Made by Hand, Given with Heart.

I think that the people in your life either really know who you are and what makes you tick or they simply just don't.

My birthday is exactly one week before Christmas. That makes me a fully fledged Sagittarian.

Not much intimidates me and I am usually game to try new things, which is why I'm on Steemit, in its first year.

I love to travel, cook, write, garden and generally, work with my hands.

By blood, my genetics are a healthy mix of both Italian and Irish.

Combined with being a Saggittarian, that makes for a wickedly sarcastic sense of humour and an extremely explosive temper...especially if I get pushed beyond the threshold of my tolerance level and have an empty stomach.

I'm not proud of this but I can admit to occasionally morphing into a "hillbilly with knife skills". You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it can rival the Incredible Hulk's anger transformation. 

My family and close friends know me well. They know that if they want to give me a gift that really puts a smile on my face and an extra bit of twinkling in my eyes, it should be handmade.

Today, I thought I would show you a few of the things that have been handmade and gifted to me for my recent birthday. 

(I know you might be too polite to ask, so I'll tell you that I just turned 45. I'm speculating here, but that likely makes me one of the older contributors, next to my own Mother and husband on this platform.) 

My Mother @dianelyndon, gave me this beautiful painting, painted by her hand. She has just taken up painting and has been attending painting lessons. I think she did an incredible job and it reminds me of Monet's impressionist style. I will cherish this forever.

My youngest sister, burnt this artwork into these wooden utensils, with her own hands. She has just taken up wood-burning as a new art-form and hobby. I thought that she did a fantastic job.

A good friend, grew this herb with his own hands. We don't know what the strain is but it is pure "bliss in a baggie". We both think that the original plant given to him to grow was a sativa dominant hybrid because it grew to be over 6 feet tall, outside in his garden. Grown organically, it definitely has "haze" characteristics. (Some people give a bottle of wine in a nice bag, not my friends. I'd be thrilled with a small baggie of dried herb anytime.) 

Another friend, knit these mittens by hand. Very soft and will keep my hands warm on cold days. I actually have really cold hands when I'm not working as a massage therapist. I usually start wearing gloves or mittens in October and will wear something of some description on my hands until May, in an effort to protect them.

Another friend gave me raw honey, harvested by hand. This is from a small backyard apiary, that is local to the area where I live. This year, we had draught conditions and the honey produced is dark brown. I've actually never seen honey this dark before except for bees which have collected pollen from clover. 

Lastly, another friend sewed me this angel, saying that every angel needs another angel to watch over her.

I thanked her and then told her that I thought I actually required a whole team of angels and we both laughed.

Coincidentally, many of these handmade gifts share a common link.

I own a small cooking supply company that sells harder to find tools and accessories used to cook with cannabis.

It's called Stir the Pot. I will actually use the spoons my sister made for me, the herb and the honey to make medicated edibles. Often, this is so I can help others who need this plant medicine to heal.

It's probably why I need the angelic oversight. I just haven't quite figured out yet, how to integrate the painting and the mittens into that equation... ;)

I welcome your comments and invite you to follow me on my journey.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

~ Rebecca Ryan