Saint Brigid Day

Today is St. Brigid's Day in Ireland. As she is the patroness of cattle, dairy work, and ale, her day is also New Year's Day for Farmers and the first day of Spring or Imbolc, a pagan celebration associated with fertility and weather divination.

The word, Imbolc [the season of light] is Gaelic, the language of the Celts. There is a strong association between Imbolc and Brigid, a Celtic fertility goddess also associated with fire, healing, and holy wells. When the pagan holidays were transformed into Christian equivalents, February 1st became St. Brigid's Day in honor of the Irish saint (named after the Celtic goddess) who was a contemporary of Saint Patrick's.
I plan to make some oatcakes to celebrate Imbolic....in honor of the Celtic Goddess Brigid....and the coming of spring...

Scottish Oat Cakes (Gluten Free)

• 8 oz. rolled oats, plus extra for dusting
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 Tblsp butter
• 5 oz. water
  

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Put the oatmeal, soda and salt into a bowl and mix well. Heat the butter 5 oz water in a small pan until the butter melts.
3. Make a well in the centre of the oatmeal mix, pour in the liquid and use a rubber spatula to mix everything together. The mixture will initially seem a bit wet, but the oatmeal will gradually absorb all the liquid to give a soft dough.
4. Lightly dust a clean work surface with oatmeal. Tip out the dough, then roll out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Use a small round cutter to stamp out the oatcakes or use your favorite shapes. Re-roll any trimmings and continue to cut out the "biscuits". (Cut art cakes can be frozen uncooked, for up to a month. Freeze flat before packing into bags or boxes.)
5. Brush off any excess oatmeal, then space the oatcakes over 2 baking sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes, carefully turning the oatcakes every 5 minutes or so to stop them from steaming and going stodgy. When cooked they should be crisp and lightly golden. Lift onto a wire rack and leave to cool. (Will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.)

yummy with apple butter or homemade jam---or with a nice goat cheese...and fruit.

Real Alaskan Women

Most of you blog readers know I'm from Alaska--in fact--I am a third generation Alaskan --my grandfather was a gold miner, my mother was born in Juneau, Alaska in 1922. Sarah Palin's family moved to Alaska when she was an infant--she is a first generation Alaskan--if even that, since she was not born there.

After watching Palin debate (if you could call it that) Senator Biden, I just had to post this link to the SARAH PALIN DEBATE FLOW CHART---such a wonderfull, humorous illustration of the debate ....seems to sum up what happened just fine...do check it out ;-)

There is a reason my name is Aurora--it keeps me grounded in the best part of Alaska. I lived for over 20 years in a small town in Alaska--and even served on the city council there--heck, we all did that--we all ended up sooner or later taking out turn on the city council---did that qualify us to be Vice Pres of the US? It takes a tremendous ego to even consider that position when all the experience you have is governor of the state with the smallest population percapita.

I know many women like her in Alaska--self-rightous that their beliefs are the only way the world should be run, who see Alaska as only a place to be exploited and consumed--not as the tremendous wild treasure it is. I know many Alaskan women who say they are feminists---but a real Alaskan feminist Palin is not: she does not support a women's right to choose whether to have an abortion or not; she says you should teach only abstinence--but has a pregnant teenager; she is a women who believes the answer to our "energy crisis" is to drill for more oil in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge (she doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the word "refuge"); and worst of all ---she is a women who refuses to believe that Global Warming is caused by humans--despite the scientific evidence! Despite what Sarah Palin says, and her deliberately folksy attitude, she is not a "real" Alaskan women--she is a caricature of the worst kind of Alaskan.

May we all have compassion for her wounded soul, and work to keep her from being elected.

Women's History : ART Making

I woke up this morning and remembered an idea that came to me in the middle of the night--I should blog about women artists for women's history month-- and so I have decided to highlight some of my favorite art history books --- the ones that are about women artists I admire, or are excellent general feminist women's art history--from my collection. When I attended college in the 1990's (I was a college student later in life), I received a minor in Art History---and found myself studying mostly women in art history. This may have had something to do with my experience in the 1980's with feminist artist Judy Chicago--I collaborated with her on a piece for The Birth Project, and that experience certainly "raised my consciousness" around the issue of women being systematically "written out of history."

A classic history is Women Artists : An Illustrated History by Nancy G. Heller. This (and some of the other books here,) may now be out of print but a quick look at ABEbooks.com showed numerous used copies for sale.




Another thought provoking book discusses (between the two authors, Judy Chicago and Edward Lucie-Smith) some of the contrasting ways women have been portrayed throughout western art history---and addresses the questions : "Why has so much art by women continued to find so little public recognition? Are women's depictions of women different from those by men?" among other subjects. The illustrations are numerous and beautiful, and the book may make you view images of women in art in a new way.



I think the title for this book speaks for itself. This is the classic book on American feminist art of the 1970's, with great Illustrations.














Next--the history of American women artist's 1970-1985. If you are interested in contemporary women's fine art, these are the three books I highly recommend.






Now to highlight a few individual women artists whose work has influenced mine....



This book by Janet Kaplan captivated me when it first was published--then I was lucky to veiw a show of Remedios Varo's art at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. (If you are ever in D. C.--this Museum is a must see!) Varo was an early surrealist artist--originally from Europe, but forced to flee the Nazis, eventually she settled in Mexico City. To see a great website all about Varo---her life and many images of her art--click here.

"For more than 60 years German Artist Kathe Kollwitz expressed through her work the ideas that obsessed her: the plight of the oppressed, the causes of peace and social justice, the joys and sorrows of motherhood, and the mystery of death." Looking through this book, I find it a bit scary how so many of these images are still relevant today.



Lastly, I have this lovely book about the amazing Margaret Mee (1909-1988)--and English artist who traveled to the Amazon--sometimes by canoe and alone-- and kept diaries of her journeys and also created wonderful botanical paintings and drawings of the plant life.

Women's History Month : Authors and WIP

My friend Ms. Godsey at Bibliophile Bullpen has another great blog --- Literary Stamps, which is part of the inspiration for this post.

Poet Edna St Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine in 1892. Millay's life always fascinated me---since she was an early "Bohemian"---and a women not afraid to go against the norms of what was expected of women of her time.

Nancy Mitford has written an excellent biography of Millay titled Savage Beauty



which I read and enjoyed immensely. Mitford captured her life and spirit, as well as the times she lived in ....

Souvenir
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
(from The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems, 1923 edition)
Just a rainy day or two
In a windy tower,
That was all I had of you----
Saving half an hour

Marred by greeting passing groups
In a cinder walk,
Near some naked blackberry hoops
Dim with purple chalk.

I remember three or four
Things you said in spite,
And an ugly coat you wore,
Plaided black and white.

Just a rainy day or two
And a bitter word.
Why do I remember you
as a singing bird?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

on another note---WIP: I am currently knitting squares for a healing blanket or small afghan for a friend who is quite ill--something cuddly for him to wrap himself in when he is sitting, or when is he is cold....several knitting friends are also contributing to this project.


so far, I have five 8" x 8" squares done and another one on the needles--I am having fun trying out new stitches for some squares...this is turning out to be a nice way to swatch and experiment with new stitch ideas, plus use up some miscellaneous wools I have in my stash.

International Women's Day

March 8th is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, and March is WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, so I'm going to highlight a few women artists, writers and craftswomen whose works I like throughout this month. I think it is important for us to know our history---so we can change and grow as a culture---by learning from our past mistakes and injustices.

Who better to start with than journalist and American activist Dorothea Dix (1802-1887)?

And short history of INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY from Wikipedia: "The first IWD was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (New York, 1911), where over 140 women lost their lives. The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions.

More protests followed on 8 March in subsequent years, most notably in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen. Furthermore, on the eve of World War I, women across Europe held peace rallies on 8 March 1913. In the West, International Women's Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s, but dwindled. It was revived by the rise of feminism in the 1960s."



And because this is also a knitting/crafting blog, I would like to also highlight Elizabeth Zimmerman (1940-1999)---I knit my first sweater from one of her books in 1979! out of yarn I spun myself from sheep raised in the Alaska Aleutian Islands. I still have that book--the now famous KNITTING WITHOUT TEARS and I still refer to it, and use the patterns--of course!


"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either...." --Elizabeth Zimmerman

Elizabeth’s books have all remained in print continuously since publication. They are available at local book and yarn shops and through Schoolhouse Press.