Ellie@Home by Nicole Kapise-Perkins

'Tis May Eve, my dear friends, May Eve, that joyous, magickal, mystical night that brings us the blooming beauty of Spring! Thank you so much for spending National Poetry Month with me! I wish you all a wonderful May Day tomorrow! Beltane Bride Nerwydd Dragonborne Harken to the drums of the Beltane fire Pounding out its rhythm as the flames leap higher Dancing around it, your senses overcome Moving with abandon in time with the drum The longing in your belly starts to rise Along with the passion that shows in your eyes Sweat soaks your body, your bloods on fire You tremble with the force of your raging desire You start to chant the ancient rhyme Calling to your lover “come to me, be mine Come lie with me in the wildwood tonight In honour of the Ancients, let us unite” Then through the smoke and dancing flames you see The one that you yearn for, wild, proud and free Wearing the antlers of the horned god on his brow He watches you intently, then gives you a bow You, are his ...

Beauty to the Beast Posted on April 28, 2016 by Theodora Goss   Beauty to the Beast by Theodora Goss When I dare walk in fields, barefoot and tender, trace thorns with my finger, swallow amber, crawl into the badger’s chamber, comb lightning’s loose hair in a crashing storm, walk in a wolf’s eye, lie naked on granite, ignore the curse on the castle door, drive a tooth into the boar’s hide, ride adders, tangle the horned horse, when I dare watch the east with unprotected eyes, then I dare love you, Beast. (The illustration is by Walter Crane, from “Beauty and the Beast.”)  https://theodoragosspoems.com

Tara from Suburble.com has some fabulous recipe ideas. Such as this one, that I will be making for dinner tomorrow, because it looks (and sounds!) great. I've never had butter chicken; my experience with Indian food is limited to the dal that I make and the one FABULOUS trip to India House Restaurant in Northampton, Mass that my husband and I took on our last wedding anniversary. (I am longing to return.) While I wait for that magical day to come again, I'll satisfy myself with food like this. Vegetarian Butter Chicken Stuffed Peppers with Minted Sour Cream   Ingredients 3-4 medium sized bell peppers, with top 1/5th removed, including stem and seeds 2 cups cooked rice 1 package Patak's Butter Chicken for Two 1 can of chick peas, rinsed and drained 1 medium onion, minced 1 cup of plain greek yogurt 3-4 sprigs of mint, finely minced Instructions Preheat the oven to 400 degrees In a saucepan over medium, saute the onions and chickpeas until onions are tran...

and one of these years I will manage to keep up with it. Four poems today, because I am four days behind. Tomorrow, May eve, will become a poetry extravaganza, tied up with preparations for Beltane and all things joyful. Daisy Time   By Marjorie Pickthall   See, the grass is full of stars, Fallen in their brightness; Hearts they have of shining gold, Rays of shining whiteness. Buttercups have honeyed hearts, Bees they love the clover, But I love the daisies' dance All the meadow over. Blow, O blow, you happy winds, Singing summer's praises, Up the field and down the field A-dancing with the daisies.  Ode on the Spring By Thomas Gray Lo! where the rosy-bosom'd Hours, Fair Venus' train appear, Disclose the long-expecting flowers, And wake the purple year! The Attic warbler pours her throat, Responsive to the cuckoo's note, The u...

5 Unexpected Tricks for Replacing a Bad Habit with a Good One Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-unexpected-tricks-for-replacing-a-bad-habit-with-a-good-one.html#ixzz47DLuMgVt By: Elise Moreau April 26, 2016 Follow Elise at @ elisem0reau If you asked anyone how they managed to eliminate one of their old bad habits by replacing it with a good one, they might give you some vague answer like, “I just decided that I really wanted to do it,” or “I pushed myself.” While this may be true to them on the surface, it doesn’t give people like us any hints about what kind of mindset tricks they may have subconsciously used to do it. Habit formation is an extremely personal endeavor, but there are some more specific ways you can increase your chances of success. In fact, some of the most effective tricks are pretty counterintuitive for most people. Here are just five you should consider. Focus on a trigger rather than t...

9 Hobbies Proven to Help Anxiety & Depression By: Diana Vilibert April 27, 2016 Follow Diana at @ dianavilibert When it comes to addressing your depression and anxiety, working with your doctor on a treatment plan is wholly recommended—but that doesn’t mean your treatment plan should be comprised entirely of a traditional combo of therapy and medication. Mental health professionals and researchers are increasingly recommending alternative therapies in conjunction with therapy and medication as treatment for depression and anxiety—and some of the activities proven to help may surprise you. Playing Video Games Gamer and author Jane McGonigal has called gaming “the neurological opposite of depression”—that’s because playing games activates parts of the brain that don’t usually get activated when you’re depressed—the ones associated with motivation, learning and goal orientation. And you don’t have to be a gamer to reap the benefits—if long, ...

     Over the weekend I went on a cleaning rampage; my youngest was recovering from surgery so I wasn't going anywhere, and as he snoozed on the couch I tackled my house. I often make jokes about the wreck that my house has become (though sometimes I am not exaggerating) but I also always comment on how much I love to be home, keeping our home as warm and welcoming for my family as I can while balancing work and writing. (And reading, I admit it.) As my family has grown and I have become more attached to homecaring, I have found myself drawn more and more to goddesses of the hearth, Hestia, Brigid, Taltiu, and so many others that formed the foundation of home so many lifetimes ago. I have missed a few days of poems again...tonight I shall make up for it with songs of the hearth and home. Hymn 29: To Hestia   Hestia, in the high dwellings of all,  both deathless gods and men who walk on earth,  you have gained an everlasting abode and...

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a year or two will know what happens to me come springtime. I lose my mind. Suddenly life is all about playing in the dirt, stacking pots on my back steps, and hauling Little Bit's little wagon overflowing with plants and bristling with garden tools down the street and around the corner to my plot in the community garden (which is conveniently located across the street from the Second Street Bakery, where the very nice proprietors don't mind if I wander in covered in crud) and generally ceasing all required daily-life activities such as laundry and dishes and mopping. (Sadly, many of my writing deadlines suffer as well. I really do need to work on prioritizing this year.) One of my back step pots usually has salad greens (okay, lettuce), and this post from http://savvygardening.com/8-salad-greens-grow-arent-lettuce/ definitely caught my eye. Let's face it: lettuce is boring. I love adding zippy ingredie...

I've allowed Little Bit to choose today's poems. He had surgery this morning, and has been a superhero all day. He brought me our copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (a book his teacher has at school). Here are his favorites: Captain Hook Captain Hook must remember Not to scratch his toes. Captain Hook must watch out And never pick his nose. Captain Hook must be gentle When he shakes your hand. Captain Hook must be careful Openin' sardine cans And playing tag and pouring tea And turnin' pages of his book. Lots of folks I'm glad I ain't-- But mostly Captain Hook! Hug O'War I will not play at tug o' war. I'd rather play at hug o' war, Where everyone hugs Instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles And rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, And everyone grins, And everyone cuddles, And everyone wins. It's Dark in Here  I am writing thes...

And I have done nothing related to the day, as my six year old had surgery this morning. He is doing well, but let's face it, when our kids need us, the rest of the world goes on hold. Here are some tips for celebrating, appreciating, and preserving this Earth we call Home. (From The Art of Simple  http://theartofsimple.net/tips-to-go-green-at-home/ ) 40 ways to go greener at home …besides just recycling B eing intentionally eco-wise is about celebrating the creativity of creation, being good stewards with what we’re given, and passing on those values to the next generation. The thing I love most about practicing good green green habits? Nine times out of ten, they’re also the more frugal option. Being environmentally-friendly is just good economics—in our home and budget, and with the earth. There are tons of little things we can do in our homes to play a small part in reducing landfill waste, cleaning the air, and preserving the natural landscape. But we dou...

...is something I will one day see. Since it is springtime in New England, I thought I'd wing my thoughts away to the city of light, and pay homage to their river, which I'm sure is as dear to Parisians as the Connecticut is to Her children. Paris: the Seine at Night by Charles Divine   Come and see the chimney-pots, etched against the light! Half-a-moon of gold above the lovely-phantomed night; Half-a-silver-moon below, underneath a span, Mirrored in the vaulted dark, like a jewelled fan. Dust in dormer window-ledge, age in bolted door, Roof-tops leaping from the dark, jumbled towards the shore; Beauty in the shadow-lanes, like an April pain, Hanging in the hearts of trees, lyric with the rain. Yellow lines across the black, shimmering and pale, Falling from the bridges' lights, undulating, frail. Crimson lanes beside the gold, piers that lie in wait, Crimson lamps to warn the ships, crawling homeward late. Come and see the magic dusk, and the...

My drive to work passes many small farms, all becoming beautifully green just now. I return home long before evening, but David Morton's poem These Fields at Evening evokes a beautifully fantastical realm, where here and the other are never truly separate. These Fields at Evening By David Morton   T HESE wear their evening light as women wear Their pale proud beauty for some lover’s sake, Too quiet-hearted evermore to care For moving worlds and musics that they make; And they are hushed as lonely women are—         5 So lost in dreams they have no thought to mark How the wide heavens blossom, star by star, And the slow dusk is deepening to the dark.   The moon comes like a lover from the hill, Leaning across the twilight and the trees;         10 And finds them grave and beautiful and still, And wearing always, on such nights as these, A glimmer less than any ghost of light, ...

The Role of Feminism in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Revolt of “Mother” ~ Nicole Kapise Perkins Feminism is defined as 1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes; and 2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests ( http://www.merriam-webster.com ). In The Yellow Wallpaper and The Revolt of “Mother” readers see both aspects of the definition. In Freeman’s Sarah Penn we see the go-getter: the suffragette organizing equal rights marches and speeches, graciously fighting for what she believes to be right. In Gilman’s unnamed protagonist is the dreamer: she longs to be taken seriously, to be believed in. She wants to write, but her husband tells her she can’t, it’s too much work. Gilman gives readers the theory of feminism, whereas Freeman gives readers the reality.             In the opening lines of Freeman’s story readers see that Sarah Penn is not a woman to b...

Again, a research project I am in the process of revising. Right around the time I finished this paper, Harriet Reisen's outstanding biography Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women was published, which will lead me to change the title of this particular study as I expand upon it. In the meantime, a (brief) background of the psychology behind my dear Louisa's work.             The Woman behind Little Women                                  Nicole Kapise                   [ 16 November 2008]                    Over the course of forty years, Louisa May Alcott wrote twenty-eigh...