A Witch's Journal

~The Garden~

Lughnasadha

The hot summer days take hold in North Florida; this is the time of year when the old folks "let the garden lie" - meaning - it's too hot to get out and do anything with it. I look out my window and see the weeds that need to be pulled, and feel guilty about not going out and pulling them - until I see a humingbird come up and feed off the "weed"s flowers! I think the "weeds" can stay a bit.

I have an incidental garden under my bird feeder, where the seeds have fallen and sprouted. Corn, mullet and sunflowers are all growing tall, fed by the summer rains. In the of my front porch step, my white hibiscus blooms prolifically, shimmering in the moonlight.

~The Animals~

The last of the mystical kittens has gone to their new home. Born on Friday the 13th back in April, the three black kittens have found a pagan home. Born familiars, which witch wouldn't want one?

Stray cats keep coming up to my backdoor, looking for handouts. Of course I feed them. One had a small litter of kittens under my deck, but she wasn't a very good mother and left them out in the rain when the tropical depression Barry came through. I had to crawl under my deck to pick up one, and got a hand full of scratches and bites for my efforts! Now they are fat and happy and very domesticated, sitting contentedly on the sofa.

~The Crafts~

After my workshop in Hand Spinning at Starwood, I've been practicing spinning wool. It's something, I think, I will have to practice at lot to become proficient, but I perservere.Slowly, I notice the wool I spin becoming slightly more uniform, so I have hope that one day I will actually spin something I can use!

~The Kitchen~

I have discovered, mead.

I never had mead before this last Beltaine, and fell in love with it. I'm not a big beer drinker, wine is ok, and of course there is always an appropriate time to find room for a good Irish whiskey - but mead, ah, well that's in a class on it's own. I could drink mead any evening.

Mead is a wine made from honey. Most larger liquor stores will have it. I was fortunate enough that a friend was moving out of town, and gave me his mead kit, which he had bought and never used. So I've been brewing mead!

Mead is not difficult to make, but it does take awhile for it to age properly, soome say up to a year. Currently, I've got two 5 gallon batches brewing - one made on the Summer Solstice, which is just a plain mead - and a second I started for Lughnasadha - made with peaches and cloves. After a few months, I'll bottle them and let them age some more.If you're not interested in making such a large batch, here's a recipe for a smaller batch you might want to try!

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. honey (mild flavor {clover, orange blossom, etc.} preferred, creamy white if possible)

• Juice of one each - orange, lemon (optional, but excellent)

• peels from fruit - colored part only, no white pith

• Water to make one gallon of liquid

• cinnamon and nutmeg to taste (I use a half teaspoon each, but adjust to your taste, or leave out)

Directions:

1. Add water to honey in a large pan, stir well to combine - add peels and spices, if used.

2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to thoroughly dissolve. Cool to lukewarm and add juices. Stir well. If desired, add everclear (half a cup is usual, more if you feel lucky).The addition of alcohol is completely optional.

3. If you wish to ferment this, when the mixture is cooled to lukewarm (about 100 degrees) add 1/2 ounce yeast (bakers works, wine yeast is good - use a champagne type if you can get it). Stir well and strain thru muslin in to fermentation jug. Plug neck with cotton  wool, or use fermentation lock. Leave in a warm place for 3 days (replace cotton and clean neck as necessary, and make sure any overflow won't damage the surrounding area).If using cotton wool, after 3 days strain into a clean container and fit with fermentation lock.

4. Leave in a warm dark place until fermentation stops and liquid clears (about 3 months, usually). Bottle, placing about a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle, and cork firmly (clean soda bottles with screw-on tops work great - use 1 teaspoon sugar per quart or liter of mead - 2 teaspoons per 2 liter soda bottle). Age 6 months - 1 year before drinking. For a real treat, set a bottle aside and let age for 5 years. Celebrate with  good friends when you open it. :)

~Rest and Relaxation~

Hot summer days are best spent inside, but the evenings are wonderful to sit out under the stars. August is the month of the Perseoid meteor showers, and what a great way to spend an evening. Instead of looking at a calendar to figure out what phase the moon is in, why not go out each night and see for yourself? Turn off the tv, turn off the computer, turn off the phone, grab some milk and cookies and your loved ones and head outside. Make a wish on a falling star!

Have a great Fall!

Nine blessings,

Selchie

If you're on netscape and unable to view the document below,

please click here to read my Live Journal: