Creative Every Day

I started the Creative Every Day challenge I think the first year that Leah offered this online creative workshop.  It was fabulous and while I didn't blog about it, I enjoyed it a lot.
The next year I started it and didn't finish, life got in the way.
Then in 2010 I started it over halfway through the year.  My OCD self just knew that I should start at the beginning and somehow 'catch up.'  Yeah.  My more rational self said to just jump right in and participate.  My creative self said - you two go fight about it, I'm going on vacation.  And I could not finish, or even start a single project.
Just a little blocked.
So this year I actually signed up on time and I can't wait to get started working on the projects and looking at what everyone else is doing.  There are some fabulous artists that take part in this and just watching their work is inspirational. 
You might want to join in yourself.  Just click on the link in the right hand column and sign up.

Winter Solstice

poor little blog...

sitting here all abandoned, the few readers slowly disappearing, if they remember to visit to officially disappear. 
This blog started, if I remember right, as a venting place for my political leanings.  I really don't want to do that again.  It's not that I don't have political leanings, but it is such a dark place. 
I also don't want to whine about things going wrong in my life, there is such a thing as too much sharing, especially on the internet, and I am sure that I could step WAY over the line easily just ranting away.
Then there was the art and photography that I never got around to posting much of. 

I picked up my well hidden copy of The Artist's Way a few days ago and realized that I had started it about a year and a half ago and abandoned it almost immediately.  I read through some of my Morning Pages and realized that I was really down and depressed and the little I wrote just reinforced that.
I didn't work through it enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So I decided to do The Artist's Way again.  Actually, it will be for the first time since I quit so early on last time.   Last year I was at a low point financially but a really really low point emotionally.
This year the finances make last year look successful, but I have a much more optimistic outlook on creating the life I want.  I think maybe last year I didn't really know what I wanted and that has clarified for me in the last year or so. 
The Artist's Way will start getting me writing here again.  No, I am not going to inflict my Morning Pages on the world.  That sort of babbling is suppose to be private and besides, I agree with Ms. Cameron that it should be hand written if possible. 
But I may blog about how this project is affecting my life.  Hopefully in mostly good ways.
With a more optimistic outlook I may feel free for an occasional political rant, but it will be short.

sorting thru photos and art....

Looking for stuff to put up on Red Bubble.

Gold and Blue

One of the last days of gold leaves and bright blue skies. 
Our first winter storm arrives tomorrow.

Miso, from NPR

Mastering Miso's Mysteries

Fall Equinox

Boulder County, Colorado

New from NPR....

A new food blog from NPR - looks like a good one.  Some of their best blogs have turned into really good shows.  This one will be fun to follow.

The Salt

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/09/21/140472231/so-what-is-the-salt

What do you think?

killing Mother: Civil Disobedience is the American Way – Time to g...

killing Mother: Civil Disobedience is the American Way – Time to g...: "The American population has been lulled into a trance-like state. Once upon a time, we were a nation of activists. Our founding fathers wer..."

Real Time With Bill Maher, New Rules-Socialism 7/29/11

The Provocation: The Nine Provocations

The Provocation: The Nine Provocations:
"Remember those pesky little injunctions judges like to post in their courtrooms south of the Mason-Dixon line? Not to be outdone here at ou..." ......click

Sunday favorites

Jumping

Juice

Jeans

eating organic

I have eaten some organic food for years.  I try to buy fresh eggs, when I can't get fresh eggs I get organic eggs in the supermarket.  The improvement over factory eggs is well worth the price.  I buy organic milk when I can afford it.  I like milk and it is the perfect vehicle for moving toxic materials from the cow to me.   I buy organic vegetables from farmer's markets and stands all summer.

I have never really gotten serious about changing my diet to primarily organic, mostly because I assumed the cost was prohibitive.  But the announcement last week by the FDA that they approved arsenic added to chicken feed was really the last straw for me.  Arsenic is a heavy metal that our bodies cannot get rid of, tiny amounts accumulate and can reach toxic levels.  In the Victorian era women used to eat tiny amount of arsenic to make their skin beautiful, then they died of it.

The FDA approval of this feed hit me in the face with the reality that if I want to eat healthy I have to figure it out myself.  So I have been watching prices and figuring out how to eat primarily organic if possible.  I shop at Safeway, Kings Soopers, which is Kroger in the midwest, and a health food store called Vitamin Cottage.  Here are some things I have come across in the last couple of weeks.

• Organic eggs and milk are cheaper at the health food store than at the grocery. 

• Organic green leaf or red leaf lettuce was cheaper today by the pound than iceberg lettuce at the grocery. 

• Organic carrots, tomatoes, radishes and lots of other veggies are the same price as the industrial food.  

• I tried some organic chicken this week (I want to eat organic but I am not vegan).  I got 4 thighs for the same price as 5 or 6 at the grocery and the taste was unbelievable and I did not have to cut out huge pockets of fat.

• Organic berries at the health food store are right now cheaper than the regular berries at the groceries. 

• The health food store tends to carry more local and more 'in season' produce than the grocery. 

I am growing squash, onions and herbs, all of which will keep for a long time.
I think I can do this.
If you are like me and have dismissed the idea of eating organic because of the cost, go and look at what is available in your area, you might be surprised, I was.

well trained consumers

I bought gas today for $3.53.  I was quite pleased with that. 
Aren't we well trained.  When the price was charging up at 5 and 10 cents a day and went screaming past 3.53 I was not pleased.  But after it hits over $4/gal and then inches its way back down a penny at a time, I am happy to pay 3.53.
They train us so well to be ripped off on a daily basis and be content with it.

Sunday favorites

Iceland
land of fire and ice

Ivy

Iced Coffee

Sunday favorites

Horses !

Thursday's trees

Thursday's trees

Tuesday Tarot

Mystic Dreamer Tarot

thursday's trees

Thursday's trees

Tuesday Tarot

Llewellyn Tarot, The Fool, from the Mabinogion (Welsh Mythology)

Sunday Favorites

 I am a great fan of the birds of prey, so for the letter G I am going to share three of my favorites, one from each of three categories.

The Goshawk.  A native of Great Britain, this is a large powerful hawk, capable of easily killing a large hare (or jackrabbit like we have here).  Like most hawks this one hunts from a perch, or a falconer's fist and chases the prey.  Big and strong enough to chase a hare through dense underbrush this was the hawk of the workman back when falconry was a way to eat, not a sport. This hunter was a favorite. 

The Gyrfalcon.  Again a native of Great Britain and parts of Europe.  Trapping, taming or hunting with this falcon was punishable by death.  This was the falcon for kings only.  Falcons hunt by hovering over an area - called "waiting on" - and watching for prey to become visible when they dive on the animal.   Gyrfalcons would accompany the royal courts on their hunts, following the horses and dogs.

The Golden Eagle.  Native to North America, this bird is a common sight in the west.  They prefer to nest on high cliffs and cruise the canyons looking for prey.  Despite their size and noble appearance eagles have never been admired by falconers.  Disappointing as it may be, most eagles are not exceptional hunters and often eat carrion.

one sign of spring

photo from flickr - no other credit given

Where ever robins go in the winter - they eat well.  They are starting to re-appear and they are so fat it is a wonder that they can fly. 

Tuesday Tarot

Tarot of a Magical Forest

Sunday Favorite Things

Frankincense.  I burn incense all the time and this is a favorite.

Finger food.  Always better when you can eat it with your fingers.

Farms.  Not agri-industry.  FARMS, healthy places to grow food.  They are making a comeback.

Freya.  Last week I cheated and used Eclipse (Afghan Hound) as an "E"  Freya got her pointy little nose bent, so here is Freya.

Thursday's trees

The trees have been looking sort of fuzzy lately, but reluctant to show any green.  Finally a hint of green in starting to show.  But not on all.

Tarot Tuesday

Mystic Dreamer Tarot

thought for the day

 

"In the sacred traditions, 

the first thing you do in the morning 

is ask for blessings from the four elements: 

earth, air, fire and water. 

Because all of the work that you are going to do that day 

will change the universe." 

~ Laura Esquivel

Sunday Favorite Things

Electronic Toys

Eggs, fresh, organic, free range

Eclipse (ok this is cheating, but that is her name)