Mystical Mundane

If the weather could be like today all year round, how enjoyable that would be. Warm but not at all hot, slight breeze, sun shining.... Well, ok, in all honesty, I enjoy the rain and storms sometimes also, but temperature-wise it was just delightful. Today, after our walk, we poked about the garden and sure enough, spring had found its way there!!! Our lilac tree is in bud, and little green tops of crocuses or grape hyacinth are popping through. The twisted hazel has new growth and leaf buds, as does both elderberry bushes. Early spring is only matched in love from me by early autumn. At least this year though, I won't have to detest summer so much. It will no longer be 39 degrees in our house, because we are getting a heat pump/cooling system :D Yippee! I'm so thrilled. No more heatstroke from multiple nights spent unable to cool down, and a better heating alternative for cooler nights. (nights above 0. For nights below 0, the furnace will kick in and do its thing) I was play

Ok, well not 'done' as in "Drink Me!!!" But it has gone to .999 and is dry, dry, dry. Note to self.. MORE honey next time round. So, if the hydrometor reading was correct when we began, this is a 16% batch. Quite clear, light yellow in colour. I think I taste the clove, there is a hint of mandarin but no sweetness whatsoever. I have no wine bottles left to bottle it, but took it out of the one gallon milk jug anyhow to get it off the sediment. I put it into empty Wisers Whisky bottles, with balloons on them to see if it is completely done, and if so, I guess Ill just cap it with the whiskey caps and hope for the best! Our 3 gallon batch is done also, but it is sitting nicely in the 3 gallon carboy. Very little headspace, so Im not worried about it spoiling. Next week or later I will get some more bottles and bottle it. Ooh, I should add a picture of one of the bottles from our first batch. It was done with mixed berries.

The Holiday Season was far more enjoyable than I had expected. Sure, there were the bills that didn't get paid, but each child got what they really wanted and that meant alot to me. We aren't the kind of family that buys gifts all year long. Gifts are (for the most part) saved for Birthdays and Christmas. For this reason, it is important to me to try to make those days special for them... not because its ALL about the gift, but because it's cool to make their dreams come true. Feels great as a parent...right up there with keeping them safe, and making them feel loved. :) It has definitely been a rebirth for me. My spirit within. My divine spark. Slowly but surely, I'm carving a path for myself in the wilderness, and I think I have a direction in which to travel. Forward. However, my moods have been still as cruddy as while pregnant. It's like I have a miniature form of bi-polar. The pendulum swings from hour to hour. Like PMS 24/7. So, I decided to do what I told my