A busy week.

Yes indeed, Last weekend I made Vegan Caramel Sauce and Vegan Chocolate Sauce for our BBQ Bananas.

This weekend it was Ginger Rhubarb Jam.

I used lemons I got at the Cool Cucumber Community Cooperative food & plant swap.

I don't have any pics right now but they all worked well.

It feels like forever since I wrote anything, but I have been off on my travels again this time a road trip through

It feels like forever since I wrote anything, but I have been off on my travels again this time a road trip through California. I saw oodles of friends and received much hospitality.

I worked on a 4H presentation on jams and jellies. 

The garden looks swell. I spent the weekend with my community, first we hosted a bbq for local leadership on Saturday, then on Sunday we worked on helping buildout the new local space. Well that's about it for me for now, I have a bunch of the alphabet to catch up on too, but not tonight.

A day late, but I'm sure we will all live.

So this week I was busy and got stuff done.

I made a couple of low sugar jams.

First was the kumquat jam.

And then the loquat lime jam..

They are kind of like a cross between a cherry and an apricot.

I also went to a beekeeping 101 class offered by OC Beekeepers.

There I leaned about stingless bee suits and not eating bananas before checking the hive.

I also attended a board meeting of the Rare Fruit Growers.

I think we will be going to Hawaii after all. I got tempted watching the Fruit Hunters...

We visited the new space yesterday and it is lovely. They are hoping to open their doors by the end of June.

I am feeling blessed.

Lot's happening, some of it is even productive!

I missed last weeks posts as I was visiting the Emerald City, literally. I was traveling to Heru Behutet for the OTO. They were celebrating their 20th anniversary. Kansas was a blast, hanging out with siblings is always good. We feasted verily at the local body and ate at some local places. Being a vegetarian I skipped the group BBQ and headed over with some like minded folks to Korma Surta which was an instant hit. Then home the next day just in time for a week of work! I even fell asleep in yoga on Wednesday! 

I researched articles for our MFP newsletter and came up with some food safety words of "wisdom"...

Cross Contamination: Please remember to wash your hands, surfaces and utensils in between preparing meets and salads. Also, when taking foods off the grill, do not put cooked food items back on the same plate that held raw food, unless it has been washed with hot water and soap first.

Stay Cool: Always carefully marinate food in the refrigerator. Please do not “recycle” sauce that was used to marinate raw meat or poultry on cooked food. Reserve part of the unused marinade to use as a sauce. Finally, keep your coolers out of the direct sunlight. 

Saturday found me wrapped up in a beading workshop by Judith Walker. Here I am at the beginning of it... 

As you can see I am using a "paperclip loom" which saves a munch of work with loose ends. And here's the finished weave.

Now all I need to do is add the hardware and I will have a bracelet. 

Then Last night I paid a visit to Golden Lotus where we attended an installation for the the incoming master. While there we recived the great news that the body had not only found an external space, but, that it will be moving within a mile and a half of our doorstep! I am delighted to say the least!

The Letter H

Hemlock

Hemlock is a poisonous herb.

Botanival.com states…

“The Ancients were familiar with the plant, which is mentioned in early Greek literature, and fully recognized its poisonous nature. The juice of hemlock was frequently administered to criminals, and this was the fatal poison which Socrates was condemned to drink.

The old Roman name of Conium was Cicuta, which prevails in the mediaeval Latin literature, but was applied about 1541 by Gesner and others to another umbelliferous plant, Cicuta virosa, the Water Hemlock, which does not grow in Greece and southern Europe. To avoid the confusion arising from the same name for these quite dissimilar plants, Linnaeus, in 1737, restored the classical Greek name and called the Hemlock (Conium maculatum), the generic name being derived from the Greek word Konas, meaning to whirl about, because the plant, when eaten, causes vertigo and death. The specific name is the Latin word, meaning 'spotted,' and refers to the stem-markings. According to an old English legend, these purple streaks on the stem represent the brand put on Cain's brow after he had committed murder.

Hemlock was used in Anglo-Saxon medicine, and is mentioned as early as the tenth century. The name Hemlock is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words hem (border, shore) and leác (leek or plant). Another authority derives the British name 'hemlock' from the Anglo-Saxon word healm (straw), from which the word 'haulm' is derived.

The use of Hemlock in modern medicine is due chiefly to the recommendation of Storch, of Vienna, since when (1760) the plant has been much employed, though it has lost some of its reputation owing to the uncertain action of the preparations made from it.”

I have a plant growing in my yard courtesy of an old friend who was moving out of state.

Hermes

Theoi Greek Mythology states…

“HERMES was the great Olympian God of animal husbandry, roads, travel, hospitality, heralds, diplomacy, trade, thievery, language, writing, persuasion, cunning wiles, athletic contests, gymnasiums, astronomy, and astrology. He was also the personal agent and herald of Zeus, the king of the gods. Hermes was depicted as either a handsome and athletic, beardless youth, or as an older bearded man. His attributes included the herald's wand or kerykeion (Latin caduceus), winged boots, and sometimes a winged travellers cap and chlamys cloak.”

Huna

Horus

Hallows

Hadit

The OTO states…

“The theology of Thelema postulates all manifested existence arising from the interaction of two cosmic principles: the infinitely extended, all-pervading Space-Time Continuum; and the atomic, individually expressed Principle of Life and Wisdom. The interplay of these Principles gives rise to the Principle of Consciousness which governs existence. In the Book of the Law, the divine Principles are personified by a trinity of ancient Egyptian Divinities: Nuit, the Goddess of Infinite Space; Hadit, the Winged Serpent of Light; and Ra-Hoor-Khuit (Horus), the Solar, Hawk-Headed Lord of the Cosmos.”

Busy, but not so productive...

This week has flown, but I feel like I have little or nothing to show for it, save for perhaps some space. Speaking of space we did manage to donate some plants to next weeks Green Scene...

We sent a rasin tree, pomegranates, dragon fruit pineapples, grapes, figs and an ice-cream bean to the sale. It's a fund raiser for our club and we spend the year growing stuff for the show and making sure it's big enough to send off.

We had a visitor to the garden...

He's an alligator lizard and very cute.

I did make a batch of the "spice of life".

This is a home made blend that I add to my morning shake.

Looks like we will be eating artichoke for dinner one night this week.

We seem to be getting green gages this year.

and peaches.

Speaking of which or Red Barron bloomed this tear and I meant to post, so better late than never...

Finally regarding this weeks notices from IHQ...

The Equinox, Vol. I, No. 7. Between pages 368 and 369.
Many thanks to David and Sulinna.

Enough said?

This week we had a few firsts!

It began when we harvested the beets, spinach and chard.

I blanched the leaves...

And prepped them for the freezer...

But I had a bunch of chard stalk left over so I thought I'd try a chutney recipe I found on line...

Sadly, it being an online recipe the canning instructions were a little loosey goosey...

So I took this lovely looking pickle and pressure canned it!

I should probably just kept it as a fridge pickle, but there was soooo much of it. 

The pressure canner crushed all of the fluids pit of the veggies and made it really watery. 

I can salvage them by draining the fluid and tossing them into a curry for flavor.

Anyway, we also made beer...

A nice chocolaty porter that will be ready in a few weeks.

So there are all of my firsts!

The letter G

Gemini

Gemini is a double sign, it is also the third sign of the zodiac and ruled by the planet Mercury and the element of Air. People born during this sign (May 21^st - Jun 21^st) tend to enjoy communicating verbally, however this can be taken to extremes in the form of gossip. They can’t help it, they love to share information, they generally don’t mean any harm by it, its’ just their way.

Goat

Glamour

A “glamour” is a method of charming a persons perceptions. This can be used for a variety of purposes, both positive and negative. It is no different than wearing make up or getting a new haircut for a job interview in intent, but methods vary widely.

Galangal

Ganymede

Ganymede was the cupbearer of the Greek Goods on Mount Olympus.

Originally a Trojan Prince he was carried of to heaven by Zeus’s eagle to be His lover. Ganymede features in Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis.

Grace

And the end came to my birthday month!

So last I posted I was getting ready to go to Scotland...

As you can see, I was there!

I visited with my mum,

 And assorted family...

And of course I got to see the lambs...

Etc...

Got back just in time to go on a rare fruits tour and pick up a couple of new flowering bits...

The garden itself is kind of exploding...

These are the grapes and the mulberries...

And then there are our roses...

And of course my breakfast rose...

I will leave you with by b-day card from my beloved Puppy.

Time to celebrate the rest of my life.

The letter F

Finger of God

Bob Marks states…

 “A Yod  (or Finger of God) is formed when two planets make a sextile aspect and a third planet is opposite their mid-point. That third planet must make angles of 150 degrees with the other two (that is called a quincunx). If you drew lines on the chart connecting the planets, you would get a Y-shaped formation that seems to point to one part of the horoscope.”

Jamie Partridge says…

 “A Yod does represent a special task or mission in life that the person feels compelled to undertake.”

Depending on the planets and houses involved this mission may manifest in a multitude of ways.

Foxglove

Foxglove or digitalis is a poison that affects the heart and can be deadly. Foxglove is a traditional ingredient in flying ointments along with monkshood, datura, water hemlock, belladonna, etc.

There are a variety of recipes available from a variety of sources, I would caution that in the case of any of these ingredients, less is more.

Feast

Fear

The Fool (tarot)

This is the first card in major arcana of the tarot.

It symbolizes the first step on a journey, a new beginning. There are those who would say that the Fool “knows” everything, but understands little.

Frog