Back to school...

Oh goodness... it's time to go back to school next week. I'm not excited. I'd prefer to have the kids with me... to go do all the fun things that were on my list for summer that we did not get around to doing. Sigh. Besides. I'm just not much of a morning person.

It's just starting to get warm in my neck of the woods... summer is always foggy and cool. And this year has been more than most. For goodness sake... I haven't even harvested a ripe tomato yet.
I bring this up here because I have to admit that I'm just not feeling the harvest festival cycle that started on August 1st. Honestly, I'm thinking I might have to rearrange the sabbats so that they make sense to me. I don't suppose anyone would notice (as I'm a solitary... and I don't do rituals all that much anyway). But somehow it seems dishonest... as the wheel of the year is supposed to be the one thing that unites pagans... right? If I give that up it feels like I'm just a lone person on my own anyway... so what's the point.

(Isn't this beautiful though? Makes me want to redouble my efforts to fit into the pagan wheel of the year...
I found this at evolvefish.com if you're interested in a sticker version of it)

I suppose I could commit myself to the lunar cycles... as that's more my calling anyway... but ignoring the seasons seems unfair even to me. I just don't know... I think it's going to take some real thinking... figuring out what's important to me, what kind of yearly rituals I want to have, which ones will strike enough of a chord with me that I'll follow through. The way things are right now I just feel guilty for missing those sabbats as they pass me by.

(I actually like this graphic too... the author says he or she uses it as a baseline to add more symbols...
and I liked the designs on his/her flickr page...)

So... I guess I really wish I had another month of summer left... to play with the kidlets and just be mellow. But here we are... and it's time for me to exercise that old addage that constantly comes my way: Go with the flow!

My new creative passion...

So, awhile back I told you that I was trying to find ways for my 7-year-old to pray because she's been asking for some guidance. I thought that besides the kneeling-at-the-edge-of-your-bed kind of prayer I'd find some alternatives.

As I was searching around the internet I found a book on prayer beads. I decided that I'd take beads and the book with us on vacation... and if we needed to do a quiet activity for awhile we could work on prayer beads. I have to say, that with this book the prayer was pretty much in the making of the bead... rather than counting prayers on something like a rosary.

This is the one I made for a friend...
It's a hand-held size... like 10 inches long or so.

And this one was for my 5-year-old... she chose the primary beads she wanted, and I made them for her. She went for a simple look... as fits her personality.

And she requested the pendant be made... just-like-that...

I have started a strand for myself that looks a bit different... more blue and green. I have also started one for my 7-year-old... but we needed to go buy a few bits-and-pieces before we could finish hers up. I'll post pictures as soon as we do.

I've spent so much money on beads (this is a bit of an obsession now... I'd say)... I will have to start giving them as gifts. I'm also looking into making some prayer beads that are more prayer placeholders... like the 108 bead mala prayer sets or catholic rosary beads... rather than just a set of beads that contain a prayer of mine.

Fairy gardens

The girls and I have been making fairy gardens... inspired by the gardens submitted to The Magic Onions. I don't know if we'll submit anything or not... but it was fun to look through some of the entries. And... it was inspiring. We went and bought some plants, and gathered up many rocks/shells/sticks/other stuff that we've had laying around for eons... just waiting for a project!

We made them in hanging baskets (which are probably a little small... but I wanted us to be able to complete them quickly. Later we might be able to take on larger fairy gardens... but I wanted this to be a satisfying first go at it.

This one belongs to the 5-year-old... she was so proud of her work. She kept adding things, then taking them away. Finally deciding that the fairies needed small sticks for a fire, and a shell full of water for washing up.

And this one was made by the 7-year-old. She went for more plants and less "stuff"... and it turned out beautiful also!

I even did one. It was so fun to play like that! I love the gardens... and I hope we'll get to do that again... it really does make you feel closer to something when you put yourself in their shoes... trying to figure out what they need. Lesson for my life with my children??? You betcha.

Oh... and this is random... but I wanted to show you the doll we made for the 5-year-old's preschool teacher. It is an 'ocean fairy'. I like it, but somehow it still seems that something is missing... I just haven't put my finger on it yet. Can you see what's missing?