Mama's In School Today

No "5 on Friday" this week, as I'm taking a 3 day JinShinJyutsu course. I've taken many in the past but this one concentrates on teaching self-help.

I hope I find a way to share this wonderful way to help others help themselves. There's no cost to help yourself, and it's non-invasive. Just a gentle way to get your own body to smile again.

Have a great weekend!

Hello New Joisey

I am off today to the fine state of New Jersey for a JinShinJyutsu class this weekend. NJ gets a bad rap but there are lovely places there and it does deserve its reputation as the Garden State, market garden I'd say. A lot of our produce has come from NJ over the years. I have a few things to wrap up here including making two peach cobblers with peaches from NJ. ;-)




Have a great weekend! is there a trip for you this weekend? or is it one of those home catch up weekends?

On my desk...April 23

JSJ session
Originally uploaded by redazadi

Nothing at home for me this week. I am taking a 5 day course in JinShinJyutsu, which is a form of hands on energy work.

This picture shows Janie, in yellow working with Mary on the table over at Janie's house. Janie is the practitioner I go to weekly, and it feels sooo sooo good. One of the nicest things about the class I'm taking is that we have 3-Hands On sessions each day - 1 person on the table, and two working on/with that person. Talk about mellow by the time class closes.

You stay fully clothed, on your back with the practitioner just touching various points on your body. If this sounds like something that would interest you, check the JinShinJyutsu link for further information. The modality is done world wide.

More desks at Kootoyoo's list .

Janie and PeepsArt

50th post! So something special...

Janie, in addition to being a friend, is my JinShinJytsu practitioner and the one who led me on my own journey into this fascinating energy work. When I participated in her journaling sessions, she always encouraged doodling. AAAAArrrrgggghhh I thought AND said. I don't doodle!! And even today, I really don't. I write but I don't doodle.

Janie finally told me the story of her frustration in a class in seminary (yes seminary!) and how she just kept doodling. This was a new habit for her also, and in the years to come, it became a regular habit. From these doodles, the cards were born and a great deal of the revenue from the cards goes into local charities when there is a connection that clicks.

Above is one of my favorites but you can see many of her works at her website. Note that it is PeepsArt not Peep Art. There is a world of content difference!

Just the other day I was showing Janie some of the wonderful things made by crafters and sold on line, often in Etsy. She said she was soooo happy to see women continuing to engage in this kind of thing - the creative spark still flourishes despite the constraints of work and family for younger women. Janie calls herself Old Bird by the Bay, but age is relative. ;-) Enjoy her stuff!

Tea makes it alright

With massive intakes of fruit and doses of JinShinJytsu (hold the ring finger for lung issues), I have my appetite back and am feeling as if I am on the road to recovery. I've always found that JSJ can short circuit something that may be developing in me. Some may say it is mind over matter, and if so, then I have quite a powerful mind. Beware!

Since my dh is not feeling anywhere as well as I am, I decided he might need another dose of scones. Sometimes as J says you just need sugar in your life. I also thought that for a man who can't seem to get warm today, the influx of oven heat in the house would give that special warmth. I like the recipe that I think is going to be my standard since the ingredients are few and relatively healthy with both oatmeal and whole wheat flour in addition to the regular ap flour. Today I added a good 2T of ground ginger as it is a warming spice and also because I had about 2T left when I 'decanted' some into a small jar. ;-) In addition to about 1/2 cup of butterscotch chips, I also added about 2T of very small bits of sugared ginger. Yes, I am trying to sneak the ginger in.

While these baked, and I cleaned up the counter I decided to make tea a bit early this afternoon. I have a couple of bags that are unidentified - label less or otherwise unnamed- so I thought...Go with the flow and trust that this little bag is what you both need and want. Often in the afternoon, if the tea is just for me, or if it is closer to dinner and one cup each is enough, I will use the pot that dear friend A gave me. I always think of her when I use it and remember both how it broke my heart when she moved across the country and also how my dd said Mama, you'll always be friends; you love each other! Sometimes a teenage girl is profoundly perceptive. So A, thank you for your love, thank you for the teapot, and thank you for knowing that the empty space I felt in my heart could someday be filled by the man who became my dh. Isn't the pot lovely?


Oh yes, you wanted to see the scones?? And the recipe is here.