Winter Gardening Ideas

Here’s John Kohler, whose garden I have visited and tasted (amazingly yummy inspiration to grow your own food!), giving a tour of his Northern California winter garden. If you live in a cooler climate than Sonoma County, then now would be the time to start growing some of the things he mentions. This video just reminded me to get some miner’s lettuce seeds to plant under trees. $6 /pound or free and reseeding as “weeds”? Um, yum! I’ll take the miner’s lettuce. 🙂 You can also mimic a warmer climate by getting floating row covers and cold frames.

Monsanto in Ukraine: IMF loan for Ukraine may give GMO giant a backdoor into EU

Yep. No surprise here … So interesting in that Russia has come out with such a strong anti-GMO stance. They get sanctioned then boycott Western agriculture. Um, somehow, I think Russia’s getting the better end of the deal here. Certainly better than Ukraine. I’d pass on Frankencrops, too.

 

​Monsanto in Ukraine: IMF loan for Ukraine may give GMO giant a backdoor into EU

Ukraine’s bid for closer ties with the west could come at a cost. With the IMF set to loan the country $17 billion, the deal could also see GMO crops grown in some of the most fertile lands on the continent, warns Frederic Mousseau.

Very few, not least the Ukrainian population are aware of these details, but according to Mousseau, who is a Policy Director at The Oakland Institute, in return for the cash, Ukraine could very well become a test ground for GMO crops in Europe, something the rest of the European Union has been looking to prevent. RT caught up with the Frenchman, who voiced his concerns at what may lay ahead.

RT: When this $17 billion deal is approved by the IMF and the Ukrainian ban on GM crops is lifted, does that mean it is just a matter of time before Ukrainian farmers grow modified crops?

Frederic Mousseau: This is very likely because there is a lot of pressure from the bio-technological industry, such as Monsanto, to have these approved in Ukraine. It is also part of the EU Association Agreement, which has a particular article which calls for the expansion of bio-technology and GMOs in Ukraine.

RT: If it was one of the pre-conditions of the multi-billion dollar loan, do you think it is fair to say that Monsanto has considerable influence over the IMF and the World Bank and even dictates terms to them?  Continue reading . . .

Selected RT_News LInks

British MP and RT host George Galloway brutally attacked ‘over his Israel views’

Fukushima fail: Radioactive groundwater levels not falling

​There’s another region Russia needs to focus on – and it’s the world’s 6th largest economy

‘Soul of the sun’ detected for the first time by scientists

Ecuador set to create state-backed digital currency… to ditch dollar?

US judge rules Microsoft must handover personal data stored abroad

EU drafts new sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, but ‘wants no confrontation’

‘Gun boom’ in the US is over, but weapon sales still high

UK seeking to bar Russia from using SWIFT banking network – report

Federal cybersecurity director convicted of child porn charges

SF Source RTNews

Garden Update: Curcubits, Kale, Cosmos and Flowers Galore!

This has been the week of curcubits (pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, zucchini and serpentine gourd):

The Fairy Tale Pumpkin is turning orange!

Concrete cantaloupe: oops! I didn’t see this guy until he’d already wedged himself firmly into the concrete. Some friends suggested we cut a sliver when ripe and then shimmy it out. Tomorrow’s fun project. (And yes, that is a perfectly captured fly on the gnome’s cheek. LOL, such photographic skill!)

One morning’s partial harvest. We have cantaloupes busting out all over the place. They’ve been eaten, given away, pickled, frozen, made into cinnamon-camu berry smoothies. All we can say is yum!

These serpentine gourds taste like a milder version of zucchini. Some have grown nearly 4 feet long! Just a couple shown here with kale for chocolate kale chips. I dried the gourds into savory chips while dehydrating the kale.

First ripe watermelon: a Russian variety called Small Shining Light. At first I thought it was just OK. Then I refrigerated it. OMG! Heaven! Also delicious blended with the rind into a refreshing smoothie.

This shows the back beds AFTER removing all the cantaloupe vines, which had acquired powdery mildew. The fruits were fine, and truthfully, we were running out of room for the vines anyway.

More post-cantaloupe raised beds. You can see fall starting to show a bit, and the cleared areas already have fall crops sown or await garlic planting in a few weeks.

I’ve been harvesting like crazy from the front yard cottage garden, but you can’t even tell.

The tree collards keep replenishing as soon as I harvest loads of leaves for dehydrating.

Another angle of the front beds. The nasturtiums, kale and sedum are loving the pre-autumnal weather.

So glad I planted multiple varieties of sunflowers. These autumn harvest sunnies bloomed just when the others tanked.

I don’t know if this is normally their season, but the garlic chives decided to bloom.

I grow two giant pokes as ornamentals and winter bird feeders, along with cosmos and grape in the summer. Yesterday involved major pruning to relocate the gate.

In addition to the giant poke, the Garden Tower remains a conversation piece. This one has been harvested and replanted in some spots for fall.

Fall is in the air, but I look forward to the September, October and November blooms: pineapple sage with its gorgeous red flowers, pink asters, another round of echinacea, sedum, unbelievably large marigolds … I don’t even know if I’ll have room for mums this year!

The Reality of Magick

An all too common type of question (whether for requesting magickal assistance, life coaching, timeline jumping, etc.), followed by an excellent response by Amythyst. I’ve spoken before of what I call “the rotten fruits of desperation,” and Amythyst offers wise words for people who find themselves obsessed with controlling a particular outcome and timing. The only thing I would add is that often this kind of dynamic indicates past life bleedthrough — old patterns affecting our perceptions and magnifying our feelings to bizarre and disproportionate degrees in this lifetime. Compulsion enters the picture. When that happens, nothing is as it appears, and basing magick on an illusion or distorted perception creates far more trouble than you imagine it would, because you’re only looking at the tip of the iceberg or even its reflection on the ocean, not the deep, massive, unseen parts of it. Thanks to Amythyst for bringing practical wisdom to the mystical realm. 🙂

Magickal Connections

A Question I received yesterday:

[sic] I I really need some help I really what you to make this boy have all the same classes with me and like me please I’ll. Doing anything please and I need it done today thx

____________________

Oh my goodness, Sweetheart, real magick doesn’t work this way.  Where do I start?

First, You can’t “make” anyone like you.  Even though there are spells out there, love spells, that can draw someone to you (and a few darker forms of magick to bind someone to you); this kind of magick is always fraught with karmic repercussions– you think you want something, but what you get might be something totally unexpected and unsatisfactory.  And these kinds of spells are very hard, if not impossible, to reverse.  And anyway, you don’t want a young man to ‘like’ you just because you’ve used magick on him.  You want a…

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CDC and CIA: A Close and Sick Relationship

This is an important FYI for anyone still on the fence about vaccines or about the close ties between the CDC and the CIA. Lots of documentation and statistics create a clear picture of what’s going on. Also highly relevant for people trying to conceive children!

While Rome Burns…

Wise words from Colette: I wholeheartedly agree!

Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland

There are no solutions to the instability in the world that I care to offer, as my voice is irrelevant in the scheme of things that cause mayhem and war.

I can only offer advice on what works for me…on what keeps me sane in a world filled with lunacy!

Keep grounded!

Do what you have to do and do it well!

Look ahead into the seasons and make plans for planting, working, visiting and caring for the world around you.

Think about ways in which you can heal the world around you, be positive and nurture.

Don’t allow the mayhem to grind you down…life went on after the Fall of Rome, as well we know!

Remember, even as war, austerity and breakdown of society is happening right now in countries around the globe, people continue to look after their children, grow food, make food, wash clothes and generally get…

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The Hug of the Century

Thanks, G!

A woman found a badly injured lion in the forest. She took it with her and nursed it back to health. When it was better, she made arrangements with a zoo to take the lion and give it a new and happy home. This video was taken when she returned to the zoo some time later to see how her lion was doing. Watch the lion’s amazing reaction when he sees her!

Of course, this video reminds me of this other one, shared earlier:

Accentuate the Positive

This needs to go up again, because it came on in the car and I can’t get it out of my head again. What’s not to love?

Laura Bruno's Blog

Law of Attraction, Perry Como-style!

Dork alert: I’ve been trying to find this version of the song for nearly 14 years and finally found it today. Having watched “Blast from the Past” initially while brain injured, the Perry Como reference totally escaped me until we watched it again tonight. Actually, I missed it again, but when I started singing along, David nonchalantly said, “Perry Como” and found the song on YouTube. I haven’t felt so giddy about a silly quest since I found the Golden Beet after five years of searching for what I thought were yellow pickled turnips made by my Korean college boyfriend’s mom.

Synchronously, as I was relaying the tale of finding the Golden Beet and comparing it to the satisfaction of finding “Accentuate the Positive,” I realized I happened to be eating … a golden beet. (We made roasted root veggies to eat while watching “Blast…

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The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit

This is a fascinating read! Thanks, Bo!

The only thing that I would say is, “What makes anyone so sure this is the last true hermit? A true hermit, for sure, but the only reason we know about him is that he got caught stealing. Who’s to say there aren’t many more such hermits?”

Click here to read “The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit.”

Last Week for August Specials

AUGUST 2014 SPECIALS:

Return of the $77 Past Life Quickie

With the veils thinning, so many more people have begun to experience what I call “past life bleed-through.” Dreams, hunches, visions, flashes … however the suspected past life awareness arrives, it can feel unsettling, exciting and/or cause obsessive questions. This half-hour reading allows people to ask persistent questions, or to have a check-in regarding the most pressing karmic issues presenting themselves right now. Yes, this can include past life relationships with animal friends. I don’t normally offer Past Life Readings in a half-hour format, but I wanted to make this available to the larger numbers of people wondering about previous lifetimes and relationships. If you’d like to double this special for the full hour, just let me know in your scheduling request. Offer valid if prepaid on or before August 31, 2014.

$444 Intuitive Coaching Four-Pack

With regular intuitive or life coaching sessions running $175/hour, this special offers major savings at $444/four hours. I’ve found that even people who normally process things on their own feel challenged by the increased intensity and “sorting” of the Universe these days. As we continue with Earth changes, internal and galactic shifts, I feel called to offer a short burst of support to those in need. These sessions can be used close together or saved for a future need. The entire package can be gifted to someone else, but (for simplicity of paperwork) these three-packs cannot be divided and shared among multiple individuals. Offer valid if prepaid on or before August 31, 2014. To schedule your first session or purchase the package, please contact me here.

Timeline Tune-In and Tune-Up

This hour session helps you to recognize your likely trajectory based on current energy patterns, intentions, and habits … and then, I search for the closest parallel reality versions of “you” with very slight differences that lead to more preferred (and more varied/greater opportunities for) positive outcomes. The scan and download are actually easier for me to do than to explain here, but if you’ve ever seen the movie “Sliding Doors” with its alternate reality story lines that intersect at certain points throughout the film, I’ll be scanning you for the stickiest intersection points.

I have found that these crossover points — i.e., parallel Universe bleed-throughs — can act like portals into alternate realities, preferred or not. That’s why you want to approach them consciously and respectfully, so that you recognize the power of the moment and choose wisely. The initial shift looks subtle, because if there weren’t enough similarities between the timelines/alternate realities, then the bleed-through moments wouldn’t happen so easily; however, in retrospect, such moments or decisions often seem “Fated.”

This reading gives you a heads up regarding the types of feelings, thoughts and experiences to watch for if you’re looking to sidestep onto a more positive timeline without needing to slog through linear time to get your desired life. In some cases, the preferred outcome even requires a sidestep, because the laws of cause and effect already set in motion on the current timeline are barreling you toward their “inevitable” end result. Fortunately, linear time’s not all it’s cracked up to be! These “timeline hops,” “portal points,” “reality jumps” — whatever you want to call them — are not only possible but powerful, and with awareness and practice, you can learn to surf such opportunities, charting your own course from current to next closest to preferred realities.

$133/hour if prepaid on or before 8/31/14.

(Offer can be multiplied if you would like one or more follow-up tune-ins, since, depending on what I discover, your most accessible hop might be to a stepping stone reality from which to make your next boldly conscious, chosen hop. Such follow-up sessions can provide continuity and a clear reflection as you Fun House Mirror your way through wrinkles in time.)

Please contact me if you’d like to sign up for any or all of these specials.