To Pagans Everywhere !

A toast from the East

With a glass of Irish Mist I toast Pagans everywhere and send a not so humble blessing

That they keep themselves sharp, lively and be very full of Fun

and

Long live the Sun !

in the South

Cheers me hearties !

The Great Goddess!
without whom
no ritual
can be done.

WINTER: Food and Cures

A Cornish Pasty

The pasty has to be one of my favourite dishes and especially at this time of the year. This one was made quite recently by Mrs H when I was feeling slightly under the weather and her culinary skills cheered me up no end. It contains cubed swede, parsnips carrots and lean beef steak, plus white pepper and an oxo cube for additional flavour. 

It was absolutely delicious and very filling, so much so that I was unable to consume all of it at one sitting and approximately half of it became a meal on the following day  

A cough remedy

I recently suffered an irritating dry and tickly cough which disturbed me both day and night. After having tried homeopathic drosera which helped, that alone was not sufficient and so I resorted to Manuka honey to which one drop of thyme oil had been added and stirred into; the dosage I took was one teaspoonful twice a day for about four or five days which am delighted to say completely cured me.

Cayenne Pepper

Another one of my home remedies is cayenne pepper which I use fairly frequently throughout the year. It is well known for improving the circulation and has many uses; my best advice is for you to look it up on the internet and make your own decision.

I take it once a day: one teaspoonful in a small glass of cold spring water.

The Cayenne Pepper Drink

The cayenne pepper drink is extremely hot and the way I take it is have one large mouthful and to hold it in the mouth for about three seconds before swallowing down as rapid as is possible, quickly followed by drinking second glass of water to flush away any residue from the gums, of course another way to reduce the burning sensation in the mouth is to have a spoonful of honey.

I try to avoid pharmaceutical medicines and visits to medical practitioners as far as is possible, unless it is absolutely unavoidable. My preference is to eat wholesome foods, exercise regularly, do nothing to excess and maintain my height/weight ratio.

My plan is to grow old disgracefully by being a geriatric hippy !

A Photographic Model

A Photographer's Model !

Today is my birthday. I am 67 years young and the photo depicts me at my first job, even though I wasn't aware of that at the time :-)

Being no expert at guessing the age of a baby, I can only estimate that perhaps the photo was taken when 7 months old ? You my readers or at least some of you will have a greater knowledge or experience of babies and be able to tell me whether my estimate is right or wrong ?

There is an earlier photo of me lying on a settee next to a large china doll, it is in a leather case up in the loft, a place that I am loathe to visit during the cold weather.

The temperature in these parts has not climbed above - 4C for over three weeks and today it snowed. We received about an inch or 2.5cm which is now sitting nicely on top of compacted ice and minor dustings of previous snow.

Today I will not be driving as I am now on my second glass of pear flavoured brandy and clutched between the fingers of my left paw is large Havana cigar, a gift from my widely travelled daughter when she recently visited Cuba.

We text each other occasionally you know as family do, we are a small family the consequence being is that we are somewhat independent.

So during Helen & Marks' (her better half!) visit to Havana I received a text saying

'We are lost'. I replied 'Give me a few minutes to think' and later said 'Take three turns to the left, cross over the main road & look to your right'. They did this and were back at the place they started from, however it was just a simple deduction on my part.