Tuesday 21 June 2011

Summer Solstice

I know there's not been anything from me in over a week, but I've been on a complete one track mind with projects. Those are now complete, so now to crack on with the blog posts that have been floating in my head, including a guest post for The Pagan Mom Blog for next month, and my views on Winnie the Pooh (trust me, it's not as silly as it may sound).

So, how have you spent your summer solstice, or Litha? Did you see in the dawn? Or even more lucky to see it in at Stonehenge? Unfortunately in our house, dawn doesn't exist. The Imp likes her sleep, and I'm a late night person that struggles with not getting enough sleep as it is. I think I've only seen a couple of solstice dawns when I was childless and working nights. Instead, I tend to nurture my creative streak throughout the day. Today I completed a project that I started on the New Moon (the decorative part of it) of last week, that was given as a gift this evening. I also baked some gluten free vanilla cupcakes as a solstice gift.  Most of my solstices I spend baking at least one thing that I don't have on a regular basis, and a lot of the time it is either shared or gifted.  For me, this seems to be the most natural thing in the world, and a perfect way to celebrate.

Leading back to my previous post about unfinished projects, it was an excellent feeling to finish the project today. For those that don't know me well, I'm an avid fan of attachment parenting and babywearing, and try my best to encourage and help others where I can. My friend at The Witchy Kitty blog had a gorgeous boy last week, and I thought that the best way to welcome him into the world was with a hand made work of art that will give him all the perfect snuggles he could ever desire. The day that he was born last week, this unfinished ring sling finally shouted at me that it needed to be completed. Four days of intense cross stitching, with the assistance of both the cats, and supervised to the high standards of the Imp. My fingers were numb and tingling by the end of it, but the feeling of accomplishment was amazing. Today I sorted it onto the sling as a pocket, that can be removed when he's older to be added to a quilt.  I have found in the past that when baby gifts are given, most of the stuff tend towards perishables, clothing, or decorative that they grow too old for. There's nothing wrong with that, but I do adore giving gifts that will be of use for a REALLY long time. And being handmade, started on the new moon, completed on a solstice...well, I'm simply buzzing tonight.

I still have other projects, but I now don't have the pressing 'Finish me! Finish me! Finish me!' screaming in my head, so there is now space again for my thoughts for writing.

Brightest Solstice Blessings!
Mel

4 comments:

Andrea said...

Ooh, I would love to know your gluten-free cupcake recipe, if you're willing to share! :)

Sylvanna said...

Wow. It sounds like making a ring sling is much more intensive than I thought. I still love my original eggplant unpadded Maya. Too bad I don't get to use it anymore. Good job on the perfect baby gift.

Melissa Wheeler said...

Andrea: I'll be happy to share...I'll do it as a separate post later. It's just a normal recipe that I've found in a magazine that worked out very well, without being dry or like a brick.

Melissa Wheeler said...

Sylvanna: The actual sling maybe took a couple of hours. It was doing all the cross stitch onto the pocket. I used 18ct wastecloth onto a heavy cotton material, and the design turned out about 4 or 5 inches square