Blog / Category_just for fun

some photos from today

Some photos taken today (for the most recent newsletter going out...hint hint hint....

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going to pick up fabric

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it is a snowy day here today

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a great big heart of love for you

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still working on the painting and decorating of the place. but got some calligraphy in!

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say HI to Meg, our office manager! (Hi Meg!)

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Our main sewing maven, Catherine. She was a monk in a former life.

IMG_9164happy turkey (or UNturkey day!)

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an ad for a magazine...

there's going to be a new magazine coming out for new england and I wish it much success. I received a phone call asking if I wanted to place a free ad in their first issue and I was very honored to do this! here is the ad I created. what do you think? www.vt-fiddle.com
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posting this for the Learn Stuff peeps

of course you can get all the creamy deliciousness of milk by making your own nut and seed milks. go HERE for videos and recipe how-to's. Got Milk? Created by: www.learnstuff.com
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home economics class - fruit sweetened apricot cookies

we're going to make this recipe. I found it in the Dec 2011 issue of Yoga Journal and I'm changing the recipe a bit. I'll let you know how it goes Apricot Squares 1 cup dried apricots (org, unsulphured) 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 2 cups almond flour (I'm using the super flour) 1/2 tsp himalayan or Celtic sea salt 1/4 tsp baking soda 2 eggs (or use Egg Replacer) 1 Tbsp vanilla extract (I'm using 1 tsp vanilla powder) Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly oil an 8" baking pan. Process the apricots and coconut in a food processor. Add in the flour and pulse until crumbly. Transfer to a bowl and then add remaining ingredients. Press batter into the baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 1 hour. Cut and serve. Store in airtight container. This is a super easy recipe to make with the kiddos. Also it's gluten free, dairy free and has no refined sugar in it! WOWsers! ++++++++++ well, we made the recipe and then discovered that the oven doesn't work! So we cooked these up on the stove. It's sort of weird to make cookies this way but it worked. The cookies are very good. Not super sweet. The Super Flour also works extremely well and helps to bind the ingredients. I look forward to making these again proper-like.
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ho'oponopono prayer, or good medicine for healing relationships

don't ask me how to properly pronounce it - I think I've got it but you never know. I think it's pronounced: "ho-pono-pono" with the emphasis on the first syllable. But honestly, check it out on other sites for definitions and more proper pronunciations. When I want to spell it, I have to look it up because I tend to want to write it a little longer like "honoponopono" and I don't ever seem to remember the right place to put the single quotation mark. I learned it a year or two ago as something to do when in conflict with a relationship in my life. I've been reciting it a lot as the last 2-3 years have shown me just how much conflict I have in my heart with some of my relationships. I was told to just recite this prayer aloud and often and the way that I learned was not exactly how it is mentioned on other sites. There's a slight modification and I love the modification because it makes loads of sense to me. (Plus it's very similar to cooking for me as I never use a recipe just as it's written, I like to use what is given as a guideline and change it up a bit.) :-) Here's how I learned it.

Hold yourself and that person that you are having conflict with in your mind with good attention and focus, whether it be your partner, your neighbor, your co-worker, your family member, etc. Think of them as you say the following:

I love you, __________ (state their name)

I'm sorry I hurt you, ___________ (state their name)

I forgive you, __________ (state their name); Please forgive me, too.

I thank you, _________ (state their name)

The wonderful being that taught me this said basically to just keep doing this for at least a week and at least 1-3 times a day (but really whenever I felt some tight feeling about them in my solar plexus) and that it will help to melt away the ego we surround ourselves with (and carry grudges with) and it will just change things energetically in the relationship: sometimes subtly, sometimes we won't know about it for a long long time if at all and still sometimes there will be such a big shift. So I did it and I still do it whenever I have something that doesn't feel right in my body with a relationship or a conflict with someone.

I think he is right, (the man that taught me this.) He said he's not entirely sure of all the hows and whys but that it is so simple and profound and it works amazingly well. So, I did it for everything and everyone that I ever felt hurt by or that I felt sad or shameful about my own part in how a relationship went wrong. It started to become a little game because I was picking out random memories on occasion of something from so long ago and stating this prayer over myself and that person.

What I noticed first and foremost was that I just felt better in my body when I had the thought or image of whatever person I was holding space for. I felt like if that's all this does, then it really is the best thing ever. Then I had one or two of the people I was praying like this over actually come out of the woodwork to re-engage in a relationship and with kindness and sorrow and wanting to put the past behind us. I really was floored. I didn't talk to anyone about this, nor did I try to talk to these people either (mostly because I really thought these relationships were over or I was no longer holding onto the possibility of what their outcome might be.) When these things happened, I thought, "Wow! This is really amazing!" and then I was deeply grateful. It really does seem to make great shifts in the body, in the consciousness and maybe even in the energy that you put out into the world.

There's many prayers like this, that are simple and that seem to help clear the air in your own body and then carry on to the greater space we live in. I'll write about another one soon that I love, once I remember how to spell it! :-)

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homemade moisturizer recipe

Howdy! I received a question about a moisturizer so here's one that I'm posting from a blog I found a while ago. If you make it, let me know how it turns out for you. Good luck and HAVE FUN! xoxo, Linda +++++++++++ Handmade Body Moisturizer Recipe Like fresh food, this will go bad after a certain period of time. If you don't think you'll use it within three months, store it in the refrigerator. Makes approximately 2 cups 1 cup filtered water, cold brewed tea, orange blossom water, or rose water 3/4 cup oil such as olive, almond, unrefined coconut, or avocado 3 tablespoons grated beeswax Optional: a few drops of essential oil of your choice, for fragrance 1. Set up a blender and pour in the water. Prepare clean, dry glass jars for packaging and have them nearby. 2. Put the oil and the beeswax in a Pyrex measuring cup. Place the cup in a pan or small pot and pour in water to reach about halfway up the cup. Bring the water to a gentle boil, and heat the oil and beeswax until the beeswax melts. You'll know when the wax is melted because you won't see it anymore. As soon as the wax is melted, remove the cup from the water and let the oil cool for 2 minutes. 3. Turn on the blender and start blending the water at medium speed. Remove the stopper in the blender lid so you can pour the oil through the top while blending. Slowly pour in the oil and the mixture will begin to emulsify. If there is still some water on the surface, turn up the blender and blend the mixture 30 seconds to a minute longer. If you're using essential oil, blend it in now. 4. With a clean rubber spatula, transfer the cream to the glass jars. Cover the jars with cheesecloth for an hour, or until they've reached room temperature. Placing the lid on the jar when this is warm will cause condensation to form under the lid, which will water down the lotion and form bacteria. When the lotion is cool, screw on the jar lids. Store at room temperature for up to 3 months, or in the refrigerator for 6 months.
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sweet fundraiser

adding a new photo: I'm posting this for Celia, my friend and a worker bee at Fiddle Heads Cafe. She is doing a fundraiser for her friend, Rebecca. Rebecca is originally from Shelburne, VT and has a really remarkable story that can be seen here: www.rebeccasrecovery.webs.com Celia is making these sweet SWEET beaded creations. Check out a coupla photos here: Hearts and butterflies and sparkles and beads!!! How could you not want one? Particularly because 100% of the proceeds goes to help Rebecca pay her exorbanent medical bills. Celia is taking orders! Please email her at cj1ceagainATgmail.com. Prices vary depending on size and level of detail. You can choose the style or color scheme. The size is about 18 inches long and look LOVELY in your window. I've got some hanging over the counter here at the cafe. When I look at them, I just love them. They inspire me to sparkle and to love and I LOVE that they are in their small way, helping Rebecca.
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posting for my friends at the Raw New England Community

The Raw New England Community and Optimum Health Solution PRESENT LindaJoy Rose, Ph.D. Author of “Raw Fusion: Better Living Through Living Foods” www.rawfusionliving.com RAW FUSION: ARTFULLY BLENDING RAW AND COOKED FOODS Food Demo - Learn to make and taste delicious Portobello Pesto Pizza Everyone gets a taste! And Great Menus for Your Family Discussion, Food Demo, Menus & Workshop Raw Fusion is a hybrid of the best of the raw foods world, intermingled with an informed and conscious mainstream lifestyle.” Susan Schenck The Live Food Factor UNITED METHODIST CHURCH – 430 Walnut St. Newton Highlands, MA March 7, 2011 – Monday Registration 5:30 pm Pot Luck 6-7 pm (bring raw, vegan, organic dish to serve 8 guests) SPEAKER 7-9 PM = Books available for purchase

LindaJoy Rose, Ph.D. "LJ" is a raw foods educator and chef and many locations around Tampa Bay.. She is the author of Raw Fusion: Better Living Through Living Foods, the pioneer book in marrying raw foods with a healthy mainstream lifestyle. She is also an internationally known expert and speaker in the fields of hypnotherapy, subconscious dynamics and Jungian psychology. She is the author of several other self-help books, including “Your Mind: The Owner’s Manual” She served as Director of International Development for the American Board of Hypnotherapy and lectured in many countries. Dr. Rose is the creator of Fairy Line Naturals, a line of 150+ “magical natural science” products and resides in Tampa Bay. www.drljrose.com

Raw Fusion - Book Review

Raw Fusion covers all you need to know to get started on your raw, high raw, or “raw fusion” journey. You are taught how to equip our kitchen and pantry, how to properly combine foods for efficient digestion, all about superfoods, and the all important sprouting and soaking. This book will lead you to a world beyond cravings, an attitude of gratitude for your body, and how to cook lightly to avoid toxic byproducts from the heat. There is even an excerpt from my book that warns about how cooking has led to disease.

:“Raw Fusion is a hybrid of the best of the raw foods world, intermingled with an informed and conscious mainstream lifestyle. Individuals who find a high raw diet too limiting can find ways to integrate more variety into their meals without compromising nutrition. High raw foodists seeking healthy ways to add cooked foods into their diets will enjoy the versatility and variety of these tips. Families or individuals accustomed to more mainstream meals, but searching for tasty and convenient ways to increase their nutritional intake, will be surprised at how effortlessly one can fuse more raw ingredients into meals.”

Reviewed by Susan Schenck, LAc, MTOM, is a raw food coach, lecturer, and author of the award-winning book, The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, known as the encyclopedia of the raw food diet.

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wanted to share this today

I just read this from a yahoo group I belong to. It was such a lovely little posting that I wanted to write it here and keep it somewhere I can see it again. Enjoy.

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Happily May I walk.
Happily, with abundance, may I walk.
Happily, with abundant colors, may I walk.
Happily, with abundant rain, may I walk.
Happily, on a trail of abundant pollen, may I walk.
Happily, with abundance, may I walk.
Happily, may I walk.
~ Hopi Night Chant

Where does happiness come from? Today we are told that happiness comes from holding a perfect job, having a perfect body, being in a perfect relationship. But the Hopi and other ancient people of the Americas made happiness something simpler, and more profound. To them, happiness was being attuned to the natural world around us - and fulfilling one's duties toward that world.

For the world does not just exist outside ourselves. We interact with it at every turn. Our actions have consequences: just as surely as today's weather will affect our way of dressing to go outdoors, our actions affect our world. At this moment, the liquefied bodies of dinosaurs are being burned to heat our air;
waters are being directed from their natural sources into our homes; fuel is being burned at a distant site and carried to our buildings for electricity. Even as we sit still, reading, we consume the products of
the earth. We are never separate from her, not for an instant. Let us grow more aware of this deep connection, and find not only happiness but responsibility within it.

by Patricia Monaghan - From "The Goddess Companion"

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the hours they are a changing...

Wanted to post up the hours here from the cafe page. I'm trying to update the FB page but there is seeming to be a problem with that edit link. Hope it gets resolved so I don't confuse anyone. http://www.vt-fiddle.com/rawfood/fiddle_heads_cafe.php I updated the menu on that page while I was at it: Our hours are: Tuesday: 12 - 6 Wednesday: 12 - 6 Thursday: 12 - 6 Friday: 12 - 6 Saturday: 12 - 4 Come in for:
  • juices - made with many local ingredients and always organic
  • smoothies - made with many local ingredients and always organic
  • elixirs and herbal products - both local and extended local
  • hot teas, cacao & coffee
  • cacao (raw chocolate) - big selection of raw chocolate products
  • lunch (weekly specials)
  • WiFi
  • bulk foods (nuts, seeds & way more) -
  • both local and extended local
  • bulk herbs (medicinal, chinese, ayurvedic, culinary)
  • prepared foods to go
  • house special fermented foods (kim chi, sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir soda)
  • superfoods
  • books
  • DVDs
  • artsy-fartsy stuff - both local and extended local
  • soaps, lotions, oils - both local and extended local
  • candles - both local and extended local
  • incense
  • essential oils
  • jewelry made by Worcester's own Dryad Design, Paul Borda!
  • household products
  • gifts
  • and lots lots more
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we're in the times argus today!

here's the link: http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100720/FEATURES17/707209971 and here's how it looked in the paper itself.
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