And may whatever grows or lands on you feel nice-like...

Today, we honor Brigit. No, that is not the name of the silly groundhog that we have been torturing until his or her natural instincts to run from a shadow have finally delivered up some hope of spring. She is the Celtic Goddess, Brigit, Mother of the Healing Waters and Wielder of the Sacred Flame. She also blesses those of us that do a funky little thing called art. So, please Brigit, pardon my sarcasm and keep delivering to me the fun of making things. Not Things, oh jeepers, I have three of those and I'm a little past having the patience to wipe someone else's butt. Hell, in this frigid cold, I'm challenged enough with my....well, maybe that is something I shouldn't share with the EYES. I speak here of the lust for pretty things, handmade things, and color in the wildest form that gets me out of bed on a day like today and inspires me to begin with the gloppy, stainy, color bonanza play-dough play that the THINGS and I did today. On the left, (Mermaid, guess who's?), in the middle you will find thing 3's little amazonian goddess statue and on the right-top, thing 2's waifing sort of fairy goddess girl. Down below, thing 1 got crazy with her dough and made an amazonian mound goddess to silence us all. Pardon me for saying, but, damn my kids are cool. Course, their only being nice to me because I'm giving them a 'free' day(nevermind it is only an afternoon AND they've already done all their lessons) based on the fact that I've been working them like little dogs - and I need to get ready for the weekend. I used to look forward to weekends - and I don't think Brigit can help me with that one.

If you find yourself miserably lonely yet never alone feeling the artistic itch to play with gooey stuffs and food coloring (I originally typed that fool coloring - ha ha ha)here's the skinny:

For each cup of white flour, add one cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup salt. Add about 1/2 -1 cup water (depending, so keep stirring and add more if you need to - a thick, moist paste is your goal). Oops, forgot to say you want to add the food coloring (and put gobs in there if you want red instead of pink and a blue that makes a mermaid instead of a pretty cloud) at the beginning, it is harder to work into the dough after. Stir, on low heat until it is too thick to stir, lay on a 'lightly dusted' with cornstarch board and knead into a soft, pliable ball. If you are doing this with kids, or you are slow (hey, call me, we could be friends) it helps to put the balls of dough into a sealed plastic bag so it will stay moist and not crumble. Have fun and, if you are lucky which is why I never waste my $ on lottery tickets, make your hubster (or in my case, the family dog) clean up the mess. Okay, don't send me hate notes about the dog. I didn't make him do it. I dropped some by accident and he nearly dislocated a hip running over to get it (his food bowl is full). Since we've had our loving little Jack Russell (sage), his fondness for clay and crayons is ever-entertaining when you find a pile of his 'droppings' outside under a tree. Hmm, he must have found that yellow crayon that thing 3 dropped and couldn't find yesterday.....People, I'm not trying to recruit you so kindly don't judge cuz it's my life!

And, now, without the sarcasm, the real Brighid blessing:
May you be kept safe and warm under Brigit's mantle.