and that's what's happening...

happy thursday, my lovelies.  i thought i'd come to you today with a small bit of gardening fun.  i'd hoped to get back to the ever-onward task of removing the beautiful yet invasive blackberry hedge that some lovely critter gifted me years ago in my flower bed.  but bad head days have kept me inside for most of the week.  i have been making a point to keep things watered and check on progress of what's been planted.  

my plan is to get ALL the blackberry vines out of the garden, but that will be a difficult task as it is a runner and sends out shoots so quickly and dig roots so deep it is hard to get them all.  i expect i'll be pulling these up for the rest of my time living here as i refuse to use herbicides.

i'd really like to dig some up and plant in the woods behind our property.  then i could just let them do their thing and also have the benefit of getting to pick blackberries in the summers.  oh well...

here are some images from my garden as of today...

the first peony bloomed and is lovely.  just before they bloom there is a hint of light pink on the outside of the petals that lead one to think it might be a pink bloom, then they open, and it is a lovely white.  i love peonies, they are such an old-fashioned flower.

the foxgloves are starting to bloom and have started spreading.  these two self-seeded from last year or maybe the year before.  as you can see the blackberries are really close, so i'll have to be careful when i work on them as i don't want to lose any of the flowers.

when i first saw this bloom (from a different angle) i thought my love-in-a-mist was starting to bloom. but no...it's just the first bloom of the the damn blackberry. ugh...

the only thing in the veg bed yet, is these two rows of more lettuce and two rows of celery.  i've really got to get my seeds in.  

there is a plant sale on sunday that i'm going to and will try to find a long list of things i want to grow.  i don't know where i'll put them, but i feel i need them.  so i'm hoping saturday is a good planting day as i need to get stuff planted and potted before bringing home too much more. 😎

i love this spiderwort, despite it growing in a spot that i don't want.  my neighbor dug it up a couple years ago and was going to toss it so i took it.  i just plopped it down as i was going to plant it somewhere else but was in a hurry and of course never got to it and it just rooted right there.  i plan to move at least some of it down to the new flower bed next spring as it starts coming up.  it will be much easier to deal with when small. one of the reasons i love it is because these plants were from some that were split from my Great Aunt Vera's home when she passed.  i like that i was able to bring some of her and my Great Uncle Milam home with me.  

will you look at how beautiful my David Austin Lady of Shallot is doing?!?  i've never seen so many blooms at one time.  i love it so much and the blooms have such a lovely scent.  it has at least 5 open blooms, 3 buds almost ready to open and a bunch more buds that are just starting to get big.  oh...my heart!!

oh those colors!!! i so wish i could send you the scent through the screen.  it is so fantastically lovely.

well...that's what's happening in my garden today.  it's just started raining and we may have a bit more tomorrow which is wonderful for the garden.

tomorrow i'm learning to make my mum's delicious spaghetti sauce after i run some errands in the am.  i'll try to take good pictures so i can share.  it's a recipe she's used longer than i've been alive and is my absolute favorite sauce for pasta, on buttered bread and even on rice or baked potatoes. 

i hope you are having a good week.  how are things in your neck of the garden of planet earth?

love & kisses & magical wishes, 

~*~

 

it's a keeper...

happy silent sunday, my lovelies.  and if you are of that bent, a blessed easter to you and yours. 

this year, mum insisted we have a celebration of easter.  i finally broke down and said i would cook, but to me it is just a regular day.  she was fine since it got her out of cooking and had me doing all the work. she paid for the groceries, and i have lots of leftovers even after everyone else took some home, so not a bad deal.

there is a lovely lady who cleans house for mum who is Ukranian and she sent us a paska for our meal.  She told mum the tradition, but mum couldn't remember what we were to do, and no matter how much sleuthing i did on the interwebs, i could not find out what that traditional rites are. we did pray before trying it.  i liked it a lot and thought that it was so sweet of this lady to think of us.

i should have taken a photo after it was cut so you could see the inside. it has a lovely taste and texture.  if you or someone you know is Ukrainian and could tell me what the traditional rites are with this, i would LOVE to know!

i was up early yesterday as my s-i-l and i were heading out to the old farmers market i used to frequent before covid happened. i'd seen where it was the day for their annual plant sale and since i'm feeling much better than last year and am working in the garden, i really wanted to find some plants that just aren't sold in local plant nurseries.  

i decided to wear my outlook on my shirt yesterday.  i love having shirts with funny or sarcastic statements.  i'm working on building quite a collection of them. ;)

turns out, it wasn't plant sale day.  though there were a lot of vendors with plants for sale.  i was able to get my favorite eggs though since the local grocer seems to have stopped carrying them.  and STRAWBERRIES!!!  fresh strawberries!!  yumyumyum

and on friday, my s-i-l and i had another cheesecake session.  it had to have a water bath cooking, so she left once we got it in the oven and then i finished up with the topping on saturday after returning from the market.  we tried it last night as desert for our holiday meal and let me tell you...it is a KEEPER!

Yep, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, with a chocolate ganache topping.  it is soooooo good.  the cracks on the sides are indents from the springform pan being lined with parchment paper.  i think next time i'll leave the sides clear of paper.  Click the link if you want to give it a try.  I don't know what we'll be trying in June, but I'll let you know. hee hee hee  :-)

now that things have settled down and my house is mostly back together, i sat down today and read the booklet on my new predator cover to cover, then charged it.  i feel a little better knowing i can use this to keep some life saving devices charged and working.  now to focus on water storage and a way to cook if the grid is down. 

well, that's my weekend in a nutshell.  i ended up with a bad migraine last night and when i woke it was massive.  but now, it is a bit better, after nausea meds and abortive meds and judicious use of ice packs on the back of my neck and head.

how has your weekend been?

thanks for reading, 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps...i've put up a link to my other site: Messages from the Ancestors if you are interested in checking it out.  the link is in the sidebar just below the copyright notice. 

where to find things...

how is it already Wednesday, lovelies?

i was going to post yesterday but had a very scary low that almost sent me to hospital.  luckily, i was able to bring it back into range.  it took almost an hour with mum sitting with me asking every 5 minutes if i was better yet. 🫤  i've never had one so low (below 40) and it really scared me.

anyhoo...i thought i'd share what silent sunday looks like around here.  so, here are some images from this past silent sunday.

spent some time working on making a notebook to keep track of where i keep things in the house.  my memory of where to find things is getting worse, so i'm hoping this will help.

sunday dinner was pasta with my mum's homemade sauce.  she's going to teach me next week how to make it.  she uses an electric skillet and can only make small batches.  i love it so much that i want to make a huge batch and freeze.  so, we'll try making it in my large dutch oven.

the way i start my day every morning (and a peek inside my book of me).  i start with with pulling a card and journaling.  i'll then make a copy of the card and tape it into the journal on that page. then write on the back the meaning of the card.

one last photo for today, my goodwill find:

isn't it pretty?  it is my new house dress and soooo comfortable. i even wore it to the grocer this morning.

well...that's it for me today.  i've a busy rest of the week so i don't know when i'll be back.  but i hope it will be soon.

hope you are having a great week...

thanks for reading, 

love & kisses & magical wishes, 

~*~

silent sundays and messages for all...

good afternoon, my lovelies.

i've just finished posting to my other site for today's Messages from the Ancestors and i felt very drawn to share it more widely.  

if you're interested in reading it, click here to be taken to the site.

please let me know if it resonates with you or not.

on another note, sundays in my home are normally what i like to call silent sundays.  i do not turn on the tv or music and just go through my day with the silence of the house and the quiet of my one day out of the week when construction filled noises do not invade my brain.  three different plots are being developed and built upon around me and it is breaking my heart, not to mention the migraines all those sounds cause.

the past month or so had seen a canceling of silent sunday due to college basketball. now that it is over, i'm finding it hard to stay in silence.  i keep wanting to reach for the tv remote to check the news or put on something to hear other voices.  but i've found i need the silence at least one day a week.  hopefully, once i get moving around the house to work on things, i won't feel the urge for the tv or music.

i hope you are well and happy on this day.  

thanks for reading...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

world turns even more crazy...

evening, lovelies!  how is your weekend going?  have you been out to look at the full moon tonight?  it's been cloudy here since yesterday when we had a lot of rain.  

because of all the rain, i haven't been able to get into the garden to get back to work on the blackberry patch.  i'm hoping to get the vegetable seeds planted in the veg bed tomorrow.

today i worked on the seasonal tree.  it's taken me some time to get up the energy to do it.  i have a lot of work to do on it.  it's kind of not great right now, but.  i'll keep working on it.

it's in a place that is hard to reach the whole thing.  i don't know how i'll move it around to get to the other side, but i'll figure it somehow.

i can't remember if i've mentioned it before but i've been becoming increasingly concerned about the possibilities of long tern power outages, water issues, etc - what with the state of the world.  so yesterday morning, during the rain i went out and did a thing.

this is something that can run a mini fridge (which i need to keep my insulin and other meds cool), charge phones (which i use for control of my insulin pump) and will also run my cpap at night.  it can be charged via an outlet/car/or solar panel.  

over the years i've had impulses and urges that come out of nowhere and urge me to do something.  whenever i've ignored them or told myself i could do it another day, i've regretted it and sometimes suffered for it.  but when i listen, and do the thing, it always turns out to be beneficial in some way.  so when i saw an ad for a solar powered generator that cost over 4k, i decided to start a search for something i could afford.  yes, i'm slowly (or not so slowly) starting to build up supplies in case the world turns even more crazy.  now i just have to learn how to set it up/charge it/use it.

i've also been working on my clean & clear plan.  i emptied my hall closet/pantry of everything so i could organize it.  but it turns out the three wire racks that are in there all need to be reattached to the walls.  so now i'm waiting on the handyman.

anywho, that's what i've been up to the last few days.  i've suddenly found myself hosting an easter dinner next saturday.  i've tried explaining that i don't celebrate easter, but... so i've got a lot of work to do this week to get ready.  plus, friday is cheesecake day with my sil. :-)

alrighty...i'm done rambling.  tell me what you are up to this weekend.  and also what you think about the being prepared thing.  are you making plans in case of emergency? i'd love to hear your thoughts.

thanks for reading, 

love & kisses & magical wishes

~*~

 

control over my rage monster...

afternoon my lovelies, 

how are you all?  i'm slowly losing my sanity and control over my rage monster every time i see a headline or turn on the news.  therefore, i am trying to limit my news watching/reading. to entertain myself i've started re-watching Outlander.  i finished season 1 last night.  i lost access to starz a few years ago and have missed several seasons.  i thought i'd start back at the beginning and watch again.  i think it is a really good show and am enjoying revisiting my jamie fraser crush. although i did fast forward through the last two episodes of season 1 (iykyk).

i've spent time in the garden this week and also getting my bedroom sorted.  it's pretty much put back together now, other than hanging pictures, etc.  i started on the blackberries in the garden and made very good progress.  i'll show you next time i work in it.  i have foxglove, love-in-a-mist, blackeyed susans and cosmos coming up.  yay!

remember this picture...

from this post?

i thought i'd show you how my new journal is coming along.  at the time i was calling it a collective, but i just really didn't like it so i'm calling it my book of me.

i'm using the moleskine cahier kraft cover journals. they have 80 pages in each.  i'm always taping in pages to make it larger.  it was getting so hard to search for stuff that i had to add tags to seperate the months and added little tabs to some paper clips to mark the important pages for each month.  things i keep track of are habits, messages from the ancestors, daily gratitudes, quotes, movies & tv shows, books, little magics/sychronicities, affirmations.

anywho, i'm on the fourth notebook. i glue/tape the front of the next to the back of the last, then use the duct tape to form the spine.  i can't imagine how wide/tall this is going to be by the end of the year.  i'd thought this would make it easier to carry around with me, doing a smaller journal. obviously, that was wrong.

well...i guess that is it for me today. i've taken everything out of my hall closet/pantry and am waiting for the handyman to come fix the wire shelving.  (i hate wire shelving, btw.) now i've got to go through and see what to keep, giveaway, trash or recycle, and figure out how to store it all.

this is a project i'll be doing for months, as i plan to go through everything i own and do the same.  if i find any cool things that i don't want to keep but don't want to drop at goodwill, i might see about giving them away here.  we'll see how it goes and what i find. 

alrighty then, enough boring ramblings. 

thanks for reading,

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ramblings on what i think is a monday...

happy monday, lovelies!  

wait? can mondays BE happy?  i've never really thought about that before.  back when i was a working woman i never liked mondays (start of the work week, blech) and since disability, honestly, all the days sort of merge into one.  i never seem to know what day it is.

did you have a good weekend? mine was meh.  i came down with a case of the migraorbs (migraine + morbs/what i call the sads) so i didn't really do much but watch tv and try to rest.  i ended up staying awake until just before 6am this morning and then getting up just before 9.  not my plan, but by the time i was tired enough and settled enough to go to bed, i knew if i did i wouldn't wake until noon or after.

anyhoo...today is a rain day, so no garden time.  i've been in the bedroom trying to get things in order.  i've completed the cleanup/out + organization of the mystical cabinet and managed to find storage for things that i would normally store there but there is no room. now i'm bringing out books and pictures and statues, that sort of thing and getting an idea of where to put things.  speaking of...

i acquired this mirror at a yard sale/thrift shop type thing (i think) many, many moons ago (at least 10 years) and have never hung it.  i know now where i want it to go and am almost ready to hang.  the question is... to paint or not to paint. the color is very close but not quite to my sea serpent walls. so, my thoughts were i could just give it some distressing with the snowbound (trim color) and make it lighter. or do i paint it snowbound then distress to let the dark underneath show or do i gilt it or paint it gold? (and no, i did not make my bed this morning and yes that is the corner of a card table that i'm using so i don't have to bend over or up and down so much emptying boxes, etc.)

here's something kind of funny and kind of not...it took me 10 minutes and having to call my neighbor to ask her what kind of table it was.  i knew it was ___ table.  but i could not thing of card to save my life.  the joys of a brain beset by chronic pain.

anyhoo, again. what do you think? how should it be painted? should it be?

on another note, in my efforts to shop in all the right places, i gave up using my mum's sam's account to shop and took myself to costco.  i'd been hearing that there will soon be shortages on citrus fruits and while there i picked up a bag of limes and a bag of mandarins.  i ended up juicing the limes and freezing in ice cube trays.

i had 19 small limes and was able to get almost 2 cups of juice.  i've still to do something with the mandarins other than eat them.  i'm thinking i will peel, separate and freeze individually.  then bag them all up.  i'd like to do some oranges and lemons, as well as another bag of limes.  i've read where you can slice them in rounds and freeze on a baking tray.  you can just take out a slice to add to a cup of tea or water, or whathaveyou.

yes, i'm becoming extremely paranoid and worried about what is to come.  i was thinking about one of my favorite people who sells wool she dyes.  i'm sure i've mentioned her before - Sirena from Wild_inthe_Woods.  now that i'm off insta and fb, i'm not able to keep up with some of my favorite creators very well. every year she has a yarn club, like practical magic or fleetwood or moon magic. really cool wool box and with things the way they are, i'm wondering if she'll still be able to sell to the US without it raising prices too much.  like how will these insane trifs (i'm not spelling the word - you know what i'm talking about) effect people like her and the people who like to purchase from small sellers. ugh!

ok...enough of that for right now.  i'm sure i'll be back on it another day this week as it just won't go away!

my last photo for this post is of the lovely sky on my last gardening day (i think it was friday?). i spent about an hour finishing up getting the veg bed ready. so now i just have to wait until it is a good planting day (soon i hope!), then i can get my veg seeds in the ground.  

it was definitely a beautiful day and i love to see what shapes i can see in the clouds. but good goddess! it was 83 fricken degrees! and the humidity was near 90.  too much for this early in april.

well...i think that is it for my monday ramblings.  is it still monday? 😊

i hope to be back soon with some other goings on around here that might or might not bore you to tears. haha

thanks for reading...

love & kisses & magical wishes, 

~*~

 

in my garden today...

Hello, lovelies...

I spent a little over an hour in the garden earlier today.  Above you can see the first bud of the season on my lady of shallot rose.  I had cut it way back last month, cleaned up the pot and gave it a boost from my rose fertilizer spikes and it has just exploded with growth and makes me so very happy.

This is the plant below.  In the blue/green pot on the right, which I usually plant with veggies I have several tree saplings coming up.  I'm planning to pot them up to see if I can get them to grow so I can hopefully plant them in the woods in a few years to help block the security lights from the building behind the woods. (Or, if I find my dream home and move take them with me and plant at my new home. 😊)

While I was working it started to rain, which felt wonderful as the humidity was ridiculous and felt like breathing through soup.

I went down to check on the new fleur bed and I *think* I see some sprouting things.  Gosh, I hope all those seeds will sprout.  I NEED fleurs!

Did I tell you about my new muck boots?  Aren't they cute?!  They fold down and can be worn 3 different ways and are super fabulous! I have large calves so it is hard for me to find boots/wellies like this.  Luckily, someone suggested I look at The Muck Boot Company and I found these on sale. 

Now I need to find a tray or something to keep them on by the back door as they sure do get dirty.

My spinach is growing nicely.  Yay!

Below you can see where I've cleaned out the veg bed and started prepping it.  I need more manure and planting mix to increase the depth, but other than that it will be ready for planting tomorrow.  

The black pot has the lettuce I started when I started the spinach.  Well, that's what I've been working on today, between, watching the news, my usual everyday stuff and waking up a few hours late.  I swear it takes me 3x as long to do things than it should and is very frustrating.

I'm glad I gave up when I did and came in (I worked in the rain for about 40 minutes) because about 30 minutes later, the bottom fell out of the sky, and we had very heavy rain.

I think that is it for me today.  I've a bag of limes I need to juice/slice/zest and freeze so I need to head to the kitchen for a bit.

I hope you are having a good week.  What are you up to this week?  Any exciting projects?  

Thanks for reading along...

love & magicks

~*~

 

april...

Happy April, my friends.

A short hello today as I'm completely distracted by Senator Bookers filibuster.

I hope that you are all having a great day.  We're moving from the 60's for highs today to 85+ for the rest of this week.  Crazy stuff.

Well, I'll be back tomorrow with a more interesting (I hope) and longer post. 

love & blessings

~*~

downhill quickly...

Hello loves, 

And how are you all fairing on this beautiful warm spring day here in the South? 

That's actually a rhetorical question, because if you read my blog, you have a soul and the only people who would be doing great with the way the world is right now, are people who don't have a soul. 

So...yeah... let me rephrase...

Are you okay?  Are you safe? Do you have something to eat and drink? Do you have somewhere safe to be? I hope so.  I hope so with all my heart and soul, as there are so many in the world right now who are in danger, who don't have any of the above.

Wow...that went downhill quickly.  I didn't come to post about sadness and the gut-wrenching insanity that is the current state of the world. but it just kind of fell out.

I know we aren't all okay.  But maybe we are as okay as we can be for now, in this moment, yes?

I came today with a bit of a ramble wrap up of my week and a little something new to share. Onwards I'll go...

I was able to get a photo of the wreath I made for my mum a couple weeks ago that I shared previously. 

This is it, hanging on her front door.  It is made with fake flowers my grandmother (mum's mum) had kept in a few vase displays in her house over the years. It means a lot to mum and to me since it is something we share over grandmother.

I finally, FINALLY finished painting the bedroom.  It isn't perfect and took me a LOT longer than I thought.  Part of that was having to wait for the roller to dry which usually took 2-3 days, and part was not feeling well for a good portion of march.  Damn old new meds!

This morning, I was able to get drapes hung that I found on sale at a big box going out of business sale early in the month.  I'm soooo happy with how they look and how they will help to block the light.

I can't wait to see how it looks tonight after dark.  The shopping center behind those windows have very bright security lights that make my room seem like it is daytime at night.  I'm hoping these help.  If they are too sheer, I may take some black fabric and tack onto the back just to help a bit.  But I really like how they look up against the sea serpent color of my walls.  And the grey matches the grey of a bookcase on the other side of the room.

I'm still working on putting the room back together, which includes a major, touch everything I own and do the keep, toss, giveaway, repurpose thing and consolidating some things.  I will share as I go along and get the room together, I promise.

I have no idea how anyone ever gets anything done anymore.  I feel like I spend hours and hours doing things and only get half (or less) of the quests I've set for my day done.  I've fallen down on all the challenges I gave myself for the month. Except to paint the bedroom. But that's okay.  I'll select new challenges for April (WTF?!?! How is it we are only 2 days from April already???) and see how they go.

This year is my 'see if you can thrift it before buying new' year.  And I have two Goodwill's right around here plus a few other close by thrift shops.  This past Tuesday after leaving an appointment I went into one of the goodwill and came away with these two beauties for $10 (i did the change round up thing).  The floral fabric is what I would consider a house dress type thing.  It is big and very long and I may end up having to cut some of the length down.  But it is beautiful, and I can't wait to wear it.  I hand washed it and let it soak (ok actually I forgot I was soaking it) for a few days and that water was nasty so I washed it again and it is hanging in the shower to dry now.  I wanted to take it outside into the sunshine and warm air to let it dry, but the pollen counts are way too high and I'm really allergic. I might do it anyway for an hour and then use a lint roller to get the pollen off.  We'll see. And I thought the little tray would be a great plant holder.

And lastly that I wanted to share today.  You might remember this post from earlier in the month about my site on Substack honoring the Ancestors.  Well...it turns out it wasn't really a good fit.  

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE substack and have kept my account there and just changed up the name.  The discussions and writings and art sharings (and memes) are fabulous!  Plus, people like Dan Rather, Adam Kitzinger, Robert Reich, Jim Acosta (the CNN newscaster who left CNN rather than blindly play follow the crazy train) and others are posting and giving great information and insight into what is going on here in the US and also around the world.  

There I was, trying to have a spiritual led site to share the guidance the Ancestors want me to share, but I was also wanting to dive into these comments and articles about current events and yes, I may have "restacked" a few (or more) FU tRumP kind of things.  It felt like I was being disrespectful to the Ancestors and also kind of giving mixed messages to anyone who read my posts.  I kept thinking on it and decided to go with a dedicated blog, just for that communication and work the Ancestors want me to do.  (I'm also posting a link to it in the sidebar.)

Well, I think that is all I had in mind to share today.  I hope you'll check out the new blog.  And if you are on Substack let me know or send me a message over there (spiritwitch523). 

If you're still here after all this long ramble, I truly thank you.  Sometimes I feel like I'm just writing this out for myself (and my one stalker, Deb).  HAHAHA Just kidding Deb!!  xoxoxo

To end today, I'll go back to my semi-original question.  Are you okay?

blessed be...

with love & blessings

always & forever

~*~

 

my love of fleurs...

Hello again, my friends.

It's been a very busy week and has taken me longer to get here than I wanted it to.  I've been finishing up the painting of my bedroom and trying to get some work in on the garden.

I've set up a new fleur bed at the woods.  Technically, it is HOA common property, but many people have done things like this, and it won't interfere with the landscaper's work.  I was able to get it sorted and then get a bunch of fleur seeds in the ground.  yay!!

I've planted so many seeds in this small bed and am very hopeful that they will grow.  With luck and love, I'll have a cute little English style cottage garden to pick flowers from. 

Below is my little seed box.

I've got so many old packets of seeds I'd saved from my old cottage garden.  I added some to the new fleur bed and will see what happens.  If nothing comes of it, I'll dump the seeds for the birds later this summer.

All these beauties.  I really hope they take.  I so need fleurs in my life right now.  

I've so much work to do now on the veggie plot and the bedroom side of the garden.  The hydrangea desperately needs to be cut back and the blackberry is coming up like crazy.  I hope to get some time in the veggie bed tomorrow so I can get my veggies planted.  I'm starting from seeds, so...  who knows.

Yes, I'm probably being a bit over ambitious here, but with everything going on in the world, I'm really anxious about where things are headed.  I'm starting to work on my self-reliance skills. Looking into things like solar powered generators, water storage, food storage.  That sort of thing.  Honestly, I'm terrified. So, I'm hoping to grow as much food as I can and learn to can and preserve.  All the things my grandparents knew how to do, that I never learned.  I really should have spent less time reading and more time following my grandparents around as they canned, grew vegetables, sewed, fixed things around the house, etc.

At least my lettuce and spinach are coming up.  

Speaking of which, I've got to run out and cover them as we are under a frost warning tonight.

So that's what I've been up to.  Hope you have had a good week.  I'll try to get back soon with some photos of my bedroom.  I'm taking my time putting it all back together and changing some things.  I'm wanting to really make it very me and have a space I'm very comfortable in.

Anywho...

Gardening plans, anyone?  What about survival skills?  Are you worried about what could be coming with the world in chaos?  Are you ready for long power outages, shortages in food, etc?

I'm very curious and would love to know what type of plans you have, if any.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

always & forever

~*~

yes... I know I'm spelling it in French(?) but I really love the way it looks.

consider me mama bear...

Back in February, I mentioned that you may see some political writing on here.  Well, today is the day, for now.

Part of me has always secretly been ashamed of being American.  I've never been able to accept the way that people have been treated.  We were supposed to be built on equality, but that only seemed to exist for privileged white men. It wasn't just the African people or Afro-Carribean who were enslaved. The Irish, Scots, Welsh, Chinese and Indigenous peoples were slaves as well, but no one talks about that.

When I started doing my family history research way back some 30 years ago, I was always surprised by how few ancestors I found that were slave owners.  I suppose it was because they were quite poor and probably couldn't afford it.  I did find a lot of them fought in the Civil War as Confederates.  I wish I could go back in time and ask them why.  I've yet to come across any old diaries, letters, etc., that would provide any clues.

Growing up, none of my immediate family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) were out right racist.  At least, not on the surface.  I remember being very young, staying at my aunt's house (she kept me while my parents were at work) and listening to my 3 male cousins (all older) talk about how many "n" were moving into the neighborhood.  My four-year-old mind was horrified.  I asked why they said that, and I don't remember ever getting an answer.

Yes, I am from the south, but I am no southern belle. I grew up in a racist family that tried to hide their racism from the outside world. But I never thought of people as anything but people. 

Okay, I'm veering off topic a little, but the past influences the present, right?  I'm having such a VERY HARD TIME interacting with my family due to the current political climate and some health issues some of them are having.  I don't want to be accused of "triggering" a death or bad episode for those that are ill.  

I cannot understand how someone with a working brain cell, could continue to stand by the traitor in the cake house and his overlord and puppeteer.  I truly believe that all that is happening is to break us down so that when he hands Russia the keys to this kingdom, we are too tired to fight back.

I cannot understand, as the Traitor and Puppeteer are SUCH A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the Constitution and the continuation of this country as a democracy, that they are still in power.  Why have they not been removed?  What will it take for the political leaders to step up and have him arrested for treason, inciting insurrection, etc., etc...

I posited this question on substack the other day and the only response was this meme:

Does that mean that I can walk into the cake house and make a citizen's arrest?  Would that work?  If we surrounded the cake house with thousands calling for a citizen's arrest of the traitor, the puppeteer, and anyone colluding with them (ie: republican congressmen/women, republican senators and some dems, his entire staff, every cabinet member)?

Who would do the arresting? Where would they be housed? How can it be accomplished with no violence or bloodshed or vandalism?  I truly think that is the difference between the moogoos and those who oppose the traitor.  One side not only incites violence, but revels in it, while the other would prefer to handle things without violence.

But let me make one thing very clear.  If left with no choice but violence, consider me mama bear and America my cubs.  I think there are a LOT of us who feel that way.

I think the REAL reason we haven't had a woman president yet is because men and women (especially the meek, tradwife type) is terrified of being shown up. The men, terrified of having their legacy upstaged by a woman.  And the women, well, they don't want to realize just how weak they've been.

So... who's in?  Time for the traitor to be removed and executed for his crimes.  The overlord can go back to his country and know that we will NEVER submit to him.  And the puppeteer heavily fined for crimes against the people, have his citizenship revoked and be prosecuted for falsifying the application to begin with, and sent to a black site prison for the rest of his days where he will have no access to anything technological or electronic.  

I am so proud of the countries around the world that are standing up to this insanity and preparing themselves for what could come.  Thank you.  We know you aren't against us, the general populace. But that you stand with us as we figure out how to get out of this situation.

I know this is a long rambling type of post, just what I'm known to do.  But this is important stuff.  This is life and death stuff. Not just here, but around the world.  We need help to fight this.  If any of them come to your country for meetings, have your government arrest them for treason, insurrection, etc. 

Oh, and another thing which I love how is being handled, is countries removing US products from their shelves. I'm using this flier below as my guideline of what I can and can't buy.  I've canceled my Amazon Prime account that I've had since Prime began, I'm refusing to shop in certain stores and trying very hard to find other places to purchase needed items and I'm trying to follow the if it doesn't have to be brand new, then thrift for it.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading.  I hope I didn't go too rage monstery on you.  :-)

thanks for stopping by, 

love & blessings

always & forever

~*~

ps... we'll be back to seeds and gardens and art and collections of nifty things next time. :)

revisiting old things...

I know I promised photos of my seed grab from last week, but I haven't actually had a chance to do that.  I've spent a little time working in the new planned flower bed and most of the rest has been spent either resting (my body is being VERY demanding lately) or painting my bedroom.  I'm thisclose to being halfway done with the bedroom painting and canNOT WAIT to start putting things back in and arranging it.

Today I spent time painting the bedroom and then did something I have not done in I don't know how many years.  Probably not since I left the little cottage with the blue door, so...11 years!?!  Wow.

My mum had given me a bunch of old fake flowers that had belonged to my Grandmother years ago and then asked me to make her a wreath with them.  It is something I used to do for my Grandmother.  I took it up actually to make Spiritual Wreaths.  If you've been with me for a long time, you may have seen some here before. (You can see a picture of a few in this post about halfway down.)

Anyhoo, mum's been mentioning for a while now that she'd really like to have it. So today I pulled out my supplies, the old flowers, some ribbon and the only large wreath I had left and sat at the old card table to see what I could do.  The movements came back pretty quickly, and it wasn't quite as hard as I imagined it would be. So, I put a wreath together for her using old plastic fake flowers that her mother used to keep in arrangements in vases or other strange containers.  

I like how it turned out and how it took less time than the Tar Heels took to beat Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament today. ;-)

Wreath in Progress...

I've already given it to her and hung it on her door to see if I needed to make any adjustments and how she liked it.  She says she loves it, but I don't know if she's just blowing smoke.  She took it down, as she is still using her UNC Snow Man wreath since the Heels are still playing.  I expect this new one will go up as soon as the Heels season is done.

I'll try to get a pic of it hanging on her door at some point and show how it looks.

I had enough of the flowers left that I'm probably going to make a small one for me.  I'm such a softie when it comes to sentimental stuff from family. Plus, it will be pretty for spring.

Tonight, depending on your location, is the Full Blood Worm Moon and Lunar eclipse.  I talked about this on Messages from the Ancestors today, if you'd like to take a look at that post.

I think that's all for today.  I'm pretty wiped out.  It is amazing how tired I am all the time, even if I get a lot of sleep.

How are things where you are?  How are you handling the global situations?

stay strong, 

blessed be, 

love & kisses & magical wishes, 

always & forever

~*~

went absolutely cuckoo...

About that cheesecake...

I believe I mentioned before that my sis-in-law and I are on a cheesecake making binge.  Our first was many, many years ago; back when I was still in the little cottage with the blue door. It was a Caramel Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake and was perfection! 

With that under our belts we went for the chocolate for our second attempt.  Mmmmm.... (click the link for a reminder of what that looked like and the description/link to recipe)

February was my sil's pick and she chose Key Lime Pie Cheesecake, pictured above. The recipe wasn't hard, (we haven't tried a water-bath bake yet) and it looked and sounded great in the recipe. The flavors were great as we went along but I couldn't help thinking something just wasn't right.  It turned out beautiful, zesting by sil, lime twist by me, and when we cut into it, well... it just didn't have the consistency of a cheesecake.

It tasted good, but something was just off about it.  I don't think either of us was happy about it. I'm going to try it again this summer, I don't like to let recipes defeat me.  I THINK I know what went wrong and if I'm right it was something left out of the recipe, but...

Well, 2 out of 3 aren't bad, right?  I get to choose our cheesecake for May and have already picked one that I think will be great.  If it turns out I'll share a link to the recipe for it.  And when I remake the Key Lime, if it turns out good, I'll share and link to it with my adjustments.

Anyhoo...

I'm in the middle of painting my bedroom and making it my own.  I've been really inspired by Kate from littlebohocottage on the utoobs. I love her style and am trying to find my own now.  After almost 8 years, it's time to stop letting this place feel like a rental.  Even if I found my dream home tomorrow, I would not regret making this place more me.  I promise pictures when I can.  

And speaking of promises...I'm still trying to figure out how to get that flip through video to fit on here.  I may just have to put it on my own utoobs and link it here.  We'll see.

I'm off...I have appointments all but one day this week, the weather is going from winter to summer then back to spring, so the garden is calling.  My poor garden was completely neglected last year.  Those blackberry runners are everywhere and I've a LOT of digging of roots to do to try to get them all out. 

I did get these in some pots this past Tuesday and did a little bit of clean up.  Yesterday I spent an hour outside cleaning up an area I had started several years ago so I could have more flowers.  Of course, it's become overtaken a bit by forsythia but I'm working on digging it out and getting it ready.  I was at the garden store for potting soil the other day and went absolutely cuckoo for cocoa puffs at the seed selection. Oh man.  I'll get a picture of them for next time, promise.

I really do need to go; it is late here, and the DST switch really throws me off balance.  I've still quite a few things to do before I can toss myself in bed.

What are you up to this week? Is it garden time in your neck of the interwebs?

thanks for being here...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

always & forever...

~*~ 

night walking and blogging failures...

I finally made it here today, yay!  I've been very busy painting my bedroom and a ton of other things.  I almost missed my walking today.  I've taken it back up as I really missed those walks. We had such high winds today I had to wait until after dark to get my walk in, but I did it.

At least I had this beautiful sky to walk under.  

The only downside was that despite eating dinner AND desert, my blood sugar started dropping on my last lap.  Ugh. Straight to the juice box for me. 

So, I gave it a try made a video of flip through of most of my February paintings.  It is weird and my voice is blech.  But I haven't figured how to upload it as the file is larger than blogger likes.  I'll try to figure out a way to share it.  

I was going to share about the cheesecake we made last weekend, but I can't get the photos from my phone to my laptop yet. Maybe this wasn't the best time to post! hahaha

Oh well, I'm off to bed, I think. I'm really tired and I have a letter to write to my young cousin to see if she wants to penpal with me since I never get to see her. So that, then bed.  Shopping with my neighbor tomorrow and that is always a challenge. We're going to some stores that are closing soon and a few other places. Ugh...

well, sorry for the boring post. :-)

thanks for stopping by, 

love & kisses & magical wishes

~*~