Holding Space Open House

The Holding Space open house last week was a success, despite the heat, and the poor function of the air conditioning there.  I think the unit was just overwhelmed by the 112 degrees outside and crowded room inside.

The heat didn't dampen the joy and dancing.

The event is just the beginning of a series of seminars and workshops they hope to hold in the future.

Including one to do a mud/plaster treatment on this wall. My son soundproofed it with old carpet remnants nailed to the drywall, then he attached this bamboo to give the mud something to adhere to.  It looks pretty good like this, but he'll be adding the mud/clay/plaster and it will really be something then. Its a green technique, and I'm looking forward to being there to watch and learn how it is done.

They will also be featuring local art, and participating in the Final Fridays Gallery Walk downtown every month.

Before the room filled up, I snapped some pictures of the finished rooms.  I've shown you the faux finishes that I did there, but the rooms weren't done yet.  I think they've turned out beautifully. And the kids did it all with NO budget.

Everything is second hand, some things were found along the side of the road. I gave them some hand me downs and paid for the paint.

My dear niece in Utah, had earlier shipped them her massage therapy equipment that she no longer used. (thanks again, Alicia!)

The kids were creative with their decor, making the most of what they already had, and using lots of elbow grease to make the rooms look warm and welcoming.

I'm very proud of what they accomplished.

 
Family and freinds came to play music throughout the day, and vendors were there to share information about what they had to offer for the community.

Some local artists brougth their work, there was chair massage, hand writing analysis (I was told that the point on my T's means that I can be sarcastic and like to tease, but in a friendly way, not mean, and that I am very social and empathetic), tarot card readings, and a lot more.

 
The evening featured a Kirtan, which is kind of a singing meditation. This one was done by a woman with a really pretty voice, Jerri of Heartsong Pathways.

The best part of the whole day was watching my son in his element. I was glad to see how he had found a place for himself in this world.  He had a rough road through the years, to get to this point, and as any mother knows, there are few joys bigger than seeing your grown child find his way and find his heart's desire.

My husband and I wanted to show our support for the open house, so we bought the stuff to make treats, and I baked 6 batches of cookies to set out along with some iced tea. 

When I bake, I don't use a recipe. But heck, if you've ever made a cookie, you know the basics and there isn't much more to it.  I do the basic- butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla all creamed, add the eggs, add the flour/salt/baking soda then embellish each batch a little different.

One batch was chocolate chips, another peanut butter with Reeses Chips and chocolate chips.  When making these, I switched out half the butter for chunky peanut butter and used a little less flour.

The third was a granola cookie. For that, I added cinnamon, flax seeds, dried fruits, oatmeal, almonds, and sunflower seeds, then lessened the amount of flour.  To keep those from being too healthy, I threw in chopped up white chocolate chips.

One of my tips for baking, is to chop up the chips.  I put a half bag at a time in the blender on chop and grind the chips up before adding them to the dough.  You need half as much, (saving a little tiny bit of calories) and every single bite gets a taste of chips in it.

I baked way too many cookies, but they freeze well. The trouble will be how much the bags shrink in the freezer… if you know what I mean.  Those bags of cookies saved for a future purpose just never last.