Shiva's and Metta's Mother's Sutra

Elohim creates Adam... W Blake So on Boxing Day i asked why is it that the physical is so magical, so important to us and that we miss is so much when it is not here? Specifically i asked this about people. Why do we miss people when they die, even if we do believe they have gone into an after life, and are actually more present than ever, or if people we love aren't around, if they are far away - like a boyfriend or girlfriend - why do we miss that physical so much? So that question went to being answered a little bit during my holiday. For a while now i have had this book of collected lectures by Steiner on Guardian Angels. It sat just below my desk where i keep all book with original lectures and writings by Steiner. Just before i packed up for the holiday, i thought, i'll take the book with me, give me something to read. Man did it give me something to read!!! In the middle of the book i went... this is answering my question. It was really cool. Now people who...

So it's funny how life gives you things when you least expect it. We went to Galway this past four days and i have to say it was the nicest family holiday EVER. It wasn't so much what we did but that spending time with each other was really good fun. Battling carsickness, horrendous weather, sibling warfare and too many visits to out of town centres, it was all in all a great time that was had by all. I took some photos... mostly of us eating...in fact ALL of us eating. The best part of the holiday? Playing laser tag. Ghin's remark will go down in the annals... And Daddy spent most of his time shooting mummy... Here we are in Source, this really REALLY nice eating place in Sligo I will have to say that Ghin did stop playing the iPad...eventually Do you see where he gets it from? Then we had a terrible lunch at this greasy spoon in Galway... it was fairly horrendous, BUT we had a good tiem anyway It had a jukebox, which apparently qualifies for some ...

Boxing Day - the turkey has been made, the food eaten, some may have hang overs - um not me, too old for that carry on - the presents have been unwrapped and really i just want to do feck all. But this means that the boys are watching TV all day, which they have done for the last three days and i just cant have them doing that any more. Maybe i'll make them watch a DVD i want to watch. I dunno. What i need to do is get the spanner from school, go and get some coffee in town, get Christmas presents to Anthony and other people on that side of the Peninsula, go for a walk. It just isn't the same withou Eddie. Usually at this time i'd make the trip to Portmore to give him my bag of chocs. Quite often i'd miss him, but it meant that we were close to Portmore and i'd go for a walk there. As i was putting up old precious Christmas cards, one of his appeared, and i was filled with sadness. What is it about friends leaving us? To think we will all die one day. I was say...

So we woke up today and i cooked a rather large bird. I did not take the photo of said large bird as it was a bit haphazzard. The gas ran out right at the end so altho the food was all cooked the turkey was not browned. Ah well. Next year. Oisin was class, he told me that he did NOT ask me to make a turkey. Which was obviously why i chose to cook a turkey. The turkey actually turned out quite alright. I put it down to the brining. So if you'd like to know how to cook turkey this is how it works. Brine the turkey overnight - i used a bucket and lots of cold water and lots of salt. This gets rid of that weird turkey smell and also gives the turkey a lovely taste AND keeps the white meat succulent. Stuff it to the gills - that's ok. Sew it up on both sides. That's also ok. Cover it in butter. Metled butter, before you cook it. Put foil over it, like make a foil bag and put it over the turkey. Blast it at Gasmark 7 for 40 mins, the Gasmark 5 for the rest of the cooking ...

One of my birthday presents... what makes peoplethink i enjoy coffee and Cath Kidston?? I think having me not in my nightdress is a rare occurence Well i looked up four turkey recipes yesterday. They all said different things. But not sooo different that you think, yeah i think that one makes most sense. The first one said, brine your bird. The second one said, make the foil like a large oven. The third one said, use bacon to cover the white meat. The fourth one said something which was slightly different. By then i had become completely confused. All of them said do not over stuff the turkey which is a pity cos the stuffing i like more than the turkey. Please do not get me started about how sane people do not cook turkeys. Oisin wanted a turkey and so did Ghin, and since they did not have a tree (we have a very lovely Christams branch) i thought, we'll indulge them, will we? So i am now quaking in my botties going, turkey, turkey gobble gobble gobble. Then there is al...

So we now return to the light. That is possibly the best thing about my birthday. After its over i know the worst of the darkness has passed and now we go back to the longer and longer days. What a quick year it has been though. The teaching has made such a difference to how rapidly days pass as I look after the class and the boys. Everything i do now seems to have consequence - unlike previously when i used to think, does this really make a difference? Of course i hoped it would, but really, did it? Listening to Beth Orton's Central Reservation with a smile on my face. Many many years ago a friend sent me an email, saying i'm listening to Beth Orton's Central Reservation - and now many years since... I am listening to the same song and going, ah i see what he was talking about. As i was sitting in Filthy McNasty's i looked around and thought, this really can't get any better and you know what 42, i feel pretty ageless. As in i no longer care what age i am a...

Yes it is reversed... My webcam reverses things from right to left. I have no longer noticed this, but sometimes, things like this happen and then it is pretty obvious. This book by Anthony McGeehan is almost certainly one of the most important works of ornithology and natural history that has come out of Ireland in decades. I do not know very much about ornithology or natural history - my ornithologist and natural history friends would say this is not true, but it is true. They are just being very kind. However, despite my paucity in knowledge about it, or perhaps BECAUSE of my paucity in knowledge about it, i can tell that this book is great. Also if you think Birds are boring - i will have to say to you what i say to my class - only boring people are bored. Also what i will say is that the writing will show you that birds are NOT boring. Anthony writes about birds in this very funny, matter of fact way, and injects sarcasm, wit, humour, which means that you are not wondering...

School obviously ended at the right time. It is now doing that horrible Irish weather which if it happened last week would have solved the flag protests cos no one goes out to riot in the middle of this sort of migraine inducing downpour. Instead we had that cold crisp weather which made it possible for people who had obviously finished their Christmas shopping, going through their Christmas card list, putting up the tree, the lights, rolling truffles and feeding the cake the one last time, to say, well now, how do we welcome in the new year? How do we celebrate the coming of our Lord in the 21st century? I know, we will send a few death threats, put people's windows in and we will storm the City Hall and ignore a democratic process. I suppose it would be far more in keeping with Roman occupation - Mary and Joseph would have recognised it. Oh no, not again, them Roman oppressors pushing us Jews around, threatening us with crucifixion. It was a cross between Carry On, Monty Py...

With Christmas round the corner Ghin and I took time out to do some Christmas shopping and Christmas eating in Holywood. To be honest we have been sooo busy making our own pressies. I have learnt how to make some really kiss ass beeswax candles using mosiac techniques. Can't wait for class six! Anyway, here we are in Paninis... Ghin at his laconic best.   Then later that day we went to Little Wing where we had pizza. Oisin just looking sooo sweet and just laughing all the time. The boys are really such good fun. Honestly, i cannot imagine i am a mother of TWO boys. It's pretty amazing - and how grown up are they??!!! Now tell me that is not funny! Har har har...

Two weeks ago, i took Oisin and Jago to circus school on Sunday morning and we had brunch in Made in Belfast. It was so funny. Oisin said, we should write guillible on the table and then people can come to this table and say, look guillible is written on this table, and someone would say, yeah right... and it would REALLY be written on the table. So that's what we did. Least people are horrified at the graffitti, the table was already covered in graffitti. None of it as witty as our, of course. After that Oisin had his circus performance. If anyone is thinking about sending their children to circus school DO IT!!! There is one small snag, the waiting list is 3 years long. Why it is not the birthright of every child in Belfast to go to circus school i do not know. It is fantastic for motor skills (gross and fine) which is soooo important to children from the ages of 3 up till they are 18. It is good for training and body AND mind. It is wonderful for their confidenc...