7 Quick Takes

 1.

Happy Birthday Me!!! Well, tomorrow anyway. I'm turning 30 and feeling, not exactly old, but out of place, in my mind, I'm just out of high-school..My parents sent a card (they've been great about leaving me all alone in my Solitary Time - the retreat month) and a book to fill the reflective hours. My husband is taking me even deeper into the woods - a camping trip for the weekend! Well, half the weekend. It's hard sometimes to figure out exactly how to celebrate birthdays - I don't tend to go in for big parties (especially in retreat months!), and besides, we're on a spending fast..but I knew I'd regret it if I'd tried to celebrate by spending the evening quietly at home.

2.

We've seen three disgustingly huge, wood-beetle type bugs in the house! The most recent invader was on the bed where I was nursing Yarrow. He terrified her, and me! Ugh..I have a feeling I'll find more in the little wood-box beside the stove. It's a project I don't want to tackle on a dark and stormy morning..maybe Sunday. I hope they aren't termites..how big are termites, and how do you kill a bunch of them at once?

3.

Kendra at Catholic All Year shared excellent advice about the way different readers respond to blogging style. I guess I'm not exactly inspirational, but I'm definitely not the 'doomsday' sort !  I can't read chaos blogs, especially Catholic chaos blogs, generally they frustrate me, sometimes they depress me, and they always leave me wondering why so many people chose to spread around their unhappiness..but Kendra's post was a great reminder that some people do come away feeling over-burdened with other blogger's misery, they feel better about themselves, and comfortably friendly with the chaos blogger. It made me think a lot about my own tone and direction, as well as the tone I look for in other blogs..not that I've come up with any answers, but thinking is a good start!

4.

Blackberry Season has officially begun! With the first 1/2 pint, I made blackberry-creme crepes for Wednesday's tea. The crepe recipe is easy:

1/2 cup whole wheat (only because of the detox, and for a bit of nuttiness)

1/2 cup white flour (you can use 1 cup white..and, I'm sure you could do all whole wheat, but I feel like the white flour helps keep them light and fleixble)

 2 eggs

Zest of one lime

1 cup milk (add more if your batter feels too thick. It should be runny enough to just coat a spoon when dipped in it)

Beat the eggs and milk together add the flour and zest and stir until smooth. Set the batter aside for at least a half hour (though, if your in a rush, it won't kill anything to use it right away). Have your crepe pan hot and buttered (I use a six" cast iron pan). scoop out about a 1/4 cup batter and pour in only enough to coat the bottom of the pan. You do this by holding the pan and twisting it around as you pour, so the batter spreads all along the bottom of the pan. when the bottom is coated, put the pan back on the stove (a medium-ish flame, or medium on an electric stove should be good).  After a minute or two, flip the crepe and cook the second side for just half a minute (unless your flame is lower, just keep an eye on it). The first crepe will take longer than the others. Stack them up like pancakes and when they're all done, I spread them with creme fraiche, dotted them with berries and rolled them up. They tasted just like woodland summer should!

5.

Actually, I've been thrilled to discover Catholic All Year. It's a pretty fantastic blog, and there's a lot there for me to mull over as I'm mulling things over this month! Check it out. This whole 'off Facebook thing' is giving me a lot more time to discover new places to go online, and often, they prove to be better places to spend my time.

6. 

The Harry Potter Book Club I'm doing with Jenna and Christie has slowed down for a while as everyone gets their end-of-summer business done, which has given me some time to re-examine some of my thoughts and feelings toward the series (I'm the 'not a fan' in our group). I'm doing come comparative re-reading of Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander..it's been a fun way to spend the evenings, Seth and I chatting about books while he draws, I write, and Yarrow reads aloud to us all.

Seth's Baba Yaga

7.

For those of you who use a variety of essential oils often, how much does it cost to start out? I'd like broaden my selection of essential oils (right now I only have tea tree, eucalyptus, rose, and empty lavender & citronella bottles). I'd like to replenish what I have, and add Neroli, sandalwood, cedar, verbena and three or four others. Are there good places to buy online? How should I go about this? I want to do this because I'd like to go entirely home-made when it comes to my cleaning, bathing, and laundering soaps and lotions and powders. I have plenty of herbs, both dried and fresh, but I really want to expand my oil selection. Thanks!

Read more at Conversion Diary!