snipets and random thoughts

Had a tiring week! Not that I did anything different from usual but my monthly cycle started again (which sucks). Its been so long that I had forgotten all the symptoms and frankly only now I realise why I've been feeling lethargic, sad, sensitive, hungry and so on. Anyhow, I don't suppose anyone is interested in my PMS really are you?

So to change completely the subject, tomorrow I am off on a 2 week ( or maybe better say 2 day split on 2 weeks) course on food handling and next I will be doing a pastry course and maybe by the end of it I will be a pastry chef ha! It's an interesting course and something I love doing and wish to excel in it and so why not and given that it is certified and so can really work in the sector if I want to it is even better. The best of it all is that the government together with the EU are giving these courses for free!!

Also this Sunday is my parents' 34 wedding anniversary- my parents met when my mum was 14 and my dad 16. They married 2 and a half years later and emigrated to Canada. After 10 years or so there, with me being just 2 and my sister 5, they came back home to Malta. There has been a lot of ups and downs and are actually passing a very difficult and sad moment in life but they have passed all advercity and are still joined together in holy matrimony and for that I am ever so grateful!

This week I haven't been much on the internet and only for short moments but will promise to comment on your blogs soon.

Have I told you that the weather here has been good most of the winter or maybe I can say extended spring? and that the temps at the moment have been between 20 and 24 degrees celcius most days? I still can't quite believe it myself!

I wish you all a colourful weekend!

wordful wednesday

The countryside near my house at the moment! I have to say that I can't truly say we have had winter. In less than a month spring starts and quite frankly apart for maybe 2 or 3 weeks, we've been living on in spring all winter. The temperatures haven't been less than 12 degrees celcius and recently we experience 22 and 24 degrees. Today, although there is a cold wind outside the day is gorgeous with a lovely blue sky and not a cloud in sight. Lookng at my plants on the balcony kissed by the morning sun and swaying gently to the wind is an amazing experience. I hope your winter had the warmth embrace of a mother just like mine :)

herb garden

Since I got married, we have created a small roof top garden which supposedly had to have all herbs. Unfortuantely, I never really cared for it as it should be and so the only herbs I got living at the moment are thyme & rosemary. However, I have been dedicating a bit more time to my little garden and feel uplifted and happy when I stay potting around there. So have decided to give it another go and actually go even a step further and try cultivate a few veggies as well. I will keep you in progress with what happens there every now and then. As for now I am off to find some help on how to make my dream garden come true and beautiful :)

Why you should have sex...

I found a wonderful article that inspires us to have more sex....it looks that having sex at least twice a week has a myriad of good points. So go read this article and find the top 5 reasons for why you should have more sex!

I’m talking about at a little S-E-X. So, let’s chat, shall we? Beyond being
just one-heck-of-good-time, medical studies report that an active sex life
contributes to a longer and more fulfilling life. So come on, everybody’s doing
it (or at least the lucky ones), and here are five reasons for you to join
in

Theological Zoology - what's next?

In light of my trying to discover God in my life and Lent and all this stuff, I came across a very interesting article titled: What Animals Can Teach Us About God. And believe it or not there is now an Insititute of Theological Zoology - here is part of this article which made me smile and think and wonder....

Jesus Was Not a VegetarianThe Instititute has certainly set itself into the
middle of a raging battle. Is it possible to understand the scientific
viewpoint, and re-interpret the Biblical writings in light of these discoveries?
The conflicts drive Hagencord to seek answers. For example, how can we
understand the animal world in relation to the Garden of Eden when we look at
the condition of animals living in their own manure, never seeing the blue of
sky, and suffering to breath under their own growth-hormone induced weight? Do
animals have souls? And can a person with Christian views eat meat? On this
point Hagencord does not hesitate. "The Biblical texts in this regard are clear:
Jesus was not a vegetarian

Lent

Today, we started Lent in Malta. It's a time where I like to look within myself and try understand more my religion. Following tradition and a previous post of mine - Am I Pagan or Catholic?, I am trying to understand more our religion with the hope of clearing all doubts once and for all.

Also, as sacrifice for my sins, I am abstaining from chocolate till Easter and eat the least amount possible of any other sweets.

What are your views? Do you practice Lent?

Maltese Carnival

The previous day the weather was rainy and cloudy and windy so thought the whole festivities will be cancelled. But come Saturday, the day was lovely and warm and spring was in the air again. Although not our usual scene as carnival not our favourite, we made our way to the capital to see the festivities. Greg seemed a bit confused when we got there and at one point with the loud music started crying but soon after he enjoyed the day out and finally slept in the sling exhausted & happy. See all the pics below! king of the carnival
what the f...

children in costumes

sweet sleep

Ready or not

There are times when time seems still.

My baby is hugged to me.

I caress his hair, trace his face.

An emotion of love overwhelms me and I feel like crushing that little body with hugs.

There are precious times, when he comes for me.

To cuddle him, hug him, nurse him.

Where calls me 'mummy' with that sweet voice as if I were some goddess-his salvation.

But I feel him slipping.

Slipping away from me, his babyhood over.

He walks, makes his wants understood, he doesn't always nurse himself to sleep.

He's growing and I am not ready for that.

surpising mummy experiences

A week ago, mamakat had as one of the writers workshop prompts, to write 10 things that you didn't know would happen when you became a mother. I know, I know am a week late but really I didn't find the time to write it before now and its good to write down and note these things which most of the time unless specifically asked we don't even realise they happened. So here are my suprising mummy experience:

1. as a very impatient person, I never thought I would cultivate so much patience for my newborn
2. the need for mummy friends- that are going through what you are going and so can relate and feel more relaxed with what is happening in your life
3. the joy and pride when you see your child reach a new milestone
4. the feeling of love that surges and fills your body and soul whenever you look at your child - so different to any other form of love i ever felt!
5. the need to stop working and care for our child myself - sincerely I had never planned on it but when I had to go back to work I realised it couldn't happen...so I worked 5 months as needed and stopped for good (and thankfully I could afford to do it)
6. feeling the need to try and build a local mum community and built a website (still a long way to go but getting there slowly)
7. understanding that its no use getting angry when things don't go as I wish, my baby doesn't understand that mummy is tired and would LOVE to just switch off and read till oblivion or wishes to relax in bath...

I haven't thought of more things I didn't know, but I have decided to think more about this and keep it in mind. And you have you got any mummy experiences you never thought you would go through?

Prinjolata

As I mentioned last week, we are now in carnival week in Malta and we also have a special raditional sweet for this. Its called a prinjolata and originally I thought it would be disgusting, but found the recipe and tried it out and it is very nice and light and from the pic above it looks lovely no?

So here is the recipe:

200gr butter

100 grs slivered almonds

150gr icing sugar

2tsp vanilla essence

sponge cake

candied peel, cherries and melted choc to decorate

So beat the butter till it comes looking white add the essence, sugar and almond and beat till combined. In a pudding basin, put slices of the sponge and alternate between sponge and butter cream. Leave overnight in the fridge to set. The next day do more buttercream as needed, and cover the outside. Sprinkle the candied peel, cherries and choc and you have your carnival sweet!

rie

pumpkin pie & cranberry muffins

This weekend I have been in baking mode and made some goodies. Here are some pics and the recipes can be found on joyofbaking.com (BTW this website is fantastic for recipes!)

Also I have found the following article saying why not to eat Nutella due to it being green unfriendly :( I will just finish off this tub I have and try to avoid it like the plague!first two pics, cranberry muffins

pumpkin pie and it truly is delicious!

Greg's bedroom

Here's Gregory's room how its looking nowadays (ok its like that after I clean up!)

And here is one of Greg's latest pics...playing with flowers!

listen

This weekend I had a gastric flu-not nice no! However, the body did what it had to do to get my attention and it worked.

I was eating too much these past few weeks....I knew it but you know when you are aware of something but ignore it even if it bothers you as such?That was me...I'd eat titbits left by Greg, eat something sweet etc and I truly felt like I was eating all day long....finally my body rebelled and with the painful gastric gone, I am being more aware of what my body tells me...whether its hunger, thirst, cold or tired, I am listening.

Alot of times we ignore our body and treat it as a machine, but unless we realise that without it we are nothing and take loving care of it,as we care for our family, we might loose our health, groundedness and life itself. I am listening and its amazing how many things its telling me!

Am I Pagan or Roman Catholic?

Yesterday evening I wrote 3 pages in my journal about this, feeling at the time sure of what I have become. However at the end of all that writing, I realised that I haven't quite understood where I stand and I really need to understand this before I can do anything else.

See since I was a girl, I always basked in the sun, enjoying the countryside, loving every tree, stream, stem of grass, flower, bit of soil that I came by. I collected shells and rocks, I tried understanding astronomy, I spent whole summers at sea rejoicing when I see a star fish or turtle or sea urchin or a sea horse. I ALWAYS felt more at peace and whole out there and gave thanks to the Lord through my enjoying the natural world.

Since I was a little girl, I wanted to visit Africa and its animals, The Amazon and its beautiful forests, wished to become a zoologist where I spent my time out in the wild getting to understand animals and finding ways to help save the natural world. I became a member of WWF, tried to find a good NGO in Malta to become an active volunteer and always as you can see my aim was our mother earth and what it provided us.

So in a way my roots are more pagan than Roman Catholic.... and yet, I still believe in God and Jesus and the bible. The bible written so long ago, made in a way so those people understood it, is I think the most complicated scripture in all religions and the most misinterpreted and misunderstood by both us common people and the ecclesiastics. When ever I read the yoga scriptures on philosophy, I see what God in my religion wanted to say but in oh such a simple way! Paganism is also so much simpler- just love, love everything from the rock you are trodding to the clouds in the sky because EVERYTHING breathes, lives and feels even if we as humans don't think/believe so!

I believe in mother earth and the father sky, I believe in fairies, I pray in Roman Catholic prayers and my own made up prayers, I read the bible now and then but I hardly go to Church coz I do not believe much in the 'earthly followers 'of God. When I go to Church, the priest either drones on as if trying to record something without even seeing human reactions to what he says, either says things that go completely against what I belief God is saying and of course there is all the hypocrisy going on throughout. To make matters worse in my belief of the ecclesiastics, I read this article were the Vatican it seems said:"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," the radio said.
A Vatican spokesman made it clear that this was just film criticism(on Avatar), not theological pronouncements - but emphasised that they do reflect Pope Benedict XVI's views on the dangers of turning nature into a "new divinity".

So I am slightly in a conundrum....am I Pagan or Roman Catholic? am a mix is that even possible? your views might help me see more of what I am so pls get them going! somehow I feel I know the answer to my questions but am afraid to embrace said answers.....

finding the way

Sometimes, it seems like there is too much information stored in
our minds. That we can't express them into words and our head is about to explode.

That is me at the moment! I wish to pass so many messages out there and say so many things, but I seem blocked. My life seems tranquil in itself and yet it feels like its careening out of control....

(picture taken from pedalpushersonline.com)

.....so am trying to find my bearings.

don't worry, give me a day or two and I will find my way to share with you what's on my mind. I will find the words to express them because right now...

Just let me get off track,

I'm just trying a different direction

It may fit and it may not....