Hi, folks!
The shop opens at 1pm. Winter hours are 1-6pm Thurs.-Mon. Featured photo by Ken Gagne.
[posting at 4pm] Rain Gauge – Dry. Sunny and 58F, wind at 0-12mph and gusting (Drift Creek/Wakeetum), AQI 28/15/24, UV2. Chance of rain 9 today and 10 tonight. 9 Firespots SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY until 10am.
Forecast – Today should still be nice and dry, but the temperatures are going to start dropping. 40F tonight? …and then rain on Sunday and for the rest of the 10-day…. Heaviest Tue-Fri. and colder yet. The passes are likely to see snow….maybe the tops of the coast range. We’ll see.
Sat – 54° | 40°F Partly Cloudy, 0 in.
Sun – 49° | 40°F PM Light Rain, 0.54 in.
Mon – 43° | 39°F Light Rain, 0.33 in.
Tue – 45° | 45°F Rain, 0.84 in.
Wed – 50° | 42°F Rain/Wind, 1.54 in.
Thu – 45° | 38°F Rain/Wind, 1 in.
Fri – 43° | 38°F Showers, 0.68 in.
Sat – 43° | 37°F Showers, 0.28 in.
Sun – 45° | 40°F Showers, 0.22 in.
Artemisia – 2/13/10
Thursday evening I was pretty tired. I’ve been dealing with a pain in my right arm…. assuming it’s coming from the bad disc in my neck, but it feels like it’s a pulled muscle coming from my armpit! …muscle is not sore, but the pain is there. Go figure.
Rugosa leaves – 2/13/10
I finally got the newsletter frames for the week set up and saved properly. That’s a relief after the flubbles of the last couple of weeks. Sash called to wish me a happy birthday…. a week late… I’m still giggling over that. It was 5:45 when I finished and I reminded Tempus that we needed to get that bucket drilled. He irritably yelled, “OK!” but…. It was past 7:30 when we were heading out…and dark.
The Moon was high and bright in a hazy sky. I got supper together when Tempus was trotting back and forth to the car and then we turned in. He didn’t get the call until 12:30 or so, so I read awhile and then went back to sleep. I woke at 9 and thought I saw him pass the bedroom window minutes later. It turned out that he was checking on things in the garden and got a bit more dirt moved. When he came in we had some raisin toast and went back to sleep. …bad idea… I woke groggy and complaining….
February roses – 2/13/10
I found when I went outside to plant some veg ends to re-grow that Tempus got his headlamp and a bucket and drilled the planting bucket after we got home anyway! A compost bucket that was full Thursday morning was 6 inches down and there’s quite a bit of liquid in the other. (That’s the compost bucket that I planted with the ramps (wild leek). I wanted to get the compost tea from the bucket onto the other plants, but we were already running late. The inlets were mostly water today, shimmering blue/silver under the sunny sky. Geese by the season pond, little black ducks in the wetland….
Turnip greens, regrown – 2/13/10
Tempus dropped me off and headed for the post office to pick up some packages. <grr> The fern that’s been growing out of the old car was ripped out and the pieces in the parking lot. Sheesh! Some people! Tempus picked up the pieces and we have them in water. I’m going to find a pot, later. Still makes me mad, like the miscreant who tore out most of the special iris, so many years ago. Why on *earth* do people think that’s a good thing?
Crocus (did I lose these over the winter?) – 2/13/10
I caught up on mail (and this) and sorted what Tempus got at the PO while munching on grapes. Eventually I got coffee. I was having a dizzy day. Just moving my head to one side or the other while I was typing would make the room spin. Tempus ran around frantically and then disappeared into the back for an hour, but eventally made cheese toast. …with blue cheese again. yum! He went to do laundry around 3pm and I was filling in newsletters so I can work on other things over the next few days.
garden sorrel – 2/13/10
Tonight is another casserole night. We need to finish the mac’n’meatball or freeze it tonight. I’m taking some sewing pieces home. I finally am going to start the pouch and pincushion sets, and I’m going to experiment with some snip cases to go along with them. …and I need to remember to put more soup pouches in my basket when I empty it tonight….
Today is a regular shop day. (…Oh, arm pain went away…) I have books to do still, and to get Tempus going on the incense again, since he has it all pulled out.
Posted on 2/23/16 by Ken Gagne on Facebook of a Yachats beach with a bald eagle and seagulls. Tempus said, “Houston, the eagle has landed!”
Today’s plant is the Pacific Blackberry, Rubus ursinus. There are several species of blackberries that grow in the PNW, the nasty invasive one being the Himalayan blackberry, Rubus armeniacus. Here are pictures so that you can compare the blossoms, ursinus on the left and armeniacus on the right. Ursinus (from the Latin for “bear”) also has narrower leaves and reddish canes. It is the ancestor of Marionberries, Boysenberries & parent of Loganberries, too. Feminine, Venus, Water, Brigit, Healing, Money, Protection – Carry leaves for money, use blackberry leaves in spring water as healing for burns, in incense for Lughnasadh.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_blackberry
Dragobete is a spring festival of Romania, rather like secular Easter customs and Valentine’s day in one package. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragobete “Dragobete is a traditional Romanian holiday originating from Dacian times and celebrated on February, the 24th. Specifically, Dragobete was the son of Baba Dochia, which stands for the main character in the pagan myth related to spring arrival and the end of the harsh winter.”
“The day is particularly known as “the day when the birds are betrothed”. It is around this time that the birds begin to build their nests and mate. On this day, considered locally the first day of spring, boys and girls gather vernal flowers and sing together. Maidens used to collect the snow that still lies on the ground in many villages and then melt it, using the water in magic potions throughout the rest of the year. Those who take part in Dragobete customs are supposed to be protected from illness, especially fevers, for the rest of the year. If the weather allows, girls and boys pick snowdrops or other early spring plants for the person they are courting. In Romania, Dragobete is known as a day for lovers, rather like Valentine’s Day.”
“It is a common belief in some parts of Romania that, during this celebration, if you step over your partner’s foot, you will have the dominant role in your relationship. Dragobete customs vary from region to region.
In neighbouring Bulgaria, the custom of stepping over one’s partner’s feet traditionally takes place during weddings, and with the same purpose, but it is not believed to be connected to Dragobete.”
Today’s feast is also the anniversary of the death of Creola Katherine Johnson. (1918-2020) “She was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.” – Wikipedia. NASA used Katherine’s math, and it worked! NASA sent astronauts, including John Glenn, into orbit around Earth. Later, her math helped send astronauts to the Moon and back.
In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Johnson was called upon to do the work that she would become most known for. The complexity of the orbital flight had required the construction of a worldwide communications network, linking tracking stations around the world to IBM computers in Washington, Cape Canaveral in Florida, and Bermuda. The computers had been programmed with the orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission from liftoff to splashdown, but the astronauts were wary of putting their lives in the care of the electronic calculating machines, which were prone to hiccups and blackouts. As a part of the preflight checklist, Glenn asked engineers to “get the girl”—Johnson—to run the same numbers through the same equations that had been programmed into the computer, but by hand, on her desktop mechanical calculating machine. “If she says they’re good,’” Katherine Johnson remembers the astronaut saying, “then I’m ready to go.” Glenn’s flight was a success, and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/langley/katherine-johnson-biography/
Winter hours are 1-6pm Thurs.-Mon., although we’re often here later. Need something off hours? Give us a call at 541-563-7154 or Facebook message or email at anjasnihova@yahoo.com If we’re supposed to be closed, but it looks like we’re there, try the door. If it’s open, the shop’s open! In case of bad weather, check here at the blog for updates, on our Facebook as Ancient Light, or call the shop.
Love & Light,
Anja
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Moon in Virgo
Waxing Moon Magick – The waxing moon is for constructive magick, such as love, wealth, success, courage, friendship, luck or healthy, protection, divination. Any working that needs extra power, such as help finding a new job or healings for serious conditions, can be done now. Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams. Phase ends on at 2/24 at 7:30am. Full Moon – The day of, the day before, and day after the true Full Moon. “And better it be when the moon is full!”! Prime time for rituals for prophecy, for spells to come to fruition, infusing health and wholeness, etc. A good time for invoking deity. FRUITION Manifesting goals, nurturing, passion, healing, strength, power. Workings on this day are for protection, divination. “extra power”, job hunting, healing serious conditions Also, love, knowledge, legal undertakings, money and dreams. God/dess Aspect: Mother/Abundance/Kingship – – Associated God/desses: Danu, Cerridwen, Gaia, Aphrodite, Isis, Jupiter, Amon-Ra. Phase ends on 2/25at 7:30 am. Waning Moon Magick – From the Full Moon to the New is a time for study, meditation, and magic designed to banish harmful energies and habits, for ridding oneself of addictions, illness or negativity. Remember: what goes up must come down. Phase ends at the Tide Change on 3/10 at 2am.
A Full February Snow Moon rises over the Grand Canyon in February 2023. Credit: NPS Photo/M.Quinn
Full Moon tonight (exactly full at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning PST). At sunset the Moon is already rising in the east. By nightfall you’ll see that the Moon is almost straight between Regulus 3° to its right and lesser Gamma Leonis 5° to the Moon’s left. Binoculars will help you spot them through the moonlight, especially if there’s any haze in the sky. Watch the Moon pull away eastward from those stars through the hours of the night. The February Full Moon is also known as the Snow Moon, given the cold weather North America typically experiences at this time of year. You may have heard of a Super Moon, when Luna appears bigger and brighter in the sky than average, but this month’s Full Moon is the opposite: a Micro Moon! The Moon is nearing its apogee, the farthest point from Earth in its orbit, which it will reach in just over 24 hours. So, the Full Moon may appear just a bit smaller and dimmer than usual. However, the difference will be hard to notice!
With the Moon still in Leo and rising in the east after dark, let’s turn to the west, where the constellation Auriga is still high in the sky. The Charioteer hosts a number of stunning star clusters, and tonight we’re homing in on M38, an open cluster also known as the Starfish Cluster. You’ll find M38 just under 10.5° south-southeast of the constellation’s brightest star, Capella. The open cluster spans about 21′ and shines at magnitude 7.4; it’s best seen with binoculars or a low-powered scope. Less than 1.5° to its south is the 5th-magnitude star Phi (ϕ) Aurigae. Phi is surrounded by IC 405, also called the Flaming Star Nebula. This faint nebula is visible with a telescope under dark skies, but Luna’s bright light will likely wash it out even for larger apertures today. Instead, plan to return when the Moon is New for a better chance at picking up this glowing gas.
Mars, magnitude +1.3, remains deep in the sunrise.
Runic half-month of Sowulo/ Sigel, 2/12-26 It represents the power of the force of good throughout the world and is the harbinger of victory and ascendancy over darkness. Runic half-month of Teiwaz/Tyr, 2/27-3/13 This is a time of positive regulation, sacrifice and hard work in order to progress.
Sun in Pisces
Goddess Month of Moura runs from 2/20-3/19
Celtic Tree Month of Nuin/Nion/Ash, Feb 18 – Mar 17
Color – Blue
(C)2024 M. Bartlett, some parts separately copyright
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Celtic Tree Month of Nuin/Nion/Ash, Feb 18 – Mar 17, Nion (NEE-uhn), ash – the common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) is a major tree of lowland forests in much of Europe, along with oaks and beeches. It grows to 40 m (130 feet) in open sites, with a broad crown reminiscent of American elm trees. Ash was and still is an important timber tree, and is a traditional material for the handle of a besom. The common ash is occasionally cultivated in North America, and similar native ash species are widely grown as street trees. Ashes are members of the Olive family (Oleaceae).
Nuin – Ash Ogam letter correspondences
Month: March
Color: Glass Green
Class: Cheiftain
Letter: N
Meaning: Locked into a chain of events; Feeling bound.
Ogam letter correspondences to study this month Oir – Spindle Ogam letter correspondences
Month: None
Color: White
Class: Peasant
Letter: TH, OI
Meaning: Finish obligations and tasks or your life cannot move forward.
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Tides for Alsea Bay
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Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
~ /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Sa 24 High 12:50 AM 6.9 7:02 AM Set 7:27 AM 99
~ 24 Low 6:29 AM 2.4 5:57 PM Rise 6:20 PM
~ 24 High 12:15 PM 7.8
~ 24 Low 6:57 PM 0.1
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Affirmation/Thought for the Day – Allow me to experience peace in a way that I can understand.
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Journal Prompt – What does this quote say to you? – We are wiser than we know. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Quotes
~ Australia is the only place where women say it is too hard to read.- Germaine Greer, Australian feminist, January 18, 1972, at the Australian launch of her book, The Female Eunuch
~ The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. – Hubert Humphrey
~ Wisdom is knowing what the right thing to do is, and then doing it. – Walter E. Jacobson, MD
~ .. a fop such as the present Leader of the Opposition. – Paul Keating to Andrew Peacock
It is a little Book, as you see, of no great bulk, yet a brief of the whole world, and a whole language: full of Pictures, Names, and Descriptions of things. The Pictures are the representation of all visible things, (to which also things invisible are reduced after their fashion) of the whole world. Which such Book, and in such a dress may (I hope) serve To entice witty children to it, that they may not conceit a torment to be in the school, but dainty fare. For it is apparent, that children (even from their infancy almost) are delighted with Pictures, and willingly please their eyes with these lights: And it will be very well worth the pains to have once brought it to pass, that scare-crows may be taken away out of Wisdom’s Gardens. – Bohemian church bishop Jan Komensky (Comenius), “Orbis Pictus” (1658).
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Ostara Magick – Recipes
Fresh Asparagus Omelet – http://autumnearthsong.com/2012/03/03/ostara-recipes-2012/
- 1 TB butter
- 1 TB olive oil
- 8 stalks asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces
- ¼ onion, chopped
- 6 eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup shredded swiss cheese
In a non-stick skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add asparagus and onion; cook for 5 mins, or until tender. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Beat egg mixture with a fork just until bubbles begin to appear; pour over asparagus mixture. Cook until eggs set on top; lift edges with a spatula to allow uncooked eggs to run under cooked eggs. When eggs are set, top with cheese. Cut into wedges. Serves 2 – 4.
*Why not go a step further and just set up an omelet bar. Just have lots of fixings and make them to order! What a fun thing to do! However, I love Spring asparagus and think this recipe sounds fantastic!
Fried Bread and Eggs from http://recipes.swankivy.com/fridbrid.html
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 7 egg yolks, beaten
- 1/4 cup minced anchovies (OPTIONAL!)
- 6 pieces of fried or toasted bread
Instructions:
Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Beat in cream, egg yolks, anchovies. Stir until mix thickens and is creamy. Pour over toast. Serve hot.
Yield: 2 helpings Source: Telesco, A Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook Use for: Ostara
Herbed Roast Goose http://greenhaventradition.weebly.com/ostara-recipes.html This was originally published in The Wordsmith’s Forge on 1/22/09, then revised for reprint 6/24/11.
Ingredients:
1 whole goose, about 8-9 lbs.
2 small sweet onions
1 bay leaf
For the marinade:
1 cube frozen grated ginger (thawed)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
For the herbal rub:
8 juniper berries
1/2 teaspoon green peppercorns
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon Australian pink salt
Directions:
- For the marinade, combine in a small dish: 1 cube frozen grated ginger (thawed), 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon mace, 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. Set aside briefly.
- Unwrap the goose. Remove giblets, reserving for gravy or stock. Pull off any big hunks of fat and save those for cooking. The big flap of skin from the neck can also be cut off and put with the stock fixings. Use kitchen shears to cut off the first two wing joints and save those for stock.
- Rinse the goose inside and out; pat dry. Prick the skin all over using a knife or fork, so that the fat can escape.
- Use a pastry brush to spread the marinade all over the goose. Wrap the goose in plastic or put it in a big dish, and leave it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Peel and quarter two small sweet onions; set aside briefly.
- Take out the goose and rinse it briefly to get the vinegar off; don’t obsess over getting every bit of spice off.
- In a mortar and pestle, put 8 juniper berries and 1/2 teaspoon green peppercorns. Grind those. Then add 1 teaspoon rubbed sage, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon Australian pink salt. Grind again, then stir to blend thoroughly. Rub this mixture all over the outside of the goose, and save a little to put inside the body cavity as well.
- Stuff the onion quarters and a bay leaf into the body cavity of the goose. Close the skin flaps over the opening and secure with a toothpick or skewer. If the skin has a loop for the leg bones, poke the ends through that loop to secure the legs. Otherwise, tie the leg ends together with cotton cooking string.
- Carefully lower the prepared goose onto the roasting rack, in the pan or the roasting oven. Cook for 30 minutes at 425ºF.
- Reduce heat to 350ºF. Very carefully lift lid of roaster oven, tilting it away from you; or open oven and pull the pan out. Spoon or suction away the liquid fat in the bottom of the pan, reserving it for another use. Cover the roaster oven or return the goose to the regular oven. Cook the goose for a total of 15 minutes per pound (so 2 1/2 hours for 8 lbs). Remove fat every 30-60 minutes.
- When done, skin should be crisp golden brown and juices should run clear. (It’s okay if the meat is still pink in places.) Temperature in the thickest part of the meat should be 160ºF. Carefully transfer goose to a serving platter. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
- To carve the goose, first slice off the wings. (Lay the wings on the platter and save them for stock; they’re really tough. The onions aren’t meant to be eaten, but if they’re cooked through and people want them, then you can dig those out.) Next, slice off the legs and serve those. Finally, slice the breast meat and serve it. There will be a few other slivers you can pick off the carcass, if desired. If you save the carcass and other bones with any loose skin, you can get a second batch of stock from one goose!
Notes:
- Goose is a wonderful luxury food. It’s all dark meat, and in America geese are not factory farmed but are kept as free-range livestock. The meat is chewier and richer than chicken, though similar to duck or turkey. There is a great deal of fat on a goose, which is highly valued for cooking potatoes or other foods, so save the fat. Skin, bones, and other scraps can be used for making stock. Giblets are good alone, or as gravy, or for stock.
- All of the herbs for this recipe are “digestive” herbs. They aid digestion by helping the body break down fat and protein. If you have sprigs of fresh herbs, especially the rosemary or thyme, you can stuff a few into the body cavity too.
- Frozen grated ginger is an oddity I often have on hand. Whenever we get fresh ginger root for a recipe, I grate all of it in a spice grinder and measure off the necessary amount. All the leftover ginger pulp gets packed into an ice cube tray and frozen, then the cubes go in a baggie until I need them. They’re less hot than fresh ginger root, so if you use fresh, you only need maybe a quarter or a half teaspoon.
- Fancy salts can add a lot to a recipe. If you don’t have the Australian pink salt, which has a delicate mineral edge, you can use all sea salt. If you don’t have sea salt, plain table salt is okay.
- Green peppercorns have a more leafy flavor than black peppercorns, so they blend nicely with herbs. If you don’t have green peppercorns, use black ones.
- If you’re worried about over-browning the goose, you can cover it with a tent of aluminum foil at the beginning or end of cooking.
- This recipe was originally created for an Ostara Feast, early in spring, because ducks, geese, and chickens are associated with that holiday. Goose is also served at New Year, Midwinter/Christmas, and Michaelmas (Sept. 29). The side dishes help dress it up for each occasion — salads and eggs in spring, squash and root vegetables in winter, or apples and stuffing in autumn.
This recipe was originally published in The Wordsmith’s Forge on 3/20/10, then revised for reprint 6/24/11.
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Silliness – Random Joke of the Day: I had a crazy dream last night! I was swimming in an ocean of orange soda. Turns out it was just a Fanta sea!
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