Our Lughnasadh

[reanna]

Thought I would share what I did with the children to celebrate:)



All summer, we have been watching the local blackberry patch develop. There were ripe ones on it yesterday that I was watching some of the other children, pick and throw at each other or on the ground, so I decided we would pick them and use them today in our festivities.(Can't let them go to waste!)

Anyway, we must have looked absolutley hilarious picking some of them. Some we couldn't quite reach so I would put my youngest up on my shoulders to get them.If her arms weren't long enough, I would put the older one up(he is almost as tall as I am!) Precariously balancing is the phrase for that. However, great fun was had by all:D:D
Today, we went and bought local peaches and cream corn. Stopped by the grocers for the supplies to make shish kabobs for dinner. Then we headed home.

Upon our arrival, we set to the task of tidying up. Then onto much more fun thing to do.

We played a game of operation. Then we went outside and played frisbee.

We started preparing supper. Supper was the kabaobs with red/green peppers, beef, pineapple,shrooms, red onion.
We made cornbread, and shucked the corn. We also had rice with dinner.
Dessert:
sponge cake topped with whipped cream, blackberries(from yesterday:) ) raspberries and blueberries from our trip to the farm last week. It was nummy! The kids were delighted with dinner.
After dinner, we made cornhusk dolls and read the history of Lugh and a tale I found online called "the grasshopper and the ant"
Then we left a small dish out of milk and honey and a teeny bit of cornbread.
Then it was time for them to go to sleep...whew! I was exhausted... hard work today. It was well worth it though. They had so much fun.

I know I have rattled on, I love to talk too much sometimes.
I just thought I would share.


Most of these ideas came from sites online, or out of Circle Round.
I love that book.

[Faery-Wings]

Reanna, that all sounds like so much fun. And now I am even more convinced I have to buy Circle Round. *looks for loose change in the sofa* Your kids must have had a wonderful time. My neigbors have blackberry bushes and the berries were ripe a weeks or so ago and we went over there to pick them, he he, I had scratches all over me trying to reach the far ones :) But we made the yummiest pancakes and muffins with them. Food just tastes so much better when you grow/pick it yourself.

We or I should say, I, celebrated quietly last night. I made this delicious stuffed bread (roasemary bread from Shop Rite, stuffed with tomatoes, olives, cheese, herbs, peppers, onions) and Fairy Noodles (egg yolks, sugar, herbs, butter). Both recipes came from the Kitchen Witches Cookbook. I bought some orange and peach and yellow flowers and added in some dried grasses, had yellow candles and lit some frankinsense incense at dinner. I was hoping that my kids would listen and as I lit the candles I wanted them to share something they were thankful for, but my hubby wouldn't get off the computer, the kids were fighting and ended up in time out so i did it by myself. After dinner I took some of the leftover bread outside, and then the dog ate it. Well, my intentions were good.

Next year, can I come to your house? :D

Chris

[reanna]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


That sounds yummy!!!
I am gonna have to check that book out......

Anyway, your celebration sounds awesome!!!!

As for next year........ sure...... c'mon over.:):D:)

[Yvonne Belisle]

How about we all drop the kids and hubbies off in one place and head to Reanna's next year. Then we can act like the kids and have fun:) I got driven crazy by small people (very short trip) I am still catching moths to get them outside and my kids got flour all over the kitchen but over all we had fun. My cinnamon raison bread loaf came out perfect.:D

[reanna]

Originally posted by Yvonne Thomas
How about we all drop the kids and hubbies off in one place and head to Reanna's next year. Then we can act like the kids and have fun:) I got driven crazy by small people (very short trip) I am still catching moths to get them outside and my kids got flour all over the kitchen but over all we had fun. My cinnamon raison bread loaf came out perfect.:D

Oh! Stop! My tummy hurts!! Man you can make me laugh girl!I got a visual of your day! Too funny. I am sure it wasn't funny for you at the time, but the visual I had is hilarious. I see you covered in flour, the kids bolting out of the kitchen with the "oops! look at this mess, we're outta here" steps, moths flying all over the place and causing the flour dust in the air to rise, and Yvonne gently wipes the sweat from her forehead while she tells the kids to keep the noise level down so the cake doesn't fall. :D:D
All in all, it sounds like you had a wonderful day. The bread sounds dee-lish:) and sure, what the heck, let's do a girls night out at my place next year! That would be very cool indeed. LOL
:):):):):):)
**bops away singing " Girl's just wanna have fun" :D ;)

[Lilu]

Originally posted by chryssi1
I was hoping that my kids would listen and as I lit the candles I wanted them to share something they were thankful for, but my hubby wouldn't get off the computer, the kids were fighting and ended up in time out so i did it by myself. After dinner I took some of the leftover bread outside, and then the dog ate it. Well, my intentions were good.

hehehe, what you need to do is light all the candles and then go flip the power off at the circuit breaker. Ooops! Must be a power outage, guess you have to come and eat DINNER!. :bigredgri

Seriously though, Lughnasadh seems to have passed me on by pretty quietly, I loved the ideas of picking berries and such. There are several berry places around here who do the whole "come pick your own" thing, it looks like fun! Hubby and I were saying that we'll have to do that especially when we have kids. :D

I've been on a breadbaking kick so maybe Lughnasadh's energies have been playing on me a little. My next loaf is going to be banana/honey. Mmmm.

Lilu

[Candace Valera]

That was a super day.. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. I really hope we all take advantage of each solstice and special day in the wheel of the year. I was OLDER before I realized about all this and have missed a good many special days, although looking at old journals, I think I always knew in my heart that solstices and days were special....

I didn't do all that much with my son. He's going through a very sad breakup with his girlfriend... but we have been doing moonlight drives all over the place and getting a big Coke and cruising... That has been fun. I watched the Meryl Streep Dancing at Lughnasda again... It has that Irish, haunting quality to it.... I felt good watching it as kind of a bond with the day...

My mom bought me a chiminea, but it's too hot in the midwest to light it yet, even at night... but watch out for Mabon or Samhain!!!! I'll be out on my deck with a little chiminea bonfire!!

Blessings to all as their summers fade into autumn....

:sunny:

[Swanspirit]

Merry Merry,
I consider Lughnassah a "movable" feast, and I usually mark my "tides" by the moon, so between the full moon and especially the NEW moon which isnt until the 18th of the month is comfortable to celebrate, for me , and I always mark the new moon .....for this cycle.
I didnt feel much like celebrating after I got the news about my 6 year old grandaughter breaking her wrists ; the poor thing, so as part of my activities I made a big box of goodies with all kinds of wonderful things in there, some magical, and books , one called the ROOT CHILDREN and another called the SWAN Children, with beautiful artwork, and sent that off to her today , some very special things that she will be delighted to find in her box of goodies.
Then a friend GAVE me an entire computer for her, so her mom is coming down this weekend to pick it up so we get to visit, so I am looking forward to that.
BUT today....... some of my pagan friends came by and said BE spontaneous... lets go to Aasateague.. which is the National Seashore .....
and we went clamming and pulling mussels in the warm shallow bay water and then went to cool off right over the sand dune into the wonderful cool Atlantic Ocean!
It was AMAZING.... I could feel the spirits of our mothers who went for eons gathering food by clamming in the mucky bottomed squishy bay , and pulled mussels by the dozen. What a WAY to work up an appetite :> lol.
Then home to steam the mussels and clams, and the fresh sweet white corn, with garlic and butter sauce with fresh herbs also right from the garden outside my window.
I feel that the spirit of Lughnassah has touched me through sharing the "harvest experience " from our ancient mothers, and I wanted to share it with you :>>
Love and Light
Swannie