Keeping Busy While Stuck At Home – Social Distancing and Witchy Crafts

 

Social Distancing. Self-Isolation. Quarantine. Whatever you call it, most of us are stuck at home for the foreseeable future.

At the beginning of the month, my kids both had colds, and as the panic over Covid-19 was ramping up, I made an effort to not add to the problem, and decided to keep them home a couple of days until their coughs and runny noses subsided. They were better by the weekend, and I was happy to be able to send them back to school on Monday. Then, on Sunday night, the province closed all public schools. All this is a long way of saying, that in my house, we are on day 15 of social distancing isolation.

These days, most businesses are closed for the next couple of weeks, and we are in the middle of what would have been spring break, so the schools aren’t putting anything out until April to help with the kids education. And since we are doing our part to help #flattenthecurve or #plankthecurve or whatever the hashtag is now, we are finding creative ways to keep busy that involve less screen time, and thus, less fighting.

Witchy Wednesday: The Sunflower

36: Flower of your choice, and its magical properties.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My favourite flower has always been the sunflower.  It is the warmth of summer and the calm of lazy days all wrapped up in soft golden petals and a friendly open face.

Grateful Gratitude

I accept that I am not going to be doing this every day, but I do need to remind myself of the good things on days when I am feeling like a beached whale.

Day 42:  I am grateful that I only have about 2 weeks left of being pregnant.

43: I am grateful for the pre-baby shopping spree that has managed to get us all caught up on stuff we need.  I am a lot less stressed now that I have a new car seat and baby bed.

44: I am grateful that I still have another week before I have to get back on the “endless appointments” bandwagon.

45: I am grateful for rain.  Always.

46: I am grateful that 130+ people are interested in what I have to say.  I started blogging to just keep track of my own rantings and ravings so I wouldn’t bore my friends with it. lol

47: I am grateful for sleep-in snuggle babies.  It lets me get a couple of hours extra sleep and who doesn’t love watching a cuddly baby sleep??

48: I am grateful for chilly mornings that make the sleep-in snuggle baby possible 😀

49:  I am grateful for cardboard forts.  It’s free and keeps kids busy for hours.

 

More Gratitude: Days 34 – 41

Day 34: I am grateful for finally being caught up on the bills.  It wasn’t a huge stressor, but it was definitely one we didn’t need.

Day 35:  I am grateful for sales on juice.  With a squished, end of pregnancy stomach, I don’t always have the space for just water.

Day 36: I am grateful that my little one likes milk.  She loves chocolate milk, but she often asks specifically for regular milk in the mornings.

Day 37: I am grateful for packages in the mail!  I love getting snail mail!  15 balls of yarn at once!  Yay Yarn sales!

Day 38: I am grateful to my mom for my ability to make handmade gifts for people.  Craftiness runs in the family and it’s great that I didn’t have to try to teach myself.

Day 39: I am grateful for sunshine with mild temperatures.  I like the sun a lot more when it isn’t trying to cook me.

Day 40: I am grateful for naptime (and I don’t care if this one is a repeat).  Naptime is an all important aspect of life that needs more recognition!

Day 41: I am grateful that my belly is small enough that I can reach to shave my own legs still.  It’s not easy, but I can do it!

Day 42:  I am grateful for an awesome hubby who went to 3 different grocery stores and 2 drug stores looking for my meal replacement shakes.  And not only did he finally find them, but he also came home with a gift certificate for a mani-pedi.  He is awesome!

Look! A Real Blog Post!

I have found myself reading a lot more blogs this summer rather than writing.  As some of you may know, I’ve developed a distaste for random outrage and useless arguments over the past few years.  These days, I prefer my life to be simple, peaceful and focussed on those things that bring me joy.

While I do try to keep up with some of my favourite Pagan blogs, these last few weeks I have discovered some local foodie/mom blogs and knitting blogs that I am really enjoying.  Who doesn’t love food, and snuggly warm knitwear?

Apple Harvest – The List

(Photo credit: net_efekt)

Apples are one of my most favourite treats of the harvest season (they are right up there with new potatoes).  Year after year, I want to make all kinds of yummy apple dishes, but end up with the same old pork roast with apples, apple crisp, and apple sauce.  This year, I am making a list of awesome recipes so that I don’t forget what I want to make, and where I can get the recipes to make it!

I think I will stick this to the front page so I can easily update it.  Look for new posts below this one 🙂

Here is the list thus far:

SLOW COOKER GOODNESS:

Slow cooker stuffed roasted apples

Slow cooker apple cider

Slow cooker apple butter

BAKED GOODIES:

Apple spice muffins (GF)

Apple fritters

Apple fritter cake

OTHER APPLE YUMMIES:

Apple bacon pancakes

Have any awesome harvest apple recipes to share?  Feel free to comment below.  Happy appling!

GP2013 – Days 7 & 8

The last couple of days have been exhausting and difficult.  When you’re tired and stressed, it is hard to find things to be grateful for.  Still, that is the point of the project, isn’t it?

Day 7: Yesterday I was grateful for my little girl who is always excited to see me no matter what.

Day 8: Today I am grateful for my SO, who even though he is very sick, took a bus to come and get me when I needed him.

Gluten-Free Cakes & Ale

Last year at about this time, I found myself bemoaning the lack of options for gluten-free Pagans when it came to ritual fare.  Since then I have found myself on something of a mission to make sure that those of us on a gluten-free diet can still enjoy a fully decked out Sabbat celebration as well as any other Pagan/Witchy gathering.

First up was my Imbolc article with an almost completely gluten-free menu.¹  I also want to add recipes of my own that I have used and perfected (more or less).  This post is the first.  After so many test batches that I think my little one will be forever addicted to “scones”², I give you gluten-free ritual cakes.