Memorial Day Weekend

 

 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone! Yesterday, my husband and I had tickets to see an Air Dot Show Central PA (air show) held at The Harrisburg International Airport which featured the U.S. Navy Blue Angels! This tour event had not been in our area of Pennsylvania in thirty years!! 

 

The day was spectacular and luckily the rain held off until just after the Blue Angels finished their demonstration part of the show. My husband took a lot of pics with his areal camera and here are a few which I would like to share with you ...

 

 

 

 

Then today, I spent four hours baking the cupcakes for tomorrow for the Sinking Spring VFW's Memorial Day luncheon after their ceremony honoring our veterans ...

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This and That

Greetings, friends! Yes, it was yet another insanely busy week this past week (and another one to come this week). Beginning with Miss Ginger's test results. The vet said that her blood work came back normal so the next step was having two x-rays performed. The results of those x-rays showed that one of Ginger's lungs was larger than the other which is usually indicative of asthma. So Dr. Watska suggested we try putting her on steroid (Prednisone) and also 5mg of Prozac for her urinating issue which was diagnosed as behavioral as all other tests showed nothing wrong. Finger's crossed!

Moving on, Memorial Day weekend will prove to be just as busy. Once again, my husband will be participating in the Sinking Spring VFW's Memorial Day ceremony at Pleasant View Cemetery. I just finished the nine centerpieces today. I added red, clear, and blue glass beads for an extra touch ...

And, I will again be baking cupcakes for the luncheon afterwards. I ran to the grocery store to pick up the baking items ...

I will be delivering both the centerpieces and the cupcakes very early on Memorial Day (Monday) which means I will be baking pretty much all day this Sunday.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK everyone!!

Weekend Happenings

 Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies (both human and fur baby)!  

I had a busy weekend beginning with my three hour shopping excursion looking for the items I needed in order to create the nine centerpieces that were requested by the VFW Auxiliary. I ended up going to a few different stores, but I began with our local Michael's Arts & Crafts Store. There, I found the silk flowers, the red, white, and blue reeds, the ribbons, and the small/mini flags. I did not have enough clear glass beads on hand for all of the centerpieces so I ordered a huge bag off of Ebay ...

The VFW Auxiliary also said that they loved my idea of switching up the three different ribbons I picked out ...

I could not find red or blue colored glass vases, so I bought the size I needed at The Dollar Tree. Funny little story - after spending three entire hours shopping around for all of my items, I arrived home only to DROP the bag of glass vases on the living room floor and had to run all the way back to The Dollar Tree to replace the two out of the nine that I had broken ... 😒

At any rate, I put together one of the centerpieces and sent a picture of it to the Auxiliary member who had requested them and she said that they looked good to her! So, I will finish the other eight and deliver them to her next week sometime.

Moving on, my hubby surprised me with this pretty multi-colored rose while we were out and about today. He also picked up a beautiful bouquet of Spring flowers for my MIL for Mother's Day on our way to go visit her in rehab ...

Boredom? Yes, please!!!

Well, friends the past two weeks have been non-stop craziness beginning with both Leo and Ginger needing to take trips to our vet. Leo refused to eat and vomiting (not normal for him!) so, long story short, our vet examined him and best diagnosis was he may have gotten into something he should not have as lately he is been knocking over the kitchen trash can. She gave him a shot of Cerenia  to calm his stomach and an RX of Mirataz (mirtazapine) transdermal ointment to induce his appetite - if necessary. The next morning he began to eat and act like himself again.

Then, Ginger began hacking/coughing (a lot!) and vomiting up her food so yesterday I ran her to the vet in the morning before work. Our vet performed blood work and a urinalysis. The tests came back normal for both. So I ran her back to the vet AGAIN this morning to have two x-rays taken to see if respiratory issues (or anything else related) would tell us more about what is going on with her ... 😢

Charlie keeping Ginger company after we got home from her second visit ... 😽

 Butterscotch joined in ...

Teddy chilling ...

And, on top of everything else, after I got back from Leo's vet appointment last Monday, while rushing around to get to work on time, I accidentally dropped half the metal piece of the toilet paper roll holder down the toilet when trying to replace the toilet paper. FLUSH! Right down! So, the plumber came out yesterday morning to check it out - got lucky and it made it through the trap because we do not have a septic system we are hooked up to a sewage pipe line instead. THANK GOD!

Change of subject ... 

 

Last Saturday evening, one of the officers of the Sinking Spring VFW had asked me if I would be interested in creating nine new centerpieces for their tables. The current ones are too light weight and topple over easily so I was asked to replaced them with something a) patriotic and b) heavier and more sturdy.

 

The current centerpieces ...

They would like them by Veteran's Day in November. I am probably going to check out Michael's Arts & Crafts this Saturday to try to find red, white, and blue bottles, some glass stones or the like to place inside them to give weight to the bottom, and some decorative ribbons, etc.

A Special Beltane Post

Blessed Beltane all! For my Beltane post this year, I decided to share some bits 'n' pieces from a couple of previous posts through the years.

The Green Man: The Magnificent God of the Forest

Of all the many forms in which our Lord God takes, I must say that I love His Green Man aspect the most! He is both lover and consort to our Lady Goddess, the Earth Mother, and our Father always -The Oak King and Holly King respectively.

Historically speaking, the Green Man goes all the way back to pre-Christian Europe, Ireland, Scotland and Russia. He represents our kinship with the trees and the woods and the cycle of renewal and rebirth. He is known by many different names as He is recognized in almost every tradition. For example, he is heavily associated with Cernunnos (Celtic god of the forest), Dionysus (Greek god of Wine) and Bacchus (Roman god of wine), to name a few.

Our former Wiccan group, "Old Path Enlightener’s Circle", used to honor The Green Man or “The Oak King” at our Beltane celebrations. This is the time when our Lord God and Lady Goddess unite in the “sacred rite of holy marriage.” We re-enact this sacred marriage ceremony during the symbolic Great Rite. This is one of the many reasons why I love Beltane so much and why it is amongst my favorite of our Wiccan celebrations. Lady Sabrina Rhiannon’s group, The Coven of the Silver Moon Circle, chooses a May King and Queen during their Beltane ritual. Everyone inside the circle walks in between two balefire cauldrons for a total of 9 times while making one wish each. Typically, the Celtic Fire god Bel or Belinus is honored at this particular sabbat, as the word Beltane literally means, “Bel-Fire,” but we much prefer to honor The Green Man.

Draco & Rhiannon lighting the Spirit candle during the symbolic Great Rite - Beltane 2008.

“I GIVE TO THEE MY GREATEST GIFT,

A LOVE THAT’S PURE AND TRUE

ACCEPT IT WITH OPEN ARMS,

AS I HAVE DONE FOR YOU.”  ~  Sal Ranieri

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The Great Rite: Symbolic vs. Actual

So what is the difference between the "Actual" Great Rite and the "Symbolic" version? Well to start with, the Actual Great Rite is exactly that - the "actual" act of the sacred joining of the Goddess and God through a coven's Wiccan High Priestess and High Priest. This can either be enacted inside the sacred circle in front of the rest of the coven members or it can be performed in a more private setting.

 The Symbolic Great Rite holds much the same meaning as the Actual in that it still symbolizes the sacred union of the Goddess and God, but it is done through the use of a consecrated athame (representing the "phallas of the God") and the chalice of wine or juice (which represents the "womb of the Mother").  

As a Solitary practitioner, I naturally incorporate the Symbolic version into my rituals and I much prefer it to the Actual with regards to my Wiccan group as well. Although it usually depends upon an individual's comfortability, I, myself, hesitate to participate in an Actual Great Rite (sacred or otherwise) with anyone other than my spouse and only if he were a member of the Pagan clergy (a High Priest or the like) albeit not in the company of others.

The Great Rite in itself is a very sacred act and I can tell you from my own personal experience that, sometimes even when only performed Symbolically with another individual, the sexual energy raised during this particular act can be quite intense. It is certainly nothing to fool around with and most especially not in the hands of anyone who does not understand its' true purpose in ritual.

Of course, depending upon the persons who are performing the Symbolic Great Rite, the energy may not necessarily be the same every time for everyone. For example, if both individuals happen to be female (or male) and have no natural attraction to the same sex, the experience may not tend to be as intimate as perhaps a male and female bonding in this way.

Personally speaking, I view The Great Rite as a very beautiful, sacred gift from the Goddess and God which should always be respected and thought through thoroughly before using in any ritual ceremony.

(A pic from my hubby and my Legal Handfasting ~ 2001)

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