Join me as I raise a very happy glass of champs to all moms and May birthday girls.
I’m grateful that I had a mom who not only taught me to appreciate Chanel, beautiful flowers and diamonds, how to bake the world’s best cinnamon rolls and apple pie, but also how to make a bed with hospital corners, debride a wound, and nurse a sick loved one back to health. It’s all about balance, teehee. Miss you, Mommy!
The love of and for moms.
This photo is my definition of motherhood; five goslings closely following mom (and dad), learning to eat and swim. And survive.
For me, that’s part of what makes a good mom; unconditional and protective love combined with teaching essential life skills.
In my case, I was often referred to as the “smother mother“, but it’s a label I wear with pride. I’m not a helicopter mom, but even better…I’m (still) a DRONE mom. I’m the same with the grandkids; laser-focused on them at all times.
Every seven years, my birthday falls on Mother’s Day. As my mom often said, I was the perfect Mother’s Day gift for her, and as my son tells me, I wouldn’t have anything to celebrate without HIM, so he’s the one who actually deserves the gifts and accolades. He’s a funny guy.
In my opinion, tomorrow’s the perfect enchanted day to double my joy and celebrate ME. .
May We Raise Children Who Love The Unloved Things
May we raise children
who love the unloved things – the dandelion, the
worms & spiderlings.
Children who sense
the rose needs the thorn
& run into rainswept days
the same way they turn towards sun…
And when they’re grown &
someone has to speak for those
who have no voice
may they draw upon that
wilder bond, those days of
tending tender things
and be the ones.–Nicolette Sowder
🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️
I LOVE the idea of nature-connected living and (grand)parenting!
“My passion and heart’s mission is to help families step back into the circle of wild things and bond with Mother Nature. When rooted in that relationship and ancient connection, we heal, we flow, we fly.” https://wilderchild.com
Do you know who Julian Sands is?
He’s an amazing British actor, best known for his roles in The Killing Fields, A Room with a View, Warlock, Arachnophobia, Boxing Helena, and Leaving Las Vegas.
He went solo hiking on Mount Baldy In Southern California and was reported missing two months ago on January 13, 2023. Since his disappearance, all of our local mountains have had a record-breaking amount of snow.
His car was found in the parking lot, but no other signs of him. His outcome seems bleak.
This is a treacherous mountain to climb even with the best weather scenario. Others have gone missing, too. Some are found, some never are, nor are their remains located.
I haven’t heard any information about whether he was carrying a GPS location device or a satellite phone, and there hasn’t been an update about the search in quite a while.
I think it’s important to agree that no matter how experienced a hiker, one should never hike alone.
Years ago, my son and friend (both experienced hikers) were on the 10,000 foot Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs when there was a blizzard. They missed the last tram down because the winds were gusting to about eighty miles per hour. We were getting really freaked out because they hadn’t called at the agreed upon time. Just as we were about to contact all the officials, a park ranger called to let us know they made it to a ranger station and were OK. Whew! We were so worried!
Poor Julian Sands. Every time I see Mt. Baldy in the distance, I worry about him, too.
Wishing a very happy Woman’s Day to all strong, intelligent, talented, and simply wonderful women of this world!
International Women’s Day is a global day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
IWD began in New York City on March 8, 1857 when female textile workers marched in protest of unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women.
It was one of the first organized strikes by working women, during which they called for a shorter work day and decent wages.
Wearing purple on International Women’s Day dates back to 1900s. In 1908, the combination of purple, green, and white were selected to symbolize women’s equality from the Women’s Social and Political Union in the UK.
Purple amethyst is the perfect stone for today!
A while back, the two of us sat on the floor contemplating a puzzle of wild animals.
“Don’t help me!” “I can do it by myself!”
“OK, I won’t, but I’m right here if you need me. All you have to do is ask.”
She cocks her head, slyly looks at me, and declares, “I’m smarter than you, Grandma.”
I laughed, “Oh, you are? How so?”
“I can do this puzzle without your help.”
“I know you’re very very smart, so I believe that you can, but I will always be here if you need any help at all.”
A couple minutes go by as we work together to turn over all the puzzle pieces.
“I’m smarter than everybody.”
“Really?” I ask. “Everybody?”
“Oh yes.”
“Are you smarter than Daddy?” “Cos you know MY little boy is pretty smart, right?”
She thinks for a nanosecond.
“Yup, I’m smarter than Daddy.”
“How about Mommy? Are you smarter than Mommy?”
Another second goes by with a nod, “Yes, I am.”
“And what about Theo? Are you smarter than he is, too?”
First a sigh, than a shake of her head as she wistfully says, “No, I’m not smarter than Theo. He can do anything.”
My goodness. I was speechless. I could feel the deep love she has for her big brother.
“Theo IS smart and so are you, my Angel Girl.”
Laughing, she says, “We’re both smarter than YOU, little Grandma!”
I can’t really argue with THAT three-year-old, that’s for sure.
Have you tried this trendy snack? High in protein, vitamins, fiber, and minerals, chickpeas are full of nutrients. They’re a much healthier alternative to fried potato and tortilla chips.
I can’t make them fast enough–they get eaten as soon as I finish with one batch.
Some recipes suggest oven roasting, but I prefer the cooktop, so this is my version:
Ingredients:
2 cans garbanzo beans, also called chick peas (or cook your own)
Oil
Season with sea salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes, garlic powder
Directions:
Drain and rinse garbanzo beans in a strainer, rubbing the beans until the thin, slimy covering comes off, and discard.
Spread out on a baking sheet covered in paper towels or a clean towel. The secret to success is to get the beans as dry as possible.
When they’re dry, empty into a bowl and coat with one tablespoon of neutral vegetable oil. Don’t season at this time.
Over medium high heat add a tablespoon of oil to a large skillet. Add the garbanzo beans in one layer. Let them cook without disturbing. If you hear a few pops, that’s normal. After about ten minutes, check on them and turn the beans so all sides can become crispy and brown.
At this time, add salt, garlic powder, and any other seasonings you prefer.
Keep pan roasting until they become beautifully golden brown and crispy. The drier they were to start with will shorten the roasting time.
Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet to completely cool before storing in a tightly sealed container.
They’re supposed to last a few days but I’ve watched my son eat them all at one sitting, so I don’t have any personal info to share about that.
Enjoy!
Chag Sameach!
Mostly for me Hanukkah was all about getting presents for eight days, haha, but I know there’s another meaning, because I went to Sunday school and even Hebrew school for a while, which was kind of expected considering my grandfather was a rabbi.
Our Jewish Festival of Lights lasts for eight days and nights in honor of a 2,000-year-old miracle in which light won out over darkness.
This year Hanukkah started yesterday at sundown, and ends Monday, December 26.
Hanukkah commemorates the dedication of the second temple in Jerusalem. In 164 BCE, the Jewish people revolted against the Greeks in the Maccabean War. After their victory they cleansed the temple and re-dedicated it.
There was an oil lamp there that only had one day of oil, but the lamp burned for eight days. This is called the miracle of the oil and is where the eight days of celebration comes from.
Like most of our holidays, food is key. Traditional Hanukkah foods include latkes and doughnuts fried in olive oil to represent the miracle of the burning oil lamp.
A bygone tradition was to give gold coins called gelt but today children are often given chocolate coins in a gold wrapping to make them look like gelt.
Besides receiving gifts, the star of the show is the menorah.
Menorah candles are to burn for at least half an hour after the sun sets.The menorah is a special candelabra with nine candles. Each day an additional candle is lit. The ninth candle is called a shamash. This candle is usually in the middle and set higher from the other eight candles to separate it from the rest. It’s the only candle that is supposed to be used for lighting the others.
Since this country seems to be in the middle of a disgusting new dark age of anti-Semitism and racism, it’s even more imperative that we stand up and speak out against prejudice and discrimination, once again bringing light into darkness.
There’s a lot of abhorrent history in this powerful image from Germany…
During Hanukkah 1931, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, took this photo of the family Hanukkah menorah from the window ledge of the family home looking out on to the building across the road decorated with Nazi flags.
I don’t know if it was Freud or someone else who said that there was an underlying subliminal reason why someone leaves things behind at your home, but in the case of my Angels, I love it when they do.
I find and gather up the artifacts to either mail or bring with me on my next visit. They’re like little treasures that attach themselves to memories of a special time.
Thank goodness I didn’t step barefoot on a fierce Ninjago Lego minifigure. I had found another one and mailed it along with random socks and a forgotten light up ball that had rolled under the sofa, but this little guy was exhumed when I changed the sheets and I recalled the morning Angel Boy crawled into bed with me at about 6am.
“Grandma, are you awake? Daddy said I could come down. He’s going surfing.”
“Look at my Legos.This is one of the Ninjagos, LOOK!” “He’s one of my favorites.” “Grandma, can you make me a Ninjago cake?” “You can do it, I know you can.”
“I don’t know, T. I can do a kitty or an owl or a bunny, but a Ninjago cake seems pretty difficult for me.”
“Did you wash my favorite (Ninjago) shirt for me?”
“It’s a bit early for me to handwash your favorite shirt, T. How about breakfast first?”
“Grandma, do you always do the same things every single time you wake up?”
“What’s that, T? What do I do?”
“You put on your glasses, take off your retainers, take a vitamin, and do your inhaler. And then you make coffee.”
“You know what, Angel? That’s exactly what I do, in exactly that order. You are incredibly observant to remember each and every detail. I do those same things every single day at your house and my house. Do you think about that?”
“Yes, I do. I’m hungry. Can I have some apple pie?”
The answer to that was yes. The children know me too well. I approve of apple pie for early breakfast. I wrapped a piece for dad to eat before his dawn patrol surf sesh, too.
Those Angels leave a trail of love behind, that’s the best part.
I parked my car (and made sure I knew where it was this time hahahaha). As I was gathering my shopping bags, I overheard a young-ish man with a baby sitting in a shopping cart as he was talking to his significant other.
He asked her if she needed any snacks, sweet or savory, and told her he loved her at least half a dozen times during the short walk to the grocery store, as we were headed in the same direction. The last thing he said was, “We’ll be home soon.”
I gathered from that brief exchange that she was probably pregnant and suffering from first trimester morning sickness. He was genuine, sweet, kind, obviously empathetic and caring.
I grabbed a cart as he stopped to disinfect his; the little girl caught my eye and said, “Hi!” I responded back to her, “Hello, sweetie!” She pointed to my mask (def wearing everywhere as I’m still recovering from pneumonia) and I nodded, “Yes, I’m wearing a mask.”
Her dad reiterated, “Yes, she is wearing a mask, my love.”
That’s exactly how I refer to the Angels, so I told him he was a great dad; more dads should be like him. He thanked me and kissed his baby girl. She waved to me and we continued on our individual shopping journeys.
There are still good people in this world and that warms my heart.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 