bee-full-moon

Today is a blue moon -- the second full moon of the moonth -- not sure that all time zones in all hemispheres consider it so, I think not.

A blue threaded moon pathway is in the works on my stitch ritual cloth. Each moon, becoming more itself.

Things have heated up here. At night the bees sit on their front porch to enjoy lower temperatures just like people do. Inside they are fluttering their wings to ventilate and cool the house down, no small feat for this large of a home. You can hear them, sounds like a fan is running inside. I envision them working in shifts, taking turns sitting on the front porch to cool off.

Last night I made a jar of lemon balm water that kept company with Buddha under the full moon. This moon water is easy to make -- fill a jar at least half full with lemon balm that you have talked or sung to. Then fill with water you have thanked. Infuse under a full moon all night long. Drink. I won't say how you're supposed to feel from this, it's your own fruit to pick, as a certain Bee Teacher says. The white flowers are feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium -- it glows at night.

I'm finally reading The Shamanic Way of the Bee, the first book I bought after the bees came to us four years ago. We were at the bee store frantically picking out a bee house, a bee suit and all the bells & whistles that we would need for them. And I picked this book. I soon learned that what we really needed was a good how-to book, of which we now have several. The Shamanic Way of the Bee by Simon Buxton enchants me -- I'm using my also-four-year-old bee moon as a bookcloth. Staying in character. Will probably have to finally do some stitching on it now too. Everything in its time.

Journal52 Week22's prompt is wings. My take on it was remember your roots, trust your wings...because the blue moon is also the trust moon; I had already drawn a trust oracle card; I like that trust is what comes before knowing; I like wings. I've been finding myself in situations that I want to react and respond to, my work now is to notice these events as they arise and before I react. Each time, becoming more myself.

Thanks for visiting and happy weekending.

in the middle of summer

In the middle of summer:

::The Buddha garden has been in recovery mode all season long due to hail damage -- there are no vegetables or tomatoes ripening or even forming yet. However, because it's a cherished labor of love, I am willing to go the extra mile by 1) waiting longer and 2) planting more seeds. The waxing moon in watery Scorpio makes the next few days beneficial for seed sowing and I want to tap into those unseen forces. 

::A ballband dishcloth from Mason Dixon Knitting in the works -- the Peaches & Creme pattern is a favorite, just enough stitch variation to keep you on your toes. The soft and lofty Bernat Gloucester cotton yarns were a gift and are a pleasure to work with. 

::I didn't know an asparagus fern would bloom in our climate. But she did, and magnificently so. Hundreds of tiny blossoms, I feel like I should make a flower essence.

::The prompt for Journal52 Week21 was top 10 lists. Painting and wiping the page with layers of tan and brown resulted in a wood grain look. I love the way this journal is starting to feel with its pages all thick and wrinkled and warped.

::The girl with moon paintings above the little vase was my first full-moon art ritual -- painted itty canvasses, one for each of 13 moons.

::We decorated little jars with scrap papers and washi tape and then filled them with flowers. Our fourth grandchild was born just this week so these three bright spirits have a new baby-boy-cousin. 

::There are and will be miracles. 

swallowtails love larkspur

The swallowtails love larkspur and there's a ton of it. I didn't realize swallowtails have blue and red markings -- there is a way to distinguish male and female but when I looked it up, it hurt my brain to follow the directions. Whatever gender they are, they are very welcome.

The bouquet of fragrant sage can be added to bathwater, too. Week 20 of Journal52 is good advice -- the watercolor background is for Week 22, wings. The little box, origami butterflies and pretty papers are all from Daphne's Diary magazine, a splurge. Similar to FLOW magazine, maybe a little lighter in subject matter which is nice sometimes. And there's a good amount of paper/coloring pages/punchouts, etc. for future projects.

With the swallowtails visiting every day and the dark moon upon us, I've been dreaming and thinking about metamorphosis. How a caterpillar hardens into a chrysalis which in turn begins to produce imaginal cells. Imaginal cells are of a completely new and different vibration from the caterpillar and they reproduce until there are so many that they literally take over . . . and begin to grow into a butterfly. All the while, the caterpillar melts and liquifies to feed the new life.

I wonder if when people have meltdowns, there are imaginal cells being produced to create a future self that is strong and free. Gain from pain. I know I always feel so much better afterward.

I meant to pull up most of the larkspur last spring but never got around to it. So glad I didn't.

getting the hang of it

From Mary Oliver's The Summer Day: ...I don't know exactly what a prayer is, I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields...

For me, I'd add...I do know how to cut & paste outside, how to plop down and stitch and sip under clouds a-building, how to be okay with weeds in cracks.

The prompt for Week 19 of Journal52 is outside in. That is, to take an assortment of materials and create a journal page outside. I really like the limits that working outside creates, didn't go back in the house for more or better stuff a single time for this page.

Same with handwork -- one needle, two thread colors and two cloths -- a Frankenstitch practice cloth from a class a few years ago and the little nine-patch from last week. A magazine article on using the blanket stitch more adventurously reminded me that was a technique in Arlee's Frankenstitching as well, so I went looking for the practice cloth with the least amount of practicing on it.

Macrame -- remember? Our large-ish 70's wall hanging is from a yard sale last summer and now I want more. I can think of many places to hang them around here, inside and out. The embroidery hoops -- I'm thinking of stretching fabric on them, maybe that would be a nice use for some of the dyed cloth that I don't know what to do with. There are more hoops in the closet too, they reproduce. Or maybe just a big wooden bowl or basket filled with hoops.

This is a waning moon week -- the next new moon is July 15. The waning moon energetically helps us to sort and purge. I thought I had already done quite a bit of this kind of work but over the last few mornings, more things have surfaced. Getting the hang of it though.

Well wishes.