This post from last November is still the most clicked article on my website, with daylight second. Given that Venus will be venturing across to the darkside later this week, here is the re-run…just to get those juices flowing…

Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights & Venus in Scorpio

Tomorrow the Moon will have moved into diva-ish Leo where she is settling down for a couple of days to have her hair & nails done before finishing her cycle in hardworking Virgo. We are now getting into the release part of the cycle where emotions that are no longer doing us any good should be banished. Personally, I have never been real good at that & do tend to become quite attached to whatever it is that I am feeling rather than let it out. Maybe under the influence of the Venus-Mars/Neptune trine I can throw some compassion towards myself rather than others who really don’t deserve it. How deep is that for a Sunday afternoon?

Venus is beginning to separate from the lovely rose coloured trine she has been in with Neptune. Personally, I have spent the last couple of days in a bit of a fog, but hey, if you are going to indulge in fantasy and day dreams, there seriously are few better transits to do it under. I reckon you can use the excuse for about another 24 hrs before the energies will move more towards Mars- more on that tomorrow (if I remember)…

Must run, I bought a new slide to digital converter thingie yesterday that I have been itching to have a play with…

It is Fathers Day here in Australia, so I have been up for hours making corn fritters for Scorpio hubby- it seems the older five foot nothing gets, the less likely she is to help out with much more than making a mess!

The Moon is still in Cancer, where she will remain until this evening. She is now nearing the balsamic phase- the dark of the Moon, the time of finishing off, of banishing, the end of the cycle. The New Moon in Virgo (at 15 Virgo 40′ish) will happen Wednesday evening Sydney time. More on that as we get closer. But start thinking now what area of your life this new cycle will be in.

As I write this, the Moon is square Mars and will during the day move to square Venus. Five Foot Nothing is under orders to be nice to Dad today….all day! Under this aspect the whole sitting around the cave feeling safe and warm can lead to frustrated energies and disputes over not a lot…speaking of which, I am in danger of doing the same over the explosion of dirty pans in my sink.

Wherever you are, enjoy your Sunday.

The Cancer Moon should be called the Baking Moon, or the House-cleaning Moon, or the Nesting Moon. Given that my house is currently a pig sty (can no longer be termed a creative mess), and that I have friends & family over tonight for a Fathers day dinner, I will be doing all of the above today.

The Cancer Moon is also one of those times when a womans fancy moves away from perving on footballers at semi finals time to perving on the chocolate bar in the fridge (did I mention that my favourite teams in both codes of footy won last night????). So in honour of baking, in honour of chocolate and in honour of Cancer and comfort food, here is the classic choc pudding I am making for my guests tonight…enjoy!

Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding

(from Delia Smith’s Winter Collection)

This used to be one of my favourite puddings to cook for people, but I seriously haven’t opened this cookbook in years. It is one of those puddings that is best served hot and squidgy with really good vanilla ice cream melting into it.

A million weight watchers points and it can’t be fitted into the CSIRO Diet in any way shape or form, but for some things you have to sigh, gaze at the Moon and say “the Moon is in Cancer, I have a valid excuse”…and so you do, but only for today!

Ingredients

9 slices white bread (crusts removed) & sliced into 4 triangles

150g dark chocolate (75% cocoa solids)

425 ml whipping cream

4 tbsp dark rum

110g caster sugar

75g butter

3 eggs

Pinch cinnamon

Ice cream or chilled double cream to serve

Method

Place the chocolate, cream, rum, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and wait until the butter & chocolate has melted & the sugar dissolved. Remove it from the heat & give it a really good stir.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, pour the chocolate over them & whisk again to blend.

Spoon a 1cm layer of the chocolate into the base of a lightly buttered shallow ovenproof dish and arrange half of the bread triangles over the chocolate in overlapping rows. Pour half of the remaining chocolate all over the bread as evenly as possible then arrange the rest of the triangles over that, finishing off with a layer of chocolate. Use a fork to press the bread down gently so that it is evenly covered with liquid.

Cover the dish with clingfilm & allow to stand at room temperature for 2 hours before transferring it to the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours before cooking. I have to admit, the standing in the fridge bit for so long never happens in my house. The most it ever gets is 6-8 hours. When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 180deg C, remove the clingfilm & bake for 30-35 mins. Leave to stand for 10 mins & serve with ice cream or chilled double cream. Yum!

Five Foot Nothing went and saw Vampires Suck at the movies this afternoon…I was supposed to see it with her, but she is a teenager (virtually) so dumped me in favour of her friends. Heavy and very resigned sigh. She said it was funny, but a bit of a rip off because “it cost $14 for a movie that only went for an hour!”. Yep, she has Capricorn Rising!

As I write this with the 1st wine of the night (a nice little Kiwi Pinot Gris) the Moon has just moved into Cancer and is, as we speak, squaring off against Jupiter. All the better to enjoy a vino…

Wthin the next hour or so the Sun and Mercury will be exact, in cazimi- ie Mercury will be within 17 1/2 minutes of the Sun. This is, in the words of John Frawley, ” a tiny oasis…in the heart of the Sun”. To be in this position is to be “raised to sit beside the King”, ie it is pretty good. What makes this more important is that Mercury is currently retrograde, so for a few short hours tonight (Sydney time) all that will be forgotten- the trains will be on time, messages will get through and my phone will work when it is suppposed to & those annoying little calculators that spontaneously turn up on my computer screen with the HP Update screen and the self muting won’t spontaneously turn up.

So, what is planned for your Friday night? Pizza & red wine in front of the footy finals? Hubby wants to go out for a meal, but seriously I am looking at a hot bath with plenty of radox, my wine & a decent book followed by take away. The Moon is in Cancer & my little shell & my little family is looking pretty darn good tonight!