Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my second year making Thanksgiving dinner at home, and my first time making an actual turkey! Last year I made a ham and a small turkey breast. Right off the bat, I had to call my mom and ask what to do with the thing once I opened the package. I washed and stuffed the bird and popped it in the oven about an hour ago and the smell coming from my kitchen has me optimistic that dinner will turn out just fine.

Soon, I'll start work on the rest of dinner which will consist of rolls, cheeses, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and mashed white yams. I've never made mashed yams before and certainly not white ones, but a co-worker suggested it as a happy medium for my husband and I since I wanted mashed potatoes and he wanted candied yams. Here's how you make it:

Get enough white yams to serve the number of people you are feeding. In my case there are only the two of us, so I'm using 4 yams. Peel and boil the yams until they are soft. Mash the yams with a bit of butter until creamy. Add maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar to taste.

To appease my husband, I also have marshmallows that he can add to his serving to candy the yams.

This is also the second year that we've decided not to make the rounds to everyone's houses (since my parents are split up, we have 3 sets of parents we are expected to visit and spend a considerable amount of time with), but the first year I'm not feeling the least bit guilty about my decision. I love our family, but I hate the stress and lack of fun that comes along with having to hit the road early and then constantly checking our watches to make sure we can see everyone. Today however, we started our day by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and plan to end it snuggled on the couch watching a movie. I'm thankful that our parents are being understanding of my need to just relax and spend the holiday cooking with the husband. I will most likely resume the position of weary traveler next year, since I cannot possibly cook for, or fit, 60 people in my apartment.

Time to end my rambling and get back to cooking. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

A Case of the Blahs

During the past two weeks I've been feeling very sluggish, unmotivated and just plain old blah. I haven't felt up to doing much and I've been spending a lot of time curled up on the couch with a book or in bed snoozing. I get like this from time to time and it always hits me hard around this time of the year. My body must have a timer built in to shut down for a bit between the excitement of Summer and Autumn and the rush of the holidays. Honestly, if it didn't I would probably never relax... I'm far too restless for that. It's starting to ebb now, so I anticipate being back to my normal self soon.

There have been some creative spurts during this though, which has been a serious relief. I tend to go a bit stir crazy if I don't make anything for a while. I've started sculpting very first larger scale piece; a short and round Santa Clause, who will be dressed in forest green. I've also made a few spoon wands. Here's one of them, I call it the Intuition Wand, since I based it around the correspondences of the colour purple and the Third Eye chakra:

Detail of the handle, featuring a vintage shell button.


Painting on the back.

On a completely different note, did anyone manage to get outside and have clear skies for the Leonid meteor shower? My lovely and I bundled up, dragged some blankets outside and snuggled under the stars, but the clouds came rolling in and we weren't able to see any stars at all after a while. I'm happy to report though, that we did manage to see two shooting stars before the clouds rained on our parade. That being said, it was still a wonderfully romantic experience, laying outside at the wee hours sandwiched between blankets and holding hands gazing at the stars and trying to locate constellations.

For the record, my constellation recognition has gone to pot. I can only find Orion and that one's easy to find. *sigh* I miss living in the woods.

La Calavera Amor

Image from Wikipedia, clicking the image will take you to the article.

El dia de los muertos, the day of the dead, is a holiday that originated in Mexico as a way to honor the deceased. It is a bright and joyous contrast to the usually somber and dark memorial services I've attended here in the states.

It is a time for families and friends to gather and reminisce about the lives of their dead by telling humorous stories, sharing fond recollections and creating personal and often time intricate altars. A lot of families will travel to the grave sites of relatives to clear brush, leave offerings of food and trinkets, decorate and picnic. At these graveside picnics the deceased is the guest of honor.

To me, el dia de los muertos is not a time to mourn the loss of loved ones, but a time to honor and remember them by celebrating and appreciating life. It is a time to take to heart the saying 'every day is a dance with death' , enjoy what precious time we have before we pass on.

As there are no celebrations in my area for this day, I celebrated at home. I lit a candle on my dia de los muertos altar, settled and thought about the past as well as the future, and let my friends and family know that I love them. I also painted a paper mache' mask up like a sugar skull to hang on the wall above my small altar and was inspired to paint myself up and update my Calvera portrait:

My paint was meant to symbolise love.

All that being said, I want to let each and every one of you know that I appreciate you. I am truly blessed to have found such a wonderful group of people, who have taught me so much about art, friendship, sprirituality and themselves. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences.

Feliz Dia de Los Muertos.

A Visit to Sleepy Hollow

Yesterday my lovely, my best friend and I paid a visit to a sleepy town made famous by Washington Irving's short story 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'. I've always had a fondness for the story and always wanted to visit the town, which is less than an hour from where we live.

The town itself is small and quaint. A lot of small houses and not much to see. The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and old Dutch Church on the other hand are fascinating and beautiful. We lost ourselves there for a few hours.

Washington Irving, who wrote the 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow', sleeps here.

There are so many beautiful monuments and statues I could over load any internet connection with photos. If you'd like to see more, the entire set can be found on my Flickr.

Halloween Festivities

I set the table...


Put out the candy...


Fluffed the cobwebs...


and whipped up a wicked brew...


Before donning my costume and awaiting my guests arrival...

After they arrived I....


Shared punch with a wench...


Shared a lot of laughs...


Made my lovely pose for the camera...


And fought off zombie spider-man.

When the guests departed, I set back the clocks, retired my cape and took my rest.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!