Creative Meditation

Peace Be With You

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

May Beauty Surround You...

Lately i have been drawn to making prayer beads...
(this rosary is SOLD)

For me, this has always been a form of sacred art, and a prayerful and meditative process

And with all the turmoil in the World these last few weeks and months,

i have found peace in the simple repetitive act of bending the wire around the beads and medals that go into making each one

Ever since i was a young girl, i have had a fascination with all kinds of prayer beads

They are simple little tools to help keep you focused on your prayers and meditations
focused on the positive and not the negative
and when you feel hopeless, they remind you that you can always make a difference thru prayer and positive thought and action

and with each use, the prayerful energy builds up in the beads, and makes it a personal sacred tool in itself

These are just a few of the rosaries (and malas) i have available in my Etsy shop

And my pocket rosaries are on sale now...Just in time for Easter

Easter Morning Baking

I got up early this morning to do some baking for our annual Easter Brunch. Our family gathers at my Parent's house and we all bring goodies to share at the table. This year i volunteered to bake the bread. The loaves above are a new recipe from my favorite bread book. The bread is called "Limpa" and it is a Scandinavian sweet bread. It is so aromatic, with ingredients like honey, cardamom and anise....mmmmmm

I also baked a loaf of my favorite poppy seed bread, and a loaf of rye too. We'll bring along a few containers of fresh homemade applesauce, made from the local Farmer's Market apples. Happy Easter everyone! (Nance, Ned, and Rob, we miss you!)

Eggshells, Frosting and Fun!

Well, the Easter Egg Decorating Party was so much fun. By the time i got to my Parent's house yesterday morning, the egg decorating was just about done and all the little fingers in the house were dyed blue, pink and green. The adults were in cleanup mode and the kids were about to run around before settling in for a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So, i took out my bag of handmade guinea pig dolls, and let them all pick their own, starting with the oldest. Seth picked the dark eyed white, and a silver for his little brother Ty. Ross picked out the black and white "roan" and a speckled one for his brother Jack, who was sick and couldn't join us. Lukie picked the red one, and Ryan picked a pink eyed white. This was a great opportunity for me to be able to watch the kids play with the dolls and see how they reacted to them. The little guys ran around and held their piggies and kissed and hugged them ... while the bigger boys used them as footballs and weapons, bonking each other over the heads with them. I know I like the piggies, but i wanted to see how the kids liked them. Well, they are officially "Kid Tested and Approved"!

Oh yeah...so were the cupcakes!