Road Kill Cafe

More Homemade Cleaners

morrigan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:31:42 +0000

Homemade Scouring Powder

1 cup Baking Soda

1/4 cup Borax

1/4 cup Super Washing Soda

Mix well and put in a shaker container.

Mildew Prevention Spray

Mix equal amounts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Or several drops of Tea Tree Oil and water in a spray bottle.

Baby Wipes

1 roll Bounty paper towels (brand specific here due to the durability)

cut roll in half and remove cardboard tube. Place in a plastic container with a tight fitting lid.

2 tablespoons baby oil

2 tablespoons baby bath

2 cups water

Mix well and pour over paper towels, let sit at least an hour for towels to absorb all the liquid. Pull towels up from the center.

Liquid Laundry Soap

morrigan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:11:26 +0000

With the price of just about everything on its’ way up, I have found a way for some thing to go down. This recipe for liquid laundry soap is easy to make and will give you approximately 10 gallons for about 4 cents a load.

This soap smells great, but don’t expect to see soap suds. Trust me, your laundry will get clean without them!

1 bar Fels Naptha, grated

1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1/2 cup borax

In a large sauce pan add 4 cups hot water to grated soap. Stir over medium/low heat until melted and dissolved.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot water. Add melted soap mixture super washing soda and borax. Stir to dissolve. Top off with hot water. Cool overnight. Mixture will have thickened/jelled. Stir to break up. Fill empty soap bottle half way with the mixture and add hot water to fill. Use 5/8 cup for top loading machine and 1/4 cup for a front loader.

Just give the bottle a shake before each use.

I found all the ingredients at Wal-Mart.

I have been using this for a while and really like the way it cleans. You just have to get passed the no suds thing. All those little bubbles don’t really do anything anyway.

Homemade Fabric Softener

1 cup baking soda

2 cups hot water

Stir until well mixed, it will not fully dissolve.

Add:

1 cup white vinegar

The mixture will bubble and fizz. Stir well.

That is it. You have now made homemade fabric softener for pennies on the dollar.

Add ¼ cup to your rinse cycle. You can even put it in a Downy ball if you’re like me and never remember to add anything to the rinse cycle. It’s more than the line for the Downy ball, though – so until you learn how much it is, go ahead and measure the ¼ cup.

Store in an empty fabric softener bottle, shake well before using.

January

morrigan — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:23:58 +0000

With mornings of frost-feathered trees seen through ice-etched window panes, the bitter cold of January days drives me indoors to the warmth of the wood stove. By the back door sunlight flashes from the icicle that hangs above the rain barrel. Flocks of starlings gather in the hackberry tree to feed on the remaining berries, and crows search the frozen cornfields for anything they may have over looked in times of greater abundance.
Beneath the bird feeder, the tracks of juncos and chickadees, like cuinform writing on the snow covered ground, are thank you notes for a handful of seeds.
In the woodland garden the black berry clusters of false Solomon’s seal nod above the snow-covered ground, and the bright red fruit of jack-in-the-pulpit reward field mice for dispersing their seeds.
Yet in this seeming lifelessness of the frozen world there are signs of new life. The buds of oak and maple are begining to swell, and in the herb garden, under the snow, the large and waxy white flowers of white hellebore are begining to open.
As the lengthening days of January draw to a close, with melancholy sunsets that vare reflected on the glazed surface of the snow, I enjoy the warmth and comfort of the house. The strange perfume of the paper-white narcissus blooming on the window sill mingles with the scent of wood smoke, hinting at the myriad of flowers that even now beneath the frozen crust of earth are beginning to stir.

New Years Resolutions

morrigan — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:24:21 +0000

Here we are at the time of year where everyone is reflecting back on the old year and looking forward to the new one. Plans are being made for New Years Eve celebrations. Lists are being compiled of things that need to be changed. Promises are being made, either to yourself or a loved one. The new year is yet another chance to change things, to make things better, to drop an unhealthy habit, to lose weight and on and on.

Let’s be real and truly honest for cryin’ out loud!

Probably the first resolution that will be broken is the one where they have promised themselves not to drink too much at the New Years Eve party.

OOPS!!!! Screwed THAT one up. Again. Do you even remember the party? Fortunately for you, you don’t have to! There will always be someone there with a camera, so that even before that hangover has kicked in the video has gone viral on the internet. You will be able to view your antics at the party over and over and over……..

So, after you have recovered it is time to break the next two resolutions. Which are usually to exercise more and lose weight. Honestly, why do you even bother? Either you are going to effect change in your life or you aren’t.

I wish for everyone to have a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!

December

morrigan — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:13:10 +0000

The sounds of December days are muffled under a blanket of snow, whether the gray and white days of falling snow, or the sunny days of blue skies and glistening snow. In the meadows few animals are seen. Only their footprints are revealed, in meandering lines that originate somewhere unseen and go to places unknown. Grasses nod their heads of grain, inviting flocks of juncos and chickadees. Cardnials, so secretive throughout the summer nesting season, now flaunt themselves on backyard feeders, and sprays of wild roseberries add a decorative touch of red to roadside and hedgerow.
The nights of December fall dark and early, and houses twinkle with strings of colored lights. Back porches are stacked with firewood, and the crystalline air is scented with wood smoke. Inside, homes are filled with firelight and candleglow, and ovens yield old family recipies, while outside, the drifting snow fills the valleys and covers the rooftops.
To many Pagans, Yule, the longest night of the year, marks the end of the old solar year and the beginning of the new. In the symbolism and iconography of Santa Clause, there is a similar meaning. He is at once the Holly King of the old year and the Oak King of the new, who after all, are only two aspects of the same God.
At New Years’s Eve the old dying year is represented by an old man with a long white beard carrying a scythe, symbolic of death, while the new year is seen, appropriately, as a new-born child. Traditionally people gather, shedding all inhibitations to await that one mystical moment, the “witching hour”, that stroke of midnight that is neither the old year nor the new. That magical “time that is not a time.”
Our Yuletide traditions were brought to these shores from all parts of Europe. Whether they were carried as instinctive folk memories of a Pagan past, or disguisted in the clothing of the new religion by ancient wise ones so that they would be preserved, they have arrived safely. The oranaments may have hung on other trees at other times to celebrate the birth of another child. Their colors may be faded with age, their tinsel tarnished with time, but they bring the joy of a hundred Yuletides to delight the Divine Child of the Great Goddess in all of us.

Holiday Fun

morrigan — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:42:24 +0000

Thanksgiving was great! Our youngest daughter, Gypsy, was here with her 2 children, Boo and Rock Star. Finally I was able to see Rock Star in person. She is almost 4 months old and oh so very cuddly. Needless to say I spent as much time as I could doing just that.

The week went by far too quickly. But we had such a good time. It was nice to just sit and enjoy Gypsy’s company. We spend time chatting on the phone, but it is not the same as in person over a cup of coffee.

Hopefully it will not be a long time before we are able to see each other again.

Some Thanksgiving History

morrigan — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:45:07 +0000

Throughout history mankind has celebrated the bountiful harvest with thanksgiving ceremonies.

Before the establishment of formal religions many ancient farmers believed that their crops contained spirits which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested and they had to be destroyed or they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested them. Some of the harvest festivals celebrated the defeat of these spirits.

Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations were held by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians.

The Greeks

The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses. Their goddess of grains was Demeter who was honored at the festival of Thesmosphoria held each autumn.

On the first day of the festival married women (possibility connecting childbearing and the raising of crops) would build leafy shelters and furnish them with couches made with plants. On the second day they fasted. On the third day a feast was held and offerings to the goddess Demeter were made – gifts of seed corn, cakes, fruit, and pigs. It was hoped that Demeter’s gratitude would grant them a good harvest.

The Romans

The Romans also celebrated a harvest festival called Cerelia, which honored Ceres their goddess of grains (from which the word cereal comes). The festival was held each year on October 4th and offerings of the first fruits of the harvest and pigs were offered to Ceres. Their celebration included music, parades, games and sports and a thanksgiving feast.

The Chinese

The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival, Chung Ch’ui, with the full moon that fell on the 15th day of the 8th month. This day was considered the birthday of the moon and special “moon cakes”, round and yellow like the moon, would be baked. Each cake was stamped with the picture of a rabbit – as it was a rabbit, not a man, which the Chinese saw on the face of the moon.

The families ate a thanksgiving meal and feasted on roasted pig, harvested fruits and the “moon cakes”. It was believed that during the 3 day festival flowers would fall from the moon and those who saw them would be rewarded with good fortune.

According to legend Chung Ch’ui also gave thanks for another special occasion. China had been conquered by enemy armies who took control of the Chinese homes and food. The Chinese found themselves homeless and with no food. Many staved. In order to free themselves they decided to attack the invaders.

The women baked special moon cakes which were distributed to every family. In each cake was a secret message which contained the time for the attack. When the time came the invaders were surprised and easily defeated. Every year moon cakes are eaten in memory of this victory.

The Hebrews

Jewish families also celebrate a harvest festival called Sukkoth. Taking place each autumn, Sukkoth has been celebrated for over 3000 years.

Sukkoth is know by 2 names – Hag ha Succot – the Feast of the Tabernacles and Hag ha Asif – the Feast of Ingathering. Sukkoth begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

Sukkoth is named for the huts (succots) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. These huts were made of branches and were easy to assemble, take apart, and carry as the Israelites wandered through the desert.

When celebrating Sukkoth, which lasts for 8 days, the Jewish people build small huts of branches which recall the tabernacles of their ancestors. These huts are constructed as temporary shelters, as the branches are not driven into the ground and the roof is covered with foliage which is spaced to let the light in. Inside the huts are hung fruits and vegetables, including apples, grapes, corn, and pomegranates. On the first 2 nights of Sukkoth the families eat their meals in the huts under the evening sky.

The Egyptians

The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honor of Min, their god of vegetation and fertility. The festival was held in the springtime, the Egyptian’s harvest season.

The festival of Min featured a parade in which the Pharaoh took part. After the parade a great feast was held. Music, dancing, and sports were also part of the celebration.

When the Egyptian farmers harvested their corn, they wept and pretended to be grief-stricken. This was to deceive the spirit which they believed lived in the corn. They feared the spirit would become angry when the farmers cut down the corn where it lived.

The United States

In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim’s fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770′s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

November

morrigan — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:47:32 +0000

The golden leaves that were the glory of October now lie dead and brown on the frosty ground, and bare black branches etch their silouettes against the bleak gray sky. In contrast to the coldness outside, homes are warm inside with fireglow, and the nights that begin so early now twinkle with candlelight.
As a light snow, perhaps the first of winter, dusts the ground and drives the gardener indoors, there are new and different chores to be done. At this time of year the epiphytic cactus from the jungles of Mexico and Central America , popularly known as the Christmas cactus, has set buds and now requires feeding and extra watering if it is to be in full bloom at Yuletide. Its fuchsia or pink blossoms will stand in bright contrast to another Mexican import, the poinsetta, which also needs special attention at this time of year to be in bloom for the holidays.
November mornings dawn gray and frosted, and deer, brown now in their winter coats, keep to the edge of the frosted meadow, or race across it not daring to linger. One such morning though, dawns with a feeling like no other in the month. As families come together from all parts of the country like some ancient gathering of the clans, as ovens bulge with turkeys and pumpkin pies, we all prepare to celebrate a national holiday that is of ancient Pagan orgin and has roots in England.
As we gather around the dinner table with family and friends and bow our heads in silent prayer, it is appropriate that we recall the Pagan origins of this traditional American holiday brought to these shores by the Pilgrims, and thank the Gods.

All Hallows Eve

morrigan — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:11:59 +0000

Spent sunflowers rustle in unison with the bleached cornstalks outside the window. Their bony stems and withered leaves mimic the stark silhouettes of trees rapidly losing their vestments of red, yellow and brown. Autumn passes away in the skittering leaves that fly just out of reach, like so many summer days.

Oidche Shamhna, “the night of Samhain,” approaches. The fire that lights the night on October 31 crackles brilliantly with disorder signaling harvest’s end, the end of autumn and the end of the Celtic year. As the bonfire leaps skyward, it rends the boundaries between worlds and years, stirring the souls of the dead and those yet living. When the great bonfire finally sees ashes on November 1, the new Celtic year, the winter and the season of Death have arrived.

The festival of Samhain is the origin of our contemporary “Halloween.” Too potent to be banished by time and Christianity, remnants of the original celebration remain. These “remnants” echo of still-living traditions powerful enough to open a door to the Otherworld.

Tradition without essence is meaningless, at best, empty sentimentality. The black cats, grinning pumpkins and trick-or-treats of Halloween satisfy little except a sweet tooth and possibly the temporary atmospheric appreciation of a moonlit, windy night. However, coupled with the archaic remains of the Samhain festival, these simple conventions become compelling indeed.

Marking the end of the year, Samhain heralds the disintegration of the old order and the calends of the new. Let us look at some traditions that honour the arrival of the Otherworldly host such as divinations, feasting, masquerades and the use of harvest symbols.

The harvest that began at Lughnasadh (first harvest) is seconded at Mabon , the autumnal equinox, and finds its fruition in the third and final harvest at Samhain. Fruits and nuts are the last gifts of nature to be gathered. Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit-bearing trees holds the apple as her symbol. At the horizontal centre of the apple is a five-pointed star, sacred to the Goddess. Mythologies the world over are replete with sacred fruits and precious apples, often located in otherworldly groves or gardens such as Avalon, Tir na Og or the Garden of Eden.

Divinations at Samhain reflect the need to discern the germ of new beginnings from the whirling debris of dissolution at year-end. Both apples and nuts find an enduring role of love and fertility in these traditions. Halloween is also known as “Nutcrack Night,” for the hazel and walnuts that are placed on a fire or stove to foretell the fidelity of lovers. Hazel nuts and water are particularly divinatory, harking back to the Well of Connla, where the nine hazel trees of wisdom drop their nuts into the murmuring waters.

The predominant colour of Samhain is black. Black is the winter, the moldering leaves, the rich underworld womb to which seeds of plants and ideas close their eyes for the winter. Black is the waning moon, the magnificent darkness of the crone of wisdom, the Cailleach (Old Woman), the bone-rattling Baba Yaga(fearsome witch of Russian folklore) and our Halloween “witch.” Long sacred to the moon goddess and the world of spirit, cats find their natural place alongside the Cailleach, as well as the owl, a bird of wisdom.

Carved pumpkins are a delightful Halloween tradition, brought to the United States by 18th century Irish immigrants. The pumpkin made a good substitute for carved turnip lanterns and introduced the Jack’o’lantern to the new world.

The Feile na Marbh (”fayluh nuh morv”) is the origin of our trick-or-treat tradition. As the veil between worlds thins, all manner of spirits walk abroad on Samhain, including those of loved ones passed on. An empty chair by the fire, porridge and tobacco were left along with a candle in the window to guide the hungry ghosts home for comfort and to seek their blessing in the coming year. Spirits who found their homes less than inviting were inclined to withhold their blessing and misfortune often befell those so uncivil.

The wearing of masque and costume on Samhain is to deceive wandering spirits, lest they recognize and call you to the Otherworld before your time. Wearing masques and dressing as an animal is also very old magic for assimilating the strength and spirit of a revered creature. The carrying of noisemakers fractures the ordinary drone of this world and opens a space for Otherworldly messages to break through.

A very old aspect of Samhain is sortilege, the act of deciding something by casting lots. While the burning ““Wicker Man” tales are probably not fact-based, it is likely that sacrifice by lot was performed throughout the ancient world. The sacrifice of a king or other designee imitated nature and dedicated life energy in a time of seasonal decline. The modern interpretation of this custom is the baking of cakes, Colcannon (mashed potatoes, cabbage with either ham or bacon) or Barmbrack (Irish spicy fruit bread) with tokens within to select a festive “Lord of Misrule” or otherwise divine the future by the type of token found inside.

By enlivening the human senses through divination, disguise, propitiation, sound and imagery, a temenos is created, a divine common ground, wherein the ordinary and the universal exist as one. In the death of days and outlived ways of being comes renewal and the living promise of rebirth in even the darkest seasons of mortal life.

This Halloween, light a candle, tell a story, embrace the beautiful chaos of Samhain – the rattling leaves are speaking to you. Blessed Be, Happy New Year.

October

morrigan — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:43:43 +0000

The misty mornings of October melt into golden afternoons and crystal moonlit nights. Everywhere there is color. The maple trees that surround the house envelope it in a cloak of buttery yellow and carpet the ground, while the cadmium orange sumach crowns the hill above the vineyard, all in contrast to the still green grass and clear blue skies. Corn that has been left in the field to dry for winter feed has been bleached bone white, and it rattles like dancing skeletons in the October breezes.
Inside, the first fires have been kindled in the woodstove to ward off the autumn chill. There is a faint aroma of camphor wafting through the house from the familiar patterens of the patchwork quilts that have been brought out of storage to warm the frosty nights.
The last of the herbs have been gathered, and they hang from the beams. There are the culinary thymes, savory, aromatic sage, the medicinal mints, coltsfoot, southernwood, magical mugwort, wormwood and artemisia bathed in its own moonlight.
This is the time of the apple harvest: winesaps, greenings, macintosh, red and yellow delicious, the antique varieties of sops of wine, sheepnose and smokehouse. There are apples to fill fruitbowls for immediate eating, apples that keep well for winter storage and apples that make the best pie ever. The back porch smells of baskets of apples in the afternoon sun and the house is perfumed with hot applebutter richly laced with cinnamon, cloves and alspice, which is canned by the case.
The sights, sounds and smells of October bring about in all of us subtle changes, and as our bodies begin to change metabolism, preparing us for shorter winter days, our consciousness begins to shift from the more actively mental to the more psychically receptive state appropriate to the dark half of the year. As all of these changes are taking place I am busy preparing for the most magical night of the year, Halloween.
The sounds of small feet shuffling up the path through the dry leaves of October announce the arrival of trick-or-treaters long before their knocks at the door. As the children gaze wide-eyed at the array of Halloween treats placed before them and slowly fill their bags with one of each, their parents are met with cups of warm spiced cider to offset the chill of the night air and to protect them from evil spirits. Eventually the sleepy children, filled with candy and exhausted from hours of trick or treating, are carried home to be put to bed to dream dreams of goblins and popcorn, witches and candy apples.
At last I am alone by the fire to contemplate the magic of this night. As the “Witching Hour” of midnight approaches, I gaze into the flames and imagine other times, in other places, when on this night ,Samhain (or Halloween) Fires glowed on every hilltop. As moonset darkens this haunted night and the spirits gather at the doors and windows, I stare into the fire and the wind howls down the chimney. When the dying fire has been banked and the candles in the jack-o’-lanterns have been extinguished, I leave a plate of cakes and a cup of wine for whatever spirits seek the comfort of my hearth tonight.