Pagan Pies

Pagan Pies turned 4 today!

I stopped posting a little over a year ago when I started writing and publishing romance novels, but I love looking back on this blog with such nostalgia.

It’s September 6th.  Yeah, my husband is going to complain about this when he gets home.

Ah! So fast! My pies for Fourth of July... no recipes because I literally just sort of threw them together.

First up: Quadruple Berry Pie.  I used to make this all the time, but it had been a while! Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, sugar, corn starch, store bought crust.  Great with a melting scoop of vanilla ice cream.

S’mores Pie: Dudes, this is delicious.  Store bought graham cracker crust, cover with hot fudge, then marshmallow fluff, then chopped up hershey bar and broken graham crackers, repeat and cover with whipped cream. YUM. Excuse my bare feet in the picture. It was 95 F here today. Yeesh. 

And I had a epiphany today.  Fourth of July in America is how the general population celebrates Midsummer.  We went to a parade, had a BBQ, my kids swam in our blow-up pool all day, and I drank several lemonades (basically the quintessential non-alcoholic summer drink. Don’t worry, I’m not expecting.) 

A quick look at my garden, the day after Midsummer.  It’s been raining non-stop here (though today the sun did actually peek out) and cool enough for me to be gardening in rain boots, jeans, and long sleeves.  BUT LOOK HOW LUSH EVERYTHING IS!! Those tomatoes plants are taller than my two year old, the broccoli looks like it’s going to take over the world, and maybe 16 pepper plants was too many....  My herbs are definitely getting a little boxed out by these insane veggies. Next year, I’ll split herbs and veggies into two different containers.  And we have a lemon!  Just one, but isn’t it adorable?? For good measure, I added pics of our sunflowers (something is digging up the sprouts and eating them so they might all disappear.  We have 29 and now we have six.), zinnia buds, and the portion of our yard that flooded.  This is crazy because we live on the top of a hill.  My poor neighbors.

Next week is supposed to be in the high 80′s and low 90′s, so it will truly feel like SUMMER.  

Things I love about living in our country/ suburbs house.

1. Look. At. That. Space.

2. No more three flights of stairs to the rooftop garden.

3. No more carrying water up said stairs to water garden.  While pregnant. With twins.

4. Having the space to grow everything I want!

My last gardening post was very fairy/ butterfly garden heavy, so here’s a look at the edibles we are doing this year. The giant blue pot is our new blueberry bush which already has 50(!)+ blueberries on it!  I think we got a total of 10 from our last bush over four years.  (We left that for the new people who moved into our place.  Partly because it was heavy, partly because when we tried to move the wooden planter it started falling apart, and partly because when they put in the offer, the asked if we would leave the garden. We took everything else.) Next is our lemon tree - it was a birthday present from me to me this year.  I am a little nervous about taking care of it because it was a big investment, and I have to try to keep it alive through the winter in the house.  If all goes to planned, we will start getting lemons in January or February... one of these years. Then I have my tiny cucumber plant - there are 4 sprouts and I just planted the seeds a week ago so I have high hopes for it.  Our strawberries are back - and fingers crossed the weather so far this year has been much better than last.  We got six plants instead of four, so they are a bit jammed in the planter, but they are all growing a ton and flowering, which is a good sign! 

And last but obviously not least, my amazing huge raised garden bed!  I actually have a second one in the garage, but decided to only do one this year, to get myself used to all the gardening.  I’ve got my herbs in here (rosemary, two kinds of sage, tarragon, basil, thyme, parsley, lemon balm, plus there is some lavender on the front porch), romaine, broccoli, 3 tomato plants, 16 (!) pepper plants (my kids inhaled bell peppers), and nasturtium, which my son put in our cart without me realizing, but now we well get some pretty salads. 

A few pictures of the garden so far: Two fairy gardens and my first attempt at a butterfly garden.  I also have a raised garden bed of veggies and herbs, and strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, and a lemon tree in their own separate spaces.

Hey! How are you? 

So it looks like having soooooo many children is cutting into my piewitchgardening time.  BUT. Spring is coming.  The twins are almost sleeping through the night.  And my most favorite holidays are really just around the corner.  Beltaine, Litha, give me my hot summer celebrations! 

I’ll try my darnedest to get a pie on here for Ostara!  In the running... Lemon Rosemary, Strawberry Rhubarb, Poppy Seed, and Mint. 

I’m also getting SUPER excited about the garden this year.  Because I was so uncomfortable and pregnant last summer, I didn’t get my garden fix.  And since we moved, I have so much more space! I entered a drawing at a local nursery to win $500 and I’m dying to win it so I can buy a couple fruit trees!  The plan so far is tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, and lettuce, as well as my herb garden and fairy gardens.  

Happiest return of light to you all!!

Merry Merry!

Yesterday was Saint Lucia’s Day, and while we didn’t have a day full of crafts and candles (lit candles with two newborns?!? Maybe in February), we did have cinnamon rolls.  From a can.  Because I haven’t gotten more than two consecutive hours of sleep since November 14th (twins were born on the 15th) and I don’t plan to get more than five disjointed hours of sleep until February.  BUT we cannot have December 13th roll by in this house without some cinnamon rolls.  

Our tree is up and decorated, and some of my favorite yuletide trinkets are adorning the house (the light-up gingerbread house is my absolute favorite).  My husband went crazy with outdoor lights on our new house, but every time we turn them on, within an hour, we blow the fuse.  I guess he went a little too crazy.  

We have snow here, not too much, but just enough that the grass is covered and the driveway is clear.  Just how I like it.  I am CRAZY looking forward to the Solstice because a) when you are up all night with babies, the 4 PM sunset is getting really depressing and b) my little lady is turning 2!! I had plans to have a toddler cookie decorating/ sledding party for her birthday, but decided instead to just have a family party.  We’ll save the winter extravaganza for when she turns three.

Nothing like having 4 under 5 to make me HARDCORE nostalgic for that first summer dating my husband... eighteen, not a care in the world, working at a restaurant, going to the beach at night/ on days off, listening to really great/horrible early 2000 music, living life without a sliver of responsibility, literally doing things like driving home wearing a bikini at one in the morning. 

Lily and Juniper had a dramatic entrance into this world, and we couldn’t be happier to have them in our family.  And now I am beginning to heal, and look forward to getting my groove back by Yule. I’ll be buying my Thanksgiving pies this year, but by December, I’ll be ready to start posting more goodies!

View of my kiddies going trick or treating with Dad. A fireman and a dinosaur (very warm costumes on this chilly, chilly night!) I parked myself next to the door and met lots of nice potential babysitters.

I haven’t been doing much tumblr or computer work because it is super uncomfy to have my lap top so close to my stomach.  So instead, I’ve been watching my favorite Halloween movies (Hocus Pocus, Addams Family, Nightmare Before Christmas, though I know there is some debate as to whether it is a Halloween or Christmas movie). Tonight I think I’ll watch Practical Magic.  I’ve also been knitting up a storm the last three days.  I’ve finished a hat for myself and one for my four year old, and I’m about to begin one for my almost 2 year old Winter Solstice Girl. Then, provided I don’t go into labor, I have plans for little silver hats for the twins, and at least one snuggly blanket.  It’s amazing how much knitting I can get done when I am sitting down all day long.

Last weekend my sister got married! It was a beautiful ceremony, a windy, rainy fall day, and we all had a very good time.  

But, on Tuesday I was admitted to the hospital for preterm labor with the twins.  I was only 32 and 1/2 weeks pregnant, which is still quite early, and things were very scary.  I got steroid shots to give the twins a burst of lung development and spent 3 days on anti-labor meds.  Thankfully all of that worked, and the twins have stayed put.  But now I am home on very strict bed rest for at least three weeks to give the babies a chance to cook a little longer. Being on bed rest is not easy especially with two kids who really don’t understand why mom is suddenly stuck in her bed.  But, I am lucky.  I am allowed to get up to shower and even walk around for a few minutes every hour.  I decided to throw myself into some of the fiction I write for now, as no baking is happening :( At this point, I’m really just dealing with the fact that I am going to miss my favorite time of year, just looking out the window.  My parents have been great: they’ve watched my kids, took them to a farm, bought them pumpkins.  My mom said she would come make our famous pumpkin bread this week with my four year old.  My husband is on top of halloween costumes, and we just found out that our new neighborhood goes crazy for Halloween.  I think I’ll park myself on the couch by the front door so I can see all the kids in their costumes and get into the Halloween spirit.

Beyond all this sadness and guilt though, I am really grateful.  There is something wonderful about being alive in 2017.  Sure, I may romanticize the past and think on how lovely it would be to live in a world without technology, just listening to the rhythms of the earth, but I am really happy I didn’t give birth to two very small babies on Tuesday.  And that if I had, we were in a hospital with a great NICU that can provide breathing support as well as a myriad of other medical procedures.