My Drumming Circle's 10th Anniversary

In October, the Women's Drumming and Goddess Chanting Circle which I facilitate marked 10 years of celebrating the Divine Feminine! When I started the Circle in 2001, who knew it would last so long?

This definitely called for a parTAY! So, of course, there must be balloons . . .

. . . which must of course be in the colours of the Triple Goddess: white for the Maiden, red for the Mother and black for the Crone.

And what's a celebration without door prizes in pretty gift bags?

The swag included an assortment of smudges, a set of Louise Hay affirmation cards, items honouring the Goddesses Yemaya and Athena, plus a lovely Wheel of the Year from the Glastonbury Goddess Temple.

Here's a shot of the Circle set up in our downstairs family room prior to everyone's arrival. We had 18 women attend that evening and believe me, we raised the roof with drumming, singing and much snacking on goodies!

Blessed be my Circle's past, present and future and all the women who have attended and will attend! I am grateful for all.

Catvertising -- You're Forewarned

Her Royal Highness's new ambition in life is to be a catvertising star. Watch for her soon on a television or computer screen near you!

Clawed and Mauled! *sob*

Final score: B.C. Lions 34, Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23.

The Lions led throughout the game, but the play was pretty desultory until the 4th quarter. Then all of a sudden, both teams came alive and touchdowns abounded! The Bombers fought hard but it was too little, too late and they could not prevail.

And the worst thing of all is that now I have to put up with a smug cat for the rest of the week. Her Royal Highness will be absolutely insufferable.

Grey Cup Preview

It's Grey Cup weekend again! This Sunday, the championship game of the Canadian Football League will be fought between the British Columbia Lions (Western Division champions) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Eastern Division champions). And this year the lucky buggers won't even have to freeze outdoors in the snow because the game is in balmy Vancouver's domed stadium.

I usually cheer for the West but this year I must cheer for my old home town of Winnipeg. The Peg is actually a Western Canadian city but it has been placed in the CFL Eastern Division so that both Divisions have an even number of teams.

The Blue Bombers have not won the Grey Cup since 1990, which is the longest drought for any team in the CFL. Another good reason why Winnipeg deserves to win! Go Bombers Go!

Her Royal Highness is cheering for the B.C. Lions, of course. Cats always stick together.

What I DIDN'T do on holiday

Tattooing is a huge part of traditional Hawaiian / Polynesian culture. We saw so many fabulous tattoos while we were in Maui! In Honolulu where Disney recently built a fabulous new resort hotel, the powerful Mouse Corporation had to relax its otherwise unbending prohibition on employees with tattoos or else it would not have been able to hire staff.

Tattoo parlours are everywhere, of course. I love this beautiful, if narrow, laneway entrance to one in upcountry Maui (in the town of Pa'ia, if memory serves correctly).

But I did not succumb to the lure of ink. My pasty white Canadian hide remains unmarked.

[Photo by Debra She Who Seeks]

What I did on holiday

I ate too much. I drank too much. I shopped too much. However, I did show some restraint when it came to sunning myself so did not get sunburned.

My Rare One and I drove on one-lane, sheer cliffside roads with no guard rails (yikes). We hiked around the 'Iao Valley and the Seven Sacred Pools as well. We went to the volcanic craters of Haleakala on Maui and Diamond Head on O'ahu. And in Honolulu, we had a free ukulele lesson!

One of my favourite things was visiting 5 labyrinth sites on Maui. I'll be blogging about them over the course of the winter so stay tuned. But here's a sneak peek of a labyrinth at Dragon's Teeth Point in Kapalua, complete with a beautiful rainbow!

[Photos by Debra She Who Seeks]

Aloha! I'm back!

My Rare One likes to go to Maui every 5 years when she reaches a significant birthday milestone. "Birthdays are painless in Hawaii," she says. We stayed in a condo hotel in Kihei and drove around the island enjoying Maui's sun, sand, surf, sightseeing and shopping. We also spent a few days visiting friends in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu.

The weather was a beautiful 25-30˚C (80-85˚F) with only a couple of rain showers while we were there. Warm breezes, sunny days, blue skies. This is what we saw from our patio window --


We arrived home in Edmonton to -20˚C (-4˚F) and a white blanket of snow. This is now our view from our frosty kitchen window -- and yes, that's our labyrinth peeking through the snow. Reality check, LOL!

[Top photo by My Rare One; other photos by Debra She Who Seeks]