But Still I Rise

 

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

Interesting articles

Hollywood actresses fed up with fluffy interview questions

Successful women are still being asked about their bodies above all else, sending the message that our appearance is what defines us; that it is our most crucial asset.

Why 6 Year Old Girls want to be Sexy

When shown a set of two dolls, one in revealing clothes and the other in trendy by covered-up clothes, about 70 percent of girls in the study said they looked more like the sexy doll and that the sexy doll was more popular than the non-sexy doll.

Look where we went today...

Florence writes the soundtrack to my life

Lammas (Loaf Mass)

It's the start of the harvest season in our calendar. We started the day listening to Lisa Thiel then once the morning jobs were done we took our pup & the dog the in-laws are looking after for a long walk to the woods.

A picked a perfect spot for a snack break



Trying out my new Lunchbot



Our happy puppy



A natural maypole



So much green



Practising her tree climbing skills



While A was taking a well needed nap, I prepared some dough (including kneading by hand, something I haven't done for a while)

A shaping & decorating her bread



My bread rolls with Spirals and pentagrams



The table set for our Lammas feast



We finished the day with the Lammas chapter of Luna Moon Hare before bed.

Anything Soup

A damp day demanded soup.


She loves to help with chopping



There's always time to play with the vegetables. Apparently this is A & Daddy





Yum

Surprise Party & Birthday Meal

Both of J's parents turned 60 this month so after much planning, preparation & secrecy it was finally time for the big surprise. We weren't able to tell the nephews or A, because they wouldn't have been able to keep a secret.

Oh the lies we had to tell, to get phone numbers, to explain why we couldn't go out that lunchtime, to get them to come to our house at EXACTLY 5pm!!

J & his sister had managed to pull together a pretty awesome combination of people and as worried as I was, they didn't actually suspect a thing

The guests of honour arriving... the surprise moment!!



J cooking up a storm on the BBQ



Impromptu Jam #1



Impromptu Jam #2



Birthday Cake (They'd already both had a heavily iced one, so I went for a simple sugar free banana cake)



The Cousins, who can never all look in the same direction at the same time
(This is always the way & I took 5 photos at this point to try and get a good one. Maybe I should 'shop them together)




On Sunday we went out for the planned part of their birthday. A carvery meal at The Old Reindeer. I had so. much. food. It is really hard not to at a carvery.

Like Father, Like Son
(I believe this is the "She's got that bl**dy camera out again" look)



Playing with Dolly while waiting for desert



My cheesecake *swoons*



All in all a busy but wonderfully memorable weekend.

Getting Ready

for a super secret surprise...

Eat, Pray, Love

I got Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert on audio book about a month ago, I have been dipping in & out of it (mostly when I have been walking the dog solo, or tiding up in the evenings.) It is a wonderful, wonderful book

This is a quote that I really need to take to heart.

"There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert

To quote a popular detergents ad campaign

Dirt is Good

She has played in the dirt all day today, so happy and focused.

Goddess Camp - Part One

What a wonderful weekend. I've come back feeling so refreshed & full of Spirit.

Apparently I am incapable of packing lightly



From the moment we arrived everyone we met was helpful & friendly. Our stuff was carried out of the car for us and within 30 minutes the tent was up.

Checking out her new room



Our tent



The view from our tent, the Fire shrine of the Circle at the centre of camp



On Friday evening there was a communal BBQ, so we could all get introduced, then before that nights bonfire, the camp was officialy opened by "Beating the Bounds". Everyone walked around the camp yelling, drumming or blowing horns to claim the campsite for ourselves for the weekend.

The evening sky



Once A was asleep, my sister and I sat up with some of the others talking around the "quiet" campfire then once I couldn't stay awake anymore, I fell asleep with the noise of drums & chanting from the "loud" campfire in the distance.

Saturday started bright and early and although there has been rain during the night, the sun soon warmed up the earth and on waking we had joined everyone in walking around the camp barefoot.

After the morning meeting and the circle to open the camp we headed out to our first activities.

A & I started the the 'Wild Woods Workshop' but really it was aimed at slightly older children, so she quickly became more interested in exploring the woods.



Shortly after this A & I entered the camp temple for the first time. It was such an amazing space, with truly wonderful statues of the Goddess & the God. We were able to light candles to offer up prayers or bring gifts as offering.

A quickly came to love this sacred space & would often run up & ask if she could enter. She always treated everything with such reverence & would tell me "Close your eyes and listen, She might talk to you"

(Although I longed to take a picture of the inside of the temple, I felt it wasn't right and this is one thing I will have to rely on my memory for)

The majority of our camp meals were supplied by Veggies. It was wonderful not to have to stop everything to cook and the food was truly delightful & plentiful.

A was quick to help with camp chores, especially if it meant scoring brownie points with Aunty H



I started to introduce A to the idea of an altar, due to her love of the temple. She pays no attention to our altar at home, possibly as it is as much the seasonal tableau, but I have wanted to introduce her to the idea of a focal point for contemplation, meditation and praise.



I set up a simple altar with some of my travel items, to open the idea of altars being anywhere and the Goddess being ever present. It is still hard for her to understand, but I think she is getting to a point where we can talk about these things together rather than me just talking at her.

Yay!!

We are off to Goddess Camp in just over an hour!

I've been looking forward to this for months.

Simplicity

"It's too pretty to go in the bin Mummy"



A quick nap



Picnic time



Taking photos like Mummy



Some times the simplest days are the best.

Truly Blessed

A very talented friend of a friend passed away recently and as the only crafty person the family really knew, I was asked if I would like to have some of the stocks of supplies this lady had.

What a house!! This lady was a true artist and did crafts of all kinds. There was boxes of threads, 30 - 40 spools in each sorted by colour, wool, needles, fabric...craft supplies of all types.

I was gifted with all sorts of items, ranging from card making blanks to embroidery silks.

An example of her work. Green Man hand stitched onto a jumper



Just some of the fabric & old linens I got



My favourite piece, a hand stitched, double sided, hexagonal patchwork quilt



I feel so honoured & privileged to have gained these wonderful things and to have witnessed the work of such a talented individual.

Mama Natural Show #50

Wow!! 50 Shows!! I love Mama Natural. She is such an inspiration.

Making a Waldorf Doll

Early Saturday Morning J dropped my off at our local Steiner school and this was the glorious sight that greeted me as I walked into our Parent/Toddler room


You can just see the home corner in the back ground


And the nature table in the background of this one

The wonderful lady who runs the Parent/Toddler group had arranged a workshop to allow parents & staff to make a waldorf doll with her careful & thoughtful tuition

It took us over an hour just to do the heads but I am really pleased with how mine turned out



It was a wonderful experience, we joked and talked about our children. We ate a shared meal. We helped each other when we could. We all fell in love with the dolls we were making.

And even though we started from the same point and followed the same patterns, our dolls turned out very differently



(I admit, I didn't follow the usual pattern for the eyes and mouth as I couldn't get them to line up properly, instead I sewed some beads on when I got home. I decided as A is over 3 years old it would be less of a problem.)

Once she was finished I tucked her into A's bed & they haven't been parted since

In the car on the way to the Nottingham Pagan Network picnic