blessings on lughnasadh...

 

the first of august.

to me, the beginning of autumn.

yesterday, i refreshed my altar (really, i took it down and completely redid it) and set it up for the autumn season.  i'm not sure why, but the first harvest on 1 august (lughnasadh) has always felt like the change of season.  i'm that way with all the seasons.  to me, winter begins on the first of november (samhain), spring on the first of february (imbolc) and summer on the first of may (beltane).  four of the eight pagan sabbats.

the other sabbats: yule, ostara, litha and mabon are all mid-points between seasons. it's just how it has always felt to me.

so...autumn season decorating, planning and celebrating have begun here.

at sunset last night, i lit the middle (orange) candle on my altar and will leave it burning until sunset tonight.  then i will light it for a little while each day all through the autumn season, as a way to acknowledge the harvests that i have reaped this year.

today, i made a third recent attempt at this recipe. i've been making it for years with no problems, but the last two times it has been an epic failure.  as you can see from the second photo, today was a success. (although, i did forget to cut the x into the top so mine didn't bloom)

after sundown i'll take a chunk out to the trees and leave as an offering.  i'd put it on my altar but currently i'm under an ant invasion and don't want to give them more reason to stick around.

on sunday i spent time with the art witches and completed the painting in that last picture.  i was just playing around but really enjoyed it and am happy with it.  while i was working i came to the realization that every painting does not have to have 5 layers, or complex images, etc.  simple can be fun and beautiful. 

i did another painting yesterday in the same theme and will probably share it later. 

for now, i wanted to say hello to august, and to you.

wishing you and yours a blessed lughnasadh.  may all your harvests be plentiful.

thanks for being here,

love & magicks

~*~ 

 

in my garden... beltane edition

Happy and Blessed Beltane to you all! 

I hope you've been able to spend a little time with nature.  We are having summer like weather and I'm trying to enjoy it a little at a time.  Yesterday was breakfast on the patio and tomorrow I'm hoping/planning for a trip to the farmers market for fresh strawberries.  They've been coming in for a few weeks now but I've yet to taste one.  Soon!!

The rose bush above is one the previous owner had planted.  It's a knockout rose, which I'm not that fond of, but it certainly does bloom profusely.  It was more than double that size last month, but I cut it back and now it is covered in blooms.  The peonies, also planted by the previous owner, are ready to burst and the ants are swarming for their take of the sweet nectar.  I so love peonies, but really don't like the ants!

My blueberry bush (top photo) survived the winter and has more berries on it than ever.  I'm very excited for those to ripen up.  It's still potted as I can't quite figure out where to put it in the ground.

I'm taking it easy with the plantings this year.  Most of my household plants died off this winter and I'd like to start building them back up.  I have some ideas for making a little garden patch in my little patio garden, but I don't want to rush into anything and give myself too much a chance to fail.  So a few pots of herbs this summer, maybe a tomato and pepper in a pot and that will do me.  

Tell me, what's going on in your garden?

Thanks for stopping in to read...

love and blessings
~*~

Lughnassadh

It has be a very lovely cool and overcast day here. A day that makes me think of the coming autumn and wish even more for its arrival. I have read some lovely sentiments on many blogs about Lughnassadh or Lammas. Today has been spent mostly resting although a bit of work did creep in for several hours. I keep thinking about the things in my life that I need to remember to be grateful for and to not take advantage of them.
Do you have something you are particularly grateful for this Lughnassadh?



Brightest Lughnassadh blessings to you all...

blessings
~*~

*photo taken on Lughnassadh 2009