Literary Resurrection

"If you learn to love reading, you will never be alone." -- Ronald Reagan's Mother

I first heard the quote above while standing in an elevator while holding my current reading selection at the time, Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.  It was told to me by Michael Deaver, President Reagan's former chief strategist and close friend, who was a Vice Chairman at the company I worked for.  Mike was always interested in seeing what book I was reading because in those days (before my daughter was born) I was a voracious reader.  I went through at least three books a week, thanks to an hour commute in the morning and then another in the evening.  Mike imparted a great deal of wisdom to me over the almost six years I worked at Edelman. 

The last time I saw him was on a return visit to the office for everyone to see my daughter and how much she had grown.  He had lost quite a bit of weight and I remember remarking to my husband about it.    A few months later I was flipping through the channels and saw a CNN Breaking News that Mike had passed away from pancreatic cancer.  Shock was an understatement. 

To make an already long enough story short, Mike left a strong impression on me about reading and making time for it... and about life in general.  I have been very remiss in keeping up with my book reading.  I read a great deal online, but there is just something about reading a book (or even an e-book) that cannot compare with online. 

This brings me to my new Halfway-Through-The-Year Resolution!  I am determined, by hook or by crook, to finish one book a month.  That might sound kind of wimpy, but I cannot remember the last book I was able to read from cover to cover.  I have started many, but something gets in the way and by the time I get back to it I would have to start all over again because it had been so long. 

Tomorrow is the first day of August and I will start reading The Plant Spirit Familiar by Christopher Pennczak.  This was recommended by my friend, David.  I also plan to give reviews of the books when I finish them.  Some will be reviewed on my pagan blog, The Enchanted Grotto, and the rest will be reviewed here. 

So, if you do not want to miss a review, subscribe to both blogs and you are all set! 

A Women's Helper Tea

"They" always say that tea is healthy or "they" say herbs can cure you.  Well, today I am going to be "one of them", so be prepared!

I have always been interested in herbalism and practice it as much as I can.  I have also always had problems with menstruation.  I was put on birth control at the age of 14 to regulate myself.  Not the healthiest choice, but neither is the chance of ovarian cancer by the time I was 28.  I know now that there are herbs I could have used, but that was not mainstream in the 90's. (Oky, now I feel old!)

Well, when we decided to have our darling daughter, Shaadi, I had to go off the birth control.  What in Goddess's name was I going to do?  I seriously feared the pain and all that bleeding (10 days on average).  I did some research and found out that Red Raspberry Leaf is pretty much fabTABulous for all our womanly parts and Traditional Medicinals makes it in handy-dandy tea bags!  I went out that night and bought a box at Whole Foods and tried it!  Now, I cannot stand normal black tea without sugar, so I was surprised I could drink this no problem.  But should you need it a little sweet, remember ONLY use honey, not any type of sugar, because sugar changes the chemical composition of the tea-- meaning it stops working.

Now, it takes about a month of daily drinking the tea before you will be right-as-rain in the menstrual part.  I also swear it helped us conceive Shaadi because we got pregnant within 15 days!  And I never had a moments morning sickness.  Not saying that will happen to you, but I know it helped with morning sickness.

Once you know you like the taste, you can buy Red Raspberry Leaf in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs and some heat sealable tea bags, or use an infuser teapot and it will be mucho cheaper.

Let me know how your own experiment with this tea goes, fabTABulous I hope!

Glamping

I learned about Glamping not too long ago from a friend of mine, David Salisbury, which is "Glamourous Camping".  Since then I have been intriqued with the idea, which is odd for me since the thought of camping has never appealed to me.  But Glamping?  This is I can do, and the pre-planning will be a blast as well.  I love to craft and decorate anything, so glamping equipment will be my next big adventure.

The first item of glamping gear I bought was something I stumbled upon just boredly surfing some of my favorite online stores.  They are a set of four enameled tin cups.  As you can see in the photo below, the design is simple and elegant.  You can find these delightful cups at Victorian Trading Company's website, but you need to hurry because they are on clearance for $9.99. These cups have sparked my color scheme for our Glamp, black and white with touches of silver accents.  

Years ago I embroidered 36 quilt blocks to make what I thought would eventually be a quilt for our bed.  As inevitably happens with me, I changed my mind after having finished emboidering the blocks.  Now, instead of having one queen quilt made, I have enough for a full size quilt and a twin size quilt.  These will be used when we go glamping.  The picture below shows the quilt design, but in red while mine is done in black.

I have also started a Pinterest Board on Glamping if you would like to follow it.  I can be found easily on Pinterest, or you can find me here.

Anyone have experience with Glamping?  Any tips or tidbits you would like to share?