Thanksgiving 2013

So much to be thankful for!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday.

                                                               Prayers for health and happiness!

Yummy food! Beautiful cards.

Some well dressed guests.

Lily making whipped cream; using the blender for the first time!

First Snow!

The girls went out to try to sweep it into a pile and didn't get very far.

Dog training

Here's our newest dog whisperer. Wish us luck transforming our beloved weirdo Cookie into a more sociable dog.

A fall filled with soccer

Both Lily and Georgia play soccer with the Wolves and we spent alot of time outside watching games this fall.

Here's the crowd at a tournament after they won a trophy. Very exciting, as you can see. 

Uncle Steve visits

Very exciting visit from Grandma and Uncle Steve who got to see the girl's first gymnastics class in Brattleboro.

Northampton cycloscross

Rob loves to race in Northampton.  It was a sunny day and there were friends and cute dogs in abundance.

They also had a kid's race and here is Georgia at the start.

There's Rob! Hoot and holler and take a few pics!

Layne Redmond

I got an email a few months ago that Layne Redmond, the author of When the Drummers were Women was dying. She only had a few months to live. And the class I had hoped to take with her at Rowe on frame drumming would not be taught by her.  I was shocked! And so sad that she was leaving before I had a chance to meet her.
So I buckled down and finally finished the book. I had been carrying it around with me for years, decades, really.
She also has a blog on Bee Priestesses with these images

http://sacredpathofthebee.tumblr.com/
































When the Drummers were Women was a book I knew would be filled with treasure, but it never felt like the right time to actually savor and enjoy it. I also knew it would be painful, which it was.  In it, she describes the sacred power and connection that women had with the divine and their community But then she brings you through history to a time when women were no longer allowed to speak in church or to make music.
 I wanted to read it while she was still with us on the planet and I did. I enjoyed it tremendously.  I learned so much and it made me remember so much about women's sacred history.

Layne created the book when she realized that the ancient images of drummers were women with frame drums.  She found countless images of women with drums in their hands, in procession and in ritual.  She was led to research women and their role in leading the spiritual and sacred life for thousands of years because she was  "Incensed by one museum's depiction as these drummers as women with cakes."
http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings has a lovely obituary by her friend.

In recent months, as she was dying, she posted videos and updates and had a birthday party that streamed online. I enjoyed watching and participating and am so thankful she brought so much out into the light, so much that had been forgotten.

Bless you and Thank you Layne.
I bought a frame drum designed by her last year, but have hardly played it. I don't know how. I wish I could have learned how to play from her.

Incensed by one museum’s description of these drummers as women with cakes - See more at: http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf

During her 15 year research on the drum, Layne discovered a large number of ancient images of women playing the frame drum from the Mediterranean and almost no images of men and the drum. Incensed by one museum’s description of these drummers as women with cakes, - See more at: http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf

During her 15 year research on the drum, Layne discovered a large number of ancient images of women playing the frame drum from the Mediterranean and almost no images of men and the drum. Incensed by one museum’s description of these drummers as women with cakes, - See more at: http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf

During her 15 year research on the drum, Layne discovered a large number of ancient images of women playing the frame drum from the Mediterranean and almost no images of men and the drum. Incensed by one museum’s description of these drummers as women with cakes, - See more at: http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf

Pumpkin Fairy house

Georgia made at school. How cool is that?