i'm melting...

greetings and salutations, my lovelies...

it is so... freaking... hot.

at 9am it was 85f with a heat index of 96f.  

it is currently 92f with hi of 102f.

i'm staying in the house as much as possible.  in fact, i only go out to walk pup in the am/pm and to water/check on the garden.  since the pup only 'goes' twice a day, it's really not too bad as i can stay in the a/c all day.

as an aside, i can't get over this 'goes' twice a day.  my beastie boy would 'go' 7, 8, 9+ times a day.  of course, he was diabetic and that makes a big difference.  but i'm having trouble getting used to this.

anyhoo, this morning when we came back from our outing, i went out to the garden to water and found green beans!!

i picked the good-sized ones from the bush beans and have a good amount for a dinner or two.  the pole beans are not producing yet, though they are flowering.  and looking through the cucumbers {that have tons of flowers} that i have to train up the trellis every day, i found two nice looking cukes that are almost ready!  yay!!!

i really don't think i'll plant bush beans again.  they aren't like a bush at all and mostly just lie on the ground. i'll definitely plant more to use up the seeds i have, but i'll be using poles from now on.

i was outside for about 15-20 minutes, watering, weeding a bit and picking beans and flowers and i was so hot i drank down two cups of water when i came in. ugh...this, this is why i don't really like summer.  i love the fresh fruit and veggies and all the beautiful flowers and the birds (especially the hummingbirds) but i just do not tolerate the heat very well.

after the beans and watering i picked a few flowers to bring in. 

some for the ancestors...

and some for me...

in migrainelandia news, i really think these vyepti infusions are helping.  i'm on day 9 of not having the pain go over a 7.  after coming in from the garden, i could feel it starting to build a bit so i took out my ice pack and put it on my neck (now on my head) to try to keep the pain level from rising.  i'm really hoping it helps.

well...i'm off to turn off the news and read a book.  the news is just raising my blood pressure and pissing me off.  hope you are having a good day.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps... here's a link to today's mfta post.

pps... does anyone know what the deal is with the different bold of the font?  i didn't use bold at all and i can't figure out why it is so different. any tips appreciated. :-)

greetings from auntie camp...

good afternoon, my lovelies, 

as i type this it is currently 95 degrees out with a heat index of 106.  here at auntie camp, we're staying in as much as possible and when we have to go out, we go as early in the morning as possible.  then at dinner, we just hurry down the road as quick as i can get him to go.

he's a pretty slow walker.  i don't think they really take him for walks.  he stops at every sound, every breeze, every twitch of a blade of grass and he has to sniff E V E R Y T H I N G...

ugh...  my beastie boy was not a good walker because he wanted to play with everyone he saw and he was so big i couldn't hold him back very well.  this little buddy showed me the other day (luckily inside the house) that he knows how to sneak out of his harness so i have to be super careful when walking him.  if he gets loose i'd never catch him.

the only things i've done since auntie camp started is keep up with my mfta posts and water the garden, journal and some meditation.  i'm pretty much stuck like this all the time...

hee hee.  last night i literally slept with my back plastered against the wall and him plastered to the front of me.  it's a full-size bed and i had less than 1/3rd of it.  :-)

and of course, if i get up from my chair...

sneaky boy.  he's hard to get to move, too.  i guess he thinks it's his if he's in it.  

anywho... this has been quite the experience and i have learned some valuable lessons from it.  i know now that i am not a pet person anymore.  i don't mind having him for a few days up to a week.  and i don't mind looking after cats (if they are in their home) but i can't have a pet in my house.  between the fur everywhere, the smells (seriously his toots are like death) and the noises and general chaos.  it's just been too long and it's not for me anymore. 

i'm so grateful to have had this experience.  it is so much better than wondering and wondering until i would go and pick up a pet at the rescue to bring home and then be stuck with it or be someone who returns a pet to a rescue.  

that's all from auntie camp today.  he's over on the sofa, napping, and i'm gonna go take my meds and get ready for an online meditation class i want to take at 3.  have a great day.

hope you're able to stay cool

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps... here's the link to today's mfta post.

 

time for auntie camp...

how's it goin, my lovelies?

i'm having a weird day to what i predict to be a very weird and unusual week.  this past week i started doing a nightly winddown ritual to try to help me get a better night of sleep and rest.  the reason is for the past month or so, i'll end up wide awake until 1 or 2 (sometimes 4 am) reading or watching crap tv) and then wake up at 5:59am just before my alarm goes off at 6.  it's really taken a toll on me and i need to fing a regular good sleep pattern.

hence, the winddown ritural.  i'll turn off all devices at 9pm, no food or drink except h20 after 8pm. and i get in bed to sleep at 10:30pm. btwn 9 and 10:30, i work on cleaning out files or cleaning up different areas around the house, sorting.  the other night i folded and put away laundry.  no "input" just "output".  which means... i can't read before bed which has been my go-to for my entire life!!  i've noticed in the few days i've followed that routine, i did sleep better and felt the teenseyist, weeniest, tinyest bit better in the mornings.  well, last night, i blew it. i didn't eat dinner until about 3 to 3 1/2 hours after normal (8:15-8:30ish), then got so wrapped up in the book i read on my kindle until 10:30.  then i just went to bed.

this morning i woke feeling like i'd been hit and run over by an armored truck carrying 10 megaton bombs and hauling a half dozen trucks behind it just like that.  and for the next 6 nights i'll be sharing my bed. ugh...

so yeah...not starting great.  i've had some nausea meds and luckily (knocking on wood) have not had the gate to levels 8-10 of migrainelandia open and swallow me whole.  thank the goddesses and gods for that. 

i think i mentioned in my last post that i would have company this coming week?  well...he arrived this morning. 

meet my just turned 1year old nephew

(the nephew napping whilst i type up this post)

we are scheduled to delve into the depths of heat hell here starting tomorrow (yes, i know it gets hotter in other places, but it is all relative to where you live and your life experiences, isn't it?) and the week is to be in the high 90's to 100, with heat indexes to at least 110+. and with humidity so thick the air is like breathing chuncky soup.  my nephew and i will be staying in as much as possible.  we will have to walk twice a day, but for the most part, we'll be chilling right here in the a/c.

it's been so long, i've forgotten what it is like to live with someone else in the house. and i've already found a couple of things i've got to move and put somewhere else or he'll delve into it like crazy.  i'm feeling a lot out of sorts as i can't let anything happen to him. so i'm feeling more stress than i have in 15 years (back when i was working).

i know we'll be fine.  i'm just so unused to keeping my eyes peeled for them, i feel like i need to know where he is and what he's doing every second.  but...

look at those eyes!

those eyes...they remind me of my beastie boy.

my beastie boy - Dylan at Yule 2007

i figure this week, between having the nephew and looking after the kitties (with litter box duty, even though i was told not to worry about the litter boxes) i'll know whether or not i'd be able to handle having a pet again.

this seems to be his favorite location to hang out...

which was also, dylan's favorite place to hang out.  that paw on my arm says, "rub my belly, auntie!" and is so cute!

i suspect i'll spend most of the week just like that last photo.  maybe i can get some good movie watching and maybe some reading time in.  he's not a walker, i've been told.  i was really looking forward to going for walks with him early in the morning, but apparently if you try, you pretty much have to carry him or drag him along. haha.

anyhoo... i suppose that last photo is where i'll be all week.  but i'll get back when i can.

hope you have a great week. if it is super hellaciously hot in your area, do your best to stay cool, keep fighting the good fight, find some good trouble and be safe! 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~ 

ps... here's the link to today MFTA if you're interested...

midsummer blessings...

blessed and happy midsummer solstice to you all in the northern hemisphere (Yule in the southern hemisphere).

i arose early this morning to head into the garden before the sun crossed the horizon.  that seems to be when the heat hits the area, and it becomes too hot for me.

i thought i'd share some of my happy garden with you, today.

these coneflowers are growing in a pot.  it was a packet of wildflower seeds that i dumped into a pot several years ago and since then, each summer i get a different flower blooming.  last year, i think it was cathedral bells and this year just the coneflower.

marigold in one of the tomato pots with some zinnia bokka.  :-)

raindrops from last night's wonderful storm on a rose bloom.  the storm was fantastic and meant the ground was wonderfully damp for pulling weeds this morning.  the blackberry invaders are still around but i was able to remove them from the veg bed.

just as i was ready to call it a day in the garden, the sun broke over the trees on a beautiful midsummer solstice morning.

i went back out a little later to harvest herbs to dry. 

sage

basil and peppermint

left to right: spearmint, lemon balm and parsley.

i bunch hung them as i just didn't feel like bringing out the dehydrator. i'm sure i'll have it out soon though.

i hope you've had a wonderful day.  get outside today and get a bit of sunlight.  if you can't, or if the sun is hidden by dark clouds, light a yellow candle to help shine the light in the dark so you can experience the longest period of daylight of the year.

how have you spent midsummer solstice?  do you celebrate or is it just another day?

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps... here's the link to today's MFTA post. 

juneteenth...

good afternoon, my lovelies

while tossing and turning last night, trying to fall asleep, i decided i wanted to do a post about Juneteenth today, since it is in fact Juneteenth.  one of the things that this current regime has taught me is that i don't know enough about my fellow humans and the history of their cultures. 

yes, i am a white, genx, southern girl, raised in a southern baptist household (sort of).  the white part i had nothing to do with (and genetic testing says i'm mostly english and welsh, with a bit of scottish, irish, germanic european, swedish and a tiny portion of north american indigenous). the southern baptist thing has always been in question.  even as a small child all the "rules/commandments/teachings" never made sense to me.  i pretty much emancipated myself from christianity at the age of 6 and declared myself a witch a few years later, but didn't really start practicing witchcraft until i was a teenager.

and us genxers...well...does anything really need to be explained? haha

growing up in the south, i know we weren't taught much in the way of truth in school.  and to be honest, i don't even remember anyone ever mentioning Juneteenth until the last few years.  as a person who has always loved history (and always thought i was born in the wrong time period) and all people (no matter the color of their skin much to the horror of some of my more racist family members) i wanted to learn more.  

so with this topic in mind and everything going on out there i decided it was time to educate myself and maybe, by bringing a few things here i can help you find something new too.

since i'm new to this, please!  please! if i post anything that is incorrect about this date of historical and cultural and human importance, please let me know (nicely).  i'm not here to say i know everything and i'm right.  obvs, since i just stated up there that i know nothing.  i'm here to learn.  i want to be an ally, i want to be a friend, i want this to be a safe space, ok?  

i started where everybody starts nowadays by doing the g thing and looking it up. one of the first sites took me to Roger Eberts page (which was a little weird i'll admit) but the headline grabbed me: then they will learn the truth

from what i've found, Juneteenth is short for June Nineteenth, the date that General Gordon Granger of the Union Army leading federal troops arrived (1865) in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and emancipate any unfreed slaves.  after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 many southerners moved to texas and took their slaves there as there was very little fighting in the state and it was considered the last safe place to hold slaves. when Granger arrived, he stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3 stating that all slaves were free.

it has been 160 years since that order was read. and while there was no instantaneous change, it was the start of freedom for black folks, in a way.  i think everyone in america (sane people anyway) would agree there is a long way to go before black folks are just as free and equal as white folks.  the day has also been known as Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Black Fourth of July, Second Independence Day.

here are a few links to some noted people on Juneteenth.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Opal Lee - The Grandmother of Juneteenth

Here are a couple of books i''ve added to my reading list: On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed and Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison

and if you have children, grandchildren or great grandchildren there are a lot of books for kids about Juneteenth.

these are just a couple of things, the more i searched the more i found. i'm glad to see that information is out there, i've just become wary of where i get my information from, y'knowwhatimean?

any folks out there that can educate me, please do so...

Happy Juneteenth!!

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps... here's the link to today's MFTA post if you're interested.  i've decided to just link to it in the bottom of posts on days i post here like today! :-)

never to 95 percent...

good morning from the wildly humid south, my lovelies. 

i hope you had a good weekend.  i'm just popping in for a quick minute to share a photo or two.  i'm also thinking i might start dropping in with a link to the other blog (messages from the ancestors) each day.  but right now, i'm just thinking about it.  maybe i'll just link that day's post when i do post here.  what do you think?  

anywho, my weekend was weird.  i was hyperalert due to {jazz hands} all that out there in the world which was exacerbated by what was happening here in the States.  i pretty much stayed in the house with the doors closed and locked.  i did a lot of reading, sorting and miscellaneous stuff around the house.

for the past week or so we've had so much rain i have barely had to step outside to even look at the garden. so, guess how surprised i was when i went out yesterday morning to water and found i had 6 juliet (large grape style) tomatoes ready to pick!  of course, i forgot to take a picture but they sure were pretty!

i'm on a lot of meds right now as my neuro is trying to find a good combination of things to help lessen my time and intensity in migrainelandia.  at least 3 of them completely take away my appetite so i'm eating very little.  i am NEVER hungry (honestly, even the thought of food makes me want to barf 95% of the time) and by the time i think about needing to eat something (trying to manage my blood sugar) it's usually 8 or 9 pm. so over the weekend, i decided to try to get myself a regular meal schedule going.  last night i decided to have a little salad so i could eat the tomato so picked a tiny bit of lettuce, a radish and cut up a tomato for it, to go with my fried potato and hot dog.

i ended up giving 3 of my beautiful tomatoes to my next-door neighbor.  that's why i only have 3 left in the first picture.  the very light-colored one fell off the vine while i was picking the others so i brought it in to let it ripen before i eat it.  :-)

anyhoo...what have you been up to lately?  did you go to a protest this past weekend?  i'd love to hear about your experience if you did.  

i hope to be back soon.  i have my nephew coming to stay with me next week and that should give me good fodder for the blog not to mention be a lot of fun.

thanks for being here...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

NO KINGS IN AMERICA

 

i meant to be here before now, but life...

i could not miss today... if you follow my other blog (MFTA) some of the warning signs have become clear and over the past few days i've addressed it more directly.  

i hope if you're out at one of the protests you are safe and know how to keep yourself safe.  and if you are like me and cannot physically be at a protest, that you can do whatever you can to help like doing the online protests.  i truly wish i could be on the streets with my fellow americans to protest the attempted destruction of our constitutional rights.  i'm sending as much energy for safety and security to all the protesters as i can.

let's take today to celebrate some true leaders of america and other countries.  people who care about their government's rules of law, the people they represent and are just all around pretty decent human beings. 

yeah, i know... but come on... that took serious guts, right?  honestly, who couldn't love these beauties!  well done you!!

and while i don't agree with the policies or even like some of the people in the below photo, they all behaved (well almost all) with decorum and grace and like adults.

well, that's all i've got for now.  it's taken hours for me to get this typed up. i hope to get back to regular posting now that i've broken through. :-)

ya'll be safe and take care.

love & kisses & magical wishes

~*~

ps... these are the only people i would consider calling King.  :-)