Beth's Blessingway

Today was a blessingway circle for my dear friend Beth. She is expecting her third child in a few short weeks, and this beautiful gathering of women was a powerful experience. This will be her first homebirth. I had never participated in a blessingway before, and was honored and emotional throughout. The journey of mothering is such a personal path, yet this special ceremony connected each of the women in the circle, as well as reminded us of our connection to our own maternal lineages and that of our ancestors throughout time.

During the ceremony, we adorned Beth's belly with Henna and created a birth necklace for her to wear during her labor. Each woman contributed a bead and shared a piece of wisdom as she strung it on the necklace. There were other special elements, each with its own power. It was a beautiful experience and one that I hope to share again in the future. Isn't it a gift to be a mother...what a blessing!

Musings on slippers, and friends.

These are the sweet slippers that have been keeping my big boys feet warm for the past two weeks. The little one has a matching pair too, but it's harder to get him to sit still for a picture! "Friend" doesn't really serve Jenn justice, for her place in my life is deeper than that. "Best Friend"? Seems like it delineates her amongst others, and categorizes her...which is far less than she deserves. To me, the most appropriate label for our sweet benefactor is sister. She's really like a sister that God forgot to give me, or rather sent to me when the time was right. It's interesting the way people drift in and out of our lives for one reason or another...and the way others, just a few, stay with us, forever. It's like that for Jenn and me...we've shared some of the biggest joys and sorrows of our lives so far with each other. It's amazing how even though we live far away from each other now, we are as close, if not closer, than we ever were. We speak almost daily - our phone bills thankfully cover unlimited long distance!

Anyway, she knitted these fabulous slippers for the boys for the holidays...from the LTK Pattern. I tried to replicate these because I was so in love with them, so I ordered the pattern and sat down with my grandma to have her help me. Well, the one that she and I did together came out perfectly...but when I got home and did the other bootie by myself it came out far different than the first one! I was trying to make them for a friend who just had a new baby girl...I'm pretty sure that baby Izabella's feet are the same size...even if the booties aren't!

Jenn inspires me to knit...even though I'm pretty bad at it. I love the way she motivates me to try to do better, be better, live better.