While I was mowing the grass on the side of our house, I looked up and noticed a new dove’s nest in the holly tree. I hope this means more baby doves in our back yard.

We had two doves last year that stayed close to the back yard. This year they began drinking out of the pond. They will stand at the top of the waterfall and drink from the rocks. If the waterfall isn’t running, and we come out on the patio, they will stand there and look at us like “Why isn’t the water on?” Early in the summer two younger doves showed up and started drinking from the waterfall too. I assume it’s the offsprings of the the older two.

They are such beautiful and peaceful animals.

Yesterday Greg and I attended a Summer Solstice ritual and feast with some pagan friends of ours. It was so nice to see them again, after taking a sabbatical from the pagan community. I love my witchy friends!

Summer Solstice is a celebration of the beginning of summer. It is one of the eight sabbats (holidays) of the pagan calendar, which form the wheel of the year. At the beginning of summer, the days start getting shorter, marking the transcending into the darker part of the wheel of the year. It’s a time to be thankful to the gods for the beauty of the flowers and our gardens, and the babies of the wildlife.

For me, it is a time to be reflective about the good things in life. We are at the high point of the year. The sun is bright, the days are hot, the evenings are warm, and the summer festivies are numerous. It’s a time for me to be thankful for everything good in my life, to be thankful for the friends that I have and for time spent with them, and it’s time to be thankful for the gifts I’ve received in this life.

So, to continue my summer solstice celebration:

I am thankful for my beautiful daughters. I love you both and think of you daily. I am thankful for the passion and love you have brought into my life.

I am thankful for my husband Greg. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone. You bring out the very best in me. You have made me step out of my shell and try things I never would. You instill a confidence in me I have never know.

I am thankful for my friends. I am sorry I don’t spend more time with you, or stay in touch as much as I should. I will work very hard to change that, and try to be the friend to each of you that you have been to me.

I am thankful to the gods for my home, for my job which provides my livelihood, for the gifts you have given me, the space and knowledge to grow some of our own food, and for the wonderful life you have bestowed upon me.

As the days begin to grow shorter, I will be reminded of these things, and take comfort in all these blessings when the short days and long nights of winter approach.

Hail Sunna!

Debbie Robins: 7 Tips to Ensure A Less Toxic World.

Taking the Chantix did not work out for me. After about 4 or 5 days, I began to feel bad and had no energy while I was taking it. I was having trouble sleeping and began having very vivid dreams that I don’t normally have. I woke up early one morning because I had dreamed that I was scooping someone’s eyeballs out with a teaspoon. I stopped taking the Chantix, and began to feel better the next day.

Greg and I have chosen this coming Friday, February 26, as our quit date. We are going to quit at the same time. I’m not sure yet if I will try to use the patches or not. I would rather go cold turkey and just get all these chemicals out of my system. That is the way I quit last time, and I believe it’s the best way to go. Just deal with the withdrawals and be done with it. I’m planning to drink lots of herbal teas to try and detox my system. We picked a Friday so we would have the weekend to get over the worst part. Hopefully by Monday morning I can come back to work without taking anybody’s head off.

Since my post about watching Food Inc, I’ve done fairly well about trying not to eat meat. The truth is I’m a meat eater, and it’s not been easy at all, haha. I would have a killed for a hamburger about mid-week. I did slip yesterday and had chicken tenders for dinner last night. I know that was very wrong, and I don’t even want to think about where that chicken came from or how it was processed. But one meal this week with meat still an improvement.

I have tried a few different things this week. I made a pot of vegetable soup from a vegetable broth. It sounded really good in the recipe, but I put in too much red chili powder and screwed it up. It was way too hot to eat. I tried a pasta dish this week using vegetarian sausage, and didn’t care too much for that.

So how do I solve this dilemma of being a meat eater, but refusing to eat meat from animals that have been treated cruelly? This morning I went to the farmers market. I bought a sirloin roast and fresh ground beef from a local farmer. His cattle are grass fed and free range, with no antibiotics or steroids. I bought two packs of chicken from an Amish farmer. Again the chickens were free range (she had pictures!) with no antibiotics or steroids. It was very expensive!!!! But that’s OK. I’ve proven to myself I don’t have to have meat at every meal, so what I purchased this morning should last a while. The Amish couple also had butter they make themselves, so I will start buying my butter from them too.

How to Lead an Authentic Life

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