Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!



Shadow climbed into the Coke Zero box and he loved it in there. Isn't it great how cats can find happiness in the simplest things? There is a lesson there no? :)



I decided yesterday that I was giving up.

I have been struggling with the chaos around me for so long that has been eating me alive. I have so much anger over things that I cannot control that I struggle with pretending to be happy half the time. By some miracle I am staying healthy though I show many classic signs of stress disorders. And I just couldn't juggle everything anymore.

I closed my eyes and surrendered it all to the God and Goddess. I opened my heart and gave them all my struggles and troubles. I confessed that my way was not working and I was open to change. I was tired of looking through the eyes of anger and prayed to see through the eyes of love. I opened myself up and affirmed that I was ready for a miracle...a change in perception. I am willing to change...I have to change.

And I felt this overwhelming peace settle over me. Even now I feel different. Whenever my mind starts back on it's old path of negativity; I hear this gentle admonishment to center me again.

There is this weight that is gone today. Giving over everything to the Divine is a balm for my soul.

I'm not a total Pollyanna...I know that I will still struggle...but now I know in my heart that I wil be okay.

I wish you all Bright Blessings and full bellies.
Ruinwen
:)

A Mooving Experience

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
-- Lao Tzu

We've been making small changes over the year to eat better and take better care of ourselves. This weekend we went to our local free range, cruelty free farm. We watched animals roaming everywhere, healthy and carefree and I knew that this was a perfect fit with the lifestyle that we are trying to create.

On Sunday we had fresh eggs scrambled with some raw delicious milk and cooked in a dash of fresh butter. My son thought they were the best eggs he had ever eaten. I cooked up some amazing sausage and bacon and we had a farm fresh meal that was good to the last bite.

We were taught that red meat is bad for you but in truth it depends on a whole bunch of factors. Most grass-fed cattle are leaner than feedlot beef, lacking marbling, which lowers the fat content and caloric level of the meat. Meat from grass-fed cattle also have higher levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and the Omega-3 fatty acids ALA, EPA, and DHA.

Grass fed meat has a better Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acid ratio. It is important to eat these fatty acids in as close to a 1 to 1 ratio as possible.

The fat from cattle raised on green grass has much higher concentrations of vitamin K2. Studies of K2 have suggested it is extremely potent for lowering arterial calcifications, which in turn lowers the risk of heart disease.

Grass fed cattle are also healthier overall. Studies have shown that grass fed beef is virtually free of pathogenic E. coli bacteria. Factory farmed cattle are fed grains rather than grasses, and this changes in acidity of their digestive tracts. The acidity increase promotes the pathogenic strains of E. coli.

My sister really hit it on the head when we were talking about real food. Real food makes not only fills your tummy but it makes you feel good.

This week I've been eating cheese made from raw goats milk. I put it on my Italian salad along with olives and pomegranate seeds. I'm in love with this colder weather salad.

For a year now I've been lactose intolerant so imagine my surprise and elation when I can have cheeses made from raw milk...not to mention I actually had milk and didn't suffer at all.

Needless to say I could gush about all the delicious things we bought at great length. We've signed up with South Mountain Creamery and I believe it is a change for the better for all of us.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!
Ruinwen
:)

Trials and Tribulations of 4th Grade

We've been getting to know our newest family member and it is hard not to fall in love with him.

Our little girl is having some trouble adjusting to Shadow; but we caught them like this.

We have a lot of homework tonight and it took DH and I about an hour to work out what front end estimating is. These new terms are foreign and last night we read the wrong entry...told him the wrong thing...and he got it wrong.

The next thing that we tried to wrap our minds around were compatible numbers. Here is my favorite definition. What are compatible numbers? Compatible numbers are numbers that look nice or friendly with each other when we do mental calculation to estimate a product, but especially a division problem

So, here we are working with "nice or friendly numbers" and it makes me want to do something easier like steeking...jk...but seriously...

So I'm going to cut this short even though I wanted to tell you that this weekend we are going to a free range farm. They let you feed the calves and I thought my son would really like that. I wanted to share with you how we are trying to eat more whole foods and less processed crap...even if it takes longer to make and spoils quicker.

I also wanted to share with you that I've been working on a new scarf design for Vixenpath. But all that will have to wait since there is still much Math to conquer tonight. Goddess please help me.

Have a great weekend!
Ruinwen
:)

Shadow

This is Shadow our newest family member. My son fell in love with him the minute he saw his ad on the web. We went to the shelter that weekend and filled out all the paperwork and last night we brought home our sweet little kitty. He is a 5-month-old male with tons of energy and a lot of pursonality.



The socialization of Widdershins and Shadow is moving slowly. She won't even go up to the level that Shadow is on...and that is where her food is. I know these things take time and we are letting the cats take this whole thing at their own pace.

Shadow is adorable even if he is a bit nippy right now. He never learned to play with others so this is all new to him. The toy we got him seems to be helping with that.

He has the softest black fur with just a hint of white. I'm already in love...nips and all. :)




This is the layette set my sis asked me to make sitting on top of my son's trick or treat bag...they went so well together I thought it would make a good shot. :)

As my DH always does he has changes planned for each piece which I will spend the next month figuring out. These booties were seamed and he wants me to make the feather-and-fan cuffs with my sock pattern...which should be totally doable. Next, he suggested an eyelet band in the bonnet to match the cuffs of the socks...again doable without too much fuss. Finally, we are scaling down the blanket to fit a carrier...and that just takes figuring out how may repeats are needed. So hopefully these changes can be easily made so that this can be a set at Spring Fling 2011.

Baby steps...

I hope everyone has a happy weekend!
Ruinwen
:)