August Grace...

hi there, my lovelies.  

i come today with a little story of how the universe will sometimes take care of you in ways you never could have guessed.

if you are a long-time reader, you may already know about my dislike and almost fear of the month of august.  If you are new here or need a refresher, here are some links to help:

2010

2017

2018

2021

those links are to posts that mention or describe why august and i are not friends.

rather than explain it all again, you can read the posts at those links, and it will help to make sense of what comes next.

here's the story:

early evening on sunday, 23rd august, my doorbell rang.  i was very surprised as i rarely have people show up at my house.  i went to the door and opened it to find my brother squatting at the end of the entry.  i noticed he was wearing a pink nitrile glove and under that glove was the tiniest kitten i have ever seen.

my brother and silah had been going to get ice cream, driving down the very busy main road near our home when he spotted the kitten in the road.  he stopped, saw that the kitten was bleeding and collected it from the road.  

as they have two dogs and two cats, and it was too hot to keep it overnight in the garage, they brought it to me to keep for the night before taking to the shelter the next morning.

i had them take it to the emergency vet, who said it was probably about 8-9 weeks old and just had a scrape on her mouth from hitting the asphalt.

they brought it back to my house, we set it up in the bathroom with some old towels, a disposable litter box and kitten food and water.  next morning, when i checked on it, there was a lot more blood.  

i had an appointment first thing that morning and while i was getting ready, i had a flashback to a memory from my childhood.  it was a few months before my grandmommy died when i was 14.  she took me for a walk through the neighborhood, and we ended up at a neighbor who had a cat that had just had kittens.  she let me pick one out to keep as my own, but it would live at her house.

i had completely blocked that from my memory of when she died, and i have no idea what happened to that kitten.  the thing that tripped me out, was that it looked like the little kitten my brother found.

well...despite my germaphobia and dislike and downright loathing of litterboxes, i couldn't bring myself to take her to a shelter.  i took her to the local vet who examined her.  it turns out that she was only 5 or 6 weeks old and ended up in that road because we think she escaped from a hawk.

she had deep punctures in her hip area and a laceration at the underside of her tail.  they operated on her that day, and i brought her home with me the next day.  

that was 7 weeks ago...

during that time she has had 4 surgeries, been spayed, had part of her tail fall off (it had become infected from a bite probably by the hawk and it was missed during the initial exam), has had most of her tail removed and has lived in a cone of shame the entire time.

is she not the cutest thing in the world?!?

i truly believe that my grandmommy sent her to me, to tell me to open my heart again, and also to make peace with the month of august.

so...

meet August Grace, aka auggie.  she is pretty much my whole heart.

i'm sure you'll see much more of her in the coming days, weeks, months, years... 

for our last photo tonight, this is where she is currently...

the cone should come off next week. and then she'll be full steam.  she is definitely a bit of a wild child.  😁

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

flying & swirling...

the 8th?  already?  time really is just flying, isn't it?

i realized a few days ago that i forgot to include the card for the collective for this month on my day 1 post.  i've been trying to get here to post it for several days.

finally...

october's card for the collective:

9 of swords: sleepless nights, frustrations, disappointments.  possible illness or night terrors.

it doesn't look to be an easy month, little frustrations may crop up that while small and seemingly insignificant, could add up to a larger problem or disagreement.  try to keep your cool and your focus. and remember that things always turn at some point.

my favorite month...

hello, october...

i'm so happy to see you.  

hello lovelies...

my favorite month has arrived and with the first couple of days in the high 80's, the temps are supposed to drop saturday and bring true autumn feels.  yay!

i'm using a photo from 2014, i think.  i took it on a road trip, outside the butterfly garden center at Natural Bridge, VA.

yes, it's been hard to get here, to find time to sit and edit photos and write the things i want to share.  but...i'm not giving up.  maybe this will be the month i get to tell you all the things i've been wanting to for months.

are you an autumn person?  or do you prefer the warmer months?

i'll (try to) be back soon with all the tales i have to tell...

thanks for hanging in with me, 

love & kisses & magical wishes

~*~  

thanks for being here.

 

saturday in the garden...

hello dears, 

today i thought i'd take you on a little tour of my garden.  i've spent a lot of time working on it.

this is the first summer that i can remember clearly being able to work in the garden consistently.  i've spent a lot of time cleaning it out from last year's overgrowth, amending the soil, planting as many things as i love as i could find, mulching, putting in pavers, trimming trees, weeding, etc.

the garden is a never-ending work in progress, just like me.  i love being out there (when the humidity isn't turning the air into chunky soup), checking on my plant babies, adding more plants, weeding, pruning, picking flowers to bring inside, just all the things gardens need.

they say the best weed repellent is a gardener's shadow.  mine has been working hard, let me tell you.

well...here you go, some of these are from yesterday and a few are from last week (i think).

yesterday's sky...

last year, she was mother of tomatoes.  this year she is goddess of the gardens...  i try to pick flowers to offer her every day.  

my hoya plant hanging in the crepe myrtle.  i've never seen a hoya bloom, before.  i'm quite excited by this.

this plant is quite a surprise.  it started as an experiment and i didn't really expect anything.  i had a large piece of ginger root and saw somewhere on the interwebs that you can plant it and it would grow.  well... we'll see how it does, but so far so good.

a lot of growing things.  unfortunately, my cucumbers (that started out fantastically) came under attack of cucumber beetles and no matter what i did i couldn't get rid of them.  so, i had to pull out what was left of the plants.  i'm not sure what i can plant in that pot now, so it's just empty.

did i tell you about the butterfly garden i started?  there is a section in the "common property" behind my house that was just a mess of dirt.  the new landscapers only mow with the giant riding things and so they are rarely back there and never tend to that section.  i had 4 milkweed plants and i know they are spreaders, so i kind of blocked off the mud/dirt area, added a ton of planting mix and topsoil and mulch and then planted my rue and the 4 milkweeds.  i also had a bunch of packets of flowers for polinators, so i sprinkled those out there and added parsley and fennel (for the swallowtails).  well, those plants are doing great, and most of the seeds came up, with some even blooming.

borage is one of the plants and sunflowers (but only one sunflower has come up and will bloom soon).  i plan to add a bit more, since it is a hill area, i'm building a natural fence at the base - which backs up to the wooded area - using found limbs and the yellow-belle (forsythia) that is growing there. i layered in a bunch of downed tree limbs and am weaving the long pieces of forsythia through.  we'll see how it goes.

over in the flower bed, the pink zinnias are just so gorgeous.  the echinacea bloomed well as did the black-eyed susans and the salvia.  

well...that's a brief tour of the garden.  i haven't had as much veg to pick as i'd hoped, but i did get a late start planting this year due to all the cleanup.  it's still fun!

how are things growing in your neck of the woods?

thanks for stopping in for a read...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

cards for september...

hello, my lovelies...

and hello, September...

the brrrs are finally here and i am so thrilled.

i'll jump right in today with the card pull for the collective for this month...

two cards came up today, the two of cups and the empress.

this month, pay special attention to your self-care.  not the kind hyped by the wellness industry or magazines and social media.  sure, have a spa day if you feel like, get that pedicure or haircut.  it is certainly a way to give yourself a treat.

this kind of self-care is deeper.  it is about how you talk to yourself, how you care for yourself, how you love yourself.  this month, give yourself the kind of love you give your beloveds.  the kind of care you would give to an ill child.  

watch the words you use when you speak to or about yourself.  are they loving words or are you putting yourself down?  think about it this way, how would you tend to the love of your life?

mmhhmmm...that has you thinking, doesn't it.  well, guess what?

YOU are the love of your life, and if you aren't, you should be.  without loving ourselves are we really ready and able to love someone else properly?

so... give yourself a hug, put on some funky music and dance with yourself, wear your favorite dress/suit/whathaveyou, even if you aren't going anywhere, take yourself on a picnic in the park or in your back garden.

in tending to yourself, you also need to ask, am i nourished?  am i rested? have i taken on too much this month? 

before industry took over, when the world was mostly agricultural, the brr months (in the northern hemisphere) were a time to get settled in for winter, to finish the harvest and nestle in for a good rest before the next growing season began.  

we don't do that anymore...rest, that is.  we don't take time to smooth out and recuperate from the go, go, go of the spring and summer months.

now we are expected to be social and go to all the parties of the winter holidays, bake and cook all the things, shop for all the gifts, entertain everyone we know.

not this year, my lovelies.  if you are going to do those things, take september to gather your reserves, to make your plans so that you aren't running full steam through to next spring.  we can't give more than we have, so love yourself enough to rest and nourish yourself.

love yourself with all your heart, my lovelies, and you will find life is so much easier to bear.

the more we love ourselves, the more love we have to share with the world and the more love we share with the world, the better the world will be.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

deck used Rider Tarot (also known as Rider-Waite), artwork by Pamela Coleman Smith.

journal journeys...

hi lovelies,

how are you all doing out there in bloglandia?  things are good here, swirling quickly as i knew it would.

today i thought i'd share about where i am in my journey with journaling.

last year, i shared some images from my journal. this is the post with the best examples from last year's journal.

so here is how my 2025 bome ended:

the front cover

yes...that is all of 2025 journal, some art, calendar/planner, etc.

i really loved the size of the journal (5x8 sort of?) but...trying to keep it all together just didn't work.

this year, i went with a larger journal - the moleskine xxl cahier ruled notebook

and i'm not trying to keep the year all together, obviously.  i'm currently on the 5th journal

january through end of march...

april's journal cover

may & june...

july...

and...

i plan to go through at least september with this one, maybe let october be on its own and then have november and december finish up.  but...i'll see how it goes.

how i've been using the journal, though that seems to be changing each month too. (blurred for privacy - not to make you dizzy) 😀

well...just a little peek in my journal tonight.  i'm off to take care of a few things. believe it or not it has taken two days for me to complete this post.  

y'all have a wonderful weekend and i'll be back soon.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

a card for the collective...

greetings & salutations again, my friends.

yesterday morning, before i pulled my own cards of the day, i pulled a card for the collective.

those of you who've been with me for a while know that i pull a tarot or oracle card everyday (sometimes both).  i've been feeling that need to pull one to share here on the blog, so yesterday i focused on what we needed to know for the month of august.

 deck: the Rider-Waite tarot

card drawn: 8 of wands

meaning: swiftness, things moving quickly

my intuitive insights:  if you felt that july moved by quickly, better buckle up, buttercup.  august will move at warp speed.  if there are projects or plans that you are working on this month, stay focused.  at first, it will seem like you have plenty of time to complete your tasks.  do not procrastinate.  try to stay ahead of deadlines or you may find that you fall short of your goal or miss completing things altogether.  and remember to leave room for rest.  if you aren't rested and healthy, your work will suffer and even if completed on time, it won't be your best.

when i first pulled this card and received the message, i thought - yep, i hear you, i'm trying.  then i realized it wasn't a message just for me.  so here it is.  i'd love to know if this resonates with you or if something different is your interpretation.

i'm going to try to do these collective pulls every month, and maybe more often as the cards call to me.  

do you use tarot and or oracle cards?  what is your favorite deck?

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

light of lugh...

 

Wishing you a beautiful and blessed Lughnasadh.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

yes and no and not quite...

greetings and salutations lovelies...

yep, i'm still here.  honestly, time just keeps vanishing!  

by the time i get to the computer each day or whatever day i can get to the computer, i fall asleep before i can get to the blog.

anyhoo...

how are you out there in bloglandia?  i haven't been around to visit and i feel bad about that.  i do want to get around and catch up with everyone.  i'll keep working on finding my full-bodied yeses and taking the nos or not quites out and hopefully that will give me opportunities to get online more often.

i've spent the last almost month (month? geez!) working in the garden, continuing what seems like the never-ending process of cleaning, clearing and organizing everything i own, making new friends and starting a new project in the neighborhood.  i'll tell you about that last thing another time.

a little peek at the first real garden harvest of the season.  lots of herbs - chives, marjoram, wedgewood thyme and english thyme, oregano and tulsi, a couple of tiny red and green peppers that were ready to pick, the first two cayenne peppers of the season and buried underneath, the first tomato and a few jalapenos.  the jalapenos are stunning to me, as they are from the pot of pepper plants i kept alive in the dining room over the winter.  the plants are doing so well!  

one thing is that i've been getting out in the garden super early due to the photo above.  that heat is insane.  the sun touches my skin and i swear it feels like it catches fire.  if i remember correctly, on this particular day, i'd had to spend the morning in the next town for my monthly infusion...

yes, this is me that morning having my infusion.  it wasn't too bad at 7am when i left to go to the hospital.  the meds always drain me of every bit of energy and i have to drive myself home (about 30minute drive), so it is kind of rough.  once i arrive home i'm done in and pretty much just sleep or vegetate with a book or show or my art journal.  anything i don't have to exert energy or brain power for.

that particular day, i was able to stay in the cool a/c of my little home. yay.

anyhoo.  y'all...i have so much i want to share.  i really need to figure out how to get here more.  how to get posts typed up and ready to go and get photos taken and edited and such without it taking 3 or 4 hours at a time.  

how do y'all work that out?  do you have a system?  a schedule?  because of never knowing where my pain level and energy level is going to be at any given moment, schedules don't work so well for me. at least they haven't in the past.  maybe i should revisit it, from a different viewpoint.

hmmm.

alright.  i'm outta here.

i hope you are all doing the best you can out there.  i know the world is crazy, but we have to keep our hope that we can create the world we want where we treat all people equally, and all the other things that need to change.

i'll be back, soon's i can.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

 

these boys...

 i'm telling ya, time just vanishes for me, y'all.  it's like one day it is the first day of the month and i turn around and the month is almost over.

what the heck?!

mostly, i think it's that every time i sit down and am still for more than 5 minutes, i fall asleep. crazy, right?  every time.  unless i am seriously involved in something with movement, filing, typing, writing (and sometimes not even then), i'll just doze right off if i'm sitting still.

so, tonight's post is pretty short and sweet.  just a few photos of something i love...

my sweet nephews...

i love these boys and spending a little bit of time with them almost every day for the past couple of months has been both wonderful and horrible.

wonderful in that they are both so sweet and yet have such different personalities.  the older one here, is so calm, patient and gentle.  he's a love bug in all the best ways.

and the younger one here, he is a sweetie, but such a different personality.  he definitely thinks he's the alpha in every situation.  he's also a talker, a loud one and wants your attention all the time.  he's still just a baby though so we're hoping some of this he'll mature out of in time.

the horrible part is that it's made me want one or two of my own.  the more horrible part is that it has reignited my germ phobia. the smells are really making me nauseous each time i see them and i have to immediately wash up after petting them.  i hate that, because i love them and want to cuddle, but can't stand when they lick me. 

cmon, look that that face up there.  those eyes... sigh...

don't we all just want to lay in the sun on a nice day...

well...that's what's on my mind tonight.  my sweet boys...

my puppers duty ends next week as far as a daily check in.  i'll still see them all the time.  i'll miss it, sort of.  

see you again soon...

hope you had a lovely summer solstice...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

in the garden today...

quote for today:  "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul..." ~Emily Dickinson

for years and years, i've wanted to have a certain kind of garden.  i've dreamed and i've wished, i've plotted and schemed.

i spent a lot of time following the gardening of the fantastic Vanessa Valencia and wishing i could have gardens like her, not to mention her magical growing skills. 

with all the changes for me over the last year or two, i found myself really wanting to dive into the garden.  last autumn i wasn't able to do much clean up before the cold arrived and i just couldn't get out there.

so as things warmed up, my desire to be in the garden grew and grew.

i finally understand what VeeVala means when she talks about wanting to run to the garden the moment she wakes to see what has grown overnight.  😁

i have cleaned, weeded, moved, swept, moved again, repotted, planted, potted, dug, mulched, over and over for the last two months.  and i'm still not finished setting it up.

on every trip to the garden center, i've searched for the flowers i love the most.  snapdragons, zinnias, hollyhocks, foxglove, larkspur, and more.  i even managed to find a poppy and get it planted.  i hope it will come back and bloom next spring.

i added salvia for the hummingbirds, and i love watching them dip down between the plant and the feeders that i have out.  they are such amazingly beautiful creatures.

 

it's really just a start, getting a few plants in place.  i know they'll grow, self-seed and spread and that makes me very happy.  i'm still having to go in and dig out blackberry vines every couple of weeks.

i planted the hollyhocks along the fence since they grow so tall.  i've planted sunflowers there as well and really hope they'll grow.  i love sunflowers, they are such happy flowers.

and over in the veg bed, i have 8 san marzano tomato plants, rows of basil seeds in (plus a couple of plants from the farmers mkt).  i planted celery again this year, green and red bell pepper plants, a couple rows of carrots and a row of onions and radishes.  

i'm putting cucumbers in a big pot this year and still need to plant my pole beans and more onions.  

tomorrow i'm hoping to head off to the farmers market, as i believe peaches are in mmmmm... and i'm seriously craving fresh peaches.  plus, i need flowers for the planters in the front of the house.

just a little peak in my garden today.  it is a tiny little space, and i still dream of one day having a huge space to grow all kinds of things.  but for now, i will make the best of what i have and love every little bit of it.

are you growing anything?  do you have a garden space?  i'd love to hear/see about it.

until next time...

take care, 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

not the same...

 

so much has changed for me over the past year, it is hard to know where to start to explain.  in fact, most who know me irl say i'm not the same person they knew before.  

i know it's true.  i am definitely not the same person i was.  i'm so much happier now and the real change is that i finally like myself.  no, that's not completely accurate.  i love myself.  i can see my own value, now.  it is such a change from how i used to view myself and life in general.

i'm going to share how this happened, but not today.  that post will take some time to really think how to word it and will probably be edited several times.  😉

one thing that has changed is that i'm embracing the fun.  i mean, really, really embracing it.  i've a collection now of funny sunglasses (pink flamingos, anyone?), tiaras and crowns, and bunny ears and all kinds of things.

i spend my time doing the things that light up my heart and soul and make me smile.  things like blowing bubbles in the garden...

making little bouquets for the house from the flowers growing in my garden...

popcicles on a hot summer day...

and remember my "seasons" tree?  i've set it up for spring/summer, and hope to add a few more flowers and maybe some scrap fabric garlands over the summer.

 

actually, looking at it now, this is a bit of an older photo.  it is really loaded down since i took this one, i think.  i'll post another photo soon.

this is just a sampling of the things that are bringing me joy and how i'm finding my fun now.  i've been getting out into the world more, joining in with groups and volunteering for helping out with things in the neighborhood.  (i KNOW, who even AM I? 😁😂)

i'll be back in a few days (if not sooner) with one of the things i've been doing that has brought me a huge amount of fun and joy and satisfaction.

hope you're having a lovely weekend.

see you soon, 

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~