Refreshing My Blog for the New Year

 We are less than 2 weeks from the new year it's a great time to refresh this blog. It has suffered for a while mostly due to illness and a few life changes and also for those that have followed my blog I began a Walking the Wheel of the Year Journey in 2023. Observing changes in nature in my own yard and neighborhood.  I had chosen a tree in my yard that I was documenting the seasonal changes during the year when the tree service I hired to take down some dead trees in my yard accidentally took down the Holly tree I was observing. I was blogging my wheel of the year on another blog As the Crone Flies. I had considered combinig the two blogs for awhile than about two weeks ago I could no longer upload my photos to the word press site, I believe the universe was telling me it was time to combine the blogs.

This year I'm planning to make changes to my wheel of the year journey.  

I will continue to add post about my hand embroidery which brings me great joy and a deep state of relaxation to an almost meditative state.

I follow a goddess path pagan lifestyle which I will continue to write about.  If you are new to this blog here is a link to my other blog As the Crone Flies to get an idea of what I posted there: https://deborahsasthecroneflies.wordpress.com/  

Mostly it's just what I am doing in my life, the usual ups, downs, ins, and outs of daily living.

Currently I am finishing these  2 little polar bear ornaments the hand embroidery is complete and I am putting them together.  By the way these photos were deemed to large for the other site.  The pattern came from an Etsy shop The Hoop In Hand.  

I am currently reading The Witching Year by Diana Helmuth, which I just started yesterday. And the Spirited Kitchen by Carmen Spagnola.

There has been so highs and lows in 2023 which I am planning to remedy in 2024, currently I have  ongoing back and leg problems which with the help of the Orthopedic center doctors I am hoping to repair or at least improve without surgery.  

I have always been an avid walker beginning each day with a 1-2 mile walk, the last half of the year my daily walks have been reduced to short walks and at times not walking at all.  I miss those daily walks and I'm determined to start them again. In fact, tomorrow I am going on a pack walk volunteering to walk a shelter dog around Silver Springs park in the morning, along with my son and daughter in law.

I just hope they have a dog that is as slow as I am lately. I will surely post about it here.

One change in my life this year include a change to my mostly healthy eating habits, by making even healthier choices including more plant based meals.  I say mostly healthy because sometimes I throw caution to the wind and just eat something not too healthy like a slice of pizza, or a hamburger.  I have several obstructed arteries so my fats intake are fairly low so junk foods are out of my diet, though if I really want it I will eat it.  I know my life depends on the healthy food choices but some days you just have to have what you crave.  I don't give into the craving right away I will usually put it out of my mind but if I still crave it a week later I will give in.

Another change in my life is to put in a garden, most likely raised beds because of my back, right now I have a few potted plants but my heart wants to garden. While I may not have the dream garden below this year, I think it's something to hope for in the future.  Right now a raised bed or two would be enough.

I do dream of having a garden like the photo above but right now I will settle for a garden like I had back in Spring of 2013.

The winter solstice has passed so each day will grow a little lighter, may your hearts be warmed by the rays of the sun.

Right now the hour is getting late and I have some stitching to do.  Tonight's Christmas Eve Eve moon is shining brilliant over my roof top.

I welcome you to leave comments, ask questions and follow along on my journey.

Marching Toward the Turn of the Wheel to Ostara and the Spring Equinox

 Time has a way of getting away from me this year, I don't know what it is that seems to make the days fly by so recently I ask myself am I too busy?  Am I making up for time lost while I was ill for nearly 2 years, and trying to fit in as much as I can?  

I don't have the answer to either question so I'll just take each passing day in stride, be glad I am regaining my health even though I am having surgery in early April, life is good.

First Happy St. Patrick's Day 

I am currently working on a hand embroidery kit I purchased from Cozy Blue, one of my favorite places to by kits and patterns for embroidery.  Moon Flow is the kit.

Everything you need to complete the hoop design is included in the kit, I am using my clover hoop for stitching and will use the included wood hoop to finish it to hang.  I also purchased a separate pattern for the design so I can make another with a different color background.  I made a similar moon phase Cozy Blue design from a kit Lunar Blossom in April 2017.

I am also preparing to start a new Greenman hand embroidery, once again I plan to use Weeks Dye Works floss, I love the over dyed flosses in colors named after herbs and other vegetation it just seems a perfect fit. I had to restock 4 of the colors I have used on my last few greenman/greenwoman pieces. I use between 6 and 10 colors for the leaves most from Weeks Dye Works and some from Gentle Arts. Once I start the project I will include which flosses I use in my updates.

I should be starting this in a few days, I wanted to get Moon Flow completed by Ostara but I don't think that will happen here is my progress to date.

Perhaps if I stitch all day every day I will finish it in time.  Another kit I purchased recently is this lovely Aegean Sunrise from Avlea, I thought it would make a love piece for Litha. I will leave links for both sites at the end of my post.

In addition to my hand embroidery I have a few other crafting projects in the works, I made a crocheted goddess doll from the Fiber Magick book by Opal Luna. The pattern is Goddess of Journeys on page 155, it worked up quite easily though I did notice the stuffing is showing through, I used the suggested hook size for the yarn so next time I will go down 2 hook sizes. I ordered some dark fiberfill for my next one.

I used Skein Tones Lion Brand yarn in Cedarwood.  I changed the arms for my goddess so they are in front of her instead of over her head.  I am going to make a small bag to place in her hands to hold a crystal and or herbs.

This week I am reading through a few magazines from my pile of to be read when I have time pile in between stitching.

Here are the links to find the embroidery kits I posted today

https://cozybluehandmade.com/   https://www.avleaembroidery.com/ 

Before I post this today fresh from my oven this morning my traditional Irish Soda Bread

January is Moving Along and Some Stitching

 The month of January is moving along in a flash. I often wonder where the time goes when I am not paying attention.  The full moon on the 17th was beautiful, I was outside briefly to take my trash can to the curb and there she was rising above my house at 7:25 p.m.

I didn't expect to see her at all because it had been raining most of the day and more rain was expected, yet to my surprise and delight she was shining brightly.  I stood in her light to absorb her energy and I could feel her pull rising my energy from me.

On January 1st I began stitching  a new hand embroidery piece. I have a few other designs I need to transfer to fabric once I chose the fabric I want to use for each project.  Here is a look at my progress up to January 9th.

She is the first of three figures in this design, I am using an older 100% cotton fabric that I love it has a paisley design in the palest natural tone, if I am not mistaken it was 108″ fabric sold as quilt backing. I’ve use the fabric for several pieces and just love the look of the design when stitched. So far I am using DMC floss 603.  I don’t often use so much pink but for this it just felt right. 

Later in the week I continued my stitching working on the second figure of the piece and using DMC 602 floss. It’s a slightly darker shade of pink than the first figure, originally I had planned to use a blue on the 2nd figure and purple for the 3rd, but the more I looked at the colors together I liked the shades of pink rather than the multiple colors, the third figure will be stitched in DMC 601.

The piece is of The Moriae, or the Greek Fates “spinners of fate” controlling the lives of humans in pieces of thread. Clotho spun the thread, Lachesis handled it, and Atropos cut the thread at the end of one’s life.  I thought a fitting piece for this hand embroiderer.

On the 17th I spent a few hours stitching the second figure, removed the piece from the hoop to move on to the third figure, threaded my needles and put it aside for the night to give my fingers a rest.

The first two figures are not complete I still have to go back to stitch the hair, face and hands, since I will be using the same color floss for flesh I thought it would be easier to do all at once. Now I think I should have just completed each figure as I stitched. Looking at the two figures together I can’t tell the difference in the floss, so perhaps the pink, blue and purple colors I had originally planned would have been a better idea. Once the stitch and wash product is washed away and the black lines are gone the colors won’t be so identical or at least I hope so.

Stitching September Away

 I have an update on the Goddess of the Month hand embroidery project I started in January of this year. I am currently working on the September Goddess, Kali and also finishing up the July goddess, Isis. I finished the stitching on the August goddess, Ariadne but I haven’t washed off the stitch and wash product yet. This month has been quite busy for me and some days I just run out of steam. Here is a look at the progress on Kali.

I am using DMC floss 995 for the skin, she is a multi armed goddess with images of her ranging from 4 arms to 10 arms. For my Kali design I chose 6 arms. If you aren’t familiar with Kali here is a simple image.

  On another note this week after Cardiac Rehab I found a surprise in my mailbox, the long awaited issue of Sage Woman magazine. It was about 18 months between issues due to the pandemic. Recently on the Sage Woman facebook page it was announced the issue was ready to ship so the anticipation of it’s arrival made my day.  Sadly enough Sage Woman is going to 2 issues a year instead of 4, I have a sinking feeling issue 100 is going to be the last, I hope I am wrong I have been reading this magazine since the first issue.

The cover art is just beautiful.  For my October goddess of the month embroidery I am considering Baba Yaga or Persephone as the next piece to embroider.  It takes me nearly as long to decide on the next goddess as it does to stitch them.  

While I am working out in cardiac rehab on the Nu-Step machine my mind is going over all my ideas of designs and colors of floss and lately thinking will I continue this goddess a month project in 2022.  I have tossed around a few ideas, one is inviting others to join me either in embroidering their own or working in a medium of choice.  Another idea is if someone wants to send me a goddess they have designed for me to stitch.  I have had a few people ask this in the past so it could be a nice way to showcase someone's art in embroidery and crediting the design to them. Well just ideas floating in my head for now I'll keep you posted.

Some New Crafty Books for Fall and Stitching Update

 I just pre-ordered 3 new craft books set to release in the Autumn 2 in October and 1 in November. The Crocheting Witch and Fiber Magick are fiber/needle arts. The Witchcrafting Handbook includes crafts, recipes, and creative projects for you and your home.

As a practitioner of Stitch Craft I am looking forward to these 3 books. The first book The Crocheting Witch by RJ Montgomery is described as A quick reference for people specifically looking to incorporate crochet into their craft, The Crocheting Witch is a guide to using different types of stitch pattern, materials, herbal and essential-oil infusions, beads, and charms to create a variety of crocheted crafts.

The Fiber Magick book by Opal Luna is described as it provides many ways to enhance your magick through fiber arts. Discover the tools of the trade, the power of color, and a variety of weaving, braiding, and knotting methods. Learn how to use sigils, deities, and correspondences in your practice. I believe this is similar to how I incorporate magical intentions to the things I create by adding a bit of spell work or chanting my intention for the person I am making the item for.

The Witchcrafting Handbook by Helena Garcia is described as a new book to help you witch-craft your way to a more magical life, with creative projects for you and your home. Over 70 projects for stylish witches to make at home.

The last crafts book for Witches I purchased was Sew Witchy by Raechel Henderson, I bought it in March 2020 right before I became ill. Other crafting books for witches I have on my shelf are:

Witchy Crafts by Lexa Olick

Witch Crafts by Willow Polson

The Crafty Witch by Willow Polson

Magical Needlework by Dorothy Morrison

Recently I added 2 embroidery books to my witch crafty shelves:

Magical Stitches by Christi Johnson

Embroidery Now by Jennifer Cardenas Riggs (not necessarily pagan centered)

My progress on the July goddess of the Month embroidery was stalled for a few weeks so once again I am playing catch up. The July goddess is Isis and I am currently working on the wings.  

I would like to have the stitching completed soon but illness and heart surgery, cardiac rehab has pretty much taken up most of my energy so I don’t stitch daily and when I do stitch it isn’t for very long.  

A Long Pause and I'm Back Again

 As you know over the past year and a month I have been ill and sadly enough this blog has been neglected. Still no answers yet as to what and why the pain began, all my test have been negative, no sign of cancer or tumors, and problems that were thought to have been have improved.

So on Thursday, the 22nd I saw my cardiologist and after a two hour visit I have come home with a laundry list of tests i need to have, so just about every week in May and June I will be having some kind of test. The last appointment is on July 1, my birthday, and believe it or not its listed as: F/U cardiac testing, is this an omen? I believe it translates to Follow UP cardiac test. Anyway I’m happy to say I have been having more good pain free days, but not enough as I see it. I’m sick if hurting. Those days render me pretty much useless, and I have too much to do to spend my days lying down.

Here is what I have been up to lately on my good days, after packing and shipping the daily sales from the Amazon and Ebay stores, I clean house and then I usually read a bit, do some stitching, water the plants.

Last week I pulled out a few old issues of Sage Woman magazine, in the early days publication was pretty regular and the issues arrived quarterly. As years passed publication was a crap shoot, one year you would get 4 issues the next 3. This year I haven’t received a single issue, the last issue was due out August 2020.

My progress on the March Goddess hand embroidery has been slow going I have made some progress on the faces and started the hands. When I finish the hands I will put it aside to get the April goddess finished, I am enjoying this little challenge I made for myself.

Here is a sneak peek at the April goddess for my Goddess of the month project, The Minoan Snake Goddess, I did start stitching it but wanted to get March finished but as the days moved on I realized that wasn't happening so I'm stitching April again and work on March in between. 

Here is an updated photo of some of my goddesses that I have, I ordered a new half moon table to use a an altar and that should be arriving early in May.

This space is getting a little crowded, I usually move things around but I haven’t had a chance in a while but once the new table gets here I will have more space. I have small altars in other rooms but this one I can see from my desk and my loveseat in the livingroom. 
  

This one is the newest from Brigid’s Grove meant to represent Persephone, I love the color and I am partial to these little figurines and in fact just ordered another one in a lovely green. I don’t always keep the goddess as depicted in the description and have quite a few without the belts, whatever goddess I feel a devotion for at the time my goddess will represent. I began taking part in the Brigid’s Grove Living the Questions and also the 30 Days of Goddess Devotion but somehow lost track of what I was doing in March, so I order the pre-printed journal and expected it to arrive for April 1st unfortunately with the postal delays we had this year it wasn’t delivered until the 9th, so I will try again in May, and I also purchased the 2nd edition of the pre-printed journal so I can continue on in June. An idea I had was to print out the pages Molly has generously given us and on my birthday I will do the goddess devotion journal for the entire year.

I plan to set it up either in a scrap book or a 3-ring binder, I haven’t decided yet but I have lots of periodicals to snip from, a stack of old We’moon date book calendars full of lovely goddess images, quotes, etc. I had planned on taking my goddess devotions deeper this year and this journal project through Brigid’s Grove has really helped me with that.

Above are a few books that I have been reading are oldies from the past but so appropriate for the goddess devotional and delving deeper. And a bit of tea with the goddess is always a nice treat, the older books are 365 Goddess by Patricia Telesco, The Goddess Celebrates edited by Diane Stein is an anthology of women’s rituals, written by the foremothers of the goddess spirituality movement and the gem in all by Marija Gimbutas The Language of the Goddess, and right on top is the Whole and Holy a Goddess Devotional by Molly Remer.

Here is a link to Brigid’s Grove if you are interested check it out https://brigidsgrove.com/

I have to transplant a few plants into large pots today, I am late again but oh so hopeful that I will have better luck this year since I have more good says. I would love to put in some raised beds but bending forward causes too much pain so planting in containers this year will have to be enough.

Before I post this here is the completed February goddess the Cailleach, she turned out lovely. I added a quartz crystal to the staff and used a twisted jump ring at the center of her belt. The use of the DMC Etoile floss with the bits of metallic thread was a great choice and gives me the icy effect I was hoping for. I love the look of the spiral fabric she is stitched on and will probably use it for another goddess or two through the year.

Well that’s what I have been up to lately. How is your month going?