Tag: life

Paint Experimenting. And the Story of the Boo Hag.

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Children’s art to me…is better than the skilled, educated, master of all art.  Picasso had it soooo right…

” Every Child is an Artist…The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” _ Pablo Picasso.

The above selection of paint colors was chosen by my youngest daughter Uma Kathryn…a real unique little being. She selected those specific colors and created an art piece that tickled me to death…Below, I give you…The Turtle and the Boo Hag.

Now you may be wondering…who is the Boo Hag….well, the Boo Hag is that red thing…and the Boo Hag is an old Gullah Gullah story…The legend of the Boo Hag is as follows…

The Gullah Gullah folk have this saying “Don’t let the Boo Hag ride yah.” which came from this belief that an entity known as the Boo Hag would ride you at night. Legend says that if you’ve had a restless night of sleep that it was most likely because the Boo Hag rode you at night. Now the Boo Hag…well… she is this entity that finds souls at night (people sleeping) where she will hop onto you and suck the life out of you…not all the way but just enough to keep herself alive. She would slip through cracks and holes, through key holes, and underneath doors to find you to get her energy from sleeping souls by riding them and sucking their life for her own.  Now, you should know that the Boo Hag is kind of like a vampire in the sense that she needs someones skin to walk around during the daylight. Without someones skin she would burn to a crisp. She is a fiery red being without the skin…and the way that she is able to walk around during the day is that she has to get a coat of skin from a victim at night to ride and take their skin for the next morning….She wears their skin during the day and at night she takes the skin off and puts it in the corner somewhere. To get rid of the Boo Hag you have to find the skin that she is currently using…once you find it, you put salt and pepper on the inside so that the next morning when she puts it on….she dies.

Okay okay….creepy I KNOW! And being the cool mom I am…I told that story to my 5 year old daughter…who now is painting pictures of THE BOO HAG! hahahaha. I’m sorry BUT that is funny! High Five mom! Memory MADE!!

ANYWAYS….to drift back to art...Uma amazes me in her art work…I haven’t shared much since I’ve only begun with this blog this summer…but I thought that that one was a good one to share first! My hope is to get her to paint a picture everyday…and today she painted that!

SO What I did was take her left over paint color selection and made my own piece below! I thought it would be neat to let her be my art director for a while and select my paint colors…and this is what I made…

These are the paintings side by side…for color scheme….with the pop in bright red…AKA THE BOO HAG hahaha.


And I don’t know how…but I got paint on my face….

THE MORAL of the whole story is….THAT kids are freaking awesome. Their ability to just paint from their gut HAS NO COMPARISON. They are who they are…and they just ARE. I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. Kids are cool. And their imagination has no bounds.

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly

PS. Uma was painting that picture to show her friends at school tomorrow because they are learning the letter T…T for turtle…although she told me the red thing was the BOO HAG…she told me she was going to tell her friends that it was “Just a surfboard.” hahahaha WOW! She cracks me up!

Playing Around with Paint.

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Just bought some new paint this Labor Day weekend!!! Super excited to start painting again…I feel like I’m starting all over! Haven’t painted in a while! 

   

 

Got these paints for a steal! Half off Labor Day sale! 

On the to do list…get to painting! Channeling folk art. 

Last Quarter Moon in Gemini and Cancer.

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lastquarter_kellywalden_thewaldenmoon

The Last Quarter Moon phase is a time for reflection. When it entered into this phase last night it was in Gemini…but tonight it is in Cancer. 

Gemini can offer you the drive to know it all. The twins…the two talking heads. One to listen and one to talk. This type of archetype thrives on communication and storytelling. If you feel yourself getting too antsy to go, go, goooo and know it all…settle for a moment and take a breath. Knowledge is great…but learning to calm that “go, go, go, to know it all” will benefit you in the long run. Learn as much as you can…but really savor each morsel of information you acquire…and be mindful of what you let others know you know. Humbleness is something we can use within the next few days. Thank yourself for knowing what you do know…and then cultivate a cancerian nature.

Cancer…the cancerian…the crab. The one with a hard shell but a soft inside. A delicate…yet succulent being. Underneath it all…underneath the hard outer shell is a morsel of goodness. Tender and sweet…the cancerian holds the feelings of deliciousness and protects it with its shell. As the Gemini gathers all the information, the crab stores it under its shell…and when the shell becomes too small from growth…the crab finds a new shell to expand even more. Cultivate the cancerian nature to gather and protect your knowledge and feelings…because just like all great mysteries, once they are solved and uncovered, you find a delicious and succulent being inside. Be wise with who you let solve your mystery.

Love & Moonlight, 

Kelly.

Painting by me! Ha.

Blueberry Full Moon Dessert! Blueberry Torte.

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Okay okay…It’s pretty clear I’m not a food stylist! haha. Check out my blueberry torte…and its whipped cream moon! hahaha uh…

Besides that my version is ugly… I’ll have you know, that this recipe is actually pretty tasty!

Blueberry Torte from Mom via Barbara Fallin (Family great aunt)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pack graham cracker crumbs

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 TBSP milk

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup of chopped pecans

big tub of cool whip

can of blueberry pie filling

Directions:

Look at this pic…I’m being lazy!

Just so you know…this was a childhood dessert my mom used to make ALL THE TIME! That and a “Melt in Your Mouth”…I’ll have to share that some other time!

HAPPY FULL MOON!!!

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly

Gibbous Moon in Aquarius…a Night of Pretty Colors.

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The Gibbous Moon and sky mashup.

Pre-birthday support socks from Betsy… 🙂

A night of pretty colors. The moon is waxing and is nearly full! Right now it’s in Aquarius but on the 29th it will enter Pisces! Good things are coming!

Hmm…I’m thinking a water theme is absolute. Beach this Sunday?? Birthday Beach Day?? Sounds good to me…as long as hurricane Erika steers clear away from here! Bye Erika! When are they going to name a hurricane Felicia?…ha.

L&M, Kel

Plant Sanctuary. Prepping for the Autumnal Equinox.

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Autumn is nearing…my all time favorite season of the year. September 23rd, 2015 marks the Autumnal Equinox…when the light and dark of the day are equal to each other. I’m steadily making an indoor plant sanctuary to come home to during the fall and winter months.

Currently I’m working on some Autumnal Equinox activities to share…and one of them is how to make an indoor plant sanctuary…because you still need green in your daily life…I think! Above are some photographs of corners in my house that I’ve rearranged and added to just to get you inspired!!! 

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Recipe for the Blueberry Full Moon

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The Blueberry Full Moon is coming up this Saturday August 29th, 2015…and it happens to be a SUPER MOON! A Super moon typically happens 4-6 times per year and it’s when the moon is really close to the Earth. So this full moon should be a BIG ONE! Crossing my fingers that the night sky is clear!

In preparation for this months Blueberry full moon…here is a second recipe! Blueberry Frozen Yogurt inspired by THIS RECIPE!

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients

1 small package of fresh blueberries (washed and then frozen over night)

Yogurt (eye ball it for smooth blending…can be plain or flavored…we tried vanilla)

Honey or Agave Nectar (a squeeze or two for sweetness)

Lemon juice (a squeeze for balance)

Directions

Blend it! haha.

Side note….I roughly went along with the recipe linked above. This was my version. I added some splashes of milk to get the blueberries to blend easily…but it turns out that if you don’t eat it right away then the yogurt gets kind of foamy…I think the milk did that. Also, if you don’t like textured food (bits of fruit) then you probably won’t like this recipe because it has a lot of blueberry bits. My oldest daughter wasn’t a fan of all the blueberries. Next time I’ll plan on using less blueberries and more yogurt per my girls request…and NO milk. Just yogurt, blueberries, agave, and a splash of lemon!

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly

P.S. I have ONE more recipe from my mom that I’ll share ON the Blueberry Full Moon morning! (August 29th!!!)

Blueberry Cobbler Recipe for the Blueberry Full Moon

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August’s full moon is called the Blueberry Full Moon or the Sturgeon Full moon…a time when both are in season! In preparation for the upcoming Blueberry Full Moon on August 29th (the day before my birthday!!!) I want to share some blueberry dishes leading up. First up…my Grandma’s Blueberry Cobbler recipe from Alvin and Imogen Duke.

Blueberry Cobbler from Grandma via Alvin and Imogen Duke.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of Fruit (for this recipe we will be using blueberries.) If you want to make an apple cobbler you will need to add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the apples. If you want to use canned fruit use the liquid it comes in!
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 3 cups of water
  • 2 cups of sugar

For the dough:

  • 1 1/2 cup self-rising flour
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1/3 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

While you are making the dough bring the 3 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar to a boil until the sugar is dissolved for the sugar water. It might look like a lot of sugar water but you will use it all! Also go ahead and melt that stick of butter in a 9×13 dish in the oven.

To make the flour cut the shortening into the flour and then add the milk. Kneed the dough until it is smooth. Roll it into a rectangle.

Put the fruit on top of the dough and then roll it into a log. Cut into small circles about 1-2 inches thick. Place the cut circles flat into the melted buttered 9 x 13 dish and then add ALL OF THE SUGAR WATER. Yes, it looks like too much (might even make the circles float). But trust me…it makes a delicious blueberry goodness…you need all that sugar water.

Bake until brown around 55 minutes. Serve it WARM! That’s the best! Even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly

First Quarter Moon in Sagittarius.

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Jessie M. King, The Dove-Cot by the Sea, 1905. Watercolor on parchment. Glasgow, Scottland. Via University of Heidelberg

 
The moon entered Sagittarius last night during the first quarter moon phase. Sagittarius…the archer. The seeker of knowledge. The seeker of life. Steven Forrest best describes the Sagittarian’s archetype in The Inner Sky as “The Gypsy, The Student, and The Philosopher” in that hierarchical order. 

So how can we use these archetypes during the first quarter moon phase?! By honing in on their instinctual nature as the perpetual student of life we can think about how far we have come and recheck back in with ourselves. The first quarter moon phase is a half way point, a check in point…a half moon. When working with the moon as your natural time clock to get things done…this is the moment when you check back in with your new moon goal. The Sagittarian’s archetype came at the right time!

It begins as the gypsy, who is constantly seeking experience. The wanderer. The one who doesn’t sit still as he or she is on the go reeling in life at present moment. The gypsy is the one that gathers the information through experience. Without the gypsy, we are left closed minded. Be open minded…live. This can represent your new moon goal…the thing you are currently experiencing. 

Then once you’ve started to gather this information and these experiences you become the STUDENT. For every encounter, for every triumph, for every hiccup, you learn from it. Your mind expands and you try to do better. This is your half way point…your first quarter moon phase. This is when you sit back down, look at your new moon goal AGAIN…check back in with yourself and your progress and LEARN from it. Be the student. Look at the goal and your progress of what worked and what didn’t…and then KEEP MOVING…KEEP DOING.

When the full moon comes…become the PHILOSOPHER. Master your skill…master your goal. Put what the gypsy and student provided and make things happen. Keep in mind that the philosopher is also an open minded student of life. He takes everything in and doesn’t let a set of standards dictate his life. After all, life is ever changing…and what you may believe today may shape into something different later in life. The key to a Sagittarian is to continuously be the gypsy, the student, and the philosopher. A good habit to get into. Make room for expansion! 

Remember in the beginning of this current moon cycle…you set a new moon goal. You are continuously making room for that goal to be incorporated into your life…you’ve already made a promise to yourself to EXPAND! You have already begun to act like a Sagittarius. Because after all we ALL have Sagittarius in us…your natal chart is proof. 

As for me...well my new moon goal was to get better at my culinary skills and primping. Next post I’ll be sharing a Blueberry Cobbler recipe! 

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly

P.S. I picked the painting above for this moon cycle to pair it with the archetypal Sagittarius. It’s a watercolor painting of wandering women by the sea with a dove-cot or dovecote. She’s surrounded by either doves or pigeons. To me it looked free spirited. A dovecote is an old medieval structure that noble people used to house pigeons and doves almost like a chicken coop. They kept pigeons and doves as a food source as well as used their poop for fertilizer. What I see in this painting is a free spirited gypsy woman with free flying doves of knowledge. 

Crescent Moon in Libra

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by Carlos Masberger

 
The moon is now in the crescent moon phase and is currently sitting in Libra. Libra…the scales.. The peacemaker. The level headed. The one that balances it all. 

For tonight and the next couple days…let life be what it is. Don’t get worked up about things…let it go…and just be. Surrender to YOURSELF…and if you’ve been troubled by a situation or someone, stop giving it or them the power to control your emotions.  Take the next couple days to care, but do it carelessly. Take the good and the bad and accept them both. For what it’s worth…everything has a balance. Life is not black and white…it has more color than the naked eye can see. Nothing is permanent. Life is always changing. YOU have the power to live the way you want to live and to leave behind what isn’t serving you. So do it.

Love & Moonlight,

Kelly