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.  :-)

images from a friday in may...

hi my lovelies, 

i thought i'd share a few images from yesterday.  it was a really good day all things considered...

the license tag on this cool hot rod said, "yard art".  i wonder what that means.  

hope you've had a good week, and you have a great weekend.  i'll be back soon.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

percolating in my brainpans...

happy saturday am, my lovelies!  between trying to get everything planted in the garden, trying to get the blackberries and hydrangea under control and migrainlandia visits it's been too long since i was able to be here.

in all my little projects and my constant flitting around doing this and that, i found an old notebook i started back in july of 2020.  i remember thinking it was a great thing to do to get myself in a good headspace.  haha...well...

fast forward through 5 years and here we are.  i've picked it up again and am really enjoying myself. i thought i'd share a little about it with you today.

this is the cover (which will be painted or covered at some point to make it pretty):

have you ever done a vision board? i used to do them with my friends for each new year and sometimes for the month, etc. i would end up with these large pieces of cardboard/posterboard that i had nothing to do with.  i remember when i moved from the little cottage with the blue door that i had to toss a whole stack of them in the trash which made me sad but also a little relieved. 

anywho, i decided it made more sense for me to put it in a book so i pulled out a $store composition notebook and got to work.  like i said earlier, i started in 2020 so the first 4-5 pages are from then i think, maybe a few more.  the rest are recent.

if you haven't done a vision board before, basically you tear images and words from magazines, mail, newspapers and paste/glue them to your board.  each board should have a theme.  obviously, from the very first photo my theme is "dreaming to reality" which is making what i dream my life was like to making it real.  i have scads of old magazines that i have collected over the years and will go through them, every once in a while, and tear out images that strike me and words too. 

this project serves several purposes for me. one - is the vision board act of seeing what you are wanting to manifest. two - it helps me get rid of those old magazines.  once i've gone through them and torn out any words/images (and recipes) that i want to save, i can put them in recycle without feeling like i'm wasting something.  three - it is helping me to reduce the "clutter" in my home and in my mind. and four - it is a short creative act i can do every day if i want that makes me feel good.

anyhoo...that's it for today.  a little glimpse into one of my ways of creating in both a physical/mental way and a spiritual way.  to me these little boards are acts of magic. and i'm always up for making magic. :-)

i hope you are ok in your little corner of the interwebs.  i'll be back soon i hope with more garden updates and i have a few other ideas percolating in my brainpans.  

thanks for being here, 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps...forgot to add that all the images are from old issues of various magazines like victoria, country gardens, country living, better homes & gardens, southern living, etc.

 

ruminating...

hope y'all are having a great saturday.  i spent a whole bunch of time in the garden today and enjoyed every bit of it.  i feel like all i ever post anymore are garden photos, but y'all.  it's so wonderful to be out there.  this time last year i was in the bed all the time and wasn't even anywhere near thinking about trying to be outside.  

i've also been working on my whole clean, clear and organize thing.  there hasn't been much time for getting to my art table.  but i've been taking a little time each night for the last week to doodle in one of my little sketchbooks that i carry around with me.  

i started with little fleurs, because of course...

this was done using posca paint pens

this one with colored pencils...

and with pitt pens...

i don't know what it is, but these are so soothing to me right now.  i don't really have to think, i just grab a pen and color in a section.

anywho...

i'm also ruminating on something i want to make to take with me as a gift to the attendees at the last ghost ranch red thread retreat in september.  every year i've gone i've wanted to take a gift for everyone but i never get it done in time. so this year, i'm working on it early.

i won't be able to share here until i return from my trip cause i know of at least one person who sometimes reads my blog who might be at the retreat and i don't want to ruin the surprise.

the next 4 to 5 days are supposed to rain and thunderstorms, so i'll have to give up my garden time (though i'll be checking on things in the rain).  hopefully i'll be able to use that time to clean up the art table area and get to work on my idea.

well...if you're a mom, i hope you have a lovely and happy mother's day tomorrow.  and if not, have a great sunday.

thanks for being here, 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

 

maybe too long, even...

hello, lovely people.

sorry i spaced out for longer than i intended.  some recent medication changes made for some cracks in the well cover over here so i had to get back with my docs and get that sorted.

otherwise, things are about the same here.  chaos in a chaotic world, trying to do my little part to bring good things to the interwebs and add a little love to the planet and people.

it's been hard, but i've managed to keep the Ancestors page going every day.  i don't want to let them down or have them get discouraged with me. so, if you don't see me here for a while know that i'm at least over there daily and you can see what is happening with that.

i thought today i'd bring some garden love i talked about in my last post.  i haven't spent as much time out there as i'd have liked (part of how i know the well cover was cracking open).  we had heavy rain and storms on saturday 😀🥰  i love me a good thuderstorm.  and sunday was a bit on the dark and rainy side. monday morning i went out to work in the garden but was only able to be out about an hour before i had to give up and come in.  those damn blood sucking mosquitos were all over me.  i swear i could be standing in a crowd of a hundred thousand people and i'm the ONLY one who would get bit.  those little f*kers love me and always have so it's not just being diabetic.  i can remember being a little kid and being covered with mosquitos and bites.  ick!

anywho...here are some photos from my garden as of today...

this is all i was able to get done on monday, a clean out of this pot (former home of the now deceased blueberry and some volunteer trees) with juliet (grape hybrid) tomatoes and marigolds.

my lady of shallot is still blooming and budding. i swear, it is heavenly to be near that plant and catch of whiff of scent from it.

the bush beans and the cucumbers sprouting. yay!

lemon tree no.1 that i found at the garden center back in very early spring.  i brought it home and too cold out to put it out, put it in the brightest spot in the house.  i was so sad with how sad it looked so when i found a larger lemon tree at the garden center last month, i bought it too.  i potted both up at the same time and put them out front where they'll get loads of sunlight and look how no 1 has grown!  i'm soooo happy!

lemon tree no 2 had blooms on it when i brought it home.  i think there is a tiny lemon growing in there somewhere.  so i'm being sure to give it lots of water.  i need to look up how and when to fertilize as i'd love, love, love, to grow my own lemons.  

see...chaos.  but it's a good, sort of, kind of chaos. lots of plants need to be planted still and once they are all potted up i can decide where they will live.  i've also still got pots that need to be cleaned out.  and i found that the love in a mist has returned this year.  not as many as last year, but i'm hopeful to have more seeds to add over winter.  

i still have so much work to do on that damned blackberry that wants to engulf my home.  

if i didn't have neighbors i'd leave it, but it is just in a very, very bad spot.  i still want to try to plant some in the woods out back and see if it will take up there, so i could still have blackberries. i know, i'm crazy.

anywho...those foxgloves make me so very happy.

well...i think this has been a long enough post.  maybe too long, even.  i need to get up and move around so i'll go now and hope to be back in a day or two.  i hope you are all well and i'll make the rounds of blogs i need to catch up on later today and tomorrow.  

have a great day.

love & kisses & magical wishes, 

~*~