seeds unless you want them everywhere….
Noah and I spent several hours working on his Oak Garden yesterday, clearing most of the land by hand and using the natural plants and filling in with some shade loving plants and shrubs as well as trees. The work is hot and tiring but it will be beautiful. He has grand plans of making it a really nice sitting area. My herb garden is right next to it and yesterday we opened up a place to walk between.
So, the raffle (one hour reading with me) at Crystal Connection was won by Deborah Cone and I raised $130, not much but every bit helps, thank you to those that bought a raffle ticket. I am still a little nervous about traveling light on money but I have friends helping me and I will be making a little money along the way. In 11 days I will be in Nova Scotia and then off to Quebec. I will NOT have cell phone at all and limited internet but hopeful enough to keep up with my blog and my family at home. I will be working in the kitchen and other assorted chores while there. It seems they keep us working and in class from 9am-10pm everyday and one day off during the two weeks to do other things.
More Down on the farm….
I know for sure that both goats are pregnant, and we got a new little 4 month old billy goat and mean old Johnson has gone to another farm for breeding. The chickens are laying better and the blueberries are coming in. Just a few weeks and they will be full, if we continue to get rain. The deer are eating most of the ripe ones that are near the trails but there are plenty for all us critters. They are also eating our pear trees, the leaves, they wait till the pares are ripe which will not be till August or so. I guess since the weather has been so hot and lots of stuff dying the deer are seeking out what is green. They ate my only two little nectarines, and that is right in front of the dogs. They are very brave but I don’t feel too bad, everything is so dry and food scares. I will probably miss the blueberry harvest since they will be ready to pick while I am gone, and I’ll have to leave the harvest up to the family.
Getting fit for the trip
The ticks, yellow flies and horse flies are really bad. It takes a tough hide or DEET to stay out there long and with the heat, making short trips into the woods and garden at anytime other than early morning can be rough. I am really glad I have been doing a little extra exersise in the early mornings. Speaking of which, every morning I play my flute for about 30 minutes as the sun is coming up and then I go on a two and a half mile run. This has been conditioning for me to get ready for this trip and helping relieve some of the stress over the past few weeks. I have really been trying to focus on the energy of our shifting world and feeling some things fall into place. I really feel our world preparing for changes in nature. As I have said before the animals are acting different. I have noticed lots of Crows and was gifted with a feather a few days ago. Last week Noah, Trent and I went for a long boat trip on the Wacissa, I saw birds I have never seen before and only one turtle, which was strange. There were lots of fish but we did not catch any, but we tried. Trent had his very first snorkeling experience at Big Blue and this kid is afraid of water. If you have never swam in Big Blue in the Wacissa River it is breath taking and crystal clear. Well worth the trip. But there was something different about the river.
I am sure there is plenty more I could blog today but I want to post some photos since I am on the CC WiFi and it only takes seconds to do so here are some to share.
LOOK CLOSE! I have never seen this before Locus leaving shell
Gardenia Tree!
Corn before the rain
SEE There was fruit on this tree, Mr.Scruffy & Blue did not do it!
Wacissa River
Swallow Tail Kite
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)