Thursday, August 26, 2021

Countdown to Mabon: Mabon/The Autumn Equinox



Mabon is a minor Sabbat in Wicca, the second of the three harvest festivals (the first is Lughnasadh, the third is Samhain). At Mabon, day and night are of equal length—but this is the point on the Wheel of the Year at which the darkness overtakes the light, and night becomes longer than day. It is what we call the dark half of the year.

It is a feast of thanks-giving, a celebration of the Earth’s bounty. And as with all Wiccan Sabbats, the cycles of the seasons mirror the cycles of our lives. At Mabon it’s a time to reflect and wrap things up.

Mabon coincides with the beginning of the school year  and the academic year. It 's a good idea to view it as a sabbat dedicated to students - wishing them success and giving them gifts like books etc. - and to knowledge gathering itself. Known Goddesses of knowledge are the Greek Athena/Minerva,  the Sumerian Nidaba, etc. Known Gods of knowledge is the Celtic Ogma, the Egyptian Thoth with his wife Seshat etc.

It marks the end of summer vacations and the start of work. It 's a beginning. A beginning of effort to survive during the dark part of the year.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Some food for thought ...



"Are The Good Times Really Over"

I wish a buck was still silver
It was back when the country was strong
Back before Elvis
Before the Vietnam war came along

Before The Beatles and 'Yesterday'
When a man could still work, and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good?

I wish Coke was still cola
And a joint was a bad place to be
It was back before Nixon lied to us all on TV

Before microwave ovens
When a girl could still cook, and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now
Are the good times really over for good?

Are we rolling down hill
Like a snowball headed for Hell?
With no kind of chance
For the Flag or the Liberty Bell

I wish a Ford and a Chevy
Would still last ten years, like they should
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Stop rolling down hill
Like a snowball headed for Hell
Stand up for the Flag
And let's all ring the Liberty Bell

Let's make a Ford and a Chevy
Would still last ten years like they should
The best of the free life is still yet to come
The good times ain't over for good

(RIP Merle Haggard)

Friday, August 20, 2021

Fun Friday


Happy Friday - although my "Friday" is not until tomorrow since we are forced to work again this weekend. At any rate, I had a couple of little highlights from this week. One of my awesomely sweet co-workers named Rosa who makes her own jewelry presented me with this beautiful handmade bracelet - LOVE IT!! ...

And, I received another Recogneyes WOW Chip this week from our internal work audit. The chips are worth $5.00 each and I earned 6 of them so I ordered this turquoise necklace off of the company website catalog. I was told it should arrive in about 4-6 weeks or so ...

And finally, here is Bill's song pic of the week ... Have a nice weekend all!!

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Countdown to Mabon: Leafy Lanterns



Here is a fun and inexpensive decoration you can make for Mabon. Most of the materials you need are probably already in your home!

You will need:
1 large clear glass jar (Mason jars are ideal)
Wax paper
Autumn leaves or colored silk leaves from the craft store
Green or orange ribbon
A string of 35 white lights (50, depending upon how large your glass jar happens to be)
Scissors
scotch tape



Measure wax paper long enough to wrap around your jar.  Fold the wax paper in half length-wise and arrange the leaves as desired inside the folded paper. You can use the tape to keep them in place if you wish. Wrap the paper around the jar and secure with strips of tape. Fill the jar with the white lights (also known as "faerie lights") and plug in. Tie the ribbon around the rim of the jar.

Monday, August 16, 2021

Monday this and that

Well, it's Monday ALREADY, and the weekend flew by even faster than usual because they forced us to work mandatory overtime on Saturday. I am praying it does not last long for the remainder of the year. The atmosphere there is toxic, the pay is pathetic, and they are losing a lot of good employees (associates as they like to refer to us as) for lots of reasons! It is a revolving door there and not good at all. I, myself, am still looking for another job, but thus far to no avail.

Moving on, I worked 12:30pm to 6:30pm on Saturday - although they tried to push everyone on my shift to come in at 6:30am after working until 10:30pm on Friday night (our 2nd shift). Four of us said NO! and refused to come in that early. - like we DON'T need sleep! Most of my co-workers came in at 6:30am because THEY wished to. That is their choice, but do not force ALL of us do so. Anyhow, after work, my husband and I stopped off at The Sinking Spring VFW for a quick dinner then headed home.

Yesteday, I spent a few hours out and about with some friends ...

Deb and her niece, Victoria.

With Deb and Mandi.

Have a good day all!.

Friday, August 13, 2021

Epilogue and a sign of the times ...

Happy Friday night all! This post is merely an epilogue to one of my recent previous posts, "My fascination with 'Bowman the Showman' ...

After Christopher Bowman retired from figure skating, he met and married skating coach Annette Jasinkiewski with whom he had a daughter named Bianca, born in 1997. He, himself, became a skating coach as well as a sports commentator for NBC Sports and he even returned to acting and stunt work. Here is a breakdown of his career outside of his life in the world of figure skating ...

.
And on a personal note, I would like to share with you a video clip of what I consider the attitude of an athlete worthy of representing our Country should define. Athletes who actually take pride in being an American and not the "woke" generation of athletes we have been subjected to in the recent "2020" Summer Olympics. Please fast forward this video to the time of 1:00 to see what I am referring to. 

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Countdown to Mabon: Sliced Apple Pudding

Sliced Apple Pudding


Here's a yummy little "Hay Creek Festival" recipe I found and just thought I would share with you all. It is easy to make and a great treat for the coming Fall season!

You will need
6 tart apples, pared, cored and sliced
6 eggs
2 cups milk 
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 small cup of melted butter
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
A dash of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Toss apples with flour, sugar, salt and butter and place in a 9x9 inch baking dish. Pour enough milk into dish to come almost to the top of the apples, but not cover them. Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, until apples are tender. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon to taste.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

My fascination with 'Bowman the Showman'

 

This post is a tribute to my all-time favorite men's skater, the late Christopher Bowman who died in January of 2008. A few years ago, I had taken up scrapbooking as a hobby and one of my projects was a scrapbook dedicated to him. I have always been fascinated by Chris's true story - I mean, 'Hollywood child actor turned World Class U.S. Men's Figure Skater' had me intrigued to say the least (not to mention he was HOT, but I digress).

The scrapbook is only a few pages long, but it is filled with lots of personal photos, magazine articles and quotes/interviews from over the years, and so on. I even organized it chronologically ...

 
 
"Hans Brinker From Hell" is a title which Bowman gave to himself in regards to his own real-life rebel, bad boy persona. In a sport that is, for the most part anyway, considered effeminate, Bowman took a rather aggressive approach to proving his masculinity. According to his coach of 18 years, Frank Carroll, he "had a girl in every part of the world including communist countries." He had very unconventional training habits, and when he improvised his long program at the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships (an unbelievably gutsy performance which won him the bronze medal), it frustrated Carroll so much that he had decided he had had enough. And, in spite of all that he had done to try and help Christopher throughout the years, including getting him into the Betty Ford Clinic and further taking care of him while he was in drug rehab, he finally gave up. After that, Bowman had been coached by Toller Cranston for a short period of time and then, finally, the reputable John Nicks who coached him until Bowman's retirement from competitive skating in 1992.

 

Christopher Bowman's skating career was, to say the very least, amazing considering all of his self-destructive behavior, most notably his (according to him) $950 a day cocaine addiction and his affinity for being a reckless free-spirit in a sport which requires the ultimate commitment and personal sacrifice. This had caused two of his three coaches to quit working with him. One thing that always astounded me is how someone with so many demons off the ice achieved so much success on it. It speaks volumes to just how "naturally talented" Chris truly was!

In her book, “Figure Skating: A Celebration,” author Beverly Smith says of Bowman:

‘The most amazing quadruple jumps ever seen were probably those done during a sparsely attended practice session at the World Championships in Munich in 1991. American Christopher Bowman, a self-described “Hans Brinker from Hell,” knew that his coaches Ellen Burka and Toller Cranston, were angry with him for his poor training habits and hearty enjoyment of party life. During the final practice, he skated up to the boards, held up one finger to his disgruntled mentors, and said, “Watch this.”
The controversial skater landed three quadruple toe-loops in a row, just to please them and to ease the stoney silence. He had never landed any before, and he has never since. Had Bowman ever trained with any discipline, any skater, including Browning, would have been hard pressed to defeat him.’
 
Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, once told the Chicago Tribune, "If I had to pick the three most talented skaters of all time, I would pick Christopher as one. He had natural charisma, natural athleticism, he could turn on a crowd in a matter of seconds and he always seemed so relaxed about it."


During what would be his last amateur performance at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, he injured himself near the end of his long program. Always a fighter, he bravely finished his competitive routine, pushing through the pain which you could see in his face with every jump he did. After he had finished, he hobbled off of the ice holding his left knee while his coach John Nicks helped him to the “kiss and cry” area to await his scores from the judges.

His cause of death was ruled an accidental drug overdose, leaving his fans and admirer's wondering how someone who, as his former coach Frank Carroll was once quoted as saying, "could have been one of the greats," had never quite found the drive within himself to live up to his full potential.

All the same, the skating world had lost a very talented, unique, and truly beautiful individual who, for better or worse, lived his life on his own terms ... always.

Sunday, August 08, 2021

This and That ...

Greetings everyone! Just a couple of "happenings." Yesterday, we attended my husband's annual family reunion and then afterwards treated my mom to her birthday dinner at The Van Reed Inn. As I mentioned in my Friday post, she turned 82 years old this past Wednesday ...

This week, we were warned that we there is going to be yet another audit at work and so as per usual, the Line Lead comes around to each one of us and gives us a "test" question or two and if we get the answer correct we receive a WOW Chip. I received my third one. What exactly does that mean? Well, not really much of anything other than it is pretty much just a tangible 'thank you' is all ... 

And a bit of really sad news, Aurora Skye's precious fur baby, Pumpkin passed away this past week  (and was my 'god-kitty') I will miss this sweet, adorable little angel very much ... 😿








And, on the very same day as my mom's birthday (August 4th), Aurora had posted the following on her FB page ...

"I came home from work today and saw these pretty flowers that a thoughtful person placed on Pumpkin's final resting place. Thank you 💓"