This afternoon we had some rather nasty freezing rain on top of yesterday's 6 inches of snow. So I thought since I was pretty much stuck indoors today, I would work on some more of my handmade crafts and decorations. These are my two new additions for this year's Imbolg ...
The lantern was a Yule gift from a good friend of mine. It is made by Yankee Candle Company and you can use it two ways ~ you can burn the candle or you can turn on the light inside of the top of the lantern which heats up the candle wax in the jar and gives off a wonderful aroma throughout the entire house! Very cool, I just love it!!!
Well, with the holidays of Yule, Christmas and New Year's behind us, we can now look forward to Imbolg ~ a time for us all to start anew. Just like the besom, Imbolg represents the "sweeping out of the old and bringing in the new." It is a good time to rid ourselves of all the negative or unwanted things in our lives which we no longer want or need to hold on to and look forward to a better year than the last!
As much as I enjoy the holidays, I, for one, am definitely glad that the year 2013 is past. I must say that it had been a rather difficult one for many, including my family which ended in my dear, sweet 81 year old father being rushed to the hospital on New Year's Eve where he has been since.
The good news; however, is that he seems to be getting better with each passing day of the new year and he is in good spirits as he is already talking about what he wants to do when he goes home. I have always admired my father for his positive attitude. His motto: "Things could always be worse, and remember, as bad as you may think things are, there is always someone else out there who has it much worse than you do." Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it? He is a very kind and caring man who would offer you the shirt off of his back or a helping hand to a stranger in need. I remember a couple of years ago, while he was having his second pacemaker put in, he was joking with all of the nurses and making them laugh just as he is doing now. I told him just yesterday, "I'll bet the doctors and nurses wish they had more patients like you!" LOL!!
Still, all things aside, I am extremely hopeful that this year will bring us all health, love, happiness, and most of all peace.
Greetings, my friends! I hope everyone had a blessed holiday! A couple of things have happened here already since the New Year. First of all, my father was admitted into the hospital on New Year's Eve for several different issues at once. He had fluid in his lungs and extremely bad swelling in his legs and other parts of his body. Now, my dad is not a big man and they think that most of the swelling was caused by his very serious heart problems. At this time, he remains in the hospital while they complete a series of tests (x-rays, ultra sounds, etc.) on him. They have managed to get the swelling down substantially, but it will take more time.
Secondly, my hubby and I have been feeding yet another stray cat who has been hanging around since late fall. With the horribly nasty weather we have been getting here in Berks Co., PA since way before the winter solstice offically started, I decided to head down to our local Pet Smart store and purchase an outside doghouse for this poor little kitty ~ and just in time! We are expected to get up to 7 inches of snow mixed with ice and extremely high winds tonight. It has already begun and is supposed to keep going into late morning/early afternoon tomorrow. When I fed the stray kitty earlier this evening, she literally darted out of the doghouse and she had eaten all of the cat food I left for her inside the doghouse from this morning before I left for work. We are hoping that she makes it through the winter alright. The good thing about her is, she doesn't seem to stray very far from our house...
And finally, our cats have been passing around a type of respiratory infection i.e. sneezing, running eyes and nose. We have already treated Midnight with anti-bioltic meds prescribed to him by our trusty vet, but it appears that we must treat ALL of the cats now. With the the crazy holidays and the bad weather, it will have to wait until sometime next week. UH, I am soo over this winter already!!! LOL!!
