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You know what I love about living in the Midwest as opposed to the Desert?  The fact that I don't have to purchase artificial leaves from a craft store.  Instead... I found these gorgeous fall leaves floating across my driveway.  I grabbed a handful and brought them indoors.  A few of them I even put into a book to flatten so we can always remember experiencing our very first Autumn. 

These leaves that came to me made me think about how I have all my fall decorations packed away and how it would be silly to unpack everything when we will be moving very shortly.  So instead I thought to myself... Let's bring some of this beautiful seasonal nature indoors!  There are hundreds of things all around us that we can bring in to decorate our homes for the seasons.  Leaves, pine cones, branches that have fallen from trees, pebbles and of course flowers!  The list goes on and on.  Even if I had all my decorations unpacked there's still something so magickal about bringing nature indoors connecting you more with our beautiful earth and it's elements. 

So start decorating!  Make it a fun outing for the family and for the little ones... go hunting for treasures that shout the change in our seasons.  Take baskets with you and collect as many leaves as you can and make a wreath with some branches that you find or even a grapevine wreath from the dollar store!  Remember... only take what is given, don't pull leaves or branches from trees... take only what has already fallen from where it lived.  Respect nature and her beauty. 

Other Magickal Happenings
Magick From the Farm

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So lately my almost two year old has been on a major food strike.  It is so incredibly discouraging when our children won't eat isn't it?  Who knew getting our babies to eat would be one of the most challenging parts of raising kids.  I certainly didn't.  And then there's the added stress of making sure what they do eat is healthy! 

My son's diet currently consists of bread, beans, waffles, peanut butter, and cheese quesadillas.... and no I can't hide things in the quesadilla because somehow, and don't ask me how, but somehow he will know, he will inspect the quesadilla and refuse to eat it if there is ANYTHING other than cheese in between those tortillas.  Granted, all of those things are whole grain and organic where I can make it happen.  And I must admit... He does occasionally get his McDonald's french fries because I do not believe on being on the extreme side of anything and a treat every now and then is okay to us.  But there's not a single veggie that I can get him to eat or even a piece of fruit.

This morning I hit bottom on my discouragement scale.  He spit out and refused the eggs that he was eating so well every morning for the past few months.  Eggs were my savior... the "incredible edible egg" was always something I could turn to and it was delicious and nutritious for my boy.  If he didn't eat anything all day but eggs I was still satisfied.  But as of this morning eggs no longer make the cut and I was practically in tears.  I messaged my group of mom friends, revealing I was in complete distress and at a loss of what to do.  The sweet women that they are, all assured me that this is completely normal, common and by no means any fault of mine.  And they are right!  It's only my love and concern for my son and his health that makes this such a difficult thing to deal with.  I provide him with all the love I possibly can and with a wonderful loving, supportive environment to thrive and grow in. 

This is definitely not the end of the world and although I am anxious for the day where my son eats and enjoys a well balanced and delicious meal... or heck even his mama's spaghetti... For now I will be patient and I will just keep trying.  As soon as I'm done typing this I'm thinking of making a fruit AND veggie smoothie and see where that takes us!  My main reason for writing out my feelings today about this topic is so that any other mama's out there who are experiencing this or perhaps are about to embark on "solids" with their little one's... can be reminded that this is all simply just a phase, although it may last a while, and to not lose faith and that being concerned just means you are a great mom.  Be patient and keep trying.  We will all get to the point in our babies lives where they won't be babies anymore and we'll be wondering where in the world they are putting all the food that you swore you just bought.
 
"Millionaires and common people...
We all go to the same supermarket and we all buy the same bread." 

~Father of the Baja Fresh CEO in an episode of Undercover Boss
 
Would you believe me if I told you I'm more than halfway done with my "shopping" list for Christmas?  I put shopping in quotes because I am making all of the gifts that I am giving this year so the most shopping I have done or will need to do is for yarn!

I am so excited about this... Not only am I giving my loved one's special gifts made by my own two hands and from the heart... I'm having fun doing it!  So far I have a beautiful scarf for my sister and lovely organic wash cloths and soap holders that I'll be giving along with my homemade lotion and lip balm to the ladies!  Next in line to crochet will be a lovey for our youngest nephew, a lizard bookmark for our older nephew, a blanket, some fingerless gloves for the men, and another scarf for my mother. 

These are going to be unique gifts individually made for each of our family members.  They will be items they will treasure always... and during these hard financial times little cost was put into these gifts although tons of effort was.  If you are facing financial difficulties and beginning to stress about Christmas because of gift giving... Keep in mind that the most memorable and treasured gifts come from the heart and not the pocketbook. 

Even if you don't know how to sew or crochet... homemade anything I think is a great gift!  I remember once receiving a tiny vial of vanilla extract that someone had made for me.  It was one of the most beautiful gifts I've ever received.  Do you have a special recipe for cookies, brownies or other sweet or savory treats?  Grab a mason jar and fill it with all the dry ingredients and then attach a little note with ribbon saying "just add..." 2 eggs, 1/4 water, or whatever the recipe calls for and voila... a thoughtful and most perfect homemade gift in my opinion!

Other Magickal Happenings
Goddess Herbal Cabinet
 
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Happy Autumn Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Mabon, Second Harvest!  Today is celebrated throughout so many different cultures. It is a day of balance where day and night are equal and it is a day of thanks for the bountiful harvest that you have received until now.

There are so many ways you can celebrate this day be it big or small.  Recognize the balance of day and night and bring some balance into your life where you feel it is needed.  Give thanks today for all your blessings throughout the past year and celebrate with a feast using fall's harvest of squash, gourds, apples, seeds etc.  Even if you don't garden or have a farm... your "harvest" or "bounty" can be represented by all the gifts and blessings that have come to you this year.  This is a time to recognize that the warmer months are behind us and to prepare for the colder months ahead.  Go for a walk and embrace and appreciate the nature around you.  Decorate your home in fall colors!

I've mentioned "Giving Thanks" a couple of times and this is probably making you think of one of our American Holidays in November... Thanksgiving.  Well... I am completely amazed from what I've learned in my research of the Autumn Equinox.  Did you know that the original date of the Thanksgiving Holiday was October 3rd, which makes a lot of sense considering that most of the harvest has been depleted by the end of November. 

"In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued his "Thanksgiving Proclamation", which changed the date to the last Thursday in November. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt adjusted it yet again, making it the second-to-last Thursday, in the hopes of boosting post-Depression holiday sales. Unfortunately, all this did was confuse people. Two years later, Congress finalized it, saying that the fourth Thursday of November would be Thanksgiving, each year." -about.com. 


So although we of course we will always celebrate Thanksgiving in the end of November.  There's no reason not to give thanks all year round, especially during this time when the Autumn Equinox celebrates the ending of one season and the beginning of another. 

So today take a moment to find balance, give thanks, and appreciate the beauty that is being provided to us during this time of year. 

 
_I did not take pictures during the process of making my lotion... but I followed this tutorial to a T and it came out perfectly!  I couldn't display it any better than A Sonoma Garden so take a look and have fun!!

1 1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup emulsifying wax
1/4 cup olive oil
24-36 drops of essential oil

I omitted the essential oil for now as I practice different recipes to make sure I have the consistency that I want so I don't waste my essential oils since I don't have that much.  Well let me tell you this one is definitely a winner!
 
Well Hello my friends!  So... I'm SO sorry for my unexpected vacation!  I didn't mean to drop off the face of the earth like that... I'm hoping most of you saw my status on my Twitter feed in the sidebar.  But I am back now and the weather here in the Midwest is screaming FALL!  I cannot wait for the Autumn Equinox to celebrate the beginning of Fall...

Something that definitely is getting me in the mood for fall and winter is the fact that I've picked up my crochet hook again.  I was inspired by this picture of a beautiful winter cap with a flower... so I looked up some tutorials and found a GREAT one and this is what I made...
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And then I just attached it to a hat I already had!  I LOVED making this crochet flower... I highly recommend giving it a shot.  If you have the basic skills down to crocheting this is so easy to do!  If you don't and want to pick crocheting up... just look online for basic tutorials... that's how I learned!  Here's the tutorial for the flower I made.  Enjoy!
 
I finally did it! I dehydrated my beets and made beet root powder! There are so many uses for beet root powder and it's incredibly healthy for you as well! Beets are FULL of nutrients and vitamins... they have also been known to help fight cancer as well!  A great way to add beets to your diet is to make beet root powder (or buy it) and add it to certain things like smoothies, which is exactly the way my husband does it!

What I realized as I was drying my beets was that it was going to take a lot more beets to make a good amount of powder but I went ahead and tried it with the few beets I had since it was my first time anyway.  First I washed and cut off the tops to the beets and cut them all in half.
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Next I steamed them for about 20 to 30 minutes...until tender. These beets that I had were fairly large so I went ahead and steamed them for 30 minutes and they were perfect.
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I then peeled the skin off with a pairing knife and shredded all the beets.  Since my intention was to make a powder I went ahead and chose to shred rather than slice... figuring it would dry better and not be leathery.  I later did some research and found out that, since my intention was to make powder, I could have just put the beets into the dehydrator raw instead of steaming them. 
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I went ahead and laid the shredded pieces out between three different trays.  The instruction manual that came with my dehydrator was no help at all so I just guessed and adjusted my trays to sit as far away from each other as possible and I opened the vent on the lid completely.
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And here it is in the morning after 12 hours!  I needed the beets to be brittle and they were!  As I said before... I only had about 5 beets.  it might have been better if I had quite a few more.
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Then it was time to try and make the powder.  I initially thought my food processor would work but as you can see below it left quite a bit of large pieces and only made the tiniest bit of powder.
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At this point I was quite disappointed with the result of my beet root powder so I took a step back and did a little bit of research online to see if I had any other options.  I'm so glad that I did this because I discovered I could use a coffee grinder instead!!  And VOILA! Here is my beet root powder!!
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So I am very happy with my first attempt at making beet root powder but next time I think I'll try a few different things:
1. I'm going to try putting the beets into the dehydrator raw, thinly sliced.
2. I'm going to use my coffee grinder from the get go... I think in doing the food processor first it kept me from having the finest powder I could have had.

So definitely give this a shot if you want... It was so easy and fun!  Plus... other than the health benefits you can use beet root powder as a beauty secret as well!! Check out what I did with the little bit of beet root powder I made!

Other Magickal Happenings
Goddess Herbal Cabinet