Merry Christmas, my friends! I have spent the weekend with my family, and in true Hargreaves tradition (my maiden name), I sat up late and watched a scary ghost movie with my mum on Saturday night.
It was Winchester, if you are interested, and we watched it on Netflix. I highly recommend it for those that are interested in social history and spiritualism. It had just the right amount of humour as well, conveying a deep message about the human soul, but still reminding us that it was entertainment.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Merry Spooky Christmas! #ChristmasMovies
Now we are back at home and preparing to spend the first Christmas in our new home. Today I will prepare my offering for Christmas dinner, which involves potatoes and a Quorn roast (I am vegetarian, my family are not), and I am trying to persuade the children that we should go for a walk while the sun is shining – they are not convinced! For now I may disappear from social media while I traverse the chaos of Christmas with a young family. Ho, ho, ho!
“Christmas with the Vampires” by Catherine Green. An Edwardian vampire short story.
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The Winter Solstice is almost upon us, and today I say Merry Yule to my pagan friends!
#WitchyWednesday Winter Solstice Blessings
Merry Yule!
This is a dark time of year, when the days are short, the nights are long, and traditionally we would be hiding in our homes and waiting out the winter months. Yule is a celebration of the season, and we might burn a yule long on the fire in order to keep the cold at bay. There will be lots of feasting and merriment to keep our spirits up, we must not let the dull weather depress our moods or encourage illness to manifest.
My yule celebration is mostly about eating comfort food and drinking a festive tipple, maybe a warming mug of mead, or a glass of Ginger Liqueur, and being thankful that we made it through another eventful year. Merry Yule!
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I believe there is a subtle change in the air. This year, I feel completely relaxed and not at all worried or stressed about preparing for Christmas.
Usually by this time I would be frantically writing Christmas cards and wrapping Christmas gifts, but I don’t feel the urgency. And I can see the same sense of calm in many people around me. Yes, there are probably a lot of people who hide their panic well, and there are those who confess to staying up late at night to get their jobs complete, but I believe we are slowly moving into a more holistic attitude with the Christmas season.
How to enjoy a peaceful Christmas. Image credit: Amy Murray
How to Enjoy a Peaceful Christmas
For more than a generation, we have been sold a false dream of the perfect Christmas celebration, and for many people, that simply didn’t happen. We all have challenges, be they health, financial, career, family or others. These challenges do not magically cease to exist just because it is Christmas. I am still broke. My eyes still hurt. My family still struggle with various ailments and issues. But personally, this year I feel happy. A huge weight has been lifted since we moved house, because now we are in our forever home, and while it still needs a lot of cosmetic improvement, it is warm, cosy and perfect for our needs at this time.
Rather than spend money we don’t have on events, gifts and decorations, we have used what we already have, and made use of our local community. My children have seen Santa Claus at least three times now, and we didn’t spend a lot of money in the process. Indeed, we donated to a local church charity, contributed to small business in our area, and shared a community party. And it was all perfect for us. I will not feel obliged to send out hundreds of Christmas cards, or to wrap dozens of gifts, or to load up our cupboards with more food than we can eat. We have everything that we need. And that is the perfect Christmas for my family. If you feel anxious or stressed why not step back from the situation, assess where you stand, and think about what really matters to you personally. It might not be as bad as it seems. And if it is, then you can ask for help from someone you trust. We all care for each other, and that is the spirit of Christmas.
“Christmas with the Vampires” by Catherine Green. An Edwardian vampire short story.
Did you enjoy this article? Download your FREE copy of LGBT fantasy short story It’s Complicated (The Redcliffe Novels) and meet the werewolves of Cornwall, England. Click here.
My girls received their letters from Santa Claus last week, and they were so very excited! The letters came from Lapland Mailroom, and they arrived promptly on Monday, just as we had decorated our Christmas tree and kick-started the festivities.
My girls came home from school to find that their elves had returned, and they came bearing gifts, namely the letters from Santa Claus, Nice Child certificates, and activity packs. That should keep them busy in the run-up to Christmas!
#MummyMonday Letter from Santa Claus
Letters from Santa
The activity packs include a Christmas card that you can colour in and gift to a loved one, a Santa Stop Here door hanger that you can customize, and some Christmas decorations to colour in. They offered a perfect distraction at the weekend while my husband and I caught up on some household chores. Of course, it was the letters from Santa Claus that were the main attraction. Each letter is personalised for the individual child, and my elder daughter was touched to hear that Santa knew about her stay in hospital earlier this year. My younger daughter was pleased that Santa knows about her new bedroom, and that he has already checked where our new house is, so he won’t miss us on Christmas Eve. These details are very important, don’t you know!
Finally, my girls were delighted to discover that they are on the Nice Child List for Christmas gifts, and they have the certificates to prove it. Staying good up until Christmas might be tricky, but my elder daughter has certainly taken on the challenge, and she keeps reminding her little sister that the elves are watching…
#MummyMonday Letter from Santa Claus
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Are you planning your summer holiday? Have you ever stayed in a caravan in the UK? I grew up with caravan holidays, and there are so many happy memories from my childhood. Back then we used to stay in my grandparents’ caravans in North Wales, occasionally staying on other caravan parks, including on the South Coast of England.
Two years ago, we took our children to stay in a privately owned caravan in Dorset. Being a young family, and struggling along on a single income, we couldn’t afford a lavish holiday, and even the package deals from companies such as Haven were too expensive. But we managed to book a caravan on a Haven caravan park, enjoying their holiday homes, their facilities, and the surrounding area.
#MummyMonday Haven Holidays Rockley Park
Caravan Holidays in the UK
We chose Poole in Dorset for a family holiday, and stayed in a caravan in Rockley Park. The caravan park is very big, but it includes some lovely, family-friendly facilities, including an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, evening entertainment, children’s activity clubs, onsite bar, restaurant, chip shop and convenience store, and a launderette, which came in very useful for me as we were potty training our youngest daughter at that time. The journey from Cheshire to Dorset was a long one, but it was a straight run down the motorway, so we didn’t get lost, and we arrived in Poole very excited to explore. Rockley Park has its own private beach with gorgeous soft sand, a shallow bay which is perfect for young children, and a sailing club for the more adventurous holidaymakers. We spent at least one full day on that beach, sunbathing, building sandcastles, paddling in the sea, and enjoying a picnic.
One reason for our visit to Poole was so that we could take our children to Peppa Pig World at Paulton’s Theme Park. Both our girls are still huge fans of Peppa Pig, and they want to return to the theme park again. My husband and I left the grandparents and dog at Rockley Park, and took the children off to explore for the day. I have to say, Paulton’s Theme Park is well worth a visit. Yes, it is expensive, but if you budget carefully, it is affordable. The place is easy to find, parking is accessible, and there is a lot to see and do, even just within Peppa Pig World. We came away feeling very happy with our day out, and very impressed with the customer service and organisation.
Dog-friendly holiday
Finally, I can recommend Rockley Park as a good location for a dog-friendly holiday. We took our dog for walks along the beach in the mornings and evenings when it was quiet, he could stay in the caravan without much additional cost, and we took him almost everywhere with us. There is a dog-friendly beach in Bournemouth, our dog came on a harbour cruise in Poole, and we took him to the isle of Portland, visiting the English Heritage castle and the lighthouse. So much to see and do, we shall have to return sometime for another holiday!
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Living with chronic pain is beginning to wear me down. In this blog post I discuss how reiki saved my sanity amid a relentless journey through repeated eye surgeries, long-term scarring, and the ever-present severe Dry Eye Syndrome.
#MummyMonday Day Patient at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
How Reiki Saved my Sanity
My eyes are bothering me again. The weather has turned stormy, and whenever we have strong wind, my Dry Eye Syndrome worsens. Whenever we have a dry spell, my Dry Eye Syndrome worsens. In fact, most of the weather extremes we have in the UK affect my eye condition one way or the other. Mostly I just don’t make enough natural tears to protect my eyes, and I keep pulling out my eyelashes because they hurt. I have congenital distichiasis (ingrowing eyelashes).
Pain has been a part of me for all my life. As a child I endured many medical procedures to remove ingrowing eyelashes, and as an adult they continued, along with some experimental surgery. The most extreme of these was eyelid rotation surgery on both eyes, that I had approximately ten years ago. During the time since then I have been diagnosed with blepharitis and loads of other random eye complaints that I can’t even pronounce. Every time I visit the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital for a check-up, the doctor will mention something new, or something I haven’t been informed about before. I am a medical mystery. And it hurts.
Some days the pain is so intense that I want to rip my eyes from their sockets just to make it stop. Other days I can barely keep my eye open because an eyelash is scratching the cornea, or my scars are inflamed, or something else is bothering me but I have no idea what it is. My vision will sometimes blur even after I use eye drops to try and soothe the pain. And I use ointment every night, because if I don’t, my eyelids would stick together with crusty stuff and it would be even more painful to wake up with. Instead I wake up with a greasy face, unless all the ointment has been sucked into my skin overnight. I am a glamorous woman!
Meditation and reiki energy healing
The only thing that has helped relieve my pain in recent years is meditation, and more specifically, reiki energy healing. I have read stories about people who managed to cure their illness or disorder with energy healing, but so far that hasn’t happened to me. I went through a period of anger and unhappiness about this fact, until I realised that there is so much more to these situations. My condition is genetic. I was born with it, but I was only diagnosed at around the age of 2 when my brother presented with the same symptoms and my mum battled doctors to get some answers. Since then, I have only been treated to the best of medical science at a given time. This spans through the 1980s, 90s, 00s and to the present day. I have seen an increase in treatment options and products to help alleviate my eye pain during the past ten years.
Learning to work with reiki healing energy has helped to give me some perspective on my health. Outwardly I seem healthy and normal. You might wonder why I wear sunglasses in winter, or why I walk round the supermarket wearing them sometimes (I am super sensitive to light), but otherwise I appear normal. The doctors never made a fuss about my condition, and I never let it affect my lifestyle. I learned to drive, I worked full time jobs, I am now a writer by profession, and I learned to work through the eye pain. Reiki helps me to relax, it calms my mind when the pain is particularly bad, and it offers a distraction from the physical disorder of my body. Reiki takes my mind and my spirit to another plane, where I feel nothing, and I don’t have to consciously think about anything. That is how it helps me. Thank you, reiki, and thank you, Great Spirit, for your support and guidance in an often-painful human world.
LGBT werewolf fantasy story “It’s Complicated (The Redcliffe Novels)” by Catherine Green
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I was looking through old photos last week (thank you, Google memories), and came across some pictures of my daughters jumping in puddles.
I had almost forgotten the hours we spent walking home from school and pre-school, stopping at every puddle.
#MummyMonday Puddle Jumping Nostalgia
Puddle Jumping Nostalgia
I remember the big puddle that always formed in the church carpark around the corner from our old house. My girls loved that puddle. I found a video that I took of them spinning around in circles, and I had been waiting for the moment they fell over and went splash. They even had me jumping in puddles on most occasions, and we had lots of fun.
We always stuck to the Peppa Pig mantra: if you jump in muddy puddles, you must wear your boots! I spent a lot of time sourcing wellies that fit, especially for my younger daughter, who even now has very small, narrow feet. I think both girls started out with wellies from Clarks and progressed to winter boots as the season turned. The new boots always had to receive the puddle jumping test, just to be sure they could withstand water. Find some bargain boots for puddle jumping in the Clarks Black Friday event.
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I am feeling a lot of emotion at the moment. You might have seen my previous blog post about the importance of precious memories, and perhaps you have followed my posts during the past few weeks as I experienced grief, and the stark contrast between life and death.
#WitchyWednesday
All We Have is Now
On the pagan calendar, the wheel of the year, we are currently in the dark time. Nights are long, days are dull, the weather grows colder, and traditionally this is the time to stack up your fire, make you home as cosy as you can, and hibernate for a few months, only emerging to find food and maybe take a little fresh air so you don’t fall ill. Nowadays of course, life is far more frantic, and we live in a world of electric light, constantly connected to the Internet, and always hurrying to do one job or another.
When I first began studying the practice of mindfulness many years ago, I struggled to properly understand how it works, or what it is. I thought it was about rest and recuperation, but it encompasses so much more. Mindfulness is the process of slowing down and savouring the moment, whether that be actually tasting your morning mug of coffee rather than gulping it down, or spending time with people you care about. Yes, it does mean that you should take time to meditate and sit quietly in your own space, uninterrupted and disconnected from the busy world. But it means recognising what is important to you, and what you really want to focus on, at this exact moment in time. What makes you happy, and what leaves you feeling fulfilled?
Happy being mother
I am happy being mother and being able to spend time with my children. Yes, I do yearn to have a “proper job” that will bring a regular, sustainable income, but far stronger is the urge to be at home and able to give my children as much time as possible. The same goes for being free to spend time with my friends and family. They know that I am around, and that I am mostly able to offer time and a supporting shoulder when they need it. This is important. My role is that of supporter, carer, nurturer, and spiritual guide. And to balance that out, I ensure that I have time alone when I need it, that I continue to write and publish my novels because they make me happy, and that I do whatever other activities I feel compelled to do at a given time. What are you doing today? Will you do it as a chore or as an absorbing activity?
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Do you remember your happiest moments in life? What about your worst moments? Who stood by you during those times, experiencing both the joys and the sorrows?
I can imagine that those answers vary greatly, and each provide our unique experience in life and death. Because that is the point of it all, isn’t it? We go through life making memories and trying new experiences. Some are more exciting than others. Some are more devastating. All these life experiences leave us spiritually richer and wiser.
Memories are Precious article by Catherine Green
Memories are Precious
I learned a huge lesson during the past couple of months. I am still considered young, not yet forty, and I am fortunate to still have all of my close friends and family alive and mostly in good health. But I attended the funeral of my friend’s mother recently, and I am grieving. I hadn’t seen her mother for a long time, but I knew about her life through her daughter. We talked, and continue to talk, about everything that is important to us: children, husbands, careers, family. And it got me thinking about my mum.
She is my anchor, my support, my refuge when life gets tough. We don’t live close to each other anymore, and she is mostly housebound due to disability, but she still manages to have my children stay with her for a weekend or a few days during school holidays. She does this so that I can have a break and take time for me. She has always been there for me, and I cannot imagine a time when she won’t be there. But because she is ill, her time is most probably limited. She takes a lot of strong medication, and I know that it isn’t good for her body. So, we must make our memories while we can. We already have lots of happy memories together and will continue to enjoy the time that we have.
Lots of precious memories
There are lots of other precious memories that I recall fondly, especially with another close friend who lives with a serious and dangerous health condition. She has Type 1 diabetes, a genetically inherited disease. We have many years of memories to share, from working together at our local chip shop, working together at our local theme park, nights out with friends, day trips, and our visits to watch Bon Jovi perform in concert. Oh yes, very precious memories indeed!
Then there are the holidays that we took with our children, staying in caravans and visiting the seaside, nursing each other through marital challenges and our respective health challenges. When I think about all these memories, I smile fondly and my heart swells with love. We will make plenty more memories for as long as we can, but if it should all end tomorrow, we have made it worthwhile. Life is for living!
Did you enjoy this article? Download your FREE copy of LGBT fantasy short story It’s Complicated (The Redcliffe Novels) and meet the werewolves of Cornwall, England. Click here.
Note: This article may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you shop using the links I share, I receive a small income at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you for supporting SpookyMrsGreen!
I love my blog. I love writing articles, researching new topics, and sharing my perspective on subjects that matter to me. SpookyMrsGreen has evolved into the Pagan Housewife brand over the course of several years.
It began as an author blog, started on the advice of my book publisher when I launched my debut novel. But it soon became something quite different. It became a parenting blog, a lifestyle blog, a pagan blog. And then I had to think about how to make it work as a small business.
Vampire writer Catherine Green working on her laptop
Making the Most of Your Blog
You see, writing and operating a blog takes a lot of hard work and effort. It may look like we just throw up some words, people read the articles, share and comment, and we move on. But in truth, we as writers think very carefully about the content we produce. Especially if writing is our career of choice. We need to earn a living, at the end of the day, and many bloggers have found a way to do this using their talent for writing and networking on social media platforms. Blogger outreach has become quite a key strategy for businesses in recent years, and it continues to grow.
Blogger outreach is something that larger businesses, and indeed smaller ones, have begun to include in their corporate strategy for marketing and sales growth. Think about it: you have a niche product that you want to sell to a lot of people. You find a blog that talks about products like yours, or services similar to yours, and then you approach the blogger and ask them to share it with their audience. You can reach out to a whole new audience that might not have heard about your brand or might only be considering it. If their favourite blogger begins to talk about it, share it, and enthuse about it on social media, then they immediately want to buy into it.
Blogger outreach strategy
Do you have a blogger outreach strategy? It took me a few years to learn about the idea of turning my blog into a business, and I am still learning. We all make mistakes, and we all must start somewhere. The good news is that you can find all the resources you need if you look for them. My blog began as a means to share my books with the world. Then it morphed into a diary of my adventures in parenting and being pregnant. Now it is my space to share parenting lifestyle, toy and product reviews, pagan lifestyle advice, and mindful living. Those are the important areas of my life now. What are yours, and how can you turn them into a viable small business that enables you to work from home? Think about it. The possibilities are endless, in a connected and socially engaged world with many diverse communities. You can always find your tribe, and your business associates, no matter what specialty your line of work involves.
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SpookyMrsGreen 