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.

expected, welcomed, and fascinating...

hello, my lovelies, 

i'm here with blurry eyes tonight to share a little about my trip from september.

i went back to what might possibly be my most favorite place i've ever been in the world, where a piece of my soul resides, and where i feel more at peace than anywhere else: 

yes, i made a trip back to ghost ranch, abiquiu, new mexico.  

i drove 4 days, to santa fe, stayed there for 3 then went to ghost ranch for another art retreat.  i'll share about the art in another post, this one is just about the trip.

i made my stops in smyrna, tn, van buren, ar, and amarillo, tx.  it's only a short drive from amarillo to santa fe, so day four was an easy drive.  i was on a mission to get to santa fe by a certain day as i had an appointment the following day and couldn't possibly miss it.

this is why i had to be there by a certain time...

this photo is from right after she finished, but it is healed up now and looks great.  i love it so much!  i've been wanting this tattoo since my first trip to ghost ranch in 2019.  the design is mine and the landscape inside the heart is from a photo i took on one of the earlier trips.  

if you are a tattoo person, the artist who did this one is Nikki at Rivers Collective Body Art.  best decision i made in a long time.  she was so awesome to work with and easy to talk to, everything about the experience was fabulous.  (i'm already thinking about what to get next time i'm out there. 😁)

then i had a couple of days to hang around and explore or rest (resting was a big thing) and shop, of course.  i found some fabulous places.  i went back to The Ark for some books/witchy type stuff.  then i checked out a bead store as i had forgotten to bring a lot of things for class.  Beadweaver is amazing and has more than just beads and jewelry makings.  i went a little crazy in the sticker section. haha.  as i was leaving there, i remembered a place i'd followed on instagram and it was right across the road.  it was awesome!  The Crow's Nest is fascinating.  seriously!  i found some pretty cool things in there.  plus, she has haunted dolls and they were telling me all kinds of stories!  i was also able to find several out of print books on Georgia O'Keeffe at a used bookstore not far from my hotel.

anywho, when i arrived at ghost ranch they had just finished a 3 day music festival so it was quite chaotic.  lucky for me, it settled down later that evening.  other than a couple of storms rolling through it was pretty quiet for the week, but it was monsoon season, so the rain was expected, and welcomed, and fascinating.

(the mountain that Georgia claimed - Pedernal)

(sunset after a storm)

(always looking for heart rocks)

our middle of the week outing was a trip to Taos, but i decided to stay in and go for a hike.  then i came by the above sign as i headed to a trail and decided to head to my room and do some painting instead.  i never saw the mountain lion but did see some paw prints.  and some of the staff were telling us about how they like to come up to the buildings and rub up against them at night while people are sleeping.  one night though, i did hear a pack of coyotes singing.  i thought they were right there it sounded so close.  but someone else who heard them said they were pretty far away or it would have been much louder.

(sunrise on the last day)

(part of the trail between the mesa with my room and the main buildings at ground level)

when i planned this trip it was with the understanding that it would be our last retreat out there.  i had planned to take the long way home and stop several places so i could explore a bit more of things i'd never seen and do a bit more shopping.  but as it got closer i found that i'd spent too much money and so had to just come straight home.

the day before we were to leave, i found out that there will be at least one more retreat with this group out there and the dates have already been set for 2027.  so i KNOW i'll be going again!  i've already started saving and planning my 2027 trip.  woo hoo!!!

well, it's taken a couple of hours to write this and my eyes are so exhausted. i'll be back soon to share what we were making and some of the things i brought back from my trip.  

hope you are all having a great week.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

the return

I would say that I am home, but it doesn't really feel like it.  So, I'll just say I am back.  Home was were I spent last week.  That I believe is where home really is for me.  The fresh air, the hills and valleys.  The peace in my heart and soul.  Home.

Yesterday I came back, only to have to vacate the house again for a showing.  Today is getting back to normal routines, catching up on mail, email, blog reading, laundry, unpacking, etc.  I hope to be back in the next few days to share about my trip.  It was so...refreshing.

blessings
~*~

a ramble

A few of the geraniums are blooming their last.  The way the light hits the blooms you can almost see through them.  Like letting the light into all the dark corners of our world and ourselves.  When Autumn comes and the darkness grows, I tend to become a morning person.  But during the spring and summer when there is more light, I am a night person.  I think, overall, I prefer the mornings.  It is so much quieter than night. 

Today was a trip to the hospital a few hours away for more tests.  I have no idea how long it will take to get results, but all I can do is hope that they will find some answers. 

Tomorrow I head off to the mountain house for the rest of the week.  I haven't been in so long and I've been wanting to spend time there.  I feel such peace when I am there, like nothing I've ever felt.  So today is packing up clothes, food and accessories to take with me.  I always have no idea what to take, as I don't know what I'll feel like doing while there.  I'd love to take my art supplies, but picking and through them is overwhelming.  I will take my sketch book and pencils/pens.  I don't know that I'll take anything else. 

There is no Internet at the house so I may be offline until I get back, unless I can figure out how to use my phone as a hot spot or head to the bookstore that has wi-fi.

Thank you to those that visited for the Haunted Halloween Tea Party.  I'm so glad to have had you come by and hope that you will come back again. 

blessings
~*~

Home

I'm home...three days early.

Long story, the details of which I am certain to bore you with later.

I've missed all the start of October blog fun. I'm going to spend the afternoon playing catch up. (and hopefully getting my fall/halloween decor down from the attic!)

blessings
~*~

home...

I spent last weekend in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. When we arrived there were remnants of the last snowfall still on the ground. It was just a small amount, but honestly, any snow makes me happy.


This is our house. It was my grandparents second home and now belongs to my mum and uncle. They are trying to sell it, but I would love for us to keep it in the family. We used to spend weeks up there during the summers and we would go up for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. My grandparents loved being there and I did too. It takes about 3 and 1/2 hours to get there for us and with the pets, it just makes it hard to get up there very often.

It is always so beautiful in the mountains. The air is crisper and cleaner somehow and the sky seems so much closer. I hated to leave and even tried to convince mum that we should stay another day. They were calling for snow the day we had to leave, and I so wanted to hang around to see it. Oh well... maybe I'll head back up during the Christmas holiday. I'm taking a few vacation days and will have almost two weeks off.

I wish I could say it was good to be home. But truly, it isn't. I would rather have stayed there, in the mountains, in the clouds.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving...

Blessings,
~*~

Leaving tomorrow...

This time tomorrow night I'll be driving down the highway headed to New Orleans. Yay! I'm so very excited! I'm also exhausted... It has been quite a busy week but I'm really looking forward to the trip.

I won't get to post Saturday Sky or Green Thumb Sunday this week. I've decided not to take my laptop with me. The hotel has Internet, but I just don't think I want to worry about losing it or having it stolen as well as keeping up with it.

I've started packing and am almost ready. Tomorrow I'm getting my car inspected (it's due this month) and have to pick up a couple of things from the craft store and the grocery. I also have to drop off the dog at the vet in the am. We aren't leaving until 5, but I'm hoping to push that up just a little bit. The more daylight to see the road with, the better.

Sorry for all the rambling, I'm just too excited to talk or think straight. :-)

Alright, I'm signing off for now. I'll be back sometime on Thursday. I'll try to have lots of pictures to post. :-)

Blessings,
~*~

Monday blues...

Monday is usually a crappy day for me. I'm not sure why, but something invariably goes wrong on Mondays. Today is no different. I woke this morning around 3 with a serious migraine. I was finally able to drag myself to work around 9 this morning. I pretty much stayed in the office and did as little as possible. Every time I moved my head I'd get a shooting pain. The joy of my head...

I did go meet my friend to shop at lunch. She found an outfit for our trip, but I didn't find anything. In case you haven't read my other blog, I'm going to New Orleans this weekend for the first time ever! It is a place I have longed to go since I was a little girl. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

Anyway, I went to a few stores after work and found a couple of tops. I just have to find a white skirt. One of the things we are doing is attending a voudou ceremony and we have to dress in white. (I'm so excited about this!)

So, I'm trying to get ready for my trip and haven't done much knitting. I keep meaning to get a picture of my progress but I want to take it outside for the lighting but never remember until it is dark. I have my last knitting class tomorrow night, so I'll get at least two hours of knitting done. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow of my progress and post it.

Well, I'm going back to watching 24 now.

Blessings,
~*~

I think I'm ready...but I can't sleep...

I think I'm about ready for my trip. I have my clothes packed minus a few pieces that are even now in the dryer. I still have to get my bath stuff together. It is ready, just needs to be put in a bag before I put it in my suitcase. I want to seal it so it doesn't spill all over my clothes. Can't find a big enough bag that I can seal. :-(

I think I've got all of my stuff that I need. I have two books, my camera and battery charger, my cell and charger, and clothes, bathing suit, cover up, etc.

I have to get up at 4:30 so that I can be ready at 5:15 when my dad gets here to pick me up. I'm not sure why I can't sleep. I have finished everything that I can and just can't sleep.

I'll not have pc access for a week and will post when I return. I did decide to not take my knitting because I just don't want anything to happen to it. Although, I did give serious thought to taking it when I found out our layover in the morning is 3 1/2 hours long. Ugh.

I'm off to Cancun...

Blessings,

~*~

Knitting news and packing...

I finally have knitting pictures to post! Yay! I know I kept saying I would post them but things have been so crazy I just haven't had a chance to get a picture. So, here it is... a few pictures on the progress of my raglan top down baby sweater.

To the left you can see a full shot from the front. I can't tell you how happy I am to be working on the last section. I have joined the fronts, sleeves and back and am just working my way down to the bottom. It is all seed stitch from here except for ribbing the last two rows. :-)


(Wow! I'm so happy to actually know what seed stitch and ribbing mean!)


To the right we have a closer photo of one of the sleeves. I think this sweater is just so adorable and I love, absolutely love, the yarn colors. I can't wait to finish it and be able to give it to my friend for her baby girl. It is sized for a one year old so she may not be able to use it for a little while, but I don't think I'll be able to wait to give it to her. :-)


In other news, I found my passport! Yay! This is a very good thing, because I leave for Cancun on Saturday! Yes, I'm going back to Cancun! Wooo Hooo! I'm slowly working my way down the list of things I have to get done before I leave on Saturday and finding my passport was top of the list! I still have a ton of things to do and am not convinced it will all get done, but I'm working on it. I suppose I will have NO sleep the night before we fly out. Won't that be fun!

I'm sitting here getting ready for the UNC vs Duke game and am really hoping that UNC will play today. I was very disappointed in them on Saturday against NC State. They really should have played better. Only 15 minutes before the game. Yay! Go Heels!!

I almost forgot one other piece of news. I cut my hair. (Lana, I swear I'm not copying you!) I have had nothing but problems since I had it permed last July and I just couldn't take it anymore. When it takes 30 minutes just to comb out the tangles, that is just too much work. It is a little shorter than I wanted, but it will grow back. :-)

Here are the before and after pictures...




















Alrighty...I have to start paying attention to the game now... the fights are starting up...
GO HEELS!
Blessings,

~*~