text:
Australian Christians is a political party in Australia which promotes and protects the values that create a better Australia for all, no matter what their faith and belief. Australian society’s values are based on our Judeo-Christian and biblical heritage. Our policies and core values are based on this heritage.

Australian Christians candidates are all committed Christians, seeking to be a voice for Christian values. Joining Australian Christians is open to all residents of Australia who are guided by Christian values and principles. Join us in our mission.

WE BELIEVE Australia needs a Christian voice in Parliament to keep society stable and government accountable.

Be bold with us

Get involved to make a difference

Support Our Mission

As a bold voice in Australian politics we rely on your support

Our values are based on Biblical principles and are at the heart of everything we do.

Australian Christians updated their cover photo. ... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook

Considering all the election results this weekend, one thing is clear! Be careful and wise when forging friendships and alliances!
AC is looking forward to the Federal Election 👌🏼
... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook

Register for Updates & Prayers

Latest Events

  • Candidate and Members Workshop March 24, 2018 241 Gloucester St, Victoria Park WA 6100, Australia

    Open to everyone - Members and candidates, who would like to join AC and its election campaign efforts.

    See more details

Our Latest News

New Website!

Feb 27, 2018

We’ve updated the look of our website! Let us know what you think!

We Believe

Feb 27, 2018

MAKE A DIFFERENCE Become a member to advance Christian values in Australia.

Get In Touch


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Truncated: length

WARC-Type: response

text:
By: Gopal on 2015-07-09

Can I get Royal Enfield Bullet without booking?

1 Answers

No you can’t get it without booking as Royal Enfield’s bikes are not readily available, customers have to wait 3-4 months for the delivery after booking and bikes are delivered as per waiting list, so we advise you to book your bike at your local Royal Enfield Dealer and while you book do also check that which months booking is getting delivered so that you will be able to know how much more time you will have to wait for the delivery.

There are various types of finance companies offering various types of loan when you visit to your local dealer they will suggest you various loan plans having different EMI, down-payment, tenure and interest rates and you can choose any as per your payment convenience.

Abhir   2015-07-30 13:48:27

Your Answer

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service

Type the characters you see in the picture

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-179-198-159.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-13
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for March 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Category Archives: New Moons

Mabon Blessings 2017…and Recipes!

IMG_5679[559]Merry Meet friends and a very Blessed Mabon to you all!  I love that Autumn is finally here but….we are in the middle of a huge heatwave!  90* all week….ugh!  That is most definitely not normal for Ohio.  Oh, we’ve had some hot September days for sure, but a 10 day streak of 80’s and 90’s is not normal..and not fun…and not conducive to Fall activities lol.  Oh well, I’m still working on some Fall cleaning so I’m finding ways to celebrate the season anyway.  This too shall pass as they say 🙂

Hubby and I have started cleaning up our garden beds.  Cutting back spent flowers, harvesting the last of the tomatoes and herbs, and prepping soil where needed.  As I mentioned, I’m still working on organizing and purging drawers and closets.  I love getting rid of things no longer used. It just makes my house feel so much cleaner, allows air to move, and less clutter helps my mind as well.  I’ve decorated the house for the most part for Fall.  Still need mums and pumpkins but that will wait until weather cools down again.  And I LOVE going to the apple barn and the garden center for those things on a cool, blue sky day.  So I wait!

Today I started my day off with a walk in the grass around my yard, some time at my altar,  (which I’m sharing a picture of here)  lit candles and incense for healing and to honor the day, I plan on doing some baking later as well.  I like also to focus on balance in my Life on this day.  Mabon is the Autumn Equinox, when night and day are equal.  As I said in my last post, so many of us seem tilted, out of sorts, grumpy.  This has been me.  So tonight I will go under the Moon…the early crescent, and do a little ritual to help me find balance again in my life. I have found I’m starting to feel better simply by realizing I’m not feeling right and focusing on fixing it by meditating more, finding more quiet time, and practicing my Craft more!  It’s helped!

My altar, since this picture was taken, has apples sliced with honey and bread added, and a few items from nature…acorns, leaves, pods etc.  I always try to add bits of nature of from my walks to my altars.  Brings gifts from Mother Earth indoors 🙂

As promised, I’ve found a couple recipes to share with you.  One so simple and so good, the other…well it’s the best apple bread I’ve ever had and not overly hard to make either!

Apple Crostini

3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped  (try Honeycrisp, Fuji or Granny Smith)

3 Tbs unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

French bread, sliced and toasted

Brie wedges

fresh chopped rosemary for garnish if you have it.

Preheat oven to 350*  Combine apples, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a pot over low heat.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until apples are soft and mash easily, but leave some apple chunks.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp.

Place French bread slices on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Top each piece of bread with a small wedge of Brie cheese. Bake for about 5 mins to soften cheese.  The spoon apple mixture over cheese and sprinkle with rosemary.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

Praline Apple Bread

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided

8 oz sour cream

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tb vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups finely chopped, peeled apples

Preheat oven to 350*  Toast 1/2 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 6-8 minutes, stirring occastionally; set aside.

Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer for 2 mins.  Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients.  Add to sour cream mixture, beating just until blended.  Stir in apples and the toasted pecans.

Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9″x5″ loaf pan.  Sprinkle with remaining cup of pecans and press into batter.

Bake at 350* for 1 hour.  Cover with foil the last 10-15 minutes to keep from burning pecans.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

While cooling, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Pour over bread and let cool.

*also delicious to eat warm.

I hope that you all give these recipes a try.  Oh and the bread, make goes fast! Also great to treat a neighbor, friend or family member with a loaf.  You’ll get rave reviews!

I hope that however you celebrate today, you spend some time focusing on yourself.  Try to find balance in your Life, even if just for a day, but you should really try to make it a priority. It’s a crazy, busy world for most of us these days and we need to take care of ourselves.  Prepare yourself for the dark days of Fall and Winter that are coming..much as Persephone did as she journeyed to the Underworld.  Build yourself a cozy cocoon, find things to do for yourself…learn something new, read those books you’ve not had time for, start a new project, spend more time with loved ones, and definitely find more time to yourself! Pamper yourself with long bathes, good meals, walks in nature and time under Grandmother Moon!  You’ll feel soooo much better!  This is advice I need myself and intend on taking!

Blessed Mabon dear readers! May Goddess Bless you this beautiful Autumn season!

“the air is different today
The wind sings with a new tone
Sighing of changes coming
The harvest is gathered, a flower, a nut
Some mead, and bread
A candle and a prayer
Returning the fruits in thanksgiving
To the grove and receiving it’s blessing again”
-Rhawk, Alban Elfed

Love and Blessings, Autumn

Filed under Altars, Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Books, Discussion, Family, Friends, Gardens, Goddess, Holiday, Mabon, Magick, Mother Earth, My Writing, Nature, New Moons, Pagan, Poem, Recipe from my Kitchen, recipes, Ritual, Sabbat, Seasons, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized, Witch

Blessed Samhain 2016….and recipes!

“I see the turning of a leaf dancing in the autumn sun,

and brilliant shades of crimson glowing when a day is done

-Hazelmarie Mattie Elliott-

Merry Morning and Blessed Samhain my friends!  The glorious day is finally here! The Witch’s favorite Sabbat!  Our New Year!  Here in Ohio it’s a cool, blue sky, sunny day.  We’ve had some overly warm days here lately…too warm in the upper 70’s for my taste, but today it feels like Fall again.  The skies are inky black as we’re in our New Moon which adds magick to our new year and new beginnings!  Winds are brisk and leaves are falling fast, chipmunks and squirrels gather food for the winter, birds are busy at the feeders, pumpkins are grinning from porches  and children ready their costumes for trick or treat!  The veil thins and there is a mystical feel to the Air! Autumn is in full glory!

My coven gathered Saturday night.  We had soups, breads and desserts. As it was warm, we spent time outside.  A few of our sisters didn’t make it this year and the rest of us were more quiet and subdued. Perhaps the thinning veil making us not feel up to par, tired and moody I think.  Speaking for myself, that was the case.  How does the thinning veil affect you?  I’ve had times of high energy, and times of melancholy and low energy too.  Today, I feel great!

I’m harvesting the last of my herbs today. Then tonight is our Beggar’s Night.  This year we’ll be home passing out candy as we spent time with my grandkids yesterday.  Keeping dinner simple with soup and sandwiches.  I’m also burying new witch’s protection bottles, making an offering to Mother Earth and tonight a fire and spending time with my ancestors. I am a journaler and I’ve been journaling my thoughts and wishes for a wonderful new year to come.  I look back on this last year with fondness and feelings of how blessed I am. and forward with the same.  What will you be pleased about in your past year

and what changes will you make in this next year to improve on it?  These are the things I think about today.

I promised some recipes and better late than never.  So here a few new ones!

Samhain Spiced Cider

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 large orange, quartered with peel

2 quarts apple cider

*use a gallon of cider and double the rest!

Place in a dutch oven on the stove on low heat or a slow cooker on low all day! So yummy!  I made this for my coven saturday night and they loved it!

pumpkin soup

Butternut Squash Soup

1 Tb butter

1 Tb olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped carrot

2 garlic cloves, minced

4-5 cups cubed, peeled butternut squash

4 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp dried sage

3/4 tsp salt

pepper to taste

a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

In a large saucepan, heat butter and oil over medium heat.  Add onion and carrot; cook and stir until tender.  Add garlic and cook one minute longer.

Stir in squash, stock, sage, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer, covered 20 minutes or until squash is tender.  Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Process in a blender until smooth.  Serves 6

Apple Caramel Cheesecake Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup cold butter, cubed

2 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 Tb sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

3 medium tart apples, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel topping

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

1/3 cup hot caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350*.  In a small bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar; cut in butter until crumbly.  Press into a well-greased 13×9 inch baking pan.  Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Spread over baked crust.

In a small bowl, toss apples with cinnamon, nutmeg and remaining sugar; spoon over cream cheese layer.  In another bowl, mis streusel topping until crumbly.  Sprinkle over apple layer.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until filling is set.  Drizzle with caramel topping; cool in pan on a wire rack for 1 hour.  Refrigerate for 2 hours at least.  Cut into bars and serve.

Yummy…I love Autumn baking especially.  Don’t you?

I want to wish you all a very Blessed Samhain.  May your ancestors smile upon you and impart words of wisdom, joy and a sense of peacefulness to you in the coming year.  Goddess Bless you all!

“Between the heavens and the earth
The way now opens to bring forth
The Hosts of those who went on before;
Hail! We see them now come through the Open Door.

Now the veils of worlds are thin;
To move out you must move in.
Let the Balefires now be made,
Mine the spark within them laid.

Move beyond the fiery screen,
Between the seen and the unseen;
Shed your anger and your fear,
Live anew in a new year!”
– Lore of the Door

Blessings and Love,

Filed under All Hallow's Eve, Autumn, Bits of Magick, Books, coven, Friends, Gardens, Halloween, Happy Mother's Day, Holiday, Mother Earth, My Favorite Things, My Writing, Nature, New Moons, New Year, Ocean or beach, Pagan, Protection, Quote, quotes, Recipe from my Kitchen, recipes, Ritual, Sabbat, Samhain, Seasons, sisters, Summer, Uncategorized, Witch

Summer Solstice Recipes 2015………..

I question not if thrushes sing,
If roses load the air;
Beyond my heart I need not reach
When all is summer there.
~John Vance Cheney

Greetings my friends and readers.  As I write this, it is pouring rain.  Has been all day!  I was out this morning for a hair appointment. Made a quick stop at Costco..then I decided the rest of the errands could wait until the rain stops! lol.  So I just had lunch and I’m listening to some Blackmore’s Night while watching the birds and ground critters, and my gardens that are lush, green and wet..and decided to go ahead and write a blog post with those recipes I promised.

You will find in previous posts (just search Litha or Summer Solstice in the search box) that the foods that represent Litha are  Fresh fruits…especially citrus and in-season fruits, all vegetables, summer squash, honey, fresh herbs like thyme and lavender, pumpernickel bread, ale and mead.  Fresh seasonal foods as you can see 🙂

I’m going to start the recipes out with a wonderful mojito recipe to use up all of that peppermint herb growing like crazy in my herb bed.  I bet many of  you have a plethora of it too!  This recipe makes a glass but you can make a pitcher too!

Classic Mojito

10 mint leaves, more for garnishing

2 ounces white rum

1 ounce simple syrup

2 tablespoons lime juice

soda water

For the simple syrup

1⁄2 cup water

1⁄2 cup sugar

Make the simple syrup. Mix sugar and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar gets dissolved. Remove from heat and store in the fridge until ready to use.

For Mojito:

Pour lime juice and 1 ounce simple syrup into a tall glass. Add mint leaves and muddle it together.

Add rum and muddle a little more. Add ice and a splash of soda.

Serve garnished with fresh mint leaves and a slice of lime.

*I discovered how good these were just last year and just love them!  You can control the sweetness by how much of the simple syrup you use as well…use less if it’s too sweet!

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

5 cups fresh torn spinach, about 1 pound

2 cups sliced strawberries

2 ounces Gouda cheese, cut into thin strips

1/3 cup toasted pecans

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Toss together spinach, strawberries, cheese, and toasted pecans. Whisk together dressing ingredients in a small bowl.  pour over spinach mixture and toss just before serving. Serves 4-6

*Feel free to substiture the gouda cheese for blue cheese crumbles or feta cheese and the pecans for walnuts or almonds….you can play with this recipe 🙂

Cucumber Pumpernickel Sandwiches

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
36 slices snack rye bread
1 medium cucumber, sliced

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise and salad dressing mix.. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Just before serving, spread over rye bread; top each with a cucumber slice.

Yield: 3 dozen

*Adding a little fresh dill would be really good too!

Roasted Pineapple with Honey-Orange Glaze and Pistachios

1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons honey
1 medium ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges (I like to do the rounds)
1/4 cup crème fraîche or plain yogurt
1/3 cup  unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons torn fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir first 3 ingredients in a large bowl until sugar dissolves. Add pineapple; toss to coat. Let marinate, tossing occasionally, for 10 minutes. Place pineapple, one flat side down, on prepared sheet; reserve marinade.

Roast pineapple for 15 minutes. Turn, brush with marinade, and roast until tender and caramelized, 10-15 minutes. Drizzle remaining marinade over; let cool slightly.

Divide pineapple among plates. Spoon crème fraîche alongside. Garnish with nuts and mint.

*while you can do this in the oven..I highly recommend you do it on the grill!  Yummy!  Also, you can use a vanilla yogurt or even vanilla ice cream if you’d rather..I highly recommend the ice cream! 🙂

Well, that should add to your list of possible recipes for the Solstice.  Or anytime throughout the Summer!  Don’t forget to do a search over here on the right ——>  for more recipes and more from me about the Solstice.

If it ever quits raining, I will post some pictures of my gardens, as I promised, for you. My herb bed is overflowing and I will most definitely be harvesting this weekend!  I love harvesting my herbs to dry…then watching them grow again!  Not to mention using them in my recipes, in my spells and rituals as well.

Yesterday was the New Moon……what new projects are you starting?  What old negative things are you banishing?  I hope you’re using the energies to your advantage.  Not to mention we are out of Retrograde! lol..can you feel a difference?

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!  I’ll be back in a day or two or at least by the Solstice!  Until then….Much love and may the Sun be shining on you and yours!

Blessings and love, Autumn

Filed under Gardens, Herbs, Litha/Summer Solstice, Midsummer, New Moons, Quote, Recipe from my Kitchen, Summer

I <3 Herbs……Yarrow!

Merry Meet my friends. It has been a rainy, dark day today. Thunder and Lightning and I’ve done some dancing with Thor in the storms. I’m so thrilled that we had a couple of beautiful days here though. I got all our clothes washed and hung out on the clothesline to dry. (I LOVE that!) We got a few things done in the yard…some grass seed planted where a dead tree was removed last Fall….we got a birdhouse put up…a new birdbath put out and we bought a couple of hanging baskets of Calabracia to hang on our patio, a deep purple one and a yellow one. I pulled out the rosemary that isn’t coming back 😦 Added garden soil to my raised herb bed etc. All in preparation for planting! Which we can’t do yet! Ack! LOL. Another week or two I think. For sure by Mother’s Day!

Again, this posting about Yarrow can be found at The Sunday Stew here: It’s the Beltaine issue so be sure and check it out!! It’s wonderful!

Beltane is almost here! As I was thinking about which herb I wanted to write about for the Beltane issue of the Stew…I decided on Yarrow. Yarrow is one of those wonderful herbs that grow wild…nearly everywhere! Usually from June thru September in meadows, roadsides, pastures, ditches etc etc. Easily found. Often thought to just be a weed LOL..but it’s so much more!!

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) grows from 10 to 20 inches high, a single stem, fibrous and rough. The leaves are fern-like, dark-green, giving them a feathery appearance. The flowers are several bunches of numerous small, white flower heads. Each tiny flower resembling a daisy. Depending on the weather and where you live, the flowers bloom from May to September.

For you gardeners out there, growing yarrow is sometimes too easy, as it tends to take over a plot. It creeps along via its root system, while simultaneously reseeding itself. Yarrow prefers ordinary soil and a fair amount of sunshine. Some varieties of yarrow grow up to 4 feet in height. It comes in shades from white to pale pink…to ornamental yellow and red varieties!

Other Names: Milfoil, Old Man’s Pepper, Soldier’s Woundwort, Knight’s Milfoil, Thousand Weed, Nose Bleed, Carpenter’s Weed, Bloodwort, Staunchweed, Devil’s Nettle

Yarrow carries the name Achillea because the Greek God Achilles in mythology is storied to have given the plant to his troops to stop bleeding in battle. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop the bleeding when he hurt his own heel, and he died from his wounds. The modern terms “Achilles tendon” and “Achilles heel” originate from this myth.

Medicinal Uses:

Yarrow has been a well-known healing herb for centuries. It has a wonderful list of healing medicinal purposes!
Parts used….everything above the ground (leaves, stems and flowers)
Harvesting for medicinal purposes should be done while the plant is in flower.
Yarrow is used medicinally against colds and flu, cramps, fevers, stomach ulcers, kidney disorders, toothaches and abscesses, skin irritations, to regulate menses, and to reduce inflammation. It can aid digestion and increase appetite. Yarrow is a diaphoretic and helps to eliminate toxins and fevers. Yarrow’s astringent properties can also help stop diarrhea and dysentery. Other yarrow uses include coughs, sore throats, lowering blood pressure, hay fever, and more.
Externally, clean yarrow leaves can be used to stop a wound from bleeding. A yarrow infused oil or balm can be used to treat other topical skin conditions including burns, ulcers, and swollen and inflamed skin, and hemorrhoids. Inserting a fresh, clean yarrow leaf into the nostril can stop nosebleeds. Yarrow can also, conversely, start bleeding when needed…for instance, getting clotted nose blood, to un-clot.

Medicinal applications:

An infusion (tea) of yarrow flowers can be prepared by steeping the flowers into boiling water for some time. This preparation is useful for upper respiratory illness. It may also be useful to heal eczema when applied externally as a wash. An infusion or tea is also great for reducing fever. To get relief for varicose veins, soak a cotton pad with the infusion and apply to the veins. The poultice will also aid hemorrhoids. You can also put the infusion in bath water to soothe hemorrhoids and skin issues.
Yarrow oil is useful for any external skin issues such as swollen joints, rashes, or bruises. Also great as a chest rub (add peppermint or eucalyptus essential oil) for congestion of the chest..colds, flu or cough.
Cuts and scratches on the body can be healed by wrapping cleansed, fresh yarrow leaves on the affected area. To clean leaves, place in a bowl, pour white vinegar over them…let stand for a bit. Strain off vinegar then rinse leaves twice to ensure all the vinegar is gone. You can also place a chewed leaf on a sore tooth.
A tincture made of Yarrow is useful for healing urinary disorders and menstrual problems.

Pregnant women should not use Yarrow internally! Excessive use can cause headaches and skin irritations for anyone who is sensitive to it.

Culinary Uses:
Yarrow is bitter but used sparingly it works in cheese sauces, soups and salads. Has been used in place of hops to brew beer.

Magickal Uses:
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Air
Yarrow is used magickally for Courage, Love, Psychic abilities, Divination, Perception, Protection and Purification.
Some ways to use Yarrow for magick are:

-When drank as a tea, Yarrow is said to increase psychic powers and powers of perception.
-When flowers or leaves are burned, if the smoke goes up, it’s a good omen, but if it goes down, it’s a bad omen.
-Use Yarrow flowers in love sachets and charms.
-Place Yarrow flowers under your pillow before sleep and your lover will appear in your dreams.
-Hang flowers over your bridal bed to insure love that lasts at least 7 years. Or place them in your bridal bouquet
-Grow Yarrow near your door for protection or hang some over your front door.
-Carried in the hand or placed in a mojo bag….it is believed to ward off fear. Also to reverse negativity and protect from hexes
-Add to the bath to protect from evil or harm.
-Throw Yarrow flowers across the threshold to protect the house from evil.
-Tie to an infant’s cradle for protection from harmful forces. (an old belief too)
-Place the flowers on your altar to aid in divination
-use it in loose incense for protection, purification or divination

These are just a few ways to use Yarrow in Magick. I’m sure you can find many more. Next time you take a walk, look for some yarrow and bring it home and put it to good use!

A sensitive plant in a garden grew,
And the young winds fed it with silver dew,
And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,
and closed them beneath the kisses of night.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Sensitive Plant,” 1820

I hope that you all are enjoying both the Stew and learning about herbs. I know I learn more and more as I study them and use them too.  I’ll be back in a couple of days to wish you all a very Blessed Beltaine and maybe a recipe 🙂

Blessed New Moon to you all!
Blessings and Love, Autumn

Filed under Beltane, Discussion, Garden, Gardens, Herbs, My Favorite Things, Nature, New Moons, Our Yard, Poem, Seasons, Spring, Summer

The Wheel Turns to Imbolc, 2014……..

imagesCA48N7RIMerry Meet my friends! Wow..I can’t believe I just typed 2014!  Time flies so fast doesn’t it?  I hope this posting finds you all avoiding the flu, staying safe and warm in this incredibly frigid Winter we’re having, and that things have slowed down for you a bit! That you’ve had time to rest and relax. After all January is the best month to do that!  At least here in the Northern Hemisphere 🙂

I have been busy, both doing my yearly Imbolc deep cleaning and organizing, AND finding time to read, journal, take a nap, cook etc. Things I enjoy doing.  Imbolc is coming fast.  I love this Sabbat. As I’ve said before, it’s the first one I celebrated.  I mean truly celebrated it by stopping reading about it and getting up and doing something instead!  I decided not to try to do all the complicated things I was reading in my books..and just do what felt right….  and I haven’t looked back since!

This Imbolc I’m blessed with having my Circle of fellow Witches.  We will be meeting to celebrate Imbolc for a welcome the Sun..and we will do it in our jammies! LOL..something fun to look forward to.  It’s our first Imbolc gathering and won’t be our last I’m sure.

As I mentioned, I do my Spring cleaning early, for Imbolc, as I know a lot of you do.  I clean out closets and cupboards and drawers, getting rid of junk and organizing things better.  I dust high and low, move furniture and sweep and mop, baseboards, ceiling fans etc.  I clean my Witch cupboard out..dust it and cleanse and consecrate my tools again.  I smudge the house the day  before Imbolc, and put out new wards and protection.  It’s a busy Sabbat and a very satisfying one!

Magickally, I welcome the Sun on Imbolc morning, and that evening there is a fire of course. I burn any dusty old herbs that are still hanging and any greens, pinecones etc that are still around from Yule. Candles are lit all over the house.  We feast and drink and celebrate, knowing that while Winter still has it’s grip on us, Spring and Sun and longer days aren’t far behind! At Midnight, I throw open the doors and invite the Goddess Brighid in to my protect and bless us for the coming year!

I’m already dreaming about my gardens..planning what I want to plant, what I want to add or take away etc.  This year, as we have just been in this house one year now, there is LOTS to do yet!  Another raised bed will be built for my herbs, there will be holly bushes, lilac bushes and an elderberry tree added in the landscape.  We need to add two new trees..maples…one to the front yard and one to the back.  I’ll fine tune what I did yesterday, throw out what didn’t work and baby along what did.  *sigh*…there is nothing better then the Sun on my back and my hands in the dirt.  I can’t wait!

daffodils in snow

As you all know, I love Winter, but even I am getting tired of this frigid cold we’ve had this year.  I don’t mind the snow at all, but the cold is something else! I see so many talking about being tired of it already, feeling depressed, or cabin fever etc.  I totally understand.  All I can recommend is that you take the time to do something that you really love doing and do it.  Take a class, paint a room, re-decorate, work on your Book of Shadows or grimoire. Surround yourself with things and people who comfort you, watch great movies, sleep more, take a walk..even when it’s cold..just to get fresh air, read, dance, sing, make love…you get the picture! LOL.  Don’t give in to it if you can.  I find stepping out and breathing in cold, clean AIR does a lot to energize me..especially if the Sun is shining or the Moon is glowing! And there is always a cleansing bath…that makes everything better indeed!

For now, I wish you all a wonderful weekend! Leave me messages and tell me your plans, I’d love to hear them.  Be sure to use the search box on the right column for previous Imbolc postings and recipes etc.  I may be back with a recipe or two a bit later this week.  In the meantime, keep your Spirits up..use your Magick! Snow magick is strong!  There is a 2nd New Moon this month as well..the Black Moon on January 30..not a real common occurrence! Use it! Bright Blessings to you all! Stay warm and safe and remember..Spring will come!

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey,  and enjoy every idle hour.”
–  John Boswell

Blessings and Love, Autumn

Filed under Gardens, Goddess, Holiday, Imbolc, My Writing, Nature, New Moons, Quote, Seasons, Spring, Sunrise/Sunset, Winter

Happy New Year 2014……….

Hello my friends!  I wanted to do a quick post to you all today.  Right now the Sun is shining but it is quite cold and windy out!  We’ve had snow flurries all morning but no real accumulation.. it’s so pretty 🙂  Today, I’m completely relaxing! Much deserved!

We had a wonderful Christmas (yes we gather with family for that holiday too 🙂 My extended family ..20 of us..were all here at my house, well behaved, jovial and a good time was had by all.  Yesterday, I took down all the decorations, packed them up and with the help of my husband, carted all the boxes back to the storage room.  A bit of cleaning and the house feels great.  Uncluttered, clean and fresh! I love that!! I always love the decorations going up..and really love them coming back down again! lol.

Today, I’ve pulled out my 2014 calendars.  A wall calendar, my Gooseberry Patch calendar and my Witch’s calendar and have them all filled in, marked and ready to go.  A whole year of days, hours and minutes and possibilities ahead of me!  What a great feeling.  I’ve also finished up a journal and will start a new one tomorrow..fresh pages…fresh thoughts….new days to write about.  A clean slate…which is what the New Year is all about!

For this New Year’s ..we are blessed with a New Moon..a rare thing!  Now as Pagans and Witches, we all know what that means.  It is a truly magickal…restart…boot up…new beginnings…dump the old, unused, unwanted..kind of day!  Today, along those lines..I smudge the house well, throw open windows and doors (at least for a minute cause it’s so cold!), scatter salt at doorways and sweep out all the old and negative and allow in the new and positive!  Tonight, there will be food, drink and a fire with my  husband and daughter Sara.  I’ll burn that I want to rid myself of…old hurts, disappointments, angers, sickness, etc….and will then burn that which I want to bring into the New, friendships, positivity, health, happiness and abundance.  Simple and meaningful.

I want to wish you all a Very Happy New Year and I KNOW that 2014 will be an amazing year for you and yours!  Thank you so much for being a reader, a friend, a loved one..whichever category you fall into 🙂  I am Blessed..very much in my Life by all of you!  May you have all the good things in Life come your way..always!

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

Blessings and Love, Autumn

Filed under Family, Holiday, New Moons, New Year, Quote, Seasons, Thank You!, Winter, Yule/Winter Solstice/Chrismas

The Wheel Turns to Samhain 2012………

Merry Meet friends.   Autumn is in full-blown, beautiful color here in Ohio!  We’ve had a lovely Fall so far.  Cool and Sunny and breezy with crisp nights.  It’s been many days of sweater weather and nights of fires in the fireplaces or outdoor firepits.  I was afraid with the very hot and dry Summer we had..that the leaves would just turn brown and fall off the trees but that is not the case at all.  The color is brilliant!  My Sugar Maple trees should give you a hint of the beauty here 🙂

A lot of my Witchy friends are talking about feeling blue, lost, unsettled.  That something is “coming or happening”.  I too feel this way at times right now.  The veil is thinning, the ancestors are moving closer to be with us for Samhain night, the most magickal energy is building and spreading.  All we can do is hold on to our brooms, wands, staffs and pointy hats and ride it out!  Ground and Center as much as possible.  Smudge your home, meditate, burn incense and candles.  Talk to each other…support is good.  I for one think it will be a most amazing night..full of magick and positivity!

I’ll be back soon with something pretty cool 🙂   Also Samhain recipes and some other things.   Have a wonderful weekend…ground and center when you need to…  The Dark of the Moon and the New Moon are upon us..use it to your advantage!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Samhain….A Peace Blessing

 by Lady Abigail

Witches dance the circle round,

In magickal places we shall be found.

Within this blessed and sacred night,

Spells are cast in burning fire light.

Under the radiant moon so pale,

We welcome those from within the veil.

Thy mysteries we call to embark,

No fear have we of what hides in the dark.

We summon every Witch to heed this call,

That we shall come together one and all.

Let us stand proudly hand in hand,

Blending our energies across the land.

To invoke as one this Samhain spell,

At the ringing of Witching hour bell.

In unity we call unto this spells rite,

Peace for all lands come to our sight.

So this the summon, in our Witches plea,

Peace for all, So mote it shall be.

Love and Blessings, Autumn

Filed under Autumn, Holiday, New Moons, Photography, Poem, Samhain, Seasons


text:
You know how we all like to think of ourselves in a certain way? How we want to see the best person possible, even when all evidence points to the contrary? Why is that? Why can’t we just accept who we are, what we are? Would accepting that we’re less than perfect (or slightly better than totally fucking flawed) really make that much difference?
I’ve been finding out some things about myself, lately. Quinn (the guy from the funeral home) has been kind enough to play the part of enlightener. That’s not really fair. There have been others, too–others who gave me more solid evidence that the person I see in the mirror isn’t who I think she is. But it’s Quinn who drives the knowledge home, makes what they tell me seem more real. Along the way, he somehow manages to do what everyone else has failed to do–make me feel bad about it.
I’ve done some things, recently. I haven’t been a good person. Not remotely. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to be this big hero when all I do is fuck up. I’m trying, for once, really trying to do more than just get by. But it seems everything I do just causes damage.
I used to be kind of careless as a kid. I was always rushing around, not paying attention to where I was, only to where I was going. I’d bump into things and break them. “A bull in a China shop,” my mom would always say. She was right. That’s what I was. And it’s still what I am. I’m still rushing towards my destination, leaving little broken pieces scattered behind me.

About Avery

I am a roller derbying, dark fantasy author. This blog chronicles my adventures in life, writing and skating. View all posts by Avery

6 responses to “Revelations

Insert Two Cents

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
Through the Looking-Glass and through the hell

In August, Pyotr Silayev was arrested in Granada, Spain by anti-terrorist special forces. He was then moved to Madrid, where the Audiencia Nacional was to make a decision about his extradiction to Russia. All this based on charges stemming from a demonstration organized by anti-fascists and enviromentalists against the city administration of Khimki, Moscow region. He was released after 8 days, but he is still stuck in Spain, pending the decision of his extradiction to Russia.

Cross the border before it's not too late - escape story of Denis Solopov in his own words

I am often faced with one basic question: whether, if knowing the consequences I would still take the same actions I did last year. Of course I would. Yes, we all suffered the consequences, but we also proved that average people, when united are able to scare insolent bureaucrats. Nowadays in the Russia this is worth the effort. Who are the police investigators and field operatives? TThey are subordinates who are generally too frightened to admit that they are the slaves of their bosses, deceiving themselves that things are otherwise. Many of them have clearly understood that they have to make some junk and invent a sort of extremism. Maybe there are also sincere stupid people who believe in their work. These fools do not see the extremists in officials and instead search for them in housing districts.

One “Khimki hostage” acquired, another one got 2 years suspended sentence

24th of June, judge of the Khimki city court of Moscow region of Russia, Neonila Zepalova, sentenced “Khimki hostages”, anti-fascist activists Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, who were accused of organisation of a radical demonstration against construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg toll highway, which took place in Moscow Suburb of Khimki 28th of July.

Summary of common a week of common actions to defend the Khimki hostages from the 2nd to the 9th of April 2011

From 2nd of 9th of April 2011 and after, actions to defend “Khimki hostages”, Alexei Gaskarov and brothers Maxim and Denis Solopov were organised in six countries and
25 cities. Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov are currently out from jail, in court facing charges following from a demonstration, which was organised 28th of July 2010 in Moscow suburg of Khimki against construction of Moscow-St. Petersburg toll road, and the gross human rights violations against its opposers. Denis Solopov has been granted an UNCHR refugee status in Ukraine, but in beginning of April he was detained and is currently waiting his deportation court in Lykyanovka prison of Kiev.

A petition in support of Dennis Solopova

April 12 anti-fascists passed a petition to the consulate of Ukraine in Saint Petersburg. In support of Dennis Solopova activists were gathered around a hundred signatures. The petition contained a request not to extradite to Russia party's anti-fascist movement Denis Solopova being in jail in Ukraine and is suspected of organizing attacks on the administration building near Moscow Khimki 28 July 2010 in protest against plans to cut down forests Khimki.

In Tyumen Picket in support of Dennis Solopova, or how law enforcement does not know the laws

Tyumen anti-fascist rally held a single on April 12 at the Consulate of Ukraine in Tumen against the illegal extradition of anti-fascist Dennis Solopova from Ukraine to Russia, where he awaits criminal proceedings for "Khimki case."

Report from court hearings of “Khimki hostages”

On March 14 and 23, 2010 two court hearings in the case of antifascists Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov who were accused of organizing attack on the Khimki City Administration, took place at the Khimki City Court.
Accusation against Alexei and Maxim is absurd and based on false evidence of three alleged eyewitnesses identifying them as persons participated in the riots.

Khimki timber sold under the hammer

While the Ministry is circulating false promises to compensate for cutting Khimki Forest 700 hectares of plantations, land along the future highway Moscow - St. Petersburg are already sold out. The site of "Khimki-Land" appeared for sale in areas along the projected Khimki forest trails. Vendors promise to themselves "all cut" under construction and resolve problems with local residents. Meanwhile, defenders of Khimki forest planning a new international campaign of protest and began an international petition against the construction of the road.

Copenhagen: The action in defense of "Khimki hostages"

On the 5th of April, activists of Denmark and Sweden came to The Embassy of the Republic of Ukraine in Copenhagen in order to show their solidarity with "Khimki hostage" Denis Solopov, who arrived to Ukraine in search of asylum from repressions of Russian authorities and who is in Pre-Trial Detention Facility Luk'yanovsky in Kiev.

Perm solidarity with Khimki

Пермь солидарна с Химками

April 6 at 18:00 at the building edge prosecutors Permian left picketed against political repression in Russia today in the All-Russian day of united action to defend the anarchists Alexei Gaskarova, Maxim and Dennis Solopova accused of organizing the demolition of the city administration Khimki, in response to repression against defenders Khimki forest on July 28 last year.

Moscow authorities have agreed on actions to protect Khimkinskaya hostages "

April 1, the organizers of shares in favor of "Khimki hostages" were in the prefecture of the Central District of Moscow, a document on the harmonization of picketing the embassy of Ukraine (Leontief per., 18, Passage: Metro: Pushkinskaya, Tverskaya, "Chekhov", "Okhotny number ") on April 4 at 16 hours and 9 April at 17 o'clock. Harmonization of the rally, scheduled for April 9 in 15 hours, has not yet received, but the representatives of the City Hall was asked to move it to the monument at Griboyedov Chistoprudny Blvd.

A call to a week of common actions to defend the Khimki hostages from the 2nd to the 9th of April 2011

We call everyone, who is not indifferent, in different cities and countries to show solidarity with persecuted brothers Denis and Maxim Solopov, and Alexey Gaskarov. They became hostages in the course of the unbelievable story with the Khimki forest, a story of confrontation between civil society in today's Russia and a soulless junta of avaricious corrupters. Due to this situation, the city of Khimki in the Moscow suburbs has gained a reputation beyond the borders of Russia.

Appointed as the first trial of "Khimki hostages"

March 14 at 10.00 in the Municipal Court Khimki (Moscow region., Khimki, Leningrad highway, 19) held a preliminary hearing in the case of Khimki hostages. " The meeting was held behind closed doors and it will be approved by order of the hearing and filed petitions on procedural matters. Referee - Zepalova Neonila Nikolaevna. Previously, she had already abolished the conviction Mikhail Beketov libel against the Mayor of Khimki Strelchenko.

The Authorities Have Taken Another Hostage in the Khimki Case

Denis Solopov, who took part in the action outside the Khimki town hall on July 28, 2010, to protest the lawlessness of local authorities and the clear-cutting of the Khimki Forest, has been detained in Kyiv by local police. The arrest took place on March 2, 2011, at the Kyiv Migration Service. Ukrainian authorities had just rejected Denis’s asylum application, a decision that Denis was planning to appeal in court. As stated on its web site, No Borders, a project of the human rights organization Social Action Center, suspects that migration service staff informed the police when Denis would be coming to their office, although they do not admit to this.

The action of solidarity in the Champagne-Ardenne, France

November 20 at Troyes French province of Champagne-Ardenne was a picket of solidarity with the defenders of Khimki forest and community activists in Russia.

At one of the stands with the literature, along with the petition, submitted pictures illustrating events in Khimki.

In the coming days, the petition c cemidesyatyu signatures will be addressed in Khimki city court and the President of the Russian Federation.

In the picket was attended by about a dozen anarchists and urban ecology.

They ohu.elki ... or freedom of the hostages Khimki

Within days of united action against the prosecution of Maxim Solopova and Alexei Gaskarov in Ufa was a protest picket. He was held in pouring rain and dank autumn wind. Law enforcement, ignoring its responsibility to "protect" the public event disappeared in government vehicles.

Global action day 2.0

November 12–15, 2010: New International Days of Action

We Demand that the Russian Authorities Close the Khimki Case and Drop All Charges against Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov

In late October 2010, Russian social activists Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov were released from police custody on their own recognizance by the Khimki Municipal Court. They had been arrested a day after a protest in defense of the Khimki Forest on July 28, 2010. Now they are free pending trial, but the criminal case against them has not been closed. They have been formally charged with disorderly conduct, and if convicted, they could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

Author columns

Антти Раутиайнен

In February, a critique of Moscow-based bands What We Feel(WWF) and Moscow Death Brigade(MDB) written by “Antifascist Subculture Worldwide”-collective appeared on the German website, Linksunten (in English). Both WWF, MDB (1) as well as 210 (2)  have since responded to the...

2 years ago
Антти Раутиайнен

In February, a critique of Moscow-based bands What We Feel(WWF) and Moscow Death Brigade(MDB) written by “Antifascist Subculture Worldwide”-collective appeared on the German website, Linksunten (in English). Both WWF, MDB (1) as well as 210 (2)  have since responded to the...

2 years ago


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Posted On: Jul 20, 2016

You can now provision AWS IoT resources using AWS CloudFormation. Visit our documentation to learn more.

AWS IoT is a managed cloud platform that lets connected devices easily and securely interact with cloud applications and other devices. AWS IoT can support billions of devices and trillions of messages, and can process and route those messages to AWS endpoints and to other devices reliably and securely. With AWS IoT, your applications can keep track of and communicate with all your devices, all the time, even when they aren’t connected.

CloudFormation has also updated support for several existing resources:

  • AWS Identity and Access Management custom names: Specify custom names for IAM users, roles, and groups.
  • Amazon API Gateway updates: You can now do the following when provisioning API Gateway resources with CloudFormation.
    • Indicate when API Gateway should pass requests to the backend specified.
    • Use JSON objects in the Schema property for API Gateway models or in the Body property for API Gateway Swagger API specification.

You can now also download a diagram of your template resources in a PNG format file using CloudFormation Designer.

Please visit our website for more information on AWS CloudFormation:


text:
Get Started with the Project

4 Steps  |  45 Minutes

Q: What is Jenkins?

Jenkins is an open-source continuous integration tool written in Java. It provides custom integration services for software development. It is a server-based system used by many development teams.

Q: Why should I use Jenkins?

You should use Jenkins if you are looking to accelerate your Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). Jenkins allows you to integrate building, deploying and testing onto various environments, while reducing wait times for your development teams. Finally, because it allows you to continuously integrate, Jenkins is well-suited for DevOps and agile methodologies that use quick iteration cycles.

Q: Why should I run Jenkins on AWS?

AWS provides reliable, scalable, and secure infrastructure resources that are ideal for running applications such as Jenkins. By running Jenkins on AWS compute, you only pay for what you use and you can scale capacity up or down to match your specific needs.

Q: Will I own my Jenkins environment?

Yes - all of the resources created when executing this Getting Started guide remain yours and will live within your account. They will exist until you decide to terminate the Amazon EC2 instance.

Q: What is the cost of Jenkins?

Jenkins is open-source, free software. Your only cost is the underlying infrastructure on which Jenkins runs. For more information about cost, see Services Used and Cost.

Q: How can I secure Jenkins on AWS?

You should utilize Security Groups and use strong passwords. You should also make sure that your EC2 instance and Jenkins installation are up-to-date with the latest security patches. Security Groups act as virtual, stateful firewalls that control the traffic for one or more instances. If possible, narrow the IP range to only the relevant source IP addresses. Do not open any extraneous TCP or UDP ports (TCP 80 and 8080 are sufficient). When setting up passwords for Jenkins, follow usual password best practices and use lowercase and uppercase alphanumerical characters in addition to symbols (e.g. /, ., !, *…). You can ensure that your Amazon Linux instance has the latest packages installed by running yum update. This will also update Jenkins if you’ve installed it using yum, as per this guide’s instructions.

Q: Can I run Jenkins in a private subnet?

You can install Jenkins on an EC2 instance that is part of a public or a private subnet. If you want to place the instance in a private subnet you will need to make sure that you can access Jenkins’ front-end. If you are connecting through the internet you can opt to create a Jenkins target group and use an Application Load Balancer to create a public endpoint for your privately-hosted instance. If you are connecting from your own data center you will want to establish a VPN or connect to Jenkins through Direct Connect.

Q: How can I scale Jenkins?

There are a few ways you can ensure that Jenkins is going to keep up with your CI/CD needs. One straightforward way is to vertically scale the EC2 instance by changing the instance size. Another way would be to configure the Jenkins Amazon EC2 Container Service Plugin so as to farm out build jobs to Jenkins slave tasks on an ECS cluster.

Get Started with the Project


text:
No party would be complete without games! And we have a bunch of fun baby shower games to liven up your party, including games for teams, creative games or classic games that your mother will probably remember.
Mommy-to-Be will look forward to having a good time with her friends and family, and games are a perfect way to break the ice between new acquaintances. Take a look at our range of fun Baby Shower Games and Badges.

Add only 50.00 more to get FREE SHIPPING!

Showing all 5 results


text:
Laser Spine Operations Locations

Laser Spine Operations: Experience and Choice

Each month, Laser Spine Operations performs more endoscopic spine surgeries than any other spine surgery facility in the nation. Hundreds of dedicated employees, and an expert medical team make this possible. As a result of constant practice and exploration, Laser Spine Operations is able to offer a wide choice in endoscopic surgeries and spinal treatments to patients suffering from neck and back pain.

Minimally Invasive Surgeries for Chronic Pain

this performs corrective surgeries on patients suffering from herniated disks, arthritis of the spine, pinched nerves, spinal stenosis, sciatica, and more. All Laser Spine Operations treatments rely on sophisticated, minimally invasive procedures that often negate the need for lengthy recoveries or open-back surgery. For patients, this almost always means a smaller chance of infection and a quicker recovery time.

Complimentary MRI or CT scan Reviews

Laser Spine Operations performs surgeries at four different facilities across the country. All Laser Spine Operations surgical centers are operated at the highest standards. Medical reviews are complimentary.

If you’d like to find out more about Laser Spine Operations, please refer to the directory below and contact the consultation center nearest you. There may not be Laser Spine Operations locations in your immediate vicinity; however employees will be happy to answer all your questions. Staff will also be glad to provide you with a complimentary MRI or CT scan review.

Find Back Pain
Close To Home

Simply fill out the form
below to get started on
your road to recovery:

© All Rights Reserved. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Information on this website is not designed to replace a doctor’s judgment or course of treatment. User Agreement and Privacy Policy. 8774936606

To add the image to your site.
Copy the code located below and paste wherever you would like the image to show.

Click on the gray and white striped background to close the window.


text:
Pho-nomenal Eats

-Christine Chung

Being a person of Asian descent, nothing is more torturous than not being able to satisfy a food craving. This is a constant struggle I (and the rest of the Asian community) face since we live in a college town in the middle of nowhere. Much of the selection Asian students have around Upstate New York is mediocre sushi joints and Americanized Chinese food – great. Recently, my roommate took me to this Vietnamese restaurant close to campus and all of my wildest cravings were tamed.

Located on 518 Kirkpatrick St., in a neighborhood only a few minutes from the infamous Stella’s Diner, New Century serves a wide variety of authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Do not be threatened by the restaurant’s seemingly out-of-place location, because once you walk in, you will never want to leave. From gigantic bowls of pho that could warm up your entire soul to fresh banh mi sandwiches, this place has quickly become my Asian food sanctuary.

(Source: Christine Chung)

The interior of the place is a lot larger than expected. There is a bar on one side and a lot seating on the other. It is not glamorous or heavily decorated, but that’s because the food speaks for itself. The menu is as thick as a small novel, full of pictures and descriptions of all of the incredible Vietnamese food and drinks available. There is a small selection of alcoholic beverages, including Vietnamese beer but a huge selection of smoothies, bubble tea, and coffee.

Whenever I go to New Century, I begin with the Vietnamese iced coffee, or Cà phê đá. It is a must-have. No matter if you are a coffee lover or not, this will change the way you feel about all coffee and drinks. How it works is they brew a medium or dark roast of Vietnamese coffee through a special drip filter with condensed milk (optional). Then you pour the coffee right into a cup of ice and mix. It is the perfect balance of sweet and bitter for every type of coffee drinker to enjoy.

(Source: Christine Chung)

Then I get spring rolls that are stuffed with a various assortment of vegetables like basil and bean sprouts, pork, and shrimp. It also comes with a peanut dipping sauce but I like using the hoisin and Sriracha (because #SrirachaOrDie). And although my stomach is starting to fill up with all of this incredible food, a massive bowl of beef pho appears in front of me. After adding copious amounts of bean sprouts, basil, Sriracha and hoisin sauce, I inhale the warm broth. The noodles are full of the diverse flavors, and the beef is perfectly tender.

I end the meal on that note, and slowly walk out of the restaurant, stuffed with an almost ridiculous amount of amazing and authentic Vietnamese food. But this is a food coma you’re never going to want to end.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
ABST Awards results

ABST Awards winners from UCB
  (Photo:  )

Bakery students were feeling rightly celebratory at this year’s Alliance of Bakery Students and Trainees (ABST) conference, and British Baker was there to see the great and the good pick up their awards.

Results 2016

The Bakery Trainee Challenge
1st place: Jessica Dalton, University College Birmingham (UCB)
2nd place: Hannah Bradbury, UCB
3rd place: Emma Dransfield, Tameside

The Horton Trophy
1st place: Abigail Potts, Tameside
2nd place: Emily Hughes, UCB
3rd place: Chelsea Collins, UCB

The Founders Cup
1st place: UCB ‘A’ Squad: Jessica Dalton, Hannah Bradbury, Shanice Robinson, Kristian Hillis
2nd place: Blackpool & The Fylde College - Jessica Johnson, Georgina Onslow, Jasmine Holdich, Sarah Hewitt
3rd place: Cooplands - Christina Gibbons, Ashley McGowan, Andrew Shipley, Peter Denley
Best Battenberg: Jessica Dalton
Best Scones: Fern McKenzie Burdess
Best Bloomer: Amy Walker
Best Puff Pastry: Andrew Shipley

The President’s Cup
1st place: Will Leet, UCB
2nd place: Leandra Molina, UCB
3rd place: Shane Boylan Limerick

The Novice’s Cup

1st place: Amani Mohammed, UCB
2nd place: Emma Kelly, Sheffield
3rd place: Charlotte Ward, Tameside

The Blandy Cup
1st place: Jessica Powell, Cooplands
2nd place: Joy-Cee Cabigao, Leeds
3rd place: Cliff Fernandes, Leeds

The Celebration Cupcake Challenge
1st place: Gemma Lee, Liverpool
2nd place: Shanien Hartley, Leeds
3rd place: Saima Khan, Leeds

Slattery Trophy
1st place: Rebecca Hole, National Bakery School (NBS)
2nd place: Hayley Parker, NBS
3rd place: Jessica Dalton, UCB

The Renshaw Decorative Class
1st place: Julie Fowler, Cooplands
2nd place: Abbie Llewellyn, Neath
3rd place: Holly Buckle, Neath

Carved Novelty Cake Class
1st place: Julie Fowler, Cooplands
2nd place: Bethany Swift, UCB
3rd place: Nicola Hill, Cooplands

The Goldex Cup
1st place: Nicola Hill, Cooplands
2nd place: Isabella Calmiano, UCB

The Devon Rose Bowl
1st place: Emma Cunningham, Limerick
2nd place: Colm Cantilon, Limerick
3rd place: Ann Bollard, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)

Callebaut Chocolates
1st place: Rebecca Hole, NBS
2nd place: Jaye Jones, Tameside
3rd place: Lindsey Gallagher, UCB

Shortbread Class
1st place: Sonia Hopkins, UCB
2nd place: Andrew Shipley, Cooplands
3rd place: Shanice Robinson, UCB

Best Overall Confectionery Item: Julie Fowler, Cooplands

Rank Hovis Cup
Overall Combined Winner: Georgina Onslow
1st place Granary: Edgar Dergacevs
2nd place Granary: Tegan Heath
3rd place Granary: Kirstie Hilton

1st place Originals:, Georgina Onslow
2nd place Originals: William Bowen
3rd place Originals: Abigail Potts

The Masters Cup
1st place: Emily Hughes, UCB
2nd place: William Bowen, UCB
3rd place: Sonja McDermott, Blackpool
Best Plait: Emily Hughes
Best Coburg: Niamh McCarthy
Best Wholemeal Tin: William Bowen

The British Society of Baking Trophy
1st place: Kristian Hillis, UCB
2nd place: Emma Cunningham, Limerick
3rd place: Colm Cantilon, Limerick

The Sourdough Challenge Trophy
1st place: Nara Park, DIT
2nd place: Leandra Molina, UCB
3rd place: Sinead Sweetman, DIT

The Warburtons Challenge Trophy
1st place: Peter Denley, Cooplands
2nd place: Sonia Hopkins, UCB
3rd place: Jennifer Palmer, Cooplands

The Mandy Mansell Trophy
1st place: Sonia Hopkins, UCB
2nd place: Rebecca Turvey, UCB
3rd place: Amani Mohammed, UCB

Best Overall Fermented Product: Rebecca Turvey, UCB

The British Bakels Award
1st place: Hannah Jarrett, Sheffield
2nd place: Aneese Iqbal, Tameside
3rd place: Rebecca Matthews, Belfast

The Innovation Trophy
1st place: Katrina Gaunt, UCB
2nd place: Andrew Shipley, Cooplands
3rd place: Watanya Thakaepun, UCB

The 3D Dough Art Display
1st place: Roxana Szabo, Limerick
2nd place: Jordan Corder, Sheffield
3rd place: Alison Brown, Sheffield

The Victory Challenge Trophy (Live)
1st place: Rebecca Hole, NBS
2nd place: Abigail Potts, Tameside
3rd place: Katrina Gaunt, UCB

The IBB Piping Trophy (Live)
1st place: Nicola Hill, Cooplands
2nd place: Katy Marsden, Tameside
3rd place: Sarah Clifton, NBS

Marzipan Modelling (Live)
1st place: Olivia Clark Young, NBS
2nd place: Emma Maxwell, Liverpool
3rd place: Rachel Dyson, Tameside

The Wrights Trophy (Live)
1st place: Connor Scott, UCB
2nd place: Kirsty Day, UCB
3rd place: Albert Dowie, Limerick

Want more stories like this in your inbox?

Sign up for our FREE email newsletter

My Account

Most read


text:
Resurrecting the River Pinn

The river I grew up splashing in has been quietly disappearing. Just three generations ago it was fuller, wider and longer. From Hatch End to Cowley it was skirted with marsh and decorated with ponds. However – inch by inch, year by year – the river has been shrivelling and the land dehydrating.

The inching pace of this loss makes it a classic example of shifting baseline syndrome, the phenomenon where every generation assumes that the condition of the river they experience is natural, and through this constant redefining of natural conditions, ecological collapse goes unnoticed.  Truth be told, the only reason I noticed the degradation of my local river was by playing around with old maps for a GIS assignment.

This is a story about what the River Pinn used to look like, how it changed, and what it could one day look like again.

The Pinn springs into life around Harrow Weald Common, slides round the shallow hills of Eastcote and Ruislip, then down the eastern side of the Uxbridge mound before joining Frays River at the mouth of the Colne Valley.

Image: 3D image showing how the Pinn joins the Thames Basin.

Like much of outer London, when my grandparents moved here in the 1950s, the land was a quintessential modern suburb. The houses you see today blossomed from the post-war economic boom, quietly usurping the farmland that had been there for one thousand years or two. Sub-urbanisation transformed the Pinn’s sleepy villages into the high streets with double yellow lines we recognise today.

Image: False colour composite image (SWIR, NIR, RED) using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery.

Many of these villages-turned-high-streets have riverine names. Ruislip signifies a place where it is narrow enough to leap across the water, a Rush-Leap. Uxbridge derives from Wixan’s Bridge. Pinner’s original name is Pinnora-ora meaning hill.

Until recently the Pinn wound its way through Pinner (Pinn-hill), the buildings perching around its banks and bends. When world war came to London the river was dammed at Pinner, and its water rushed across the rest of the city to douse the Blitz. Then, without so much as a thank you, the Pinn was pushed underground.

Today, Pinner’s natural history is suppressed beneath car parks, houses and back gardens. But using historical maps we can see where the water once was.

Image: Google Maps

Ghost ponds haunt garden lawn.

Forgotten river bends explain road bends, drivers unknowingly steering along phantom watercourses.

Below is an interactive map with the old water overlaid. Click here for a full screen version.

Not so long ago there was presumably a marsh around Marsh Road, and enough bryophytes around Moss Lane and Moss Close to justify their namesakes.

Downstream in Eastcote, another stretch of river has been buried and two large ponds have disappeared. Walking past in the summer of 1920, you might have watched towers of mayflies blossoming from the ponds, with swifts pirouetting in to feast.

The Pinn is now 8% shorter around Breakspear, and 19% shorter around Brunel. Just between these two examples this is over 200 metres of river length lost to straightening in recent years.

Where it flows through the old RAF base (now St Andrew’s Park), the Pinn has lost a colossal 78% of its surface area. Where there was once approximately 16,500 square metres of open water, there is now just over 3,500. That is enough water the cover two football pitches, disappearing in less than fifty years.

In just a handful of generations the Pinn has been de-wilded, shrunken, narrowed, filled in, straightened and – perhaps most damaging of all – forgotten.

But it doesn’t have to be like this, rivers can be resurrected. Here are some inspiring examples:

Wandle Park, London

Cheonggyecheon, Seoul

Cornmill Gardens, London

Images: ECRR

Horseshoe Pond, Norfolk

Images: Emily Alderton

Ladywell Fields, London

Images: RiverWiki

If you enjoyed reading this please share it.

To support river restoration you can add your voice to WWF’s healthy rivers campaign, and get involved with your local rivers trust.

And if you’d like to support this site and future content, please buy me a coffee:

Buy me a coffee

One thought on “Resurrecting the River Pinn

  1. Nice bit of work Harold, hope a Wandle style project evolves here. I also am frustrated by the straightening of watercourses; mindless and counterproductive. The encouragement of all residents to use less water should always be a part of a project and water companies can do so much more to reduce wastage.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
How Barb Taub Crashed a Wedding – Meet the Author – April 12, 2016

Hello Everyone … a couple of weeks ago one of my favourite writers and friend, Barb Taub announced she was going to publish the third book of her series Null City and wrote a brief post about it promising that I’d have something more to say about her work  the next day.  Well, the best laid plans as they say … between one thing and another I never got around to that second post … but I was able to get a letter off at last to Barb asking her to be my guest over here at the Library and I also challenged her to write a haiku … here’s her reply!

Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog today, Georgia! Of course, you know that I’m a huge fan of your poetry, but most especially your haiku. But when you challenged me to write one, I panicked. How could something so spare and elegant be so difficult?

Here it is. My very first haiku ever, because I crashed a wedding my first night back in India.

we are such old friends,

watching strangers dance. they smile,

reaching. we whirl with new friends.

So, yes, I crashed a wedding my first night in India.

It all started because my friend Janine and I decided to push our luck. Having actually managed to meet up with our old University roommate Jaya in the middle of India the year before, we just had to see if lightning could strike again. This time, Janine and I were meeting first at the Mumbai Airport. Only, because of this tragic annual event we have up north (winter), both our flights were delayed. I’d been travelling from Scotland for over eighteen hours, much of that time spent sitting on the ground as the plane was repeatedly de-iced.

One thing about international flights is that they feed you. This is not necessarily a good thing. Shortly after our flight took off, the attendants began distributing the meal. I think they had approximately two meals that were vegetarian, but by the time they reached my section back in steerage, they were offering passengers a choice of beef stew. (The choice was to take it or to leave it.) They repeated the meal offer two more times over the course of the flight, but the menu didn’t vary. By the third pass, the attendants didn’t even pretend to hand out the trays. A woman across the aisle from me had brought along one of those big discount bags of gummy candy, and when she passed it around, she got a standing ovation.

We were all tired and hungry when the flight landed in Mumbai. Luckily, I’d been to India before so I knew how to line up before passport control. Or, more precisely, how not to line up. There is, of course, nothing remotely resembling an actual line. You just get in the middle of the crowd and eventually you’re pushed up to the front. As American voices behind me protested bitterly that people were not waiting their turn and it was so not fair, I blindly held out my paperwork to the agent, agreed that yes, Madam’s passport was very full and yes, Madam did go lots of places, and no, Madam didn’t know that they would need several pristine pages for their stampage, and yes, Madam would most certainly see that she had more pages next time. Behind me, the other Americans were still looking for lines to wait in, and still complaining about it. Lots. I wondered if I could convince anyone that I was Canadian.

The Mumbai Airport is in two very separate locations (Domestic and International), which have to be navigated Indian style. The usual soldier with the usual honking huge gun waved me toward signs for Domestic transfers, and at last I ended up at a roped-off group of chairs randomly placed in the middle of the airport terminal. Eventually, a young woman in a quasi sari/uniform outfit came over and told the group gathered there to follow her for the buses to the Domestic terminal. In the UK, that would work perfectly. Baby ducklings following their mother couldn’t fall into queue more precisely. Even in the US, travellers would lope along in a rough follow-the-leader line.

But this was India. The rest of the people in the chair circle leaped to their feet and surged for the doors at a dead run. Uniform Lady made a good show of trying to keep up with them, but somehow I lost her in the general melee. Men in suits, grandmothers in saris, mothers in embroidered salwar kameez (holding babies and clutching children’s hands), and one severely jet-lagged old American lady—we all trotted through the terminal, along corridors, down stairs, out the doors and over to the bus at the curb.

The Mumbai Domestic Terminal, including a lit up guy holding a giant tire. Of course.

The Mumbai Domestic Terminal, including a lit-up guy holding a giant tire. Of course.

People tossed their suitcases into the luggage section under the bus and pushed aboard, sweeping me with them. When it became obvious that there were not enough seats for the entire crowd, Uniform Lady reappeared and began ordering people off the bus. This caused delays as they remonstrated with her. (Since I’ve seen entire Indian families travelling on one motor bike, and witnessed many trucks so full of people that those hanging onto the back were only being kept from certain death by the grip of the inside passengers, I could understand why people were shocked at being asked to give up their perfectly safe bus aisle perches. But Uniform Lady was adamant, so we all waited through even further delays as all the luggage was removed from the under-bus compartments so the refugees could retrieve their luggage and put it on the next bus, already waiting just behind. Uniform Lady walked our bus aisle, evicting two other passengers pretending to have seats at the rear, and at last waved us away.

When we arrived at the Domestic Terminal, there was no sign of our flight to Vadodara (a small airport relatively near Jaya’s home in Gujarat). There was also no sign of my friend Janine, whose plane was supposed to be there well before mine. She’d left for the Washington DC airport more than thirty hours earlier, just ahead of the blizzard closing airports across the east coast.

It’s safe to say that we were not the two sharpest knives in the travel drawer that night. But we didn’t have to be, because we know exactly how to find each other in foreign countries in the middle of the night. I went to the only open coffee bar and ordered for two. [NOTE: for you amateurs out there, do NOT try this at home. You’ll need someone you’ve known for the better part of four decades, so that you know exactly how they will think.] Janine arrived at the Domestic terminal and headed straight for the coffee bar.

But we still had a problem. The crowd was nervously watching the departure gates, and when they finally put up the sign for the Vadodara flight, all surged forward, waiting for the gate to open. And waiting. And waiting. A woman in front of us cautioned that all the people pushing in from the sides would attempt to cut us off, and suggested that we form our own blockade. We waited some more. Eventually, the Vadodara sign was taken down, and the blockade strategist wandered off. Still we waited.

Finally, the sign went back up and the departure gate attendant asked everyone to present ticket and passport. It was the last word he got in before the crowd surged through the gates en masse. The attendant shrugged and turned away. Our passenger group rushed the doors only to find…more buses. Although there were several airplanes next to the terminal, apparently getting to our plane would require transportation. After people filled the bus, extra passengers were removed, and the driver was satisfied that all had seats, the bus finally moved away from the terminal. First it drove for some distance straight out, then circled a roundabout to drive for several blocks back, passing the airport terminal where we had boarded the bus, and continuing on in the opposite direction. At another roundabout, it turned around again and headed back to the airport terminal.

We still don’t know why we were on this bus.

As we slowed to a stop before a plane parked right outside the terminal, Janine whispered to me, “This is where we got on, isn’t it?”

Of course it was. We boarded the plane parked just across from the departure gate. As far as we could tell, we had just taken half an hour to board, ride, and depart from buses that took us across the street.

The flight itself was only about half an hour, but the crew served a full meal. Racing down the aisle, attendants dealt each passenger a tray with a speed that a Las Vegas dealer would envy. Each tray held a surprisingly delicious breakfast that was not even a little bit beef stew. But before even the fastest eater could have finished, they were back to collect the trays, tell us to fasten seat-belts, and prepare for landing.

Neither Janine nor I could figure out how long we’d been travelling at this point. But it didn’t matter because at the open end of the tiny airport, we saw Jaya waving. We were back in India and that could only mean one thing. It was time to eat. After a huge and blessedly beef-stewless meal, we headed out for a walk in the nearby town park. We weren’t sure if we were hallucinating from the sleep deprivation and jet-lag, but we saw what looked like Cinderella’s carriage (if Cindy had been REALLY into neon). Gorgeously dressed guests, beautiful horses, a full marching band, and women with gigantic light fixtures were all milling around.

“Wedding,” Jaya said. Sure enough, a young man dressed like a prince was soon seated in the carriage and it was drawn slowly through the streets, the band playing, and the women with the giant light fixtures now balanced on their heads leading the way. They didn’t get far before a tune that everyone seemed to know started up.

Wedding-Crashers-Rule76-T-ShirtsA group of gorgeously dressed women—wedding guests and bridal party—all began to dance in an expanding circle. “It’s called the garba,” Jaya explained. “Here in Gujarat, you can’t help dancing it.” Even as we watched, women approached me and asked me to join them. Ignoring my protests, they pulled me in. Somehow, only hours into our India trip, I’d crashed a wedding.

Luckily, the movie Wedding Crashers had been in the oldie selections on the plane coming over. I’d watched it in between refusing beef stew, so I already knew the rules of wedding crashing (as listed here).

But for those of you who might have missed the movie, here’s how I applied those rules:

DNWHiPNote: If you’d like to hear more about our travels through India, please check out Do Not Wash Hands in Plates, the story of three women eating our way across India in search of adventure, elephants, temples, palaces, western toilets, monkeys, the perfect paratha…and the kindness of Indian strangers..

And for urban fantasy fans, my new book Round Trip Fare is now available.

[click on image for preview and reviews from Amazon]

Warden Carey Parker’s to-do list is already long enough: find her brother and sister, rescue her roommate, save Null City, and castrate her ex-boyfriend. Preferably with a dull-edged garden tool. A rusty one.

And then there is… him. For the past two months, a dark stranger has persistently edged his way onto the mental game board behind her eyelids. Well, whatever trouble he’s selling, Carey Parker is not buying.

Carey knows superpowers suck, her own included. From childhood she’s only had two options. She can take the Metro train to Null City and a normal life. After one day there, imps become baristas, and hell-hounds become poodles. Demons settle down, join the PTA, and worry about their taxes. Or she can master the powers of her warrior gift and fight a war she can’t win, in a world where she never learned how to lose.

Round Trip Fare RWA Contest Finalist 2015

She just has a few details to work out first. Her parents have been killed, her brother and sister targeted, and the newest leader of the angels trying to destroy Null City might be the one person she loves most in the world. And her sexy new partner’s gift lets him predict deaths. Hers.

It just would have been nice if someone told her the angels were all on the other side.

  • TITLE: Round Trip Fare
  • Genre: Urban Fantasy (okay and there is humour, romance, a sentient train, a great dog, and bunch of other stuff—but Amazon only gives you a couple of words to pick genre, so…)
  • Series: Null City [NOTE: prequel One Way Fare is now available FREE from, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and the Amazon UK kindle version directly from Barb) but this book works as standalone.
  • Release date: 7 April, 2016

Contact & Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Blog | Facebook | Twitter: @barbtaub | Goodreads

Barb pix 300 dpiBarb Taub:

In halcyon days BC (before children), Barb wrote a humour column for several Midwest newspapers. With the arrival of Child #4, she veered toward the dark side and an HR career. Following a daring daytime escape to England, she’s lived in a medieval castle and a hobbit house with her prince-of-a-guy and the World’s Most Spoiled AussieDog. Now all her days are Saturdays, and she spends them travelling around the world, plus consulting with her daughter on Marvel heroes, Null City, and translating from British to American.

I’d like to thank Barb for the great post which I hope you’ve all enjoyed as much as I have … and if you haven’t done so yet, this is the time to pick up one of her books … take it from me, they’re a great read!  Ciao, Bastet.

18 thoughts on “How Barb Taub Crashed a Wedding – Meet the Author – April 12, 2016

  1. Oh my this was so much fun reading. I am sure some of my readers will enjoy this too. What a great idea, Georgia! I’ve often posted books I’ve read from bloggers on my sidebar with a small blurb but this is so much more alive and fun!! Brava, cara xx

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Reblogged this on Barb Taub and commented:
    I crashed an Indian wedding. That was the easy part. THEN my friend Georgia —haiku poet extraordinaire—challenged me to write a haiku about it. What could be so hard about three little lines? I found out.

    Please join me at her blog for airplane meals, Indian weddings, and…one painful haiku.

  3. I enjoyed that piece, Barb. Since coming to India, I’ve been to a number of Indian weddings, mostly my husband’s family members. We also went to a welcoming ceremony of the granddaughter of our Society watchman and the wedding of the niece of our cleaning lady. We were always fed well. 🙂 — Suzanne Joshi

    Liked by 1 person

silence is golden, words pearls of wisdom...your comments are treasured!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Friday, February 18, 2011

Grey days

Time is standing still after a week when it seemed we were well set on the path to Spring. Despite snowdrops appearing and birds singing – my pair of Blackbirds are on their second family! – the cold winds have returned today with a vengence and it's once again time to sit indoors and garner warmth.

A virus and a chronic condition were making me already miserable when I turned a corner and found a favourite group of trees had been felled and a tiny piece of newly created 'urban green space' now resembled the Somme in World War One. Developers have moved in and since all around there are new student housing blocks, I expect more of the same.

It was here on this unremarkable corner that I last saw Julia Darling alive. I knew Julia but slightly yet she always stopped to talk, balancing on her small bicycle one foot on the pavement, somehow expressing in her smile a feeling of having been fulfilled in meeting by chance. We both noted the odd coincidence that we ran into each other only here at this crossroads, three times in a row.

I never pass by now without thinking of her, a great smile and cheerfulness which I learned remained until death itself. Such are the inconsequentials of our lives; a gate in a fence we cannot see beyond, a view of a distant spire of some unvisited building or a sunlit garden wall; a few trees beside a road.

Julia's grave is in Old Jesmond Cemetery not far from my home. Half hearted attempts to 'tidy up' this fine old place did not get very far thankfully.


text:
Dianne M. Canavan Heber

August 21, 1937 - December 5, 2009
Dianne M. Heber thumbnail
Bayliff & Son Funeral Home, Inc. Light a candle Light a candle

Dianne M. Canavan-Heber died at 4:20 a.m., Saturday, December 5th 2009 at St. Rita’s Medical Center, Lima.

She was born August 21st , 1937 in Lima, Ohio to Patrick and Naomi Kerman Canavan, who preceded her in death.

Dianne was retired from the State of Ohio, had a love for animals and was a member of St. Charles Catholic Church.

Survivors include a son, Brian P. (Wendy) Heber of Delaware, Ohio; two grandchildren, Sarah and Joshua Heber; a sister Joan (Ernie) Mazzatenta of North Carolina. Five nieces and 6 nephews include, Kelly, Kathy, Colleen, Theresa, Maureen, Kevin, Patrick, Daniel, Tim, Mark and Mike.

She was preceded in death by her son Mitchell P. Heber and her brother Patrick Canavan.

A service of remembrance will be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Allen County Humane Society.

Leave a Condolence

Life Event Timeline

Help tell the story of Dianne M. by contributing to the Life Event Timeline. Upload the photo of an event...

Post an Event

Timeline for Dianne M. Heber

Born: August 21, 1937
Died: December 5, 2009

Condolences for Dianne M. Heber

Bayliff & Son Funeral Home, Inc.

Our sincere condolences.

The staff of Bayliff & Son Funeral Home, Inc..


text:
Meet the Coaching Staff: Ben Brewster

Coaches play such an important role in the lives of student-athletes. Not only do they teach how to play a particular sport from skills to strategies , but they also teach responsibility, accountability, discipline, teamwork, work ethic and much , much more. New to Bay’s coaching staff this year is Ben Brewster, a former professional soccer player for the Tulsa Roughnecks. At Bowdoin, Ben was a highly decorated collegiate athlete earning accolades including Outstanding First-Year Male Athlete, NESCAC Rookie of the Year, and named first team All-American Honors by the National Soccer Coaches of America.

Straight off the heels of his professional soccer career, Ben joined Bay as the Boys Varsity Soccer Coach this fall and is the newest member of Bay’s admission team . While new to coaching high school soccer, Ben is no stranger to coaching student-athletes, something he has done since he himself was in high school. Because Ben has been playing soccer since the age of five, he has spent his whole life around the game. Ben played high school soccer in Maine, where he grew up, and continued to play in college before signing with the United Soccer League in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Throughout his path, Ben’s helped coach at summer camps so he could give back to the sport he loves so much. Now at Bay, he is able to do this at an ever higher level.

Ben came to Bay with a message to his players, “It’s about your attitude and your effort.” He has been pleased with the way the players have responded to this message and “looks forward to practice every single day.” Ben says he’s got a tight-knit group and that the enthusiasm for the sport and effort put forth by the team has truly impressed him. Obviously Ben is doing something right as he has led the Boys Varsity Soccer team into the BCL playoffs, and we await the results of the North Coast Sectional (NCS) playoffs to see if our boys advance! Ben has been a great addition to the Bay community and we look forward to his continued work and development of our players for years to come

Comments are closed.

Blog at

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this:


text:
So today we came across the clip of Lady Gaga’s next little release. The music video for “Cake” a song that is a joke according to sources, filmed by famed photographer Terry Richardson.

It’s said to be her parody on a celebrity sex tape and ultimately the decline of a celebrities fame & image.

Let’s just say its a little unnerving and we have faith this will pan out… somehow.

What do you think?

Here is the track that came out about a month ago.


text:
Playhouse in the Park Selects BHDP to Lead Design of Capital Renovation

BHDP Messer TriVersity Playhouse2

President and CEO of Messer Construction Co. Tom Keckeis; Playhouse Artistic Director Blake Robison; Playhouse Capital Campaign Chairman Woody Taft; BHDP Architecture CEO Mike Habel; and Playhouse Managing Director Buzz Ward.

Messer, TriVersity named as construction partners

CINCINNATI (Aug. 31, 2017)—Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s board of trustees approved today the selection of BHDP Architecture as the architectural firm to design the new, state-of-the-art Mainstage Theatre complex, which is the centerpiece of the Playhouse’s major capital renovation. Construction is expected to begin in spring of 2019 and be completed for opening in the fall of 2020. Officials also announced Messer Construction Co. and TriVersity Construction as construction partners for the project.

“After reviewing the qualifications of architectural firms throughout the country, BHDP was the clear choice to lead the future design of the Playhouse,” stated Blake Robison, artistic director. “They have the capabilities and the creativity to provide an imaginative and memorable design that will integrate the space with our iconic location in the park and provide a state-of-the-art theatre that brings an intimate experience to our audiences.”

BHDP is an award-winning international architectural firm headquartered in Cincinnati with offices in Columbus, OH; Atlanta, GA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Raleigh, NC. They are recognized for intelligent, innovative and inspiring solutions in architecture, planning, interior design, project management, strategic consulting and facilities management.

“BHDP is pleased to be selected to design such a high-profile project as Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park. Our goals are to honor Eden Park’s historic Shelterhouse Theatre and connect with the unique Mt. Adams hillside neighborhood while creating an inspiring and memorable experience for all the Playhouse patrons, company members, and staff,” said Mike Habel, BHDP’s CEO.

The Playhouse previously chose Messer and TriVersity as the construction firms to complete the project.

“The design firms in this city are second to none, so while this was a difficult choice to make, BHDP impressed everyone with their artistic vision and solutions-focused approach,” said Tom Keckeis, president and CEO, Messer Construction Co.

In the last five years, Messer has built and renovated world-class performing arts facilities in Cincinnati valued at more than $100 million and a combined 330,000 square feet of space, emerging as the local leader in performing arts construction management. Messer brings to the table a focus on safety, quality, cost control, and inclusion, as well as an award-winning project team, which includes project management personnel from TriVersity, a long-time partner of Messer.

“We’re pleased to add our project management expertise and commitment to safety, quality and diversity to the Playhouse partnership with Messer and to support such an important cultural asset,” TriVersity CEO Mel Gravely added.

The Playhouse announced a capital campaign earlier this year to replace the current Marx Theatre with a brand-new Mainstage Theatre complex, including improved production support spaces and enhanced patron amenities. It is phase one of a Facility Master Plan with future phases to include additional capacity for increased initiatives in community engagement and educational outreach across the region.

“One of BHDP’s strengths was their ability to envision a space where we could make significant facility improvements in the first phase of construction, with seamless additions to the design in future phases as part of a facilities master plan,” explained Buzz Ward/Woody Taft.

The capital campaign itself remains in the quiet stage; an exact fundraising goal along with designs for the future spaces will be announced in early 2018.

About Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
Winner of two Tony awards, the Playhouse is the region’s preeminent professional theatre with unequaled access to the nation’s finest actors, directors, and designers.

The Playhouse is supported by the generosity of more than 40,000 contributors to the ArtsWave Community Campaign. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Leave a comment

Filed under Press Releases

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Sign up to our newsletter
Please scan the QR code to follow us on WeChat
Or add us through search

Zip Wallet – Designers Edition

  • Holds 2–12+ cards
  • 106mm x 112mm
  • Two quick access slots
  • Stores flat bills
  • Business card or coin storage
  • Made from distinctive European leather
  • Backed by our 3 year warranty

Our premium leathers are tanned under gold-rated LWG environmental protocols, then dyed through. The exclusive Designers Edition leathers are tanned in The Netherlands using progressive techniques to enhance the rich colour and soft texture.
Learn more

> View our full list of delivery rates to all countries

Bellroy customers live all across the globe, so we can ship to anywhere with a letterbox. For P.O. boxes outside Australia and Europe, please use the regular shipping option at checkout (our team of trained delivery owls aren’t allowed in government buildings just yet).

We usually dispatch orders within 2 working days. Delivery times vary based on selected service and destination. Regular post ranges from 3 to 28 working days depending on the shipping address. For more accurate shipping windows check out our Estimated Arrival Time Calculator above.

Bellroy products are warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for three years from original date of purchase when used under normal conditions and for the purpose intended.

> View more information

Restrained on the outside, dynamic on the inside

The beauty of a zipped wallet is that it can be full of life on the inside. But close that zip and all you feel is calm. The Zip Wallet DE opens right up and reveal a three-quarter pocket for bills, wrapped leather pocket for coins or business cards and slots for seamless access to your daily cards. A beautiful everyday companion, the Zip Wallet DE can store quite a bit for such a neat size.


text:
Saturday Softcover: Making the Team… in more ways than one!

9780062133311Easy as A, B, C . . . from HA

Case File 13: Making the Team by J. Scott Savage.

Yep, the kids from Case File 13: Zombie Kid are back for a second round. They just can’t seem to stay out of trouble… or out of sight of The Librarian. Or away from monsters.

Something’s strange at Sumina Prep. A small, private school has beaten the boys’ school, the champs, soundly at the football game the boys were forced to watch by Nick’s mom in lieu of an all-night mummy marathon that includes Bubba Ho-Tep. Just think, if Nick’s mom hadn’t insisted, there’d be no Making the Team. Funny how things work out.

Scott and I discussed Bubba Ho-Tep during Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers, so I got a good laugh out of seeing it mentioned in this book.

There are other surprising uses of real-life people… or, at least, their names, because, after all, this is a work of fiction and any resemblance, etc., etc., etc.

This adventure has everything you could possibly want: bloody, gnawed-on bones (or are they?), very strange looking “spiders” (or are they?), gore, old pizza, really smelly, slimy stuff and a return of some of the ghosts from Zombie Kid.

Savage has even included the three girls introduced in the first book. Some of us were skeptical at this, but the characters’ interwoven interests and similarities (in some very interesting ways) made the inclusion of the girls’ team seamless. Almost like they belong as members of the team… No, not the team in the title (or is it?), but the team of the Monsterteers.

Even though the series is aimed at middle-grade, it’s a fun read regardless of age. If you have 10-13 year old boys… or were ever a 10-13 year old boy… you’ll be drawn into this story. Hopefully it won’t bring out any repressed memories.

But you really should read Zombie Kid first.

The books are available at King’s English, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

See you day after tomorrow for Monday Moans.

Leave a comment

Filed under Softcover

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s