#“ok so herb what is your niche?” “yes”

[herbarimoon]

Out of your shell

[gold-from-straw]

Backstage of the Universe - ch13

The last chapter is coming at the end of this week! I’m quite sad about this! I know this has been an insanely niche AU but I’m very fond of it and of Cherik being total dads! Now it’s Erik’s turn to be a BAMF...

Read from the beginning on AO3 if you like!

Erik caught Charles as he slumped in his arms, and lifted his limp body out of the wheelchair, onto his lap, as close as he could bring him. He held him close and tried to stop the tears from falling as he checked his heartbeat, praising a God he didn’t know he still believed in when he felt a weak pulse. He wiped the blood away from his precious face where it had seeped out from his eyes, his ears and his nose. “Charles… Charles, my love, hold on, you’re OK.”

The body that had once been Riggins moved, pushed himself up to his feet and stared at the two of them in horror. Erik swallowed down his fear and held out his hand, Charles’ wheelchair at once reduced to its component parts, an arsenal of its own against the uncaring Universe.

“What did you do?” the Universe said hoarsely to Charles. He swallowed, then looked at Erik, and Erik saw fear in his depthless eyes. “What is he? What did he do to me? There are people all over the world who’ve developed a sudden coronary condition, what was he thinking?”

Erik cradled Charles closer to his chest as Charles shifted slightly and moaned, just on the edge of his hearing. “He was thinking that maybe you should do some of the work yourself.”

“But he can’t… he’s human… he is human, isn’t he?”

Erik bared his teeth and brought the metal into a ring of spikes, pointing in a trembling collar around Riggins’ throat. “We are more than human. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave these children alone.”

“But I keep telling you, they’re not human! They’re not children, they’re my tools!”

“Then I suggest you wait until they stop looking like children,” Erik hissed, elongating one of the spikes so that it dug into his neck, a bead of black, glittering blood running down the metal. Riggins’ eyes widened and he froze, all but his chest, rising and falling too fast. “You will leave the children - yes, the children - alone. At least until they come of age. You still have Priest, use him instead! You will bring the others home to us, and you’ll let them be children.”

The Universe swallowed. “Or what?” he croaked.

“Or it won’t just be Charles taking your powers away.”

He held the spear still, just digging into his flesh, for an eternity, hoping that he wouldn’t call his bluff. There was no way in hell he’d be letting Charles anywhere near this bastard ever again. At last the Universe nodded, just slightly. Erik retracted the metal and he sagged, clutching at the small wound on his throat.

Erik stood with Charles in his arms and tried not to look as terrified and heartbroken as he felt. And then he realised he had no idea how to get back.

He was just about to start panicking in earnest when he felt himself dragged backwards as if by his shoulders. He clung to Charles, curling his body around him and hoping that when they landed it wouldn’t be in a forest again. The sensation of falling lifted his stomach unpleasantly, and then there was a soft landing, a small, dark room, and a looming figure.

Erik wrapped himself around Charles’ prone form, rolling them over so he was shielding Charles.

“Magneto, move yourself. Let me get to him, I can help,” Wakti Wapnasi said, shaking him with her spindly grip.

Erik sat up, still with Charles cradled in his arms, and looked up at Wakti with suspicion and hope.

“What have you done to yourself, you foolish boy?” Wakti crooned, pinching Charles’ eyes open and wiping the last trickles of blood away. “Even a mind such as yours can’t take on a whole universe alone.”

“Will he be OK?” Erik croaked.

Wakti smiled up at him. “He will need time, and love. Both of which I believe you are well placed to give him, Son of Edie.”

Erik swallowed hard and ducked his head, pressing his forehead to Charles’ as Wakti bustled around, ordering her people to bring herbs and tinctures, muttering under her breath. It could have been magic, or it could have been imprecations against Charles’s stupidity - God knows he had a few things of his own to say on that particular subject.

“Come back to me, Charles,” he whispered instead. “Don’t leave me here worrying about you.”

The bond between them stayed as silent as it had been since all that awful sound and sensation, when all that power and knowledge had drained away, leaving Charles bleeding and limp in his arms. Erik swallowed hard.

Wakti peered into the pool, stroking her fingers over the water. “It looks like your threats have paid dividends,” she said. “I can see Mystique and the Beast with your missing children in their arms.”

“What?” Erik gasped.

Wakti smiled down at him. “I can feel the ripples in the universe. I can feel them, but I can’t control them, not like he does.” She shrugged. “He can’t control me either, but keeping him away from Francis is the extent of my power.”

“Will they be safe now?” Erik asked, hope rising in his chest. He hadn’t expected it to work. He’d barely expected to leave with his soul intact. He looked down at Charles. His soul was still in question as it was.

“He’ll leave them until they’re adults, I can see that much,” she said, stirring the water with a long fingernail. “He’s taken your suggestion to use Priest very seriously, I see, hmmm.” She chuckled to herself. “You have your children back. Congratulations.”

Erik laughed and stroked Charles’ hair back from his face. “Hear that?” he said softly. “The children are home, Charles. Won’t you come back to see them?”

“You take him home,” she said softly. “Take him back to where he is loved, and keep calling him home. He’ll come. Trust an old witch.”

Erik kept his eyes on Charles until his gaze blurred with tears, then pressed his forehead to Charles’ temple and wept silently.

Tagging everyone who interacted with the last chapter - thank you!! @galaxyrise489, @akasanata, @fullmetalcarer, @slytherclaw134689, @mademoiselle-noir-00, @ikeracity

[makeyourlifemagick]

The phoenix has risen

I just have to write. I can't help it.

So much has happened in my life in the last few weeks - it is no exaggeration when I say: EVERYTHING CHANGED.

For years I have been trying to keep my head above water as a coach for mothers and parents. Being a mother has fundamentally changed my life and (without wanting to praise myself) I am one of the most conscious mother on this planet. So it always seemed "reasonable" that I show other mothers how they too can experience such a deep and conscious connection with their child/children. Furthermore it is socially accepted to wear this kind of "job title". It had to work in any kind of way. That was my niche - because I had finally written a book in this area.....

So I tried to get ahead. I tried it partly spasmodically, not so spasmodically and sometimes mediocrely but with negligible success (success in the sense of turnover and the feeling of doing something really satisfying)....

Then came the year 2019 - autumn 2019 and by divine providence I met the right woman at the right moment. She helped me to find ME! She helped me to discover my spiritual gifts and to train them. I grew into a world in which I felt "HOME" from the first second on. A world of intuition, magic, enchantment and love...

I started to train my "new" skills like a muscle and started giving soul readings. Readings for children, adults or already deceased ... that was what made my soul dance. That was what I wanted to do - ALWAYS! And one thing I can tell you, it wasn't easy at first to ignore my ego mind: "Who do you think you are? This is all a lie - you can't know these things ... you will embarrass yourself and nobody will ever take you seriously again!

These thoughts were omnipresent! 

But then came the first feedback: Women who sat opposite me via zoom and cried. Who looked at me and asked me: "How can you know that, I never told you about my child?” Wow .... that was like a hammer blow. I wasn't a liar and I didn't make it all up. I was a medium - a mediator of the worlds and I could see how this gift gave me so much love, trust, courage and togetherness. That was and is indescribably beautiful...

But as if that was not "enough" already, something changed again this year. It went (as for many people in 2020) one step deeper - it became clearer and more unmistakable: that was not it yet, dear Nicole. There is even more...

So I gave myself the OK for this dive and explored what else was to be seen and lived there. I will not write down every detail here, otherwise you will probably still be reading tomorrow ;-) But I can tell you one thing: the phoenix has risen! He has risen from the ashes of all his desperate attempts, his failed attempts and his shame .... 

My wonderful friend Wayne Dyer once named a book "I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW!” And that's just the way it is ... I can see more clearly now, said YES to who I really am and what I want to BE in this incarnation. I am a modern witch! Yes, I am... and I know that it is probably not accepted as a job description without shaking heads. Because I live in a world where WOMAN is ashamed to say: I am a housewife and mother! This is usually followed by a: and what else? 

But that doesn't matter anymore... I AM WHAT I AM!

I am a housewife, mother and magician. Yes I cast spells and it is a really deep and responsible purpose. I make THINGS with my hands (candles, glasses with herbs or gems, dishes, talismans, etc.) and I communicate with Mother Earth and her messengers. I prefer to stay in the forest and shy crowds of people.

This is what I am! And yes, I change human lives - I change the planet a little bit every day for the better. I know that, I have to prove it to myself and no one else. I just invite everyone to experience it for themselves.... it is simple and yet effective. It is simple and yet transforming.

I am risen. I am here and I will not hide anymore. I will stand by those who seek advice and stand up for them. I am here and you will be able to read so much of me in the future. I share my knowledge with all who are interested, because you know what: in each of us there is old knowledge - old wisdom that is just waiting to be lived.

In this sense I wish you a wonderful day / good night and always the willingness to trust this quiet inner voice inside you and to follow the next impulse inside you! Therein lies your destiny, your freedom.

All love, Nicole 

P.S.: you can find my newly opened magic store here. Please feel free to have a look around:  https://www.etsy.com/de/shop/MakeYourLifeMagick

[organic-farmer]

AN INTERVIEW with Simon DeBoer of Langside Farms in Ontario Canada. Simon started out as a certified organic grower back in 1998 and ever since is growing a variety of organic garlic, heart nuts and other tree nuts; he grows everything organically.

Q: Today, you don’t have the organic certification per se but you still do practice /stay truthful to organic practices.

A: You can come see my farm anytime.

Q: Great we will come but still I would like to ask you some questions; how have you become aware of organic, the clean methods of growing.

A: It is a health issue, it is a life issue, because I want to stay out as long as I can be healthy while I am here.

Q: So you were aware that there is an impact on your health

A: Absolutely!

Q: Did something happen that made you aware of organic and not conventional way of growing.

A: No, I always have been eating plants, been close to the land. I love it. I have been the other way too. I worked for a chemical company. I have been to the University and I raised 6 children and I wanted to raise them healthy, close to the land. Two of my children were born at home I delivered them myself.

Q: Eating healthy is becoming more mainstream. How do you see that?

A: I always have been interest in eating healthy. If I would not be a farmer I would have been a doctor, but a different kind of doctor. I do not trust these doctors, I do not go to doctors. My doctor lives in Peru.

Q: Peru? Are we talking about South American Peru?

A: Yes, I can email him with a question anytime with a diet I am doing and he responds to me.

Q: Oh, super interesting…

A: My doctor is Russian…

Q: Oh he is Russian, I am Polish, my grandmother was Ukrainian, so not too far away. I see you brought the garlic because it is a garlic festival but what do you grow besides garlic?

A: I have nut trees. My specialty is nut trees.

Q: What kind?

A: Heart nuts, if you never heard of it you have to come. I have some English walnuts, pecans, persimmons; I love trees…

Q: So that would be your niche!

A: Yes. So if I fall on something and cannot get garlic. I will  catch nuts.

Q: Which vegetable, herb or nut is your favorite to grow?

A: My favorite? That would be nuts!

Q: Which nut is your favorite?

A: Heart nuts. That has a heart shape when pieces fall out the pieces have heart shape. I export it from Japanese grower. I have 5 acres of nut trees.

Q: Which one is your favorite to eat?

A: I put nuts in my smoothie, raw, with coconut oil and bananas

Q: If you would end up on the deserted island and if you could take one seed with you, what would that be? Would that be a nut seed? Veggie?

A: Only one seed?

Q: Ok let’s make it 3

A: One of them would have to be a nut.

Q: Which nut tree?

A: Heart nut, off course, they are the best. The squirrels like them too.

Q: Someone told me watch what animals are doing and we will be closer to nature , would you agree with that?

A: Absolutely. Animals do not seam to get sick very often. I have one deer at my place it knows where the organics lives.

Q: What would be one advice or tip for an aspiring either organic growers or nut’s growers?

A: You need to be out there on your hand’s and knees with garlic and watch it grow and enjoy it . I do everything with it. You have to enjoy it. If it is just a job for money it is never going to satisfy you.

Q: That is a great advice. Very genuine!

A: Your work has to be pleasure . I enjoy it. You will see me with my hands and knees down the ground to get weeds out.

    Meet Organic Farmer – SIMON DeBOER AN INTERVIEW with Simon DeBoer of Langside Farms in Ontario Canada. Simon started out as a certified organic grower back in 1998 and ever since is growing a variety of organic garlic, heart nuts and other tree nuts; he grows everything organically.

[mmiblog1]

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[christinaepilzauthor-blog]

Planning a Regency Ball

by Maria Grace Most of us have, at some time or another been called upon to host an event. The frenzy, stress and excitement are familiar to us all, as is the way they all increase with the size and importance of the event--which helps explain the modern bridezilla phenomenon, but I digress.

An event like the Netherfield Ball of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice would have been the biggest, most important event of the social season. Obviously, it would have taken a great deal to pull it off. But what does that really look like? First, in almost all cases, it was the job of the hostess to plan the event. Modern event planners did not exist, so the hostess, working with her housekeeper, cook and other staff, would have the full weight of the event on her shoulders. Her reputation and standing among her peers could be profoundly affected by the success (or lack there of) of the event. Time and Place As in event planning today, hostesses had to decide on a time and place for the event. Typically a ball would begin at 8pm and continue to the wee hours of the morning, sometimes even until sunrise. So that convention made that choice rather easy. Picking a date though involved some considerations irrelevant to modern event planners. Since guests would have to travel to the event, a hostess needed to make certain that it was scheduled during the week of the full moon. Since roadways were not otherwise lit, sufficient moonlight was necessary to permit travel to the ball. Often torches were placed outside the front doors and perhaps even on the drive up to the house, but beyond that, the roads were entirely dark. A ball also required an appropriate location. Based on my own experience, a group of twenty couples dancing plus musicians would require at least a 20x60 foot space (roughly 7x20 meters.) In addition to the ballroom, a proper formal event called for a supper room, two retiring (dressing) rooms for ladies and gentlemen to change their shoes and remove their wraps, and ideally a card room. If guests had long distances to travel, they might require overnight accommodations. Sufficient guest rooms would need to be prepared to accommodate planned guests and the inevitable one or two who, by the end of the evening, managed to get themselves too drunk to send home safely. Invitations Once a date and location are set, invitations must be issued. Typically these would be printed by the local printer, with the date and time of the event. Alternately, invitations could be handwritten--remember this would be with a quill and ink, no ball point pens! The host and hostess would then hand deliver the invitations, a task that would require a least a full day to accomplish. That done, it is time to plan the venue arrangements. First up, lighting. Lighting

Electricity makes that pretty simple and straightforward today. (Ok, I'm ducking because I know enough sound and lighting engineers to know that it isn't really that simple, but seriously, guys, electricity makes all the difference.) Full moon might help with the outdoor lighting issues, but inside is another matter altogether. For that, we need candles, lots and lots of candles. And naturally, candles are expensive, especially wax candles. Tallow (rendered animal fat--which is now a source for biodiesel) might be good enough at other times, but the smell rendered it undesirable for a high class event. Beeswax candles would be the prefered lighting method. Candles were produced in 4, 6, and 8 hour lengths. So a hostess would purchase candles designed to last for the entire event rather than ones which would need to be replaced during the evening. A large scale event could require up to 300 candles, costing upwards of 15 pounds---a year's wages for a maid! 

Decoration Mirrors usually filled rooms used for formal events. Though attractive, their use was more practical than stylistic. Mirrors multiplied candlelight, so did shiny glass, crystal and polished metals, making them ideal for decorating. The problem with shiny things is, of course, that they don't stay shiny on their own. So lots of polishing and cleaning would have to be done in preparation for an event. That often meant hiring additional maids to help in the process. Flowers, from the garden or hot house made up the primary decorations for an event. Not only did they bring in lots of color, but their fragrance could help mask some of the less pleasant aromas of a great number of people exerting themselves in dance in a relatively small space. In addition, an artist would be hired to decorate the dance floor with chalked images. Though the dancers would destroy the images dancing over them, their purpose was more significant than mere decoration. The chalk helped provide the dancers with much needed traction on the slippery dance floors.

Musicians Since recorded music and a DJ was definitely not an option, a ball required musicians. How many would largely depend on the depth of a hostess' pockets. In some houses and assembly rooms, musicians might be situated in balconies, stair landings or niches, out of the path of the dancers. In less noble settings, they might share a crowded floor with the dancers. Unlike dance music today which might last as long as maybe 10 minutes (maybe), dance sets at a regency era ball would last up to an hour each. Not surprisingly, both dancers and musicians took much needed breaks between the sets. Food Between the dances, servants would circulate among the dancers with trays of ices and iced punch to help them cool down and fortify themselves for the next dance of the evening. Keep in mind though, punch was no child's drink in the era, it was heavily fortified with rum, brandy and wine. A hostess would have to lay in a stout supply of both ice and alcohol to make it through the evening. In the middle of the ball, dancers would break for supper. Typically this was served sometime between 11 pm and 1 am. Soup, especially white soup (made from veal or chicken stock, egg yolks, ground almonds and cream) served with negus (sugar mixed with water and wine, served hot) were staples and ball suppers. But that was far from the complete menu. Today we think of meals as an entree and a couple of side dishes, maybe with a starter salad or soup, and a dessert. Maybe five dishes and we call it done. A couple more than that and we would feel like it was a pretty high class meal. That would never fly in the regency era.

Meals, particularly formal meals were enormous affairs with many, many dishes required for each course. A ball could easily require sixty--no that's no mistake, I really did mean 60--different dishes, both sweet and savory. If that's not enough to wrap your head around, think about this. How difficult is it to manage getting a big holiday meal out to the family, with all the dishes ready (and hot) at the same time? I love to cook holiday meals, and typically for Thanksgiving I will make three meats, three starches, six vegetables and a couple of deserts. Call it fourteen dishes. You can ask my family, every year, everything is done and on the table at the same time. They will also tell you that the entire thing is planned out with the precision of a military exercise, down to what appliances and serving dishes will be used, a detailed time table, broken down in fifteen minute increments specifying exactly what should be done--and by whom--during that time, and, yes, back-up plans in case something goes sideways. The family laughs at me--after they enjoy their dinner. Insane as all that is, now imagine doing that without refrigeration, gas or electric stoves and ovens, and electric appliances. Let that sink in just a moment. What kind of planning would have to go into the menu to manage not to overtax one kitchen resource or another, and get it all out in time. The mind simply boggles. Just consider what it took to make White Soup.

White Soup

Put a knuckle of veal into six quarts of water, with a large fowl, and a pound of lean bacon; half a pound of rice, two anchovies, a few peppercorns,a bundle of sweet herbs, two or three onion, and three or four heads of celery cut in slices. Stew them all together, till the soup be as strong as you would have it, and strain it through a hair sieve into a clean earthen pot. Having let it stand all night, the next day take off the scum, and pour it clear off into a tossing-pan. Put in half a pound of Jordan almonds beat fine, boil it a little, and run it through a lawn sieve. Then put in a pint of cream, and the yolk of an egg, and send it up hot. John Farley, The London Art of Cookery, 1783. No wonder private balls like these were considered the highlight of the social season and so much preferable to public events. As much as they were anticipated, though, I have to imagine hostesses were also very relieved when they were over. ~~~~~~~~~~

Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful. After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned to her first love, fiction writing. Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

Hat Tip To: English Historical Fiction Authors