Archive for July, 2006
I decided to give my artistic talents a new outlet. I am learning the art of Mehandi. It is done with henna, a plant mixed with oils and sugar, then painted on the skin to produce a semi-permanent dyed design. The stain from the plant wears off in about 7-10 days.
Above is my second attempt, my first attempt was on my 12 year old daughter’s hand and she decided it wasn’t to her liking and took the dye off her hand before the alloted time of minimum 4 hours, her’s is fading already. So I used my own hand to practice.
I forgot what might happen when I showed up at work with a dyed hand. OOPS! Scared my boss a number of times throughout the day, he kept thinking something was crawling on my hand!
I am actually pretty please with the first results and now that I know how the stuf works, I will try for more intricate patterns. Plus there are othe colors I can use.
What fun! 
Pinnacle Ministry – MoonSpirit Gathering 2006 was held July 10 – 15. I went out on the 13th. It was a super long drive up to Blue River, Wisconsin, the longest one I will do this year for my book tour. The drive is almost 500 miles. I was wobbly by the time I arrived but I made very good time and got there in just a little over 9 hours. Of course, being me, I had to get lost at least once and turn around, but I am used to that, so I just take it all in stride.
MoonSpirit is a fairly new event and very intimate. It was a pleasure to get to speak with almost all the attendees on a one-to-one basis, something I can’t possibly do at any of the bigger events.
The campgrounds were very nice, and there were the luxury of both flush toilets and built in bath stalls. The campgrounds also had a restaurant and provided a heap of food to anyone with the money to pay for it. Since I brought enough food for three people, I ate and cooked all my own food, except for Thursday night, when I was offered fish and chips from someone who couldn’t finish the food on her platter. Being the fish lover I am that was hard to turn down, especially when I was so tired from driving straight through from Missouri.
Friday, Patricia Telesco arrived. You can see her, me and the festival’s coordinators (Gina – left; Osyrys – right) in the picture above. That afternoon, I gave my workshops, they just sort of blended into each other. It was intimate and everyone did their best to contribute. After the workshops, we all wandered down to the lower area of the campgrounds and set up a labyrinth.
Saturday was very warm. The picture above was taken in the evening and we all were kind of wilted from the extreme heat. Most of the attendees decided to either nap or take the cave tour that afternoon, so Trish’s workshops didn’t really happen, but there was an informal chat shortly before the pot luck feast for dinner. People brought lots of good “cool” entrees because of the heat. There were plenty of salads and fruit things, and there was a hunk of sausage for the meat eaters.
After dinner Trish, Gina, a few others and I gathered together to create the evening’s closing ritual. Gina and Osyrys had decided on a Fairy ritual. Both Trish and I advised against inviting the Fae to stay at the closing of Circle and we came up with a careful wording to thank them and send them on their way without causing offense. A woman was selected to do the opening and closing portions of the ceremony and Gina would be presenting the gifts. By the time we got to the portion of the ritual that the woman was to do, she had become confused as to what she was doing and Gina asked me to step in. Something I had declined to do earlier because I did not want to deal with a stray fairy following me home and being in my car for a 500 mile journey. But all things being equal, I knew what we had discussed and there was no one else who did. So I called in the Fae to join us in getting gifts and listening to stories. The gifts were presented and the stories were shared. All was going according to plan and I was bidding them farewell without extending an invitation to stay after the ritual. Unfortunately, someone decided that my release was not up to par and shouted out “Stay if you will!”. The damage was done. There was nothing further I could do so I just said “Hail and Farewell” and hoped for the best.
The evening’s entertainment included poi, fire spinning and breathing. The fire Elementals were very happy with the flames and even decided to keep a few of them burning after the performers attempted to blow them out. I stayed up way later than my usual hour, retiring after the performances were over and the mead came out to make the rounds.
I guess the water Elementals decided to cause some mischief after I fell asleep. There were minor injuries, hurt feelings and miscommunications late in the night. Of course, Mercury being retrograde didn’t help to soothe things over quickly, either.
I left very early Sunday morning before anyone was awake so I could be home before dark and in time for a bit of unpacking. About two hours down the road, the air Elementals made it known that they were going to be driving to Missouri with me. My car was infested with swarms of no-see-ums. And they were biting me! At every stop I made for either gas or food, I looked for bug spray, there was none to be had. I tried driving with the windows rolled down but the heat was too much, so eventually I rolled them up and turned on the AC. Those darn bugs bit on any exposed skin for the entire ride home. Waah!! 
Good thing I was wearing long pants and sleeves.
Monday morning, when I went out to my car to drive my daughter to camp, there was not a bug to be seen.
I had a very exciting week. On Monday I took my car to the mechanic to get a once over before I drove up to Wisconsin next week. The mechanic said it need a new wheel bearing on the front passenger side assembly. So I had him do the work. Tuesday was the holiday so my husband and I just hung out at home and puttered. Wednesday morning was off to work. I was about half way to work when the bearing gave out and I got stranded at the side of Highway 30. Luckily, I am a very careful driver so I wasn’t even going the speed limit. The car pulled suddenly to the right and started puffing out white smoke. Of course, I pulled right over. Called work, told them I would be late. Called AAA and asked for a tow. And waited an hour for an “emergency” tow. I was in the middle of no-where, and only one fellow stopped to see if I needed assistance, and surprisingly, he wasn’t the sole cop who just passed me by without stopping.
The tow took me to the closest service station where I left my car. I had a coworker come get me and went to work. I called my mechanic and he said he’d have the car towed back to his shop. By the time my husband came to get me at my office, my car was still sitting at the station where it had been towed in the morning.
After several phone calls to both my mechanic and the service station, the car was finally towed to home late in the evening on Wednesday.
Thursdays, I work at home, so not having a car was not very inconvenient, which was a good thing. Late morning the mechanic called and told me that the wheel bearing was shot (duh!) and he also had to replace the spindle and the hub assemblies. Around 4:00 I got a call that the car was finally ready. I asked the lady to send someone over to get me. By about 5:15 I was starting to get nervous because I had to pick my daughter up from camp before 6. Just before 5:30, my car drives up, all repaired.
Yesterday, I was so nervous driving to work, worrying that there would be a repeat of Wednesday! Thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary happened. But it was a very stressful week!
We have a friendly squirrel that has discovered we are a plentiful supplier of yummy nuts, fruits and bread. When we start our day, he comes over to see what interesting and succulent tidbits that he can cram into his tummy we have left for his breakfast. Normally he will sit at the kitchen window and peak in at us until we bring his breakfast out. Then he’ll jump off the porch and head out on the lawn a safe distance till we go back inside.
Yesterday morning, being a Sunday, and a late rising one for a change, we didn’t come downstairs as early as we usually do. Mr. Squirrel must have fallen asleep while waiting for us to bring him his breakfast! 
)
All I can say, is isn’t it wonderful that the wildlife is so comfortable in our yard. (Sorry if the picture is fuzzy, the screen in the kitchen window blurs it a bit.)
