Odds and Ends

Happy Fourth of July! :)

I've been a bit stressed (ok, a lot stressed, but not at my worst) from starting back to school after taking a term off. And it's not that I don't know what to write about here, I guess I haven't been sure how to write...if that makes sense? But I've also started taking more photographs, so I think I'll just share a few of those I've taken recently and go from there.

Rat

From the head I think this is Kora, but I can't be certain. My pet rats are cute though when they look out from under the blankets when I've got them out for playtime.

Mint

My mint plants may be trying to take over...here we've got chocolate mint, peppermint, lemon balm, and a tiny sunflower that hasn't bloomed yet. They're all clustered around my dragon lamp, and are apparently trying to take over.

And yes, I like dragons. What tipped you off? The three dragons you can see in this photo?

Mother Mary

One of the first things I noticed about Marylhurst, and which I still love, are the statues. This one is of Mother Mary (or the Virgin Mary, as most call her) and you can sometimes find offerings of flowers placed either at her feet or draped over her hands. It's a relaxing spot on campus, and it's amazing how isolated and quiet it feels even though it's placed between a busy highway and the rest of the campus.

Seedling

For whatever reason I wanted to get a photo of this seedling. Based on those trees around it, my guess is that it's a Douglas fir. The photo looks like it should be a hopeful one, since it's showing new life, but then I remember that this tiny tree will be pulled up soon because it's growing in a place that is reserved for people to walk. Seems like there should be a moral there, but I don't know what it is.

Venus and Jupiter

During a sunset earlier this week I was startled to see two bright lights side by side in the sky. After speculating that one might be an airplane heading in my direction, since I didn't think both could be actual sky stuff, I consulted a star chart on my phone. I was rather amazed to realize that I was seeing two planets side by side. I don't know how often this kind of thing happens.

Goodies box!

Earlier this week I ordered roving, a niddy noddy, and a spinning wheel repair kit. For some reason I was surprised to also get samples of roving, though I don't know why because this store has done that before when I ordered from them. This is the start of my reopening Dragonfly's Laughter, this time as a yarn shop. More details to come as I reopen, and I'm rather excited about it.

Rattie Revolution

Perhaps it was inevitable. One night I had my rats out for playtime, and was gazing at my hanging herb garden. Then I thought...maybe my rats would like them.

A bit of research about rat friendly herbs and trip to get some plants and planting stuff resulted in fun times for my girls. Or for Kora, in particular. Niki likes the plants, and the dirt, but it's Kora who really gets excited and starts digging around.



And then of course, I just had to find aphids and a caterpillar on the lemon balm today...the latter is easy enough to take outside, but I'm not sure how to handle the aphids when it's something I want to eventually give back to the rats again.

Hungry caterpillar

There is something that surprised me, though. Other than the unexpected guests mentioned above. One day when I let Kora at the plants particularly long (the plants aren't in the cage 24/7, I'm not sure they'd survive that much love) I noticed that she kept taking things to her food bowl. Upon investigation, I found it was small rocks she'd dug up in the dirt that she was moving to the bowl.

I'm not sure what was going on with that. Maybe she was moving play toys to the food bowl, like I've seen cats do. Or maybe she thought they'd be good ammunition for the Rat Revolution. A while ago Niki threw food at me, so maybe Kora thought that rocks might be better for throwing.

Well, if the Rat Revolution comes to pass, I think you'll know who to blame for letting them find tiny rocks.

Growing Mushrooms

I recently received a box containing the necessities to grow oyster mushrooms. I may have gotten a little overexcited...and, well, I took photos. Lots of photos. Enough that maybe I should have shared a few along the way throughout various posts...but I waited until after harvesting, so now you get a bunch of them all at once, though not nearly as many as I actually took.

Something that amazed me was how quickly they grew, so I'll be sharing date and time of each photo so you can see exactly how quickly things went.

4/27 at 8PM

Everything was contained in a plastic bag, which I had to cut a hole in using my nice wonderful amazing (yes I know one adjective should suffice) new Gerber multitool. Yes, I may be just a bit excitable about getting to use my new shiny multitool.

4/27 at 8PM

Next, turn it upside down and soak in water for about eight hours.

4/28 at 11:30PM

Then I placed it back in the box so that the hole I cut in the plastic lined up with the hole in the box...and waited. 

And, yes, I placed the mushroom box on my bookshelf. The instructions said that indirect light was needed, so this seemed ideal.

4/30 at 6PM

White stuff began to grow on April 29th. The tiny white things more than doubled in size to what you can see above.

5/1 at 3:30AM

Just two days later they had grown considerably more.

5/1 at 4PM

Roughly twelve hours later the tops were dark.

5/2 at 4:30PM

I was unexplainably delighted when the tops of the mushrooms grew little dents. So cute!

5/2 at 4:30PM

I started getting photos from the side...

5/2 at 9:30PM

...and yes, they grew that much in a mere five hours.

5/3 at 4PM

Isn't it amazing how quickly they grow?

5/3 at 4PM

:D

5/4 at 1:30AM

I think it was about this point when I was getting surprised at how big they were.

5/4 at 5PM

And they kept on growing.

5/4 at 5PM

Delicious.

5/5 at 5:30PM

I think they were fully grown at this point. And yes, that's spawn next to the mushroom box, though I didn't have a clue what it was at first. I really hope mushrooms don't start growing on my bookshelf now...that would be inconvenient.

I'm delighted with my mushrooms, and intend to grow more. And yes I've already tried eating a couple of these...I used too much butter, but could still tell that the mushrooms tasted good. Those details, and how the rest are cooked, will belong to a different post.

Herbs!

So...I may be a little bit overexcited about having herb plants in my bedroom. I should have done this ages ago.

Life finds a way...

Much to my surprise, the lemon balm that I got from the backyard managed to find an air pocket inside the jar I planted in for its roots to start growing leaves. That plant is determined to grow in any way and in any place possible. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since it's related to mint, and that will also take over given half a chance (which I discovered by accident a few years ago). Maybe it'll sound odd when I say I admire plants, but I do admire those that have a knack for surviving...even though some of them are called weeds.

Mint with opinions...

The first time I tried watering my peppermint plant was a bit...messy. I guess the dirt wasn't keen on soaking up the water.

Neither the mint or the lemon balm hang out on my desk regularly. The first was just easier to photograph on my desk, and I set the mint on my desk when it was creating watery problems for me.

Thirsty Kokopelle

I set down my watering pitcher (ok, a cup measure, but whatever...) and Kokopelle decided that it looked like a good water bowl. I decided not to argue.

Sunflowers!

I've generally been more enthusiastic about herbs than about flowers, but when I happened across a cheap kit for growing sunflowers I couldn't resist. They're growing rather nicely so far...and will probably need to be moved into a larger pot at some point, though they're supposed to be small so I don't know how what size pot will be needed...basically, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. But they're doing fine so far, so I guess I'm doing well with them so far.

Time for thyme!

...no, I'm not the slightest bit sorry for that pun. I know it's bad and I doubt I'm the first to make it, but I can find no room for remorse in myself.

It's winter/English thyme, and as I understand it it's one that doesn't need direct sunlight to do well. It seems happy enough so far. :)

And yes, I do like dragons. Did you guess that from my dragon lamp that the thyme is sitting next to? And yes, that's also Dracula in the background. My boyfriend won it because he's a horror geek and then gave it to me.

Oregano!

Greek oregano, hanging out on my bookshelf. Another one that seems to be happy in the shade. At least, it's thriving so far.

There are also Cerridwen and Brighid dolls made by Dancing Goddess Dolls. I adore both of them, and having them plus the oregano next to my religious/spiritual section of my bookshelf seems to cheer things up.

Window Garden

On Tuesday I walked to a grocery store to see if they might have any plants that I'd want for my window herb garden. I found a lovely mint plant, and when I walked there again today I came away with rosemary and sweet marjoram plants.

This might sound like nothing, just something that anyone could do without thinking twice about it. But due to my fear of going out and about by myself, and sometimes even of going out when I've got someone with me (agoraphobia..fun), this was actually something of a victory for me. I've also found that a breathing exercise can help me when I'm out and about: breathe in for two steps, hold the breath for two steps, breath out for two steps, hold that for two steps, breath in again for two steps...and so on.

I'm still not exactly doing great, but I don't know when I was last doing this well. And it's strange, but it sometimes takes some improvement for me to realize exactly how bad off I've been.

But on to the window garden! It's what I really wanted to share, along with a few other plants, but I found that I also wanted to note a bit of the progress I'm making.

Herbs and cat

I'm not sure if I was more photographing Kokopelle or the plants. Either way, we've got both. Plus a lovely Gallifrey poster that's at the foot of my bed.

The herbs here are peppermint, sweet marjoram (that's a new one to me but I love the smell), rosemary, and aloe vera. Fun fact: I know how to spell aloe vera, but can never remember how to actually say the darned name. I'm not sure how many times I've had to ask the correct pronunciation. It's one of a few words I have that trouble with.

Ditto

Again, herbs and kitty. This time you can also see the lemon balm on the left. I couldn't find that one at the store, but there's a lot of it in the backyard so I found a bit of it to bring inside. Its smell reminds me of Camp Mountaindale, where I spent a week of day camp every summer for years. I have happy memories of that place.

But now, getting away from herbs, though still to do with green growing things...

Scifi madness

I also got some air plants that hang upside down from shells. They either look like jellyfish or like some madness out of a scifi story...or maybe even like they belong in a horror story. Whichever way, I figured they'd go well paired with the exploding TARDIS poster that's over my computer.

Also, the hand knit octopus...that was part of a care package someone put together for me last summer when the anxiety really hit me hard. My chair was supposed to be a temporary place for Mr. Octopus, but he's so happy there that it seems to have become his permanent home. 

Moss! ...and fairy statue

Then there's a bit of watery moss. It's happy in water, and floats or sinks depending on its mood. I figured it might look nice on my desk. I think I like it because it's odd, and I may just like having odd things around. This may also explain why I got the mad jellyfish previously mentioned.

Spring Joys

Early spring is my favorite time of year. There's just something about how it feels. But I also love all of spring, and I've got photos to share. :)

Beginnings

The pear tree in the front yard is mostly past flowering, and you can see the very beginnings of a pear. Someday this will be yummy. For now it's tiny and green.

[Edit 4/3/2015: I don't know what I was thinking...this is the cherry tree, not the pear tree.]

Blossoms

The apple tree in the back yard, however, is still blooming. 

Purple somethings...

I'm not sure what these flowers are, but they're pretty. (Ignore the dumpster in the background...neighbors are doing lots of remodeling and apparently need a dumpster.)

I guess one thing I love about spring is that she does as she darned well pleases, which we see reflected in the weather. In the last two days we've had pouring rain, sun, hail, wind...I'm surprised we didn't have a thunder storm at some point. Something in me delights at all this.

A Post of Various Topics

First of all, it wouldn't feel quite right to write a post today without acknowledging that it's Transgender Day of Visibility. I don't feel knowledgeable enough to write much more than that, but I did want to mention it.

And on another queer issue...

This is the last day in Bi Health Awareness Month, with this year's focus on mental health. I'd meant to write about that earlier, but...I guess it's a bit too close to home? I don't know why I haven't written about it, really. I haven't even read up on it as much as I've wanted to. But I did write about it a bit in the diary/sketchbook I started recently, and wanted to share:

"Rates of depression are high among queers, and for a while I dismissed that [in relation to me]. But now I wonder if denying that I'm bi for so long took a toll on me. I certainly know that encountering ignorant opinions of bisexuality can have hurt me enough to make me wish I were monosexual. It still hurts, even though at heart I'm happy to be bi.

"I like being bi because it means I was born into a community, it gives me a place I belong. But that's not all of it..."

Pages from the journal

I'm certainly not saying that I think I'm depressed because I'm bi, or that being in the closet for so long is solely responsible for putting me where I am now. But I suspect that attitudes towards bisexuals (one of which I once had..."it's not real!"), having been closeted to myself, and perhaps a natural inclination towards depression/anxiety on my part all play with each other in my head with unpleasant results. So I've been mulling it over, and thought that it worth sharing, particularly given the month.

This page in my journal is currently unfinished. I'll wind up drawing something pretty over what I've written, as I've done on many other pages. The whole journal is a work in progress, which much backtracking. I also didn't finish my thought on why I like being bi because I ran out of space, but really I'm not sure what else to say aside from that having a community is comforting, though I do know there's more to it than that. I might write more on that later in my journal, or I might not. Depends on whether I feel the need.

Oh yes, and the second page you see...there's simply the text "I want green growing things in my bedroom" with a hanging garden drawn in. It recently occurred to me that having greenery in my bedroom might make me happier. So I've been thinking about how to make that happen, what plants would thrive in my window and elsewhere...that turns out to be a cheerful project. :) Though it did keep me up the other night/day/whatever (my sleep schedule has been super messed up) when my brain wouldn't let go of the subject even when I desperately needed to sleep. Darn hyperfocusing brain. lol At least it was focusing on something pleasant this time.

Pagan Values Month: Magical Herbs

Today's Pagan Blog Prompts that I'm writing from is on the topic of magical herbs.

Do you use herbs in your practice? Do you grow them or purchase them from someone else?

What are your favorite herbs to work with?

 

Yes I use herbs.

When I smudge I like to use sage that I planted and harvested myself from my parent's backyard. In fact, as I type, I've got a bunch hanging to dry behind me! This stuff though will probably be used in food, and given away to friends if I can manage it. I slightly harvested more than I know what to do with, even though I still didn't thin out the overgrown sage in my herb patch the way I maybe should have.

I've also got mint hanging up to dry, but I never have actually used it in my practices.

There's also blackberry vine, and as I mentioned a couple days ago is rather special to me. I'll smudge with it if it'll burn (that can be a challenge) and have crumbled the leaves into salt when cleansing. Just tending the vines I've got in my parent's backyard is good for me spiritually, and I guess you could say it's somewhat refreshing. Even more so than gardening with any other plant.

Don't tell me that blackberry isn't an herb. I don't care. :)

Pagan Values Month: Foraging

The prompt I chose to respond to today is on foraging: do I forage, what is there for me to forage? This would all be in addition to whatever I grow in my (parent's) garden.



I haven't really foraged. Ever. Unless you count eating berries that I come across when hiking with friends. I mostly do this when I'm with my friend The Belly Dancer...which means that it hasn't been in a while, since she moved away well over a year ago. She's much better at identifying edible berries than I am.

I usually eat blackberries when I find them even though I only like the biggest and juiciest of them. I've always felt a special liking for the vine, a bit like Magaly has a special liking for daisies. Never mind that the vines are weeds and are generally considered unwelcome. I actually planted a few of them in pots that are still at my parent's house, being tended by me.

And by now that is totally off the topic of foraging. But I really do love my blackberry vines, and you'll see more about them in a couple days. :)

My own apartment

I moved into my new apartment, and out of my parent's house for the first time, a couple months ago. But I didn't share any photos on my previous blog so I decided to share pics on this new one.

My spring tea set. I looove it! It's so pretty, and I now have it on display in my kitchen.

 I got the old TV from my parent's bedroom and bought my own (relatively inexpensive) DVD player.

Guess which movie I'm watching here. :)

One view of my living room. Here you can see a small cat tree that is well loved, my spinning wheel, my desk, and the lovely full length mirror mom bought me. And yes, I blacked out my face in the mirror.

My kitty, Kokopelle, was very helpful in unpacking the mirror. He's actually helpful in unpacking almost anything.

My work space, with a lamp that I bought myself. It's also where I eat, when I don't just eat standing up at the kitchen counter. Which, I'm sorry to say, I have a habit of doing.

My comfy cozy chair, right next to the coat closet.

I finally have a place to put all the stuffed animals! In top my coat closet. Which also doubles as a pantry and is a space for me to stick random other things.

A view of the kitchen. Sort of. And a cat tree of sorts that only exists to be ignored.

One of my bookshelves.

I wanted to say that this is about half of my books, but I think it's fewer than half. They take up more space than the books on my other shelf do, but then they're also bigger.

I've actually got a section now for my books on religion and spirituality. :) Over to the right though you can see a few Girl Scout books. I guess I hang on to them for old times sake.

There were a couple of thunderstorms last week and I got photos of one. This doesn't do it justice, though. The storm was absolutely beautiful...as I discussed in one of my posts on my old blog.

I harvested some mint and sage in my parent's backyard and brought it back to my place to hang it to dry. My boyfriend says it makes my place look witchy.

Here you can also see, sort of, my second book case.

Not even sure what to say about this pic. Other than that, yes, I do like wind chimes. And those are sage flowers hanging to dry.

Lots of photos, I know. I hope I didn't bore everyone! :)