Home Blessing & Tuning Hour

 Now that I'm home on Monday mornings, I have more time/energy for Fly Lady's 'Home Blessing Hour.' 

Fly Lady's list includes several things I don't have - a vacuum (only carpet is on the stairs, so I sweep with my beautiful broom) magazines (lots of books) .... 
As she suggests, I set the time for 15-20 minutes, & go through a round in each room (if there's more time/inclination, I'll do several rounds) & a 10-15 minute break after an hour. 
Another practice I wish to incorporate more is the 'Walk Through' My mom did this naturally ....On her blog 'Dragonflies & Me,' Jean writes: "The walk through is simply going through a room and picking up everything that is out-of-place AND putting it away where it belongs.  Simply eh?" (best done several times daily!)

Blessing Way 'Creating Holy Order'  - a process by which everything in your home supports & nurtures your essence

• Put on happy music, light a candle & some incense, brew some tea
• Kitchen: clear the counter, gather cloth, paper/books, sweep the floor
• Living room:  coffee table, piles, paper, clothes, sweep,
• Bathroom: swish & swipe (toilet, counters) clean mirror, clothes, sweep
• Break: Relax, admire, drink tea

• 2nd round: (you can cycle through several times, or stop at one!)
• Kitchen, Living Room, Laundry
• Break every hour for 10-15 minutes. You may wish to go outside & admire the day (yes, even if it's raining or blustery!) Open the doors & windows for a few minutes as well. If you have any rugs, take them out & give them a good shake or pop them in the wash.
• address: Paper, books, cloth, & gather garbage & recycling

• Round Three

• If you have a drum, rattle or bell, make a round through the rooms making some good noise! Take time to listen for shifts in the sound, & notice any corners that need attention.

Part two: Energetic Blessing - this is a lovely time to ground your home & property. If you didn't light a candle before, now is a good time to do this.

• Put a grounding cord on your home - imagine the 'footprint' of your home, now imagine a cord or tube reaching down into the crystal heart center of the earth, & connecting with it
• From your home's roofline, imagine the cord reaching into the heavens, up to the sun & beyond, to the central sun of the galaxy - we are poised between heaven & earth!
• Visualize a rose-gold sun in the centre of your home - let its light fill every corner! Allow this sun to continue expanding, till it surrounds your home.
• As the sun reaches the outside of your home or space, begin the 'Tune-up' process by invoking the devas, elementals & guides to Cleanse, Clear, Restore & Illuminate your home & grounds.
• Ask that any negativity move through a clearing grid, & the Violet flame * so the energy can be used as compost, burned in the sun, or 'return to sender.' (with no return address!) 
• Surround the cleared land with a violet bubble, a gold pyramid, Dolphin Star Temple, or a briar rose hedge (whichever image feels right to you - or one of your own!)

* Violet Flame: Picture a soothing flame, like a flame in a fireplace, but violet in colour. See it penetrating your very being and world. When you call forth the Violet Transmuting Flame, a flame comes from the hands, heart & head of your I AM presence / Christ Self - and as it touches the ground beneath your feet, it bursts into violet flame! You can also use the essences: Comfrey (Pattern repair) Violet & Lavender to help 'seal' the pattern.

Thank your guides & go on with your day.

Socks

What on earth do you do with your 'extra' socks??

This AM I decided to tackle the laundry 'pile' - fly-lady asks, 'where's your laundry?' & reminds us of the FIVE basic steps: Sort, Wash, Dry, Fold,& Put it away! (the link is to a variety of thoughts from 'fly-babies' on 'solving the laundry quandry)

I CONTINUALLY do all 5 steps with my massage laundry, (sheets, hand towels n face cloths) - so 'home' laundry is rather 'catch as catch can!'

As I sorted the singleton pile, I asked myself 'would I wear these if I did find the mate??? So thinking of sending them into the compost bin! & found several 'matches' that I do like, so put them in the official 'sock PAIR' basket, & saved some of the singles in another basket.

My son-in law is a pro at sorting/cleaning & all that! His solution - each family member has their own main sock pattern (the 5 year old: white with pink toes & heels, etc) so that it's easy to sort, & they ALL match! Yes, there are still some 'character' socks, but not as many!!

I enjoy more variety, tho I see his point! I've been knitting part bamboo socks -using 'left overs' from the fingerless gloves to do the cuff/foot, leaving the heel open, & knitting the toe with the bamboo mix! How fun these have turned out - a veritable rainbow! My intention was 'mix & match,' but I've done several pair (& left some toes open as well!) The photo on this link shows the first two pair, I've done some in 'thyme/green' which were sweet for St Pats :) - & 'of course' had to buy new yarn for pairs . . .

OK - back to the sock mine!! What's your task today??

Rants

A lovely - but cold - day! Debating whether to go out in it - I went out & practiced the dance to the Directions & then did Soaring Crane Qigong, but mighty nippy still. 'Fly Lady' suggests working on the kitchen this week - today is 'clear the counters!'

My 'rant' is - I had bible carrying ladies at the door this AM - why can't I just let them talk, or stay in my power?? No, I have to say that Earth Based spirituality, & a Universal (beyond 'father') God is more my style - & point to the harp, mention 'remembering' playing harp & healing time out of mind! & which early humans really thought 'god' (creator) was MALE, for heavens sake!! Which of the male animals around them was giving birth??

Sweet lady - her 'point' was 'we don't need to repeat suffering' & of course 'father & creator' god (ah, they're so much better coached now, with snippets of glimpses into other ways of thinking!) Co-creation & having any part of it all . . . nope :)
My women's spiritual book group is reading Carol Christ's 'She Who Changes,' & I find process philosoph so matches my sense of how it is (as much as we can see!) 'For process philosophy, the whole universe is alive & changing, continually co-creating new possibilities of life. . . . The world is a web of changing individuals interacting with, affecting & changing each other.' (p45)

Why do I feel the need to argue?? Sigh . . . it's more - I try to open the windows to thinking, beyond the pablum their ministers (all male) feed them. My mom had lovely discussions with some JW missionaries, until they began arriving SUNDAY AM (they're a Sat Sabbath bunch, which is historically 'correct'), knowing my folks attended Church every Sunday, rain or shine - unless we were camping. She'd sit in her chair by the open curtain, & 'ignore' their knocking - if they couldn't respect her beliefs, she didn't feel the need to open the door.

I open the door, & vary my response, today just went for it Hafiz & all 'The awake heart is like a sky that pours light.' (Persian poet, 1320-1389) . . . might I have quoted my favorite Celtic (fictional) 6th Cent religouse - Sister Fidelma?? Who lived in a time women enjoyed more freedoms & equal footing with men, lived in 'joint' houses (she was of Bridgit's mixed gender monastery)

So after they left, I went into my back yard & did a round of The Dance to the Directions, then & Soaring Crane qigong, sending some healing to the earth grid. Some of my friends have been working on manifesting (saying they feel there will be) an earthquake in the NW - I sent my intention of steadiness' to mama/sister earth, that if it's in alignment, may the NW be stable & assist in the Earth rebirth in other ways! O Sada - may it be so! & have been singing 'cleanse, clear, rebalance, illuminate' to the public places (parks, parking strips, well known trees, gardens) all around town; doing a 'tune-up' where I go.

** On Sat, my dau. attended the Gluten Free Friends group. There's a GF nurse that's a great resource for the group, she suggested going more for the whole grains, & less of processed things (noodles, bread) & adding nutrition, since our systems have been deprived while fighting off the damage of wheat. Sweet potatoes (I still have some from my CSA share) are one of the suggested additions.
So I made a mix of millet, amaranth, quinoa & a Tbsp of Teff (one of her favorites, but tiny) & ran peeled Sweet Potatoes in my mini processor - cook 20 min (a bit of kombu - kelp - as well) mmm - was Quite a hit with my dau & her honey - she added the rest of the pan into the rice she'd cooked!! Made another batch this AM.

While I was at it yest, I ran beet & carrot as well (I pre-chop into ~ 3/4 " pieces) & added them to my salad of fresh CSA & garden greens & a few dandelion flors, with some sprouts, kefir, & tahini, olive & coconut oil vinaigrette.

Organic Cleaning & Fly Lady

For those others who may be a bit -- ahem -- cleaning challenged - me too!!

Brett over at this guy's journey has a great post on Organic Cleaning supplies & easy to use/make up recipes! Thanks for posting them! My former son-in law was training to be a plumber, & one of his suggestions for stuck drains was sprinkling a pile of baking soda on the drain, then pouring in some white vinegar, letting it burble for awhile, then flushing with very hot water. Do it a couple of times, if the drain is 'slow,' & weekly as maintenance.
It dissolves the 'scum' nicely - tho not hair, of course! So you may need to 'go fishing' to clear a really stuck drain!

Another suggestion was pouring 1/4 C vinegar into the toilet bowl periodically!

A favorite inspiration is Fly Lady!! A friend of my daughter's suggested her site for cleaning tips a few years ago, & it's a great place to go for inspiration, tips & a program with lots of 'baby steps' & encouragement for those of us living in 'chaos' (* Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome!)

Fly Lady began her journey by cleaning (& keeping clear) her kitchen sink - she suggests that as a great starting point for others.
The home is broken into 5 zones, through which we rotate weekly - this week's Zone is the Living Room. Fly Lady suggests decluttering an area first, & gives detailed suggestions on cleaning, on decluttering, on beginning to 'fly' - if you haven't checked out this site, & are mildly or extremely challenged in this area, do drop by!!
There's even a 'blog talk' radio program, for audio inspiration (& we can listen while cleaning/decluttering, flying!) There are lots of cool tips on getting a handle on this neat house stuff!
My daughter teases me that she remembers when I was dating a fellow who was really good at 'Zen' - & I'd commented that I rather envied his simpler approach to 'stuff' than my clutter . . . . now she's married to a sweetie who learned that approach young, & is good at organizing the whole household & getting rid of extra 'stuff' . . . . her home has evolved into a much neater place, while mine is still rather stuck in 'clutter.'

Her girls (4 & 9) are getting better at quickly picking up their room (the adults go through toys & books periodically) & there's a bag of stuff that's gotten left out at 'pick up time' - mostly by the 4 year old. She's allowed to pick out one thing from that bag each time she cleans up what's currently out.

I love the system at "Playschool" - the kids can get as much out as they want, paint in dress up clothes, etc. When it's clean-up time, they clean the area they've chosen at the beginning of the day (& if lots of kids choose the same area, they get reassigned shortly after beginning in that area). I love the combination of being able to 'free play,' & learning how to pick up efficiently & co-cooperatively!
The teacher always gives a few minutes warning before bringing in the clean up chart (all photos!) As a child who was challanged by transitions, I appreciate having those alerts before the next activity!

To the dishes! (fortunatly, you can't see the counter in the photo - oy!!)