Last Night's Blue Moon pics ...

 

I hope everyone enjoyed a great view of the Goddess in all Her beauty with last night's gorgeous Full Moon. It was the last Blue Moon we shall see until 2015. Here are just a few shots hubby and I took from our backyard ...

 

 

"Pray to the Moon when She is round,

 Luck with you shall then abound

 What you seek for shall be found,

 In sea or sky or solid ground."

Fun Friday ~ Labyrinth - Magic Dance - David Bowie & Friends

Happy Friday everyone! Wishing all the blessings of the Goddess' beautifil Blue Moon tonight!

 

BLESSED BE!

Countdown to Mabon: Apple Dumpling Cake

Here's a little seasonal recipe I found a couple of weeks ago. I thought it looked so good that I just had to try it!! It is so delicious that I think I am going to make it for my cakes and ale portion of my Mabon ritual this month.

 

Apple Dumpling Cake 

 

Ingredients:

3 pounds of apples - peeled, cored and sliced

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Directions:
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, lightly grease a 9X13 inch baking pan. Place sliced apples in baking pan. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in eggs and oil and pack on top of apples. Sprinkle with the cinnamon. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until topping is puffed and golden brown.



Around the Corner: Countdown to Mabon!

Getting so excited! My favorite season of fall is just around the corner. My hubby and I wed in a legal Handfasting on Mabon of 2001. Believe it or not, it really wasn't planned that way. We both wished to get married in September and the only Saturday my dear friend and Wiccan High Priestess could officiate for us happened to be on Mabon of that year. I am convinced that it was definately meant to be!

I'd like to share with you all a poem I had written this past Spring for a blogger friend of mine who lives in the Southern Hemisphere and therefore celebrates Mabon while we Wiccans and Pagans alike living in the Northern parts are celebrating Imbolg and Ostara. I hope you enjoy it!

Painted Leaves

 

Colored bed beneath my feet,

The crisp, fresh air grows cool;

Painted leaves adorn the Earth,

All under Modron's rule

Aging Goddess; powerful, wise

Autumn's picture, Nature's guise

Celebration of beauty,

 the wheel turns on;

With painted leaves ~

'tis Blessed Mabon!

 

~ Lady Caer Morganna

 

(image credit)

Getting better ...

Just a little update on the homefront. Tabby has been set up dowstairs for when we go to bed at night and when we are unable to be at home due to work, etc. At the suggestion of my dear friend and cat-sitter Judy, who has been through this process SIX times already, we are allowing Tabby time to herself upsatirs to roam and get used to the house while our other furr babies are in the bedroom. Then, one at a time, introduce the other cats to her slowly. This will also benefit as far as all of the cats being able to get acquainted with each others scent and sound ~ on a gradual basis. In the meantime, we have also been using small tarps temporarily whenever we are away in the event that Kiki decides to mark her territory...

Today, we brought her upstairs for about two hours. She did so well that we let the other cats, with the exception of Haley who was still in her catio, out into the living room while Tabby was lying calmly on the sofa. As expected, Kiki hissed and growled, but did not go near her. Midnight sniffed noses with her for a few seconds and then walked away. The entire time, Tabby remained calm and did nothing. Thank Goddess she is so docile. We will bring Haley into the mix in a couple of days or so. We will simply have to work with Kiki more closely than the rest as she is the most insecure.

I realize that this process is going to take A LOT of time and patience! So far, I feel that all things considered, we are off to a pretty decent start anyhow.  Blessings all!

Welcome to our zoo!

For those of you who do not happen to follow my other blog, "Witch Cats Blog," we have gotten the okay from our vet that Tabitha, the newest member of our family, is healthy. Now, the really hard part ~ trying to introduce the old cats to the new one!

Let's see, last night we got next to no sleep as Tabitha (Tabby) cried almost the entire night into the early morning, Meanwhile, our other kitties are either afraid to step paws into the only room where we can fit a cat box or they just refuse to use their litter box. I ended up having to take an unexpected vacation day from work today as I had to find a way to get things under control ~ something I obviously could not do had I been stuck at work for nine hours!

And so at the moment, one of our cats is penned up in the room with the litter box because she keeps trying to unrinate on our good couch and I will not allow her, one cat is hiding underneath the couch although he did actually use the box this morning, one is in her catio, and Tabby (who still has her front claws) is being held in the bathroom temporarily.

Chances are we will probably have to put her and the holding cage back downstairs for a little while, bringing her upstairs supervised as to hopefully slowly get the cats used to each other!!

All I know is, as long as we have our other cats we will not be taking in anymore cats ~ period! It is simply too much stress and it is definitely not like getting dogs used to one another that is for sure.

But there is a bright side; however, my sweet hubby surprised me with a bouquet of beautiful flowers as he walked through the front door tonight. No wonder I love him so very much! LOL!

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Tonight I was honored with a nomination for a "Sunshine Award" by the blog "A Year and a Day Wicca."

The rules for accepting this award are as follows:

1.      If you are nominated, you must blog a post linking back to the person/blog that nominated you.

2.      You must answer some questions, nominate ten fellow bloggers and link their blogs to the post!

3.      You should comment on your nominees’ blogs to let them know you’ve nominated them.

Here are the questions:
1. Who is your favorite philosopher?
    Aristotle

2. What is your favorite number?  3 because it is a magickal number

3. What is your favorite animal? Most definately a cat! We have four of them.

4. What are your Facebook and Twitter URLs?
   My blog is my main source for everything.

5. What is your favorite time of day? Nightime

6. What was your favorite vacation? Ontario, Canada

7. What is your favorite physical activity?  Going for long walks

8. Favorite non-alcoholic drink? Mint iced tea

9. What is your favorite flower? Carnation

10. What is your passion? Cats

And here are the blogs which I nominated:

1) Becoming Six

2) Magic Love Crow

3) Moments in a Eye

4) Star Steps

5) Magpie Hollow

6) Life of a Domestic Witch

7) Sunshine Shelle

8) Salem's Creations

9) October's November

10) Riding on a Broomstick

*(Please feel free to decline this award if you so wish to as I understand that some bloggers do not choose to participate in any kind of blog awards for their own personal reasons.)

Blessed Be to All!!!

You've got the cutest little babyface ...

So today hubby and I went to visit my in-laws for my father-in-laws  birthday and to see the newest member of our family ~ Tulip! Tulip is their adorable little 7-month old King Charles Cavalier puppy! What a doll she is, too! ...

Tulip cuddling up on mom's warm, comfy lap

And for his birthday, we gave him a couple of new books on King Charles Cavaliers. He loved the books so much that he couldn't put them down!! LOL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!

Inspiring Awards From Inspiring Friends!

Wow, I am so very honored as I just found out that I was nominated by Renee from her beautiful blog, "Star Steps" for a "Very Inspiring Blogger Award!! Thank you bunches, Renee and big hugs for putting a smile on my face!

Now, the rules for accepting this awesome award are as follows:

1) Display the award logo on your blog
2) Link back to the person who nominated you
3) List 7 things about yourself
4) Nominate 15 others as well for this award and link to them
5) Notify those bloggers of their nominations and the award's requirements

Okay all, here goes ~ 7 things about me ...

1) I have been an Eclectic Wiccan/Pagan for as far back as I can remember as a child and I am also a Solitary Eclectic Wiccan Priestess who reveres Mother Earth and Father God in their many asepcts in Nature.

2) I love animals, most especially cats of which my hubby and I have four. We also have a 3-year old male dwarf bunny named Sam whom our cats adore.

3)  I am a Reiki Level II Practitioner and I incorporate both the Angels and the Goddess and God ("The One") into my reiki practice.

4) Even though I am a Solitary Wiccan, I sometimes join my other solitary Wiccan friends for sabbats and esbats. I also enjoy celebrating with my Wiccan High Priestess friend of many, many years and her coven, "The Coven of the Silver Moon Circle" from time to time.

5) I like to write poetry in its' many forms be it about paganism, people, animals, etc.

6) What gives me the most pleasure out of life, though, is spending time with my family and friends ~ for these are the things in my life for which I have been very blessed with!

7)  I enjoy watching all kinds of movies ~ funny, romantic, dramatic, Science Fiction, and especially educational. I watch a lot of the History Channel, Animal Planet, A&E Network, and among my favorite shows are Supernatural, Psych, Dallas (the new one), Big Bang Theory, My Cat From Hell, CIS NY, NCIS, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, South Park, to name a few. And oh yes, I AM a Star Trek fan and have attended numerous Trek Conventions.

Shew! Now I would like to announce my nominations for the "Very Inspiring Blogger Award." Although it was hard to pick as there are so very many great blogs out there, here they are:

1) Wiccan Writes
2) Cottage Tails
3) That Witch is True
4) Magpie Hollow
5)The Deepest Well
6) MagicLoveCrow
7) Pagan Culture
8) Art Sings1946
9) Everyday Domestic Goddess
10) Salem's Creations
11) Riding on a Broomstick
12) Sunshine Shelle
13) Welcome to My World
14) Life of a Domestic Witch
15) The Year of the Cats

Many thanks again to Renee and all of my other treasured friends as well for whom I have been fortunate enough to have met through Blogland! Please be sure to check out these many awesome blogs! I think you will enjoy them as I know that I do!

Brightest Blessings to everyone!

Kim

Three cheers for hubby and back to work!

As you are all aware, this past week hubby and I have had a lot goin' on! One of those things was the fact that our kitchen sink pipes rusted and flooded the wooden cabinet underneath. I am happy to report that hubby has now fixed the problem by replacing the pipes with brand new ones ...

My kitchen scene before the repair ~ what a mess, eh?

The thing about our home is that it was built in the 1950's and is rather old, as opposed to a more modern home, and when things go wrong or are in need of being replaced they usually happen all at once. When we moved in several years ago, we rented this house from my hubby's aunt and, after her passing, it was bought by my in-laws from whom we eventually bought it from two years ago.  The up-side to this is that we shouldn't have to replace the kitchen sink pipes for quite a long, long time!

Next on our list of things to do, and since it appears that we may have Kiki's health issue resolved, we are going to continue our effort to bring the Maine Coon stray cat, whom we have named Tabby, into the house in an attempt to get her acclaimated to being an indoor family cat. We have gotten her to come as close as actually walking by herself through our front door, but she is not yet ready to walk inside all the way. We do not want to traumatize her by forcing her before she is ready and such a thing may very well backfire and we could loose any trust we have gained with her thus far. So we will simply take things at her pace ~ one day at a time!

So far, so good ...

Many thanks to everyone who sent our cat, Kiki, well wishes and healing thoughts! So far, the antibiotic shot the vet gave her Wednesday night seems to be helping her. We have not noticed any vomiting and she appears to be much more active and back to normal. The past couple of nights, Midnight has given up "his" bed pillow so that she could make herself comfortable (as shown above).

Tonight, hubby was working on our plumbing under the kitchen sink when she decided to pick up a little plastic ring off the floor and play fetch with it! She would bring it to me, I would throw it and she would bring it back to me again and drop it at my feet. So cute! What is even cuter is that Midnight hasn't left her side since we brought her back from the vet.

All that I can say is so far, so good and thank you all for thinking of her! It means a lot!

Everything happens in three's

For Wiccans and Pagans alike, three is indeed a very magickal number! Not only does it represent the Goddess trilogy of Maiden,Mother & Crone, but it is also a universal rule. For the witch, the saying, "Everything happens in three's" is not just a passing phrase, it is a cosmic fact of life.

That being said, have you ever had one of those weeks when you said to yourself, "I'm afraid to ask what next?" Well, for me this has been such a week. First, our kitchen sink pipe rusted and in turn flooded the entire area underneath our sink, then later on that evening while using the dryer to dry the towels made soak and wet by the flooded sink, our dryer went, and lastly our bathtub drain became badly clogged.

Shew! Now, add if you will on top of that the fact that our furr baby, Kiki, has been sick since last week and after taking her to our trusty vet last night had an antibiotic shot and a check up. The vet told us that the shot, in lieu of pills, is good for two whole weeks and that if she continues to vomit and cough by Friday we must take her back immediately for some tests.

All of these things I can live with except for our little girl feeling sick. She is our most important concern at the moment. The rest will get taken care of in due time. And, until we can figure out what is wrong with Kiki, we can not even think about the beautiful Maine Coon stray cat we have been meaning to bring inside our home. Here's to keeping our finger's crossed all!

Fair weather friends, Farewell!

Lately, I have been noticing a lot of negativity surrounding me. More than usual that is. The source of this bad ju-ju is coming from what I now realize are my "fair weather friends." You know the kind? They are the ones who only call upon you when they want something from you, make promises they will never keep, and they always seem to make themselves the star of their own little life drama by continuously putting themselves in the same situations and making the same exact mistakes (never, ever learning from them) over and over again!

They are also the so-called friends whom, every time they screw up their lives, come crying to you for help and of course you feel sorry for them and are always there to help them out any way you can (even though they never really do appreciate it).

Well, "friends" such as these come with a lot of negative energy and I find that I can no longer allow this to affect my life. Things like back-stabbing, lying and the like are things that I just can no longer tolerate nor continue to forgive anymore. I need to cleanse my life from these sort of situations.  I feel strongly that this is the Goddess's way of telling me to separate myself from something which is very much harmimg me emotionally and spiritually.

I still care about these lost and troubled souls very much and I wish them only the best in their life.  I hope that someday they can get their life straightened out once and for all for I know in my heart that I have done all that I could for them. As the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink" and the rest is up to them to change their life. They must take control of their own destiny. I know that that applies to each and every one of us!

To all of my beloved friends and family for whom I have been blessed with in my life, I am forever grateful. To those fair weather friends in my life who have always been users, may they someday find the peace they have so obviously never found yet.

Blessed Be!

Filling the void of a broken heart ...

Last year, my in-laws lost their beautiful 3-year old golden retreiver, Karmal, to a car accident. This, of course, left them very broken-hearted and missing their beloved companion. Since then and with their home empty and void of the special love that only an animal can bring, they had been meaning to look for another dog to share their lives with. They have always had large dogs, but now that they are both getting up in years it is difficult to control the energy and spirit of a dog that size.

Three days ago, they finally found an adorable little King Charles Cavalier puppy and her name is Tulip. The very same day that they brought Tulip home, my father-in-law had to be admitted into the hospital for some unexpected tests and so they had to put her in a kennel temporarily.

They are now back home again and I am glad for a couple of reasons. One, obviously because my father-in-law is okay, and two because he can finally spend time with the dog he has been wanting in the house for so very long. In my opinion, animals are extremely therapeutic. They aid us in our mental health and; therefore, our overall well-being. I strongly believe that having Tulip around will be beneficial in so many ways. Actually, I have never heard of this breed before. Aren't they cute?

Fun Friday: A Celtic Lullaby ~ Loreena McKennett

The masks we wear ...

There is an old saying which goes, "Not everything is always as it seems." This is never more true than with people. Today, I had some minor car troubles and, not trusting my car until hubby got home and looked at it, I decided it was smarter to stay home from work. Therefore, having some hang time, I had the very rare chance to catch up on some of the blogs I like to follow.

Upon reading a recent post on one of my favorite blogs, "The Year of the Cats," titled "Envy is eating me up," I was reminded of how more often than not people only tend to talk about or show you the good parts of their life rather than the not-so-great other parts.

Now, I can truly understand why as there certainly is enough negativity in the world as it is and who wants to hear all about your problems anyway, right? I, myself, make every effort to post mostly positive things because I feel that that is what people want to hear about? That is not to say that I am not writing the truth about my life, it simply means that I am not necessarily choosing to talk about all of my problems.

If there is one thing which I feel I have learned fairly well over the years, it is that things are not always what they seem. I also used to be somewhat envious (not jealous, mind you) of some of my most dearest friends at times as they seemed to me to "have it all."  Good jobs, great careers, family, handsome and loving husbands, and the newest, most beautiful houses. But, unfortunately, it didn't take me very long to figure out that there were also things going on behind the scenes which were never brought up or talked about ~ not even with me even though they considered me a good friend! It wasn't until the you-know-what hit the fan that the whole truth about their circumstances came to light.

I can also relate to that as well as I have had (as with most people I know) my share of trials and tribulations in my own life. In my case, I never wanted to burden anyone with my problems and sometimes I was just too embarassed to speak of them to anyone.

So, whenever you begin to feel the emotion of envy rearing its' big old green head, please try to remember that you may never truly know what is going on in someone's life and, although I believe that there may be such a thing as "a perfect life for you personally",  there is really no such thing as a "perfect" life.

"How to Speak Dutch-ified English" : A book review

Okay, now I know what you are all thinking, "Dutch-ified English?" What is THAT? LOL! Well, for those of you who have not had the very unique experience of being born and raised in the Berks County, Pennsylvania area, the term "dutch-ified" is commonly used here to describe how the PA Dutch attempt to pronouce the English language. For example, the word sandwich is pronounced "sand-vitch," the word now is pronounced "naw," etc.

No, this is not a joke. I am completely serious; however, the following books are just a "tongue-in-cheek" version of how the PA Dutch really speak.

The books, "How to Speak Dutch-ified English: Wolume Vun (1)" and "Wolume Twoah (2)" by Gary Gates, are just plain hilarious! Although we in PA Dutch country know the actual meanings of the English words, the author's jokes are in the descriptions (which, I assure you, ARE merely just meant to be funny)! To give you some idea of what I am talking about, here are a few exerpts from the book:

Dissy: Off balance ("When I climb too high I get dissy.")
Dotch: The make of a car (instead of Dodge)
Prod: To take pleasure in something ("Most people are prod to be Amercians.")
Tooah: means also ("Jenny's coming, tooah.")

In addition to this, the author also adds words which are only used locally by the PA Dutch such as "rutch" which means to squirm i.e. "Ted! stop rutching in the pew and listen to the sermon." In my post, "A little PA Dutch for You," I have listed some more words used specifically by the PA Dutch.

If you want a good laugh, I definately recommend these two books. Not only are they a tiny peek into another culture, but they are by far among the most charming books I have ever read!

A Wonderful Weekend!

This has been a pretty great, albeit busy, weekend! It began on Saturday morning when I received my special MagicLoveCrow painting, "Mer-Crow Love" in the mail. Not only did Stacy send me my beautiful painting, but she also enclosed a sweet card and her "Hindu Goddess Ganga" aceo as well. LOVE them!!

Now I just have to find the perfect frame for it that will compliment this gorgeous piece!

In the afternoon hubby and I attended his yearly family reunion where we ate awesome homemade food, played prize bingo, and joined in on the auction. It was so nice to spend time with those family members whom we only get to see once a year. 

Then today, my mom and dad came over to our house for her birthday. She opened her presents and then I gave her a well-needed reiki session.  My dad doesn't get out much anymore and commented on how very glad he was that he and my mom came to visit us. Since his radiofrequency ablation, it was the most relaxed I had seen him in quite a while. This puts my mind at ease more than words can say.

Opening her Vineyard Yankee Candle

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!

I love it so much when my parents come over for a visit. These are the family moments which I truly cherish.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!

When it comes to parents, I have been very fortunate indeed. Not only do I have a kind and loving father, but I have also been blessed with a wonderful, caring mother as well.

Growing up, both my parents worked full-time jobs. My father worked all three shifts, depending upon his job assignments, and my mother worked first shift at Boscov's Department Store where she eventually retired from after 30 years.

Because my father had to work alternate shifts, she had the very difficult responsibilty of raising my brother and myself by herself much of the time. Looking back, this was not an easy task by any means. Not only did she work full-time to help ends meet, but she also ran both my brother and I back and forth to trumpet lessons, twirling lessons, Girl Scout meetings and band practices, etc. She always made sure that we had terrific birthdays and she is the one who stayed up until two o'clock in the morning wrapping presents so that we could have many a memorable Christmas and holiday family dinners every year. And more recently, she is now caring for my elderly father whom is, to say the least, a full-time job indeed!

Since her retirement, she has been very actively involved with the AKC and training her dogs, something she does well and enjoys so much. She has trained four family dogs and acquired dozens of ribbons over the years for their Obedience Rallies. She also had a few Certified Therapy dogs as well.

Then, in the summer of 2000, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a partial mastectomy. As scarey as this was, she was the bravest woman I have ever known and, with the love and support of our family as a whole, we found the strength to see her through. And, by the grace of the Goddess, she has been cancer-free for 12 years now!

She saw me through the "terrible teen" years, bad relationships, financial troubles and now Peri-menapause and through it all she has always done her best to be loving and supportive. The older I get, the more I realize how wonderful she really is and I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world!

A gift from Mom

A Blue Moon, birthdays, gifts, and a shopping spree ...

Wow, it is certainly going to be a busy month! In addition to our beloved Lughnasadh celebration, we also have two full moons (blue moon) to look forward to! Not only that, but I have three special birthdays taking place this month. My mother's is this Saturday (the same day as hubby's family reunion), my father-in-law's is coming up on the 17th, and my Reiki Master and dear friend Fran's birthday is on the 19th. 

Okay, now for the really fun part. My sister Robin and I decided to go Yankee Candle shopping today at lunchtime where I bought my mom, who also loves candles, a little something for fall for her birthday ...

Large jar of Vineyard with an Iluma-Lid to go with it

I found two new Yankee Candle scents ...

A jar of Spiced Cocoa and a couple of votives called "Whoopie Pie" (mmm good!)

Also, sweet Robin brought back a few little gifts for me from she and her hubby's vacatin to Maine last week. Ironically, one of the gifts she bought for me was a Hollyberry-scented candle which she unknowingly purchased the week I decided to write one of my newest poems, "The Holly Laughs" ...

Hollyberry candle, a bag of candle tarts, and a Crabtree & Evelyn Summer Hill hand therapy moisturizer

And last but not least, I sent a special surprise gift to my bloggie friend, Stacy of MagicLoveCrow, who is currently on holiday and is due back sometime tomorrow ...

Since she seems to enjoy my poems, it is a little book of my original poetry which I have put together for her called, "Lady Caer Morganna's Poetry From My Heart." She does so many thoughtful things for so many people, I thought that it would be a nice idea if I did a little something nice for her.

Blessings and have a great weekend everyone!

Wishing everyone a very Blessed Lughnasadh!!

May everyone rejoice in the first harvest and enjoy this blessed season with family and friends! Blessed Be!!!!