Quick note

Hi there!

Just took the time after bringing Lucas to the school's van to thank you guys so much for the great tips on my dry soil problem. Holly, you're probably right, they did levelled the ground to prepare it to the house and there was a lot of heavy coming and going while it was being built. I'll start this mulch and compost adding this week. Cross fingers for me! :o)

Gotta run now, laundry waits for me while there is still sun!

Lucas' B-day on the way!

I just can't believe that in a few weeks, Lucas will be 6! Six years old, that little thing so talkative and with so many fun/curious thoughts turned into well-expressed words, with so much love for us inside his little heart translated in millions hugs and kisses and drawings (now with the actual written "Eu te amo, mamãe" - meaning 'I love you, mom' - extra-bonus in them) a day . The one who decided that trash metal is great, as well as Hanna Montana and Zé Ramalho. The one that beats me in videogames, and still loves sleeping hand-in-hand with me. That little witch who loves and respects nature and all live beings, but hates mosquitos around, and pumpkins to eat. I just can't believe how fast time passed.

He will be in vacation from July 17th to August 3rd, and as his B-day is on August 2nd, I'll make his little party at school (he asked if he could make one there, instead of at home, which was great, because this year we couldn't afford to make anything at home!) on the 4th. It will be a simple cake with some candies and juices, just to celebrate his new age with his classroom friends, as money is too tight... He wants something to do with Ben 10, still one of his favorite cartoons, so, like every year, I'll search Internet for cool Ben 10 images that I can use to make his personalized invitation to give his friends, and the magnets I always hand-make as little goodies for the party bag.

As my mom will be here, it will be double good!

Help on Dry Soil

We're facing a new problem here: the soil around our house, (not where Rodrigo's coffee plantation is, or where our vegatable garden will be) is incredibly dry and looks like being really sterile. Rodrigo planted some seedlings and they all died. We'll need to work hard on the ground to make it accept the plants we plan to grow there, including my elemental garden! I don't know if it is like that because the place was so affected when the house was being built, or what... I just know that I need it to be a fertile ground!

Do you guys have any tips about it?

Back

Hello, friends!

Seems like I've been away for ages, simply because last week I couldn't get online... Lucas' old tonsilitis was back, and this time I didn't give him any antibiotics. I chose not to, since his fever were pretty low (only once it reached 39ºC), and he wasn't feeling so down. He already took enough antibiotics in his little life to keep a mamute alive, so this time we treated him with homeopathy, honey and specific herb teas. It took longer for him to recover, but at least itwas not something aggressive to his organism.

We watched a lot of Harry Potter DVDs, I read a lot of Monica & Friends comics (a Brazilian one thatLucas adores and I also loved when a kid), and he slept a lot too. At least he ate well, not avoiding anything I offerred, and drank tons of water and lemon juice. I just hate when he gets sick, wish I could be in his place.

Now he's back to his electric self again - actually we spent the cold, windy Sunday playing Playstation's Crash Racing Team game that his uncle lended, eating chocolate brigadeiros - and he went to school today (not after a couple of tears, poor little thing...) for his last week before his July 2-week vacations. As my mother will be here, he's counting the days to spend time with his grandma and show her everything around. I can hardly wait too!

Little things to turn a house into a home...

I love these little things, little details. They're important to make me feel all comfortable and in peace at home:

The matchbox holder I made while living at my inlaws...

My framed Hestia, and my cute calendar sent by Miss Dragon...

The TV & DVD controls I also made while at inlaws...

My candle holders plus my very old recipe notebook (Miss B, I didn't forget about the bread recipes!!!!!!!! I'm such a relapse.)

Cant wait to have my family room complete so I can add more cuties around!

Before the stupid migraine came, we went to Lucas' Junine party at school on Saturday. It was pretty cold, of course, but we all took yummy hot chocolate to keep ourselves warm, and my little witch had such fun "fishing" little toys! I ended up the night with my bag full of them. Next Sat there'll be another party like this, and I'll take my empty bag again to be filled with balls, candies, little soldiers, etc...

Sharing

Here is Baruck, sharing his bed with Zu. As you can see, he's not very comfortable with it, but Zu simply ignores his evil look and stays... But at night I have to take her to sleep with me otherwise he'll beat her" Bad, bad kitten...

A new reviewer on the Net

My old blogger friend Marcia is now reviewing about electronics and other tech-related stuff at The Voice of Mom. Go and check out, this girl IS an expert about it!

Meditating while sick

How weird does it sound?! But that's what I did this week... With my monthly period last Sunday came one of the worst, tremendous migraine crisis I've got, and it lasted till yesterday. That one that won't leave even after taking strong medicine. I felt like the bug that bit the bandit's horse. You can see the picture... Self-pity and all! I got so nervous and worried this time... So I decided, trying to relax, to start listening to a CD my friend Chris Decato sent me last year and never opened, the 15-minute RainbowMeditation, that takes you through your seven chackras. It's short, well focused, with a relaxing voice leading you through the way and Decato's awesome soundtrack. So I started it on Monday, after Lucas went to school and Rodrigo was on the harvest. As my migraine gets worse late afternoon, it was a good time. Well, I can't say in such a little time that it works or what, but it clearly gave me some relax to face my pain, so I will keep listening to it everyday.

I came to a point I don't know what else I can do to prevent these crisis. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I eat healthly... Ormigren, the medicine I take, it's not working anymore. I will now try Bach essences. Specially, I also read that Ginkgo Biloba is good for this as well, and whatI read gave me some hope. I'll call my doctor in Rio about it... *sigh*

At least today I found a cool blog from a mom who also suffers from the same shit: The Migraine Mom blog! Gonna read more and add her to my list. She's not boring like me when in pain!

I knew last night that Michael Jackson was gone, and I got sad, because I remember listening to his beautiful voice when I was a littel little girl, with Music and Me, Happy, and Ben. Since then I fell in love with his amazing energy, and when I became a teenager, his Thriller poster would be hanging on my bedroom's wall, and I would know step by step all his coreographies (being a dance lover like I am, his dance was irresistible to my feet!). I'm sorry that he could not cope well with his life, and had to go so young. He was an incredible artist, and a truly star in his world. R.I.P.

I'm sorry if I haven't commented lately at your pages, my friends. I'm getting more and more frustrated with this Cybercafe connection... As I can only come downtown once a week (for financial reasons of course!), I always come after Lucas is at school, in the afternoons. So it's always crowded with teenagers, so the connection gets so slow I almost cry, arght! We'll only afford to buy the equipment for our Internet at home by the end of the year or beggining of next year (most likely), so I try not to get enervated with this slo system.

Seems like lately things got worse. For instance, I try to visit a friend's blog, and I can even read it, but when I try to comment, (like today at Mrs. B. and Maebius), I get frozen! Some blogs are easy to write at depepdning on the day (today's lucky ones were Boho, Amy and Janet), but most times I can barely read the news. So please if you don't hear from me, don't think I don't love yo anymore! LOL It's just the country life...

See you all next week... I hope! :o)

Wordless - Funny faces

Yule here

First of all, Happy Litha to all my pagan fellow friends on the Northern Hemisphere! I hope you guys had a great day!

Our Yule was the sweetest. This was our first sabbath in Da House, and I wanted it to be special... and it was, simple and fun. Lucas woke up very early in the morning on Saturday, eager to start decorating our kitchen table with our little Yule tree. So we had breakfast and spread my altar cloth on the table, and he immediately started hanging the pagan motifs on the tree, and took others to decorate his own altar. We took little wooden sticks to place the candles (Rodrigo found richaud candles here! I should know he would try everywhere, after watching me so frustrated! They're the cheap kind, too thin and fragile, but worked alright!), after drawing magickal signs on them:

While Lucas was busy gathering wood for our Yule log outside, I prepared for our sabbath lunch my special Chicken Pie  that Rodrigo loves, decorating it with cute Suns and stars. Lucas adored it and wanted to eat one of each! I must humbly say it was delicious! For dessert we had apples filled with cinnamon and sugar on the oven, Lucas' favorite.

We found a big log to decorate with our wishes for the Winter Solstice, and while doing so, I once again told Lucas the story about the Goddess giving birth to the Sun God, etc. He always find it weird, that the Mother gives birth to the son to, later, make love to him! And there I go explaining what's behind it...

In the evening (which positively arrived early as the longest night should!), my faithful knight lit the fire outside, and we walked around it in silence, sending and getting good vibes from the fire, and wishing/thanking for what we've got/need. The night was chilli, and later, my inlaw came with a bowl of popcorn we enjoyed eating adn sharing with the pets. I felt so in peace under the starry sky, and was thankful to be there with my little family:

So the Winter is officially here! We are really facing the coldest nights, and at the same time the best ones, full of stars ever - how beautiful these nights can be then! Hot chocolat in bed while reading is really a must now, Brett! LOL There is not a single evening (and early very foggy mornings) when we don't have it or some hot tea as well.

So blessed be this Season for all of us!

Diva's meme for me

Sweet Divaeva tagged me last week, to list six things that make me happy. I have already been tagged for this meme, but there are always more six things to add to my list (and everyone's, right?). So here they are...

1. Hot chocolat! Specially lately when the temperature here comes down to incredible (to our standards) 12º Celsius, if there's one thing I love is drinking a huge mug of hot chocolat, while watching for the 100th time Harry Potter with Lucas (he's again stuck with his three first HP movies, watching them everyday!!!).

2. Soups. I love them, I die for them... Another winter stuff I love to warm myself. Pumpkin soup, potato and brocolli soup, all vegetable soup, the list goes forever... With toasts it's the perfect dinner.

3. Litting my lavender candle I got from Mrs. B's awesome giveaway, while I cook in the morning (I cook early because Lucas needs to be ready for school around eleven!). The scent connects me to the right vibe while I prepare our meals.

4. Reading in my bed before sleeping. This is such an old thing in my life I can't remember when I started doing it. I remember reading comics in bed when a child and falling asleep in the middle of a story. I just love curling myself under blankets and devouring a good book. Lately it's hard for me to get something new, because, ai, ai... There's no book stores here!!!!!! Alas... There is a library, but with very few good stuff - mainly catholic books, being this tiny town a very catholci place. At least I got some Reader Digest's condensed books, and even one book in English called "the wind on the willow", a sweet child book.

5. Taking photos with my camera (when I remember replacing batteries, that's it, as Rodrigo so wisely reminds me now all the time). I love taking photos of everyhting around, specially, of course, Lucas'! LOL It's precious to keep these memeories, and Nature here is so beautiful it's a temptation to keep the camera hanging on my neck.

6. Simply being alive. Some days are not so great, being distant from my family and so on. But there's not a single day I don't thank the gods for being alive. I am very aware that I am very lucky for having a solid family background and for my physical, mental and spiritual condition, and I never forget it.

Well, that's it for now! Now I tag everyone who wants to join the fun! :o)

A sweet award from Turtle

Turtle, my awesome, creative magickal friend, honored me with this award, I loved it! :o)

I should pass it on 15 friends... This time I'd rather pass it on everybody that is on my blogroll, I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends visiting me here who on their turn have incredible blogs that I miss so much visiting properly the last months! Do take it!

A place to grow

Everything outside is still a blank page. A big area to plant almost everything we want. Last week my inlaw got a man to "clean" the area at our place, where Rodrigo will have our organinc garden - his intention is to provide organic vegetables to the local public schools under the Town Hall approval. We've got a great place to plant now:

Lucas loved having even more space (as if we neede it...) to run:

We're starting to plant flowers and ornamental plants on the front area, that is so bare. Rodrigo will clean and level the place where I want my elemental garden to be, I-just-can't-wait! I work my patience, though, because I know how hard he's been working lately with the coffee harvest, waking up at 6am everyday. I'll take some photos of the coffee beans spread on my inlaw yard, put to dry. It's a long process until it is sold...

Our altars

Oh yes, I forgot telling you guys: Remember I said my camera was broken again? Guess what... I'm even ashamed to say... I simply forgot replacing batteries... How beautiful is this? LOL I'm REALLY getting old! Thank gods it was just this, though...

Well, back to the photos. This is Lucas's little altar he arranged on his bedside table. The cloth was made by my sister Claudia when he was born, as a wall hanging, it looks perfect for an altar with the stars. You can see the stones he painted representing the gods on the back. I just want to change the incense holder, to big for it, I think (he "stole" it from my Etsy put-aside stuff!):

And here is the dreamboard he made when Misquim left. I wanted to submit it to Jamie, but with the camera incident, I couldn't. He wrote in Portuguese "Misquim, happy", saying he didn't want anything else this month to wish. O f course it almost killed me:

Now he keeps his sacred space clean and with fresh water almost every day, which is big for him! He can't wait to decorate it for our Yule night.

Oh, by the way, as Turtle asked some time ago: We will keep our bedrooms altars, and on sabbaths and esbats, we'll perform our rituals on the kitchen table, specially prepared when the time comes. I can't think of any other place to do it, kitchens are so magickal in my opinion, it's perfect. So we'll decorate the table for the special dates, and make more personal rituals on our little altars in the rooms. Many rituals will be performed outside, during the day, but in the evening, while it's this cold, no way! :o)

This is my old little altar that I arranged on my bedroom while I don't have a proper space (meaning while my inlaw doesn't built a nice shelf under the mirror!):

One thing upsets me here concerning my magical side: incenses, oils and candles are a rarity around here! There are only very sweet fruit incenses, that I hate (they let me sick), no good oils, and the richaud candles I love using, nowhere to find them! Luckly mom went to Sao Paulo last weekend, where my sister lives (it'1s the first time she visits her there after three years living in SP! Claudia would kill mom if she visited me first place! LOL), and I begged her to buy as much as she can - in Sao Paulo everthing is found, much cheaper even than in Rio - sandal, oak, lavender, musk, etc incenses, and small candles in all color. Claudia will be my trader from now on! :o) Of course I can use (and I am!) the stick candles (again, here there are only the white color), but gods know why I prefer the richaud type.

After a long weekend...

Long and this time really cold!! Winter is definintely here, one week ahead! Even Rodrigo had to wear socks, LOL He hates them... Good news: Lucas is totally in love with the new little friend he chose, "Zu", as he baptized her. We brought her home last Sunday, since her cat mom doens't have milk enough for her and her sister, and she was starving. So we are giving her milk via syringe, and she's so hungry that already devours tiny bits of bread wet on milk! Looks what a cutie she is:

Of course, Lucas still keeps comparing her with Misquim, talking about the differences in their reactions to the same things, but that's normal, he really loves this sweet tiny kitty, she's so calm and funny, running up and down all round and cute. This morning she "assaulted" Baruck's pot of food while he was sleeping (lucky kitty...):

The only problem is that she doesn't want to sleep in the little box I arranged for her. I covered it with warm blankets and keep her in our bedroom during the night, and she keeps meowing all the time until I place her by my side on bed! Then she sleeps like a fairy. I believe that in time she'll get used... I hope! I said on the other post that I was wishing for a male kitty. I have nothing against female cats! It's just that I always had male pets, I think it's easier to take care of, because they don't have periods, don't get pregnant, etc... But now I'm in love with this little thing, and everything will be ok, I guess!

Thank you!

I want to say a special thank you for my sweet friends Turtle and Diva for the memes and awards, I've seen them and loved them! :o) Today as usual was a hurry up day, I wanted so much to post about the last happenings, so I didn't manage to post about it. Next week I'll give them the proper attention, girls! Love ya! :o)

My little witch...

I got really moved last week. While I was arranging my bedroom altar, Lucas asked me if he could have his own bedroom altar as well. I said yes, of course you can! It was a surprise to me, because in all these years he never mentioned this, and I never wanted to manipulate him on this matter. He's already greatly influenced living in a pagan house of course, but I hae always been very careful not to make him do something just because I'm pagan. So although I was thoiught it would be cool for him to have his own altar, I always shut my mouth up, this should come from him, if ever.

And so, there we went looking for some stones for him to paint the gods on them (he heard me telling Rodrigo about Dani's idea of painting rocks for a garden altar, times ago), and we arranged a sweet altar on his bedside table. I had taken a photo of it, but that *** camera is broken, yadah...

He's all excited about his new sacred space, and says he wants to decorate it every sabbath and esbat, how cool is that? :o) He even performed his first little ritual to welcome it on the same evening, at closed doors without my presence! !! and more!!! But he said he would get shy with me, so I respected it, lit hisa candle (on a safe holder, of course), and let it be. It took som minutes only, and shame on me, I tried to listen to his words through the closed door, but he was whispering and I could only understand him opening the circle, using the same words we used to use on our rituals. It was sweet to watch his first step on his path. I know that inthe coming years everything can change and he may change his mind about his religious choice, and it's really ok for me, but it was a very special moment...

... And some good news... I'm a wolf now!

Last Saturday I turned 40! Ohmygods! How could time fly so fast? I don't feel like forty yet, my body (hmm... lier! Some wrinkles and some stupid rare and well hidden (and eliminated!) white threads can be found at a closer look...), my oul, my mind... I just feel as young as usual. But now it's official, I'm a wolf! LOL In Brazil we have this joke, that runrnig 40 women becomes wolves howling to the moon...

Although so worried and asd about Misquim, my day was a very good one. I was waken up by Lucas and Rodrigo with kisses and presents: a new cauldron for my bedroom little altar, new curtains for the house given by inlaws (exactly the ones I wanted, in raw cotton, so cool!), a new cutting board for the kitchen with fruits displayed on it, chosen by Lucas, a handbag from mom... Loved everything! My mother-in-law made hotdogs and chocolate candies for us to eat in the afternoon, just because she knows I love them, she's very sweet and I'm lucky to have a good inlaw.

Now I have to get used to the idea that I'm a forty now (I just can't help repeating this number!)! :o)

At the same time, sad news...

We had a mix of emotions the past days. On the 4th, Misquim, Lucas' new kitty, simply vanished. Rodrigo opened the door early in the morning for him to play outside as usual on that day, and he never came back again. We looked for him everywhere, and he is not anywhere. There are two possibilities: someone took him away (he was so cute, five months old, very smart and beautiful), or, sad enough, maybe the dogs chased and caught him. We couldn1t find any evidene of this, no blood or fur on the ground, but those dogs can be such a prick, we simply don't know. Lucas is so sad it breaks our hearts. During the day, while he's busy with his life, everything is kinda ok, but when the night comes, he starts hisquestions, wants to know once more how Misquim's last day was. He tries to understand how it happened so suddenly, and there's nothing we can do to make him feel better in the begining. Time will heal his little heart.

Not by chance, his grandma has three newborn kitties at home, and we took him to choose another one, NOT to replace Misquim, of course, but to make him feel happy again. He chose a sweet female (I was croosing fingers that he would choose a male, but alas... :o), white and cream color. Now we need to wait until it stops being fed by its mom, and it will be his. The night before yesterday we lit a candle and performed a goodbye ritual, and I read a beautiful pagan prayer for deceased pets Lucas wanted to listen to. He cried again a bit, I felt so sorry watching his pain...But seems like after performing this ritual, he's ready close this phase and start a new one. This is his first loss, and so young, but unfortunately is part of life.

Please send some warm vibes for my little witch and our lost kitty!

More photos - Part 2

My weekly Hello for everybody!!

The past days were intense... Where do I begin with? Photos, of course. I had taken more photos specially to post here, but can you believe that my new camera is screwed up again?! It was my fault, I let Lucas take one and he dropped it, poor baby. (me, he, the camera, we're all poor babies now!), and it just doens't turn on when I try it to. Cross fingers that we can solve it again... So here are some of the ones I took for Orkut, First, Lucas's room, though now it is a bit changed, with more stuff in it:

Above is Lucas and his school's little friend, Quanin, into his bedroom, fooling around...

Above, at another angle, drawing at his little table, beside his chest of drawers, full of stickers applied by himself along the years... If you enlarge the photo you can see his favorite Zeus mini-poster in front of him, another passion of his...

His bed, inherited from his dad (this was on the very day Baruck had left his little present on it, that's why it is still without covers!). His side table is still without his little altar (another story to tell!).

Some of his toys already in place...

... And Skeli, his faithful guardian, taking care of his bedroom's entrance! Lucas demanded to have it hanging on the door, outside, and I just couldn't say no! LOL

Now, my bedroom, still a bit naked as well, we've got some frames to be made and hanged, you know!

Above is our new bed, it's a shame the photo is so dark, you can't see its details, *sigh*

The door leading to the corridor, from inside our room, with the tip of our new wardrobe showing up...

My very, very old mirror that follows me wherever I go, with my cute witch hat...

And to finish, our little bathroom with the new flop wer curtain!

I hope you enjoyed the tour, that's how we're living now! As a work of patience, I need to control my anxiety until next month, when my inlaw will built the bookshelves for the family room! :o)

Photos at last! Part 1

What a relief! I thought I would never be able to post any images again here! But enough of complaining... Above is Lucas having a lazy snack in the afternoon at our kitchen... A good start for the photos, right? :o) Unfortunately, this computer is obviously incredibly slow, and my time is short as usual. So I'll post today part of the photos, showing the kitchen and family room, and next week I'll try to post the rest, ok? Thanks everybody again for your words of support and sweetness, you are all amazing, it's simply great to come here every week and find your words, they make my day (and week!)

Well, our kitchen is cozy and I love to spend time cooking there... Here is the angle where you can see fridge with our Wheel of the Year and lovely goodies from my friends, and our brand-new stove:

Here is where we have our meals everyday now:

We still don't have a proper place to store our food and stuff (everything was built-in in Rio's apartment), so our old iron shelves are very handy right now:

My harvest goddess is taking good care of our kitchen, along with other friends:

Like my kitchen witch, at my kitchen altar I arranged att he window, where I can see it while I cook and eat!:

Our family room, empty for the lack of book shelves (I miss them around!), with only our sofa and TV so far. As soon we have money, I'll buy cloths to make curtains and cushions:

Here is Misquim drooling at the zillion birds outside:

Another angle, with our front door and Rodrigo's guitar on the corner:

Ai, ai... Gotta go now. Have a wonderful week everybody, and take good care until we meet again!

Kisses from the country gang!

No photos yet...

Hello, everybody!

My camera is fixed, thank gods (what could I do without it?!), it was nothing but a misplaced cord, but now I can't post the photos I took, because ther's always a "failure" box coming every time I try to. Arght! Uunless you guys have an Orkut account, I just managed to post there for family and Brazilian friends. Anyway... Last week was so busy! I got a cold - of course I'd get it, my body is still getting used to the weather! But luckly I never stay more than two days sick, so after an afternoon of sleep and a cup of warm French basil I woke up feeling better.

I spent most days putting things in order (specially Lucas's toys - this boy has too many of them!), cleaning pans, washing clothes, cooking, etc, etc. While I was busying around I listened almost non-stop to Steve Ray Vaughan's Life by the Drop song. I just love this man, and lately this song got my heart, since I found it again among our cds, Sometimes I get stuck with a song and want to listen to it endless times. I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes I get poor Rodrigo crazy with this habit! LOL

The family room is the emptiest place, because we will still have the book shelves made by my inlaw (remember that in Rio there was a built-in set of shelves for them?). So, we only have our sofa, TV/DVD set, and Baruck & Misquin bed. Our bedroom is almost completed, but I still need to have some frames to be made for my beautiful goddesses images. The kitchen is the place that has most things in order, as well as Lucas' room.

I'm slowly getting into this new routine of being entirely for my house, not needing to worry about being late for work and vice-versa. It's something completely new for me, since I work outside full-time since I was 17! It's a pleasure to take care of little details, to plan meals, keep things in good order and feel connected with Nature around me (although Baruck is trying my patience leaving "little presents" at Lucas' bed the other day, and also this morning at our sofa. Seems like he's confused about this new place, I don't know... It's just disgusting to find those... masses of "digested food" around twice the same week). Rodrigo leaves everyday early in the monrning for the coffee harvest in the chilli hours! I stay in bed just a little bit longer, then my day starts.

By the way!!! Thank you so much for all the great comments about our cold weather! Loved reading everyhint you friends said. 12ºCelsius is the average temperature sometimes reaching 10ºC, which IS REALLY COLD for our standards! We do want to install an inside roof next year before Autumn starts, because it would really be hard to deal with this every year (Holly, be sure we are really warm here and only one couple of seasons will be fine fo rus to stand! Thank you for your concern, girl!). So we'll start saving some money, gods know how! :o) IN the end everything finds the right way to happen, so I'm relaxed (or almost). Thanks you for the support and lovely words.

Oh, I plan to make a pagan garden somewhere at our place, and I found this at Patti Wigington's newsletter: http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lithathesummersolstice/ss/ElementalGarden.htm . How cool! Exactly what I wanted. I'll start making this this weekend if everything goes well.

Well, gotta go now, and I hope next Monday I manage to post the photos I took during the weekend! *sigh* Another test for my anxiety, I guess... See you then! Have a beautiful week, thread your dreams gently in the meantime.

Cold country nights

Holly, my super creative and awesome friend got worried when I commented about the cold nights we're facing here. After commenting her back, I got worried that someone else could get worried too, so I decided posting about it again!

In Brazil there is no such thing as a house heating system like in the U.S. and Europe (oh well, I bet the really rich people have them, but this is another thing...). We ordinary people need to keep warm at night wearing good pajamas and blankets! Our blankets are thick and warm, so we just need to keep ourselves under them and everything is ok. In the far future we would love to build a fireplace, but now it's impossible. An electrical heater demands a lot of expensive energy, out of question as well!

I lived many years in Petropolis, a town in the mountains, where Autumn and Winter are very cold. Then I moved to Rio ten years ago and I lived there till now. IN Rio the weather is that warm and cool one, being Winter something we don't have to care about, just a blanket will do. So, when I moved last December, I knew I would feel the difference when the seasons changed. And here it is Autumn with all its strenght and cold! As our house doesn't have the inside roof, being directly to the tile roof, the place gets colder than usual, of course. I really didn't get used yet, specially because I'm the kind of person who feels the cold even when its Summer time! :o)

My main worry was Lucas, because he kicks off the blankets during his sleep several times a night. He moves a lot while sleeping! Onced I even found him sleeping on his knees out of the bed, as if praying! My solution was to keep him really warm with thick pajamas, and stuck his inside blanket' sides under the matress. It was the perfect thing, since it's a large one and it doesn't traps him while moving. I still wake up two or three times a night to check him out, but so far, he sleeps all night long straight, a very good sign. If he's ok, so am I.

So it's really a matter of getting used to the weather, and waiting for the warmer seasons to be back again! I believe this is nothing compared to the Northern Hemisphere's below zero autum & winter time ! The good thing is to get the three of us together to watch TV under the same blanket while drinking hot chocolate! :O)

Six things that make me happy

Miss Yves, this intriguing, sweet and clever friend, tagged me for this fun. How could I resist?!

Here are the rules:

"The rules are simple: Tag and link back to the person who tagged you.List six important (un) things that make you happy. Tag six bloggers and let them know they’re “it”. We all feel this blogging community to be one of inclusion and friendship."

Currently, these are the 6 things that make my day - at the same time I update you about my home - but no photos, my camera is f... up yesterday, gods know why, arght! Hope, hope I'll have it fixed today. Oh well:

1. Going to sleep in our brand-new beautiful bed, which finally arrived last Friday, after much "ggrrrrrr" at the phone with the seller... It has clean lines, a gorgeous tobacco color and big enough for me, my hubby and our witch boy.
   


2. 
   
   Arranging our clothes inside our brand-new beautiful wardrobe, which finally arrived, last Friday, etc, etc, etc... Everything is in place, well organized the way I like it! The bedroom looks so cute with it!
   


3. 
   
   Waking up with my little boy jumping over me, saying his sleepy "good morning, mom", followed by Baruck, Misqüin the kitty (he was supposed to be Zen, but Lucas had a better name for him...). It's being waken up by pure love...
   


4. 
   
   Start the day by making our breakfast at our new kitchen, under Hestia's protective look from her frame, and enjoying the first morning sounds from Nature - including Ringo's barks demanding to get in too!
   


5. 
   
   Working hard all day with hubby to put things in place in Da House, although we still have plenty to do! Bit by bit, this house is becoming more and more like a home.
   


6. 
   
   One of the best things: making our own meals again at our brand-new oven! It was great to have these months of "holidays", but I was missing it sooooo much! What's a witch without her kitchen, and her cooking tools? It has always been a pleasure to prepare meals, imagining what to do, and mixing spices. It's an act of love, and a magickal art too, of course!

Now, tagging six friends - you all know how hard this is to me! But here it goes - remember you don't HAVE to join, only if you want to! I tag Tori, Bohemian Mom, Miss B., Patty, Janet and Suzie. Have fun! :o)

A great page!

Still talking about natural recipes, I stumbled upon this cool page with tons of beauty natural recipes. I will collect them and try some, to see how good they are (or not). But it worths a look:
Homemade Beauty Recipes. If you try any of them, let me know your opinion!!

More beauties for Da House

Some time ago I was asked to trade some of my Etsy prim cats by Meg, this awesome artist who also created Kelli's cards. She wanted to give her little son two of my cats he enjoyed, so I chose three of her Etsy prints and voilà, the trading was completed! I custom created one of the cats, since the one he wanted was already sold. She told me he loved them, and it warmed my heart! When a child loves your art, it's the best!
In return, I received last Friday these three gorgeous goddess prints that are now waiting to be framed and hanged at home:

Artemis:


Aphrodite:


Nut:

Amazing, aren't they? I just can't wait to have them in place! My Etsy may be not working so well as I wished, but I found many cool people in the process, it makes all the difference!

At home at last! :o)

Aahh...Yesterday we spent our first night at our little home! Alhoug we haven't moved aaaaall the stuff yet (how many things you cat gather in ten years of living together!!!), but we could'nt wait anymore., so the night was really fun, but really cold inside, because as you can see in previous photos, our home doesn't have the inside roof, and there are no heater in Brazil. But nothing that a couple of good blankets couldn't resolve...

In the afternoon, I cleaned our old matress throughly with white vinegar and water (thank you so much for the tips!), and let it dry under the sun, and also cleaned Lucas's new/old bed: he inherited Rodrigo's single bed, since his own got too small for him. This one is a beautiful dark wooden one, in excellent shape. 

So far we took his bed and bedside table (another inheritance from me, a rounded table that belonged to my aunt when she was a child, that the piece must be almost 80 years old! What he loves about it is that it is hollow inside, with a door, so he can save his treasures! Little by little we'll move his belongings = too many toys, books, comics, study table, decorations, etc... He's so excited!

We took the sofa, TV and its table, of course... For the kitchen, the fridge and stove are already in place, and the dining table too. For me it was enough to start living. We still have our meals at inlaw's, but I hope that by next week, things will change. I'm really, really thankful for their hospitality and kindness, but how I needed to finally sleep in my own place, without all the night sounds, like my inlaw's incredibly loud voice (and his tv equally loud), the many dogs barking all the time under my window... It was absolutely priceless to listen to the crickets' cute sounds, and only that! To wake up at home in silence was wonderful too. I used to wake up in a fright around 5 with my inlaw yelling at his dogs and his workers - he's got a very explosive temper that is hard to deal with for me... Anyway, I'm in heaven, if there's such thing! :o)

Of course, there are things to be fixed, still, but simple problems that can be easily solved. Oh, and the well works perfectly!!!!!!! The water runs at full speed through the pipes, clean and pure!

Still about natural cleaning recipes. I do intend to use as much natural stuff as possible for all the obvious reasons. So I'll gather recipes in a binder, according to topics. I want to make my own laudry soap,  cleaning mixtures, my candles (with inlaw's beeswax, it will be great!), everything that I can make with a good quality. Let's see how far I can go with it...

I hope you all had a great weekend, and the moms had a beautiful day! See you again next week!